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. …
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. …
What follows is based on:
Jonathan Lamb, Essentially One: Striving for the Unity God Loves, Chapter 6 – ‘Living With Difference’
There will always be differences between Christians.
These may be:
1. God in time and eternity
Psa 90:1 – ‘O Lord, you have been our protector through all generations!
90:2 Even before the mountains came into existence,
or you brought the world into being,
you were the eternal God.
90:3 You make mankind return to the dust,
and say, “Return, O people!”
90:4 Yes, in your eyes a thousand years
are like yesterday that quickly passes,
or like one of the divisions of the nighttime.’
2.…
Which of the following are your main ‘time robbers’?
…
(Alexander Smellie, “The Secret Place” 1907):-
I have many agitations and misgivings. But when heart and flesh faint and fail, my Lord has three whispers for me that banish fear and alarm.
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you!” Isaiah 43:1
My PAST brings me trouble . . .
the sins I have committed,
the duties I have neglected,
the guilt I am chargeable with,
the penalty I merit —
these make the retrospect of my days and years sad in the extreme.…
I was delighted by Jim Gordon’s New Year reflections, reproduced here in slightly abridged form.
New Creation
2 Corinthians 5.17 ‘If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; what is old has passed away—look, what is new has come!’
‘To be in Christ and know Christ in us, is the core experience of Christian faith. Paul calls it new creation; Jesus calls it being born again. It’s what God does.’
New Teaching
Acts 17:19 ‘They took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming?”‘…
During the night of Saturday, 17th December 2022, my dear wife Sarah became seriously ill with what turned out to be ‘flu, pneumonia, and then general sepsis. She was taken by ambulance to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, where she was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit. Gravely ill, she was sedated and put on a ventilator.
A few days later, I began sending out regular updates to her, and our, many friends.
What follows is a lightly edited compilation of these short bulletins. …
Brian Croft commends the value of periods of silence to pastors. However, what he writes is helpful for the rest of us too:
First, silence exposes the soul. A common defense mechanism is to use busyness and noise to avoid pain in our lives. It could be unresolved pain and abuse from the past, or it could be a current suffering. Regardless, noise and distraction can give the illusion it isn’t there, or that it has no power.…
1. Garrulous
‘The mouth of the fool gushes folly’ (Proverbs 15:2)
2. Reckless
‘A fool is hotheaded and reckless’ (Proverbs 14:16)
3. Gullible
‘A simple man believes anything’ (Proverbs 14:15)
4. Trouble-maker
He ‘deceives his neighbour and says, “I was only joking!”‘ (Proverbs 26:19)
5. Always right (in his own eyes)
‘A fool…delights in airing his own opinions.’ (Proverbs 18:2)
6. Unteachable
‘The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline’ (Proverbs 1:7)
7.…
