Thought from today’s Bible reading from Psalm 25, 29, 33, 36, 39.
The 29th psalm praises God for His power over the natural world. At the end, the psalmist states the obvious conclusion: God is the supreme authority over all things.
“The Lord sat as King at the flood; yes, the Lord sits as King forever” (Psalm 29:10).
The Creation demonstrated the power of God to make all things. The Flood demonstrated His power to destroy that which He has created.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Psalm 81, 88, 92-93.
“How great are Your works, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep. A senseless man has no knowledge, nor does a stupid man understand this: that when the wicked sprouted up like grass and all who did iniquity flourished, it was only that they might be destroyed forevermore.
“But You, O Lord, are on high forever. For, behold, Your enemies, O Lord, for, behold, Your enemies will perish; all who do iniquity will be scattered” (Psalm 92:5-9).
The term stupid is not one that is typically used to describe someone in polite conversation. Yet we find the term being used here to describe certain individuals. It is not necessarily meant to be an insult, just an identification of those who are uninformed and lacking sense.
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from 1 Samuel 15-17.
When we read of the destruction of the Amalekites, we typically focus on Saul’s disobedience in failing to do all that the Lord commanded. Yet there are also lessons to be learned if we focus on the king of the Amalekites, Agag.
“Then Samuel said, ‘Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.’ And Agag came to him cheerfully. And Agag said, ‘Surely the bitterness of death is past.’ But Samuel said, ‘As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.’ And Samuel hewed Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal” (1 Samuel 15:32-33).
There are at least three lessons we can learn from Agag:
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Thought from today’s Bible reading from Deuteronomy 3-4.
“You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
“Your eyes have seen what the Lord has done in the case of Baal-peor, for all the men who followed Baal-peor, the Lord your God has destroyed them from among you. But you who held fast to the Lord your God are alive today, every one of you” (Deuteronomy 4:2-4).
The Israelites were given a simple instruction: keep God’s commandments. They were not to add to His commandments. They were not to omit any of His commandments. They were simply to do those things which He had instructed them to do.
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Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) is fairly well-known to most Bible students. One man lived a life of luxury but found himself in torments after he died. The other was a poor beggar in this life yet was comforted after death in a place of paradise.
Once in torments, the rich man appealed to Abraham to allow Lazarus to go to his brothers and warn them of the punishment that awaited them (Luke 16:27-28). Since the rich man ended up in this undesirable place, it would be good for us to notice this man’s sins that Jesus mentioned in this passage. These are a few of the things we need to avoid if we want to escape the terrible fate that belonged to this man.
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When Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles were there to witness the event. Afterward, two angels appeared to them and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). Christians today “eagerly wait” for the Lord to return, as the angels said He would, and bring the faithful home to heaven (Philippians 3:20-21; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
That was about two thousand years ago. Yet we remain watchful, knowing that “the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (2 Peter 3:10). But there are many today who will ridicule this idea. They say we should live as we please here because this is the only life we will have. We should not be surprised that there are such people. After all, Peter wrote about them in the first century. As the apostle began discussing the day of the Lord, he wrote, “Knowing this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:3-4).
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The book of Amos primarily contains prophecies and judgments pertaining to Israel. But the book begins by listing various sins of the surrounding cities and nations, finally ending with Israel.
The words condemning each place begin with this phrase: “For three transgressions…and for four I will not revoke its punishment” (Amos 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 13; 2:1, 4, 6). Most of the time, this phrase was followed by just one sin. The phrase is a figure of speech which meant that the sin that is mentioned, after everything else they had done, is what caused the Lord’s patience to end and His wrath to begin. Each city or nation reached this point in different ways.
Notice in particular the words regarding Ammon:
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What does “propitiation” mean? How is “justification” connected to salvation? What does “sanctification” look like in our day-to-day lives? The Bible uses some powerful words to describe God’s plan to save mankind. However, these words are not always easy to understand, especially when they are not part of our everyday vocabulary. This book explores key Bible terms that unlock the message of the gospel.
Big Words in the Bible examines five important words – Propitiation, Reconciliation, Sanctification, Justification, and Resurrection – using plain language to see how the Scriptures describe these concepts and how the apostle Paul employs them in his letter to the Romans. This book also contains an appendix with eleven additional articles to explore these topics further.
Whether you are new to the Bible and want to grow in your understanding or want a simple way to explain these core gospel doctrines to others, this book will be helpful. With a focus on the Scriptures, Big Words in the Bible helps break down these fundamental topics to shed light on the life-changing message of the gospel and the salvation found in it.
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