What’s Your Excuse?

So their children whom He raised up in their place, Joshua circumcised; for they were uncircumcised, because they had not circumcised them along the way.  Joshua 5:7  NASB They had not circumcised them – Who did (or didn’t) do what to whom?  Careful.  It’s a bit more complicated than it looks.  In this story, Joshua…

Gardening (Rewind)

“For your guilt teaches your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.”  Job 15:5  NASB Crafty– “Naked I came into the world” is another way to say that when I arrived I didn’t have a hidden agenda.  That’s what we learn from the phonetically similar Hebrew word ʿārôm in Genesis 2:25. Adam and Havvah were…

What Didn’t Matter Before (Rewind)

The sins which pass unnoticed beset a man on the Day of Judgment. Avodah Zarah 18a Unnoticed – “Hypocrisy and rationalization transform the tokens of religious life from sources of grandeur to sources of shame.”[1] Stone goes on to suggest that worshipping God in a state of “uncleanness” is worse than not worshipping Him at…

God’s Authority – Rewind

According to the terms of the law which they teach you, and according to the verdict which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left. Deuteronomy 17:11 NASB Turn aside – It all comes down to choosing whom…

What Didn’t Matter Before

The sins which pass unnoticed beset a man on the Day of Judgment. Avodah Zarah 18a Unnoticed – “Hypocrisy and rationalization transform the tokens of religious life from sources of grandeur to sources of shame.”[1] Stone goes on to suggest that worshipping God in a state of “uncleanness” is worse than not worshipping Him at…

The Abuse of Power

Nathan then said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 2 Samuel 12:7 NASB “You are the man” – What has God given you that you have abused?…

Gardening

“For your guilt teaches your mouth, and you choose the language of the crafty.” Job 15:5 NASB Crafty – “Naked I came into the world” is another way to say that when I arrived I didn’t have a hidden agenda. That’s what we learn from the phonetically similar Hebrew word arom in Genesis 2:25. Adam…

God’s Authority

According to the terms of the law which they teach you, and according to the verdict which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left.  Deuteronomy 17:11 NASB Turn aside – It all comes down to choosing whom…

Four By Four

“Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  Was it not told to you from the beginning?  Did you not discern from the foundations of the earth?” Isaiah 40:21 Have You Not – Four repetitions of the same negation, ha-lo, the combination of a pronoun and the negative adverb, lo.  Hebrew has two negatives, lo…