Archive for the 'Old Testament' Category

What does joy sound like?

Published on July 7, 2011 in Old Testament and Worship. 0 Comments

Can you hear joy? Have you heard it?

Nehemiah 8:43 regarding the dedication of the wall:

And they offered great sacrifices that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and children also rejoiced. And the joy of Jerusalem was heard far away. Nehemiah 8:43.

Scattered Questions

  • Don’t you wish you could have been there for the celebration?
  • How much more do you suppose the celebration meant for the ones who had been part of the wall building project?
  • What does it sound like for people to be so excited – - including women and children? Did they clap? Shout? Play instruments? Laugh?
  • What would need to take place for more of this to happen in our local assemblies?
  • Can you think of a time when you were a part of a time of such joy and enthusiasm?
  • How might God use you to help bring about such a show of celebration?

How Jonah can help you in 2011

Published on January 2, 2011 in Gospel and Jonah. 0 Comments

I recently posted the video seen below which is a wonderful telling of the book of Jonah by a little girl.  If you haven’t watched the video (or at least read Jonah) in recent days, watch one or two minutes.  You won’t be disappointed.

But Jonah is more than just a good story.  A recent post by Tullian Tchividjian helps us understand how the book of Jonah is significant for daily living.

The story of Jonah shows us that the gospel—the good news that God relentlessly pursues sinners in order to rescue them—is just as much for Christians as it is for non-Christians. Jonah’s life proves this, because Jonah, who knows God, obviously needs divine deliverance as much as anyone else in the story. In fact, his need for rescue gets far more emphasis than anyone else’s. It’s his destitution, not that of the Ninevites, that gets the most play. That alone should be enough to convince us that God’s rescue is a continuing requirement for Christians and non-Christians alike.

The gospel isn’t simply a set of truths that non-Christians must believe in order to become saved. It’s a reality that Christians must daily embrace in order

Read the rest here.

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.

What Micah prophesied 700 years before the birth of Christ

Published on December 12, 2010 in Christmas and Micah. 1 Comment

I am preaching from Micah 5 this morning.  So, I was especially pleased yesterday to see that Phil Johnson has a post on the Gospel in Micah 5:2.

One of the most famous and important Old Testament messianic prophecies is also a Christmas text. It foretold that Christ would be born in Bethlehem: "But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days" (Micah 5:2).

That promise loomed large in the minds of expectant first-century Jewish leaders—so much so that many of them were prepared to reject Him because they did not know His birthplace and assumed, naturally, that he had been born in the region of his parents’ home: "Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee" (John 7:52).

But I think the most amazing thing about Micah’s prophecy is the way the deity of Christ is expressed in the verse’s final phrase. Israel’s Messiah would be One "whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days." . . .

The rest here.

Preaching cold beer and blue sky

Published on December 3, 2010 in Micah. 0 Comments

“If a man should go about and utter wind and lies saying, ‘I will preach of wine and strong drink,’ he would be the preacher for this people!”  Micah 2:13

Condemning Israel, Micah prophesied the above words 2,700 years ago.  Little has changed.  While our culture fears a war of terror rather than the Neo-Assyrian Empire, we’re like ancient Israel in that we would prefer that pastors stay positive and encourage whatever excess we prefer.

But, as Micah pointed out to his ancient audience, preachers who tell their people only what they want to hear are responsible for seeing things fall apart.  Or, as I paraphrased to our congregation on Sunday, pastors who give culture only what it wants to hear – - cold beer and blue sky – - such pastors hate their people.*

On the other hand, if our preaching is filled with the Spirit of the Lord and with justice and might to declare to our people their transgression and sin, then God will use His Word in tremendous ways (see Micah 3:8).

When Micah preached the Word, rather than cold beer and blue sky, it was greatly used (see Jeremiah 26:18-19).  What will we preach?

Listen online to the sermon I preached on this passage How a Pastor Can Hate 

*The point here is not to initiate a debate about alcohol. Rather, that our preaching should not be defined by nothing more substantive than wine and strong drink in excess.

With his name, the prophet, Micah asks the right question

Published on November 30, 2010 in Micah. 0 Comments

Careful study of Micah will allow you to see that God is holy and judges sin.  But, also that he is a gracious forgiving God.

I am currently preaching a series from the book of Micah. In contrast to his contemporary, Isaiah, Micah does not give us much detail about his personal call, but we do have his name.

“Micah” means, “Who is like Yahweh?”  (“Yawhweh” being the personal name of God given to Israel).  The text of Micah allows us to better know God.

Much of the book of Micah warns that God is holy and just.  Micah prophesied in response to a rebellious people who were breaking covenant with God.  They chose to sin, now they would suffer.  Because of their rebellion, Micah warns that all will become ruin (2:10-11).

We ought not to deceive ourselves.  God will not be mocked.  We reap what we sow.  (Galatians 6:7-8).

But, Micah does not conclude with judgment.  Inserting his own name into the text (notice the bold), Micah concludes:

Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance?  He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities under foot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will show faithfulness to Jacob and steadfast love to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old (Micah 7:18-20).

Bruce Waltke comments:

“Micah, by artfully inserting his name in the forgiven people’s hymn of praise at the end of the book (7:18) , applies the meaning of his name, “Who is like Yahweh?’, to the Lord’s incomparable quality to forgive his guilty people and to be true to his promises to the patriarchs. God’s memorial name, Yahweh, became famous in the early days of Israel’s history when he hurled the Egyptian army into the depths of the sea. Its luster is added to when he promises to hurl the iniquities of his people Jacob into the depths of the sea (7:19).” Waltke, TOTC, 137.

Suppose at the Thanksgiving table . . .

Published on November 25, 2010 in Psalms and Worship. 0 Comments

Praise is due to you O God in Zion (Psalm 65:1a).

Use this Norman Rockwell image to picture several generations sitting around a Thanksgiving table.

Imagine that as the turkey is set in place, a mother says to her daughter, “Thank Grandma for the turkey.”

And, then picture that the little girl sasses in response, “I am not thanking grandma.  What did the old lady ever do for me?”

How do you suppose that you would process that in your home?

It makes one cringe just to think about it.  The debt that a family owes to the matriarch is incalculable.  Such ingratitude would be despicable.

If we understand that it is wrong to not thank the matriarch of a family, how much more should we see that a failure to thank God is despicable?

The right sort of Sunshine on our shoulders makes us happy

Published on July 14, 2010 in Chris Brauns Radio Spots and Psalms. 0 Comments

If you are looking for a verse for this week, think about this one. Psalm 84:11 says,

11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.

Reflect on the picture that God is a “sun” and “shield.” The idea of God being the sun symbolizes power. To even look at the sun hurts our eyes. God is an atomic explosion. All power, light inaccessible hid from our eyes.

And, yet, the sun also brings the idea that God is not simply power in isolation. He shines into the lives of His people and as the verse says, offers us favor, or a better translation would be “grace,” and “honor,” or “glory.” The light of his goodness shines into every corner of His creation.

Not only is God a sun, but he is also a “shield.” So many different things can threaten our well-being. Many of you will hear this radio spot while you are in your cars. And, we know that over 40,000 people will probably die in car related accidents this year. Think about that. 40,000 people. Yet, God is a shield for those who know Him and trust in Him. As Psalm 91 says, “a thousand may fall at our side, ten thousand at our right hand, but it will not come near us,” and God commands his angels concerning those who fear Him.

Even when we do meet with tragedy or disaster, we can be sure that God is a sun and a shield for those whose walk is blameless.

No wonder the Psalmist says in the same Psalm, 10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

“Ain’t gonna study war no more”

Published on February 3, 2010 in eschatology and Micah. 2 Comments

Won’t it be a great day when we “learn war no more”?  When, in the words of the spiritual, “We stick our swords in the golden sand, down by the riverside?”

Per one of our men’s encouragement, I read Micah today.  It struck me that if I was suddenly asked to preach to a Marines stationed in the mountains of Afghanistan, I would preach from Micah 4:1-5.

3 He shall judge between many peoples,

and shall decide for strong nations afar off;

and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,

and their spears into pruning hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

neither shall they learn war anymore;

4 but they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree,

and no one shall make them afraid,

for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.

5 For all the peoples walk

each in the name of its god,

but we will walk in the name of the Lord our God

forever and ever. Micah 4:3-5

If I did preach to Marines in Afghanistan, I would take Mahalia Jackson along to sing the old Gospel song.  The song preaches too.

Psalms, too

Published on February 1, 2010 in Psalms. 2 Comments

Along with reading the day’s chapter of Proverbs (today is the 1st so you’re reading Proverbs 1), it is a good discipline to read the day’s chapter of Psalms (and every 30th chapter after that.  So, today you read Psalms 1, 31, 61, 91, 121.

If you’re not up to 5 Psalms, at least read the 1st chapter.  There are two kinds of people in this Psalm.

  1. What distinguishes the blessed person from the wicked?
  2. Which are you going to be?

For more on Psalm 1, read There is No Third.

Whenever you read a chapter of Psalms, write the date in small letters at the top of the chapter.  This will allow you to track which Psalms you have meditated on the most.

Whether or not they heard the muffled scream of human smoke . . .

Published on January 24, 2010 in abortion and Psalms. 0 Comments

God only knows.  But, he does know.  This is the point of Psalm 139.

Think of it this way on Sanctity of Life Sunday — When the Nazis gassed Jews and then incinerated them, the soot of image bearers curled into the air before falling over the land like coal dust.

No one remained clean.  A layer of human soot spoiled the soil.

And, whether or not the citizens of Dachau, Treblinka and Auschwitz tasted the human dust when it poisoned their cultural water, whether or not they saw the ash of the murdered when they swept it off their streets, whether or not they heard the muffled scream of human smoke, the God of heaven and earth, who knit the Holocaust victims together in their mother’s womb – - He knew, and knows, and will repay (Romans 12:19).

Read Psalm 139, the whole thing, and remember that God knows.