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Showing posts from October 18, 2026

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Browse at Your Own Pace

Begin wherever your curiosity leads. The studies will be here when you’re ready. When I shared my first Matthew study on Facebook today, I mentioned that I planned to post daily, though I might not share every post on Facebook. As I continue setting up this blog, I’ve realized that what matters most to me is making my past studies available for anyone who wants to explore them. For now, I’ll be adding posts to my heart’s content as I work through those studies. Some days that may mean one post; other days it may mean several. I’ll continue reading through and preparing each one before sharing it. There is no need to keep up with everything as it appears. This blog is becoming a place you can browse at your own pace—begin with a book, a question, or a study that interests you, and follow from there. The Bible Books page gathers studies by book, while Study Threads helps connect topics that travel through more than one book. The labels on individual posts also bring related material to...
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Hearing ~ Seeing ~ Revealing — Hearing 8: Speaking to Her Heart

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What Was Taken Will Be Restored The wilderness has remained an important setting throughout our examination of hearing. There, provision comes with instruction, temptation must be resisted, and the source of what sustains life must be recognized. Hosea brings another detail into view: a woman brought into the wilderness and spoken to at the heart. — Hosea 2:14 Could a place that appears empty become a place of instruction? Have I judged what is happening by its outward appearance before considering what God is doing? Who Supplied What She Received? Earlier in the chapter, the woman credits her lovers with supplying her necessities. Yet YHWH (יהוה) identifies Himself as the giver of the grain, wine, oil, silver, and gold. She had not recognized the Source. — Hosea 2:5–8 Receiving something and knowing where it came from are distinguishable. Have I given credit to someone who was not the source? Has gratitude toward a person or establishment become allegiance that I no longer examine? Th...
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Hearing ~ Seeing ~ Revealing — Hearing 7: They Remembered His Words

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What Was Taken Will Be Restored Something can be spoken before its meaning is understood. An event can be witnessed before its connection to Scripture is recognized. The Gospel accounts preserve both. They do not conceal the disciples’ questions or their later remembrance. Those details help us examine the relationship between hearing, seeing, and understanding. — John 2:19–22; John 12:16 If understanding did not always come immediately to those present, should I assume that my first explanation of a passage must be complete? The Sanctuary and His Body When Jesus speaks of the sanctuary being destroyed and raising it in three days, those answering him refer to the years spent building it. John then identifies the sanctuary Jesus meant as his body. — John 2:19–21 The same statement is heard, but the response concerns a different understanding of what is being described. This detail matters whenever Scripture uses a familiar word in a way the surrounding passage explains more fully. Hav...
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Hearing ~ Seeing ~ Revealing — Hearing 6: Understanding Is Given

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What Was Taken Will Be Restored The disciples heard the parable of the sower, but they still asked what it meant. Hearing the account and understanding its meaning were distinguishable. Jesus then spoke of knowledge of the kingdom’s mysteries as something granted to them. — Luke 8:9–10 Have I assumed that recognizing the words means I already understand them? When understanding is missing, am I willing to ask and continue listening? Hearing Without Understanding Jesus describes the distinction with words that reach back to Isaiah: “SEEING THEY MAY NOT SEE, AND HEARING THEY MAY NOT UNDERSTAND.” — Luke 8:10, LSB, excerpt The Old Testament connection brings hearing, seeing, understanding, and the condition of the heart into the same examination. The presence of words before someone does not mean their meaning has been received. — Isaiah 6:9–10 Could I be familiar with a passage while overlooking what it says? Could an explanation I already trust prevent me from examining a detail I had no...
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Hearing ~ Seeing ~ Revealing — Hearing 5: What Happens to What We Hear?

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What Was Taken Will Be Restored Hearing the Word begins an examination that continues beyond the moment of listening. Jesus’ explanation of the sower directs attention to what happens afterward: what is taken away, what fails to endure, what becomes choked, and what bears fruit. — Luke 8:11–15 Have I measured my response by how eagerly I first listened—or by what that hearing continues to produce? The Seed Is Identified Jesus identifies the seed as the Word of God. His explanation then distinguishes the circumstances of those who hear it. The account gives us both what is sown and what happens within the hearer. — Luke 8:11–15 This brings the examination closer to home. We have considered competing voices and what they offer. Now we must also consider our own reception. Am I willing to examine myself as carefully as I examine a teacher? What might prevent the Word from taking root in me? Receiving with Joy—and Then Falling Away The rocky ground describes people who receive the Word joy...
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Hearing ~ Seeing ~ Revealing — Hearing 4: What Are We Being Fed?

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What Was Taken Will Be Restored Our examination of the wilderness brought us to hunger, provision, and the Word that sustains life. Now we follow that connection through manna, Wisdom’s invitation, and the famine described by Amos. Each passage asks us to consider what is supplied, who supplies it, and how the hearer responds. Am I examining what nourishes my understanding—or accepting whatever is placed before me? Provision Comes with Instruction In Exodus, YHWH (יהוה) announces bread from heaven. The people are to gather a daily portion, and the passage connects that provision with testing whether they will walk in His instruction. Receiving food and responding to His word appear together. — Exodus 16:4–5 When the people first see the bread, they do not know what it is. Moses identifies it as what YHWH (יהוה) has given them to eat. Seeing the provision does not immediately mean recognizing it. — Exodus 16:14–15 That detail belongs within Hearing, Seeing, and Revealing. Something can ...
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Hearing ~ Seeing ~ Revealing — Hearing 3: When Scripture Is Used to Tempt

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What Was Taken Will Be Restored Quoting Scripture does not settle whether the direction being offered is faithful to God. The wilderness account brings that distinction directly before us: the devil quotes Scripture while urging Jesus to act. Jesus answers by returning to what is also written. — Matthew 4:5–7 Do I examine what someone is asking me to do—or does hearing a familiar verse make me stop questioning? Led into the Wilderness Matthew identifies the Spirit as leading Jesus into the wilderness and the devil as the one tempting him. Those roles remain distinguishable within the same account. — Matthew 4:1 The place where the temptation occurs does not, by itself, tell us whose direction each voice carries. Am I assuming that every voice encountered along a spiritual journey must be trustworthy? Have I examined who is speaking and where the instruction leads? Hunger and What Sustains Life After Jesus fasts, the tempter proposes turning stones into bread. Jesus answers by directing...
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Hearing ~ Seeing ~ Revealing — Hearing 2: Which Voice Are We Following?

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What Was Taken Will Be Restored A message can speak about God while directing someone away from what He has said. In the garden, the serpent does not begin by asking the woman to abandon every thought of God. He questions God’s instruction, contradicts its warning, and presents a desirable outcome. — Genesis 3:1–5 This brings us to an important part of hearing: recognizing the subject of a message does not establish the source of its direction. Does speaking about God mean someone is speaking faithfully? What happens when a message retains His name but changes His instruction? What Had Already Been Given? Before the serpent’s conversation with the woman, the account records the instruction given to the man. YHWH (יהוה) permits eating from the trees of the garden, while identifying one tree from which he must not eat: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The warning connects eating from that tree with death. — Genesis 2:16–17 Permission, a boundary, and a consequence are already ...
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Hearing ~ Seeing ~ Revealing — Hearing 1: The Word Came First

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What Was Taken Will Be Restored Before we examine what is seen or eventually revealed, we begin with what is spoken. Scripture repeatedly brings us back to words: who speaks, what is said, whom we believe, and what we follow. But hearing does not necessarily mean understanding. Someone may hear the words and witness the events without recognizing what is taking place. The disciples themselves sometimes understood afterward. — John 2:22; John 12:16 Have I heard what Scripture says—or accepted an explanation without examining it? When understanding does not come immediately, am I willing to keep listening? God Speaks, and Light Follows “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” — Genesis 1:3, ASV Notice the order: God speaks, and light follows. John begins with the Word, then speaks of life and the light of men. The light shines in darkness. These passages bring the Word, life, and light into our examination together. — Genesis 1:3; John 1:1–5 This gives us a starting point...
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