Flannery O’Connor wrote Revelation as she lay in a hospital bed dying from complications of lupus. Most of the story takes place in a doctor’s crowded waiting room where the central character (Mrs. Turpin) is there with her husband for his doctor’s appointment. As she chats with another lady who is there with her college-aged daughter, theContinue reading “Who Do You Think You Are (Revelation)”
Author Archives: A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green
That’s the Story (1)
Joshua 5 tells us some important things: In these things we see Israel transitioning from a wilderness people to a nation living in the land Yahweh was giving them. As God continued to provide for them, they responded by with a heart-felt observance of His covenant commands. Things were on track for them. As GodContinue reading “That’s the Story (1)”
That’s the Story (2)
There are lots of lessons to learn from Joshua 6. Here are some of them: 1. The walls fell to servants, not lords. From beginning to end, God specified how He wanted everything to happen. Israel’s role was to carry out God’s commands. They weren’t in charge, He was. That is always the formula for victory.Continue reading “That’s the Story (2)”
Atonement
The Hebrew writer is involved in an extended discussion about the superiority of Jesus to the angels that begins in 1:4 and continues through 2:18. In 1:5-14, he quotes seven Old Testament texts to make his case. He then pauses in 2:1-4 to exhort his readers to “pay the most careful attention” to the messageContinue reading “Atonement”
New Territory
The book of Joshua reminds us of our Father’s faithfulness. Centuries before He had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob He would give their descendants the land of Canaan and that’s exactly what we see transpire in the book of Joshua. Israel crossed over the Jordan and took possession of the land—just as God had promised!Continue reading “New Territory”
Sabotaging the Sabbath?
The Sabbath had a restorative function and purpose—all the texts point to this. No one was to engage in work—no one in the family, their servants, their animals, or the foreigner residing among them. Just think about life in a subsistence culture where a day’s work was of critical importance and you’ll have some ideaContinue reading “Sabotaging the Sabbath?”
Egypt in the Rear View Mirror
Exodus 13:17-22 is an interesting text. It does what we anticipate—it updates us on the progress of Israel leaving Egypt (they’ve gone from Sukkoth to Etham), but it is also functions as an addendum to supplement the ongoing narrative. As such, it tells us three important things. First, we learn why God led Israel onContinue reading “Egypt in the Rear View Mirror”
Ready to be Used
As we come to Exodus 3, an indeterminate amount of time has elapsed since Joseph’s family moved to Egypt. More important than this gap of time though is the change in leadership that had occurred. Egypt was no longer ruled by a faith friendly pharaoh. Instead, they were ruled by a pharaoh “to whom JosephContinue reading “Ready to be Used”
A Midwife Crisis
While it’s true that when we think of the book of Exodus mothers don’t immediately pop into our minds, it is nonetheless the case that in addition to Jochebed, his mother, there were at least five other women who had a significant impact on Moses’ life. Two of these were Shiprah and Puah. They were HebrewContinue reading “A Midwife Crisis”
Celebrating Community
Do you recognize where these slogans come from? “Caring is part of our package.” “Find you family at . . . “ Did you guess Jack’s? If so, you only get partial credit because the business’s name is actually Jack’s Family Restaurants. In their branding as well as in their hiring, they want you to associateContinue reading “Celebrating Community”
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 