Category: Background

• 10 June 2019

  Request for Resources

  

  The course on Ezekiel that I am designing for the mission to Nairobi has two broad goals: to introduce students to the book of Ezekiel—its situation in covenantal history, its authorship, its original audiences, its structure, its central themes, some of its Old- and New-Testament connections, and its overall structure; and to interpret key passages…
• 9 June 2019

  Don’t Worry. Ask.

  

  Grace in a Gentle Rebuke God has been especially kind and merciful in this season of weakness, as I slowly prepare for the upcoming mission to Nairobi. A few weeks ago I was listening in on a meeting of the elders of Christ Presbyterian Church, the local congregation of which I am a member. They…
• 19 April 2019

  Notes in the Background: the Opening of the Book of Ezekiel

  

  Hebrew (MT) 1 וַיְהִ֣י ׀ בִּשְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים שָׁנָ֗ה בָּֽרְבִיעִי֙ בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֣ה לַחֹ֔דֶשׁ וַאֲנִ֥י בְתֽוֹךְ־הַגּוֹלָ֖ה עַל־נְהַר־כְּבָ֑ר נִפְתְּחוּ֙ הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וָאֶרְאֶ֖ה מַרְא֥וֹת אֱלֹהִֽים׃ 2 בַּחֲמִשָּׁ֖ה לַחֹ֑דֶשׁ הִ֚יא הַשָּׁנָ֣ה הַחֲמִישִׁ֔ית לְגָל֖וּת הַמֶּ֥לֶךְ יוֹיָכִֽין׃ 3 הָיֹ֣ה הָיָ֣ה דְבַר־יְ֠הוָה אֶל־יְחֶזְקֵ֨אל בֶּן־בּוּזִ֧י הַכֹּהֵ֛ן בְּאֶ֥רֶץ כַּשְׂדִּ֖ים עַל־נְהַר־כְּבָ֑ר וַתְּהִ֥י עָלָ֛יו שָׁ֖ם יַד־יְהוָֽה׃ Translation (Compare to CSB, ESV) 1In the thirtieth year, in the fourth [month], in the…
• 13 April 2019

  “Only Goodness and Covenant-Love” in the Face of Risk

  

  My mother—she better not be worrying!—recently sent me a link to the U.S. State Department’s travel advisory map. (I do enjoy interactive maps!) This one provides a good reminder that the mission to Nairobi is not just an assignment to go teach a class in a place where just anyone is able and willing to…
• 20 February 2019

  Sermon on Ezekiel 11.14–21: “Election and Discipline”

  

  As I start to think about preparing a syllabus on Ezekiel for the mission to Nairobi, I am returning to some recent work that I developed into a sermon on Ezekiel 11.14–21. Click this link to hear it; start at the 1:50 mark. As I worked through that text, the Spirit brought up connections throughout redemptive history,…