There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— Ecclesiastes 3:1 NASB Time – How difficult it is for us to not read this verse (and the following elaboration) as if it is about dates on the calendar! The addition of just a few extra words pushes…
There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven— Ecclesiastes 3:1 NASB Time – Do you remember how Moses Luzzatto defined mercy? Mercy is God giving us more time. Mercy is delay of judgment. Mercy is God waking us up the next morning and saying, “OK, now…
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8 NASB Work and “Work” – “The biblical story of mankind begins with the command, ‘Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.’ Work is more than labour. Biblical Hebrew has two words to express the difference: melakhah is work as creation, avodah is…
Funny thing about a razor. No matter which way you move it, it cuts. That’s the way I am feeling about the wonderful discussion concerning activities prohibited on Shabbat. Now that Shabbat is over (for me), I thought I would write a few of my own thoughts (and spill a bit more blood). Today, while…
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8 NASB To keep holy – Pay close attention to the verse. Notice that the act of remembering has a purpose. That purpose is leqaddesho, “to keep holy.” We remember in order to sanctify. That’s not our usual thinking about Shabbat. We often think that Shabbat…
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8 NASB To keep it – Let’s talk about the Sabbath. Again and again the question comes up, “Am I allowed to do ________ on the Sabbath?” You fill in the blank. Of course, what you will fill in is not something specifically prohibited. Those actions…
Went for a walk in a garden today. Needed some time away from the computer to enjoy the real world of creation.
He said, “Hagar, Sarai’s maid, where have you come from and where are you going?” And she said, “I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai.” Genesis 16:8 NASB Where – So, where are you going? Perhaps this is the most important question anyone will ever ask of you, if you understand the…
I have seen that every labor and every skill which is done is the result of rivalry between a man and his neighbor. This too is vanity and striving after wind. Ecclesiastes 4:4 NASB Every – One of the claims of some religious systems is that only those actions taken “in the Spirit” and only…
For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Romans 7:18 NASB In my flesh – It’s true, isn’t it? We know what the right thing to do is, but we do the wrong thing…
