aBeLOG

Welcome to the aBeLOG, a series of (hopefully!) fortnightly posts on all matters homiletical. I intend to touch on whatever grabs my attention regarding preaching—issues contemporary and ancient, ideas hermeneutical and rhetorical, personalities conservative and liberal, publications antiquarian and avant-garde. Essentially, I’m going to follow my own homiletical olfactory instincts up rabbit trails and after red herrings. Comments are always invited and appreciated.

Judges 3:12–31

July 5th, 2022| Topic: aBeLOG, Judges | 2

Judges 3:12–31

Integrity, driven by reverence for God and reliance upon him, receives divine approbation.

We are told twice that Israel “did evil in the sight of Yahweh” (Jdg 3:12). So, what’s new? And Yahweh, therefore, empowered Eglon, the king of Moab, against Israel (3:12). Yet God has mercy and he raises up an Israelite deliverer, Ehud (3:15). But quite surprisingly, for the rest of the passage, Yahweh does not seem at all involved with the goings on. And the final victory…   Read more →

Judges 2:6–3:11

June 7th, 2022| Topic: aBeLOG, Judges | 0

Judges 2:6–3:11

Personal experience of God produces unwavering commitment to him and gives him glory.

Judges 2:6–10 is almost identical to Josh 24:28–31, but it weaves the story in its own way for a different theological purpose. Unfortunately, as was seen in Jdg 1:1–2:5, the post-Joshua generation went but did not possess the land for, as 2:10 declares, they did not “know Yahweh, or the deeds which he had done.” And what they did in their abysmal ignorance—and…   Read more →

Judges 1:1–2:5

May 3rd, 2022| Topic: aBeLOG, Judges | 0

Judges 1:1–2:5

Faithfulness to God manifest in uncompromising godliness and reliance on God brings blessing.

Joshua, the one who had begun to lead the Israelites so successfully against the Canaanites, and who was God’s agent for assigning land to the various tribes, was now gone. An era had concluded with the death of Joshua. A new beginning was at hand, and with it the challenge of finding godly leaders. Who would be the next godly servant to lead Israel? The Israelites do not ask…   Read more →

Judges: Introduction

April 5th, 2022| Topic: aBeLOG, Judges | 0

Judges: Introduction

This is the first in a series of posts on each pericope of Judges, essentially a distillation of what is in my Judges commentary (more on that here).

The verb “to judge” does not always indicate a judicial functionary. In Judges, the function of these God-raised leaders is best as seen as military judge-deliverers, as indicated in 2:16–17:

And Yahweh raised up judges
who delivered them from the hands of those who plundered them.
Judges 2:16–17

The book is gory, with…   Read more →

Ephesians 6:10–24

March 1st, 2022| Topic: aBeLOG, Ephesians | 0

Ephesians 6:10–24

Victory against supernatural foes is achieved by divine empowerment in the form of God’s armor (commitment and dependence upon God) and by Spirit-driven prayer.

It is not surprising that “power” occurs a number of times in this pericope: believers are “empowered” (Eph 6:10), so that they “may be able/may have power” (6:11) to stand against the devil, thus “being able/having power” (6:13) to resist in the evil day, and “being able/having power” (6:16)…   Read more →

Ephesians 6:1–9

February 1st, 2022| Topic: aBeLOG, Ephesians | 0

Ephesians 6:1–9

Children obey their parents and parents gently instruct their children, and slaves obey their masters with sincerity and masters treat their slaves likewise as they both serve God—all furthering unity and promising reward.

The theme of submission in this text is the extension of the fifth verb (participle)—“submitting”—that qualifies “filling by the Spirit” (Eph 5:18). We see instructions to those in authority (parents, employers) and to those under…   Read more →

Ephesians 5:21–33

January 4th, 2022| Topic: aBeLOG, Ephesians | 2

Ephesians 5:21–33

The filling by the Spirit manifests in the mutual submission of believers, and in the modeling of the husband–wife relationship after the Christ–church relationship.

“Submitting” in Ephesians 5:21 is the fifth verb (participle) that is dependent upon the main verb “be filled’ (in 5:18); the other four were: “speaking,” “singing,” “making melody,” and “giving thanks” (dealt with in the previous text, 5:1–20). What is called for here is mutual…   Read more →

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