But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 NASB The greatest – How many times have you read this verse? How often have you been told that love is the answer? How frequently has Christian theology proclaimed that God’s fundamental characteristic is love? All of these questions…
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham: Matthew 1:1 NASB David – Before the world adopted Arabic numerals, many ancient languages used the written alphabet as a counting system. The first letter of the alphabet would also be the number 1; the second 2, etc. Of course, you needed…
If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. Deuteronomy 28:1 NIV Carefully follow – Just how rigid are God’s commandments? How carefully must we follow each and every one? Is there wiggle room or are they absolute…
The journey so far: I left Parma on 9 April to travel to Yokohama, Japan, and lecture on a cruise ship for a month. On that journey I went to: Shimizu Osaka Kochi Ishigaki Keelung Kaohsiung Hong Kong Nha Trang Ho Chi Minh City Singapore Port Klang Penang Phuket Sabang Colombo Cochin Mangalore Mormugao Goa…
Now the hand of the Lord was on me there, and He said to me, “Get up, go out to the plain, and there I will speak to you.” Ezekiel 3:22 NASB He said – According to some researchers, the phrase “God said” or its equivalent is used 1900 times in the Bible. When you think about it,…
All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 2 Timothy 3:16 Scripture – “But that’s how you read it, not how I read it.” Ever heard that complaint? Engage in virtually any controversial theological argument and somewhere along the way you’re bound to encounter the “this is what it…
“Now He said to them, “These are My words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all the things that are written about Me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Luke 24:44 NASB Spoke – Yeshua followed the teaching technique of the rabbis. He never…
You have removed lover and friend far from me; my acquaintances are in a hiding place. Psalm 88:18 NASB You have removed – A short excursus into enemy territory followed by an immediate return to the major theme: God is sovereign. This poem describes whatever happens as under God’s control and direction. Therefore, even if “they”…
They have surrounded me like water all day long; they have encircled me altogether. Psalm 88:17 NASB They – Suddenly, a change. Through seventeen verses the psalmist has decried God’s absence. His lament holds Godresponsible for the sorry state of his life, for the nearly impossible burden he must carry, for the approach of death. But now,…
Your burning anger has passed over me; Your terrors have destroyed me. Psalm 88:16 NASB Destroyed – Not just any trauma. No, this is trauma of a special kind: bi·ʿûṯ. “events that cause fear and destruction or death, with some focus on the wrath of the punisher.”[1] What is the result? ṣāmat The word ṣāmat occurs…
