Posts by Josh Moody
1 Samuel 6-8: Rejecting God
1 Samuel 6-8, Psalm 97, Mark 10:17-34, 2 Corinthians 2 1 Samuel 6-8: To show that God’s presence and power is not only capable of being violated by pagans, that God does not play “favorites,” the people of Beth-shemesh, to whom the ark had gone, were also struck down when they violated the holiness of…
Read More1 Samuel 3-5: Handy
1 Samuel 3-5, Psalm 96, Mark 10:1-16, 2 Corinthians 1:12-24 1 Samuel 3-5: God’s intervention is picking up pace. First, we have the background. The word of the LORD was rare (3:1). As by illustration, Eli, the one who should have been “seeing” God’s word, has eyes that are physically failing (3:2). There is a…
Read More1 Samuel 1-2: God Is on the Move
1 Samuel 1-2, Psalm 95, Mark 9:33-50, 2 Corinthians 1:1-11 1 Samuel 1-2: God is on the move. It starts in a surprising place, in weakness. A man had two wives (1:2). Immediately we know something is not right, either with him or his family or the center of worship to which he nonetheless attended.…
Read MoreRuth 4: Heritage!
Ruth 4, Psalm 94, Mark 9:14-32, 1 Corinthians 16 Ruth 4: The rest of the story is simply told, and nonetheless beautiful and powerful for that. Boaz has purposed to “redeem” Ruth (Ruth 3:12-13), and so goes to the town gate (4:1), where important transactions such as this were taken place in public. He asks the relative who…
Read MoreRuth 2-3: Kinsman-Redeemer
Ruth 2-3, Psalm 93, Mark 9:1-13, 1 Corinthians 15:29-58 Ruth 2-3: The romance starts to grow and we begin increasingly to get a sense that this is part of a larger, majestic, and divinely appointed story of redemption. Ruth “happened” to go to the field where her kinsman-redeemer was present to protect her (2:3). This little narrative touch…
Read MoreRuth 1: If God Is for Us, Who Can Be Against Us?
Ruth 1, Psalm 92, Mark 8:31-38, 1 Corinthians 15:1-28 Ruth 1: Ruth is one of the most beautiful stories in the Old Testament. Finely crafted, it resonates with romance and intrigue, the soft light of summer evenings and the warmth of long summer days. Throughout this story there is an emphasis upon the sovereignty of God and his…
Read MoreJudges 20-21: No King
Judges 20-21, Psalm 91, Mark 8:22-30, 1 Corinthians 14:26-40 Judges 20-21: The last line of today’s reading once again summarizes the chaos that is unfolding upon Israel: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (21:25). This time the chaos is intermixed with religious devotion and attempts to…
Read MoreJudges 19: Shock
Judges 19, Psalm 90, Mark 8:14-21, 1 Corinthians 14:1-25 Judges 19: Judges 19 begins with the repeated warning that things are decaying: “In those days there was no king in Israel” (v. 1). Without moral authority, without a commitment to God as the Judge, without a sense of what is right and what is wrong ruling, then the…
Read MoreJudges 17-18: Idolatry
Judges 17-18, Psalm 89:19-52, Mark 8:1-13, 1 Corinthians 13 Judges 17-18: Matthew Henry comments about this part of the story of Judges that “spiritual distempers are not so soon cured as caught.” It is a wise observation, because the story here tells how one man’s idolatry spread piece-by-piece to a great city, Shiloh, and had a great impact.…
Read MoreJudges 16: Blind!
Judges 16, Psalm 89:1-18, Mark 7:24-37, 1 Corinthians 12:14-31 Judges 16: The famous story, beautifully traced out in Milton’s Samson Agonistes, is a lesson to all who think that morality does not matter if you have ability. Samson “went,” “saw,” and then “went in” (v. 1). At each step he had an opportunity to reverse his decline. Do…
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