It’s not what you may think. I was, in fact, leading a tour of the Holy Land. We had just visited the Shepherds’ Fields on the outskirts of Bethlehem. The tour bus mistakenly traveled back up the same road, thus providing an ideal target for a frustrated young Palestinian. It was a piece of flint […]
Gathering simply around the Lord is still the prime basis of unity among the people of God. The first nine chapters of 1 Chronicles contain the genealogies leading from Adam through Shem to Abram, and Abram’s line through Isaac and Israel to Judah. Chapter 10 recounts the ill-fated end of the rejected Saul and the fair beginnings […]
God couldn’t have a king who went from seeking divine wisdom to seeking dinner with a witch! Although it may not seem so to us, we’ve come to a very sensitive place in the book, especially for its first readers. As the returned expatriates sought to reestablish themselves in the land, the monarchy had to […]
A questioner asked a street preacher, “If God is our Father, who is our mother?” Jerusalem (Gal 4:26)! In the original subdividing of the land, Jerusalem was allotted to Benjamin. But that area remained under the Jebusites. Saul reigned from his hometown of Gibeah, a few miles north, but, after David’s 7.5-year rulership in Hebron, […]
Have you ever touched a live wire before? Quite shocking, isn’t it? Did you know, Christian, that there’s a live wire within you? Find out what it is… […]
We don’t choose our families, but we do choose if they are focused on God and founded on love. Just before we turn our attention to the dwellers in Jerusalem and God’s king who reigns there, we are called on to follow the lineage of Saul (1 Chron 8:1-40). We won’t linger on Saul’s end, […]
If you were trying to reach the heart of a garbage man who was seeking the Lord, where would hide a Bible for him to find? In the trash, of course! […]
We are now visiting the land of Samaria, Joseph’s territory, and the coastal region near modern Haifa. There are just three more tribal genealogies recorded (1 Chron 7:14-40) before we focus on two competing power centers—the rejection of Saul’s line and the selection of David’s house. First, however, we notice that not only Dan, but […]
Read More… from August 16, 2024 — Manasseh West, Ephraim, & Asher