Why is the Bible so full of chiasms? A chiasm, we should recall, is a literary mountain, where the emphasis is placed upon the center and everything before and after that center parallel with one another. We observed a number of chiasms last year during our study of Leviticus, which is chiastically structured around chapter …
Why Numbers? Because it was next. The first series I preached at Western Meadows was Genesis 1-11. Only three years since have been without a series through a portion of the Pentateuch. By the Lord's grace, we have completed Genesis, Exodus, and Leviticus, which brings us now to Numbers. We will not study the whole …
We come now to the second set of virtues: patience, kindness, and goodness. If the first three were the rooted disposition of a fruitful marriage, these three are its visible expression. Of course, love, joy, and peace certainly have outward dimensions to them, but these virtues are outward by their very nature. Paul fittingly places …
Continue reading Visible Expression: Patience, Kindness, Goodness
Author Moses is traditionally understood to be the author of Numbers, since it belongs to the Torah or the Pentateuch, which are also called the Five Books of Moses. I say "traditionally" because some scholars argue that Moses was only one source among several and that the Pentateuch was compiled much later than Moses' lifetime. …
In each of these three lessons, we will consider three of the virtues that Paul lists as the fruit of the Spirit, so our first will be love, joy, and peace. There are real connections within these groupings. With our first set of virtues, we will discover the foundation for the ones that follow. Love, …
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. …
Even though, by many standards, the world has never been better or, at least, more comfortable, we still find ourselves in a strange place. We have electricity, refrigeration, modern medicine, and antibiotics. People no longer die from simple infections. Diarrhea is a nuisance rather than a leading cause of death. For the first time in …
Continue reading The Apostle Paul’s Guide to Mental Health | Philippians 4:4-13
"It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done. It Is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." "After all, tomorrow is another day." "He loved Big Brother." "Now at last they were being Chapter One of the greatest story which no …
Continue reading Make Haste, My Beloved | Song of Songs 8:8-14
As we said previously, the Song of Songs is a chiasm; therefore, we can picture the structure of the poem as being like a mountain. The peak of the mountain was 5:1, which either was their wedding day or evoked that same newlywed love. As we have moved through the descent, we have noted some …
Quite often, when it comes to marriage or the Christian life, we want a detailed, five-step plan for success. Something clean and precise. But life is rarely clean and precise. And marriage is not a formula; it is a dance. Now, dances do have steps to learn. True. You must practice some basics, but at …
Continue reading A Dance Between Two Armies | Song of Songs 6:4-8:4
B. C. Newton 