Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
In our first essay in this series ( part 1 ), we saw that Proverbs 30 opens with a puzzle, a cryptic sentence that challenges the reader to search out a matter in order to gain understanding. "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory…
The story of Hezekiah’s illness and recovery is familiar to every child who has attended Sunday School. Informed that he would die, faithful King Hezekiah pleaded in tears for a longer life. God heard his prayers and saw his tears, and promised fifteen more years. As a sign that He…
1. The Blessed Hope "Looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus." Titus 2:13 I was recently asked how I as a postmillennialist would preach on "The Blessed Hope." This is often a sticky question, because postmillennialists believe that…
1. Jeroboam and Ahab After Solomon died, the people came to his son, King Rehoboam, and asked for tax relief. Rehoboam refused to give it, and indeed told the people that he was going to tax them even more severely than his father had. At that point, with the blessing…
One aspect of truth is unity. It was Truth Incarnate who prayed for the unity of His people in John 17, which certainly makes unity a priority for them as well. In one sense, we know by faith that the Church is always invisibly unified in Christ, but there is…
Mr. Paul Miller of Vancouver writes that he is not persuaded by my remarks on Luke 4 on " The Son of Joseph ." He calls attention to Mark 6:1-6, where Jesus came "to His own part of the country," taught in the synagogue, and astonished many. The people said,…
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The Sacrificial Body And the Day of Doom: Alchemy And Apocalyptic Discourse in the Protestant Reformation by Urszula Szulakowska links together early modern alchemy with Reformation sacramental theology, art, and interpretations of Revelation. At the center she places Stefan Michelspacher’s 1616 Cabala: Spiegel der Kunst und Natur , explaining that…
Isaiah 60:19-20 is a Celtic knot of a text. The obvious structure is a parallelism: A. No longer sun for light B. Nor moon for brightness C. Yahweh will be everlasting light D. Your God for your beauty A’. Your sun will not set any more B’. Nor will the…
Isaiah 60 forms a distinct unit, with a generally chiastic structure: A. Light has come and the glory of Yahweh, vv 1-3 B. Caravans of kings will be treasures to Zion, vv 4-9 (including gold and silver, vv 6, 9) C.Foreigners build walls and gates open, v 10-11a D.Kings will…
Yahweh promises to upgrade Israel: In place of their bronze, iron, wood, and stones He will give gold, silver, bronze, and iron (Isaiah 60:17). It’s a myth of decline in reverse, with the golden age following rather than preceding the bronze (see Deep Comedy: Trinity, Tragedy, & Hope In Western…
Christopher R. Smith’s After Chapters & Verses is a systematic critique of the current format of the Bible, its division into chapters and verses, its book divisions, and its ordering of books within the canon. He wants to erase the chapter and verse markings, and put the books into a…
Using an unusual transsexual image, Isaiah promises that Israel will “suck the milk of nations and suck the breast of kings” (Isaiah 60:16). Gentile kings will take the place of Moses, the “nursing father” of Israel (cf. Numbers 11:12). And not just Moses: Most of the references to milk in…
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