“Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus” (Acts 8:35 ESV). When the Ethiopian eunuch asked Philip about the identity of the subject in Isaiah 53, he “told him the Good News about Jesus.” For the eunuch had turned to where Isaiah wrote, “He was
“Then Solomon said, ‘The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness’” (1 Kings 8:12 ESV). As the Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies, Solomon’s newly built Temple was suddenly filled with a dense cloud. The priests, who had entered with reverence and celebration, were now driven out by the overwhelming
“Yet the Most High does not dwell in houses made by hands, as the prophet says.” (Acts 7:48 ESV). Stephen stood before the Sanhedrin, bold and unflinching. He knew the price of truth might be death, but he would not remain silent. In his powerful speech, he reminded Israel’s leaders of a troubling pattern in
“When the house was built, it was with stone prepared at the quarry, so that neither hammer nor axe nor any tool of iron was heard in the house while it was being built” (1 Kings 6:7 ESV). That every massive stone used in the building of Solomon’s temple was “prepared at the quarry” was
“A worker’s appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on.” (Proverbs 16:26 ESV). A wise observation by King Solomon: Hunger motivates work. In other words, hunger can act as an incentive for one to labor for himself. Self-employment is hard, but often the most rewarding, for both the stomach and for one’s self-respect. Of
“So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being priest to the Lord, thus fulfilling the word of the Lord that he had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh.” (1 Kings 2:27 ESV) This verse marked the end of an era. Abiathar, a descendant of Eli, was removed from the priesthood by Solomon after supporting Adonijah’s
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13 ESV). Something extraordinary happens to ordinary people when they spend time with Jesus. When Peter, the former fisherman, stood before a council of
“Asahel the brother of Joab was one of the thirty… Uriah the Hittite: thirty-seven in all.” (2 Samuel 23:24, 39 ESV). The mention of Uriah the Hittite appears at the end of a glorious roll call of David’s mighty men known as the Thirty. They were his most trusted warriors, the ones who fought fiercely
“The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; his word is on my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2 ESV). David’s last words began with the assertion that the Spirit of the Lord had spoken by him. He had an awareness that the multitude of psalms he had written were really from God. They were not merely
“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 121:1-2 ESV). Psalm 121 is one of the fifteen “Psalms of Ascent,” so named because they were written to be sung by pilgrims traveling up to Jerusalem to worship