God’s justice – Page 5

Digging in Deeper: 1 Samuel 2:5

August 17, 2018August 14, 2018Leave a comment

“Those who were full have hired themselves out for bread, but those who were hungry have ceased to hunger. The barren has borne seven, but she who has many children is forlorn.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Put yourself in Hannah’s shoes for a moment. If you are a woman there is a chance you can. She had been barren for years. In spite of much effort, childbearing remained painfully elusive. Meanwhile the woman she was forced to be with all the time seemed to be able to get pregnant at the drop of a hat. They each had the thing the other desired most, though: Peninnah, children, and Hannah, Elkhanah’s heart. Peninnah could at least take solace in her many children. Hannah merely endured the constant scorn of her rival and wondered why God hated her so much. And then she was pregnant. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Judges 6:7-10

August 3, 2018July 27, 2018Leave a comment

“When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, “I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.” But you have not obeyed my voice.'” (ESV – Read the chapter)

The people of Israel were hurting and broken and desperate. They were starving. The Midianites were taking everything. They were keeping them weak and unable to mount any kind of a meaningful resistance to their reign of terror. The Israelites were but a couple of generations into the land God had provided for them and it looked like he had abandoned them to this enemy for good. Now, the reality was that it had only been like this for a few years, but when you’re trapped in misery, a few years can seem like a lifetime. They did the only thing they could: Scrape together a meager survival and cry out to the Lord. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Proverbs 20:22

April 27, 2018April 23, 20182 Comments

“Do not say, ‘I will repay evil’; wait for the Lord, and he will deliver you.” (ESV)

When was the last time something unjust or even simply deeply inconvenient happened that prompted you to think, “I’ve got to do something about this”? Did you follow through on that thought? How did that go? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Isaiah 30:26

April 18, 2018April 17, 2018Leave a comment

“Moreover, the light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day when the Lord binds up the brokenness of his people, and heals the wounds inflicted by his blow.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Have you experienced the “blow” of the Lord? Israel was a stubborn group. They had the Law from Moses and an overwhelming amount of evidence to support the wisdom of following that particular path as the only way to life and flourishing, but still, they constantly looked at the nations around them with envy in their hearts. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Revelation 20:7-8

March 7, 2018March 6, 2018Leave a comment

“And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be released from his prison and will come out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle; their number is like the sand of the sea.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Hell is hard. Perhaps no orthodox Christian doctrine is as difficult for folks to get their hearts and minds around as is the notion that those who finally reject God will, upon final judgment, spend an eternity separated from Him in Hell. And, I’ll say this as gently as I can: If the doctrine doesn’t give you at least a bit of unease, you may not be paying very much attention to it. Read the rest…