Here We Go Again


Download (right click and choose save as)

Repetition is something we see a lot of in the Bible. Joseph had duplicate dreams with the same meaning. Pharaoh did too. Jesus told the parable of the lost coin and the lost sheep and the lost prodigal son all in a row to communicate the same, singular truth. On two separate occasions two different women washed Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume. On two separate occasions Jesus fed large crowds with just a little bit of food. We have the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John all telling the same basic story. Paul’s conversion to Christianity is described for us in Acts 9 and then again in much the same detail in Acts 22. Often the Bible quotes itself repeating the same exact phrases over and over again. 250 times the Old Testament is quoted in the new. The great themes and lessons of the Bible are revisited and reinforced in lots of different stories and scriptures, but all making the same basic points. And it’s not just good examples and instruction that are repeated. We also see cautionary tales and patterns of sin repeat in the lives of the people profiled in the Bible. Think of Samson’s lady troubles. Peter infamously denied Jesus three times, and then in Galatians 2 we are told that because he feared some men who had come from Jerusalem he denied any association with the Galatian Christians. The book of Judges is a merry go round of repetition as Israel descends into sin and idolatry only to be saved and rescued by a gracious God, but once delivered they go right back to it, and Round and round we go. And on two separate occasions, in Genesis 12 and 20, Abraham lied telling kings that Sarah was his sister rather than his wife.