The Israelites journeyed through many cycles of intense oppression from neighboring nations. Israel’s enslavement in Egypt, which lasted almost four hundred years, was only one experience of exile and oppression. Yet...

For many years I lived in Brooklyn, New York, and took the subway into Manhattan each day. It became second nature to step onto the train and mentally close off from...

Luke, writing roughly fifteen years after the Romans brutally slaughtered Jewish rebels and destroyed Jerusalem, is recalling Jesus’ prophetic words to his followers. Jesus knew his followers were facing immanent peril....

In Second Thessalonians, the author emphasizes the importance of community both to the early church as a whole and to the spiritual lives of the individuals within it. In fact, the...

Today’s reading addresses those in the church at Thessalonica who are “living irresponsibly, mere busybodies, not doing any work.” Some folks in this budding church aren’t pulling their weight. Community is...

Isaiah has delivered God’s promise to the Israelites: No matter how desperate things seem, God is at work creating something new. The Israelites must not lose hope. They must repent and...

Today’s reading comes from a climactic moment in the later writings of Isaiah, believed to have been written after the Israelites returned from Babylonian exile in 538 BCE. Upon returning to...

In the first ten chapters of the book of Isaiah, the prophet proclaims God’s judgment on the people of Judah and Israel for their defilement of God’s dwelling place in Jerusalem....

The psalmist’s joy is so unconstrained that the universe is invited to join in. The psalmist moves from soloist to conductor of a symphony, inviting all to participate. As they sing,...

The juxtaposition of the songs of praise and the songs of lament can sometimes be jarring. On first reading, the psalms do not seem to offer unified voice, but rather a...