by Paul Apple | Feb 17, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: QUALIFIED LEADERS SHARE THE LOAD AND ADJUDICATE JUSTICEINTRODUCTION:Gerald Gerbrandt: The Old Testament relates this story three times—here, in Exodus 18:13–27, and in Numbers 11:11–17. . .The phrase at that time serves as a structuring device in the story...
by Paul Apple | Feb 16, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: AN UNDERSTANDING OF GOD’S COVENANT REQUIREMENTS PREPARES ISRAEL TO CROSS THE JORDAN AND TAKE POSSESSION OF THE PROMISED LANDINTRODUCTION:Duane Christensen: The long sojourn in the wilderness has ended. The conquest of the two Amorite kings in the Jordan...
by Paul Apple | Feb 11, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: HEALTHY SEXUAL DEVELOPMENT PROTECTS VIRGINITY UNTIL YOU CAN ENJOY YOUR PARTNER IN A COMMITTED RELATIONSHIPINTRODUCTION:Tom Gledhill: What is being compared and contrasted here is the administration of two different vineyards and the disposal of their fruit....
by Paul Apple | Feb 11, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: ONCE AWAKENED, ROMANTIC LOVE PROVES POWERFUL AND PRICELESSINTRODUCTION:Duane Garrett / Paul House: In the structure of Song of Songs, however, this unit looks back to 1:7–8, the Song of Finding the Beloved. There, the soprano despaired of finding her beloved...
by Paul Apple | Feb 10, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: NOURISHING MARRIAGE PASSION REQUIRES INTENTIONALITY AND FEEDS ON MUTUAL PRAISEINTRODUCTION:Duane Garrett / Paul House: The point is that the lovers are now free to engage in sexual play, and they are intent on doing so. This song concludes with the woman...
by Paul Apple | Feb 9, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: SEXUAL PASSION AND PHYSICAL BEAUTY ARE TRANSFORMATIVE AND ALLURINGINTRODUCTION:This is the toughest portion of the book to interpret. There are serious questions about the text. It is difficult to determine who is speaking each line. The poem is too brief to...
by Paul Apple | Feb 8, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: THE GROOM VIEWS HIS BRIDE AS INCOMPARABLE AND EXQUISITEINTRODUCTION:Duane Garrett / Paul House: The language of the garden has been dropped here probably because this metaphor focuses heavily upon sexual pleasure. In this canto, the tenor sings of his...
by Paul Apple | Feb 8, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: SEXUAL COMPATIBILITY CAN BE A STRUGGLE – GIVEN THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MEN AND WOMENINTRODUCTION:Dennis Kinlaw: This is a remarkable picture of the kind of adjustments that are necessary in life style in marriage. Our natural sloth the differences between a...
by Paul Apple | Feb 5, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: THE CELEBRATION OF ROMANTIC LOVE REACHES ITS CLIMAX IN PASSIONATE SEXUAL UNIONINTRODUCTION:Duane Garrett / Paul House: The garden in this canto is the woman’s body. Since Song 4:16b speaks of “my garden” but 4:16c speaks of “his garden,” it appears that the...
by Paul Apple | Feb 5, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: PRAISE FOR YOUR BRIDE’S FLAWLESS BEAUTY OPENS THE DOOR FOR CELEBRATING THE SENSUALITY AND EXHILARATION OF INTIMACYINTRODUCTION:Duane Garrett / Paul House: Together, the four stanzas present the bridegroom alternatively praising the bride and declaring her to...
by Paul Apple | Feb 4, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: THE IDEALIZED BRIDAL PROCESSION WOWS EVERYONE WITH ITS DISPLAY OF ROYAL WEALTH AND POWERINTRODUCTION:Trevor Longman: Song of Songs 3:6–11 clearly stands out as a separate poetic unit. It begins with a question that draws the reader’s attention out to the...
by Paul Apple | Feb 3, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: THE BRIDE’S DREAM OF LOSING HER LOVER LEADS TO AN ANXIOUS SEARCH AND RECOVERYINTRODUCTION:Tremper Longman: The setting of the present poem begins in the woman’s bed (v. 1), moves to the public areas of the city (vv. 2–4b), and then to the privacy of the...
by Paul Apple | Feb 2, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: ANTICIPATION AND INVITATION TO ROMANTIC LOVE CLIMAXES IN PASSIONATE CONSUMMATIONINTRODUCTION:Tom Gledhill: The verses of this poem have such simple evocative power that any comment seems almost superfluous. The text is so marvelously alive, that any comment...
by Paul Apple | Feb 1, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: RESPONSIVE EXCHANGES OF MUTUAL ADMIRATION ENHANCE THE PROGRESSION OF THE ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPINTRODUCTION:Richard Hess: Situated within the canon of the Jewish and Christian Bible, the Song celebrates physical desire and carnal love between a man and a...
by Paul Apple | Feb 1, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: BE AGGRESSIVE AND INTENTIONAL IN SPENDING TIME WITH YOUR LOVERINTRODUCTION:Iain Duguid: After affirming her own beauty in the face of potential detractors, the woman asks her beloved to give her directions to find him. In keeping with the shifting...
by Paul Apple | Jan 31, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: WOMEN CAN STRUGGLE WITH INSECURITIES REGARDING PHYSICAL APPEARANCE – ESPECIALLY AS JUDGED BY OTHERSINTRODUCTION:David Guzik: The self-doubt the maiden had regarding her own appearance should not be overstated. She did feel, in some ways, unattractive and...
by Paul Apple | Jan 30, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: THE INCOMPARABLE ECSTASY OF ROMANTIC LOVE MAKES IT DESIRABLEINTRODUCTION:Richard Hess: vv. 2–4 hold together structurally. They form ten lines, where each of the first nine contains three words and the tenth has two. This is not followed in vv. 5–7. Thus...
by Paul Apple | Jan 25, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: THE DEDICATION OF PEOPLE, ANIMALS OR PROPERTY TO THE LORD INVOLVES FAITHFUL PERFORMANCE OF VOWS WITH STRICT REGULATIONS FOR REDEMPTIONINTRODUCTION:Constable: The “blessings and curses” (ch. 26) were, in a sense, God’s vows to His people....
by Paul Apple | Jan 25, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: TEMPORAL BLESSINGS OR CURSINGS BASED ON COVENANT LOYALTY TO GOD’S COMMANDS CAN NEVER NEGATE GOD’S FAITHFULNESS TO HIS ULTIMATE RESTORATION AGENDA FOR THE NATION OF ISRAELINTRODUCTION:Roy Gane: Leviticus 26 provides a dramatic climax to the book of Leviticus,...
by Paul Apple | Jan 24, 2022 | Bible-OT
BIG IDEA: REDEMPTION OF BOTH LAND AND PEOPLE PATTERNED AFTER THE GENEROSITY OF THE GOD WHO OWNS BOTH THE LAND AND THE PEOPLEINTRODUCTION:Richard Hess: This text follows directly from the cultic calendar of Leviticus 23. Whereas that text considered the Sabbath (vv....
