For the sake of Jacob My servant, and Israel My chosen one, I have also called you by your name; I have given you a title of honor though you have not known Me. I am the Lord, and there is no one else; there is no God except Me. I will arm you, though you have not known Me, Isaiah 45:4-5 NASB Not known Me – Cyrus…
“When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace. And if it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and serve you.” Deuteronomy 20:10-11 NASB Terms of peace – As we discovered in the examination…
that they met together with one purpose, to fight with Joshua and with Israel. Joshua 9:2 NASB Together/ One – I have often been perplexed at modern Israel’s behavior toward terrorism. As you undoubtedly know, today’s nation of Israel is confronted by the daily threat, if not the action, of terrorist attacks, yet when these terrorists…
“Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’” Jeremiah 22:8-9 NASB Bowed down – After hundreds of years of divine mercy, Isreal finally learned the lesson of idolatry. It…
But if you will not obey these words, I swear by Myself, “declares the Lord, ‘that this house will become a place of ruins.”’ Jeremiah 22:5 NASB Place of ruins – We examined the contingent prophecy of verse 3. God asked those in authority to reverse their course, to embrace the social responsibilities of Torah, and to fulfill their ultimate…
This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. Jeremiah 22:3 NIV No wrong or violence – Do not mistreat (yānâ). Do not…
This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. Jeremiah 22:3 NIV Rescue – Rescue: “to save someone or something from a dangerous or distressing…
This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place. Jeremiah 22:3 NIV Just and right – mišpāṭ and ṣĕdāqâ. We know both these concepts. The first, mišpāṭ, isn’t just about…
Comments on Forgiveness In an article titled “Evil and Forgiveness,” Rabbi Jonathan Sacks cites Hannah Arendt’s insight into the absolute necessity of forgiveness. I offer these citations today, in a world where forgiveness seems an antiquated idea, where past sins are hauled before the public in order to force submission through humiliation, where the politics…
Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper [p]suitable for him.” Genesis 2:18 NASB Not good – God’s words, lōʾ ṭôb, are an amazing assessment of the human condition. According to the first chapter of Genesis, everything was good. In fact, more than good. Very good. Blessed. Exactly as intended. But less than 17 verses later, after…
