Content related to Old Testament

Home » Old Testament » Page 74

Joshua 24:1-3a, 14-25

Proper 27A

What’s the Church’s most important task?  Some people might answer, “Sharing the gospel’s good news with the whole world,” or “Teaching children to follow Jesus.”  Others answer, “Being God’s hands of justice and mercy in the world” or “Being a welcoming place.” Each of those is certainly among the church’s important tasks.  But were you…

Read More

Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37

Proper 26A

Though it is the first Psalm in Book V of the Psalter, Psalm 107 seems to be a continuation of the historical Psalms that ended Book IV, the end of a trilogy that includes Psalm 105 and 106.  All these Psalms sing the praises of the God who acts in history for his people.  Psalm…

Read More

Joshua 3:7-17

Proper 26A

Joshua 3 always feels, at best, somewhat anti-climactic.  After all, you might argue the Bible’s first five chapters have all been pointing toward the Jordan crossing it describes.  Patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob have given their lives to God’s promise to make this happen.  The people of Israel have been heading (but sometimes meandering)…

Read More

Psalm 90:1-6, 13-17

Proper 25A

Psalm 90 is a classic text for funerals, for ecclesiastical observances of New Year’s Eve, and for any other time we mark the passing of time and lament our tenuous place in it.  So it is a fitting choice for this last Sunday of October just a month away from the end of Ordinary Time….

Read More

Deuteronomy 34:1-12

Proper 25A

Few of us can read Deuteronomy 34 without getting at least a lump in our throat and tear in our eye.  After all, Moses has dragged the Israelites, often kicking and screaming, out of Egypt, through the wilderness and to the doorstep of Canaan.  Yet this Sunday’s Old Testament text reports that he never gets…

Read More

Psalm 99

Proper 24A

Psalm 99 is the last of the Enthronement Psalms that proclaim that Yahweh reigns not only over little Israel, but also over the entire world.  It is a particularly exquisite declaration of Yahweh’s reign because of its symbolic use of numbers, notably the numbers seven and three.  The former is the number of perfection throughout…

Read More

Exodus 33:12-23

Proper 24A

Have you ever been so eager for something that you’d put your life on the line for it?  You may not think so.  Yet Moses did.  Sometimes he’s close to God, sure of God, “filled to the brim,” as Neal Plantinga writes, with God. At other times, however, Moses feels uncertain, misled and spiritually “dried…

Read More

Psalm 106:1-6, 9-13

Proper 23A

Back in the day, a radio commentator named Paul Harvey became famous for the way he reported the news.  He would remind his listeners of a well-known news item and then he would tell “the rest of the story,” the other side of the story that everyone thought they knew.  That’s exactly what we have…

Read More

Exodus 32:1-14

Proper 23A

Almost all of us have experienced our text’s Aaron’s feelings at one time or another.  He’s caught, after all, quite literally between a rock and a hard place.  Aaron is trapped between a glorious past and an uncertain future. Israel’s memories of her escape from Egyptian slavery remain as clear as a dry, cool night…

Read More

Psalm 19

Proper 22A

One scholar of the Psalter calls Psalm 19 “the problem child Psalm.”  He calls it that because it doesn’t fit any of the established genres of the Psalter.  Only Psalms 1 and 119 are like Psalm 19.  Further, some scholars are pretty sure that Psalm 19 was originally two Psalms, a nature hymn (verses 1-6)…

Read More