Author Archives: admin

Psa 122:6 – ‘Pray for the peace of Jerusalem’

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Psa 122:6a – Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

This psalm, and especially this particular expression, is a favourite of Christian Zionists, who urge all Christians simply  to obey the command, and pray for the city, so troubled and divided to this very day.  Indeed, it is sometimes implied that if Christians do not do this, then they are living, in a rather fundamental way, out of God’s will and purpose.  Citing this verse, Kenneth Hagee claims that ‘the scriptural principle of prosperity is tied to blessing Israel and the city of Jerusalem.’ …

Quotes on honesty

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An honest man’s the noblest work of God.  Alexander Pope.

One’s mere word should be as trustworthy as a signed agreement attested by legal witnesses.
Curtis Vaughan

If faith does not make a man honest, it is not an honest faith
C. H. Spurgeon

Honesty is a question of right and wrong, not a matter of policy.
Anon.

Truth is always strong, no matter how weak it looks, and falsehood is always weak, no matter how strong it looks.…

Theological drift

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I have observed that a Christian denomination (no less than an individual Christian, or a local congregation) can drift away from the central truths of our faith without actually denying any one of those truths.

D.A. Carson puts it like this:

‘I have heard a Mennonite leader assess his own movement in this way. One generation of Mennonites cherished the gospel and believed that the entailment of the gospel lay in certain social and political commitments.
…

Luke 17:34f – ‘One will be taken and the other left’

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17:34 “I tell you, in that night there will be two people in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 17:35 There will be two women grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”

Is one ‘taken’ in judgment, or in salvation?

Interpreters hold a range of opinions.

(a) Some are not sure

Perrin: ‘whether in judgment or salvation is not clear’.

Some others do venture an opinion, but tentatively.…

Numbers 3:43 – How many firstborn males?

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Numbers 3:40 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Number all the firstborn males of the Israelites from a month old and upward, and take the number of their names. 3:41 And take the Levites for me—I am the LORD—instead of all the firstborn males among the Israelites, and the livestock of the Levites instead of all the firstborn of the livestock of the Israelites.” 3:42 So Moses numbered all the firstborn males among the Israelites, as the LORD had commanded him.…

Egypt in Israel

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If firm evidence of Israel’s sojourn in Egypt is scant, then we might try looking in the opposite direction.

What signs are there that the Israelites, after their entry to the Promised Land, brought with them signs of their Egyptian past?

James Bejon argues that traces of Egypt’s influence can be found within the pages of the Hebrew Scriptures.

One notable example is the word for the Acacia tree (shittah).  Of its 28 occurrences in the Bible, 26 are found in the Book of Exodus. …

Chapman: the conquest of the land

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Summarising Whose Promised Land? (5th edition), by Colin Chapman, part of chapter 4.

From Gen 12:1-3 onwards, the promise that Abraham and his descendants will inherit ‘the land’ looms large in the storyline of the Old Testament.

Abraham himself owned just a tiny parcel of land – a field which served as the final resting-place of his wife Sarah (Gen 23:17f).  The conquest of the land would fall to Joshua and others.

This biblical account no doubt resonates with many Israeli Jews today. …

Psa 139:1-19 – God knows me (sermon notes)

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Notes of a sermon preached on 8th September 2025 at Christ Church, New Catton (Norwich).

Text: Psalm 139:1-16

1. God knows me – completely, 1-6

V1 – ‘O Lord, you have searched me and you know me’ – though others may misunderstand and misrepresent me, you, O God, know me as I really am.  Though you might have been fully occupied with keeping the galaxies in their orbits, you are aware of my every thought, word and action. …

John 4:18 – Five husbands!

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4:16 He said to her, “Go call your husband and come back here.” 4:17 The woman replied, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “Right you are when you said, ‘I have no husband,’ 4:18 for you have had five husbands, and the man you are living with now is not your husband. This you said truthfully!”

To what extent (if any) is Jesus being critical of this woman’s morality?

And to what extent (if any) are commentators quilty of slander when they comment adversely on her sexual history?…

Psalm 116:15 – ‘Precious…is the death of his saints’

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NET – 116:15 The LORD values
the lives of his faithful followers.

AV, RV, RSV, NIV (1984), ESV – ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.’

Similar NIV (2011), NASB, NRSV and many other translations.

NLT – ‘The LORD cares deeply
when his loved ones die.’

GNB – ‘How painful it is to the LORD
when one of his people dies!’

The Message – ‘When they arrive at the gates of death,
GOD welcomes those who love him.’…