5–11 August 2018. Judges 1–2 (click to read). Though we often call the Book of Joshua a “historical book”, we have to remember that it isn’t really what we think of today as history. It is more of a national story or myth. That becomes clear to us again as soon as we open the […]
29 April – 5 May 2018. Deuteronomy 5–6 (click to read). Which is the most important law in the Bible? If we had to answer that question, I think many people would choose one of the so-called Ten Commandments. Most people know those commandments very well, and we even find them written out twice in […]
16–22 July 2017. Psalm 17 (click to read). When people hurt us and say mean things about us, it’s only natural for us to want revenge. Straight away we start to think of things we can do or words we can say to hurt them even more than they hurt us. In Psalm 17, the […]
26 February – 4 March 2017. Genesis 17–18 (click to read). In Middle Eastern culture, both in the Bible days and today, the social laws of hospitality are incredibly important. Guests and strangers must be welcomed, cared for, and honoured. It doesn’t matter if that’s a friend visiting from next door, or a complete stranger […]
25 September – 1 October 2016. Nehemiah 11–13 (click to read). Here at the end of the book of Nehemiah we are confronted with two problems. The first is that we have to read through all these genealogies, these long, long lists of names! But the second problem is much more serious, and is connected […]
21–27 August 2016. 1 Chronicles 19–20 (click to read). If there’s one thing we all have in common, it’s that we make mistakes. We all try to make the best decisions we can, but somehow things still go wrong. But while making mistakes is normal, the important thing is how we react to those mistakes. […]
12–18 June 2016. 1 Samuel 7–8 (click to read). Today when we think about good judges, we think of someone making neutral decisions, someone not biased one way or the other, someone who doesn’t get involved. But the great judges in ancient Israel weren’t like this. Instead of simply making neutral decisions, the great judges […]
14–20 February 2016. Exodus 22 (click to read). The Old Testament law contains 613 commands, but as we see in the gospels (e.g. Matt 22:34–40) Jesus gives us only two: love God completely, and love your neighbour as yourself. In today’s text, we see some concrete examples of that second command. In verses 21–27 we […]
31 May – 6 June 2015. Psalm 124 (click to read). When we go through troubles and hard times in life, it’s so common for us to feel alone. How many times have you been facing difficult problems, and have just felt like there is no one who can understand what you are going through, […]