Category: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: Judges 19:22

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“As they were making their hearts merry, behold, the men of the city, worthless fellows, surrounded the house, beating on the door.  And they said to the old man, the master of the house, ‘Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

For Israelites who were later being told this story as part of their people’s dark past, these words would have been chilling even before the narrative of what comes next.  This whole situation would have left them shuddering in terror.  This would have been a story you didn’t tell your children, but waited until they were a bit older and could handle it.  Even now, this isn’t somewhere I’d point my boys to read just yet. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Joshua 5:13-14 Part 2

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“When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand.  And Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you for us, or for our adversaries?’  And he said, ‘No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord.  Now I have come.’  And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, ‘What does my lord say to his servant?'”  ( ESV – Read the chapter)

Now, in the first part of this commentary, I talked about Joshua’s response to the commander of the Lord’s army and our need to submit our plans to the Lord if we want to have any hope of meaningful success.  I said something in that first commentary, though, that bears unpacking here.  I said the appearance of the commander of the Lord’s army changed not just Joshua’s response and the way the rest of the story played out, it also changed our whole framework for understanding it.  Let me explain. Read the rest…

Where Real Freedom Lies

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In this special Fourth of July edition, allow me to share my message from our community patriotic service this past Sunday evening.  Here, with the help of Jesus’ declaration of where real freedom lies, I talk about what freedom is and how we can preserve it for future generations.  Happy Fourth of July!

Where Real Freedom Lies

I have a confession to make: I love the Fourth of July.  Now, I don’t necessarily think I’m more patriotic than anybody else.  I think the reason I love the Fourth of July so much is because growing up my family always made such a big deal out of it.  We’d cook out.  We’d have friends over.  We’d enjoy hanging out with neighbors.  And we’d blow stuff up.  A lot of stuff.  That’s the real reason I love the Fourth of July: I love fireworks. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Joshua 5:13-14 Part 1

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“When Joshua was by Jericho, he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand.  And Joshua went to him and said to him, ‘Are you for us, or for our adversaries?’  And he said, ‘No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord.  Now I have come.’  And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, ‘What does my lord say to his servant?'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

When we prepare to fight the battles we are facing, we draw lines and put people on one side or the other.  We look at each person we encounter as either an enemy or an ally.  This is natural.  People have always done it.  But, as Joshua learned here, while we may be able to do this with people, when it comes to the Lord, we must ask a different question: Are we on His side? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Judges 11:30-31

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“And Jephthah made a vow to the Lord and said, ‘If you will give the Ammonites into my hand, then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the Lord’s, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.'”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

Here we see yet another dark chapter in the record of the judges.  Jephthah was a scoundrel and an outlaw.  When the leaders of Gilead sought him out, they had not sought the Lord.  In fact, although we are told near the end of chapter 10 that the Lord had grown impatient over their misery, He had told them rather explicitly that He was not going to come and save them this time because they had shown over and over again their dogged intention to reject Him.  He does relent a bit and helps the guy they foolishly choose win the battle, but beyond that He does not have a hand in the events here. Read the rest…