And leading them outside, he said, “Sirs, what must I do that I may be saved?” Acts 16:30 Must – As I look back on some things written, I find this: “A growing sense of aloneness accompanies nearly every moment of my day. My social connections to comrades and friends offer peripheral distraction, but do…
Let those who rejoice at my calamity be ashamed and brought to confusion; let those who magnify themselves against me be clothed with shame and dishonor. Psalm 35:26 Brought To Confusion – What is the worst kind of punishment imaginable in the Hebrew worldview? We have to shift our thinking considerably to recognize it. In…
And you shall bind them for a sign on your hand; and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 6:8 Sign – What do Exodus 4:8, Jeremiah 32:20, I Samuel 2:34 and Isaiah 20:3 have in common with binding tefillin on the arm and the head? Maybe we should start with the…
And you shall teach them diligently to your sons, and shall speak of them as you sit in your house, and as you walk in the way, and as you are lying down, and as you are rising up. Deuteronomy 6:7 Teach Diligently – The intensive form of the Hebrew verb shanan means “to teach…
And these words that I am commanding you today shall be on your heart. Deuteronomy 6:6 Shall Be – It looks like a command, doesn’t it? When we read this verse, we think of the enormous task of putting these words, all of them, into our memory banks. Seems impossible, doesn’t it? In a culture…
And He said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37 Mind – If you remember (and I hope you do), the word in the Hebrew passage is not “mind.” It is me’od – greatness, very, much, exceedingly. …
And you shall love YHWH your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5 Heart/ Soul/ Might – If we are commanded to love God with all (kol) we’ve got, obviously that command affects the entire body of behaviors. Rather than allow us to fumble around…
And you shall love YHWH your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5 All – “You’re so intense.” I’ve often heard this back-handed compliment. Maybe it’s true. When you get me wound up about Hebrew thought, it might take a long time for me…
And you shall love YHWH your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5 Your God – Not just any god. Your God. eloheikha. How did that happen? Well, it had nothing to do with our decision. “You will be my people and I will be…
And you shall love YHWH your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Deuteronomy 6:5 Love – The first action of the Shema is to listen-respond. The second is to love. The second verb (ahav) begins the series of demands. YHWH demands that we love Him. The…
