Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, I am going to send for all the tribes of the north, says the Lord, even for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all these nations around; I will utterly destroy…
he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” Daniel 4:30 NIV I have built – Nebuchadnezzar lacked the humility of recognizing that God is the true builder—and destroyer. Thinking that he was the author and finisher of his…
and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 NASB 1995 Not be conformed – Paul’s exhortation might just be shy of impossible for us. Two thousand…
They quickly forgot His works; they did not wait for His counsel, but craved intensely in the wilderness, and tempted God in the desert. Psalm 106:13-14 NASB 1995 Quickly forgot – māhar šokḥu reads the Hebrew text, but it is hyperbole. Clearly Israel didn’t forget the works of YHVH overnight. It took decades for the…
For the sake of Your name, LORD, give me life, in Your bounty bring me out from the straits. Psalm 143:11 Robert Alter Give me life – The NASB translates this single Hebrew word as “revive me,” but that implies I only need resuscitation. Alter’s translation is more fundamental. “Give me life,” implies that I…
Certainly the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret plan to His servants the prophets. Amos 3:7 NASB Unless – But Amos must have been mistaken, don’t you think? Maybe what he said was true when the Lord actually appointed prophets for Israel, but today, well, today we live in a world of spiritual silence. Oh,…
The Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. Genesis 6:6 NASB Was sorry – Forget the discussion of anthropomorphism. Forget the theological back peddling of analogous attribution. Instead of worrying about the doctrinal issues, pay attention of the spiritual concern in this verse. God is grieved about…
Let him sit alone and be silent since He has laid it on him. Lamentations 3:28 NASB Since – Like good Hebrew exegesis, we start at the end to discover the beginning. No sense beginning at the beginning since Hebrew has a way of turning the tale upside-down at the end. So let’s start where it ends in…
Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel sighed because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry for help because of their bondage rose up to God. Exodus 2:23 NASB Cried out– Do you suffer from the Egyptian disease? Does the Church in the…
Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 2 Timothy 1:8 NASB Prisoner– Imagine the life of a prisoner in the Roman Empire. Don’t import modern ideas about the horrible prisons we see around the world today. “Roman Law…
