Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Isaiah 5:20 NASB Woe to those – hoy ha ‘omerim. “Woe to those who call.” Isaiah’s pronouncement pushes us back to Genesis. And it’s not just Havvah who stands before…
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18 NASB Not good – God looked at His own work and decided it wasn’t good enough. Don’t you find that a bit surprising? Doesn’t God create perfectly? But here we have evidence…
And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28 NASB Causes – “God is the God of the entire cosmos; God has to do with every creature, and every creature has to do with God, whether they recognize it…
Ransom me from human oppression, that I may observe Your statutes. Psalm 119:134 (Robert Alter translation) Human Oppression – What is human oppression? The Hebrew is ‘oseq ‘adam. We easily recognize the second common noun, ‘adam, but what about the first, ‘oseq? Don’t spiritualize this. The word is “concerned with acts of abuse of power…
“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, . . .” Luke 6:27 NASB Do good – If you read this passage only in its Greek translation, you might conclude that doing good is essentially about benefiting the other. The Greek kalos is about what is…
and God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:12 ESV (and others) That it was – Familiarity is the enemy of investigation. How many times have you read this phrase? How many times have you recalled the Genesis story and considered the goodness of God’s actions? And how many of those times have you noticed…
O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for His lovingkindness is everlasting. 1 Chronicles 16:34 NASB Good – Let’s read this verse in its literal Hebrew order. Hodu laYHVH ki tov ki leolam hasdo. Literally, “Thanks to YHVH for good for forever hesed his” (the pronoun is attached to the word). You…
This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. John 3:19 NASB Evil – When you read this verse in John’s account, what comes to mind? Do you see a great cosmic battle between good and evil? Do…
One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple. Psalm 27:4 NASB One thing – Asaph makes it clear that being in the…
unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good, 2 Timothy 3:3 NASB Haters of good – What is the good news? Oh, did you think it was, “God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life?” Or perhaps you thought it was, “Jesus died to forgive my sins.” Think again. The…
