Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. Exodus 24:9-10 NASB Saw – There’s just one little problem. “‘But,’ he said, ‘you cannot see my face,…
Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; Genesis 16:1 NIV Hagar – Who was Hagar? The question seems innocent enough until you consider Abraham’s relationship (or relations) with her. That leads to the propensity to enhance her status and character in order to squelch what might be…
And the people will be oppressed, each one by another, and each one by his neighbor; the youth will storm against the elder and the inferior against the honorable. Isaiah 3:5 NASB Oppressed – Contemporary believers often turn to Isaiah 2:4 as a description of peace in Millennial Kingdom. “And He will judge between the nations, and…
May our God come and not keep silence; fire devours before Him, and it is very tempestuous around Him. Psalm 50:3 NASB “For He bruises me with a tempest and multiplies my wounds without cause.” Job 9:17 NASB Very tempestuous/ tempest – If we’ve learned anything at all about rabbinic exegesis of the Tanakh, we’ve learned that chronological and…
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” Genesis 1:6 NASB Expanse – Birth is painful. If you’re the mother, I don’t have to tell you that, but I’m not talking about birthing. I’m talking about being born. It’s a blessing that…
“Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle which feed among the lilies.” Song of Songs 4:5 NASB Breasts – We have been investigating the perspective of two important rabbis regarding the essence of the Torah. Rabbi Akiva treats the Torah as a kind of spiritual map to deeper understanding, encouraging us to plumb…
“Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ Matthew 5:33 NASB Make false vows – The rabbis never had to deal with exegetical issues in the book of Matthew. They may have never read Matthew’s gospel. But we do, and so…
When God began to create, the heavens and the earth . . . Genesis 1:1 JPS When – For years we’ve been exploring the differences between the Near Eastern paradigm of the Bible and the Western paradigm of the Church. These differences make all the difference, particularly when we attempt to understand what the Near…
Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. 1 Corinthians 1:10 NASB Made complete– Perhaps the greatest sin of exegetical bias is the sin of interpreting the…
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Genesis 17:17 NASB Laughed– Before Isaac was born, God made a promise to Abraham. But when Abraham heard the promise, he couldn’t…
