John Mark Hicks

Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks discuss the joy of several creation values in Psalm 128:1-3 (work, intimacy, and family) that are blessings from the Lord who dwells in Zion. Those who fear the Lord and walk in the ways of God are blessed from Zion and experience the peace and good of God’s creational […]

Pilgrims enter Jerusalem excited to experience authentic community, thanksgiving, and justice. They come to the house of the Lord to experience shalom (peace) and ask God to give peace the place where the Lord dwells. What does it mean to pray for Jerusalem? How might we pray for Jerusalem today? Psalm 122 guides in the […]

Bobby Valentine and John Mark Hicks explore the reality Psalm 46 envisions. This Psalm of trust or confidence reminds us that God is with us despite all the chaos that surrounds us. God will help. God cause wars to cease. God is our protection, our refuge. The Psalm invites us to enter the sanctuary of […]

From the day of his triumphal entry into Jerusalem where he saw everything that was happening in the temple through his cleansing of the temple and confrontation with temple authorities to his exit from the temple in disgust has led Jesus to this moment in Mark 13. Instead of sitting on the Mount of Olives […]

The “behold” of Zechariah 14:1 (untranslated by the NIV) begins the second section of Zechariah’s second “oracle” (Zechariah 12-14). The first Section (Zechariah 12-13) was structured around the “day of the Lord” when God will renew covenant with Israel, defend Jerusalem, pour out the divine Spirit of grace, and cleanse the house of David from […]

Zechariah 12-14 is the second oracle of the second half of the book of Zechariah. The first half of Zechariah contained eight visions (Zechariah 1-6) and four messages (Zechariah 7-8). The second half of Zechariah comes in the form of two oracles (the Hebrew term only occurs in Zechariah 9:1, 12:1 and Malachi 1:1). The […]

In December 518 representatives from Bethel came to Judah and asked the leaders whether they should continue their lament fasts over the fall of Jerusalem (Zechariah 7:1-3). Zechariah responded with four distinct oracles (identified by the phrase the “word of the Lord came to me/Zechariah” in7:4, 8; 8:1, 18). He first questioned their motives for […]

Zechariah sees a man with a measuring line in his hand. He is about to measure the length of Jerusalem’s borders, partly for the purpose of erecting a wall around it. Jerusalem needs protection from its enemies. Though Pax Persiana has brought peace among the nations, this does not secure Jerusalem from its regional enemies (cf. […]