The Wonderful Plan (2)

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8  NASB Tradition – “It is tragically true that we are often wrong about God, believing in that which is not God, in…

The Wonderful Plan (1)

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8  NASB Tradition – About half a century ago this verse was one of the standards I used to evangelize those poor souls…

Unemployed

Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9  NASB Where – Man was created to be useful.  In fact, he was assigned an indispensable role on the earth—to steward it on God’s behalf.  “Then the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to cultivate it…

The Voice

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.  Genesis 3:8  NASB The sound – You’ll remember Avivah Kushner’s brilliant exegesis of this unusual verse (CLICK HERE).  She points out that…

The One and Only

Then the Lord passed by in front of him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and  truth;”   Exodus 34:6  NASB Compassionate – Exodus 34:6-7 is God’s personally endorsed self-description.  As such, it is vitally important, perhaps one of the most important parts of the entire Bible.  If you want to…

Unbelieving Faith

“Behold, as for the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will live by his faith.”  Habakkuk 2:4 NASB Faith – Years ago we spent a lot of time examining this critical verse from Habakkuk, cited by Paul as the summary of the letter to the Romans (if you want to review, try…

Magic Trick

The second is like it, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Matthew 22:39  NASB Is like it – Why does Yeshua say that the commandment to love your neighbor is hómoios aute (like it)?  How can any other commandment be like the first one: to love God will all your heart, mind, and strength? …

Muted

The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart.   Genesis 6:6  NASB Was sorry – Forget the discussion of anthropomorphism.  Forget the theological back peddling of analogous attribution.  Instead of worrying about the doctrinal issues, pay attention of the spiritual concern in this verse.  God is grieved about…

In His Image

“To whom then will you liken Me that I would be his equal?” says the Holy One.  Isaiah 40:25  NASB Will you liken – When we use a verb like dāmâ (to be like, to resemble) with God, we usually form the question in this way:  “What is God like?”  But you can instantly recognize that this…

Summary

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:1 NASB In the beginning – “The fundamental thought in the Bible is not creation, but God’s care for His creation.”[1]  With that in mind, here are some studies of Genesis 1:1 during the last ten years, from newest to oldest, just in case you want…