Living Theology

Ruth demonstrates great faith with her insistence to go with Naomi to Judah. Unlike her sister Orpah, Ruth is not returning to her homeland, her people, or her gods. She trusts in the Living God of Israel—Naomi’s God. She trusts Naomi’s confidence in God’s provision (Ruth 1:6) although she has not seen it. Ruth is willing to commit herself to Naomi and follow her to a land she has not seen and a p...

The book concludes in Judges 17:1-21:25 with three failures of the Israelites in sinning like the pagan peoples they were commanded to dispossess and in their failure to maintain the unity as a covenant people and the summary statement: In those days there was no king in Israel and everyone did as he saw fit (Judg 21:25). 1. The failure of Israel through idolatry (17:1-18:31) 2. The failure of Isr...

The Scripture says, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly [that’s everybody]. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:6-8).

One has to wonder where is God in these complex processes of engaging the Judges from their very distracted lives? God is relegated to the role of silent witness to a purely human contract between a desperate people that are self-centred rather than subservient to His plans.

Jesus did not come into the world simply to set a good example, tell us to lead better lives or even to ask us to pray more and read our Bibles regularly. He came into this world primarily in order to make forgiveness for us possible. It is why, when he looked forward to the Cross, he stated that it was for this very reason he had come into this world. The real question as we have said is not abou...

Children of Israel did evil” (v. 1) is the reason for their being delivered into the hands of the Midianites. Gideon, the sixth judge, was raised up to deliver Israel. All the judges, as we have indicated, had some weakness, defect, or unusual characteristic that God actually exploited in order to deliver His people. Gideon was a coward at heart. His threshing grain at the winepress, instead of on...

Christians, by definition, believe Christ to be God- made-man, God-in-the-flesh. His claims cannot be amended, watered down, relativised, negotiated away or nuanced into acceptability. But this exclusivism is not an exclusivism of Christian culture, of Christian ethics or of Christians as the only candidates for heaven. Attacks on Christian exclusivism often ignorantly or maliciously confuse these...

Hosea’s name means salvation and shares the root Hebrew word with the names Jesus and Joshua. If there was any doubt that this was a man of God, although marrying a prostitute, the scripture clears it up in the first verse. Throughout the book, salvation is attained by turning to the Lord away from our sin, evident in how Hosea applies the word to his life and circumstances.

The book of Judges describes a period in the life of the nation of Israel between the prophetic leadership of Moses and Joshua and the establishment of the monarchy and kingship in Israel. The nature of this time period is described on four different occasions in the book, “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judg. 17:6; cf. 18:1; 19:1; 21:25).

Call out to God. Through you may be a far off- call on Him who is near!

Eating of the knowledge of good and evil says to God, “we don’t need you”.

Be real to the reality of where your faith is at...if we are not born-again, there is no way you can see God!

The tradition of casting lots is referenced several times in the Bible. Although they are thought to have been used in 1Samuel 14:40 - 42, when King Saul sought God's counsel, they were not. In this case, what was cast was not lots but rather the High Priest's Urim and Thummim used to render a decision. The primary reason for casting lots was to render an impartial, unbiased decision on important...

Supernatural signs will follow those who listen to the will of God.

We overlook the fact that God speaks to us all the time, we may not even know it and we don't give Him the credit. So listen to that voice! He will always give you peace. He also will never contradict His written word in the Bible.

Be strong and courageous- do not be afraid! Obedience to God

Moses encourages the people of Israel to obey God’s law. He says it is not too hard to do because God will put it in their hearts so they can do it. Remember what we read in the last section. The problem is the human heart. But God will circumcise or change the heart so his people can obey the law.

For us today, Jesus fulfils the law and sacrifices. We must not offer animal sacrifices. Jesus is our sacrifice for sin. Believers are not under a curse for their sin. Jesus takes away our curse. We enjoy fellowship with God because of Jesus.

Do you have a hunger for something more in life? Is there something deep inside of you that never seems to be satisfied? If so, Jesus is the way! Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35). Are you confused? Are you unable to find a path or purpose in life? Does it seem like someone has turned out the l...

How can people maintain a quality of true community in the midst of such pressures? From the point of view of mission, Zoom, WhatsApp etc. can offer unprecedented opportunities for the intelligent proclamation of the Christian gospel. But could never replace the personal contact? Our world has drastically changed and we are now being treated as “herds” to “immunity”. Now this is for the greater go...

All these things mislead people. They come from Satan, who lies. These things are detestable and disgusting to God. God’s people must not go to the magic man or witch or other people like that. God is in control of everything. God tells his people everything they need to know.

God’s people must remember what God has done for them and revere and celebrate Him

We must remember God’s commandments all the time. This is so the commandments will go deep into our hearts and lives. If we really love God, then we will love his commandments, and read them often, and follow them in our lives. Christians are not the same as the people of Israel. Christians have the Holy Spirit to write God’s word in their hearts. The Spirit does this when we think about and read...

Genesis 19:15 - don’t linger

If God exists, then we are accountable to Him for our actions. If God does not exist, then we can do whatever we want, without having to worry about God judging us. That is why many of those who deny the existence of God cling strongly to the theory of naturalistic evolution—it gives them an alternative to believing in a Creator God.