PHall | February 19, 2020
If you have to explain a joke, it no longer is funny. Likewise, when you have to explain “hermeneutics”, it no longer is simple. For example, is the following text difficult to understand:• “Some time later, David inquired of the LORD: “Should I go to one of the towns of Judah?” The LORD answered him, […]
Category: II Samuel, Hermeneutics |
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PHall | January 28, 2020
Three new beginnings. Three husbands and and wives collude and sin. Three times there is death. Three times something is hidden. In the first, people are hidden. In the second, dedicated goods are hidden. In the third, a price is hidden. In the deaths, the first is spiritual and slow lasting a lifetime by taking […]
Category: Acts, Genesis, Joshua |
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PHall | January 28, 2020
Most are familiar with David’s boast in God against Goliath saying, “Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves” (1 Samuel 17:46-47). Focus on that last part – “this whole assembly” is Israel. […]
Category: I Corinthians, I Samuel |
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PHall | January 27, 2020
Husbands and wives shouldn’t always be “one”. Let me tell you a story, a true story, of a husband and wife. The tragedy happens in the beginning Satan tempts There is a lie Those who were one in God become one in disobedience The story is about evil knowledge The story is about death If […]
Category: Acts, Genesis |
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PHall | January 24, 2020
The anointed one was kissed, and pronounced king over God’s people. This king was also a prophet. This sounds very similar to the story of Jesus, who is the Christ which means anointed one, kissed in betrayal with an unholy kiss by Judas, and sarcastically pronounced as king of the Jews as he hung on […]
Category: I Samuel |
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PHall | January 23, 2020
Unintended Request: We are familiar with the Jews of Jesus’ time rejecting Him as their king saying, “We have no other king than Caesar”. Let’s go back to the time of Samuel when they asked for a king. They wanted a king who will “judge us, go out before, and fight our battles” (1 Samuel […]
Category: I Samuel |
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PHall | January 17, 2020
Uncomfortable Lessons from Ruth:1. The most loyal woman is not an Israelite, but a Moabite (ch.1).2. The most bitter person is an Israelite bitter towards God (ch1).3. Boaz has to order fellow Israelites to “not touch” Ruth (ch.2).4. Although Ruth is loyal to Naomi, Naomi puts Ruth in a possibly socially compromising situation (ch.3).5. Although […]
Category: Ruth |
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PHall | January 17, 2020
I’ll confess. I like studying the book of Judges for the same reason I liked studying the Tudor-Stuart monarchy – horrible characters are never boring! When during the Judges, “Everyone did what was right their own eyes” is the philosophy of life, there is no telling what is creeping out of people’s heart. And yet….During […]
Category: Judges, Ruth, I Samuel |
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PHall | December 28, 2019
The word “redeem” is not used in Judges, but it might help us better understand redemption than we know. That is because the opposite action is found several times: “And he sold them into the hands” (Judges 2:14; 3:8; 4:2; 1:7). Sin, Suffering, Solicitation, Salvation are the four stages Israel continues to find itself in […]
Category: Judges |
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PHall | December 21, 2019
The story, or stories, are true and familiar; one is an echo of the other.1. Each narrative comes at the beginning (Genesis 1-2; Matthew 1-2).2. Each is a story about a genealogy (Genesis 2:4; Matthew1:1).3. At the beginning there is a focus on a light that was not the sun (Genesis 1:3; Matthew 2:2,7-10; Luke […]
Category: Matthew, Bible, Genesis |
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