O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 1 Corinthians 15:55 NASB Death – thanatos. The end. Dead. Finished. Qohelet is right. Without a resurrection, the rabbis provide a stark assessment: “We know nothing about death, nothing beyond the one fact that we shall ‘die’—but what is that, to die? We do not…
You shall say to them, ‘This is the nation that did not obey the voice of the Lord their God or accept correction; truth has perished and has been cut off from their mouth. Jeremiah 7:28 NASB Perished – What happens to a society that does not obey the voice of the Lord? Jeremiah gives us a list—a…
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10-11 NASB The Dead Pool – “Being conformed to His death.” Now, what in the world can that mean? The only way to be conformed to…
Then I accounted those who died long since more fortunate than those who are still living. Ecclesiastes 4:2 JPS Fortunate – Take a hard look at life! A very hard look. Without your continued hope in God, wouldn’t you have to agree with Solomon? Those who have already died are finished with all this…
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 NASB Sin – In the end, everyone gets paid. Since reimbursement is inevitable, it makes sense to know the rules of the game, especially if Paul is correct and the real wages…
No man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him— Psalm 49:7 NASB Redeem – Context, context, context. Without the context, this verse seems to oppose the very idea that Yeshua acts as a substitute sacrifice for sinners. Of course, the idea of substitutionary atonement is a Reformation…
Will You do wonders for the dead? Will the shades arise and acclaim you? Selah. Psalm 88:11 (Robert Alter translation) Wonders – When is it too late? When does the power of the Lord cease to be effective? When you’re dead! Death ends it. As the Korahites sang, we can cry out to the Lord…
Whoever finds me [Wisdom] finds life and obtains favor from YHWH; but whoever misses me does violence to his very being [nephesh]; all who hate me love death. Proverbs 8:35-36 NASB with revisions Love death – “Since the culture of ancient times tended to value a person in light of the role performance, personal values…
Joseph commanded his servants the physicians to embalm his father. So the physicians embalmed Israel. Genesis 50:2 NASB The physicians – The NASB translation of the Hebrew ha-rof’im misdirects us. David Fohrman points out that the word actually means “healers.” The fact that we think of healers as physicians means that our conception of the…
The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Genesis 1:2 NASB Formless and void – “So, how’s that working out for you?” The fundamental question about our assumptions concerning life. The most important question of…
