Five Minutes of Truth with Dr. Danny Purvis - A Weekly Devotional Podcast

Did you know that in one of the most unusual and confusing stories in all of Scripture, there was a moment when Moses’ wife actually got so frustrated with her husband that she threw their son’s circumcised foreskin at Moses? Really…you didn’t know that? Well, as weird as it sounds we will explain it all…here on five minutes of truth.

There are quite a few stories, sprinkled throughout the Bible, that on the surface seem a bit…if we’re being honest…weird. From floating axe-heads to a sermon bringing a valley of dry bones back to life. From raising people from the dead to a chariot that carries one Bible hero off to heaven. There are stories, many in the Old Testament, which when observed from a distance and removed from context do not lend themselves to easy understanding.

They contain actions that seem to defy conventional wisdom and promote, in many cases, significant skepticism for the casual reader. And sometimes even for the not so casual reader. I understand the confusion. These stories seem so outrageous that one can quickly come to the conclusion that there is very little reason for it being included in the Bible at all. We know, however, that this is not true.

The Apostle Paul wrote: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” . If that is the case, this also includes the “weird” passages that I firmly believe are considered weird simply because they are not understood in light of Paul’s statement. And one of the most misunderstood events happened as Moses was on his way to free God’s people from the yoke of slavery they endured in Egypt.

We know the story. After fleeing Egypt upon learning of his heritage, Moses met Jethro, a priest from Midian, and married Jethro’s daughter, Zipporah. Sometime after, Moses had the encounter of a lifetime when he ventured up Mt. Horeb to examine a burning bush, but instead met the God of the universe Who told Moses to go back to Egypt…confront Pharaoh…and free the Hebrew slaves.

It is on this journey to Egypt that we read this curious story found in . The Bible relays that on the journey, God actually threatens to kill Moses. He does not explicitly say why, but the context of the story fills in the missing pieces. Immediately after the threat, Zipporah circumcises their son. So, we can glean that Moses’ neglect in doing this himself spurred on the harsh threat God made towards Moses.

After the circumcision, Zipporah takes the severed foreskin and throws it at Moses’ feet. She states: “you are a husband of blood to me” (b). And to make sure he really got a proper reading on her indignation, she repeats it by saying once again, “you are a husband of blood” (). It is clear that Moses’ wife was not happy (putting it lightly) and that something really bad must have happened. Now we look at what did happen in context with the rest of Scripture which will make this seemingly weird passage not so weird after all.

First we must remember the importance the Hebrews placed on circumcision. It was THE sign that they belonged to God as a people. It was THE sign of the everlasting covenant God made with His people (b). And any male child not circumcised would be cast out from his own people because “he has broken My covenant” (b). To say that circumcision was a big deal…would be the height of understatement. God stated that every male child would be circumcised when they turned 8 days old and it fell to the father to ensure this happened. Is this becoming a bit clearer now?

We don’t know how old Moses’ son was b

Did you know that the Bible gives us an example of dedicated love between a man and a woman who didn’t even know each other? Stick around and we’ll talk about it. Here on five minutes of truth.

One of the key characteristics of the so-called Patriarchs of the Old Testament was that, for the most part, they all had more than one wife? This was true of Abraham, Jacob, Caleb, Gideon, David, Solomon and most likely, Moses. Despite the fact that God had ordered and ordained that marriage be a monogamous union between a man and a woman, many of His most faithful followers engaged in polygamy outside of God’s desire.

The fact that God did not cut them off from His love and His salvation is a true testament to His grace and mercy. It is also important to note that just because God did not seem to overtly punish them (as far as we know) that is not to mean the He gave them a pass or that He had relaxed His rules regarding marriage. It does go to show, however, that His love and grace is enough to still render us useful to Him in spite of our sin nature. That is, in part, what the Cross and the empty tomb were all about. Despite His command, nearly all of the Old Testament “heroes of the faith” engaged in marriages outside the boundaries God had prescribed. Except for one guy.

Abraham’s son, and the son of the promise God made to Abraham, was named Isaac. Many people know this. What many people do NOT know is the story of Isaac’s beloved wife, Rebekah. The only wife Isaac would ever have. The story…is extraordinary.

As Abraham grew old and was facing his mortality, he desired to see Isaac married. However, since Abraham had been obedient to God and had ended up living in a land far away from his homeland, he did not want Isaac to find a wife there. Instead, he wanted his son to find a wife among “my family” so that the promise of God might be fulfilled through his lineage. So, Abraham did what any good father would do…he sent his servant to his homeland to pick out a wife for his son.

Of course I’m kidding. This was a very odd approach to assure a proper wife for his son, but he did it nonetheless. After imploring his servant to swear that he would find a wife for Isaac from among their extended family, the servant set out. After reaching the city of Nahor (named after Abraham’s brother) an interesting thing happened. The servant stopped by the city well and prayed…a very specific prayer.

He requested of God that if a woman came to the well and asked a specific question in a specific way, then that would be young woman he would approach about becoming Isaac’s wife. The Bible reports that, “before he had finished praying”, a young woman named Rebekah arrived at the well and used the exact verbiage the servant had requested of God.

Knowing that God had indeed led the servant to Rebekah, the servant immediately presented her with gifts of gold and asked about her lineage. In an answer that should surprise no one…it was determined that she was Isaac’s cousin…whom Isaac had never met. In fact, it is doubtful they even knew the other existed.

Once the servant met the extended family, he introduced himself as coming from Abraham to find Isaac a wife and how God had led him directly to Rebekah in such a way that it could not be denied that it was from the Lord. And though the family was hesitant to let Rebekah go so quickly and implore the servant to let her linger at home a bit longer, it was Rebekah (who was probably in her early to mid-teens) who said, “I will go”.

Upon r

Did you know that the man who is arguably the wisest and wealthiest man in history had literally everything that he could’ve ever desired…yet at the end realized it was all for nothing? Stick around and we’ll talk about it. Here on five minutes of truth.

One of the more interesting aspects of the Bible is its collection of people. To say that the Bible includes people from all walks of life is the height of understatement.

From kings to con men…harlots to holy women. From fishermen to priests and murderers to the Messiah. One of the reasons these 2-5 thousand year old stories resonate with us today is because we see God’s redemptive and miraculous works played out in the lives of people just like ourselves. With the same foibles, weaknesses and problems we have as well.

We see over and again that God’s love for us is not predicated on what we do or who we are but on Who He is and what He’s done. We cannot earn His love…neither can we do anything to make Him stop loving us. It is an extraordinary book.

Perhaps one of the most interesting people described in God’s Word is a guy whose name is recognizable, but whose story is often unknown. I’m talking about King David’s son, Solomon. A fascinating person and an even more fascinating story. Even his birth stands as a testament to God’s grace and mercy.

We are all, I hope, aware of Solomon’s father, David, and his terrible actions regarding an adulterous relationship. David engaged in an adulterous relationship with Bathsheba, the wife of one of David’s most loyal soldiers. After she became pregnant, David conspired to and arranged for the death of Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, in order to hide his sin…and marry Bathsheba.

After David was confronted with his actions by his priest, David immediately repented. But there were to be terrible consequences. David was told that turmoil would engulf his family throughout his reign…and he was told that the child Bathsheba was carrying would die. David prayed for the best, but the child did, in fact, die.

It would be easy to conclude that this was the act of a vengeful God…but that would not be completely correct. David and Bathsheba would have another child…and that child was Solomon. Solomon would go on to do extraordinary things: Serve as a wise king and build the first Jewish Temple in existence. God showed grace and mercy by blessing David and Bathsheba with an amazing child.

And who was Solomon? It is safe to say that there has not been his equal in wisdom and wealth in the history of the world. Not long after securing his position as king, God spoke to Solomon and made an amazing offer. Simply stated, God said to Solomon: “Ask! What shall I give you.” What person would not long to hear the God of the universe tell us He will give us anything that we want?

Realizing the gravity of what it means to lead a nation, Solomon said that he had a lot of stuff…but what he really needed and desired…was wisdom. Solomon said: “give to Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may discern between good and evil.” God was so pleased with his answer, that along with wisdom, God would also bless Solomon with material things beyond measure and assured Solomon that: “there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.” Amazing statements from a holy God.

And God was true to His word. Solomon’s wisdom became the talk of the known world. People would travel great distances to sit in his

One of the most common misconceptions most people have about God is that He relishes dishing out punishment.In fact, in the movie Bruce Almighty, the main protagonist in the story, Bruce, espouses this belief when he cries out to God saying: “Smite me, oh mighty Smiter”!

The unfortunate truth is…this seems to be a common view of God. That not only does He relish the idea of punishment, but that He actually enjoys dispensing it. But to be honest, I just don’t see that in the Bible. Oh, I do see punishment, but I see divine judgment as a last resort for God, not an immediate knee-jerk reaction.

Even in the Old Testament, where much of God’s judgment is seen, I see a God slow to anger and long on patience. A God that continuously pleas for His people to listen to Him instead of their own desires. And a God that exemplifies patience by holding out on judgment for hundreds or even thousands of years. Leaving millions of people to lead lives and extend generations that would never feel God’s wrath. That’s the God I see.

And in one of the most remarkable conversations to take place in the whole of the Bible, we see just how much God wants us to grow through our failures, instead of hammering us for them. And He does that in a conversation between His Son, Jesus, and the Apostle Peter.

This extraordinary dialogue is so important that it is recorded in all four Gospels. And through all the Gospels catch the spirit of the conversation, only one, Luke, provides us with the depth to see this truth more clearly. This encounter is recorded in . And as always, it is best we set the scene of this interaction in order to see it in context.

This conversation with Peter takes place in the Garden of Gethsemane just before Jesus is arrested…and hours before Jesus’ crucifixion. At this point in time, Jesus is giving His Disciples some final instructions and preparing them, as much as was possible, for the difficulties that were to come. At one point He turns to Peter and makes a very fascinating statement.

Jesus warns Peter that Satan desired to try to crush Peter’s faith. He then makes the extraordinary promise that He has prayed for Peter so that: “your faith should not fail” (a). Jesus knows that the Disciples would be facing tremendous demands upon their faith once they realized and saw that Jesus would be tortured and crucified. So He is trying to prepare Peter for this.

But Jesus also adds in a caveat that most people miss in a cursory reading of this passage. Jesus goes on to say: “and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brothers” (b). Do you see what Jesus is saying here? He is telling Peter in no uncertain terms that he (Peter) was going to fall away. That he was going to fail.

But notice, He doesn’t focus on the failure…Jesus instead focuses on Peter’s success after he comes back to Jesus. Jesus says: and when you have returned to Me. Meaning that in order for Peter to return back to Jesus, he has to first turn away from Him. But let’s look at Peter’s response.

Once Jesus prophesies Peter’s failure, Peter responds by saying: “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death” (). What, in essence, is Peter’s response to Jesus here? You’re wrong. Imagine telling the Messiah, which is Who Peter knew Jesus to be, that He is wrong about something. But that’s what he did. And Jesus’ response? Only after that denial did Jesus go into detail about Peter’s failure.

Remember, Jesus

Did you know that with the exception of Judas Iscariot, that all of Jesus’ Disciples were loyal to the end? But did you also know that there was another group of people referred to as His disciples who left Jesus and never walked with Him again? Stick around and we’ll talk about it here on five minutes of truth.

The vast majority of people know exactly who the Bible is referring to when it mentions Jesus’ Disciples. Even if we can’t remember all of their names, we know that when we hear the word “disciples” our minds immediately go to Jesus’ Twelve Disciples who are named in the Gospels.

However, John records in his Gospel an extraordinary event where Jesus is conversing with three groups of people. This conversation is captured in . And the three groups to whom Jesus is teaching? The first group is often described in a variety of ways, but more than anything they were people who did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah and were dedicated to ensure His failure and ultimately His death. The second group in this story is the group comprised of the 12 Disciples. These were Jesus’ dedicated followers Whom He called as His original 12 Disciples.

The final group is the most interesting for a variety of reasons. They are referred to in the Bible as “Jesus’ disciples” ( & 66) though they are not the same as the 12. These are different disciples. Probably people who had seen Jesus’ miracles and heard His teachings and were intrigued by His message. These are probably the same people who were part of the 72 folks Jesus sent out on a mission trip in Luke chapter 10.

However, these disciples, as opposed to the 12, would not stay loyal to Jesus…and, in fact, they would actually walk away from Him. Why? Because…simply put…Jesus told them that in order for them to be true followers they would have to: “eat My flesh and drink my blood”. After initially complaining about the difficulty of this teaching, John writes, perhaps, some of the most heartbreaking words in all of Scripture. John wrote: “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” ().

On the surface, one might be sympathetic to their plight. This teaching Jesus was espousing had to have been incredibly difficult to understand. Jesus tells all of the people listening to Him that: “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you” (). This had to be a hard teaching to comprehend. In fact, the disciples (not the 12) actually make this point in when they exclaim: “This is a hard teaching, who can understand it?”

And though there are examples in the Scripture where Jesus goes into great detail explaining some of His more complicated teachings, He does no such thing here. In fact, when they question His comments about people eating His flesh and drinking His blood, Jesus simply repeats the claim 4 times…He doesn’t explain it. He simply repeats…4 times…that they need to eat His flesh and drink His blood.

As a result of their not understanding this curious teaching, the other disciples (not the 12) decide that since they could not understand what Jesus was saying…that it was too hard to understand…they rejected all that Jesus had done up to that point…and they walked away from Him forever.

But what about the 12? They have been a bit of an afterthought in this story up to this point. They heard the same teaching. They heard the same complaints. It would be the height of foolishness for us to believe that they did not have some of the same doubts. So what did they do? After the other disciples leave, Jesus turns to the 12 and asks the most important question:

The story related to us in John chapter 4 is often referred to as the story about the woman at the well. We don’t even know her name despite the fact that Jesus spent an amazing amount of time talking to this one person.

In fact, you would be hard pressed to find another point in the Bible where Jesus spent so much time talking to one specific person, which probably means we need to pay extra attention to this event. And it is an extraordinary event.

John chapter 4 introduces us to the woman in fascinating circumstances. We are told that Jesus and the Disciples are at a well outside of the town of Sychar in Samaria. The location is significant. Because throughout the Gospels, we told over and again of the Jews extreme dislike of the Samaritans.

Time prohibits us from going into detail concerning the genesis of this dislike, but suffice it to say that it was palpable. We see evidence of this in two interesting passages. In John chapter 8, after Jesus made the Pharisees extremely angry, they retorted with the worst accusation they could level. They said to Jesus: “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” () The Pharisees put demon possession and being Samaritan on equal footing.

Also note that in Matthew Chapter 10 when Jesus sent His Disciples out on a short term mission trip, He clearly stated: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans.” This was not an attempt to keep the Gospel from the Samaritans, it was an acknowledgement that even His Disciples were not immune to this disdain of the Samaritan people.

And yet, here in John chapter 4, we see Jesus…sitting alone at a well…with a Samaritan woman. And the first words out of His mouth? The first words of the Redeemer to the one He was about to redeem? The opening salvo of the Messiah to a woman who desperately needed to hear the truth of His Gospel?

In essence… “will you give me a drink of water” (). That’s it. That’s all it took to begin a conversation that would not only reveal salvation to her, but to a multitude of her fellow townspeople once she told them that the Messiah was out by the well.

How did He do this? She obviously came to the well because she was thirsty, but there is more to this story. Traditionally in that part of the world, water was drawn either early in the morning or early in the evening to avoid the brutal heat. It is estimated that the time of this encounter would have been noon.

This is borne out in the fact that there were no other people there with Jesus and this woman. Clearly, she was determined to draw water when there was less of a chance to run into other people. Why would that be the case? Because as the story unfolds, we discover several things about this woman that probably made her a pariah in the town.

When Jesus asks her to go and bring her husband back to the well, the woman answers: “I have no husband.” Jesus responds back that He is well aware of the fact that she has no husband and continues by stating: “The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true” ().

Jesus doesn’t let her slide on her sin. She had had multiple husbands and was, in fact, at that time living with a man who was not her husband. Though that is relatively ignored in our culture today, it bordered on unforgiveable at that time. Hence the reason she came to the well at noon.