Tag Archives: idolatry

Your People! No, Your People.

Posted on February 8, 2024 by Pete

“The LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend” (Ex. 33:11). Scripture testifies that this was the unique relationship between the Creator and this particular image-bearer. Like neighbors might over a backyard … Continue reading →

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Starting Point Matters

Posted on June 21, 2023 by Pete

Two different starting points. Same practices. Two different assessments. That’s what I’m chewing on this morning. Reading in 2Kings 17 this morning. Israel, the northern kingdom, is done. Operation “Assyrian Occupation” is complete. After 200 years of worshiping golden calves … Continue reading →

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Beware the Hospitality of Bethel

Posted on June 1, 2023 by Pete

1Kings 13 is a head-scratcher. A prophet from Judah, “a man of God”, is told to go to Bethel and cry out against the altar, the idolatry, and the man-made religion established there by Jeroboam, king of the northern kingdom, … Continue reading →

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The Difference Phinehas Makes

Posted on April 17, 2023 by Pete

It would seem that chapters 17 through 21 could just have easily been chapters 3 through 7. Who knew? Hovering over and diving a bit into the final chapters of Judges this morning. And a small detail turns upside down … Continue reading →

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Idols and Stumbling Blocks

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Pete

One of the “advantages” of reading through the Old Testament prophets, I find, is the language the Spirit gives through them for identifying and describing sin. If you want to expand your vocabulary regarding transgression against God, just hang out … Continue reading →

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A Caution About Imitating the Wrong Stuff

Posted on June 17, 2021 by Pete

It seems he was an innovator. A collaborator. An imitator. Ahaz, king of Judah, took the things of God and thought he could improve on them. He visited other nations and partnered with them to bring the best of their … Continue reading →

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The Yoked-to-Provoked Connection

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Pete

Hovering over Psalm 106 this morning and a well known quote comes to mind from Ralph Waldo Emerson (technically, a well known quote comes to mind and I have to Google it to find it was by Emerson). “Sow a … Continue reading →

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When There’s No King . . .

Posted on April 13, 2021 by Pete

Continuing to read in Judges this morning. And encountered the first of four repeated strikings of an ominous gong. In those days there was no king in Israel. That gong sounds in Judges 17:6, 18:1, 19:1, and 21:25. Implication? It … Continue reading →

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A Bad Deal

Posted on February 23, 2021 by Pete

We made a bad deal. A poor trade. A seriously miscalculated swap. That’s what I’m taking away from one of the most depressing passages in all the New Testament, Romans 1:18-32. Yesterday, I concluded my Romans 1 reading on a … Continue reading →

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No More Goat Demons

Posted on February 16, 2021 by Pete

You can take the people out of Egypt, but the God who made them knew how hard it would be to take Egypt out of the people. For 400 years the people of Israel had lived in the land of … Continue reading →

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