Tag: God’s sovereignty

Digging in Deeper: Exodus 9:13-18

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“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Get up early in the morning and present yourself to Pharaoh. Tell him: This is what the Lord, the God of the Hebrews says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me. For this time I am about to send all my plagues against you, your officials, and your people. Then you will know there is no one like me on the whole earth. By now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague, and you would have been obliterated from the earth. However, I have let you live for this purpose: to show you my power and to make my name known on the whole earth. You are still acting arrogantly against my people by not letting them go. Tomorrow at this time I will rain down the worst hail that has ever occurred in Egypt from the day it was founded until now.'” (CSB – Read the chapter)

We’ve talked about this before, but one of the reputations God has resulting from people’s reading the Bible without understanding is that He is all anger and wrath. He looks for opportunities to judge, and delights in raining down excessive punishment on people for the smallest and silliest things. At a glance, the plagues in general, but especially this seventh plague seems to be a case in point of this. After all, what else are we to call a deadly hailstorm? Yet this plague is set within the longest narrative any of them have so far received, and this narrative paints a very different picture of God than a mere cursory reading reveals. Let’s talk today about God’s character, the judgment for sin, and why you really can’t understand one unless you understand the other.

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Morning Musing: Exodus 8:16-19

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“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Tell Aaron: Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the land, and it will become gnats throughout the land of Egypt.’ And they did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and when he struck the dust of the land, gnats were on people and animals. All the dust of the land became gnats throughout the land of Egypt. The magicians tried to produce gnats using their occult practices, but they could not. The gnats remained on people and animals. ‘This is the finger of God,’ the magicians said to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard, and he would not listen to them, as the Lord had said.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

The town where I live has gnats. I know what you might be thinking: everywhere has gnats. That’s just life in a broken world. But you don’t understand. We have lots of gnats. And everyone who lives in the other little towns around us knows it. One of the things we are known for is how bad our gnats are. And trust me: they’re really bad. There are some days when you can hardly go outside without being completely engulfed by them. So, when I read about this third plague of gnats, I can’t help but think about how irritating trying to go to our local park is in the summer and how bad this must have been for the Egyptians. Let’s talk through some of the details here and the theme that is emerging as we go.

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Digging in Deeper: Matthew 10:1-4

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“Summoning his twelve disciples, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, to drive them out and to heal every disease and sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: First, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Sometimes a conversation about one thing can lead to a conversation about something completely different. I find that often happens when studying through the Scriptures in community. You start off studying a single passage, but then a particular detail leads down a touchy unexpected path. While it is tempting in these moments to stop and get back on track, I find that chasing them for a little while can lead to some interesting—and good—places if we’ll let it. This happened recently as I was studying with my congregation through Matthew 10. Let me tell you about how it went.

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Digging in Deeper: Amos 1:13-15

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“The Lord says: I will not relent from punishing the Ammonites for three crimes, even four, because they ripped open the pregnant women of Gilead in order to enlarge their territory. Therefore, I will set fire to the walls of Rabbah, and it will consume its citadels. There will be shouting on the day of battle and a violent wind on the day of the storm. Their king and his princes will go into exile together. The Lord has spoken.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

What do we do about evil that is happening a great distance from us? There’s a nice, encouraging question to start of this new year. We live in a nation that in spite of our growing secularity has a system of laws rooted in a Christian worldview. We strive for justice as a people, even if imperfectly. But around the world are evil regimes and human rights’ being devastated by oppressive rulers. What does God have to say about that? In what will be the first stop in one of three occasional series we are going to be working through in this new year, we find part of an answer from the prophet Amos. Let’s take a look at this together.

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Morning Musing: Mark 15:15

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“Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them; and after having Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are some characters without whom a particular story would simply not be the same. Now, of course the main characters are vital to the narrative, but I’m talking about the secondary characters. These are the men and women (or some other mythological or animal or alien creature) in supporting roles, but who play their role or are written into the role so well they make the story work. I’m thinking about characters like Samwise Gamgee from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Frodo is obviously the protagonist, but without Sam, he never would have completed his quest. The story simply wouldn’t have been the same. There’s a reason one of the main Oscar categories is best supporting actor and actress. Well, in the story of Jesus’ crucifixion, Pilate plays this kind of a role. Let’s spend just a few minutes together this morning talking about him.

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