Joshua 24:15 is a very popular verse used in evangelistic meetings to call people to “choose” God, to make a personal “decision” for Christ. Joshua 24 tells us that Joshua gathers God’s people Israel at Shechem before his death for a renewal of God’s covenant with them. Going back just one verse sheds much light […]
John 3:16—“For God so loved the world . . .” Most evangelicals understand “world” in John 3:16 as “every person” in the world. But there are ample reasons why this is a wrong understanding. First, in John 3:16 (see also Eph 1:4), “world” means God’s “whole order of things”—his whole creation—which he so loved that […]
After God redeemed Israel from Egypt, he cut a covenant with them at Mount Sinai. The covenant terms were simple: blessings for obedience, curses for disobedience. For almost a thousand years, the people repeatedly violated the covenant. Finally, when their sin was full, God sent the Babylonians to destroy Israel and to uproot them from […]