2 Corinthians 3 David Groendyk One of the reasons Paul is writing this second letter to the Corinthians is that a group of people calling themselves “super-apostles” (2 Cor. 11:5 and 12:11) had come to Corinth and begun teaching something contrary to Paul. Paul has to remind the Christians in Corinth that his ministry is the legitimate one while the super-apostles’ ministry is not. What was wrong with the teaching of the super-apostles? They were…

II Corinthians 2 Devotional Pastor Mark Hudson One of the issues in this chapter is whether or not there was a painful visit after the writing of I Corinthians. I tend to think so but I am going to bypass that issue for some observations about the text.  Instead of explaining the entire passage, the following observations might be helpful. Paul loves the believers at Corinth v. 3 “that my joy would be the joy…

2 Corinthians 1 Devotional Pastor Lawrence Bowlin God’s providence is always a mysterious sanctification for his people.  We may think we know some of the reasons why He orders this or that event to take place, but we cannot even begin to comprehend all that God intends to accomplish when he moves.  Part of the reason for our shortsightedness is our own self-centeredness.  We often think the world revolves around us when we are in…

Daniel 11 Devotions Pastor Mark Hudson  This very long chapter can be divided into the following sections: 2-4 Persia and Greece; 5-20 conflict between kings of the North and kings of the south; 21-35; he climatic king of the North; 36-45 the king who will do as he pleases. The first section refers most probably to Cyrus, and it is difficult to determine the next four. Possible the next kings are Cambyses, Smerdis, Darius I…

Daniel 10 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence God does not regularly intervene directly in the affairs of men but often works through means to carry out his predetermined purposes.  Our chapter this morning demonstrates this truth plainly by showing how God works through both men as well as angels in accomplishing His divine will.  In the beginning of the chapter we read that the prophet Daniel was fasting and praying for three weeks that he might…

Daniel 9 David Groendyk We fast forward a few years again in Daniel 9, which occurs during the first year of King Darius’ reign, the king who overthrew Belshazzar at the end of chapter 5. Perhaps it was the downfall of Babylon that triggered in Daniel’s memory the words from the book of Jeremiah. The prophet Jeremiah had predicted in Jeremiah 25:8–14 that Babylon would conquer Judah, then, after seventy years, Babylon itself would fall.…

Daniel 8 Devotional Pastor Mark Hudson Tremper Longman III makes some interesting observations about chapter 8 being similar to chapter 7 of Daniel. It comes from the same time period, the third year, two years after chapter 7.  They both involve animals and those animals represent kingdoms or political entities. There is a focus on horns .  Finally, both chapters concern hostility between the animal kingdom and divine realms. But notice the differences.  Chapter 7’s…

Daniel 7 Devotional Pastor Lawrence Bowlin In chapter seven, the book of Daniel transitions from the more well-known historic narratives to the more enigmatic prophecies reminiscent of the book of Revelation.  In fact, the book of Revelation is almost impossible to understand without having some familiarity with the book of Daniel since much of the imagery in the last book of the Bible is taken from these latter chapters in the book of Daniel. The…

Daniel 6 David Groendyk The nation of Babylon has fallen, and the kingdom of Media and Persia has now taken over. Darius the Mede is now in charge. And this ruler, as opposed to Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar, seems to be more naturally sympathetic and tolerant towards Daniel and his God, and yet Daniel finds himself in a life-threatening situation, just like his three friends did in chapter 3. As Daniel is rising in power and…

Daniel 5 Devotions Pastor Mark Hudson After Nebuchadnezzar dominates chapters 1-4, we see a new name as King: Belshazzar.  He is actually a co-regent since his father Nabonidus who apparently left Babylon because he worshipped the god Sin which angered the priests of Marduk.  So Nabonidus left his son, as number 2 in charge of Babylon.  Two decades have passed since Nebuchadnezzar was King.  Now his grandson is showing poor judgment, immorality, and idolatry in…

Daniel 4 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence In Scripture, it never bodes well for a king to spend much time on the roof of his palace, perhaps because he has such an elevated view of himself already that the extra height tends to cloud his judgment.  In our study of the book of Judges we’ll soon find that Eglon, the fat king of Moab, is killed in his roof chamber when entertaining a foreigner who desires…

Daniel 3 Devotional David Groendyk Much of the first half of Daniel portrays a conflict between Babylon’s kings and Israel’s God. We saw in chapter 1 how Daniel and his friends stayed faithful to God despite pressures from the state government to assimilate. We saw in chapter 2 how God interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream when no Babylonian official could, thus leading to Nebuchadnezzar’s confession in verse 47. Now in chapter 3 there is a conflict between…

Daniel 2 Devotional Pastor Mark Hudson One of the themes of Daniel is God’s sovereign control over the universe.  In Daniel, we find powerful kings who assume they are sovereign and no one or nothing can thwart their plans.  After all, the way they see it, that is their life and their way is always THE way.  This type of thinking is bound to place believers in a pickle.  This type of thinking is Nebuchadnezzar’s…

Daniel 1 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence Bowlin Jerusalem has been sacked by foreign invaders who have taken some of the brightest and the best young men from Israel to give honor in service to the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar the Great.  For those interested in the history leading us to this event, see 2 Kings 23:34-24:5 and Jeremiah 25:1-14.  King Jehoiakim of Judah was a wicked king who had killed the prophet Uriah (Jer. 26:20-23)…

Revelation 22 By David Groendyk The consummation of the book of Revelation, and the consummation for all of history is here in Revelation 21–22. There is much in these two chapters that we could possibly examine and draw applications from, but perhaps the one major theme is that God dwells with man (21:3). The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the midst of his people (22:3), and God’s people will see…

Revelation 21 Devotional By Pastor Mark Hudson In this penultimate chapter of Revelation, we will take a slightly different approach.  Usually we explain the chapter and draw out main themes.  But since we are in the last book of the Bible and almost the last chapter, we will compare and contrast the first book with the last book.  While not a complete analysis, this will prompt you to see more themes between these two important…

Revelation 20 Devotional By Pastor Lawrence Bowlin Our chapter today has been the source of more disagreement concerning eschatology (the study of the end-times or last things) than any other, and that disagreement stems from the one word “millennium” which signifies a thousand years.  This is the one and only place in the Bible where it explicitly states that Christ will reign for a thousand years.  But what does that mean, and when does that…

Revelation 19 By David Groendyk The previous two chapters have described for us the destruction of Babylon and the declaration from God himself that she will no longer vex the church. Today’s chapter gives us heaven’s reaction to God’s victory. In succession, John hears a multitude (vv. 1–3), the twenty-four elders and four living creatures (v. 4), a single angel (v. 5), and the multitude again (vv. 6–8). All of them react the same way…

Revelation 18 Devotional by Pastor Mark Hudson Fallen is Babylon is the cry of Revelation 18.   So who or what is Babylon?  Here are a number of verses to examine: Gen 10:10; 11:1-9;  Is 13; 14; 21; 46; 47; 48; Jer 25; 50; 51; Dan 2; 4:30; 7; Hab 3. In Genesis 11:4, the people in opposing God’s plan said, “. . . let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over…

Revelation 17 Devotional by Pastor Lawrence This morning we are introduced to another symbolic figure, the great harlot of Babylon.  She stands in continual opposition to the chaste woman in Revelation 12 and the bride of Christ in Revelation 19-22.  She is depicted almost as a church in her own right but is meant to represent an empire that holds sway over the world.  She is in league with the devil, sleeps with all the…

Revelation 16 David Groendyk Another seven! This time it is seven bowls filled with God’s wrath that are poured out. As we’ve seen so far in Revelation, God’s Word goes out into all the nations and forms churches (chapters 1–3), believers are persecuted (chapters 4–7), God sends initial judgments on the unbelieving world who persecutes (chapters 8–11), this church/world conflict is a sign of a much deeper conflict between Christ and Satan (chapters 12–14), and…