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The story of David's victory over the giant Goliath is well known to every Sunday school student. What is not so widely known is that, in addition to his spiritual advantage, David also had the tactical advantage.

In describing the stone tablets delivered by Moses as a ministry of condemnation, Paul is not speaking of their content but rather of the medium. God's word was and is intended to be written on hearts of flesh. Having those words engraved in stone is a metaphor for hearts of stone.

When God encountered Moses at the burning bush, He told him that he was to return to Egypt and free the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. Moses, not wanting to go, responded with two questions: "Who am I?" and then "Who are you?" Each of those questions has multiple possible meanings and both are still relevant for the believer today.

When Saul was sent by God to exterminate the Amalekites. While he defeated them in battle, he took their king as prisoner and the best of their livestock and goods as plunder. He further raised a monument to himself at Carmel. When confronted by Samuel, he deflected the blame to his troops. This disobedience and lack of character caused God to reject Saul as king and choose David as his replacemen...

It appears that someone had come to Corinth after Paul had left and called his apostleship into question. This first part of the letter addresses Paul's afflictions during the course of his ministry and the fact that he was comforted by God and sustained by the prayers of believers within the churches he had planted.

Joseph weeps seven times. In every case his tears are in response to his relationship with his family. Even though he has available all of the power and resources of Egypt, he cannot make his brothers accept him. Similarly, God has all of the power and resources in the universe, yet He does not coerce us into having a relationship with Him. This Biblical concept is the origin of the American belie...

This section begins with Jonathan destroying a Philistine garrison in the Saddle of Benjamin. That action caused the Philistines to send a large punitive expedition into central Israel. All Israel was clearly intimidated. In a second move Jonathan again destroyed a Philistine garrison which sowed confusion among the Philistines. Saul took advantage of that confusion to attack. In his zeal, he orde...

Paul addresses the importance and nature of the resurrection. Although he had preached about the resurrection when he planted the church in Corinth, someone had subsequently cast doubt on the entire concept. In chapter 15, Paul affirms the fact that there were hundreds of witnesses to Christ's resurrection. He then explained why that was important. Finally, he discussed the nature of the resurrect...

When Joseph finally has all eleven of his brothers kneeling before him, he has a choice to make. He can move them to Goshen without acknowledging his identity or he can forgive them. His choice to forgive is made possible because he was able to reframe being sold into slavery as being part of God's larger plan. In so doing, he freed himself from bitterness and resentment.

Although neither God nor Samuel was pleased with Israel's request for a king, in choosing Saul God gave the project its best chance of success. Saul was from the buffer tribe of Benjamin; he was tall, handsome and brave; he was modest in that he didn't want the job.

As with everything else in this letter, there was apparently division over Spiritual manifestations. It seems that those who had the 'flashier' gifts were exalting themselves over those who had the quieter ones. This seems especially to have been the case with tongues. Paul makes it clear that spiritual gifts are not for the benefit of the one who receives them, but rather are for the building up...

During Joseph's life, God took him through a crash course in character development. A key feature of this course was that it was neither easy nor pleasant. Similarly, Christ says the Way is hard and few will find it. That doesn't mean it is hidden. The Way is clearly laid out in Scripture. It means that while salvation is a gift from God, carrying that gift to fruition is hard and many will not su...

When Samuel became old and it was obvious that his sons were not suitable to follow him, Israel asked that he get them a king so that they could be like all the other nations. God was displeased but told Samuel to do what they wanted. The system of judges, while subject to corruption just like every other human institution, structurally provided the greatest potential human liberty. A monarchy was...

Chapters 8-11 concern food sacrificed to idols. Here he says that although there is only one God and idols are not gods, not everyone understands that. Thus believers should not eat such food in order to avoid confusing those who either believe in idols or are unsure. He closes by saying that idols represent demons and that a believer should have nothing to do with them.

There is a curious incident in the story of the sale of Joseph. When his father sends him to check on his brothers, he meets a stranger who tells him that his brothers have moved on to Dothan. Without that encounter the rest of the Torah would be entirely different. Joseph would not have been sold, he would not have interpreted Pharaoh's dreams and the Exodus would have been something else entirel...

The ArK of the Covenant is captured by the Philistines at the battle of Aphek and the priests Hophni and Phinehas are killed. The Ark proves to be quite capable of taking care of itself and the Philistines hasten to send it back to Israel.

In chapter 7 Paul is answering specific questions which are unknown to us. His points about marriage are made in the expectation that the end times were upon them. Hence, some of his advice would seem to go contrary to Torah - remaining single for example. (This episode ends abruptly. We actually went on to chapters 8 and 9, but they form a unit with chapter 10 and will be presented next time.)

In Scripture a yoke can be either a punishing burden impossible to bear or a tool to get useful work accomplished. Scripture presents the Pharisaic understanding of the Torah as the former while Christ described His yoke as easy and light. One of the dividing lines between the two is that Christ's words are true and the Pharisaic interpretation is not.

The birth of Samuel. Samuel's mother, Hannah, was barren and bitter about it. Her prayer and promise to God flows from that anguish of soul. After the birth of her son, she makes a song of praise. Mary's prayer, although shorter, is essentially the same. The background on the Priest Eli and his corrupt sons sets the scene for the entire book - the importance of fathers and the consequences of thei...

Paul uses the metaphor of leaven to condemn immoral behavior within the church. The idea being that if sin is tolerated and excused, it will spread and infect others. He instructs them to expel flagrant sinners from the body. He also chastens them about taking disputes between brothers to the secular authorities. In cases where secular law does not comport with God's law injustice will be the resu...

Both Chanukah and Thanksgiving are celebrations to thank God for a successful rebellion against government that has exceeded its authority from God and become oppressive. God has never been impressed with human government, Historically when it has become oppressive and hostile to Him, He has supported rebellion.

God enters the conversation, rebukes Job's friends and gives Job an opportunity to present his case. Wisely, Job simply falls down in worship. At the end, Job forgives his friends and God restores to him double what he had lost. God's soliloquy is some of the greatest poetry ever written.

Introduction and background to the letter. Paul first addresses factionalism within the church. Paul had planted the church earlier (Acts 18) and guided it for 18 months before moving on. Apollos had then come along and continued to teach there. Apparently, some new Christians had come to believe that there was some conflict between the two. Paul denies that, comparing himself to a foundation buil...

In Genesis 26 Isaac was run out of Gerar because he had become too powerful. As he moved, he reopened the wells his father had dug and which the Philistines had plugged up. As he did so, the Philistines drove him off and claimed the wells for themselves. In the story of Abraham and Isaac's wells and the Philistine's reaction, we have the entire plan of salvation and the basis of all the antisemiti...

In this second half of Elihu's statement, he gives a beautiful poem to the greatness of God. In this, he urges Job to consider his own insignificance in relation to God's majesty. Everything he says is true, but does not actually apply to Job's situation.