Introduction to Ecclesiastes
This past Sunday was the first of 13 lessons I’ll be teaching on the book of Ecclesiastes.
Ecclesiastes 9.1-10
This is a sermon I preached in May 2007. I’ll be teaching a series on Ecclesiastes starting January 20.
Greek Vocab Quiz
This is TheoQuiz – a software developed by a BJU Seminary student. It quizzes you on Greek & Hebrew vocab, chapter content, systematic theology verses, and several other categories. Most of the time it works well, but if it doesn’t, sorry. I’m just passing the program along since it’s useful, but I can’t answer any help calls. Hope you enjoy it! Download here.
Greek Paradigm Booklet
This is a pocket-sized study help that I made a few years ago when I was at BJU – just print the pages double-sided, cut them horizontally and staple in the middle! Download here.
Fearing the Lord = Being Like Him
On Father’s Day, my music pastor read Psalm 112 from the pulpit and pointed it out as a complement to Proverbs 31. Ps. 112 is a description of the man who fears the Lord. Verse 4 describes the God-fearing man as “gracious and compassionate and righteous.” As I read Ps. 116 a few days later, the description of the Lord jumped out at me: verse 5 says “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; Yes, our God is compassionate.” The exact same three words describe both the Lord and the man who fears Him. Fearing the Lord results in being like Him – reflecting His image. What do those three words mean? “Gracious” refers to the way God shows favor to us – undeserved and unexpectedly, a real gift from the heart. “Righteous” means meeting all your obligations – “doing right” by everyone with whom you interact. “Compassionate” is a really powerful word – the Hebrew word here is related to the word for “womb” and it paints the picture of all the tenderness and gentleness and love that a mother has for her newborn baby. These all describe God’s character and His actions toward His people, but they also characterize the man who fears God. Fearing Him results in being like Him.
How insulting…
The other day I was reading Psalm 83 and I found it quite interesting that all the people named in Ps. 83.6 who made a covenant against the Lord are people He made a promise to! In Deuteronomy 2, I just read about the promises He made to Edom and Moab – promises that He kept by telling Israel not to conquer them. And Ishmaelites/Hagarenes are the descendents of Hagar (Ishmael) to whom the Lord also promised a great lineage in Genesis 16.10. Isn’t it sad when people for whom the Lord has made special provision turn against Him? Before we are quick to point a finger at Edom and the Ishmaelites, we who are Christians ought to examine our lives in the mirror of God’s Word here in Ps. 83.