Jealousy

Confusion About The New Birth - John 3:22 – 3:30 (commentary)

In these verses we find both Jesus and John ministering and baptizing (vv. 22- 23); Jesus in Judea and John farther north along the Jordan River near Salim. This was before John was thrown into prison (v. 24). We know it was not Jesus Himself who administered the rite of baptism b …

Conspiracy Against The Innocent - Psalms 59:1 – 59:8 (commentary)

David became an old hand at dealing with danger. He was near death’s door time and time again. As a teenage shepherd boy in the Judean Hills David had barely escaped the jaws of wild beasts. He had faced the threats of Goliath in the valley of Eloh. But the dangers he faced in th …

War with Ephraim - Judges 12:1 – 12:7 (commentary)

The tribe of Ephraim seems to have been easily upset as they took exception to Jephthah’s strategy against Ammon (v. 1). The men of Ephraim had been angered before when Gideon did not ask them to join in his surprise attack on the camp of the Midianites. Their jealousy was a real infection that ...

Children Need to Revere Their Parents - Proverbs 17:5 – 17:9 (commentary)

Any who rejoice over the misfortune of others are actually mocking God (v. 5). Since the poor are made in God’s image, as all people are, to mock them is to speak against God. I have known people to rejoice when the group they felt in competition with suffered loss and their gr …

Jonathan and David make a Covenant - I Samuel 18:1 – 18:16 (commentary)

In addition to this favored position, Jonathan, Saul’s oldest son, becomes David’s closest friend (vv. 1-2). In fact, this friendship develops to the point that Jonathan, who was apparent heir to the throne (I Sam. 20:31) strips himself of his own regalia and places it on David ( …

Daniels’s Friends Disobey The King - Daniel 3:8 – 3:18 (commentary)

Some Babylonians used this as a chance to accuse the Jews to King Nebuchadnezzar (v. 8). They said, “ Your Majesty, we hope you live forever (v. 9)! When the three Hebrew youths refused to bow, the Chaldeans, the very people whose lives had been spared because of the …

“He must increase, but I must decrease” - John 3:25 – 3:36 (commentary)

Last time, we read that Jesus and John the Baptist were doing separate baptismal ministries (vv. 21-24). During that time a debate erupted between their disciples over which of them had the greater purifying ability (v. 25). It seems that John’s disciples were jealous of Jesus and ...