In ancient times covenants were made in a way very different from our time. We sign papers with ink and keep copies. If a document is very important we have the signature witnessed and even notarized. We use pens, but the ancients also used knives. To show a covenant was serious, it had in it […]
They gave Him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when He tasted thereof, He would not drink. (Matthew 27:34) The Romans wanted criminals to be punished in a spectacular way in order to put fear into the hearts of men. Fear, they thought would be a deterrent to crime. No doubt they were right. […]
The third plague is unique; it arrives without warning. There is no audience before Pharaoh, as there was with the first two plagues. This is the first plague without any sort of introduction, it simply happens. Details like this often go unnoticed by the casual reader, but if you had been present at the time […]
Read Genesis 36–37:1 Introduction In many ways, Genesis 35 completes the circle of Jacob’s life that began with his flight to Paddan- Aram away from his brother Esau (Gen. 28:1–9). Genesis 35 in many ways summarizes the key elements in Jacob’s life, especially those things that God had introduced into his life. Genesis 35 closes […]
Read Genesis 37:2–11, 31–35 Introduction The final section of the book of Genesis focuses on the story of the family of Jacob. What became of his children? This is the meaning of Genesis 37:2, where the last major section of Genesis is introduced. We notice again that though Jacob is mentioned in verse 2, the […]
Confessional Teaching It should not surprise us to find that the same distinction that made by Calvin and the Reformed theologians appears in our confessional documents. In Q. 20 the Heidelberg Catechism (1563) asks, “Are all men, then, saved by Christ as they have perished in Adam?” The answer is, “No, only those who by […]
At several points throughout our treatment of the biblical evidence that is relevant to the question of paedocommunion, we have noted that 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 is the most important passage to consider. In the historic confessions of the Reformed churches, this passage is often adduced to prove that participation in the Lord’s Supper requires the […]