Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. And many of those who sleep…
And these three men left off answering Job because he was right in his own eyes. Job 32:1 Robert Alter Right in his own eyes – The book of Job is a disturbing story. It’s hard to imagine that God would allow such terrible suffering for a man who served Him with all his heart. …
She weeps on through the night, and her tears are on her cheek. Lamentations 1:2 Robert Alter Weeps on – “If faith is to become real, catastrophe must be acknowledged and fully spoken.”[1] Perhaps you need to read that Zornberg statement again. Slowly. If you want a real faith, faith that matters, that has grit,…
Train up a child [a]in the way he should go, even when he grows older he will not abandon it. Proverbs 22:6 NASB In the way he should go – Did you see that little footnote before this phrase? In the margin, the NASB says, “according to his way.” It’s not quite the same idea, is…
Israel has been saved by the Lord with an everlasting salvation; You will not be put to shame or humiliated to all eternity. Isaiah 45:17 NASB Eternity – Isaiah just got it wrong. He wrote long before the continuous anti-Semitism of Europe and certainly before WWII. Israel was humiliated over and over and over again. I guess this…
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under [a]the Law but under grace. Romans 6:14 NASB But – Yesterday we discovered that there is an alternative way of reading this text that preserves Paul’s Jewish orthodoxy. This fact is critically important because it shows us that the Christian assumption that Paul left Judaism and invented…
For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under [a]the Law but under grace. Romans 6:14 NASB But – There’s probably no more important verse for the Church than this line from Paul’s letter to the Romans. In fact, as it is read in most English Bibles, it’s the ultimate justification for separating Christianity from Judaism. …
They utterly destroyed everything in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword. Joshua 6:21 NASB Utterly destroyed – This is one of those verses that offends our moral sensitivity. We just can’t imagine how our loving and forgiving God could order Israel to…
Blessed is the person who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers! Psalm 1:1 NASB Blessed – A few days ago I taught English classes to two groups of 16-year-olds in a local Italian high school. I didn’t spend much time on…
Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all mankind, because all sinned— Romans 5:12 NASB Because –This next section (v. 12-18) is one of the most difficult and most debated sections of this letter. The argument is complicated and the implications are far reaching. See…
