Fifty days after the exodus from Egypt, the people of Israel arrived at the foot of Mt. Sinai, where God specifically set apart the worshiping community and gave instructions for how he desired to be worshiped, serving as the formative era of Israelite worship and history. This encounter is on God’s initiative. The people don’t… Continue Reading
Week 33: Babylon Invades Judah Weekly memory verse: Psalm 86:11 – “Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.” Weekly hymn: “Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken” (free download) Weekly catechism: What is sanctification? Sanctification is the work of God’s Spirit by which… Continue Reading
Week 31: The Fall of Israel Weekly memory verse: Romans 5:1 – “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Weekly hymn: “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing” (free download) Weekly catechism: What is justification? Justification is an act of God’s free grace in… Continue Reading
The nation of Israel was a union of the Universal and Redemptive rules of God on earth, but as we saw last week, the nation’s disobedience and indifference resulted in a termination of that union when God’s Shekinah glory departed from the Temple. This does not cancel God’s promise that one day the two kingdoms… Continue Reading
Last week I began a series looking at Psalm 137. I am going to do two things with the psalm; first, I will look at the psalm, and then I would like to look through the psalm and allow it to speak to us today. So let us begin by looking at Psalm 137. The psalm… Continue Reading
Does the nation Israel have a future as a people of God? From the time Israel was constituted as a people, God foretold that the nation would disobey and come under judgment. Israel would lose God’s blessing and be scattered among the nations. Nevertheless, God promised that judgment would not be His final word to… Continue Reading
The state of Israel is in the news at least weekly, sometimes daily. The United States is still the greatest supporter of Israel, but public perception is that the Obama administration’s backing is less than enthusiastic. In spite of this assessment, the Obama administration was the first to sell bunker-buster bombs to Israel, and it… Continue Reading