Tag Archives: God’s omniscience

Jacob and Esau: brotherly hatred and why it matters today

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

Boys fighting. I had a very happy childhood until I was almost five. Then my mother brought home my baby brother. It wasn’t so bad when he was a baby, but after a while I had to share a bedroom with him.

Whenever I wanted peace and quiet, there he was, chattering at me. Other boys got to bully their little brothers. Not me. He just got me in trouble. The Bible says, “There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.” Not any of my friends. My little brother stuck around no matter how much I wanted to get rid of him.… Read the rest

Isaiah’s parables of the sower: when God threshes you

Grace and Judgment Posted on by

We’ve all heard sermons on Jesus’ parable of the sower, told in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8. He told the crowd, “listen if you have ears.”

Then he quoted from Isaiah 6:9-10. He told his disciples essentially that he told parables so people without spiritual ears would not understand.

Isaiah himself provides two parables about farming. Like Jesus’ parable, they seem like obvious facts about what farmers do.

Those with ears to hear, those who belong to God’s kingdom, can find important spiritual truths in them. 

… Read the rest