“Go and marry a prostitute.” Thus begins the unusual story of Hosea, one of the most surprising prophets to the nation of Israel. It was his prophetic mission to marry a prostitute and love her in spite of her whoring with other men. In doing so, he became a living illustration of God’s love for His people in spite of their sin of giving themselves over to the worship of other gods.
We had two good climbing trees on our property when I was growing up, and by far the best was a sycamore in our back yard. It had one branch low enough that you could jump up and throw your leg over it to get started, and sturdy branches that could take you up above the roofline so you could “spy” across the street. It’s no wonder, then, that it was a sycamore tree that Zacchaeus, a very short man, scrambled up to get a better look at Jesus who was coming his way with a large crowd around Him.
Jonah is a guy who, when you think about it, was used of God but was never on the same page as Him. It’s a strange story that makes you wonder why it’s there in our Bibles. Continue reading
This week we’re going to look at some men of the Bible, in particular some of the more obscure, lesser known – those who probably wouldn’t show up on everybody’s “A” list of great men of the Bible. Remembering, of course, that it is necessary to call them great men of faith, since it was their faith that made them great, not them.
One of my favorites that fills this bill is Caleb, one of only two men who had first spied out the Promised Land who actually went in forty years later. The rest died off with a whole generation of grumblers and disbelievers who always seemed to think the life they left behind in captivity in Egypt was better than the one they had on the other side of the Red Sea. Continue reading
Most judges have a place from which they judge. Be it a throne, a throne room or a judge’s chamber, it is a place that takes on the mantle of authority. Disputes are resolved there. Sentences are determined. Justice is meted out. The decisions here are final. Deborah, the fifth judge in the Book of Judges to rise up and rule the nation of Israel (Gideon was the sixth) didn’t have a throne or a chamber. As indicative of this “homeless” season of Israel’s history — a history that had them alternatively captives of some neighboring Canaanite power or temporarily at peace due to the return of a judge to free them — Deborah’s rule was established under a palm tree, albeit a famous one that bore her name. Continue reading
On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us. (Acts 16:13-15)
Lydia was a businesswoman. She was a merchant from the Turkish city of Thyatira who dealt in the trade of dying and selling fine purple cloth. She was successful at her trade to the extent that she owned a spacious home and had servants to care for her and help run her business. Continue reading
SERIES: WOMEN OF THE BIBLE
After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. The Twelve were with him, and also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases: Mary (called Magdalene) from whom seven demons had come out; Joanna the wife of Chuza, the manager of Herod’s household; Susanna; and many others. These women were helping to support them out of their own means. (Luke 8:1-4)
These are some of the more obscure verses in the Bible that probably shouldn’t be obscure because they show us a lot about Jesus’ view of women and the important role they had in His life and ministry. Continue reading
SERIES: WOMEN OF THE BIBLE
by Marti Fischer
One of my favorite authors, Dorothy Sayers, never found her Christian life dull. “Perhaps it is no wonder,” she wrote, “that women were first at the cradle and last at the cross. They had never known a man like this Man — there never has been such another.”
Her answer to Sigmund Freud’s question, “What does a woman want?” is to call the question “frivolous.”
“What is unreasonable and irritating,” she continued, “is to assume that all one’s tastes and preferences have to be conditioned by the class to which one belongs.” For Sayers, the question was not, “What do women want?” but rather, “What does this woman want?”
“Are all women created do the same thing?” she asked. Continue reading
SERIES: WOMEN OF THE BIBLE
There are some pretty remarkable women in the Bible, but none more courageous than Abigail, who took it upon herself to call David on the carpet when he was about to take the lives of some innocent people. Continue reading
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. (Matthew 7:7)
“Knock and the door will be opened to you.” What door? Well, we know it’s not the door of salvation, because that’s the door Jesus knocks on, as in, “Behold I stand at the door and knock.” (Revelation 2:20) That’s the door to our hearts. This is another door. This is a door we knock on, and it’s significant because this invitation is all about participation. Continue reading
John Fischer The Catch 