Though I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget Your statutes. Psalm 119:83 NASB In the smoke – What is a wineskin in the smoke? If we don’t understand this metaphor, we won’t understand why the psalmist connects it with obedience. So, in order to comprehend his phrase, we need to know…
So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; Genesis 4:3-4 NASB Offering – Why does God accept Abel’s…
Let me praise God’s name in song, and let me extol Him in thanksgiving. And let it be better to the LORD than oxen, than a horned bull with it hooves. Psalm 69:31-32 [Hebrew Bible] Robert Alter Than oxen – There’s no problem with the translation here, or in most English Bibles. The Hebrew is…
The Lord spoke To Moses, saying: Speak to the Israelite people thus: When a person unwittingly incurs guilt in regard to any of the Lord’s commandments about things not to be done and does one of them– Leviticus 4:1-2 JPS Unwittingly incurs guilt – “But I didn’t know!” We’d like to believe that this justification…
Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Proverbs 4:26 NASB Will be established – This investigation is now ten years old. I wonder if these last ten years have really made a difference. Let’s find out. It’s almost time for the world’s celebration of the pagan New Year. That…
Go; behold, I am sending you out like lambs in the midst of wolves. Luke 10:3 NASB Like lambs – It’s hard to miss his point. Sacrifice! That’s what happens to lambs among wolves. Yeshua sends out the seventy without resources and, apparently, without protection. So why would anyone go? If I came to you and…
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Hebrews 10:4 NASB Impossible – If it’s impossible for the sacrificial system to take away sins, then why did God give such elaborate instructions about the process? Why did the early followers of Yeshua continue to offer sacrifices at the…
For if you truly amend your ways and your deeds, if you truly practice justice between a person and his neighbor, if you do not oppress the stranger, the orphan, or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor follow other gods to your own ruin, then I will let you live in this place, in the land that I…
Be silent before the Lord God! For the day of the Lord is near, because the Lord has prepared a sacrifice, He has consecrated His guests. “Then it will come about on the day of the Lord’s sacrifice that I will punish the princes, the king’s sons, and all who clothe themselves with foreign garments.” Zephaniah 1:7-8 NASB Sacrifice – Robert Alter makes an important comment…
For my days have ended in smoke, and my bones have been scorched like a hearth. Psalm 102:3 NASB Have ended – Legacy. Does that term bother you? Do you think about what you will leave behind? Ecclesiastes suggests that your legacy better not be money, fame, or power. Those ephemeral status symbols won’t mean much after…
