“Did he not fear the LORD and entreat the favor of the LORD, and the LORD changed His mind about the misfortune which He had pronounced against them?” Jeremiah 26:19 Entreat– What does it mean to entreat someone? Even in English we have a difficult time expressing this thought succinctly. Certainly the concept involves a gesture of respect,…
No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him— Psalm 49:7 NASB No man – One of the ideas about atonement was formulated at the time of the Reformation. It’s call the Penal Theory of Atonement. Basically, it asserts that Yeshua’s death paid the price required by God for our salvation.[1] Whether or…
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; John 14:16 NASB Another Helper– Shall we make an attempt to understand this verse in the context of orthodox Galilean Jewish living in the first century? Or shall we just accept the usual Christian doctrinal rendition? Is…
Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. Genesis 33:18 NASB Safely – In Hebrew there are really only two verb tenses; complete actions and incomplete actions. That’s because Hebrew sees the world with a completely different framework than…
Sometimes small is quite spectacular
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it.” Genesis 28:16 NASB I did not know it – lo yada’etti. But how could he not know? Isn’t God everywhere? How could Jacob think for a moment that God wasn’t in the place where he…
While visiting my two youngest children in Washington state, we decided to go to Sunrise Point in Mt. Rainer National Park. After two hours drive we came to the famous viewpoint. Well, not exactly. You can never tell what is going to happen on a mountain 14,000 feet high. So I thought you would enjoy…
Now Jacob came safely to the city of Shechem, which is in the land of Canaan, when he came from Paddan-aram, and camped before the city. Genesis 33:18 NASB Safely– Jonathan Sacks translates this passage as, “And Jacob emerged complete.” He points out that Jacob no longer wanted or needed the blessing that Isaac intended for…
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3 NASB Blessed are – Perhaps you’ve read my book, The Lucky Life. If you haven’t, I forgive you. But you should. Because you will discover that Yeshua didn’t teach these lessons in Greek. Yes, of course, they have been transmitted to us in Greek, but…
Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:20 NASB Mother of all the living– Previous investigation of the crucial story (see Guardian Angel) helped us see that the name given to the woman by Adam was certainly not uplifting. In fact, there are reasons to believe that…
