Hope of Christ Church

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The Themes of Esther 1) God calls us to serve him in intensely secular settings. 2) God calls us not only to change individuals, but change society and culture. 3) In our life in secular society, believers will sometimes have to choose between conflicting authorities. 4) God is the only real King. 5) Human strength [...]

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Unable to contain himself any longer, Joseph reveals his identity to his brothers.  His brothers are looking at their sin with the eyes of the world and are dismayed that revenge and death is in their future.  Joseph responds with a theology of grace.  God has ordained that Joseph be in the position he is [...]

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As the famine spreads through the land, the family of Jacob is faced with starvation if the brothers do not go down to Egypt to get grain for the family and the livestock.  Problems in the family still abound as evidenced by Jacob’s fear to send Benjamin (now an adult) with his elder brothers.  Is [...]

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As the Providences in Joseph’s life superintend his path, Joseph’s life is marked by close communion with God in spite of the very troubled circumstances that arise.  Just when it seems like his troubles in this life will ease as he finds success in Potiphar’s house, the wife of Potiphar tries to seduce him and [...]

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When God promised Abraham that He would bless the nations through his seed, it would be ultimately fulfilled in Christ but it was partially fulfilled in the oddest of circumstances: through the civil magistrate. Abraham’s great-grandson, Joseph, would ascend to the highest place of political power second only to the Pharaoh of Egypt and, through [...]

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Throughout the ages, most people have strongly persisted in believing that religion is just an extension and expression of culture. One’s beliefs are interwoven with one’s nationality and culture. Therefore, for example, an Arab Muslim would feel that, were he to become a Christian, he would no longer be an Arab. This view is embodied [...]

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This chapter is the last of the ‘interventions’ by God into the life of Nebuchadnezzar. Each time God apparently cuts deeper into his heart spiritually. This is the ultimate blow to the king’s sin and pride. Unlike in chapters 2 and 3, Daniel and his friends are not in any danger. This time the focus [...]

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Nebuchadnezzar erects a huge statue and requires every subject in his kingdom to bown down to it at the sound of instruments announcing worship.  It was unusual for pagan nations to require conquered nations to forsake the worship of their pagan deities and it is likely that the king is utilizing the worship of this [...]

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Daniel 2 occurs after Daniel and his friends had entered the king’s service as educated counselors, advisors, administrators.  A striking feature of Daniel 2 is not immediately evident to the English reader. When 2:4 says: ‘The Chaldeans spoke to the king in Aramaic’, the entire text thereafter shifts from Hebrew into Aramaic all the way [...]

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Faithful Living in a Pagan Society Daniel was one of the Israelites exiled and living in Babylon after the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century B.C. They no longer lived in a secure believing society, under a believing cultural establishment. This book then gives guidance to those who live in a religiously [...]