May 27 / I Peter 2:18-25

I Peter 2:18-25 Dear RTB’ers, The word “suffer” (and its endings) occurs four times in today’s eight verses, Peter quickly tying Christian sufferings to Jesus. And in so doing, he reminds his audience of Isaiah’s prophecy: He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire …

May 26 / I Peter 2:4-17

I Peter 2:4-17 Dear RTB’ers, Yesterday I commented on the word “exile”, which the NASB had translated as “stay on earth”. Peter continues that analogy today, Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles… (v. 11a) The NASB has foreigners and strangers in place of sojourners and exiles. All four words suggest temporary residence. I …

May 25 / I Peter 1:13-2:3

I Peter 1:13-2:3 Dear RTB’ers, …conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed … with the precious blood of Christ (vv. 1:17b-19a). Exile. [NOTE: The NASB translates “exile” as “stay on earth”.] Peter sees our born-again life here on earth as an “exile”, a time when we are …

May 24 / I Peter 1:1-12

I Peter 1:1-12 Dear RTB’ers, Back to the New Testament, the first of Peter’s two epistles. It’ll be a long while before we see the second! I have two general reflections on Peter writing these two letters. The first is that many scholars have argued that Mark’s gospel could well be called Peter’s gospel, that …

May 22 / Judges 20

Judges 20 Dear RTB’ers, Civil war in Israel, this time clearly involving all of Israel, eleven tribes from Dan to Beersheba, including the land of Gilead… (v. 20b) arrayed against their “brother”, Benjamin. Apparently this incident from yesterday and the battle today occurred early in the days of Judges, since we still have Phineas, the …

May 20 / Judges 17-18

Judges 17-18 Dear RTB’ers, Two chapters today, two independent sets of activities – neither of which is praiseworthy – that come together and leave us wondering where God is in these activities, or more correctly, why the characters in these activities are not seeking the Lord in what they do. So first, Micah and his …

May 19 / Judges 16

Judges 16 Dear RTB’ers, I am thankful for John’s comment yesterday (as always!), but I think he misunderstood me. I didn’t say that I did not believe the stories or the numbers written in Judges 14-15 (30, 300, 1000). Yes, our God, “the Creator of the entire universe” can do anything He wants. But how …