Observations from the Word by The Barking Fox

The Real Deal

What do we do when the people and institutions we have trusted all our lives prove themselves to be untrustworthy? It's bad enough when the wicked do wicked things, but what are we to do when the righteous act wickedly? What if those "wicked righteous" are the people we see in the mirror?  
Genesis 25:19-28:9; Malachi 1:1-2:7; 2 Samuel 11:1-27; Jeremiah 9:23-26; Matthew 23:1-7, 23; John 8:39; Romans 9:10-13; 1 Corinthians 1:30-31
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: The Real Deal
Music: "Canon in D for Two Harps,” Johann Pachelbel, arranged and performed by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. Kevin MacLeod’s music is available at https://incompetech.com/.
Photo: Pentagon Memorial Chapel, September 2013 (US Army Photo).

Maternal Advocacy

Could a mother's love be a component of End Times prophecy? Maybe - or maybe it's the lack of maternal love that is the true indicator. 
Genesis 16:7-14, 23:1-25:18; 1 Kings 1:1-31, 3:16-28; 2 Samuel 11:1-27; Proverbs 31:1-31; Isaiah 49:14-15; Matthew 24:9-14
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Maternal Advocacy
Music: "Across the Savannah,” Aaron Kenny, YouTube Audio Library, August 2020. Listen to the complete audio on YouTube at https://youtu.be/_uQyXCDK8rM?si=QnWh8uD4vFD3dAVu. 
Photo: Serkalem Ayele, 30, holds her 7 days old daughter Kidist Belete inside Assosa General Hospital. Assosa, Benishangul-Gumuz Region, Western Ethiopia. Photo by Meklit Mersha, UNICEF Ethiopia, March 2, 2017, via Flickr.

Relative Judgment

How do we define right and wrong if there is no absolute truth? We complain about moral relativism, but only until we realize that the existence of absolute truth means there is a standard by which we all can be judged as right or wrong, good or evil, righteous or wicked. Do we really want such a definition, or do we want it only when we can use it to justify ourselves as we point out the wrongness of others?
Genesis 18:1-22:24; 2 Kings 4:1-37; Ezekiel 16:48-52; John 18:37-38; 1 Corinthians 2:14-16
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Relative Judgment
Music: "Hashivenu (Turn Us Back),” Samuel and Benjamin Wearp, 2023. The full recording is available at https://youtu.be/rlFi8yNEc-U?si=zcqHh5jQIoYkSgLC.
Photo by Daryl Cheng, March 6, 2008, via Flickr.

God and Two-Tiered Justice

No one likes a double standard, except perhaps when that practice works out in their favor. That's why human justice systems often seem unfair. Is that something we just have to live with? Does God have a better way, or is His way also unfair?
Genesis 12:1-17:27; Isaiah 40:27-41:16; Psalm 19:1-15; Ezekiel 33:17-20; John 3:16-17, 8:39; Romans 1:18-32; 1 Peter 4:12-17
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: God and Two-Tiered Justice
Music: "I Stand Here,” Exodus Road Band, The Tree, Exodus Road Records 2017. See the official video on Youtube at https://youtu.be/fmOA5S80t0A?si=Kmv8dgUCFfkEUNTG. This song and others by Exodus Road Band are available at https://www.exodusroadband.com/.
Photo: Scales of Justice, Frankfurt, Germany. Photo: Michael Coghlan, September 22, 2012, via Flickr.

Mourning the Wicked

Ever since human beings started defining good and evil for themselves, we've had this problem of consigning people we define as evil to destruction. As if that didn't create enough problems, it infringes on the roles our righteous, just, and merciful God assigns to His people to be peacemakers and ministers of reconciliation, as well as his agents of judgment on blatant wickedness. How do we reconcile those seemingly contradictory roles?
Genesis 6:9-11:32; Isaiah 54:1-55:5; Proverbs 30:20; Ezekiel 33:11; Romans 3:1-2, 9:1-5; Revelation 2:18-29, 19:6-8
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Mourning the Wicked
Music: "Heart of the Matter," Exodus Road Band, Heart of the Matter, Exodus Road Band 2017. This song and others by Exodus Road Band are available at https://www.exodusroadband.com/.
Photo: Aftermath of the bombing of Dresden, Germany, February 13-15, 1945. Original photo by Richard Peter, September-December 1945, Deutsche Fotothek‎, Dresden. Colorized version by Cassowary Colorizations, August 8, 2017, via Flickr.

Recreating God

We have a lot of trouble understanding and relating to our infinite God. That's because He is infinite and we're not. What we know of Him is what He chooses to let us know. Why, then, do we insist on claiming that what we know - or what we think we know - of God is all there is to know?
Genesis 1:1-6:8; Isaiah 42:5-43:10, 55:6-9; Acts 17:22-34; Romans 1:18-32
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Recreating God
Music: "God of the Universe,” Cody Ryan Cribbs, Exodus Road Band, Prodigal Son, Exodus Road Records 2022. See the official video on Youtube at https://youtu.be/tuc8u6qzjoU. This song and others by Exodus Road Band are available at https://www.exodusroadband.com/. 
Photo: Awakening Newborn Stars. NASA's Marshal Space Flight Center, December 29, 2020. Image Credit: NASA, ESA, the Hubble Heritage (STScI/AURA)/Hubble-Europe (ESA) Collaboration, D. Padgett (GSFC), T. Megeath (U. of Toledo), and B. Reipurth (U. of Hawaii), via Flickr.

Awaiting the Full Inheritance

It's difficult to understand that our present circumstances have not always been so, nor will they always be so. Borders changes, as do economies, social structures, and political constructs. So what about peoples, tribes, and nations? Is it possible that what once was may yet be - that peoples who once existed as a people could again take their place among the nations? Yes, it is possible, according to God's promises. The question is whether we believe what He says.
Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12; Joshua 1:1-18; Psalm 2:1-12; Isaiah 49:5-6; Ezekiel 47:13-23; Romans 11:11-15; Revelation 5:11-14, 21:9-27
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: Awaiting the Full Inheritance
Music: "Am Yisroel Chai,” Solomon O. Lopez, The Born At Home Collections, The Hebraism Project 2014. To hear more of Solomon’s music, visit The Hebraism Project on YouTube. 
Photo: The Coronation of Powhatan, John Gadsby Chapman, c. 1835, Greenville Museum of Art, Greenville, South Carolina, via Wikimedia Commons.

A Matter of Synchronization

Why do we sometimes feel disconnected - somehow out of synch with our time and place? We can point to a number of physical, psychological, or emotional reasons, but perhaps there's an even bigger spiritual reason. Could it be we are moving through a timeline of our own making that exists apart from the timeline our Creator established for His universe?
Leviticus 22:26-23:44; Zechariah 14:1-12; Isaiah 66:1-24; Habakkuk 2:2-3; 2 Peter 3:3-13
Click here to download a transcript of this podcast: A Matter of Synchronization
Music: "10,000 Reasons,” Celtic Worship, Homeward, Oak Ridge Records 2019. See the official video on Youtube at https://youtu.be/xsNDxIBVEx8?si=twAhqeFeD4TX3ee7. Celtic Worship’s music is available at https://celticworship.co.uk/. 
Photo: Israeli Air Force Avia S-199 (Czech manufactured postwar version of Messerschmidt Bf-109) of the 101st squadron in June 1948 (IAF photo via Wikimedia Commons).