The chapter began with Hannah’s prayer when she brought Samuel to the temple. God had given Hannah the gift of a son. And I think that most people’s prayer would be something along the lines of, “Thank you, God, for giving me this boy.” But instead of focusing on the gift, Hannah is praising the…
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I’m sure you noticed that these two chapters were not written by Solomon. We don’t really know any more about either Agur, mentioned as the source of the words in chapter 30, or Lemuel from chapter 31, than what is said in the text. Chapter 30 talked about fools and evil people, chapter 31 described…
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Paul’s closing comments to the Corinthian church are a bit of a mixed bag. In responding to those who seem to be swayed by the false teachers in their midst who have questioned Paul’s authority, he defends his apostleship in relating how God gave him a vision some fourteen years earlier, in which Paul was…
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Today we begin the book of 1 Samuel. Now, while this is still in the history section of the OT, we are really making a transition from the time of the Judges to what will be the time of the Kings. First and Second Samuel are not written by Samuel, but 1 Samuel is primarily…
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Chapter 29, verse 18 said, “Where there is no understanding of the Word of the Lord, the people do whatever they want to, but happy is he who keeps the law.” The NIV renders it this way: “Where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint; but blessed is the one who heeds wisdom’s instruction.”…
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What’s happening here is Paul is addressing the matter of a false preacher in their midst who had been saying that Paul was not who or what he said he was. And this false preacher was trying to bring false teaching into the church. Remember, the church was still very young. This was only a…
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I used to listen to political talk radio and watch political TV talk shows. But I got tired of the arguing back and forth. And I noticed that no matter how logical or well-thought-out an argument was (on either side), seldom (if ever) was an opponent persuaded to listen objectively. And often, both sides ended…
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Our first chapter today, Chapter 7, began with the word “Therefore”. In studying the Bible, it’s a good practice to, whenever you see that word, ask yourself, “What’s the therefore there for?” Let’s look again at the first sentence of the chapter. Paul writes, “Therefore, since we have these promises, dear friends…” What promises? We…
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As we begin the week, we also begin the short, lovely book of Ruth. This book is still considered one of the OT books of history, but it is very unlike the others in that there are no accounts of wars or laws or politics. It takes place during the times of the judges and…
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Number 25 sounded prophetical, didn’t it? It sounds like it was meant for the holocaust. Listen again to verses 11 and 12: Save those who are being led away to death. Hold back those who are about to be killed. Don’t say, “But we didn’t know anything about this.” The One who knows what you…
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