Posts by Josh Moody
Ezekiel 9-12: The Power of the Word
Ezekiel 9-12, Job 3, John 8:1-11, 2 Peter 2:1-9 Ezekiel 9-12: This section begins with a wonderful, evocative description of the prophet’s experience of hearing God’s word. God “cried in my ears with a loud voice” (9:1). Unmissable, unmistakable, indubitably important: God’s Word came to him loud and clear. Those who have the “mark on…
Read MoreEzekiel 4-8: The Worst
Ezekiel 4-8, Job 2, John 7:45-53, 2 Peter 1:12-21 Ezekiel 4-8: How do you communicate judgment to a recalcitrant people, a hardened people? In chapter 4, the answer is by Ezekiel being told to dramatically portray siege and judgment upon God’s people. And then in chapter 5, by a razor and shaving hair and casting…
Read MoreEzekiel 1-3: The Glory of the Lord
Ezekiel 1-3, Job 1, John 7:37-44, 2 Peter 1:1-11 Ezekiel 1-3: If Jeremiah’s call is not one to be desired for its own sake, Ezekiel has perhaps an even tougher mandate. He is among the “exiles” (1:1), and in preparation for the tough calling that he is to receive as God’s mouthpiece to these “rebellious”…
Read MoreWhat Does It Mean to Be an ‘Evangelical’?
By Josh Moody What does it mean to be an ‘evangelical’? In some ways this is a perennial question, but recent developments in Evangelicalism, especially in America, mean that the question needs to be addressed again. What recent developments, you say? Well, the most recent is the book Shepherds For Sale (which I have not yet read, and…
Read MoreLamentations 4-5: For All Generations
Lamentations 4-5, Song of Solomon 8:8-14, John 7:25-36, 1 Peter 5:8-14 Lamentations 4-5: “How the gold has grown dim” (4:1)! Part of the tragedy of calamity is recalling how wonderful things were before the doom fell. The author of Lamentations does that repeatedly in this chapter, but also describes the horrors of a city that…
Read MoreLamentations 3: His Mercies Are New Every Morning
Lamentations 3, Song of Solomon 8:1-7, John 7:14-24, 1 Peter 5:1-7 Lamentations 3: We come to the heart of Lamentations, or at least to its most famous chapter and verses. Here we find evocative words of great distress that meet the lovingkindness of the person of God. In a brilliant turn of phrase, the chapter…
Read MoreLamentations 2: The Wrath of God
Lamentations 2, Song of Solomon 7, John 7:1-13, 1 Peter 4:12-19 Lamentations 2: The anger of God is not a common subject these days. In fact, so rare is it that when we talk of God’s “wrath” it becomes almost embarrassing. It is like mentioning a subject that is impolite, indelicate, or inappropriate—certainly not politically correct. The result…
Read MoreLamentations 1: Gently Weeps
Lamentations 1, Song of Solomon 6, John 6:60-71, 1 Peter 4:1-11 Lamentations 1: This Book of Lamentations appears initially to be little more than a rather lengthy “downer,” but once we start to understand its purpose and point, it becomes uniquely edifying. Probably written by Jeremiah (2 Chronicles 35:25), probably after the fall of Jerusalem, it…
Read MoreJeremiah 52: Longing and Praise
Jeremiah 52, Song of Solomon 5, John 6:41-59, 1 Peter 3:13-22 Jeremiah 52: And so we come to the end—or so it must have seemed to many at the time. What could be worse than the litany of destruction and defeat that we read about in this chapter? The horrors visited on Zedekiah and his family, the…
Read MoreJeremiah 51: Judgment and Salvation
Jeremiah 51, Song of Solomon 4:8-16, John 6:25-40, 1 Peter 3:8-12 Jeremiah 51: The judgment from God against Babylon is recorded in greater length and at greater extremity in this chapter. Once again, we need to remind ourselves of the yet broader context, not just of God’s judgment against all sinners who have not put…
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