Topic > Biblical Studies > Old Testament >
Looking at a familiar verse and how it’s a guide for daily living
Monday, June 25, 2012, Part 2
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
IDEA: One reason we misinterpret or misapply a passage is that we often don’t consider the literary genre in which it is written.
PURPOSE: To help listeners be aware that different kinds of biblical literature have to be interpreted in different ways.
How to get the most out of reading God’s Word
Friday, June 22, 2012, Part 1
“Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
IDEA: One reason we misinterpret or misapply a passage is that we often don’t consider the literary genre in which it is written.
PURPOSE: To help listeners be aware that different kinds of biblical literature have to be interpreted in different ways.
Understanding the biblical context surrounding a verse to avoid missing the point
Wednesday, May 13, 201
” ‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you,’ says the Lord, ‘thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope’ ” (Jeremiah 29:11).
IDEA: We have a tendency to ask “What does this mean for me?” before we ask, “What did this mean for the original readers”?
PURPOSE: To help listeners apply the Scriptures accurately in their lives.
Are you looking to bring your grasp of the Bible to a new level?
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
“Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will declare what He has done for my soul. I cried to Him with my mouth, and He was extolled with my tongue. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. But certainly God has heard me; He has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, who has not turned away my prayer, nor His mercy from me!” (Psalm 66:16-20).
IDEA: Sometimes the Bible applies great ideas in unusual ways.
PURPOSE: To help listeners see that putting a verse in its context can lead you to applying it in an unexpected way.
An intriguing dialogue about the history of Israel when the prophet Hosea came on the scene
Thursday, May 24, 2012, Part 2
“When the Lord began to speak to Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, ‘Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry and children of harlotry, for the land has committed great harlotry by departing from the Lord.’ So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son” (Hosea 1:2-3).
IDEA: God commands the prophet to marry a promiscuous woman. People in our culture are not upset by her sexual looseness, but that God commanded it.
PURPOSE: To help listeners grapple with the fact that God seems to commend what we think He should condemn.
Discover how a passage in the book of Numbers is still relevant for us today
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
“Then they journeyed from Mount Hor by the Way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the soul of the people became very discouraged on the way. And the people spoke against God and against Moses: ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.’ So the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people, and many of the people of Israel died. Therefore the people came to Moses and said, ‘We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord, and against you; pray to the Lord that He take away the serpents from us.’ Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.’ So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.” (Numbers 21:4-9)
IDEA: The bronze serpent is not “magic,” but an instrument of redemption.
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand why this isn’t superstition.
Let’s reveal the true hope behind this often misunderstood familiar verse in the Psalms
Friday, May 18, 2012, Part 2
“In the Lord I put my trust. How can you say to my soul, ‘Flee as a bird to your mountain? For look! The wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow on the string, that they may shoot secretly at the upright in heart. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?’ The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids test the sons of men. The Lord tests the righteous. But the wicked and the one who loves violence his soul hates. Upon the wicked he will rain coals, fire, and brimstone and a burning wind; this shall be the portion of their cup. For the Lord is righteous, he loves righteousness; his countenance beholds the upright” (Psalm 11).
IDEA: We can misrepresent God when we use a sentence in the Bible out of its context.
PURPOSE: To help listeners to look at who is speaking as well as at what is said.
An engaging conversation about the women in Christ’s family tree
Friday, March 23, 2012
Let’s take a deeper look at the women found in the genealogies of Christ
Thursday, March 22, 2012
The fears Moses faced, and overcame!
I’m sure you’ve been there. You’re about to make a decision, you’re ready for that change in your life, and something stops you. Often, we’re afraid of the repercussions.
Discover how to press through the inevitable challenges of life
Sometimes standing firm in our faith means enduring hardship and suffering. Perhaps you’re experiencing adversity right now.
“Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children; because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me” (Psalm 69:6-9).
Idea: Christ identifies with us if we are insulted for His sake.
Purpose: To help listeners realize how closely we’re identified with Christ when we are put to shame for His sake.
How the decisions we make today can shape our future
Monday, February 6, 2012, Part 1
“Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers, and an alien to my mother’s children; because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me” (Psalm 69:6-9).
Idea: Christ identifies with us if we are insulted for His sake.
Purpose: To help listeners realize how closely we’re identified with Christ when we are put to shame for His sake.
Find encouragement even through difficult circumstances
Friday, February 3, 2012
“Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brothers and an alien to my mother’s children; because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me” (Psalm 69:6-9).
Idea: Christ identifies with His people when they suffer.
Purpose: To help listeners realize that any burden they bear for Christ, He bears as well.
Worth The Effort?
I once resolved to read all 38 of Shakespeare’s plays in one year. To my surprise, fulfilling the task seemed far more like entertainment than work. I expected to learn about Shakespeare’s world and the people who inhabited it, but I found that Shakespeare mainly taught me about my world.
The importance of understanding the history and context of Scripture
Wednesday, January 11, 2012, Part 3
“By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful child; and they were not afraid of the king’s command. By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Hebrews 11:23-26).
IDEA: Faith enables us to see people in new ways.
PURPOSE: To help listeners realize that faith in a sovereign God changes our perspective about people.
