Sin – Page 30 – The Nexus

Digging in Deeper: Joshua 7:7, 10

May 11, 2018May 7, 2018Leave a comment

“And Joshua said, ‘Alas, O Lord God, why have you brought this people over the Jordan at all, to give us into the hands of the Amorites, to destroy us? Would that we have been content to dwell beyond the Jordan! . . .The Lord said to Joshua, ‘Get up! Why have you fallen on your face?'” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Joshua was devastated and dismayed. He had put his entire being on the line before the people that God was leading them to occupy this land and drive out its inhabitants entirely. They had crossed the Jordan on dry ground. They had conquered Jericho with its impregnable walls. There was nothing that could stand in their way for the Lord was obviously with them. And then they got beat by Ai. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Genesis 19:26

April 20, 2018April 17, 2018Leave a comment

“But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

This has always seemed like such an odd punishment to me. What would this have been like? Was it instant? Did she gradually start to transform from the feet up or the head down? Is there any kind of a natural explanation for this or was it entirely miraculous? Was Lot aware of it at first? Or, did he go on for some distance before realizing he couldn’t hear her trying to keep up any longer? If only they had smart phones back then! We could have gotten the whole thing on video. Imagine how many hits that would have received as a YouTube post… Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Isaiah 55:7

April 20, 2018April 17, 2018Leave a comment

“…let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

I love the last part of this. When our God pardons us from our sins, we are not just barely forgiven. He “abundantly pardons” us. God doesn’t just say, “Well, you didn’t really measure up, but I’ll let you slide in just under the radar.” No, He wipes our sins away as far as the east is from the west. He forgives us completely and we are able to stand perfectly clean in His sight. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Exodus 21:23-25

April 6, 2018April 4, 2018Leave a comment

“But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

We very naturally yearn for justice. We want things to be set right when they are wrong. The simplest reason for this is that we were created in the image of a God who is just. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Revelation 9:20-21

February 28, 2018February 27, 2018Leave a comment

“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

This is the real key of this chapter and, really, one of the main themes of the entire record. There appear to be two goals of the various acts of cataclysmic judgments described in Revelation. One goal is the punishment of sin. God has been patient long enough and now it is time for judgment. It is time to let people see and experience the full weight of their sin. Just like with the nation of Israel in the days leading up to and during the conquest of Jerusalem and the exile, the time for the whole world has come up and sin is finally being judged on a large scale. Read the rest…