But the Arameans fled before Israel, and David killed 700 charioteers of the Arameans and 40,000 horsemen and struck down Shobach the commander of their army, and he died there. 2 Samuel 10:18 NASB 700 – I recently gave a lecture on the stories of David and Solomon. In the course of that lecture, I talked about…
“and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” Matthew 5:45 ESV Rain – I have a hard time understanding God’s battle plan. If I were running the cosmic war, I would make it as difficult as possible on my enemies and as wonderful as I could for my allies. I’d be sure that…
“For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you. Acts 17:23 NASB Unknown – Perhaps we haven’t really understood Paul’s conversation with the Greeks, or perhaps Paul didn’t…
He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him. Ephesians 1:9 NASB Will – We’ve made a mistake! A huge mistake that affects every person on the planet. It wasn’t deliberate: it was simply the accidental result of our natural tendencies. But the implications…
Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:10 NASB Weak – If you read the list of trials in the first part of the verse and stop before you come to the final…
Today is my birthday. This year I am not on an airplane alone, flying to some teaching destination. Today I am in Reggio Emilia, Italy, with my wife Rosanne. I will have a great Italian meal and a good glass of wine and remember that God designed me for a purpose that has taken seventy-one…
Because the midwives feared God, He established households for them. Exodus 1:21 NASB Midwives – Name one hundred important Biblical people. Better include some of these women since without them Israel would have expired in Egypt. But I’ll bet you can’t name them, or even one hundred that have names. I’ll bet that after you…
But the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah the man of God, saying, 2 Chronicles 11:2 NASB Shemaiah – The prophet’s role is to deliver a message from God. It is not his message. He is merely the messenger. But to be a messenger requires a certain kind of relationship with the One sending…
“For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:5 NASB You will be like God – Translated in this way, the serpent’s voice strikes us as the epitome of arrogance, hubris and folly. Of course we can’t…
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” Job 2:9 NASB Curse – Job’s wife has only a few words to say, but, according to David Penchansky, what she says summarizes the entire story of this suffering, righteous man. She speaks sarcastically, telling Job, “Curse God…
