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…
“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 3:2 NASB At hand – We conclude our investigation of John the Baptist’s message by noticing the connection between repentance and the Kingdom. For John, repentance does not mean heavenly salvation. Furthermore, it might not even mean personal escape from deserved consequences. The Kingdom is a socio-political entity,…
“He changes a wilderness into a pool of water, and a dry land into springs of water;” Psalm 107:35 NASB Dry land– The answer to a thirsty soul is the action of God. He changes things. I don’t go into His desert and dig a well for myself. In His desert, I cannot survive without His response to…
“My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You. In a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1 NASB Dry land– The Hebrew word ʾereṣ ṣāyôn describes a parched wilderness. That’s exactly the kind of place where David composed this psalm. As he reflected on that arid land, he realized that it was…
For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, Romans 8:3 NASB Weak as it was– God saved you, right? I mean, you couldn’t save yourself, could you? You sinned. Repentance and restitution don’t…
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, Romans 1:1 NASB Gospel– Yesterday we learned that euangélion, the Greek word usually translated “gospel” is the good news of Yeshua’s enthronement. It is not primarily about our personal salvation. Matthew Bates convincingly argues that a “gospel” that focuses on personal rescue and entry…
Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, Romans 1:1 NASB Gospel– “Good News!” That’s the meaning of the Greek euangélion, translated as “gospel.” And it is good news, except that what we usually think this good news is about isn’t really what Paul says, or any of the other biblical writers…
For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, Romans 8:3 NASB Weak as it was– God saved you, right? I mean, you couldn’t save yourself, could you? You sinned. Repentance and restitution don’t…
From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 NASB Kingdom of heaven – Of course Matthew uses “kingdom of heaven.” As an orthodox Jew he would never say “kingdom of God.” If he were a contemporary, he might write “kingdom of G_d,”…
The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” John 1:29 NASB The sin – Juxtapose this verse with Yeshua’s announcement in Luke 4:43, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I am sent…
