Something Greater

Isaiah 15, Part Two: The Prime Of Life Isaiah continues his lament, describing Moab as a valuable, vigorous animal, soon to be slaughtered. Isaiah 15:5 (ESV) My heart cries out for Moab; her fugitives flee to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishiyah. EGLATH-SHELISHIYAH: egla shelishi "eg-LAW shel-ee-SHEE" (a female calf, especially one nearly grown; a heifer) and (third); from egel (a male calf, especially one nearly grown; a steer); from agol (to revolve, circular, as frisking round) Eglath-shelishiyah is a compound word, combinining "heifer" (a young female cow that has not borne a calf) with "third", referring to a three-year-old cow. "Heifer" was used to refer to young women (Judges 14:18), as well as the nations of Egypt (Jeremiah 46:20), Chaldea (Jeremiah 50:11), and Ephraim (Hosea 10:11). Jeremiah echoes the declaration of Isaiah: Jeremiah 48:34-35 (ESV) “From the outcry at Heshbon even to Elealeh, as far as Jahaz they utter their voi...

Isaiah 15, Part 1: Family What has gone before... Isaiah spoke to four different groups of people, each group given a different message: To Israel, a message of compassion and victory To Babylon, a message of mocking and doom To Assyria, a message of God's sovereignty To Philistia, a message of death Now, in chapter 15... The LORD shows Isaiah the future destruction of Moab, and the vision breaks Isaiah's heart. Who, or what, was Moab? MOAB: mo'ab "mo-awb" (from her father); from 'ab (father) Moab was the son of Lot, the nephew of Abraham (Genesis 19:37). The child was born of the union between Lot and his daughter. Moab became the father of a people group called the Moabites. Now, generations after Lot, Isaiah speaks to the people of Moab, warning them of impending doom and crying out to them in shared pain. Isaiah 15:1-5 (ESV) An oracle concerning Moab. Because Ar of Moab is laid waste in a night, Moab is undone; because Kir of Mo...

Under the Dominion of Grace "So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:11-14 (ESV) CONSIDER: logizomai (to take an inventory, estimate); from logos (something said or thought); from lego (to lay forth or relate or mean, rather than individual speech or simply breaking silence or an extended harangue) DEAD: nekros (dead); from nekus (a corpse) ALIVE: zao (to live) A Christian is responsible for careful consideration and logical reasoning regarding circumstances in which faith in Christ places them. A Christian is dead to sin and alive to God. This m...

Only Human "Why do people try to gain salvation through their own merit, rather than accept God's righteousness through Jesus Christ? How strong a role does guilt play in this?" This was the question posed to me. Here is my response. From the beginning, angels and humans have inclined toward rejection of God as their ultimate Authority. God told Adam and Eve that they had for their food every plant in all the earth and every tree of the garden, except one. The serpent deceived Eve, pretending, without actually lying, to believe that God had forbade them any tree in the garden. The serpent's argument was that God's authority over them was arbitrary and unfair. The serpent opened a door into rebellion, making it appear good and delightful and wise, and Eve walked through that door. (Genesis 3:1-6) Adam was beside Eve all this time. He knew that the serpent was pretending. Adam knew that the serpent was usurping authority over God, but he also knew that t...