Why do bad things happen to good people? Why me? Can suffering serve any good purpose? These are real questions that many wrestle with today—and that Job wrestled with thousands of years ago. The Book of Job is a historical biography of Job, 'a blameless and upright man', one justified by faith in the sight of God. As it traces his spiritual journe… Read more…
Is there any useless religion around today? Do we see evidence of people merely going through the motions of religion, professing faith in Christ without any evidence of it showing up in their lives? If so, these are indications that we need the epistle of James today. Written by the half-brother of Jesus, this letter helps us attack stale, humdrum, useless … Read more…
The book of Isaiah is a tale of two cities: the Jerusalem Isaiah knew, and the Jerusalem that he saw. We are introduced to both in the opening five chapters. They are like two photographs marked, 'before' and 'after'. But how will the transformation come about? Isaiah's answer is 'Judgment!' And it's coming soon.
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What makes the book of Haggai especially interesting is that he is one of the three last prophets of the Old Testament period to receive God's revelation before the coming of Christ. He was a man with a single message for the people of his day, and he preached it with unparalleled persuasive force and power. That message was concentrated on the need to r… Read more…
Genesis is the book of beginnings. But it is also a book about God. "In the beginning God" is the opening freeze-frame of the Bible. If we go back in time before the world sprung into being, we find God. If we ask where the world came from, Genesis answers: God. If we wonder why the universe continues to operate in an orderly, timely, predictable fashion, th… Read more…
God overrules for good the activities of those who teach false doctrine. In the days of the apostles, for example, we see these activities being overruled to the production of some of our foundational New Testament documents. Galatians is the prime example. The heresy it combats is, in its essence, widespread, and because of that, the letter is no less neces… Read more…
Like Paul’s letter to Rome, his letter to the church in Ephesus serves as an invaluable exposition of the Christian gospel. In Ephesians, the apostle has the opportunity simply to explain the riches of the good news, to unfold how the grace of God works in the lives of his people, and to give some basic moral principles. In this commentary, Kurt Strassner … Read more…
In some ways you could argue that the book of Deuteronomy is not a book for the 21st century. You would have to change the title for a start. ‘Second giving of the law’ isn’t likely to fill too many people with eagerness and excitement. After all, laws aren’t very popular, and, as we see with television, neither are repeats.
So ge… Read more…
The book of Acts is the history book of the church, describing how Jesus Christ began to build the church that he had promised to build (Matt. 16:18). The Gospels describe Jesus Christ's birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, and Acts continues the story by telling of the birth of the church at Pentecost and the major transitional events during… Read more…
The Second Epistle to the Thessalonians has three main themes. The first is the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and included also is a long portion on the identity of the Antichrist. The second is about intercessory prayer when Paul treats us to examples of different types of prayer. From his prayers we learn what kind of subject matter there should be in the … Read more…
The book of 2 Chronicles carries on where 1 Chronicles left off, charting the history of Judah through the reigns of its successive kings. There is life after David! Again we are confronted with the faithfulness of God towards his people. God's warnings to his people are not idle threats—as we see when Judah is ultimately taken into captivity—but his… Read more…
Most of us know what it’s like to struggle. And most of us would appreciate some help—especially from someone who can sympathize, someone who knows what it’s like. Peter is just the man for the job. He wants us to have the strength to go on, coupled with peace within. To that end he prescribes a healthy dose of hope. But his aim isn’t just to make… Read more…
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