Knowable Word

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Amos: God of Creation and Covenant

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Andrew M. King has a helpful article on the book of Amos, where he walks through the key themes of the book of Amos. His summary:

Though only in seed form, the book of Amos signals God’s redemptive purpose seen in the whole of Scripture. From beginning to end, the triune God of creation and covenant is shown to be faithful in judgment and salvation for the fame of his name.

King does a great job tracing the pieces of these themes throughout Amos’s prophecy. Accordingly, he is focusing more on the contents than on the argument of the book (the opposite of what I attempt to do in my interpretive book overviews). However, his piece is a great example of why it is also important to also understand the contents of the books we study.

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Context Matters: Dashing Little Ones Against the Rock

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Psalm 137:9 offers an alarming benediction on those engaged in a shockingly outrageous behavior: “Blessed shall he be who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock!” What is a serious student of the Bible to make of this, in light of Jesus’ welcoming of little children and his admonition to love one’s enemies?

Joe Palekas has a marvelous piece asking this very question. And to answer it, he takes a thorough tour of the context of Psalm 139:9. He looks at the literary context and train of thought in the poem itself. He looks at historical context when it was written. He looks at the larger literary context of the arrangement of psalms. He looks at the covenantal context, particularly in light of Isaiah’s predictions of the Day of the Lord to be brought against Babylon in Isaiah 13. Palekas looks at the context of the fulfillment in Christ. And he examines how all these contexts then lead us to application in our day and point in history.

In the end, he reaches the following conclusion:

Now Psalm 137 begins to become clearer. The community of exiles weeping by the waters of Babylon are calling for the day of the LORD. God has promised his covenant people that he will return them from exile and visit a just reward upon their captors. He promised this before he even sent them to exile. Psalm 137 contrasts the “day of Jerusalem” with the day of the LORD promised in Isaiah 13 and alluded to in Psalm 137:9. The astonishing and overwhelming image of dashing infants on the rocks is not the product of some twisted or vengeful human imagination. It is a call for God to be faithful to his covenant promises.

This is some terrific Bible study and contextual thinking at its finest. If you’ve ever wondered about that line about bashing babies on rocks, I encourage you to check it out. And if you’d like to see a skillful example of how context matters, I also encourage you to check it out!

Do Not Give Up Your Confidence in the Word

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Andree Seu Peterson makes a fabulous point for World magazine: The “logic” and argumentation of the world has grown so demented that any disagreement with accepted conclusions is considered unreasonable and immoral. But all hope is not lost, for the Apostle Paul dealt with the same kind of worldly “wisdom” in his day. “For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing” (1 Cor 1:18).

Peterson concludes:

I am going back to the simple Word. The Word that God says “is the power of God for salvation” (Romans 1:16). If any apologist for the New Think sexual mores comes at me with his fancy Oxford or Yale logic supposedly proving that perversion is enlightenment and enlightenment is perversion, I will make responses such as these:

“From the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female’” (Mark 10:6).

“Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come!” (Luke 17:1).

Hold tight the confidence that the Word of God has power—intrinsically—to change hearts. It will not return to Him empty.

Her piece is well worth your time and consideration. Check it out!

Three Good Things About Difficult Bible Passages

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L.T. Greer has a brief piece to help us when we come up against a difficult passage. Instead of yielding to the temptation to skip or ignore it, he encourages us to see how God might use it. He offers the following list of “Three Good Things About Difficult Bible Passages”:

  1. We learn about veracity of the Bible.
  2. We learn about our church’s relationship to the Bible.
  3. We learn about our own biases.

See his article for an explanation of these points, which I find rather compelling and motivating.

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An Honest Look at the Scriptures

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One of my greatest privileges at this blog is getting to share the space with one of my longest and closest friends, the sage essayist and mathematician, Ryan Higginbottom. Ryan also blogs at his own site A Small Work. If you haven’t been following him there, you really ought to consider it.

Ryan recently composed a wonderful piece called “The Weight and Wound of the Word,” a brief reflection on the piercing swordplay of Scripture well worth your time. Here is a taste:

While many today look to the Bible for comfort or inspiration, an honest look at the Scriptures reveals that not all of it was given for these purposes. If we randomly dip a ladle into the depths of Ezekiel, the brew that emerges is more likely to be sharp than sweet…

Some—perhaps much—of the Bible was given not for our comfort but for our discomfort. The Scriptures are profitable for reproof and correction, after all; they provoke, unsettle, and rebuke us. Far from harsh, this is a sign of God’s love. It is damaging for our souls—indeed, for our humanity—to turn against God in rebellion. The fact that he steers us away from sin and back to himself is evidence of his care.

Ryan goes on to describe some particular ways we may be prone to dulling the sharp edges of Scripture, thereby throwing ourselves in front of the Holy Spirit’s bulldozer. This is well worth your time and consideration.

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Let the Bible Speak!

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I appreciate this brief word from Amy K. Hall on the need to teach what the Bible says before attempting to teach how it applies. As she writes:

Remember that the Bible is primarily there to show us who God is and what Christ has done for us, giving us a 2,000-year history of his works, revealing his character, our purpose and need, and his solution. Sometimes, people who are teaching the Bible try much too hard to be brilliant, giving us their own insights into life rather than letting the brilliance of the Bible speak for itself. Let the Bible speak! I would rather hear one halting, inexperienced speaker show me God in a text of the Bible than hear 1,000 polished pastors give me their three-point, alliterated instructions for life, which are often only loosely based on the actual text.

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You Need Only Two for a Small Group

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Laura Denny has some encouraging thoughts on the usefulness of studying the Bible one-on-one.

First of all, one-on-one Bible study opens up opportunities to study the Bible with someone who may not be able to fit into a larger group. Consider those whose schedule is not conducive to a weekly study, who may have social anxiety or concerns, or those who are housebound (like many of us experienced this past year!). If someone is new to the idea of Bible study, they also may be more likely to say yes to an invite if it’s just you, someone they’re comfortable with already.

While larger groups may have the advantage of more input and interaction, a one-on-one setting provides more opportunity—in time and attention—for asking questions and fully understanding difficult ideas and passages. I’m less afraid to admit that I came up completely blank on an answer, or that I’m really struggling to understand or agree with something I’m learning, if it’s to only one person and not a whole group. Yet I also found I’m more likely to put more thought and effort into my study and come up with more thorough answers when I know there’s only two of us in the group.

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Why Obadiah is Important for the Church

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James Street wrote a marvelous piece overviewing the brief prophecy of Obadiah and explaining why it is important for us to continue studying and teaching today. He explains the historical context (without which the book will be terribly confusing) before walking through the book under three chief questions:

  1. How far will God’s love go? – 1-9
  2. How long will God’s love last? – 10-16
  3. How good will God’s love get? – 17-21

This book makes quite a contribution to our understanding of God’s love for his people, and is well worth your time. As is Street’s helpful analysis.

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Sample Sermon on Acts 27

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A few weeks ago, I described the process by which I came to a richer understanding of the structure and main point of Paul’s shipwreck narrative in Acts 27, thanks to the help of my colleague Tom Hallman. Well, Tom just preached his sermon on that text this past Sunday, and I think he knocked it out of the park. Some of you might be interested in seeing how he did it.

Here is a link to the audio of the sermon. (We don’t record video for sermons.) Sadly, the sermon’s introduction was lost, so the recording begins with the reading of the first portion of the text. But the sermon is still worth your time, if you’re so inclined to see how this opaque text can be taught compellingly using the essential tools of OIA study.

As you listen, you’ll want to make sure to have a map handy so you can visualize the narrated events. Here is a free one for your convenience.

Photo credit: Sweet Publishing / FreeBibleimages.org, Creative Commons