The Magestic Old Testament

Then  the  Lord  rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the  Lord  out of heaven.   And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.   But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became  a pillar of salt. And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had  stood before the  Lord .   And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace. Genesis 19:24-28 It is the history of Sodom’s ruin, and Lot’s rescue from that ruin. We read (ch8) of God’s coming to take a view of the present state of Sodom, what its wickedness was, and what righteous persons there were in it: now here we have the result of that enquiry.  It was found, upon trial, that Lot was very good, and it did not appear that there was any more of the ...

"In the number of years here recorded we must especially consider the long period which the patriarchs lived together.  For through six successive ages, when the family of Seth had grown into a great people, the voice of Adam might daily resound, in order to renew the memory of the creation, the fall, and the punishment of man; to testify of the   hope of salvation  which remained after chastisement, and to recite   the judgments of God , by which all might be instructed. After his death his sons might indeed deliver, as from hand to hand, what they had learned, to their descendants; but far more efficacious would be the instruction from the mouth of him, who had been himself the eyewitness of all these things.  Yet so wonderful, and even monstrous, was the general obstinacy, that not even the sounder part of the human race could be retained in the obedience and the fear of God."  Calvin Genesis 4:16- 17, 25-26,  5:1-4 And Cain went out from t...

One of my friends asked me about the covenants, specifically the covenant God made with Abraham. Complicated. Or is it? Many believers struggle with covenant theology, as did I until I studied what my brother in Christ wrote in his book, Captive to the Word of God. Here is an excerpt: Without an accurate view of the Abrahamic Covenant it is impossible to understand the relationship between the various covenants of the Bible and who are the mediators and members therein; which we need to understand if, as Spurgeon said, we are to rightly comprehend the Scriptures.  The promise given to Abram sprang forth from the Eternal Covenant, as do all of God’s redemptive actions. Contrary to what many theologians claim, the Author of our salvation did not put together His rescue plan in reaction to what Adam did in the garden. The promise was conceived before time by the Holy Trinity, revealed to man in the garden, confirmed in Abram, secured in national Israel, and fulfilled in Chr...

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee (Isaiah 26:3). Are you hooked by the bait of social media and the news?  Being immersed in the world's nonsense and noise will inevitably lead to serious stress. Let's think about how we spend our day. With coffee mug in hand, we scroll Facebook, while political pundits rant in the background. After spending the day at work, or home, we have dinner. We relax, phone in hand, scrolling Facebook, while commentators rant in our living room. Time for bed. What? You can't sleep?? My friends often ask how is it that I am calm, at peace.  They don't understand how I am able to disengage from the world's noise. Pull the plug. Peace out.  Simple.  Before my feet hit the rug in the morning, I thank the Lord for waking me up ( at my age...well, you know ), and I ask what I can do to glorify Him. With coffee mug and Bible in hand, I study His Word.  It's quiet ...

Then Jonah prayed unto the Lord his God out of the fish’s belly,   And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord , and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.   For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.   Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple.   The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.   I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, O Lord my God.   When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord : and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.    But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice o...

King Solomon's story is a complicated one of worship and devotion to Almighty God, and his eventual disobedience to God's commands. As it is written in 1 Kings, Solomon's fall from the Lord's grace followed a time when the King was devoted in his worship of Almighty God; but due to his disobedience, he suffered the punishment of his sins. In 1 Kings 8:54-61, we see an example of Solomon's sincere prayers and blessings to his people of Israel. 54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.   55 And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,   56 Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Mose...

Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD.   Do I not fill Heaven and earth? declares the LORD.    Jeremiah 23:23-24 "Here he especially shakes off from hypocrites their self-delusions; for they were torpid in their vices, because they thought that they could in a manner blind the eyes of God.  They did not indeed say so; but the heedless security of men would, never be so great as it is, were they to believe that nothing is hid from God, but that he penetrates into the inmost recesses of the heart, that he discerns between the thoughts and the feelings, and leaves not unobserved the very marrow.  If, then, this truth were fixed in the hearts of all, they would certainly obey God with more reverence, and also dread his threatenings.   As, then, they are so heedlessly torpid, it follows, that they imagine God as not having a cl...

Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day. Remember, O LORD, thy tender mercies and they lovingkindnesses; for they have been ever of old. Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.  Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach sinners in the way. The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it is great.   Psalm 25:5-14 Matthew Henry: Once and again David prays to God to teach him. He was a knowing man himself, but the most intelligent, the most observant, both need and desire to be taught of God; from him we must be ever learning.  What he desired to learn: "Teach me, not fine words or fine notions, but th...

What does man gain by all the toil  at which he toils under the sun?   A generation goes, and a generation comes,  but the earth remains forever.  The sun rises, and the sun goes down,  and hastens to the place where it rises.  The wind blows to the south  and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind,  and on its circuits the wind returns.  All streams run to the sea,  but the sea is not full  to the place where the streams flow,  there they flow again.  All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing,  nor the ear filled with hearing.  What has been is what will be,  and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.  Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"?  It has been already  in the ages before us.  There is no remembrance of former things,  nor will there ...

I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. Psalm 37:25 When Christ taught His disciples what to pray, He did not say, "Give us enough so that we never want."  Our God always provides for His own. Why do we doubt? Do believers need His assurance that no matter what this world's dire circumstances are, He will not forsake His own? My parents lived through three wars, and the Great Depression.  There were long lines for food rations, one chicken per week per family.  She plucked that chicken naked, butchered wings, legs, thighs and breasts, baked it, made pies from leftovers, and soup from the bones.  Our neighbors ate their chickens in two days, while ours lasted the week! Our family never went hungry during these horrific times. Life was very difficult after the depression. It left our family almost penniless. We may have lived as beggars, but we never had to beg. The Lord held our family toget...

We should not let the genealogy be discouraging when reading the Old Testament, particularly Genesis ~ for it is here we learn of Adam's descendants, including Noah, and the generations leading to the great patriarchs like Abraham, all from the seed of Adam. We learn of judgment and redemption and how the first generations worshiped God. Let's continue with the story of Cain.  If you recall, Cain's punishment was to become a fugitive and vagabond.  (AL) Genesis 4:16   And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden. A few comments from John Calvin on Genesis 5:1-4   And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth... "In the number of years here recorded we must especially consider the long period which the patriarchs lived together.  For through six successive ages, when the family of Seth had grown into a great people, the voice of Adam might daily resound, in order to renew the memory of the ...

Isaiah paints a very vivid picture. Here is a closed book and the person who is able to read can't be bothered; it's too much trouble to open it. And the person who can't read is content to leave it like that; it's of no importance to try to find out what the book is about.  But the book in question is God's book, His Word of truth: it brings the knowledge of God; without it, all is at best surmise, at worst idle fancy and error.  How swiftly Isaiah's picture leaps over the 2,700 years since he put it on paper! He might well be living today and describing how things are all round.   Here is a life-long churchgoer, a devout serious man (I could tell you his name), but he says, 'Never at any time in my life have I read the Bible for myself'. He can read, but can't be bothered, and tragedy of tragedies the church he attends encourages religion and ritual but not personal Bible reading.   And here is a man talking confidently of life after dea...

God makes a promise in Genesis 3:15. This promise involves the promised seed. He pronounces this promise in a curse against the serpent. The serpent believes exactly what God says which is why in Genesis 4 we have the first murder. What is the first murder? The seed of the serpent, Cain, kills the seed of the woman, Abel.  The seed that was promised still had not come to fruition.  Eventually you come to a man name Terah who has an offspring by the name of Abraham. God makes a promise to that man named Abraham and this promise involves, among other things, seed. But this promise is rather significant because he and his wife, particularly his wife, too old for seed.  So how do you get promised seed if the seed bearing woman is too old for seed? The answer is God must intervene. No?  The answer is we’ve got to find somebody else—Hagar. Wrong answer. God didn’t say “a seed,” He said, “the seed.” Ishmael was  a  seed but not  the  seed. ...