At the outset of His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ was tempted by Satan in the wilderness. This is a familiar story to many of us but there is greater significance that we can glean from this event in Christ’s life beyond what we learned in Sunday school. The Gospel of John does not mention Christ’s …
In 2010 the theologian John Stott published a book called The Radical Disciple. The subtitle was Some Neglected Aspects of Our Calling. This brief book laid out eight aspects of Christian discipleship that Stott perceived as being “neglected” by and large in the modern, particularly Western, church. The keystone Bible verse in Stott’s work was …
A few articles back I started a thematic series called “Our Blessed Hope”, exploring the subject of eschatology (the study of “last things”). In the first installment, I examined the binding of Satan and Christ’s victory over the Devil and His plundering of Satan’s house. As we look to the Bible and read what it …
With this installment, we will close our examination of Leviticus 14. We pick up in v. 33: The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “When you come into the land of Canaan, which I give you for a possession, and I put a case of leprous disease in a house in the land of your possession, then he who …
The House of God, Cleansed (Leviticus 14 Commentary Pt. 3) Read More »
Revelation is perhaps one of the most confusing books of the Bible. And anyone who tells you otherwise often attracts skepticism and distrust due to their certainty in interpretation. Due to its heavy symbolism we need to be faithful and mature in our study of Revelation. We must not simplify it or sensationalize it. We …
I’m going to pick up my verse-by-verse walkthrough of Leviticus 14 in v. 8. This installment will cover vv. 8-32. But first, a quick note of reminder about why we’re in Leviticus 14 in the first place: This all started when I was reading through the book of Leviticus in my morning devotions. As I …
Anointed with Blood and Oil (Leviticus 14 Commentary Pt. 2) Read More »
Eschatology, the study of the “last things” in theology, was a periphery concern of mine for many years. I self-identified as “pan-mil”, i.e. holding that everything would “pan out” in the end when Jesus came back and I left the details to the end times preachers and scholars. Recently, I’ve found a fascination and interest …
Leviticus. It’s often the bane of yearly Bible-reading plans. It can be a confusing book filled with laws, rituals, and ceremonial statutes that make reading a difficult exercise. But Paul reminds Timothy that “all scripture is breathed out by God” and that it is profitable for us. Leviticus can be intimidating but when we read …
Two Birds, Outside the Camp (Leviticus 14 Commentary Pt. 1) Read More »
Perhaps you’ve heard the discussion surrounding a recent opinion article in the New York Times, written by David Brooks, titled “The Dissenters Trying to Save Evangelicalism From Itself”. Even if you haven’t seen the article or listened in on the debate surrounding it, it’s been hard to miss the growing division in the American church …
Do you ever wish that God spoke and worked in our own time as He did in the Old Testament or in the days of the original Apostles? We have probably all, at one time or another, found ourselves wishing for this. We may be facing a difficult decision and we crave the straightforward clarity …
