Uncreated

then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.  Ecclesiastes 12:7  NASB Spirit will return – Pythagoras, the Greek philosopher-mathematician, invented the doctrine of the eternal existence of the soul (in Greek psyche).  The ancient world did believe in life after death (e.g., Egyptian burial…

Healing Wounds

When He killed them, then they sought Him, and they returned and searched diligently for God;  Psalm 78:34  NASB Sought – When do you seek God?  Well, when do most people seek God?  When things are bad.  When we want a God-genie to fix things. When we’re suffering.  The rest of the time, God is sort of…

Jeremiah’s Desperado

I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.  Jeremiah 24:7  NASB Return – Hauser makes me cry for the passion of music.  The Eagles make me cry for the pathos of living. …

This Is No Joke

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 NASB Repent – April Fool’s Day. I wonder where that tradition began. Today I’m not playing a joke on you. Today I want to think seriously about something Harold Brown wrote. While Buddhism and Islam…

Mysterious Confusion (Rewind)

“Who knows, God may turn and relent and withdraw His burning anger so that we will not perish.” Jonah 3:9 NASB May turn – Rabbi David Aaron addresses the difference between Jews and Christians on the subject of prayer in his online article, “Why Do We Pray?” In that article he states the Jews do…

When the Story Isn’t the Story

Then he said to the closest relative, “Naomi, who has come back from the land of Moab, has to sell the piece of land which belonged to our brother Elimelech.  Ruth 4:3 NASB Who has come back – Some time ago we looked at Ruth 1:22 (December 5, 2016). We discovered that the grammar is quite…

A History Lesson (2)

and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB Turn – A little historical pun. That’s why the choice of shuv in…

Subject or Verb?

So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Bethlehem at the beginning of barley harvest. Ruth 1:22 NASB Who returned – What are we to make of the unusual Hebrew construction in this verse? What usually happens in translation is a…

Turn Around or Turn Back

“And those who bow down on the housetops to the host of heaven, and those who bow down and swear to the Lord and yet swear by Milcom, and those who have turned back from following the Lord, and those who have not sought the Lord or inquired of Him.” Zephaniah 1:5-6 NASB Turned back…

David’s Twelve-Step Group

Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will be converted to You. Psalm 51:13 NASB I will teach – Are you saved? Have you been restored to relationship with the Most High? Then you are obligated! Your rescue did not come without a personal price tag. You didn’t pay for the action that…