whom the Lord of armies has blessed, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.” Isaiah 19:25 NASB My people – “This remarkable prophecy has no equal in biblical literature; nowhere else is YHWH represented as calling a foreign nation ‘my people.’”[1] Perhaps you need to read Kaufmann’s remark again. …
Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” Genesis 3:1 NIV Serpent – Some years ago I shared a lecture session with Michael Heiser, author of The Unseen Realm: Recovering…
Extend your ear and hear the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge; Proverbs 22:17 NASB Words of the wise – Many years ago I led a Bible study on the book of Proverbs. When we reached this section (which runs to 24:22), I remarked that this material was most likely…
And all the people were watching and hearing the thunder and the lightning flashes, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it all, they trembled and stood at a distance. Exodus 20:18 NASB At a distance – It’s a nice translation but it doesn’t really tell us what happened. In order…
Therefore the Lord heard and was full of wrath; and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also mounted against Israel, because they did not believe in God and did not trust in His salvation. Psalm 78:21-22 NASB Did not believe in God – I believe in God. But that’s a mistake. Why? Because when I say, “I believe…
But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless! For we are going to follow our own plans, and each of us will act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’ Jeremiah 18:12 NASB It’s hopeless! – Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg’s book, The Particulars of Rapture: Reflections on Exodus, is a difficult read. Just so we clear up the title, it is not about…
Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the [a]sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26 NASB Let them…
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Exodus 20:2 ESV House of Slavery – What is the “house of slavery?” Oh, I know it’s Egypt. Actually, it isn’t really the country, is it? Egypt as a country was once a place…
