Neighbor or Stranger

And the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan while all Israel crossed on dry ground, until all the nation had finished crossing the Jordan.  Joshua 3:17  NASB Nation – Gringo.  WASP.  Chink.  Gook.  Cracker.  Dego.  There’s a long list of racial slurs…

Universal Language

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.  Psalm 57:9  ESV Peoples/ nations – What’s the difference?  People or nation?  Why make this distinction, especially when we realize in Hebrew it is only the difference between Ayin and Aleph (Ayin-Mem = people, Aleph-Mem…

The Biblical Passport

“I have been told of all that you did for your mother-in-law after the death of your husband, how you left your father and mother and the land of your birth and came to a people you had not known before.”  Ruth 2:11  JPS Birth/ People – Two things indentify a person in the ancient…