The Helper of our forefathers are You alone, forever, Shield and Savior for them and for their children after them in every generation. Shacharis/Weekday Morning Service/ Siddur Every generation – This passage from the morning prayers in the Siddur is a reflection on the visible hand of HaShem in the Exodus. That seminal event demonstrates…
“In that day you will feel no shame because of all your deeds by which you have rebelled against Me;” Zephaniah 3:11 Shame – I’m waiting. Perhaps you are too. I’m waiting for that day, the day when I will no longer feel public disgrace about my past rebellion against Him. You might ask how…
[Love] does not take into account a wrong suffered. I Corinthians 13:5 NASB Wrong suffered – The day before Shabbat is a time to gather a double portion. Here’s my contribution to keep you thinking for two days. This excerpt is from a longer article called, “The Grammar of Love.” Let’s start with the Greek…
“It will come about at that time that I will search Jerusalem with lamps, and I will punish the men who are stagnant in spirit, who say in their hearts, ‘The Lord will not do good or evil!’” Zephaniah 1:12 NASB Stagnant in spirit – It is a serious, and sometimes fatal, mistake to pretend…
“Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, while our vineyards are in blossom.” Song of Songs 2:15 NASB Catch the foxes – No book of the Bible, except perhaps Revelation, has been the subject of more theological speculation than the Song of Songs. Through the ages both Jewish and…
Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation. Habakkuk 3:18 NASB Yet – Perhaps the most important word in this verse is the tiny consonant vav attached to ani (“I”). The NASB translates this single letter as “yet,” but the vav plays a mighty role in Hebrew….
Concerning evil, both hands do it well. Micah 7:3 NASB Both hands – In Semitic nomadic cultures, you eat with the right hand. The left hand never picks up food. It is used for other purposes. Until the invention of eating utensils, a hard and fast distinction between the hands was absolutely necessary. When the…
a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man. Hebrews 8:2 NASB Tabernacle – “The man of the archaic societies tends to live as much as possible in the sacred or in close proximity to consecrated objects. The tendency is perfectly understandable, because . . . the sacred…
When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He *said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” John 5:6 NASB Do you wish to get well? – What a stupid question! The paralytic had been at the pool for decades waiting for a…
These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. Colossians 2:23 NKJV Wisdom – “Knowledge is power.” That’s what they say. But the biblical view is different. The accumulation of knowledge is a dangerous thing. …
