“But they become disobedient and rebelled against You, and cast Your law behind their backs and killed Your prophets who had admonished them so that they might return to You, and they committed great blasphemies.” Nehemiah 9:26 Blasphemies – The Hebrew words ne’atsot gedolot tell us that blasphemy is not limited to verbal expressions. In…
Prepare to meet your God, O Israel Amos 4:12 To Meet – When you read this verse, what do you think about? Do you see the man with the placard walking the streets proclaiming the day of doom? Do you hear the preacher asking where you would be if you died tonight? Do you see…
Hate evil, love good and establish justice in the gate; . . . Amos 5:15 Gate – In the ancient near east, the city was protected by walls and a gate. The elders of the city sat in the gate, watching for strangers or circumstances that might be dangerous. As a result, political and social…
Hate evil, love good and establish justice in the gate; . . . Amos 5:15 Establish – Amos was God’s ambassador. He came with a burning desire to see God’s people restored. He exhorted them to heed his warning. There was a way of avoiding judgment, a way that required nothing more complicated than hating…
Woe to you who desire the day of YHWH! Why would you have the day of the Lord? It is darkness, and not light; Amos 5:18 Day of YHWH – Rapture! What a great concept. The Lord will come and we will all escape this place. Things will be wonderful. We will have untold blessings,…
So YHWH says this: “If you return, then I will bring you again; you shall stand before Me.”. . . Jeremiah 15:19 Stand Before Me – My friend turned away and walked to the street. The dirt-floor, one-room house with two small children overwhelmed this Wall Street success story. When he heard they had not…
Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins. Ecclesiastes 7:20 Righteous – What do you think about this verse? Does it say that everyone is unrighteous? Does it claim that everyone is fallen? Go back and take a careful look. Doesn’t it suggest that there is no righteous…
Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Ba’al, and go after other gods that you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house, which is called by My name, and say, “We are delivered!” – only to go on doing all these abominations? Jeremiah 7:9-10 We…
You, however, are not controlled by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. Romans 8:9 (NIV) Sinful Nature – The NIV takes theological liberty with the Greek text by translating the Greek word sarx as “sinful nature” rather than “flesh.” The translation committee had a prior theological…
Lord, all my desire is before You; and my sighing is not hidden from You. Psalm 38:10 Desire – “My desire,” says David. The Hebrew is ta’awah – desire, delight, bounty, craving and greed. Havvah used the same word when she described the aesthetic, cognitive and physical beauty of the fruit of that Tree. It…
