When God began to create heaven and earth—the earth being unformed and void, Genesis 1:1-2a Parsha: Bere’shit JPS Tagged Tanakh To create – Biblically-based religions are susceptible to a subtle but dangerous trap. They can easily become religions of the book rather than religions of the God revealed in the book. You and I, being familiar…
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 ESV Sinned – Adverb: a word or phrase that modifies or qualifies an adjective, verb, or other adverb or a word group, expressing a relation of place, time, circumstance, manner, cause, degree, etc., that is, an addition to a verb. Noun: a word (other than a…
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Exodus 20:2 NASB Who – For Israel, everything began with “who.” ʾăšer, used thousands of times in the Bible, is a particle of relationship. Interestingly, contemporary ancient cultures seem to have a different view. “Taking into consideration…
How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? Psalm 13:1 NASB Hide Your face – I understand the absence of the Landlord when the tenant deserves judgment. Feeling the brokenness of relationship is a powerful incentive for repentance and restitution, as every parent knows. Children who need to…
Then God spoke all these words, saying, “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Exodus 20:1-2 NASB I am the Lord your God – “ . . the opening of the Ten Commandments is read by Mei HaShiloach: ‘I am the Lord your God.’ The word…
Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Will a child be born to a man one hundred years old? And will Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?” Genesis 17:17 NASB Laughed– Now we have looked at Genesis 17:17; 18:12; 28:16 and 32:26. In each case we have suggested that…
Now the man called his wife’s name [h]Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:20 NASB Eve – If you’ve read Guardian Angel, you know that Adam did not call his wife Eve. The name he used was Havvah, and it does not mean “mother of all living.” According to the research, this name…
“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees You;” Job 42:5 Hearing – What is the difference between hearing God and seeing Him? The Hebrew term shama is a familiar one. Today we often stress the double action of the word shama, i.e., to hear and to obey. But…
“If you do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace.” Exodus 18:23 NASB To endure – Maybe you feel a little like a James Bond martini these days. “Shaken, not stirred.” Maybe you feel as if all this exploration into…
When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. Psalm 32:3 NASB Silent – David knew the truth about being silent. We might think his verse in the psalms is about his sin, but this is a general truth that applies to any action or event that isolates us from others and…
