Ephesians 1:15-23 Dear RTB’ers, …that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation … that you may know what is the hope to which He has called you, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is …
Author Archives: Fred
June 26 / Ephesians 1:1-14
Ephesians 1:1-14 Dear RTB’ers, Back to the New Testament, Ephesians… One important item to note about this epistle right away is that Paul spent some 2-3 years living and preaching in Ephesus (Acts 19:1-10). [Read the whole of Acts 19 for a more complete account of his time there. It’s worth reading!] So although he …
June 25 / I Samuel 31, Review
I Samuel 31, Review Dear RTB’ers, The end of Saul and his son, Jonathan, and two other sons… Different from other battle accounts, nothing is said about Saul’s battle plan – only simple mention of the Israeli defeat and the Philistine victory and their mistreatment of the dead bodies. (Recall how the Philistines treated Samson …
June 24 / I Samuel 29-30
I Samuel 29-30 Dear RTB’ers, David has moved to the Philistines in order to get away from Saul’s constant pursuit. He has served one of the Philistine kings, Achish, and has been given his own city to live in, Ziklag. He has deceived Achish and pretended loyalty to him, although his heart is certainly with …
June 23 / I Samuel 27-28
I Samuel 27-28 Dear RTB’ers, Today we see the end of David and his men running and of Saul’s pursuit: And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him. (v. 27:4) The Philistine king gives David his own city, Ziklag, a border city between the Philistines and …
June 22 / I Samuel 25-26
I Samuel 25-26 Dear RTB’ers, Two incidents, both fairly straightforward. In the first, Abigail defies her husband Nabal and provides David and his men with food and drink. David is truly grateful and Nabal is equally angry – so much so that he appears to have suffered a stroke or a heart attack and dies …
June 21 / I Samuel 23-24
I Samuel 23-24 Dear RTB’ers, David on the run and Saul in hot pursuit. It’s a continuing story of Saul’s pursuit and David’s escape – or of Saul’s withdrawing. There are a number of smaller items in today’s reading, but David sparing Saul’s life really sticks out for me. They are both in the same …
June 20 / I Samuel 21:10-22:23
I Samuel 21:10-22:23 Dear RTB’ers, We will find as we move through the Samuel, Kings and Chronicles books that detailing the lineage of the kings of Israel and Judah is important to the Biblical writers. Somewhat less important, but still helpful is the lineage of the high priests. This will become much more important later. …
June 19 / I Samuel 20:1-21:9
I Samuel 20:1-21:9 Dear RTB’ers, Saul intent on killing David; Jonathan and David knit together in a vow relationship; and David clearly on the run. These Saul-Jonathan-David relationships will continue for the rest of I Samuel, but David’s brief time with Ahimelech, the priest is a story that will live on for centuries. Jesus referred …
June 18 / I Samuel 17:55-19:24
I Samuel 17:55-19:24 Dear RTB’ers, Saul becomes deranged! In earlier chapters we saw Saul making mistake after mistake, particularly in reference to his relationship with Samuel. Now he has a new relationship, sadly adversarial, against David, the hero of the battle with Goliath. Instead of celebrating David’s victories over the Philistines, Saul becomes intensely jealous …