-
Thinking God’s Thoughts After Him
All human creativity originates with our Creator God, Elohim. Our creativity, even our ability to appreciate creation, comes from God. Seventeenth century astronomer Johannes Kepler wrote, “I was merely thinking God’s thoughts after him.” Does Kepler sound proud? As if he was claiming equality with God? Not at all! He continues, “Since we astronomers are priests of the highest God in regard to the book of nature, it benefits us to be thoughtful, not of the glory of our minds, but rather, above all else, of the glory of God.” He acknowledged both divine creativity and divine lovingkindness in Elohim’s desire that we delight in His creation. We can only…
-
In beginning, Elohim . . .
The first name God gives Himself can be found in Genesis 1:1 In beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth Elohim appears more than 2,000 times in the Bible, more than 30 times in the first chapter of Genesis alone. Elohim is the Creator, and He deemed creation very good. He delighted in His creation. He delights in us. From the very first verse, we see that Elohim created time, “in beginning;” space, “the heavens;” and matter, “the earth.” There was no “before” before the beginning. That’s when time started. There was no space, no place to put anything, before the beginning. And there was no matter, nothing, literally no thing…
-
Jesus, the Nazarene, King of the Jews – Part 7
When I was a child, my mind wandered during the sermon. (Shocker.) Looking at the crucifix, I wondered about the “INRI” hanging above Jesus. What I know now but didn’t know then is that it stands for IESVS NAZARENVS REX IVDÆORVM. Jesus, the Nazarene, King of the Jews. Now Pilate also wrote an inscription and put it on the cross. It was written: “JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.” John 19:19 Pilate wrote the inscription in Jewish Aramaic, Latin, and Greek for all to see. That rankled the chief priests. They told Pilate to change it to, “He says he is King of the Jews.” Pilate refused. Why?…
-
A detour with a signet ring – Part 6
The LORD has a harsh rebuke for King Jeconiah in Jeremiah 22. “As I live,” declares the LORD, “even though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were a signet ring on My right hand, yet I would pull you off; and I will give you over into the hand of those who are seeking your life, yes, into the hand of those whom you dread, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of the Chaldeans. I will hurl you and your mother who bore you into another country where you were not born, and there you will die. But as for the…
-
An ancestry.com dumpster fire – Part 5
Now if you do a Bible-in-a-year reading plan, when you get to 1 Chronicles, you probably do quite a bit of skimming. I know I do. Names, names, names. “I’ll take Jewish genealogy for $1000, Alex.” “Ding – Father of Gera” “Buzz – Who is Bela?” “That’s right!” (I Chron 8:3) No, you’re not going to see that as a Jeopardy clue. But you think we like to poke around and dig up secrets on ancestry.com? The Jews knew their ancestry. Take a look at the first 9 chapters of 1 Chronicles. 9 chapters of names. It’s all genealogy, from Adam – the first man, to Abraham, to Jacob, and…
