Rent or Own

Heaven and earth shall praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them.  For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, so that they may live there and possess it.  The descendants of His servants will inherit it, and those who love His name will live in it.  Psalm 69:34-36  NASB Live there and possess it –…

Lord of the Flies

And I will make mere boys their leaders, and mischievous children will rule over them, and the people will be oppressed, each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; the youth will assault the elder, and the contemptible person will assault the one honored.  Isaiah 3:4-5  NASB Youth/ contemptible – These two verses in Isaiah could have been the inspiration for…

Mileage Maker

But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; nor are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants shall be named.” Romans 9:6-7 NASB Not all Israel – Daniel Boyarin’s study of the invention of heresy as a way to establish religious…

Where is Israel?

The men of Reuben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over, ready for battle, in front of the Israelites, as Moses had directed them.  Joshua 4:12 NIV Crossed over – The auspicious day has arrived.  The tribes are about to conquer the Promised Land.  God has given them territories to occupy.  Soon the nation of Israel will…

What Do We Do Now?

In 2021 Bob Gorelik and I will join Yoav Bruck for a tour of Israel.  It will be a wonderful reunion.  Thinking about it reminded me of something I wrote some years ago on my first trip to the Holy Land   Thoughts about being a naturalized citizen of the Kingdom Today Israel simmers in…

The Great Timeline

The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.  Psalm 121:8  NASB And forever – We reach the end of this short poem.  The end is “forever,” an appropriate place to close our thoughts about God’s care.  According to the poet, God is constantly watching over us (the metaphor…

Group Policy

Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  Psalm 121:4  NASB Keeps Israel – God watches over Israel.  That’s basically the story of the Bible.  The Bible is “God’s anthropology” (Heschel) where God’s dealing with anthropos (men) is narrated from the perspective of God’s interaction with Israel.  That includes outreach to the nations,…

Tribal History

Now these are the names of the sons of Israel who came to Egypt with Jacob; they came each one with his household:  Exodus 1:1  NASB Came to Egypt – What does the history of Jacob’s family mean to you?  Is it a story of a tribe from the ancient past that eventually became the Jewish…

The Sequel

Now the eyes of Israel were dim with age, so that he could not see.  Genesis 48:10  NASB Dim– Ah, do you remember the first part of this story?  Perhaps I can refresh your thinking.  “When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see,” (Genesis 27:1 ESV).  As always, Hebrew connects one…

The Last Word on the Matter

So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Romans 7:12 NASB Holy– I wonder how long it will take before Christianity recognizes that its caricature of the Jewish Torah is a gross error. Oh, I can probably answer that. Forever!  Why?  Because the existence of Christianity depends on an implicit anti-Semitism. Lloyd Gaston made…