Spiritual Exercises 18th May 2020
Family Last week I introduced you to “women” who appear in the genealogy of Jesus according to Matthew 1. In the 21st century, Jesus’s genealogy appears normal. Many of us have “family members” that we tend not to mention. We all have family secrets. In Jesus’ time it was totally different. They measured people by […]
Spiritual Exercise 15th May 2020
Mary The angel Gabriel appeared and spoke to a young unmarried virgin who had no status at all. He appeared to her in the sixth month of Elisabeth’s pregnancy. It was unheard of for an angel to appear to people who had no status like Mary. Even his greeting would have been out of the […]
Spiritual Exercise 14th May 2020
Tamar Tamar is mentioned in Genesis chapter 38. She married Judah’s (who was the fourth son of Jacob and Leah) eldest son, Er. He was killed because of his wickedness, and Tamar became a widow. Judah then asked his second son, Onan, to provide an offspring for Tamar so that the family line might continue. […]
Spiritual exercise 13 May 2020
Uriah’s wife Uriah’s wife’s name was Bathsheba. The way Bathsheba came to be King David’s wife and Solomon’s mother was scandalous and shameful. She was married to Uriah when David took her into an adulterous affair. When she became pregnant, David tried to cover up the matter. To hide his misdeeds, David tried to call […]
Spiritual exercise 12 May 2020
Ruth During a famine, a man named Elimelech took his wife Naomi and their two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, east from their home in Bethlehem in Judea to a country called Moab. After their father’s death, the sons married Moabite women, Orpah and Ruth. They lived together for about 10 years until both Mahlon and […]
Spiritual exercise 11 May 2020
Rahab After the death of Moses, God chose Joshua, son of Nun, to be the leader of the Israelite people. They set out to conquer the land of Canaan, under the Lord’s guidance. The Lord told Joshua to send two spies into the city of Jericho. They went and stayed with a prostitute called Rahab. […]
Spiritual exercise 8 May 2020
Ishbel Smith (author) PEOPLE IN ISOLATION Jesus What do you think the first thing was that Jesus did on his return from his time in the wilderness? What was the first food he ate, who was the first person he embraced? Jesus clearly told others about his time in the wilderness and of the thoughts […]
Spiritual exercise 7 May 2020
Ishbel Smith (author) PEOPLE IN ISOLATION Ruth Families can be anything but straightforward – rarely do they go to plan. Ruth’s husband’s tragic early death left her torn between two communities and with the decision: should she stay in her homeland or go with her new family. Either decision would leave her isolated from people […]
Spiritual exercise 6 May 2020
Ishbel Smith (author) PEOPLE IN ISOLATION DAVID No-one knows when – or even for certain, if – David wrote this most famous of Psalms. Throughout his life, David lived in isolation of so many different kinds. Isolated from his family, his friends and his people often due in part to circumstances of his own […]
Spiritual exercise 5 May 2020
Ishbel Smith (author) PEOPLE IN ISOLATION Samuel Is it any wonder that Samuel ran to Eli three times before he recognised the voice of God? Samuel was young, taken away from his mother and family to live in a ramshackle public building with an old man whose own sons were notorious ne’er do wells. In […]