“You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” Leviticus 19:2b JPS Be holy – Levine’s excursus in the JPS commentary on Leviticus provides an important qualification about the term qādôš (holy): The biblical term for holiness is kodesh. Though the noun is abstract, it is likely that the perception of holiness was not thoroughly abstract. In fact, kodesh had several meanings,…
You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3 NIV perfect peace – I want a life of peace. Most people do. I want all the conflict to end, all the bitterness, betrayal, agony, angst. Oh, not just for “world peace.” What I really want is it…
Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Matthew 6:9 NASB Hallowed – “Thus, to ‘hallow’ here is no longer any single action; it is the transformation of all that is into a new ‘holy’ existence as God wills. It is the course of the world and of each individual life from creation…
Hear my prayer, Lord! And let my cry for help come to You. Psalm 102:1 NASB Come to You – “‘There are three ways in which a man expresses deep sorrow: the man on the lowest level cries; the man on the second level is silent; the man on the highest level knows how to turn his…
Thus I have seen You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory. Psalm 63:2 NASB Have seen You – David’s parallelism explains why he didn’t die from divine exposure. “I have seen You” isn’t a violation of “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live” because what David…
A jealous and avenging God is the LORD; the LORD is avenging and wrathful. The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserves wrath for His enemies. Nahum 1:2 NASB Avenging – Liberal theologians and atheists point to verses like this to draw a hard distinction between the God of the Old Testament and…
“But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, . . .” Luke 6:27 NASB Do good – If you read this passage only in its Greek translation, you might conclude that doing good is essentially about benefiting the other. The Greek kalos is about what is…
For the day of the Lord draws near on all nations, as you have done it will be done to you. Obadiah 15 NASB Draws near – The word here is not a verb but an adjective. The word is qarob. It is used to indicate something that is close at hand or about to…
God has spoken in His holiness: “I will exult, I will portion out Shechem and measure out the valley of Succoth.” Psalm 60:6 NASB In His holiness – dabar YHVH. The word of the Lord. Isn’t that enough? YHVH spoke the cosmos into existence. His word carries power and glory. Isn’t it enough to simply…
that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, Philippians 2:15 ESV Without blemish – Are you ready to be sacrificed? Are you ready to climb onto the altar like Isaac? Are you ready…
