Prepare the way of the Lord
There is a real danger that we are so familiar with John the Baptist fulfilling Isaiah 40:3 that we lose sight of the staggering implication this has for Jesus.
So France comments:
Prophets
Quote: Professional detachment
I think this post from Steve Jeffery is very helpful
2 Samuel 6 describes what King David did when the Ark of the LORD was brought into the city of Jerusalem.
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To understand the ban in Joshua, read Genesis.
Alec Motyer wrote this very helpful paragraph in his commentary on Exodus.
1 Samuel 25 seems to be very important
I think this has struck me before. Re-reading 1 Samuel, we find that:
- Saul is rebuked by Samuel (1 Samuel 15)
- David has to flee to the Philistines (1 Samuel 21)
- The Ziphites betray David to Saul, then David spares Saul's life (1 Samuel 23-24)
- Samuel dies (1 Samuel 25:1)
- David accepts Abigail's gift, and marries her after God kills her fool of a husband (1 Samuel 25:2ff)
- The Ziphites betray David to Saul, then David spares Saul's life (1 Samuel 26)
- The Ziphites betray David to Saul, then David spares Saul's life (1 Samuel 23-24)
- David lives among the Philistine (1 Samuel 27)
- David has to flee to the Philistines (1 Samuel 21)
- Saul is rebuked by Samuel (1 Samuel 28)
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Jeremiah's 6 key words
I've just read Palmer Robertson's treatment of the book of Jeremiah in his The Christ of the Prophets
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The new covenant
John Mackay is very helpful in his commentary on Jeremiah (volume 2)
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Jesus' Fathers house a house of trade
John 2:16 reads, "Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade."
In the parallel incident in Mark 11:15-19, Jesus says “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” He quotes Isaiah 56:7, but the cross references in my ESV point me to Jeremiah 7:11 for the latter half of that verse, “Has this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes?”
40 days in the wilderness
Why does Jesus spend forty days in the wilderness, confronting public enemy number 1 (Satan, the accuser of the people of God), immediately after he has been declared Son of God (echoing Psalm 2) at his baptism?
I know that one answer is that it relates to the 40 years Israel spent in the wilderness. Jesus must be faithful at the exact point at which they failed.
1 Samuel 15 on pragmatism
After Saul failed to follow the Lord’s instructions (to destroy Amalek totally, together with their livestock), the Lord rejected him as king. The incident is related in 1 Samuel 15.
Saul’s excuse was that they spared the livestock in order to offer sacrifices to God.
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Brambles and Gorse
Last week I was doing a bit of work in the garden, cutting back the ever-encroaching bramble and gorse bushes.
I found myself wondering why there are so many of the things in the garden. It’s a bit of a pain.
Not that it required much thought. Genesis 3:18 solves that one for me – they serve as a reminder of the fact that life in rebellion of God’s law is never a fulfilled / happy / pain-free one. God judges those who rebel against him.
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