God's Messengers - Chapter 15
I don’t want to give everything away from this text but there is great imagery taking place. Elijah has left the Promised Land to go to the desert. God provides for him what he needs. It takes him 40 days/nights (getting it yet?). Finally, he arrives where? Horeb (Sinai), the Mountain of God. Elijah just reversed the story of Israel, moving from Promised Land to covenant mountain.
A Kingdom Divided in Two - Chapter 14
The yoke of slavery to the state and the yoke of slavery to an idol are equally heavy. Both yokes force you to carry something that will not carry their end of the load. The yoke in this case is a burden. Isaiah 46 points to these gods having to be carried by the people and set in place. The people must carry the burden of these gods so that they can worship them. We have a God who says, “You do not carry me on your back, I carry you on my back!”
The King Who Had It All - Chapter 13
Solomon was an amazing man, lauded in our memory for his wisdom. He wrote the Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs. How can a man, who begins his reign by asking God for wisdom, become so stupid by the end of his life? Solomon’s wisdom was sought after from people all around the world. It is good to ask God for wisdom. There is no denying that. But, in his own wisdom, he began to rely on himself and lost sight of true wisdom…relying on God.
Good Friday - It Is Finished, The New Gardener
Jesus is put on the cross as King of the Jews. From his exalted position on the cross (John 3:14, 30; 12:32-33), Jesus looks out over his creation and says, “It is finished.” The King of the Jews, the King over all creation, looked out over the brokenness of creation and said, “It’s done. This old creation is finished.” He then gave up his spirit. This is important. No one. NO ONE! Took his spirit from him. He gave it up!
Thursday Before Easter - New Heavens and New Earth
“The point of the resurrection…is that the present bodily life is not valueless just because it will die…What you do with your body in the present matters because God has a great future in store for it…What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing, praying, teaching, building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems, caring for the needy, loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God's future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly, a little more bearable, until the day when we leave it behind altogether. They are part of what we may call building for God's kingdom.”
Wednesday Before Easter - Resurrection
What is the gospel? You have sinned and sin requires death. Christ died to stop God’s wrath from destroying you! Is that the gospel? Yes. Well. Part of it. This is part of the gospel but we have to be careful not to make it the whole gospel. When Paul starts this section of his letter to the church in Corinth (Ch 15), he begins with saying, “I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you.” He then spends a significant amount of time talking about the resurrection. Jesus’ death on the cross is of vital importance but we have often under emphasized the resurrection. Paul places the resurrection at the center of the gospel.
Tuesday Before Easter - Fully Human
What is a person? The Jewish understanding of a person is the person is created both physical and spiritual. This is contrasted with the Greek understanding (dualism) that a person is fully spiritual and this physical world is a cage that the spiritual needs to be released from (Plato’s philosophy). God created the world perfectly physical and spiritual and called it good.
Monday before Easter - Garden of Eden
The prophetic imagination of Isaiah envisions a new world where there is no longer a need for swords or spears (1:4) and where predator and prey will live in harmony together. This prophetic imagination is looking forward to the coming of Christ, the Son of David, who will put the world back to right again under His reign.