I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys.
2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters.
3 As the apple tree among the trees of the wood, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.
Continue reading SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY (SONG’S OF SOLOMON 2:1-17)
The practice of shepherds keeping watch over their flocks by night is a small detail in the nativity account, yet it unlocks a great deal of historical and seasonal insight. When Luke tells us that “there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night” (Luke 2:8), he is giving readers a culturally specific image: men living outdoors with their sheep at night during those seasons when such an arrangement was
Continue reading Shepherds in the Open Fields: What Their Night Watch Reveals About the Season of Christ’s Birth
For Adam and Eve to live as full human beings, they would need to obey God. That would require moral limitations, boundaries that they would carefully observe and not trespass, as a sign of obedience. God applied one restriction on their use of creation- one tree whose fruit they could not eat. It was that same tree, of course, that provided the proverbial apple that has gone down in history-the agonizing first taste of human sinfulness.
Continue reading WHERE DID MORAL RULES COME FROM
When the Events of This Book Happened:
During Jesus’s earthly life, 6. B.C. – A. D. 30
Matthew’s Gospel begins with the announcement of Jeus’s coming birth, ca. 6 B.C., and ends with his post resurrection ministry in the spring of A.D.
Continue reading THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW PT 3