John Mark Hicks

The one who grieved Paul (and the Corinthian congregation as a whole) should not be burdened with excessive grief but forgiven and consoled. Paul does not seek revenge for the wrong but reconciliation. That is a bold claim. Apparently, the severe letter Paul wrote after his second (painful) visit addressed the problem this particular individual […]

The war in heaven is over. The dragon has been expelled from heaven. The son’s throne is secure; the dragon cannot defeat him. But what’s a dragon to do? If he can’t devour the son, he will go after the mother. The woman, as noted previously, represents the people of God–Israel gives birth to the […]

Then a war broke out in heaven! That does not seem a likely place for a war. How can there be a war in heaven? Part of the answer is the two signs that appeared “in heaven” (Revelation 12:1-4). One sign represented the faithful people of God and the other Satan. One represented Israel and […]

The drama of the second (Revelation 4:1-16:20) has not yet ended. We are yet in the middle of it. Heaven has opened the seven seals (Revelation 6:1-8:5) and sounded the seven trumpets (Revelation 8:6-11:19) but we have not yet seen the final, climatic bowls of wrath (Revelation 15-16).  sandwiched between the trumpets and the bowls is the dramatic […]

Though often called the “letters to the seven churches” (with somewhat good reasons), the address to each church functions as a prophetic oracle. John has called his work a “prophecy” (Revelation 1:3) and in these “letters” the prophet calls the churches to respond in faithfulness much like Israel’s prophets in the Hebrew Scriptures. Philadelphia was […]

Zechariah’s fourth vision takes him into the heavenly council which mirrors the reality of the holy courts of the temple where priests officiate before the Lord (similar to Isaiah 6:1-3). The earthly temple is the meeting place of the heavenly council. The temple is one place where heaven and earth overlap. Zechariah sees three persons: […]

In my last post I noted three hermeneutical keys for reading the book of Job.  But is there dissonance within the Prologue as well that might undermine those keys? Three questions are particularly important.  Is Job a Legalist? Some think the description of Job in 1:5 is a bit neurotic. They may have a point.  […]

If the narrative prologue is a hermeneutical lens through which we read its poetic core, then it is important to understand what the narrative projects as the hermeneutical keys for reading the dramatic poetry of Job 3:1-42:6.  I suggest at least three hermeneutical keys are found in the Prologue that enable a faithful reading of […]

This semester at Lipscomb I am teaching an intensive Bible Major class on Job and Ecclesiastes. I am excited about the class and literally am sitting on the edge of my seat to see what God does every class period with myself and sixteen students. Over the semester, I hope to blog a bit about […]