Jacob escapes and flees to what looks like an ordinary place, on a night like any other. But on this night, he’s running away from his brother, Esau, who has threatened to kill him. For Jacob had just swindled him for a second time. Esau had had enough! But let’s go back to the first […]
2 Timothy, Lesson 7: Conclusion of 2 Timothy
October 8, 2015 by
Throughout 2 Timothy, Paul has been urging Timothy to remain faithful as a pastor. Now Paul bring all of what he has previously written to a climax, all introduced by an oath. This is serious, eternal-life-and-eternal-death serious. Timothy, Do What You Were Ordained to Do! Read 2 Timothy 4:1-2 In these verses, we’ll first […]
Matthew 22:34-40: All the Law and the Prophets Hang on Jesus
October 5, 2015 by
A generation or two before Jesus was born, two schools of thought had developed within the Pharisees: the School of Hillel and the School of Shammai. Rabbi Hillel grappled to get to the spirit of the Law. Rabbi Shammai was a grouch and just wanted to get the crux of something and told it like […]
2 Corinthians, Lesson 6: Life Coming in the Throes of Death
October 5, 2015 by
Last week, we finished with Paul and Timothy saying how all Christians (“we all”) experience God’s glory. Right now, that glory comes to us like an image that we see reflected in a mirror (2 Corinthians 3:18). This is God’s glory coming to us in an indirect way, hidden, so we do not die from […]
2 Timothy, Lesson 6: Follow and Deliver the Apostles’ Teaching from the Scriptures
October 5, 2015 by
Paul just finishing describing false teachers in Ephesus, comparing them to Jannes and Jambres, Pharaoh’s magicians who opposed Moses. In contrast to those false teachers, Paul now commends Pastor Timothy. Continue in the Apostles’ Teaching Read 2 Timothy 3:10-12 “followed”: Greek, parakoloutheo. This means more than “follow”; it has the idea of “accompanying” or […]
Luke 14:1-6: Jesus is Our Sabbath Rest
September 27, 2015 by
With laser-like precision, they honed in on His every word. They did this, not because they wanted to learn from the Lord of lords in the flesh, but to trap Him in His words. They wanted to pounce on Jesus and show that He was a fraud. So, those Pharisees conspired and schemed, looking for […]
2 Corinthians, Lesson 5: The Ministry of Death versus the Ministry of Life
September 27, 2015 by
Paul and Timothy (“we”) just finished saying that what they were doing was from God. They wanted to contrast themselves against false teachers, who were “peddlers of God’s Word” (2 Corinthians 2:17-18). Even more, these “peddlers” were of Jewish origin (2 Corinthians 11:22) who had come into the congregation at Corinth with letters of recommendation. […]
2 Timothy, Lesson 5: Dealing with Human “Devils” in the Church
September 27, 2015 by
Describing the Church, which Paul called a “foundation,” he now moves on to what is built on the foundation, the “house.” Pastor Timothy, Avoid Needless Quarrels Read 2 Timothy 2:20 Read 2 Timothy 2:21 Paul now moves from the greater to the lesser. Like the Church is to be free from […]
1 Kings 17: Pointing to Jesus
September 21, 2015 by
Jesus says that all, not some, but all the Scriptures testify of Him (John 5:39). And so when we ponder our Old-Testament reading for today, we should ask, “How does Elijah, the widow, and her son point me to Jesus?” But before we go there, let’s review last week’s Old-Testament reading. For today’s Old-Testament reading […]
2 Corinthians, Lesson 4: The Change in Travel Plans
September 21, 2015 by
Last week, we explored Paul and Timothy’s use of a chiasm to mention that God seals and anoints His people in the New Covenant. We explored that and saw that such sealing and anointing was what the Church later came to call “confirmation.” Explanation for 2 Corinthians Paul earlier explained why he and Timothy […]
