And I went back and saw all the oppression that is done under the sun: the tears of the oppressed who have none to console them, and from the hand of their violent oppressors there is none to console them. And I praised the dead, who have already died, more than the living, who are…
He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. Revelation 22:20 NASB Come – Are you expectantly waiting for the ‘olam ha’ba? You know, the return of the King, the new Millennium, the restoration of God’s purposes. Oh, and don’t forget, the end of all your troubles. Heschel noted that the Christian religion…
God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28 NASB Rule over – One of the reasons Christianity…
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5 NASB Shall love – How are we supposed to express our love toward God? You will notice that I did not ask, “How are we supposed to express our love for God?” That is the…
The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from [a]joy over it he goes and sells everything that he has, and buys that field. Matthew 13:44 NASB Hidden in a field – Stop reading this parable as if it were about some ethereal spiritual realm far removed from…
“‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21:4 NIV No more death – Are you afraid to die? Before you answer with the “hoped-for next world eternal existence of the soul” paradigm, remember that dying…
we are of good courage, I say, and prefer rather to be absent from the body and to be at home with the Lord. 2 Corinthians 5:8 NASB 1995 Absent – “The fantasy of escape from the struggle of existence must be deeply addressed if one is to find the vital center of one’s being.”[1] “I just…
and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away. Revelation 21:4 NASB Death – What do we do to blunt the reality of dying? The answer isn’t quite so straightforward as you might imagine. Since death…
But God will redeem my soul from the power of Sheol, for He will receive me. Selah Psalm 49:15 NASB Receive – If the Tanakh really doesn’t have a clear concept of Heaven, then what can this verse mean? Doesn’t it imply that there is redemption from Sheol? Doesn’t it suggest that God “saves” us from the eternity…
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 1 Peter 1:3 NASB Born again – What was the name of the movie where the newscaster stands in the window of…
