For Ezra had set his heart to seek the law of YHWH, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and ordinances Ezra 7:10 JPS 1917 To seek – Ezra changed forever the way we interact with God. Now we read instead of listen. That wasn’t the only result of this monumental shift. …
If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. Romans 8:10 NASB Dead/alive – If there were ever a verse that makes Paul look like a student of Plato, this is probably it. The apparent dualism between body and spirit, dead and alive,…
By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, till you return to the ground, because from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.Genesis 3:19 NASB Return to the ground– suveka el ha’adamah says the text. We recognize the verb and the noun, šûb andʾădāmâ (“to turn/return” and “ground/earth”). But do…
This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. John 17:3 NASB Eternal life – Let’s not get wrapped up in the Trinitarian implications here. Just remember that Yeshua says (or at least John says that he says) that eternal life is about knowing…
For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. 2 John 7 NASB Deceivers – Letters are half of a conversation between people. In order to understand what the letter says, we have to reconstruct what…
But now, thus says the LORD, your creator, O Jacob, and He who formed you, O Israel, “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!” Isaiah 43:1 NASB Jacob/ Israel – Where should you put the punctuation? That’s always an issue in translation because the original…
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28 ESV Soul – Greek dualism proposes that Man consists of at least two parts: body (soma) and soul (psyche). According to Greek philosophical thinking following Plato, the…
But Christ having appeared as a High Priest of the coming good things, through the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation . . Hebrews 9:11 The letters to the Hebrews is difficult to understand. A good deal of that difficulty comes from the fact it assumes…
You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by the law; you have fallen from grace. Galatians 5:4 Fallen From Grace – What does “fall from grace” mean? Do you think it’s about denying the Lord? Or about some hideous sin? Not according to Paul’s comments to the Galatians. Falling…
“And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it shall be also in the days of the Son of Man;” Luke 17:26 Just As It Happened – My friend said to me, “I have cancer. My doctor told me that since my body has been tainted, there’s no use in fighting it. …
