John Mark Hicks

This is how God loves Israel: Go, love one who has other lovers. God calls Hosea to imitate Yahweh who loves Israel despite their covenant-breaking, despite their betrayals. This is the unrelenting love of God who pursues us. This is the God who loved us even while we were yet enemies. Nothing can separate us […]

Psalm 144 prays for God’s rescue and salvation. The prayer depends on God’s steadfast love and past redemptive acts (Sinai and Exodus) for the victory of God’s king over the nations ruled by lies and evil. This is a prayer warrior Psalm that asks God to defeat the enemies of God’s kingdom. The Davidic king […]

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 […]

The Blessedness of Naomi (Ruth 4:13-22) So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. When they came together, the LORD made her conceive, and she bore a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be the LORD, who has not left you this day without next-of-kin; and may his name be renowned in […]

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 […]

The previous post explored the meaning of the only fundamentally positive text in Amos–its ending, Amos 9:11-15. The text of Amos envisions a future time when Yahweh would rebuild the “tent of David” with the result that Israel would “possess the remnant of Edom and all the nations who are called” by Yahweh’s “name.” This […]

Haggai’s fourth oracle comes on the same day as his third, that is, the day on which the foundation of the temple is laid. As Judah gathered to celebrate the occasion (cf. Ezra 3:10-13), Haggai addressed first the priests and people (2:10-19) and now he specifically addresses Zerubabel who is the governor of Judah (2:20-23). […]