human (220)

Ian

Given

Psalm 51:1–12; Exodus 30:1–10; Hebrews 4:14–5:4 Even if every single Israelite behaved completely within the bounds of Law, and thus no sin offerings were offered for an entire year…still Aaron would have to perform the ritual of reconciliation. No matter how perfect every Israelite was,…

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Ian

Examples and Warnings

Psalm 107:1–16; Numbers 20:1–13; 1 Corinthians 10:6–13 Imagine saying, “Give thanks to the Lord because he is good, because his faithful love lasts forever,” to the Israelites at Kadesh. Those words would have been grating (at best) the ears of all the tongues lashing against Moses and…

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Ian

Cursing Blessings

Numbers 21:4–9; Psalm 107:1–3, 17–22; Ephesians 2:1–10; John 3:14–21 One of the biggest dangers of constant blessings is that we often disdain them. We become so accustomed to them that we become blind to them. Even worse, we then grow to despise them. The Israelites…

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Ian

Repair and Refine

Psalm 84; 2 Chronicles 29:1–11, 16–19; Hebrews 9:23–28 A few days ago, we read about Jesus cleansing the Temple. As noted, then, prophets doing “over-the-top” things weren't totally unexpected. Generally, it was uncomfortable, but God’s true prophets weren’t known to bring comfort without discomfort. Sometimes…

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Ian

In God We Trust?

Psalm 19; Exodus 19:1–9a; 1 Peter 2:4–10 Trust is a scarce commodity. True trust. You and I trust that the person approaching the intersection will stop, but we’ve all had enough experience to undermine that trust (we even might be the reason we are this…

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