John Mark Hicks

Despite Israel’s adulteries and idolatries, Yahweh makes a surprising announcement. “Behold,” Yahweh says, I will renew my relationship with Israel as in the day when I brought her out of Egypt, loved her in the wilderness, and gave her prosperity in the land. A day is coming when Yahweh covenant with Israel in justice and […]

Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks discuss what they call the “theological anchor” of the Songs of Ascents. The pilgrimage to Mt. Zion to assemble with the people of God is grounded in the Lord’s oath to David and his descendants in response to David’s oath to the Lord. As the people ascend the mountain […]

If if had not been that God was on our side . . . (Psalm 124). Paul probably had this Psalm in the back of his mind when he asked, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” The pilgrims on their ascent to the temple of God, confess: God is for us, […]

God is holy! What does that mean? Psalm 99 provides an opportunity for meditating on the significance of God’s holiness. This brief Psalm helps us embrace the wonder, justice, and mercy of God’s holiness. Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks discuss this brief Psalm (9 verses!) that powerfully confesses that “The Lord our God is […]

Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks discuss the meaning and application of Psalm 93. It declares “Yahweh is king!” What does that mean when we also see chaos and evil in the world? Do we say that because God is king that therefore everything is the way it is supposed to be, or that the […]

Hebrews 8:1-13 Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up. […]

Texts: Genesis 12:1-3, 7a; Exodus 6:2-8; Exodus 19:3-6. Days 14-16 in Around the Bible in Eighty Days. Who is Israel, and what is her purpose? It is a new humanity in a new Eden to continue and further the mission of God in the world. Following the collapse of the world into violent imperialism and […]

Everyone wants to be chosen, especially those who feel marginalized or undervalued. Many of us remember what it feels like to be the last one chosen in a pickup game of basketball or uninvited to the school party. Sometimes we feel like outsiders, and sometimes we are treated like outsiders. Sometimes we simply are outsiders. […]

The first major section of Amos addresses the nations, including Judah and Israel (Amos 1:3-2:16). The writer begins with Damascus (Syria) in the north, then moves southwest to Philistia. Afterwards, the text moves due north to Tyre and then southwest to Edom. This is followed by Ammon in the north and then Moab south of […]

“Faithless” is the word that dominates this section of Malachi. It occurs five times in Malachi 2:10-16 (10, 11, 14, 15, 16) and only here in Malachi. “Faithless” comes from the root bagad that means to deal with another treacherously. This word characterizes Israel’s covenantal relations and thus epitomizes what is broken in the life of post-exilic […]