Knowable Word - Bible study help

10. How to Recognize Sowers of Discord

Despite many changes both higher and lower on this list, this post sits at exactly the same spot as last year. This post outlines from Proverbs 6:12-15 a few signs to help recognize divisive people. This post comes from Peter’s 2013 series of studies through the first 9 chapters of Proverbs.

9. Top 10 OT Books Quoted in NT

This post was in the #6 slot the last two years. Though it comes from a series that analyzes not only books but also chapters and verses, this list of most-quoted books always seems to be one of the most popular.

8. 11 Old Testament Books Never Quoted in the New Testament

This post reappears after dropping out of last year’s top 10. It comes from the same six-part series—mentioned in the previous entry—analyzing every NT citation of an OT text. It’s interesting that one of the most popular posts in that series is about the OT books that never get a direct quotation.

7. Summary of the OIA Method

Just as the title says, this post summarizes the OIA method we aim to teach. It’s basically the reason this blog exists, so we’re glad it gets a lot of page views. This is down from #5 last year.

6. Context Matters: Apart From Me, You Can Do Nothing

This investigation of John 15 makes its debut on the top 10 list. This “context matters” post does not suggest any drastic rethinking of the popular use of the verse in question; it largely shows how rich and deep our grasp can go when the verse is read without isolating it from its context.

5. 4 Bible Studies for Lent

This post didn’t make the list last year but is a companion piece to Ryan’s 4 Bible studies for Advent. Lent is a great time to study the Bible, and here are four 6.5-week studies you could consider for that season. Be forewarned, however: These are not your typical you-can-only-trust-the-experts, fill-in-the-blank sort of Bible studies you may be used to.

4. Context Matters: God Will Give You the Desires of Your Heart

This is our most-viewed “context matters” post of all time. However, in 2021 alone it was viewed just a shade fewer times than the next one on this list. In this post, Ryan takes a close look at what Psalm 34 really means by this clause, which unsurprisingly is not that a person can get whatever he or she wants.

3. Context Matters: You Have Heard That it was Said…But I Say to You

This three-and-a-half-year-old post was #9 on this list last year, but has gotten quite a bit of attention this year, just barely edging out the previous entry with nearly 21,000 views. This post examines the series of contrasts in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount to determine, from the context, what Jesus was arguing against. Hint: It wasn’t the Old Testament Law.

2. Why Elihu is So Mysterious

The popularity of this 2015 post continues to surprise us. We really cannot explain why it has been so popular, but if you haven’t read it, you must really be missing out! That’s why we reposted it during a blogger’s vacation week in June. Elihu is that mysterious 4th friend in the book of Job. If you even knew he existed, chances are you’ve skipped his speeches entirely. This post is Peter’s attempt to explain Elihu’s role in the drama of the play of Job. This post was #3 in 2017, but then held the #1 slot until this year, despite being viewed almost 38,000 times.

1. 10 Reasons to Avoid Sexual Immorality

This was the most-viewed post in 2014, but then it dropped off the list until resurfacing as #8 in 2017 and #2 in 2018 and 2019. It dropped slightly to #3 in 2020, but simply went off the charts in 2021 with over 51,000 views. We’re delighted to see a continued interest in such an important topic. Find whatever motivates you to avoid sexual immorality, and glum onto God’s grace in providing that motivation!

Previous years’ lists: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013

Share or follow:

Not Even to be Named

December 29, 2021 By Peter Krol

John Piper is simply a master at observing the grammar and logic of a passage to discern its argument. Here is an example, where he looks at Ephesians 5:3-7, asking the questions:

What does it mean for these sins not to be “named”?
How does the phrase “as is proper among the saints” fit into the sentence’s logic?
How are we to apply these things today?

Check it out!

Share or follow:

10. Arise, My Love, My Beautiful One, and Come Away

No joke: Peter was short on time one week, and he didn’t have the luxury of thinking too long or hard about what topic to blog about. So he figured he’d just share some quick insights from his personal Bible study earlier that week, to give people a window into his observation of an unusual passage. And…it became the tenth most-viewed post of the year, spawning follow-ups showing his interpretation and application of the same text. Both of us are often mystified by the seeming lack of connection between how popular we think a post will be and how popular it actually ends up being.

9. Context Matters: In the World but not Of the World

“Context matters” has become something of a rallying cry for us at this blog, because … context matters. And this phrase in particular—”in the world but not of the world”—is something you won’t even find in the Bible. It’s just not there. But happily, it remains a very biblical sentiment, as Ryan shows by taking us to two passages in John’s gospel that are the sources of the slogan’s two parts.

8. Psalm 103: Everlasting, Steadfast Love Toward Those Who Fear the Lord

Ryan walks through one of most beloved and memorable poems in the Bible, showing us why it is so beloved and memorable. And modeling the riches of OIA Bible study for us along the way.

7. What We Miss When We Skip the Book of Numbers

Of course the mathematician among us wants people to give more attention to Numbers. He’s got some pretty compelling reasons, though. You can count on it.

6. Context Matters: The Man of Lawlessness

Context matters yet again, and not for the last time on this list. 2 Thessalonians 2 is a really great passage to use to shake people up and alarm them. That is, if your goal is to work precisely against the author’s stated intention.

5. Acts: The World’s Salvation Cannot be Stopped

Acts was one of the books we covered this year in our periodic series of interpretive book overviews. Our goal with this series is not only to give historical and cultural background to the books of the Bible, but to walk through the author’s argument in line with the literary devices he uses to signal the book’s structure. This walkthrough of Acts has been the most-viewed post in the series to date, with the walkthrough of Job coming in second.

4. Advice About Hard Bible Passages from the Bible

Not only is this post the fourth most-viewed post we wrote this year, but also it has had less than 2 months of life to attain its place on this list! It is a fact that there are parts of the Bible that are difficult to understand. But the Lord has graciously given us help—in the Bible itself—for approaching these passages with humility and hope.

3. 10 Truths About the Holy Spirit from Romans 8

The Holy Spirit is a major running theme through one of Bible’s most famous chapters. But he often doesn’t get a lot of press when we study that chapter. So here are 10 truths to meditate on from this glorious text.

2. Context Matters: God’s Mercies are New Every Morning

This was a year of lament for Ryan as his small group studied the book of Lamentations. And we can all be grateful, for it provoked him to write some gems of reflection such as our second most-viewed post written this year. Yes, God’s mercies are new every morning. Many people would be surprised, though, to learn that verse comes from the book of Lamentations. Some might be even more surprised to discover how the literary context affects the way we ought to understand that verse. Context matters. (And for more than 50 further examples of why context matters, see our full list of posts.)

1. 5 Reasons to Read Your Bible Beyond Practical Application

Earlier in the year, Ryan wrote about the rut we tend to fall into when we live only for the practical application, and we cannot get beyond the big three: read your Bible, pray more, and reach out to unbelievers. Those are three great applications, but making detailed, practical application is not the only reason to read your Bible. More often than not, stuff happens when you read your Bible that you can’t immediately see or feel. But the unseen effect of shaping a person, shaping a culture, is a glorious goal worth working toward. So don’t feel guilty if you don’t come away from a Bible reading session with something amazing, concrete, and life-changing. What happened while you read was amazing, concrete, and life-changing enough.

Previous years’ top tens: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017

Share or follow:

Arise My Love — Part 3: Application

December 17, 2021 By Peter Krol

I’ve already shown you some of my observation and interpretation of Song of Songs 2:8-3:5, which led me to the following as the poet’s main point: A couple’s purpose in pursuing a romantic relationship ought to be the movement from separated togetherness to the mutual possession of marriage. Now it’s time to connect this main point to the gospel of Jesus Christ so I can apply it to today.

Gospel Connection

I try to avoid following my imagination from any old detail in the text to the message about Jesus. Instead, an important discipline to develop is to reflect on how the main point of the passage directs us to the gospel. In the case of the Song of Songs, I do not want to ignore or bypass a literal reference of the text to human relationships. But I also can’t avoid the fact that the Bible clearly describes how human relationships are meant to be pictures of God’s relationship with his people (e.g. Hos 1-3, Eph 5:22-33).

Therefore, the clear and selfless direction of a godly romance (toward the mutual possession of marriage) ought to be a signpost pointing the way to Jesus’ clear and selfless pursuit of his bride, the church. When Jesus invites people into a relationship with him, he’s not messing with them from selfish motives, but he’s wooing them into a covenant of mutual possession. He became a man and died to overcome our separation from him, so we can now be his forever. Because of his pursuit, through death and resurrection, the chief promise of God’s covenant is now fulfilled; the Song’s “my beloved is mine and I am his” becomes our “he is our God and we are his people.”

Application

Now that we’ve considered the main point through the lens of the gospel, how will I apply it today? Application is always tricky because it depends so much on context. And my context — situation, circumstances — differs from yours.

But here’s what has struck me as I’ve studied this text: I’m mostly impacted by it personally in the outward heart and outward hands boxes on the application matrix. In particular, I have an opportunity show my children the problems with the world’s way of mating, and to show them the delightful glory of God’s plans for his people. I want to dig into this passage with my children to show them how delightful God’s plan for mating is. I want to expose the failure of the world to find true delight in exchange for cheap counterfeits (hooking up, one-night stands, etc.). I want to draw the connection between how we mate as Christians, and what that tells the world about Christ’s love for his people.

In particular, we don’t date people just to feel close to them or to have fun being together. We date in order to purse a clear and selfless direction toward marriage. That is, the purpose of dating (or whatever we want to call it) is to discover whether marriage is a good idea.

And we can navigate the ups and downs and awkwardness of human romance because we stand fast in the reality that Christ is ours and we are his. He will never let us down, reject us, or break up with those who trust him.

Share or follow:

Leaving a Legacy of Bible Reading

December 15, 2021 By Peter Krol

Sarah Humphrey has a lovely piece on developing a culture of Bible reading within the home that will stay with our children when they move on.

As we lead children into the Word, the best way for them to actually become interested is by seeing us already invested. I can tell my kids to practice the piano all day long, but it’s when I sit down at the bench to play that they come and sit with me. I can encourage them to make their own toast each morning, but it’s when I show them how, that they feel empowered to make their own breakfast. Teaching the Bible is no different. It comes with the patience, explanation, and the beauty of storytelling that will engage and interest them by showing them the worth of what is inside.

Check it out!

Share or follow:

Arise, My Love — Part 2: Interpretation

December 10, 2021 By Peter Krol

In a previous post, I pulled back the curtain on my observation of Song of Solomon 2:7-3:5, yielding the following structure:

Song 2:8-9 – her (daydreaming?) delight in the voice of her beloved
- Song 2:10-15 – the contents of her beloved’s voice
  - Song 2:10-13 – Arise and come away
  - Song 2:14-15 – Come out and catch up
- Song 2:16-17 – her declaration of mutual possession with her beloved
Song 3:1-4 – her dream of seeking and finding the one her soul loves
- Song 3:5 – her oath for the other young women not to stir up love yet

Now I’d like to show you how I move further into interpretation and application.

Her Daydream

The chief goal of interpretation is to arrive at the poet’s main point. And to grasp the main point of the entire poem, it helps to first grasp the main points of each of the stanzas. So I investigate each stanza with the chief goal in mind: What is the main idea here?

Song 2:8-9: Why is her leading statement regarding “the voice” — and not the character, presence, or intimacy — “of my beloved”? Apparently, she is very much looking forward to what he will say to her in Song 2:10-15. What she daydreams about is those things he will say to her. But in these introductory verses, the emphasis is on the distance between them. He comes … He stands behind … gazing through … looking through … A barrier of miles separates them at first. And even when he arrives at her home, a barrier of brick and mortar continues to separate them. So she wants him close, but he can’t get too close yet.

Photo by **Maksim Kolykhanov** from **Pexels**

Song 2:10-13: The bookends on his first stanza appear to be the main idea: “Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away” (Song 2:10, 13). Everything in between is in support, providing the reasons he believes will persuade her to come away with him. For him, it is no longer time to avoid awakening love (Song 2:7); the season for love is in full bloom. It’s as though he says [translated into modern jargon]: “I like you. Do you like me? Check one: YES or NO.”

Song 2:14-15: The second stanza of his speech continues his persuasion. First, he proves to be a patient and gentle suitor, cherishing her like a precious dove hiding within the cliffside. Second, he asks for help with finding the things that will spoil their vineyards. Commentaries inform me that the verbs in v.15 are plural, so he is no longer talking to her alone, but to a group of others — most likely the daughters of Jerusalem. And it doesn’t matter whether verse 15 is spoken by the man (as suggested by the ESV headings) or the woman (as suggested by CSB headings): either way, the point is that this couple invites others to hold them accountable and help them protect one another’s bodies (as “vineyards” have been metaphors of bodies thus far in the Song – Song 1:6, 2:14).

Song 2:16-17: She describes their relationship as one of mutual possession of one another (v.16), which sounds a lot like the arrival and consummation of marriage. However, in v.17, she wants him to “turn” and do his gazelle-thing on cleft mountains — at least until the morning comes. Some think the “cleft mountains” are a metaphor for her breasts. This makes sense, as his gazelle-ness on mountains is clearly a picture of marital bliss in Song 8:14. However, in Song 2:17, the main verb is the imperative to “turn.” And the reference to “mountains” connects back to where he came from (Song 2:8). So it’s more likely that, in contrast to chapter 8, in this poem she recognizes that marriage has not yet come. They are not yet married, and they must say goodbye at the end of their time together.

Main Point of Song 2:8-17: This relationship is not yet a marriage relationship, but it is clearly heading in that direction. She daydreams about his invitation to join her in the season of awakening love. But though it is spring time, it is not yet morning. They are beginning to “possess” one another (to treat one another differently from how they treat others), but they are not yet fully there. Separate togetherness is the unfortunate reality of their relationship (Song 2:8-9). He makes a risk request (Song 2:10-15). She has clarity on the desired, though not yet present, result (Song 2:16-17).

Her Dream

Song 3:1-4: We now move into a full-fledged dream, as she “seeks” him on her bed by night. She can’t find him in her bed (Song 3:1). She can’t find him in the streets (Song 3:2). She can’t find him among the night watchmen (Song 3:3). But when she finally finds him, she clings to him and refuses to let go (Song 3:4). Until she brings him into her mother’s chamber (apparently quite romantic and not awkward at all in that culture) — so her dream’s end goal is the full consummation of marriage. She doesn’t want to have to say goodbye at the end of the evening any longer!

Main point of Song 3:1-4: She aligns her dreams for the relationship with the direction in which it ought to head: toward marriage and the intimacy of the marriage bed.

Her Charge

Song 3:5: She puts the young women of Jerusalem under oath not to enter this season of love until the right time. She understands how difficult and stressful that can be, but she understands how much it is worth it.

Main point of Song 3:5: Forsake all counterfeits to such love (which is heading in the direction of God-honoring marriage).

Conclusion

I’ve written this post according to the stream of my consciousness as I worked to figure out the main point of each stanza. But I’ve arrived at the following interpretive outline:

Godly relationships pursue a clear and selfless direction – Song 2:8-17
1. The unfortunate reality of separate togetherness – Song 2:8-9
2. The risky request to join the season of awakening love – Song 2:10-15
3. The desired result of marital possession, which is almost but not yet here – Song 2:16-17
Align your dreams of romance with that direction – Song 3:1-4
Forsake all counterfeits – Song 3:5

How does all of this add up into a main point for the entire poem? Main point: A couple’s purpose in pursuing a romantic relationship ought to be the movement from separated togetherness to the mutual possession of marriage.

In a future post, I’ll walk through my thinking on connecting this main point to the gospel of Jesus Christ, and then applying it to today.

Share or follow:

Wrestling With the God Presented in the Book of Job

December 8, 2021 By Peter Krol

Not long ago, John Piper received a very challenging question over how to grapple with the God presented in the book of Job:

Pastor John, my 14-year-old daughter read through the book of Job for the first time this year, and she is really struggling with how God is portrayed in that book. She has heard all of her life that God is loving and just, and cannot understand why God would allow Job and his children, wife, and servants to suffer such devastation. She’s deeply disturbed by the fact that God pointed Job out to Satan intentionally, thus drawing his attention to this righteous man, allowing Satan to take away nearly everything Job had. And for what purpose? Merely to prove a point to Satan and the host of heaven that Job’s reverence for God was unshakable.

Piper masterfully walks through the process of learning to define just and unjust, right and wrong, not from our own perspectives but as creatures of Almighty God who defines such things for us. And this Almighty God always acts on behalf of his own supreme glory and the good of his people.

Piper’s response is a helpful example of how to wrestle through difficult texts in light of the message of the Scriptures. Check it out!

Share or follow:

The Overlooked Origin Story of Jesus

December 6, 2021 By Ryan Higginbottom

As the calendar flips to December, many Christian churches turn to the birth story of Jesus in their teaching and preaching. And though there are four Gospels, one is far underrepresented from the pulpit during this season.

Matthew and Luke both contain the narratives about Jesus’s birth, so the early chapters of these Gospels are in heavy rotation for sermons. We hear from the opening verses of John as well, as the lyrical description of Jesus as the Word made flesh practically jumps off the page. All the while, Mark’s Gospel seems to stay closed.

Beginnings Matter

Beginnings matter, particularly the beginnings of books of the Bible. There the author has the chance to frame their work and set up their argument.

For the sake of this article, let’s refer to “Act 1” of each gospel as all that precedes the beginning of Jesus’s public ministry. What does Act 1 of each gospel look like?

In Matthew, Act 1 stretches through Matt 4:11, a total of 76 verses. There, we read Jesus’s genealogy (Matt 1:1–17), his birth (Matt 1:18–25), the visit of the magi (Matt 2:1–12), the flight to Egypt to avoid Herod’s murderous decree (Matt 2:13–23), John preparing the way for Jesus (Matt 3:1–12), Jesus’s baptism (Matt 3:13–17), and Jesus’s temptation by Satan (Matt 4:1-11). Along the way, a careful reader will notice just how much Matthew’s narrative is driven by fulfilling Old Testament prophecies.

Act 1 of Luke is the longest of all, lasting until Luke 4:13, a total of 183 verses. After his dedication (Luke 1:1–4), Luke writes about the predictions of John’s (Luke 1:5–25) and Jesus’s (Luke 1:26–38) births, Mary’s visit to Elizabeth and song of praise (Luke 1:39–56), John’s birth and his father’s prophecy (Luke 1:67–80), Jesus’s birth and the immediate reaction (Luke 2:1–21), Jesus’s presentation at the temple (Luke 2:22–40), his twelve-year-old venture to the temple (Luke 2:41–52), John preparing the way for Jesus (Luke 3:1–22), Jesus’s genealogy (Luke 3:23–38), and Jesus’s temptation by Satan (Luke 4:1–13). In these opening chapters, Luke shows how God’s blessing is extended beyond physical Israel.

Act 1 of John is shorter, only the first 34 verses of chapter 1. There we read of the Word made flesh (John 1:1–18) and the testimony of John the Baptist (John 1:19–34). After this, Jesus calls his first disciples and followers (John 1:35–51) and then performs his first miracle at the wedding at Cana (John 2:1–12).

Compared to these accounts, Act 1 in Mark is miniscule, a mere 13 verses.

Act 1 in Mark

If you haven’t already read Peter’s excellent interpretive outline of Mark, by golly do so post haste. Mark’s aim throughout his Gospel is to show Jesus as God’s king. In the opening act of his book, Mark introduces us to Jesus so that we will see this king.

One of Jesus’s titles in Mark 1:1 is “the Son of God,” a royal title that looks back to 2 Samuel 7:12–16. This king has a long-promised messenger going before him, preparing the way of the Lord (Mark 1:2–3). This messenger, though looking a little rough, was in the wilderness baptizing, preaching, and telling of the glorious one to come (Mark 1:4–8).

Mark doesn’t spend a lot of time in character development. In the same way that John “appeared” (John 1:4), Jesus simply showed up and was baptized (Mark 1:9–11). No human backstory accompanies either man, and yet we do hear from Jesus’s father at his baptism. A voice from heaven calls him “beloved Son” and says “with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11).

The Spirit that came upon Jesus at his baptism (Mark 1:10) then drove him into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan (Mark 1:12–13). There is quite a cosmic hue to this initial chapter, as we read about the Spirit, Satan, and angels (Mark 1:13).

Finally, John was arrested and Jesus begins to proclaim “the gospel of God” (Mark 1:14). Notice that Jesus is taking part of his preaching cue from John (compare Mark 1:15 to Mark 1:4).

Jesus’s Origin in Mark

The opening to Mark’s Gospel doesn’t make Advent sense. We don’t know what to do with a story that jumps so quickly into the action at a time where the church calendar says we should be learning to wait.

But because Mark’s is one of the four Gospels, this is one of the ways we should think about Jesus’s beginning. He had a royal herald smooth the way before him and let everyone know of his greatness (Mark 1:7). Jesus was anointed for his kingly mission with water and the Spirit, and he was declared the beloved Son of God, the king (Mark 1:11). He was victorious over the devil in the wilderness and ministered to by the angels (Mark 1:13).

Finally, at the end of Act 1 in Mark, Jesus himself sums up his origin story and his enduring message: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mark 1:15).

Share or follow:

Big Bible Words: Atonement

December 3, 2021 By Peter Krol

Stephen McGrath (2009), Creative Commons

I have a dream. Not a compelling-vision-for-the-future sort of dream, but a sleeping-in-my-bed sort of dream. And I have this dream often.

In my dream, I am my current self (married with children), but I’m also a full-time college student. The semester is half-over, and I come to realize that I’ve forgotten a class. I’ve been faithfully attending most classes, but there’s one course I completely forgot. I never went to class. I haven’t taken any exams. I haven’t read the books or written the papers.

And I missed the deadline for dropping the class. So I’m now stuck with an abysmal grade.

But that’s not all. In my dream, when I discover the neglected class, I try to rectify the situation by attending the next scheduled class period. And when I arrive, something else comes to my attention.

I’m wearing nothing but my underwear.

We Need Covering

I cannot overstate the relief I feel when I wake from this dream. Few things are worse than an I’m-neglecting-significant-areas-of-responsibility dream. One such thing is an I’m-utterly-exposed-and-can-do-nothing-about-it dream.

When Adam and his wife ate the forbidden fruit, they knew their guilt and felt exposed. Their gut instinct was to cover up. So they tried fig-leaf briefs, and they ran and hid (Gen 3:7-9).

The Lord exposed them further so he could help. He coaxed them out from hiding and talked through the problem. He promised to deliver them. Then he covered them. He took their pitiful fruits of the loom and replaced them with his own fur and leather body suits (Gen 3:21). He uncovered their coverings that couldn’t cover and covered them instead with coverings that truly covered.

And so began humanity’s need for divine covering. Because of sin, exposure brings shame. But the Bible paints picture after picture of God’s merciful act of covering.

Noah’s sons cover the shame of their senseless father (Gen 9:23).
God allows Moses to see his glory, but only after covering him with a protective hand (Ex 33:20-23).
David didn’t cover his own sin (Ps 32:5) but trusted God to cover it for him (Ps 5:12, 27:5, 32:1).
One mark of a loving friend is the covering of offenses (Prov 10:12, 17:9).
Those who reject Christ will feel so exposed that they’ll seek any covering they can find (Luke 23:30, Rev 6:16).
True believers are clothed with Christ (Gal 3:27).

The primary Old Testament word for this covering is “atonement.” Can you explain atonement in plain language?

We Need Atonement

The Old Testament uses the term “atonement” often to describe the covering of sin and shame or guilt. Sometimes we use “atonement” interchangeably with “reconciliation” or “restoration,” but its primary meaning has to do with covering (though reconciliation is the general result of atonement).

The best place to look at the concept is Leviticus 16, which describes the annual Day of Atonement.

On the Day of Atonement, the high priest would take a bull to “make atonement” for himself. He would kill the bull for his own sin (Lev 16:11), burn incense (Lev 16:12-13), and splash the bull’s blood on the ark of the covenant in the most private room of the tabernacle (Lev 16:14). The incense would create a cloud to cover the ark, so the priest would not be exposed and die (Lev 16:13). The splashed bull’s blood substituted for the priest’s own blood. When there’s sin, someone must die. But the priest was covered.

Then the purified priest would get two goats. One would live; one would die.

The dead goat would also be taken into the private chamber and splashed on the ark of the covenant (Lev 16:15). Then the priest would go back to the outer room and splash the blood on the altar where he burned the incense (Lev 16:16-19). This ceremony would “make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel” (Lev 16:16). With everything sufficiently covered, he’s ready for the live goat.

He’d put his hands on the live goat and confess all the sins of Israel. This goat, figuratively covered with the sins of all the people, would be taken out and set free in the wilderness (Lev 16:20-22).

All throughout, the priest must be very careful about his clothes (Lev 16:4, 23-24). The priest must not be improperly covered.

What is the point?

Atonement involves the covering of our impurity so we can be reconciled to God.
This covering must come from God and not ourselves. Even the Old Testament priests needed to be covered themselves before they could help to cover the people.
This covering requires a substitute.
This substitute must be both dead and alive (thus requiring two goats).

Jesus Our Atonement

All these things teach us about Jesus. Jesus came and took our place. He both died and was raised. He now covers us with his righteousness so our sin won’t ever be held against us.

And he didn’t need his own covering (Heb 7:27). No, he was stripped naked so he could provide our covering (John 19:23-24).

Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness (Heb 9:19-22). And those who have been covered by Christ’s blood wait for him to return and bring their final salvation (Heb 9:27-28).

Trust in Jesus, and his promise of atonement is: “I’ve got you covered.”

Share or follow:

Context Matters: Have We Not All One Father?

December 1, 2021 By Peter Krol

Malachi 2:10 is a verse that many cults and spiritual gurus use to show that every member of the human race is a child of God, a member of his holy family.

Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us?

Bill Muehlenberg simply takes us to the context of this verse to show us that there’s something much different going on in the prophet’s train of thought.

Check it out!

Share or follow:

« Previous Page