Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Introduction Isaiah 21 can only be understood in the light of its placement in the architecture of the second “volume” of the prophecy (chapters 13–27). The contents are arranged in twin sevenfold “columns” that represent the great bronze pillars of Solomon’s Temple: Jachin and Boaz, priest and king. The priestly…
A Biblical Reflection on the Purpose of the Constellations The starry heavens hold a place of wonder in the hearts of men. Since man’s creation we have looked up into the heavens and have beheld its glory. This is particularly true of the night sky. The stars, in their shinning…
The case for there being five discourses within the Gospel according to Matthew is a hard one to challenge: surely the closing formula “when Jesus finished these sayings” as found in 8:1, 11:1, 13:53, 19:1, and 26:1 settles it once and for all. And by the five instances of the…
The Long Commission The Great Commission of Matthew 28 has long been a cornerstone of American Evangelicalism. It has formed and fashioned the American church’s missional impulse. Yet when viewed from the wide lens of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, the Great Commission is revealed as one of the pillars…
I am delighted to see that more and more churches in the Reformed tradition are now recognizing that all baptized children are members of the body of Christ and therefore ought to be communing with the rest of the body at the Lord’s Table. This has been decades in the…
Good leaders have always been rare. In today’s world, they seem extinct. Joe Rigney’s recent book Leadership and Emotional Sabotage digs into the spiritual reasons for the leadership epidemic and recommends cures. Rigney starts with a summary of a book by Edwin Friedman called A Failure of Nerve . Friedman’s…
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Antiracism has become, as John McWhorter pointed out in 2015, America’s new religion. It has its holidays, its saints and martyrs, its liturgical processions and gestures, its symbols and sacraments, its Scriptures and sermonizers, its modes of confession and almost-absolution, its eschatological hope that America will, somehow and someday, fix…
It seems the United States has gone mad. For a couple of months, we all stayed home, terrified by a virus that is a serious threat to very few of us. Now we're out and about, burning cities and storming public buildings and businesses. My little hometown is under a…
Thomas Hamilton ( Exodus ) describes the ephod of Aaron: It “is shaped like an apron encircling the body and covers the loins (maybe “from waist to thigh). It is kept in position on the body by means of two shoulder pieces (v. 7) and a fastening band (v. 8).”…
Since the coronavirus pandemic started, people have debated whether or not COVID-19 is "just" a nasty form of the flu or if it's far worse. We’ve heard horror stories about the horrific effects of COVID-19, as if to contrast this deadly virus with influenza. Both sides seem to assume that…
Yesterday, I preached the first in a series of sermons on liturgical music. Here's a snippet of the sermon. We’ve all been swept away by music. Maybe it was a live performance by a favorite band or of a favorite symphony. Perhaps it happens while you’re fixing dinner and Alexa…
"Bring near" Aaron, Yahweh tells Moses (Exodus 28:1). The verb is the hiphil of qarab , the root of qorban , one of the general Hebrew terms for "sacrifice" or "offering" (cf. Leviticus 1:1-3). Aaron is separated from the sons of Israel like an animal separated from the herd, separated…
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