A Vow to “My People”
In Ezekiel 37:1-14, YHWH promises to raise his people from their graves, just as he miraculously raises the dry bones in the sight of Ezekiel. In v. 11-13, the words YHWH uses to vow his dedication to this task are touching: Then he said to me, “Son of man,...Wives, Wells, and Jesus
Isaac, Jacob, and Moses all find their wives through interactions at a well. The parallels are fascinating: So that Isaac does not marry one of “the daughters of the Canaanites, (Gen. 24:3), Abraham sends out his servant to find Isaac a wife, and the servant...More light on the Word and Spirit from Berkhof
This post is a continuation of On the Efficacy of the Sacraments and Word, Spirit, and Dry Bones, in which I have been trying to get my head around the differences between Lutheran and Reformed understandings of the relationship between the Holy Spirit, the Word of...Word, Spirit, and Dry Bones
In a previous post, I quoted Charles Hodge’s argument that the Spirit of God alone gives efficacy to the Word and to the sacraments: There is, therefore, a strict analogy, according to the Reformed doctrine, between the Word and the sacraments as a means of...The Lamb Alone is Worthy
In Revelation 5, John sees a vision of Almighty God seated on the throne with a book, sealed with seven seals, on his right hand. An angel issues a call to all of creation, challenging, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?”, but “no...On the Efficacy of the Sacraments
I have been studying up on the sacraments for ordination exams, and, in Charles Hodge’s Systematic Theology, I came across an interesting contrast between how Lutheran and Reformed Christians understand the efficacy of the sacraments that I did not previously...The Wedding Feast of Christmas
I always take special delight when I am reading in the Old Testament and discover a passage that either pre-tells or outlines the structure of one of Jesus’ parables. It is almost like seeing a behind-the-scenes episode on the making of the parables–I...Where’s the Fire?
In Amos 1-2, the shepherd-prophet proclaims the LORD’s judgment on seven cities/nations: Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Edom, Ammon, Moab, and Judah. In each of his condemnations, he prophesies that the LORD will “send a fire upon the house/gate of” the...The Provisions of the Prince
At the end of the book of Ezekiel, the prophet sees a vision of a new temple, a new priesthood, and a rejuvenated sacrificial system. The details are uncomfortably specific for Christians who might expect a prophecy to point a little more directly to Christ’s...Download My Free eBook
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