So you shall not defile the land in which you live; for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the one who shed it. Numbers 35:33 NASB Defiles – ḥānēp. That should be a word added to your…
“Futility of futilities,” says the Preacher, “Futility of futilities! All is futility.” Ecclesiastes 1:2 NASB Futility – Vanity of vanities. You probably know this verse with the KJV rendering of the Hebrew hebel. “Futility” is much better. Qohelet isn’t decrying pride. He’s exasperated about life’s purposelessness. In the end, it all turns to rot. As…
You also played the harlot with the Egyptians, your [a]lustful neighbors, and multiplied your harlotry to make Me angry. Ezekiel 16:26 NASB Lustful – The prophets do not mince words. Their messages arrive with explicit, often offensive language. The reason is simple: if you want to rivet the audience’s attention, you need provocative language. And the prophets…
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5:8 NIV In heart – Eve Levavi Feinstein’s remark about purity in the Bible raises some important questions: “. . . the Hebrew word for purity is used almost exclusively to refer to that which is associated with God and his service: ….
a person who touches any such shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat of the holy gifts unless he has bathed his body in water. Leviticus 22:6 Until – Eve Levavi Feinstein points out that the biblical idea of pollution (ritual and moral) is quite similar to our present idea of environmental pollution. She writes:…
“Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.” Acts 15:19-20 NASB Contaminated – What’s in your refrigerator? That…
for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your…
“Therefore it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God from among the Gentiles, but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and from fornication and from what is strangled and from blood.” Acts 15:19-20 NASB Contaminated – What’s in your refrigerator? That…
