Wrestling with God

In the beginning God created man in his image and likeness. What are the implications of this important truth, and how was that image twisted and distorted after the fall? What was so significant about Adam and Eve’s transgression in the first place, and how do the effects of that original sin continue to echo […]

In Genesis 3:15, God promises that one day a seed of the woman would crush the serpent’s head. What would happen if we began to read the rest of Scripture in the light of this promise? What would result if we stopped to consider whether subsequent Bible characters and heroes qualified to be the one […]

The story of Abraham is a record of both faith and doubt. While we’re told in Genesis 15 that “Abraham believed the Lord and it was counted to him as righteousness,” in the very next chapter we find him agreeing with his wife Sarah to attempt to bring about the fulfillment of God’s promises by […]

In his Genesis commentary, Walter Brueggemann notes that in chapters 16 to 18, Abraham and Sarah “are not offered as models of faith but as models of disbelief.” In this part of the narrative, he says, “the call is not embraced, but is rejected as non-sensical.” This helps to explain why the couple sought to […]

Why did God call Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac? Why would he ask a loving parent to even consider such a thing? Is this story a kind of object lesson meant to show us how much we should be willing to give up for God, or is something else being revealed in this unsettling […]

The story of Jacob and Esau raises a number of important questions. Why did God choose Jacob in favor of Esau? Was it due to some kind of foreseen virtue on Jacob’s part? In reality, that approach fails on a number of levels, since Jacob is presented throughout Genesis as a schemer, deceiver, and master-manipulator. […]

As we saw last week, difficulties arise when we attempt to read the story of Jacob and Esau as a traditional morality tale. In reality, the book of Genesis does not present Jacob as a hero to be emulated, but as a great sinner in whom God’s mysterious grace is richly on display. And as […]

Many people today think of religion as a metaphorical stairway that leads to heaven. Basically, it’s an upward path that all of us are meant to ascend by our own good works. In Genesis 28, however, Jacob encounters a great stairway between heaven and earth, but he’s not invited to climb it. Instead, God graciously […]

In Genesis 29, Jacob the deceiver is himself deceived. Though he had intended to marry Rachel, he was first tricked into marrying her older sister. Later, as she struggles with infertility, Rachel gives Jacob her maidservant to be a kind of surrogate mother. When two sons are born to her in this way, Rachel believes […]

As mentioned on last week’s program, most commentators tend to argue that Genesis 32 is about Jacob’s refusing to let go of God until he received his desired blessing, which of course is something that all believers should strive to do as well. Or is it? On this episode the hosts continue to explore the […]

Paul describes the teaching of the gospel—all that is needed for salvation—as “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27). Our kids need that counsel, too. Read through Acts with them! Explain the stories. Help them see the goodness, power, and love of the God who made them and sent his Son to die for them.

Following sound doctrine requires our eyes to remain fixed on Jesus. It also requires that our faith rests in him. Faith opens the door to God’s plan and allows us to accomplish his will for our lives. It does so chiefly because it fosters a heart that yields to the counsel and leading of God. In this way, we remain on the road of truth.

The Prophets are not just abstract apocalyptic literature, included in the canon of Scripture because of their audience or subject matter. No, they—like the rest of Scripture—are the divinely inspired word of God. They are included in the unfolding of God’s redemptive plan and written within the covenant context of God and his people for a theological purpose, reflecting a specific historical and geographical context.

The church today finds itself amidst a revived trend of advocating for hearing God speaking to his people apart from his word. While there are new figures in this movement, the content of their message is hardly original. One can think of late medieval mysticism’s emphasis on a mystical encounter with God […]