John Mark Hicks

The first three chapters of Hosea functions as a prophetic sign-act where God’s relationship with Israel is given a concrete model in the relationship of Hosea and his family. They alternate between judgment and hope, between marriage-divorce-remarriage. God entered into covenant with Israel, and Israel broke faith with Yahweh, but Yahweh promises to renew covenant […]

Psalm 104 celebrates creation as God’s continuous work from laying the foundations of the earth to giving breath to every living thing. God lies at the center of the creation; it is not about life per se or human utility. Rather, the creation is God-centered. Out of God’s steadfast love, God gifts the creation with […]

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” Genesis 1:28 The Lord God took the adam and rested […]

Joel’s propehtic liturgy previously announced the coming of the great “day of the Lord,” which functions at multiple levels. On the one hand, it envisions any impending disaster that is coming upon Israel–whether it is a locust plague, an invading army, or some other communal crisis. On the other hand, it describes an apocalyptic event […]

After opening with a call for lamentation, the text presents two laments (1:15-18 and 1:19-20). The first laments the day, and the second cries out to Yahweh. The first weeps over the  devastation of the land and the suffering of the livestock. In the second both the people and the animals cry out to God […]

Before the movie, first the biblical story…or at least my reading of that story…. This is not a children’s story. The animals going into the ark two by two do make a classic VBS song and it certainly makes a great flannel graph. But this story is more like a horror movie than a Disney […]