August 23 / Galatians 3:1-18

Galatians 3:1-18 Dear RTB’ers, We continue where we left off yesterday, justification by faith: …we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, … because by works of the law no one will be justified. (Gal. 2:16) Let’s follow Paul’s argument in today’s reading. First, …

August 22 / Galatians 2

Galatians 2 Dear RTB’ers, Scholars disagree as to when Paul’s letter to the Galatians was written. Basically it comes down to either (1) after Paul’s first missionary journey and before his second or (2) after his second. In between his first and second missionary journeys we have the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 where the …

August 21 / Galatians 1

Galatians 1 Dear RTB’ers, Today we begin another of Paul’s epistles, our third, this one to the Galatians. To get a better handle on Galatians, we need to go back to Paul’s first missionary journey in Acts 13-14. After he and Barnabas had shared the gospel in Cyprus, they sailed north to Asia Minor and …

August 20 / Revision: Joshua 1-24

Joshua 1-24 Dear RTB’ers, Today we have no new reading; STS calls it a “Revision” day. I like the second half of the second question in STS – God’s character and His purpose for us… A couple of my own thoughts from Joshua. First, my Study Bible noted seven occasions when the Israelites set up …

August 19 / Joshua 24

Joshua 24 Dear RTB’ers, Yesterday we had two sets of three times that Joshua had reminded Israel of God’s giving them the Promised Land and of the possibility of them losing that land due to their disobedience. Again today, we have two sets of three interchanges, “And Joshua said to the people…” (vv. 2, 19, …

August 17 / Joshua 22

Joshua 22 Dear RTB’ers, Two sets of sentences stood out for me today: And when Joshua sent them away to their homes and blessed them, he said to them, “Go back to your tents with much wealth and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, and iron, and with much clothing. Divide the spoil …

August 16 / Joshua 20-21

Joshua 20-21 Dear RTB’ers, My computer is still in the shop, so another crippled post today. Again, the geography  is interesting, so please look back at the maps that I sent two days ago.  It’s a straightforward read today – setting apart cities of refuge in chapter 20 and cities for the Levites in chapter …

August 15 / Joshua 18-19

Joshua 18-19 Dear RTB’ers, Continuing the division of the Promised Land to the twelve tribes, today with seven more allotments in chapters 18 and 19. I’ve always appreciated the inherent fairness for these last seven tribes. Pick three men from each tribe, search out the land, define seven territories, then assign those territories by casting …

August 14 / Joshua 15:13-17:18

Joshua 15:13-17:18 Dear RTB’ers, Continuing the division of the Promised Land to the twelve tribes. Yesterday in Joshua 15:1-12 we saw the first allotment of the land going to Caleb and the tribe of Judah. Today the Joshua 15:13-63 finishes that allotment of land by naming more than 100 cities assigned to Judah. In later …