Tag: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 12:13-14 Part 2

Leave a comment

“David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.””  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

These are two of the hardest verses I’ve yet encountered in this slow walk through the history books of the Hebrew Bible. In the first part of this note I began sharing about what has given me such trouble. I started out fairly easy. Here I will get into the real problem for me (and possibly you too). As I said before, here goes… Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 6:3-4

Leave a comment

“And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark.” (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

When God gave Moses instructions for building the ark as recorded in Exodus, He was really specific about it. Every single detail of how it was to be made and what it was to look like was spelled out exactly as God wanted it. He even gave them instructions for how to make the materials (gold-covered poles) with which the ark was to be transported. These poles were the only things that were to be used to move the ark. And nobody was to touch it. Ever. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 4:7-8

Leave a comment

“When they came into the house, as he lay on his bed in his bedroom, they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. They took his head and went by the way of the Arabah all night, and brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron. And they said to the king, ‘Here is the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life. The Lord has avenged my lord the king this day on Saul and on his offspring.’”  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

Have you ever done something foolish to impress someone? What was it? In high school I participated in a summer arts program that included a trip to Santa Fe, NM. Walking around the hotel where we spent the few days we were there, some of the friends I had made during the summer goaded me into stealing a hot water sign from in front of a carafe in a hospitality station. It was wrong on many levels, not to mention just stupid, but I wanted to be cool. What a dummy. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 2 Samuel 11:4

Leave a comment

“So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house.”  (ESV – Read the chapter) ‬‬

There are two things worth noting about this verse. Both speak rather directly to where our culture is today. One focuses on the sin and one moves past that to life afterwards. One is a reminder that the #MeToo moment is an important reckoning for our culture to have. The other grounds us in the fact that grace is big and one person’s #MeToo moment need not define the rest of his or her life. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: 1 Timothy 6:3-5

1 Comment

“If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.”  (ESV – Read the chapter)

These are some pretty tough words by Paul. He really doesn’t leave much off the table when it comes to calling out those folks who teach doctrine that doesn’t agree with his own which he is confident is absolutely consistent with what Jesus and the rest of the apostles proclaimed. And, given that 13 of his letters got included in the New Testament, I think he has a pretty good case to make that he’s on target. Still and again, these are tough words. What are we to make of them? Read the rest…