Category: Scripture

What Christmas Is All About

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

—Luke 2:8-14, ESV

Sing to Yahweh

Sing to Yahweh a new song;
Sing to Yahweh, all the earth.
Sing to Yahweh, bless His name;
Proclaim good news of His salvation from day to day.
Recount His glory among the nations,
His wondrous deeds among all the peoples.

—Psalm 96:1-3, LSB

The LORD is the Strength of His People

Blessed be the LORD!
        For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
The LORD is my strength and my shield;
        in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
        and with my song I give thanks to him.

The LORD is the strength of his people;
        he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!
        Be their shepherd and carry them forever.

—Psalm 28:6-9, ESV

Peace With God Through Faith

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

—Romans 5:1-5, ESV

The Golden Chain

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

—Romans 8:28-30, ESV

How Should the Books of the Old Testament Be Ordered?

In The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church (esp. 181–234), Roger Beckwith has convincingly demonstrated that the oldest arrangement of the OT is the tripartite division into Law, Prophets, and Writings. This arrangement is reflected in the words of Jesus in Luke 24:44,

“These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

This statement indicates that when Jesus thought of the Old Testament, he thought of three groups of books. These three groups of books broadly match the ordering in printed Hebrew Bibles today: Torah (Law), Nevi’im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). This is the basis of the acronym TaNaK (Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim—a list of the books is here). Ancient evidence for this tripartite division of the OT is also found in the prologue to the apocryphal book Ecclesiasticus, in the text found among the Dead Sea Scrolls known as 4QMMT, and in the Babylonian Talmud’s Baba Bathra 14b.

Another indication that Jesus thought of the OT in these terms is his statement in Matthew 23:34–36 paralleled in Luke 11:49–51. In these texts Jesus speaks of “the blood of all the prophets . . . from the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah . . .” This seems to be Jesus’ way of referring to all the martyrs in the OT, from start to finish. The murder of Abel is near the beginning in Genesis 4, and the murder of Zechariah is near the end in 2 Chronicles 24. Jesus’ statement only works, though, if Chronicles is near the end of the OT. In the tripartite division of the OT into Law, Prophets, and Writings, Chronicles is in the last section, the Writings. The order of the OT books used in modern English translations makes it difficult to understand what Jesus was talking about.

Via: Dr. Jim Hamilton

The Zeal of the Lord of Hosts

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

—Isaiah 9:6-7, ESV

Psalm Nineteen

Who is glorious like our God? And what tells forth his glory, but the Word of God? In the beginning, God gave forth his voice, he spoke the worlds into existence, and by his Word all creation was made (Genesis 1; John 1:1-3); and now, from one day to another, the glories of the sun and sky and stars above all give an unceasing testimony to the greatness of this God. There is no part of the world where divine glory does not overwhelm our myopic, sin-stained eyes with a dazzling brilliance. All creation shouts forth the majesty of the Creator with a voice loud enough to wake the deaf and shake the earth’s foundations. And these are but a whisper of his ways! The staggering beauty of the heavens are but the echoes of that voice that first thundered “Let there be Light”! And the whole universe is awash with these echoes of the Word – so that they are rendered utterly without excuse, who exchange the glory that can be known from Creation, even the divine majesty and Godhead of the Creator, for a lesser glory to worship (Romans 1:18-32).

—Nathan Pitchford
Images of the Savior from the Psalms

Via: Nathan Pitchford

Assurance of the Elect

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

—John 10:22-30