2 Chronicles 36 – A remedy for moral decay
This story, like all stories in the Bible, doesn’t just communicate facts, it communicates meaning. Our author wants to tell us the meaning of Jerusalem’s destruction, not just data about it. We’ll reach back to our studies in Leviticus to help us understand some the author’s images and how the Chronicler structures his message.
Exodus 20 – Command the story
This list of Ten Words is part of the Torah, the five books of Moses, which is a long story, and so they play a narrative role. Each Word can function as a topical heading, or entryway into a longer discussion. From there we can use them as references to remember moments in the big story, both theirs and ours.
Genesis 22 – Grace Not Withheld
“Withhold” in Hebrew sounds like Issac’s name. The author is pairing these two words to draw our attention to his point: the father is not to withhold his only beloved son in the quest to bless all nations of the earth. For our benefit, God will challenge us—sometimes quite severely—to offer our most precious things to him, in exchange for something better.
Genesis 9 – Patience in the Flood
The world was then a huge earth-sized mess of war, bloodshed and violence. Humanity had entirely bailed on its responsibilities given in Eden to serve and preserve life on the earth. God didn’t make the mess, but he was going to clean it up, and provide the way forward.
Leviticus 13 – An Offense Uncovered
This passage is a study-within-a-study: a disorder, a pronouncement of “unclean”, a life lived in exile. As an object of meditation, we’ll let our attention be drawn to our Exemplar’s uncovered head and his own self-pronouncement. Then we’ll listen to a poet’s own meditations on this passage and continue the journey ever inward, toward wisdom and insight, and ultimately, toward God.
Deuteronomy 18 – A True Prophet Like Abraham
Our OT scripture reading contains an important word, prophet, and an important addition to its evolving definition. It’s a word that has not been used frequently up to this point in the five books of Moses. This passage will further solidify the template that the former and latter prophets are built upon, both in their role and in the outworking of their ministry. Finally we compare the ministry of Jesus to the texts given.