Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:4 NASB Keeps Israel – God watches over Israel. That’s basically the story of the Bible. The Bible is “God’s anthropology” (Heschel) where God’s dealing with anthropos (men) is narrated from the perspective of God’s interaction with Israel. That includes outreach to the nations,…
He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber. Psalm 121:3 NASB Will not allow – Wouldn’t it be nice if the Psalmist’s claim were true? Wouldn’t it be marvelous if God really did this: not allowing our feet to slip? Oh, maybe you thought this only applied to the Messiah. …
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2 NASB Who made – Yesterday we discovered that God’s sovereign choice to create anything at all implies His ultimate concern and involvement with creation, and as such, creation is the continual unfolding of the purposes…
He has sent redemption to His people; He has ordained His covenant forever; Holy and awesome is His name. Psalm 111:9 NASB Forever – How long is forever? Ah, that might seem like a strange question, but the term lʿôlām doesn’t always mean what we think of as forever. Note two explanations: Forever does not always mean…
and they made their lives bitter with hard labor in mortar and bricks and at all kinds of labor in the field, all their labors which they rigorously imposed on them. Exodus 1:14 NASB Bitter – The biblical world is a world intoxicated with God. Our usual subject-object dichotomy evaporates. We are no longer the neutral observers cataloging and…
For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NASB Received – Who told Paul that Yeshua died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the…
In the beginning God created (various translations) God – I have often remarked that there is no Jewish systematic theology, but the importance of that fact is perhaps lost on an audience of Western thinkers. Most likely the subliminal explanation is simply that the ancient Hebrews were not intellectually or morally equipped to construct a…
In the beginning God created . . . Genesis 1:1 NASB God created – We have often heard the statement that the Hebraic cosmogony is different from all other ancient accounts of creation. It lacks the explicit or implicit overtones of violence, sexuality and conflict, as other ancient accounts include. It emphasizes the particular creation…
Also I gave them My sabbaths to be a sign between Me and them, that they might know that I am the Lord who sanctifies them. Ezekiel 20:12 NASB My sabbaths – What is the purpose of the Sabbath? Is it simply to cease working for a day, to rest up, to renew yourself? Or maybe its purpose…
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, Hebrews 1:1-2a NASB In – Be patient, this is a little technical, but it will be worth it. Some time ago Bob Gorelik told me about a conversation he had with…
