One way we might sum up the Bible’s story is this: finding what is lost. Lost paradise, lost coin, lost sheep, lost rest, lost joy, lost hope. Having left God’s first garden, enslaved to sin and death, God’s people were scattered among the nations, from one end of the earth to the other. In exile,Continue reading “I will be found by you.”
Category Archives: Song of Songs
The Daughters of Job: An Inheritance Among Our Brothers
This morning, I finished reading the book of Job. I had already planned to begin rereading it from tomorrow as the richness of this book’s symbolic use of the natural world is utterly breathtaking. I don’t feel ready to leave it yet! But it is instead the book’s end – Job’s daughters specifically – whichContinue reading “The Daughters of Job: An Inheritance Among Our Brothers”
Valley of the Cluster
Thus says the Lord,“As the new wine is found in the cluster,And one says, ‘Do not destroy it, for there is benefit in it,’So I will act on behalf of My servantsIn order not to destroy all of them.Isaiah 65:8 I am so fascinated by the fruits of the Bible, especially grapes. It was the Nazirites that first drewContinue reading “Valley of the Cluster”
Vashti and Esther: His banner over me is love
On the face of it, the book of Esther is about a pagan king who trafficks young women, a plucky queen who refuses to come when called, and a humble girl of unknown birth who, together with her uncle, braves her way into the king’s harem and saves her people. I used to read theContinue reading “Vashti and Esther: His banner over me is love”
The Song of the Lamb
When Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, was outnumbered on the battlefield, he prayed to the Lord for help, and the Lord answered him through Jahaziel, son of Zechariah (2 Chron. 20). You need not fight in this battle; Station yourselves, stand and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not fear or be dismayed; TomorrowContinue reading “The Song of the Lamb”
Breath like Apples
In Genesis 4, Cain, tiller of the earth, offers fruit to the LORD and murders his brother Abel. This act comes hot on the heels of Adam and Eve’s lost paradise, where Satan too had offered fruit to God’s people and ushered in a reign of death across the earth. Just as He had doneContinue reading “Breath like Apples”
Like a Shadow
There’s so much hidden in the Bible’s shadows. In Judges, Shechem’s ruler Zebul tells Gaal that what he sees coming down from the mountain to wage war are not men but merely “the shadow of the mountains” (Judges 9:36). As we read on, we learn that Gaal has indeed seen Abimelech’s men, but Zebul’s words ring inContinue reading “Like a Shadow”
His Desire is for Me
If ever we talk about Genesis 3:16, then we must also go on to where it leads, to Song of Songs 7:10. I am my beloved’s,And his desire is for me. There are many places of comfort in the Bible. But increasingly, my women friends and I are hanging out in the Bible’s Holy ofContinue reading “His Desire is for Me”
Colours of the Gospel
The Bible is a Book of Colours, all carrying meaning and purpose in the story of God’s Redemption of His People. As Israel journeys away from slavery in Egypt towards the promised land across the Jordan, God gives them instructions for His Tabernacle in the wilderness. The Israelites are to weave together blue, purple andContinue reading “Colours of the Gospel”
On Earth as in Heaven
There’s a connection my brain is trying to make with the Lord’s Prayer. The prayer as a whole seems a concentration of all the things that are true, each line containing something infinitely profound. Taken together, these lines draw us close to the edge of something unfathomable and altogether spectacular. It’s too much for me.Continue reading “On Earth as in Heaven”
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