“As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you will be the father of a multitude of nations.” Genesis 17:4 NASB Father – How is this promised fulfilled? Clearly it must extend beyond the Jewish population. Av hamon goyim means Abraham is to be father to those outside the Synagogue. Christians have understood this…
Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is…
That night the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham. Fear not, for I am with you, and I will bless you and increase your offspring for the sake of My servant Abraham. Genesis 26:24 JPS Your father – It only happens three times. Genesis 28:13, Genesis 32:9…
“ I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God.” John 1:34 NASB Son – Listen, I don’t want to stoke the fire here. I’m not interested in kindling another Trinitarian blaze. But recently I read something by Joel Hoffman, a well-respected Hebrew linguist and translator, that revealed another issue in the…
He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. Psalm 103:10 NASB According to – Is God just? Frankly, I hope not. Justice means the application of the law without bias. It is personified in the famous blind lady holding the balance scales. If God blindly measures me…
Joseph named the firstborn Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” Genesis 41:51 NASB God has made me forget– One of the peculiarities of the Joseph account is how infrequently God is mentioned. Joseph doesn’t pray to God before interpreting visions. He doesn’t mention God during his captivity. He…
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you;” Genesis 12:1 NASB From your father’s house – “ . . . the mandatory separation of Abraham from his kindred is unprecedented.”[1] But we don’t give it a second thought,…
“Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain; when he was but one I called him, then I blessed him and multiplied him.” Isaiah 51:2 NASB Father – “Since Israel was one of the Semitic nomadic peoples, her social life was more closely knit together than that of the city culture of…
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. Psalm 32:3 NASB Silent – David knew the truth about being silent. We might think his verse in the psalms is about his sin, but this is a general truth that applies to any action or event that isolates us from others and…
Behold, there is with you Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite, of Bahurim; now it was he who cursed me with a violent curse on the day I went to Mahanaim. But when he came down to me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord, saying, ‘I will not put you…
