In 1 Samuel 3:13, God explains to the boy Samuel that he will hold Eli to account, not for what he has done personally, but for what he has allowed to continue under his watch:

“And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them.” (ESV, my emphasis)

As is often observed, when the apostle John speaks of the eternal Word becoming flesh, and “taking up residence” or “pitching a tent” among us, he is alluding to Israel’s time in the desert, where God once dwelt among his people in the tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting.

Abuse NDAs (Non-Disclosure Agreements) are an offence to God, and an assault on the dignity of his image bearers. Here are ten reasons why.

As is often the way in the Bible, our attention is drawn to insignificant people who find themselves at the centre of God’s purposes for the world. This is the first and the last that we hear of the Hebrew midwives Shiphrah and Puah.

The sixth instalment in a series on Matthew 7:15-23, continuing to think about what it means to recognise wolves by their fruit (Matthew 7:16, 20). This post considers how the fruit test gets misapplied as a performance test.

Joseph’s brothers must have very sore backs by now. Since they first came to Egypt looking for food they have repeatedly bowed low, even prostrated themselves before their brother. They hated his prophetic dreams, but they cannot escape their fulfilment.

The fifth instalment in a series on Matthew 7:15-23. This and the next post consider how in practice we can recognise wolves by their fruit (Matthew 7:16, 20). In this post I look at what doesn’t count as good fruit, and how to apply the fruit test as a paternity test.

The fourth instalment in a series on Matthew 7:15-23. This and the next two posts consider the meaning and application of Jesus’ words, “You will recognize them by their fruit.” It is easy to misunderstand and misapply Jesus’ words, because we treat the fruit test as a performance test, rather than a paternity test.

It was one thing, in fulfilment of Joseph’s dreams, for his brothers to bow down before him; quite another thing for Judah to prostrate himself before his brother Joseph and offer himself up in place of Benjamin.

This is the third instalment in a series on Matthew 7:15-23. We turn our attention to the prophet-wolves’ activity, seeking to discern it from the metaphor itself, the OT background (see the previous post), and the context and concerns of the Sermon on the Mount.

Just as Judah had left his personal seal and staff with his daughter-in-law Tamar (Gen 38), so Joseph now leaves his cloak with Potiphar’s wife. But how different Joseph is to his brother! Just as when his brothers stripped his cloak off him and threw him into a pit, so now, Joseph is an innocent victim.

I don’t know the history behind hymn mashups, but I wish someone would rewind it, so that we can just get back to singing the old hymns without mashing them up into an unpalatable sandwich that has too many discordant flavours.