“Whatever!” This one word phrase has been the motto of the last decade in our popular culture. It’s what a teenager says to her parents when they ask her to clean up her room for the 12th time that day. It’s what the employee says when his employer treats him...
It seems that our culture is caught up in trying to find the edge or the secret to success and advancement in life. Some of the best selling books on the market are claiming to give you the keys to success and happiness. Wouldn’t that be nice? Wouldn’t it be great if...
The image above illustrates Walter Bruegemann's basic structure for the Psalms.View Rolf Jacobson's commentaries here. Introduction to Psalms Music plays an incredibly important part in all of our lives. Have you ever noticed how the sound of a certain type of music...
The book of Job is a brilliantly composed epic poem that wrestles with one of the core questions of the human experience: "Why do good people suffer? Here’s the scenario. Job is a great guy. He’s rich, he’s powerful, he’s got a great family, and he is...
Esther is the last historical book in the Old Testament and it, like Ruth, does not propel the main story line any further. In fact, the book of Nehemiah is the last book in the chronological flow of Israel’s history. Esther is a story that takes place between...
In the 20th year of King Artaxerxes, Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer, felt compelled to go to Jerusalem and fortify its walls in order to protect it from its hostile neighbors. In the story of Nehemiah we see a wonderful example of how the Kingdom of God should work. ...
In this book we jump over the 70-year chasm called the Exile and land in the period of Israel’s history called The Restoration. After the Babylonians were defeated by the Persian Empire, the tides changed for the Jewish people living in Exile. Under the permission...
In 2 Chronicles we leave the era of the united monarchy, when Israel was one united kingdom, and enter the tumultuous time of the divided kingdom when brother fought brother. It is interesting to compare this week’s chart to that of 2 Kings. In 2 Kings there is a...
1 Chronicles begins with Adam and, through extensive genealogies, connects Adam to David. The majority of 1 Chronicles focuses on the reign of David. 2 Chronicles will tell the story of Solomon and the kingdom of Judah. Much of the background material listed here...
If you compare this page with the page for 1 Kings, you will notice two problems. First, they don't match. The chart for 1 Kings ended with Israel at the bottom of the page, wallowing in the blood of Ahab, while Judah was soaring at the top of the page. On the chart...
when you follow the weekly lectionary updates