Matthew 6:24 – Believing Loyalty

When Jesus speaks about the problem of serving two masters in Matthew 6:24, His teaching goes to the heart of our relationship with God: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot…

Genesis 15:4-5; 16:7,10 – Angel of the Lord

The ancient Israelite understanding of God was different from what it is today.  Religious Jews since the time of Jesus have actually rejected what their ancestors believed and knew about Yahweh.  Since Jesus came, the Jews have clung to the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” and…

Genesis 12:2-3 – God’s Promise to Israel

The prophetic Word that God gives Abram in Genesis 12:2-3 is one of the most significant in the entire Bible: “And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him…

Genesis 11 – Babel

The typical Christian thinking is that sin is the only problem in the world that Jesus came to overcome.  In fact, the ancient Jewish concept of what’s wrong provides a much bigger picture, and it actually paves the way for all that Jesus has done and will do prophetically so as to redeem the earth….

Genesis 6:1-5 – Sons of God

Genesis 6:1-5 is one of the most fascinating and troubling passages in the entire Bible.  Some people want to make what is conveyed here an entirely human scenario, but that completely misses what’s really going on and the larger Biblical narrative. The text tells us that the sons of God (bene Elohim – Hebrew) took…

Genesis 3 – The Shining Serpent

In the account of the serpent tempting Eve in Genesis 3, we tend to pass over the fact that this appears to be a talking serpent, and that Eve apparently had no issues with this.  When was the last time you had a conversation with a snake, whether it was a good or an evil…