Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Mrs. Marguerite Lane of Grand Rapids writes to ask if I have ever noticed a correlation between the eight beatitudes of Matthew 5 and the eight woes of Matthew 23. I confess that I have not. A glance at various commentators reveals that such a correspondence does not seem to…
1. The words of Agur, the son of Jakeh, the burden. The man declares to Ithiel, to Ithiel and Ucal: 2. Surely I am more stupid than any other man, And I do not have the understanding of a man. 3. And I have not learned wisdom, But I have…
Psalm 137 is widely regarded as one of the meanest of the imprecatory psalms. Certainly as we read it it is seems to be a song of pure vengeance. The exiles in Babylon, in grief over the judgment that Babylon has brought upon them, pray for the destruction of that…
In the Levitical law, the priests received two particular portions of each peace offering: the "wave offering" of the breast and the "heave offering" (or better, "contribution") of the right thigh. The purpose of this essay is to attempt to determine the reason why the second of these, the thigh,…
The story of Jesus’ visit, early in His ministry, to the synagogue in His home town of Nazareth is recorded for us in Luke 4:16-30. You may remember that Jesus read from Isaiah about how the Messiah would preach the gospel, care for the poor, work miracles, and bring in…
(The essay that follows concerns a rather touchy subject: how the Lord’s Supper is to be done. I am not writing to insult or offend, but to challenge. To that end I have not "held back" but have "gone ahead" and said what I think needs to be said —…
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During his studies of Serbo-Croatian oral poets that contributed so much to the contemporary understanding of Homer, Albert Lord discovered that the Yugoslavian poets could not grasp the notion of “word.” They thought of language as a stream of sound, and the “units” of language were not distinct words but…
During his studies of Serbo-Croatian oral poets that contributed so much to the contemporary understanding of Homer, Albert Lord discovered that the Yugoslavian poets could not grasp the notion of “word.” They thought of language as a stream of sound, and the “units” of language were not distinct words but…
Leviticus 21 There are many ways to describe the offerings of Israel. One of the most striking is that the offerings are God?s bread. This sounds very odd, but it would make perfect sense if we watched an Israelite offering sacrifice, or if we were in Jerusalem for one of…
In the sermon this morning, we looked at the connections between Old Covenant sacrifice and New Covenant worship. The Levitical system sets the pattern for worship in the New Covenant. The sacrifice of animals is a figure, a picture of the true sacrifice, the sacrifice of praise that we offer…
In the sermon this morning, we will be looking at one particular kind of animal offering from the Old Testament, and looking at the system of offerings in general. As we will see, these offerings recapitulated in ritual form the major events of Israel?s history, particularly the Passover, exodus, and…
Rom 6:1 is often described as an “antinomian” objection, but it is really a legalist’s objection. Paul does not perceive an antinomian opponent; he expects that HE will be perceived as an antinomian. One can imagine it coming from the Pharisees: You overturn Torah, and the world is thrown into…
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