An Act of Creation

and to put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.  Ephesians 4:24  NASB Put on the new self – Paul is an orthodox Jewish thinker.  Among other things, that means his theology is rooted in the Tanakh, interpreted by the rabbinic traditions.  When he writes, even…

Law and Order

A merciful person does himself good, but the cruel person does himself harm.  Proverbs 11:17  NASB Does himself good – Arthur Branch, the District Attorney in the television series Law and Order, quipped, “Sometimes the good you do doesn’t do you any good.”  Regretfully, he seems to be correct.  Human experience suggests that doing good doesn’t always…

Personal Assumptions

Why should I fear in days of adversity, when the injustice of those who betray me surrounds me,  Psalm 49:5  NASB Why – This question in Hebrew begins with the combination of a preposition and an interrogative: la-mah.  It seems insignificant to us, but it has important implications in Hebrew.  Literally, “until what” brings into view…

Who Is That Masked Man? (2)

Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak.  Genesis 32:24  NASB Man – In one of the strangest verses in Scripture, no clue is provided about the identity of the “man” who wrestles with Jacob.  He suddenly appears.  No history.  No motivation.  No name.  We are immediately cast into the world…

Paul’s Business Card

Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God,  Romans 1:1 NASB Apostle – One time at a gathering of believers I was presented with a business card that gave the man’s name followed by “prophet.”  I am sure he had that card printed in good faith, but I shuddered when…

Facebook (Rewind)

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.  1 Corinthians 13:12  NASB Face to face – “You don’t know me.”  Have you heard that expression?  Maybe you were the one saying…

Us and Them

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  Galatians 3:28  NIV Neither – The Italian study tours are finished.  Everyone has gone home.  Back to the usual way of living.  Back to the comfortable world of what has always been.  But…

Identity Crisis

When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a peaceful man, living in tents.  Genesis 25:27  NASB Was– Hebrew often communicates deep meaning through what is absent from the text.  Such is the case with this verse.  In the English translation, the copula is added in the…

Avivah and Camille

And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. Genesis 1:4  NASB Separated– Great thinkers struggle with great problems. Not surprisingly, great thinkers often struggle with the same great problems because the really great problems have been the same for Man in all the ages.  So when you read astute, insightful thoughts…