Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
So this is the last post in this series! Today’s word is מָלַךְ / malakh which means to reign.
Continue reading The God who reigns (a poem)
Tag: Hebrews
The God who ceases (a poem) (with pictures)
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m writing 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
I was feeling particularly groggy this weekend (hence this post is late), so I thought I’d look at the verb to rest. It’s an easy one, being שׁבת / shavat, andsharing the same root as the word ‘Sabbath’.
Continue reading The God who ceases (a poem) (with pictures)
The God who stands (a poem) (with pictures)
I’m back from my break and starting a new series!
Partly inspired by my Hebrew studies, I’m going to write 12 poems inspired by 12 Hebrew verbs.
The first one I’m looking at is עמד a.mad (all the ‘a’ vowels are long). It means ‘to stand’ but can also mean ‘to endure’ and has strong connotations with service and ministry. Essentially, ‘to stand before’ or ‘to stand in the presence of’ was an idiom meaning ‘to serve.’
Continue reading The God who stands (a poem) (with pictures)
Freedom to serve: a letter to Samuel
With today’s letter I come to the end of my series on the great ‘cloud of witnesses’. It has very much surprised me, especially in the last few weeks as I’ve worked my way through the judges of Israel.
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Stories and pedestals: a letter to David
In the penultimate letter of this series, I write to David. His story is starts in 1 Samuel 16 and continues to the end of 2 Samuel.
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Ending passivity: a letter to Jephthah and his daughter
Today I write to Jephthah and his daughter. Theirs is a heart-wrenching story and you can read it in Judges 10:17–12:7.
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Passion and power: a letter to Samson
Today I write to Samson. His birth story is in Judges 13, and the account of his life is in Judges 14–16. The narrative seems to pick out the most dramatic events, which makes it easy to miss that he ruled (judged) Israel for 20 years.
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The reward of victory: a letter to Barak and Deborah
As I mentioned last week, the list in Hebrews 11 of the cloud of witnesses is not in chronological order. So even though I wrote to Gideon last week, this week’s letter is to Barak and Deborah – who came before Gideon. Their story is in Judges 4 and Deborah’s victory song is in Judges 5.
Fair warning, both chapters are a bit gory—and I do discuss war crimes in this post.
Continue reading The reward of victory: a letter to Barak and Deborah
Jars of clay: a letter to Gideon
I’m returning to my series of letters to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. Last year I got to Rahab, and this year I’m finishing by writing to those the author of Hebrews didn’t have time to cover: Gideon, Barak (and Deborah), Samson, Jephthah (and his daughter), David and Samuel.
The topic of warfare is common to all of them, and some of these men made disastrous decisions. Even so, I’m looking forward to discovering more about each of them as I write to them.
Continue reading Jars of clay: a letter to Gideon
Acting in the moment: a letter to Rahab
This is the last (for now) in the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. I will probably return to Hebrews 11 in the new year to cover those the author said they didn’t have time to go into (Gideon through to Samuel).
Rahab was a Canaanite and a prostitute who hid two of Joshua’s spies when they came to the city. The story is in Joshua 2, Joshua 6:17,22–23.
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To fight and be good: a letter to Joshua
This is part of the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. This one is to Joshua.
Joshua was Moses’s successor, though he had quite a career before Moses died. He fought the Amalekites (Exodus 17); he went with Moses, at least part of the way, when Moses went to meet God on Mount Horeb (Exodus 24); and he had a habit of sitting at the tent of meeting (Exodus 33:11).
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Trusting God’s goodness: a letter to Moses
This is part of the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. This one is the second of two letters to Moses. The first letter is on my blog here.
The author of Hebrews mentions Moses both as a young man and as a much older one, when he led the Israelites out of Egypt. Far from how Hollywood is wont to portray him, Moses was 80 years old during the Exodus and, I suspect, someone who stammered (Exodus 4:10, Exodus 6:12 – albeit there are other ways to interpret these verses).
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Passion and justice: a letter to Moses
This is part of the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. This one is the first of two letters to Moses.
When the author of Hebrews writes about Moses, there are several “by faith” statements. In this letter, I’m going to focus on the first two: about how he refused to be considered an Egyptian, and how he left Egypt.
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A mother’s courage: letter to Jochebed
This is part of the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. This one is to Moses’s mother, Jochebed.
We’ve moved from Genesis to the beginning of the book of Exodus.
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The witness of the body: a letter to Joseph
This is part of the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. This one is to Joseph.
Joseph had a very eventful life. It’s the subject of Genesis 41–50. Although his brothers sold him as a slave, he ended up in Egypt and rose to power just in time to manage a famine. He reconciled with his brothers and then his whole family came to live in Egypt. When Jacob/Israel died, Joseph led a large entourage to bury him with his wife, father and grandfather. Curiously, Joseph didn’t ask for the same thing when he died. Well, not in the same way: he asked for his bones to be taken back to Canaan when God came to his people.
And that’s what I focus on in this letter.
Continue reading The witness of the body: a letter to Joseph
Our heart’s desire: a letter to Jacob
This is part of the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. This one is to Jacob.
This letter focusses mainly on the end of Jacob’s life.
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Last(ing) words: a letter to Isaac
This is part of the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. This one is to Isaac.
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The truth of worship: a letter to Abraham
This is part of the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. Today’s is to Abraham and in particular the part of his story where he very nearly sacrifices Isaac. The story is in Genesis 22, though Genesis 18:1–15 and Genesis 21:1–7 provide context.
Jews refer to the (non-)sacrifice of Isaac as the “Akedah.” Some of what I write in this post draws on a book by scholar Aaron Koller: Unbinding Isaac: The Significance of the Akedah for Modern Jewish Thought (2020: Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press).
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The story never told: a letter to Sarah
This is part of the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. Today’s is to Sarah. Her story is broken up and intersects with those of her husband, Abraham, and her slave Hagar. You can find the relevant passages in Genesis 12:10–20, Genesis 16, Genesis 17:15–22, Genesis 18:1–15, Genesis 20, Genesis 21:1–21.
Sarah’s not exactly a comfortable story—both in terms of how Abraham treated her and how she treated Hagar. Nevertheless, Sarah’s story and her identity as a mother figure was of huge importance in Jewish thought and we can see this in New Testament writings.
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What do you make of your younger self? A letter to Abram
This is the fourth in the series of letters I’m writing to people listed in Hebrews 11 as the “cloud of witnesses” who went before us. Today’s is to Abram (later renamed Abraham) looking at the events of Genesis chapters 12–15. I will write another letter to Abraham in a couple of weeks.
I’ll be honest, I have many unanswered questions when it comes to Abraham. And part of me wonders if that’s the point: he wasn’t meant to be perfect. It was just that there were moments in his life when—for whatever reason—he was able to recognise the voice of God for what it was.
Continue reading What do you make of your younger self? A letter to Abram