History of a nation: the hero in the family

Cover to Cover Reading: 1 Chronicles 6:48-8:40 Focus: 1 Chronicles 8:6, 1-40 Continuing the series of genealogies of Chronicles, we come to the genealogy of the tribe of Benjamin. If youā€™ve noticed, most of the tribes only get a summary of their genealogy, where there is…

History of a nation: the foundation of the priesthood

Cover to Cover Reading: 1 Chronicles 4:1-6:47 Focus: 1 Chronicles 6:1-30 In the beginning of Chronicles there is a genealogy which sets the historical basis of the kings. Interestingly, there is also another genealogy, but this time tracing the historical basis of the priesthood and those that…

History of a nation: the foundation of a nation

Cover to Cover Reading: 1 Chronicles 1:1-3:24 Focus: 1 Chronicles 3:1-3:24 Disclaimer: this article is merely a reflection within the contexts of the Biblical world. It does not take into account the modern day arguments for and against the claims of modern day Israel and its…

Ruth: sweet blessing in times of bitternessā€¦

Cover to Cover Reading: Ruth 1:1-4:22 Focus: Ruth 1:20-21; 4:13-17 The story of Ruth is a beautiful story of commitment and love. The story of Ruth follows the life of two women, Naomi and Ruth. Naomi, an Israelite, leaves her home during a period of famine.…

Judges: I do what I think is bestā€¦

Cover to Cover Reading: Judges 20:1-21:25 Focus: Judges 21:25 These days, you tell people what to do and youā€™ll probably get the response, ā€œDonā€™t tell me what to do, Iā€™ll do whatever I like, thank you!ā€ Nobody likes being told what to do, but…

Judges: seriously messed upā€¦

Cover to Cover Reading: Judges 18:1-19:30 Focus: Judges 19:20-30 Iā€™m speechless. To read about the depths humanity falls to truly renders me speechless. This past Tuesday night, a wheelchair bound man was beaten up by two teenagers at a Sydney railway station, robbed and left for…

Samson: Achilles heel

Cover to Cover Reading: Judges 15:1-17:13 Focus: Judges 16:1-20 Letā€™s face it, men have a common weaknessā€¦women. For all we guys may try and ignore the issue, whether it be our mothers, sisters, wives, girlfriends, or just female friendsā€¦they have a ā€œspecialā€ part in…

Samson: parenting seminars

Cover to Cover Reading: Judges 12:1-14:20 Focus: Judges 13:8-14 We live in an age where parenting has become a business opportunity: there is a never-ending list of parenting seminars, books, how-tos, podcasts, etc. In a world where the definition of community is no longer easy to define,…