My life is continually in my hand, yet I do not forget Your Law. Psalm 119:109 NASB Continually in my hand – Do you find this verse rather odd? After all the deference to God’s sovereign governance, we would expect that psalmist to say that his life is entirely in God’s hand, not his own. So, what’s happening…
The Law of Your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. Psalm 119:72 NASB Is better – We missed it! If you read this verse in Hebrew you would immediately notice that the same word we found in the previous verse (ṭôb- lî, “good for me”) is the opening word in this…
Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating the whole earth; the nations have drunk her wine, therefore the nations are going mad. Jeremiah 51:7 Robert Alter In the hand – Babylon was an instrument in the hand of YHVH for His purposes. The text tells us quite clearly that…
Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating the whole earth; the nations have drunk her wine, therefore the nations are going mad. Jeremiah 51:7 Robert Alter Mad – The elixir of the gods is power. It is the aphrodisiac of self-sovereignty. And it is deadly. Jeremiah proclaimed that the…
Her princes inside her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves . . . Zephaniah 3:3 KJV Roaring lions/evening wolves – “The hunger of the powerful knows no satiety; the appetite grows on what it feeds. Power exalts itself and is incapable of yielding to any transcendent judgment; . . . It is the…
She did not listen to the voice; she did not receive correction; she did not trust in YHWH; she did not draw near to her God. Zephaniah 3:2 Robert Alter Did Not – We have been examining the end of the Empire of Rome, but the same patterns existed in biblical times. Therefore, I believe…
But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and besides, I will not let Israel go.” Exodus 5:2 NASB Lord – It’s too bad that English translations replace the consonants YHVH with “LORD” especially in this verse. Why? Because Pharoah isn’t making a statement about…
Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, I am going to send for all the tribes of the north, says the Lord, even for King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all these nations around; I will utterly destroy…
“Come now, and let us debate your case,” says the Lord, “though your sins are as scarlet, they shall become as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. Isaiah 1:18 NASB Debate – You are probably most familiar with the King James version, “Come, let us reason together.” The Hebrew verb…
“Now then, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps His covenant and faithfulness, do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You, which has happened to us, our kings, our leaders, our priests, our prophets, our fathers, and to all Your people, from the days of the kings of Assyria to this…
