Paradigm Perplexities (2)

“If you consent and obey, you will eat the best of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.”  Isaiah 1:19  NASB Consent and obey – We love Isaiah 1:18, especially when we think it endorses rational debate.  But I doubt many of us realize that this next…

The Road to Recovery

Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstance I am. Philippians 4:11  NASB To be content – Are you self-sufficient?  Before your spiritual radar goes crazy and you immediately deny any such terrible thoughts, take a deep breath.  We have been trained to think of self-sufficiency as…

Eden Revisited

And you shall eat and be satisfied, and shall bless YHWH your Elohim for the good land which He has given you.  . . . [less] that then your heart becomes lifted up, and you forget YHWH your Elohim who brought you out of the land of Mitsrayim, from the house of bondage, Deuteronomy 8:10,…

Contextual Issues

Not that I speak from want; for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. Philippians 4:11 Content – Most Christians have spiritualized this verse.  We read this as if it were about an inner state of equilibrium of the soul.  Because we think of Paul’s statement as a declaration of spiritual…

Counting to One

For the whole law is fulfilled in this one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Galatians 5:14 One Word – What’s the matter with Paul’s arithmetic?  This isn’t one word.  It’s a whole bunch of words, an entire commandment.  Why does Paul say that the whole law is fulfilled in this one word?…