“Many nations will pass by this city; and they will say to one another, ‘Why has the Lord done this to this great city?’Then they will answer, ‘Because they abandoned the covenant of the Lord their God and bowed down to other gods and served them.’” Jeremiah 22:8-9 NASB Bowed down – After hundreds of years of divine mercy, Isreal finally learned the lesson of idolatry. It…
The boastful will not stand before Your eyes; You hate all who do injustice. Psalm 5:5 NASB Injustice – The God of love hates something—ʾāwen. Maybe we don’t think about the “loving” God as a God who hates, but we need to. Why? Because the ethical foundation of the creation isn’t the work of a “Santa Claus” God. …
Establish my footsteps in Your word, and do not let any wrongdoing have power over me. Psalm 119:133 NASB Any wrongdoing – Of course, this follows from the previous verse. God’s graciousness extends to those whom He calls His own. But things can interfere. Customarily, followers find favor. But even followers fall. When the psalmist asks for God…
Woe, offending nation, people weighed down with crime, seed of evildoers, sons acting ruinously. They have forsaken the LORD, scorned Israel’s Holy One, they have fallen behind. Isaiah 1:4 Robert Alter Have forsaken – Now we turn to the first of three verbs describing the cause of Israel’s crime wave: ʿāzab. “The basic meaning of…
He who gives vent to anger commits as grave a sin as though he worshipped strange gods. Tractate Shabbat 105b Anger – Referring to Job 18:4, Luzzatto follows the Sages by connecting anger with idolatry. We don’t usually think like this, but perhaps we should. Stone’s commentary on Luzzatto shows us why: “[Anger] is the…
Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter, the one that remains faithful. Isaiah 26:2 NASB Remains faithful – What is the character of a people (a nation) that remains faithful? Isaiah’s word choice here (employing the verb šāmar and the derived adjective from ʾāman) tells us that this people, this gôy (nation), is a people…
but indeed, as I live, all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. Numbers 14:21 NASB Will be filled – It’s a process. The verb is an imperfect—a state not yet completed, an on-going action. But despite the biblical claim that the glory of God will eventually fill the earth, it seems like this…
I hate those who regard vain idols, but I trust in the Lord. Psalm 31:6 NASB Hate– In a age of banal religious convictions, hate is one of those emotions that end up on the psychological chopping block. Hate expresses strong repulsion, and as such, stands in utter opposition to the decree of political tolerance foisted upon the population by…
“You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.” Exodus 20:4 NASB Likeness – What is an idol? You could ask Indiana Jones, I suppose. But you’ll probably learn more if you ask Abraham Heschel….
Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable idol of Moab, on the mountain which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestable idol of the sons of Ammon. 1 Kings 11:7 NASB Built – The women got him. At least that’s the way most of us were taught (if we…
