Author: Erin Newton

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His Presence, Our Beauty — Readers’ Choice

Readers’ Choice posts are selected by our readers:
Barbara, Tennessee — Wow! Thank you, Erin!

Peter, Los Angeles — Erin’s description of the Tabernacle’s beauty (and the connection she drew to Jesus’ body) is breathtaking.  Thank you so much for elaborating on the rich meaning of God’s meeting place with us!

Michelle, NYC — This is just gorgeous. Intertwining the description of the Tabernacle from Exodus with its vibrant colors to the description of a battered Jesus adorned with those same colors. Wow!!  Incredible juxtaposition that will forever be engraved in my mind now.

From John: We are trying to share more of your voices this year in Readers’ Choice so you may see a few more names at the top of these than usual. I’m thrilled to start off this year with one of Erin’s which is also one of my favorites from the year.  Erin’s work with us has been stellar and this is just one of many examples we’ll share this month. A “behind-the-scenes” note I’ll add is that this piece came after a period of being blocked where Erin felt stuck like she didn’t have anything to write/say at all. It is not always true that great writing comes after being blocked, but sometimes being blocked forces a new kind of creativity and connection with the Word. Regardless of how it came about, I’m thankful for this piece as were many of you.

Scripture Focus: Exodus 26:30, 33-34
30 “Set up the tabernacle according to the plan shown you on the mountain…33 Hang the curtain from the clasps and place the ark of the covenant law behind the curtain. The curtain will separate the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. 34 Put the atonement cover on the ark of the covenant law in the Most Holy Place. 

Originally published on March 15, 2023, based on readings from Exodus 26.

Reflection: His Presence, Our Beauty
By Erin Newton

Amid the desert, the Tabernacle was an oasis of color. Blue, purple, red. Against the dull hues of brown rocks and sandy ground, there would be the shimmer of gold, silver, and bronze. Where God dwelt with his people, there would be beauty.

It’s easy to get lost in the detailed blueprint for the Tabernacle. If we collect all the materials together, it is an array of beauty. There are acacia frames and wooden cross bars. Hooks and clasps in precious metals. Fine linen in jewel-toned colors of a sunset just before the darkness of night.

This is how God chose to be with his people—among the drab backdrop of a desert, he created a vibrant refuge. It is the extraordinary among the ordinary.

God dwelt with his people in the most inhospitable places. In a place without life, God would sustain them with food and water. Day after day after day. All the while, he traveled with them. He guided them. He dwelt with them. The Creator nestled among the created.

As time carried on, the presence of God moved to the permanent Temple. Surrounded by scenes of a garden—it was filled with palm trees and floral designs, cedar walls and golden details, images of the same winged creatures that guarded the entrance to Eden.

Then his presence moved among the people once again. Jesus tabernacled in the fabric of a human body with sunkissed skin of deep brown hues.

Upon the cross, the jewel-toned hues were seen once more. Blue and purple bruises marred his beaten body. Scarlet red blood dripped from his head, hands, feet, and side. His body, disfigured with the vibrant colors of royalty, hung on a cross in the most humble of deaths.

The dark night and shadowed tomb would not hold his presence. As promised, he took up residence in the hearts of every believer. Like the bright golden tongues of fire, the Spirit fell upon the people. He came to dwell again in a lonely place, bringing life and beauty to our souls.

And so, he has remained, in the hearts of every one of us.

He brings life to our mortal bodies. He clothes us in the rich hues of his grace. Among the prism of colors God brings to his people, he clothes us in white—the full intensity of all colors all at once. His presence is our crowning beauty.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Let me hear of your loving-kindness in the morning, for I put my trust in you; show me the road that I must walk, for I lift up my soul to you. — Psalm 143.8

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Judges 15  (Listen 3:13)
Hebrews 2 (Listen 2:47)

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Read more about Of Temples and Gardens
The Tabernacle, Solomon’s Temple, and other biblical Temples mimic and recreate the imagery of Eden’s garden.

Of Temples and Gardens—Readers’ Choice
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The Crowned Thorn

Scripture Focus: Judges 9:15, 19
15 “The thornbush said to the trees, ‘If you really want to anoint me king over you, come and take refuge in my shade; but if not, then let fire come out of the thornbush and consume the cedars of Lebanon!’
19 So have you acted honorably and in good faith toward Jerub-Baal and his family today? If you have, may Abimelek be your joy, and may you be his, too! 

Reflection: The Crowned Thorn
By Erin Newton

Abimelek sought power through his own self-promotion, persuasion, and craftiness. He won the hearts of the people who later raised his authority above the typical judge and crowned him king. He established his slogans, “I am one of you!” “I am better than all of them!”

His immediate use of power was bloodshed. Abimelek slaughtered his opponents and set up a posse of “reckless scoundrels.” He ruled through terror and force. The ordained mark of leadership of previous judges was the presence, voice, and appointment by God. Abimelek was a rogue. He nominated himself and listened only to himself.

By the grace of God, Jotham survived Abimelek’s murderous episode. In a parable, he called the people to consider the leader they had chosen. Abimelek was not an olive tree providing oil for divine worship. He was not a fig tree bringing life-giving food to the community. He was not a vine that bears the grapes that make wine for celebrations. He was a thornbush. There is nothing beneficial to the plant that hurts you when you seek it as refuge.

The succession of authority is often a tenuous event whether the passing of power is on a local or national scale or within municipal or religious communities. People begin to promote themselves seeking to diminish the worthiness of an opponent and create doubt about anyone other than themselves. The story of Abimelek stands as an opportunity to mark the features of a bad leader.

  •  A bad leader creates a self-centered world. There is no room for sympathy, grace, mercy, or compassion unless it is self-serving.
  •  A bad leader welcomes more power. Like Abimelek, the power granted initially is quickly laid aside for more power and prestige.
  •  A bad leader divides the community. Quick to establish an “us vs. them” mentality, bad leaders avoid negotiations.
  •  A bad leader invites violence. If an opponent cannot be silenced through the passing of power, bad leaders will silence all supposed opponents through bloodshed.
  • A bad leader is not a safe harbor for the community. The security offered by the bad leader wounds the community instead.

Jotham’s parable ends with a plea for introspection. Has their appointed leader done good things? Or is their leader guilty and dishonorable? Leaders should be a joy to the community, not a thorn.

Are we appointing leaders of our churches, organizations, or governments that are more like a nettle than a balm?


Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons
For as the heavens are high above the earth, so is his mercy great upon those who fear him. — Psalm 103.11

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Judges 9  (Listen 8:22)
1 Peter 1 (Listen 3:53)

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Generational Blame Game

Scripture Focus: Judges 2.10-11, 18
10 After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the Lord nor what he had done for Israel. 11 Then the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord and served the Baals. 

18 Whenever the Lord raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord relented because of their groaning under those who oppressed and afflicted them. 

Reflection: Generational Blame Game
By Erin Newton

In Judges, timelines are divided by generations and individual judges. Each generation is characterized by their failures and fleeting restoration under a judge’s leadership.

Judges describes this generation as forgetting God and serving the Baals. The description is vague. Forgetfulness has a generic sense that includes a myriad of sinful practices. They could have been entrenched in greed, injustice, sexual abuse, pride, oppression, idolatry, deceitfulness, or malice. The plural use of “Baals” is the author’s catchall phrase to demean any foreign deity. This generation is simply unfaithful.

The repetitive assertion that the next generation begins with failure reads like popular headlines today: “Atheism Doubles Among Generation Z” or “Almost Half of Practicing Christian Millennials Say Evangelism Is Wrong.” Faith is measured by church attendance, participation in religious practices, or involvement in parachurch organizations. When one generation breaks from the norm, it is labeled as a failure.

Today, some pastors dreamily speak of the “greatest generation” and pine for things to be like “they were in the 1950s.” Is this retrospective vision true to reality? Is each generation truly worse than the generation before? Such statements disregard the prevalence of injustices.

Although the failing generations and redemptive judges represent a cyclical storyline in Judges, God remains unchanging. It is not the sins of the people that should attract the spotlight here. The immutability of God shines through the shadows of evil.

God is forever faithful while people are reliably faithless. We will never arrive at a place of pure obedience to God without the snares and traps of our sinful conduct. The tendency to either look back with fondness at prior generations fails to realize the injustices that existed openly among Christians. The tendency to look forward in disgust at the new generation as “more wayward” disregards the unchanging nature of God to save, sanctify, and revitalize the people.

Despite all the failures of the ancient generations, God saved them.

The cycles of Judges, however, reveal that revivals are not permanent. Children cannot rely on the faith of their parents to establish their own faith for tomorrow. We must realize the power of this world will continue to negatively affect each generation.

But God remains as unchanged and faithful as he was five thousand years ago. Despite all our failures, God will save.

Cling to the hope of revival. Trust in God-appointed leaders. Pray and persevere for the restoration of the people.

Divine Hours Prayer: A Reading
Finally, brothers, let your minds be filled with everything that is true, everything that is honorable, everything that is upright and pure, everything that we love and admire—with whatever is good and praiseworthy. Keep doing everything you learned from me and were told by me and have heard or seen me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you. — Philippians 4.8-9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Judges 2  (Listen 3:19)
1 Timothy 3 (Listen 2:10)

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Readers’ Choice 2025

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“Every generation blames the one before…” Old and young scoff at each other’s sufferings, separating into camps of division and bias.

A Generational Lament
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Bold Women, Bold Men

Scripture Focus: Joshua 17:3-4
3 Now Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Makir, the son of Manasseh, had no sons but only daughters, whose names were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milkah and Tirzah. 4 They went to Eleazar the priest, Joshua son of Nun, and the leaders and said, “The Lord commanded Moses to give us an inheritance among our relatives.” So Joshua gave them an inheritance along with the brothers of their father, according to the Lord’s command. 

Reflection: Bold Women, Bold Men
By Erin Newton

Women were uncommon recipients of land inheritance in ancient Israel. The daughters of Zelophehad, however, are rewarded for their boldness. 

Without a brother, the customary practice would deny them receiving a portion of the land. They took a bold step in an unconventional direction. Their request could have easily been denied due to the practices of patriarchy. They asked and Joshua granted them inheritance just as it was given to their uncles.

Carolyn Pressler states, “Inheritance by women is an exception rather than the rule…Nonetheless, female passivity is not idealized.” They are not chastised for this request nor rebuked for having something to which typically only men have rights.

This confrontation contrasts with another group requesting a change in inheritance. The men of Joseph received land as was their custom. But they were numerous and needed more space. 

They asked and Joshua denied their request.

The men were not left without an answer; for Joshua offered other solutions with the resolve that God would help them succeed.  

These two stories describe people who were unsatisfied with their situation. Neither group expressed dissatisfaction in ways that were wrong or sinful. They simply had other expectations that benefited their family and community in greater ways. Both made requests outside of the traditional custom.

The common thread in both scenarios is the glorification of the will of God. The women received inheritance “according to the Lord’s command.” The men were encouraged that their efforts would be just like the battles before—empowered by God. 

Men and women sought a portion of God’s blessing. Men and women were granted a place within the Promised Land. 

For women, this story reveals the importance of being bold. Women are not commanded to settle for the customary practices that place them at a disadvantage simply for being born female. If passivity is not the ideal, boldness can take its place. 

For men, this story reveals the importance of being bold as well. It is a story of boldly asking for more when it would benefit their family and community. The answer demands more faith in the sovereignty of God. 

One group received a quick and simple “yes” and the other, a complicated “maybe but have faith” answer. This text does not overturn the patriarchal tendencies of the Old Testament. It does, however, reveal the unexpected and uncustomary ways in which God indiscriminately blesses his people. 

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
I will call upon God, and the Lord will deliver me.
In the evening, in the morning, and at the noonday, I will complain and lament, and he will hear my voice.
He will bring me safely back… God, who is enthroned of old, will hear me. — Psalm 55.17

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Joshua 16-17 (Listen 5:13)
Ephesians 6 (Listen  3:17)

Read more about Inheritance of Rachel’s Daughters
Leah and Rachel show us the spectrum of marriage at that time. Rachel represents a fairytale…Leah reveals an ugly reality.

Inheritance of Rachel’s Daughters — Readers’ Choice

Read more about Trust and Pursue God’s Promises
Fully trusting in God’s promises gives us the hope, strength, and courage to pursue those promises.

Trust and Pursue God’s Promises
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Trouble and Hope

Scripture Focus: Joshua 7.25-26
25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.”

Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.

Hosea 2.14-15
14 “Therefore I am now going to allure her;
    I will lead her into the wilderness
    and speak tenderly to her.
15 There I will give her back her vineyards,
    and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope.
There she will respond as in the days of her youth,
    as in the day she came up out of Egypt.

Reflection: Trouble and Hope
By Erin Newton

The memorial stones marking Achan’s death were called “The Valley of Achor” or fully translated, “The Valley of Trouble.” The name was fitting. Trouble came to Israel through Achan. One man’s sin caused the downfall of the community.

Joshua describes Achan’s sin as coveting and stealing. After Jericho, he took items destined to be devoted to God. Implied sins include pride and deceit. It was pride that led Achan to assume authority over what belonged to God. It was deceitfulness that caused Achan to avoid confessing until the very end.

Now just a pile of stones, thrown by the betrayed community and commanded by the betrayed God, Achan’s memorial would serve as a warning to Israel. The justice of God was not something to be overlooked. The warnings about disobedience were important.

God as a wrathful, vengeful deity is a typical assumption when reading the Old Testament. Some people reduce the testaments to the opposing picture of God: wrath in the Old, mercy in the New. This conclusion, however, neglects the fuller picture of God from Genesis to Malachi.

In Joshua, one sinful man is led into the wilderness as punishment. In Hosea, God leads the sinful people into the wilderness as a pathway of hope. The Valley of Achor reveals a more comprehensive view of God’s character: justice and mercy. Two sides of the same God.

Faced with this complex tension of two opposing characteristics, we tend to downplay one for the sake of the other. Our minds struggle to grasp how God can be completely just and completely merciful. It is a dichotomy we will never fully grasp.

How does trouble turn into hope? How does the punishment of disobedience become a beacon of mercy in the wilderness?

Justice and mercy converged on the cross. Like the punishment heaped upon Achan, the weight of our guilt was cast upon the body of Christ. But this monument of justice suddenly becomes a crimson beacon of hope. The justice required after the first Adam is covered by the mercy of the second Adam.

Whereby one man’s sin caused the downfall of humanity, the one Son of God caused the redemption of all creation.

We are not so different from Achan. Our sin would have us trudge into the wilderness to endure justice. But we are also like Israel, we are lured into the wilderness with a promise of restoration and mercy.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm
Seven times a day do I praise you, because of your righteous judgments.
Great peace have they who love your law: for them there is no stumbling block. — Psalm 119.165

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Joshua 7 (Listen 4:58)
Colossians 4 (Listen  2:21)

Read more about Distrust of God and Fraud
It is the unbelief and contempt of heaven, which make men risk it for the poor commodities of this world.

Distrust of God and Fraud :: Throwback Thursday

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