What do we make of a regime that has thought crime on the statute books? Well then, what do we think of God the Father? Because on Mount Sinai here is His concluding word of the ten: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor […]
It’s interesting to read modern alternatives to the Ten Commandments. Their silence on the subject of God is deafening. Few people today see God as having anything to do with the “Good Life.” Maybe that’s not surprising. But what’s also consistently absent are expectations about family commitments. In fact committed relationships of any kind are […]
Where is the world heading? Climate catastrophes? Asteroid impact? Nuclear armageddon? Global Pandemic? Cosmic big crunch? Heat death? Not according to the bible. In the beginning, God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh. And ever since, the week has proclaimed to us God’s purposes with the world. Through His Word […]
Protestors will often march carrying placards: “Not in my name.” They are incensed that their government would act in ways completely at odds with their own ethos. At Mount Sinai, the Father is similarly concerned. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him […]
It’s right there in the midst of the ten words from Mount Sinai: “I the LORD thy God am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5) What a horrible idea, we might think, a jealous God!? What kind of a God gets jealous? Well Mount Sinai is no unguarded moment of candour. The LORD is very open […]
Where do we look for strength, for comfort, for help, for love, acceptance and joy? Where do we look for life? According to the bible, the answer is: all the wrong places. We are inveterate idolaters. That is to say, our hearts are forever being set on idols: things that are not God. The human […]
No-one likes the phrase “laying down the law.” But that’s what the unseen LORD does on mount Sinai. God the Son has brought the people to God the Father and now they learn the law of the LORD. The order is important. They’re not told in Egypt “If you obey my commands I will redeem […]
Do you need a priest to bring you to God? The Bible answers yes. But perhaps not the priest you were thinking of. Back in Exodus 3 Moses is at the burning bush and the One in the bush promises to save the people: “Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a […]
“I never knew Christ was all I needed until Christ was all I had.” I heard this saying from an African Bishop recently. But Christians the world over can attest to the truth of it. It’s the very essence of what God was teaching the Israelites in the wilderness. And it’s exactly what Christians are […]
When we hear of “fleshpots” we’ll likely think of sexual temptation. As in… flesh·pots / ˈfleshˌpäts/• pl. n. places providing luxurious or hedonistic living: he had lived the life of a roué in the fleshpots of London and Paris. But in their original biblical context, “fleshpots” are literally cauldrons of meat. They are a temptation, but there’s nothing […]
