Gilbert House Fellowship

Gilbert House Fellowship episodes:

• 04.21.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #409: Proverbs 2–3

  WE RETURN to our regularly scheduled reading this week with proverbs that are paternal calls for wisdom—and a warning against communing with spirits of the dead. Contrary to some who seen in these chapters a female deity named Wisdom, perhaps even...

  
• 04.14.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #408: Zech. 12:1–10; Jer. 25:17–31

  IRAN ATTACKED ISRAEL late last night, the first time the Islamic Republic has struck at Israel directly. The sight of missiles over the Temple Mount is startling, evoking images of the end times. We discuss the events of the last 24...

  
• 03.10.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #407: Song of Solomon 6–8; Proverbs 1

  IT’S APPARENT why the Song of Solomon is not often preached in church. It is a beautiful and poetic description of the love and desire felt by a husband and wife, but the euphemisms that describe physical intimacy between Solomon can...

  
• 03.03.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #406: Song of Solomon 1–5

  THE SONG OF SOLOMON has layers of meaning. On the surface, it’s a beautiful depiction of the intimate relationship between a husband and wife. At a deeper level, it’s a picture of the mutual love between Christ and his church. We...

  
• 02.25.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #405: 2 Chronicles 1; Psalm 72

  SOLOMON’S PRAYER for wisdom pleased God, who honored Solomon’s wish and granted him more besides. 2 Chronicles picks up the story of Solomon from the beginning of his reign around 971 BC. At this time, the tabernacle of Moses was still...

  
• 02.18.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #404: 1 Kings 3–4

  SOLOMON BEGAN his reign with a prayer for wisdom, a prayer that was answered by God in a dream. We discuss some of the interesting differences in the Septuagint and the Masoretic Hebrew text, which is the basis for our English...

  
• 02.11.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #402: Psalm 119 (Part 1)

  WE OFTEN WISH that God would show us the road we’ll travel for the rest of our lives. That’s not the sense of His promise in Psalm 119:105. The Hebrew word translated “lamp,” ner, is a small clay lamp with a...

  
• 02.04.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #402: Psalm 119 (Part 1)

  PSALM 119 is sometimes called the Mount Everest of psalms. Not only is it long, its length is due to its unique construction: It’s an extended alphabet acrostic divided into 22 stanzas, one for each of the letters of the Hebrew...

  
• 01.28.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #401: Psalms 37, 71, 94

  It’s tempting, when looking at the state of the world, to conclude that God has abandoned us to the wolves—evildoers who think nothing of enriching themselves at the expense of everyone else. The psalms in this week’s study are a reminder...

  
• 01.21.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #400: 1 Kings 1–2

  The succession of Solomon to the throne of David wasn’t secure even through the final days of the old king’s life. Like his brother Absalom before him, Adonijah declared himself king over Israel before the death of David. The difference is...

  
• 01.14.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #399: Psalms 114–118

  PRAISE AND THANKSGIVING is at the heart of this week’s collection of psalms. From the awesome power of God and His mastery over the sea to His protection during times of distress, our God’s chesed, translated “steadfast love,” “loyal love,” “lovingkindness,”...

  
• 01.07.2024

  Gilbert House Fellowship #398: 1 Chronicles 29; Psalms 127, 111–113

  THE AMOUNT of precious metal used in the construction of the Temple is astonishing. The gold and silver donated by King David and the leading men of Israel would be valued today at roughly $20 billion! David alone contributed about $7.5...

  
• 12.10.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #397: 1 Chronicles 26–28

  DAVID PREPARED the way for his son, Solomon, to take the throne and build the Temple. As we’ll see in the months ahead, our best laid plans don’t guarantee a smooth, trouble-free life. This week, we read through the divisions of...

  
• 12.03.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #396: Psalms 131, 138–139, 143–145

  DAVID EXPERIENCED more during his life than a Hollywood action movie character. It’s remarkable that despite his accomplishments, David recognized that his success was entirely due to God. This week, we study a half-dozen psalms written toward the end of David’s...

  
• 11.19.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #395: 1 Chronicles 23–25

  IMAGINE AN ORCHESTRA of 4,000 musicians playing hymns of thanksgiving and praise! That’s what David envisioned when he organized service for the temple that would be built. This week, we read through the detailed description of the plans made by David...

  
• 11.12.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #394: Psalms 30, 108–110

  DAVID SAW into the throne room of God—a vision used by Jesus himself to reveal his divinity. Psalm 110:1 reads: [Yahweh] says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.” Jesus used this verse to teach...

  
• 11.05.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #393: 2 Samuel 24; 1 Chronicles 21–22

  A PLAGUE that spread through the kingdom of David led to the consecration of a 35-acre piece of ground that is fought over to this day. This week, we discuss the sin of David in ordering a census of his kingdom....

  
• 10.22.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #392: Zechariah 12:1–10

  A DAY is coming when Jerusalem becomes “a cup of staggering to all the surrounding peoples.” This is a prophecy of the Day of the Lord, or the Day of Yahweh, which culminates at Armageddon. Zechariah saw the coming of Messiah,...

  
• 10.15.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #391: Joshua 11:21–22; Zephaniah 1:1–6, 2:1–7

  THE CONFLICT between Israel and Hamas continues with a ground assault of Gaza apparently imminent. We continue our review of scriptures that appear to prophesy a coming destruction of the territory around Gaza that was Philistine from the time of the...

  
• 10.08.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #390: Amos 1; Zephaniah 2

  YOU KNOW by now that Israel was surprised by an attack from Gaza Saturday morning, which was essentially the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Yom Kippur War. We set aside our scheduled reading for today to discuss the events in Israel,...

  
• 10.01.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #389: Psalms 95, 97–99

  ONE OF THE JOYS of Bible study is discovering layers of meaning that you’d missed on your first reading. This week, we run into another instance of the English phrase “worthless idols” (Ps. 97:7b). We think the context indicates that the...

  
• 09.17.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #388: 2 Samuel 23; Psalm 57

  GIVING THANKS in the middle of trouble is difficult, even contrary to our nature. But David did it again and again, even when he was surrounded by enemies—not all of which were human. This week, we discuss a preview of the...

  
• 09.10.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #387: Psalms 5, 38, 41–42

  DAVID WAS not perfect, but he recognized his failures. More importantly, he acknowledged that God was the source of his salvation—his yeshua. This week, we study four psalms dated to the last part of David’s life. This followed the rebellion and...

  
• 08.27.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #386: 2 Samuel 22

  THIS WEEK’S STUDY is a song of deliverance that follows the account of David’s final victory over the Philistine “sons of the Rapha.” 2 Samuel 22 is nearly identical to Psalm 18, which we studied immediately after the account of Saul’s...

  
• 08.20.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #385: 2 Samuel 21

  THE BELIEF that the Philistines were giants (or had giants among them) with six fingers and toes on their hands and feet comes from 2 Samuel 21. That’s not necessarily what those verses mean. As we discussed in our study of...

  
• 08.06.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #384: 2 Samuel 19–20

  THE POLITICS of David’s day was just brutal and bloody as it is today. Following the rebellion of Absalom, the people of Israel conclude that their best option is to welcome David home as king. For his part, David tried to...

  
• 07.23.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #383: Psalms 26, 40, 58, 61–62, 64

  DAVID’S CAPACITY for self-examination is remarkable. Many powerful people throughout history found it difficult, if not impossible, to admit flaws and learn from mistakes. However, David also understood the influence of spirits in the unseen realm on human activity, condemning the...

  
• 07.16.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #382: Psalms 3–4, 12–13, 28, 55

  ONE OF THE hardest things you can do is give thanks to God in the middle of trouble. This week, we read a collection of psalms composed by David while he was running from his son Absalom, who’d raised an army...

  
• 07.09.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #381: 2 Samuel 16–18

  DAVID WAS NOT a good father. That’s obvious from the way his own children treated each other—and him. Sometimes, kids turn out badly despite their parents’ best efforts, but David seems to have been unable to discipline his sons. Amnon, his...

  
• 06.25.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #380: 2 Samuel 14–15

  TALK ABOUT ingratitude: David’s son Absalom, who’d fled to his grandfather’s kingdom of Geshur, returned to Jerusalem after a two-year exile and apparently began scheming to remove David from the throne as soon as he came home. We discuss the ploy...

  
• 06.18.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #379: Psalms 32, 51, 86, 122; 2 Sam. 13

  THE PSALMS this week follow our chronological reading order, meaning they were written by David after he was confronted by the prophet Nathan for conspiring to kill Uriah the Hittite so that David could take his wife, Bathsheba. We discuss the...

  
• 06.04.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #378: 2 Samuel 11–12; 1 Chronicles 20

  DAVID’S PLOY to take the wife of Uriah the Hittite is another story that shows that the Bible has not been cleaned up to make the humans used by God look more, well, saintly. Bathsheba, whose name probably derives from Hurrian...

  
• 05.21.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #377: Psalms 60, 75, 65–67, 69–70

  THE TONE of this week’s psalms seems odd given the military victories of David that we studied last week. This is why we use a chronological reading order: We see in this week’s readings that David, despite his success on the...

  
• 05.14.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #376: 2 Sam. 10; 1 Chr. 19; Psalms 20, 50, 53

  DAVID’S KINGDOM faced a strong test from his neighbors to the east and north as a coalition of Ammonites and Arameans tried to take down the new Israelite kingdom. We discuss the nearly identical accounts in 2 Samuel and 1 Chronicles...

  
• 05.07.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #375: 2 Samuel 8–9; 1 Chronicles 18

  DAVID’S KINGDOM expanded outward in all directions, possibly reaching as far as the Euphrates in northern Syria. This week, we read the records of David’s wars against the Arameans of Damascus and Zobah to the north, the small kingdoms east of...

  
• 04.30.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #374: 1 Chr. 17; Psalms 25, 29, 33, 36, 39

  A SUPERNATURAL worldview was perfectly natural to King David. It’s clear from his psalms that he had a better understanding of the unseen realm. After recapitulating the prayer of David from last week’s reading of 2 Samuel 7, we discuss references...

  
• 04.23.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #373: 2 Samuel 6–7

  DAVID WAS not a perfect man by any measure, but if we draw anything from this week’s study it should be his example of humility when he realized that he’d become a little too full of himself. The narrative is another...

  
• 03.12.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #372: Psalms 89, 96

  DAVID KNEW that God had a divine council comprised of supernatural beings. We see more confirmation of that in this week’s study. Psalm 89 mentions the “holy ones” (Hebrew qedoshim) and “heavenly beings” (bene elim, literally “sons of God”) who are...

  
• 03.05.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #371: Psalms 24, 47, 68

  THERE IS MORE spiritual warfare in the psalms than we realize! This week, we study three of David’s psalms that have more going on under the hood than is obvious at first read. Psalm 24 praises God for founding the earth...

  
• 02.26.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #370: Psalms 22–23

  THE PSALMS OF DAVID are often prophetic. We know this. But we often overlook just how supernatural they are. This week, we focus on two of the most profound and stunning psalms in the Bible. Psalm 22 begins with a line...

  
• 02.19.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #369: 1 Chronicles 16; Psalms 1, 2, 15

  READING THE HEADLINES each day can cause anxiety, depression, and frustration at the plots and schemes of those who apparently feel qualified, if not entitled, to tell the rest of us how we should live. When the news is getting to...

  
• 02.12.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #368: Psalm 107; 1 Chronicles 13–15

  GOD IS enthroned above the cherubim on the Ark of the Covenant. Failure to treat the ark with proper respect, according to the Law, cost a teamster his life. This week, we discuss the move of the ark to Jerusalem and...

  
• 02.08.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #367: 1 Chronicles 11–12; Psalms 133, 106

  DAVID ASCENDS to the throne in Jerusalem, and we recount the history of Israel, including some startling examples of warfare in the unseen realm, in the psalms accompanying our study this week. First, we discuss the Jebusites and the city of...

  
• 01.29.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #366: Psalms 103–104; 2 Samuel 5

  DAVID’S FRAME OF MIND was apparently much better by the time he wrote these psalms, which are dated to about the time he was anointed king over all Israel. That took place at Hebron, but shortly thereafter he marched against the...

  
• 01.29.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #365: 1 Chronicles 7–10; Psalm 102

  Genealogy was important in ancient Israel. It was how the Israelites kept track of the heads of the tribes and who was eligible for service in the Temple. It also debunks the idea that the tribes of the northern kingdom were...

  
• 01.15.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #364: 1 Chronicles 6; Psalms 81, 88, 92–93

  Our ancestors 3,000 years ago dealt with the same pressures and problems we face today. This week, after reading the Chronicler’s list of the descendants of Levi, we study four psalms that illustrate the frustration of God that His people do...

  
• 01.15.2023

  Gilbert House Fellowship #363: Psalms 73, 77, 78

  Remembering where we came from is the theme of this week’s study, three psalms of Asaph, a contemporary of David, that lament the trials of the faithful in contrast to the apparent success of the wicked. Although the unrighteous appear to...

  
• 12.18.2022

  Gilbert House Fellowship #362: 1 Chronicles 3–5

  GENEALOGY WAS important to the Israelites. It was the basis for determining who was eligible to serve in the Temple and who was worthy to sit on the throne. This week, we study the descendants of David, emphasizing his role as...

  
• 12.11.2022

  Gilbert House Fellowship #361: Psalms 43–45, 49, 84–85, 87

  THE SONS OF KORAH were responsible for baking and gatekeeping in the Temple. They were also singers, and this week’s readings appears to be songs of lament and hymns of praise and joy. Psalm 43 is interesting in that it was...

  
• 12.04.2022

  Gilbert House Fellowship #360: 1 Chronicles 1–2

  GENEALOGY IS IMPORTANT in the Bible. It not only establishes Jesus as the descendant of David, and thus the rightful king, it also shows that he was fully human during his time on Earth. This week, we discuss the genealogies at...