Psalm 41 Meditation: Genesis – Joseph’s reaction to his dreams is puzzling. Why, if you know that your brothers already are jealous and hate you, would you tell them about dreams you had where they are metaphorically bowing down to you? Most people would call that taunting or bragging. If you had a younger sibling …
Tag: Israel
Sunday, February 7
Psalm 93, 96 Meditation: Genesis – The blessing Rebekah’s family bestows upon her, while it may seem fairly generic for her travels and wedding, perfectly foreshadows the expansion of Israel. Rebekah becomes the mother of Jacob, who is given the name ‘Israel’ by God. She is the grandmother of the Twelve Tribes of Israel and …
Wednesday, December 6
Epiphany Psalm 97 Meditation: Matthew –Israel had been expecting a mighty warrior to ride into Jerusalem one day and kick all of the Romans and non-Jewish people out of the city. Apparently, they had forgotten that Isaiah had prophesied that the Messiah would not be noticeable until he established justice on earth. “…a smoldering wick …
Saturday, December 26
Psalms: 18 Meditation Acts: Today, the Church celebrates the life of Deacon Stephen, the first martyr (or “witness”). We can make several assumptions about Stephen: he was a Greek; burdened with the welfare of the Greek widows and orphans; an evangelist. Acts 7 covers Stephen’s last day on earth and recounts his sermon to the …
Friday, December 4
Psalms: 22 Meditation Jude: This “general” epistle of Jude has all the earmarks of an impending judgment very much like those visited upon Israel and Judah in Old Testament days. Jude talks of godless men who change the grace of God into a license to be immoral. I suspect this is true of any age …
Wednesday, December 2
Psalms: 19 Meditation Amos: Amos was a sheep breeder or shepherd from Judah sent to prophesy to Israel during the time of King Jeroboam II in about 754 B.C. He does not see himself as a prophet but as one burdened and outraged by the sin (idolatry) he witnesses in Samaria. The greatest sin was …
Wednesday, September 23
Psalms: 78:40-72 Meditation 2 Kings: This reading covers a series of miracles performed by Elisha. The first was that a borrowed axe head could be retrieved from the Jordan (it floated); the second was that the LORD told Elisha the king of Aram’s plans, who then told the king of Israel; the third was that …
Sunday, September 20
Psalm: 34 Meditation 2 Kings: The lives of Elijah and Elisha have too many parallels as to make it difficult often to distinguish between the two. This is a case in point. While the details differ, the story is essentially the same: a young man dies, and the man of God raises him from the …
Wednesday, July 8
Psalms: 119:1-24 Meditation 1 Samuel: By this time Samuel had managed to inch his way up to the top of King Saul’s “most wanted” list. Samuel goes to Bethlehem to anoint whom the LORD had chosen as the next king of Israel. That king was to come from Jesse’s house. Jesse had 8 sons, and …
Wednesday, June 10
Psalm: 119:121-144 Meditation Deuteronomy: For our purposes the meaningful objective of the passage shows up in Deut. 31:19: ”Now write down for ourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites and have them the sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them.” This ode is sung principally so the …
