Samson is a messy character who meshes perfectly with the messy spirituality of the book of Judges. It’s easy to see the book of Judges as nothing more than Israel’s habitual inability to live right and God’s resulting chastisement. That’s certainly part of the story—but it’s not the only part. Why does God bother withContinue reading “Samson: Strong Man with a Weak Character”
Tag Archives: God
Samson: The Fighter Still Remains
Samson’s failure to live a God-directed life ended up bringing a lot of pain into his life. His failure to respect his Nazarite commitment in reference to Delilah left him blinded and in shackles grinding grain in a Philistine prison. He had fallen a long way from the angel’s glorious announcement about his birth. ButContinue reading “Samson: The Fighter Still Remains”
Showing Up
Israel had been under their thumb of King Jabin and the Canaanites. The writer of Judges tells us they had been “cruelly oppressed” at the hands of Jabin’s military leader—a man named Sisera (4:2). God allowed this to happen to His people because they had turned their backs on Him (v. 1-2). Their suffering andContinue reading “Showing Up”
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)”
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”
Happily Ever Laughter
It’s a little bit of an effort, but it’s certainly worth it to work through the chronology of Abraham. While we can read his story over a few pages and in a matter of minutes, the Genesis material covers 100 years of his life and it’s difficult to fully appreciate his faith or understand hisContinue reading “Happily Ever Laughter”
The God Who Believes in Man (2)
The book of Jonah provides a wonderfully rich case history of the God who believes in man. It begins with God commissioning Jonah to “Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me,” (Jonah 1:2). God’s purpose in sending Jonah was not to condemn but to convict the NinevitesContinue reading “The God Who Believes in Man (2)”
A Taste of Grace with Bruce Green 