Author: STEVE BALL

…if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Hebrews 9:11-28 For centuries, Christian theologians have recognized that…

1 Samuel 7-9 7 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. 2 From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years,…

According to this arrangement (the old covenant), gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper… Hebrews 9:1-10 In Jeremiah 31, he prophesied that a new, superior covenant would replace the old covenant. This new covenant would bring the reality of atonement instead of just offering animals whose blood could not finally,…

The Philistines Capture the Ark 4 And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out to battle against the Philistines. They encamped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines encamped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines drew up in line against Israel, and when the battle spread, Israel was defeated before the Philistines, who killed about four thousand men…

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. Hebrews 8 The original audience of Hebrews had been…

1 Samuel 1-3 The Birth of Samuel 1 There was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim of the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, son of Elihu, son of Tohu, son of Zuph, an Ephrathite. 2 He had two wives. The name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other, Peninnah. And Peninnah…

The former priests were many in number, because they were prevented by death from continuing in office, but He [Christ] holds His priesthood permanently, because He continues forever. Hebrews 7:11-26 Forever, that is how long Christ will be our High Priest. In our verses today, God has sworn by Himself an oath to that effect, and the…

Ruth 1-4 Naomi Widowed 1 In the days when the judges ruled there was a famine in the land, and a man of Bethlehem in Judah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he and his wife and his two sons. 2 The name of the man was Elimelech and the name of his wife Naomi, and the names of…

For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him…He is without father or mother or genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life… Hebrews 7:1-10 In Hebrews, the author is establishing that Jesus is Prophet, Priest and, King. Now, having established Jesus…

Judges 19-21 A Levite and His Concubine 19 In those days, when there was no king in Israel, a certain Levite was sojourning in the remote parts of the hill country of Ephraim, who took to himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. 2 And his concubine was unfaithful to[a] him, and she went away from him to her father’s house at…