And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”Matthew 13:10 NASB Parables– Let’s consider the biblical approach of communication. Why doesn’t the Bible just give us a list of rules or a well-organized theology? Why does it sort of ramble around, throwing in parts of different genres of…
But Joseph had recognized his brothers, although they did not recognize him. Genesis 42:8 NASB Recognized– Moshe Luzzatto points out self-awareness is a function of our interaction with others. We, in fact, owe others for our very existence as psychological selves. According to Luzzatto, this is an infinite debt. After all, it constitutes what we know as life…
The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. Genesis 2:22 NASB Brought– When I wrote Guardian Angel, I thought the title would be The Perfect Enemy. My thinking was this: God brings into the lives of husbands precisely those wives who act as polishing stones, grinding away…
He came to [b]a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place. Genesis 28:11 NASB A certain place– Do you read the footnotes? Or do you think, “Well, those are just references or…
and I saw every work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, “I know,” he cannot discover. Ecclesiastes 8:17 NASB Cannot discover– “No longer one simple, consequential story, history divides into the age…
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you;”Genesis 12:1 NASB Go forth– We who travel this path toward God need to remember how it began. It began with a man called to an unknown destination. It began with instructions to go…
And see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way. Psalm 139:24 NASB Hurtful way– What is the purpose of inviting God to search my inner thoughts? David spells it out. David isn’t going to God for an annual well-being check up. He’s going to God the surgeon. He’s asking for a specific…
Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts;Psalm 139:23 NASB Search me– Don’t forget the context. We have a tendency to pull this verse from its context in the psalm and concentrate on the emotional appeal for God to look deeply into our hearts to purify us. In…
I hate them with the utmost hatred; They have become my enemies. Psalm 139:22 NASB Utmost– So you hate what God hates? If you’re with David on this, then you hate those people who malign God’s reputation. You want nothing to do with them. You avoid them at all costs. In fact, you hate them perfectly. …
Do I not hate those who hate You, O Lord? And do I not loathe those who rise up against You? Psalm 139:21 NASB Hate– When is hate a virtue? You might reply, “When we hate sin.” But typically we add, “but love the sinner.” Ah, if it were only that simple. You see, the verb used here, śānēʾ, doesn’t make such…
