Month: December 2024
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12/31/24 Bible Thought: The True King (Matt. 2)
Reading Time: 2 minutesFrom the beginning of our introduction to Jesus Christ we know He was unlike any other, being the literal embodiment of the phrase, “God with us” (Matt. 1:23). In the second chapter, Matthew goes to show us in great lengths how climactic the coming of Christ is. In the perfect plan and…
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12/30/24 Bible Thought: The Scandal of Grace (Matt. 1)
Reading Time: 2 minutesThe New Testament opens with the genealogy of Jesus Christ, and His virgin birth. We often like to blow past genealogies, but there’s something significant about this one we don’t want to miss. While most genealogies in Scripture include only male names, there are four women who are listed here in the…
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12/28/24 “Leftovers for God” (Mal. 1-4)
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe prophet Malachi’s writing lacks clear signs as to when his ministry occurred, but many believe based on some contextual evidence that he served approximately 80 years after Haggai and Zechariah. Malachi addresses a group of Israelites whose worship, although present, was lacking in many ways. I want to focus on the…
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12/27/24 “Hope in the Midst of Mess” (Zech. 11-14)
Reading Time: 3 minutesZechariah’s prophecy ends on a largely positive note. After an almost parabolic denouncement of the shepherds (leaders) in Judah by Zechariah in chapter 11, there comes a message of hope for Judah in the final chapters. This is incredibly significant when we consider the historical context of Zechariah. Zechariah’s ministry occurred around…
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12/26/24 “A God of Justice & Grace” (Zech. 7-10)
Reading Time: 3 minutesZechariah 7-10 presents a picture of a future hope for Judah and especially Jerusalem after the Lord’s judgment on them for their sins. They had been taken captive by Babylon, not because of Babylon’s military might, but because of God’s sovereign purpose. He was disciplining His people for their sins. God, as…
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12/25/24 “An Everlasting Word” (Zech. 1-6)
Reading Time: 2 minutesZechariah the prophet, a contemporary of Haggai, begins his writing with a call to return to the Lord and then with a series of visions that represent a future hope for Judah and Jerusalem. The present exiled generation is tasked with turning to the Lord unlike their ancestors who consistently rejected the…
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12/24/24 “Misplaced Priorities” (Hag. 1-2)
Reading Time: 2 minutesAs we turn the page from Habakkuk and Zephaniah to Haggai we see a different setting for this prophet’s work. Habakkuk and Zephaniah (amongst many others) forewarned the destruction of Judah and Jerusalem at the hands of the Babylonians. We know from 2 Kings 24-25 that God followed through on His warnings.…
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12/23/24 “Resting in Sovereignty (Hab. 1-3)
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe prophet Habakkuk was to some degree a contemporary of Jeremiah and was one of the last prophets to serve before the captivity of Judah. His writing recounts the prophet’s dilemma, God’s response, the prophet’s second dilemma, God’s second respond, and the prophet’s praise. Habakkuk had a bone to pick with God…
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12/21/24 “The Unrelenting Justice of God” (Nah. 1-3)
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe prophet Nahum’s ministry occurred somewhere approximately 50-100 years after the fall of Israel in 722 B.C.[1] and his address is, like Jonah, to the city of Nineveh. By Nahum’s time, Nineveh had become the capital of the Assyrian empire, and the nation had conquered Israel. In Jonah’s day, Nineveh repented of…
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12/20/24 “A Simple Summary of God’s Law” (Mic. 1-7)
Reading Time: 3 minutesMicah is a contemporary of the prophet Isaiah whose prophetic ministry comes shortly after those of Hosea and Amos. He prophesies concerning both Samaria (Israel) and Jerusalem (Judah) (Mic. 1:1) and pronounces words of judgment upon them. Judah would surely go to Babylon (4:10) and Assyria would come into Israel’s land (5:5).…