It is a startling and counter-intuitive thought that Christ Jesus came into the world to usher in hostility and trouble and controversy. Surely we have enough of that already. Yet He tells us clearly that we are not to think that He came to bring peace on earth, but, no, …
As a pastor, I always found preaching at Christmas more difficult than I perhaps should have. Most of the preachable material comes from just four chapters: Matthew 1-2 and Luke 1-2. Even then, Matthew begins with 17 verses of a genealogy, and Luke has a fair amount on Zechariah and …
As the Vandals threatened Hippo in 430, Augustine – who was close to the end of his own life – confessed to his congregation: ‘I am a long-winded old man’. Throughout his life, he had lamented often enough that ‘My own speech almost always displeases me.’ Looking back over nearly …
Often we find that works on history manage to incorporate the word ‘crisis’ into their titles. One does not have to read many such books before it seems that all of human history has been a series of crises – only the names have changed, and some details, but that …
This section is on the tasks of elders and their remuneration.
Times of prosperity and of suffering are likely to be spiritually dangerous – Prov.30:8-9. Job feels pursued by both God and man – 19:21-22. There is a hint of resurrection (14:14-15). Job is struggling but utters one of the most remarkable expressions of faith found in Scripture – 19:25-27.…
On the rare occasion one hears the Bible quoted in public today, a likely text is: ‘Judge not, that you be not judged’ (Matt.7:1). In the world, this is often followed by a sermon explaining how we cannot say that anything is right or wrong. In the Bible, Jesus takes …
There are three cycles of speeches by Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, with replies by Job. Eliphaz speaks in 4-5, 15, and 22; Job replies in 6-7, 16-17, and 23-24; Bildad speaks in 8, 18, and 25; Job replies in 9-10, 19, and 26-27; Zophar speaks in 11 and 20; …
Two things might help us here: (a) The widows are to receive support from the Church, and presumably to minister in some way for the Church. (b) Some of this is surely specific to the situation in Ephesus e.g. verse 9. Calvin considered that the widows of 1 Timothy …
John Hartley calls Job 3 ‘a curse-lament’. Note the oft-repeated ‘Why?’ (3:11, 12, 16, 20, 23). (a) Job never loses his faith. (b) Job’s words were nevertheless rash – 38:2; 40:1-4.
