I have become a marvel to many, for You are my strong refuge. Psalm 71:7 NASB Marvel – You didn’t intend to become a celebrity. You thought you’d just go about your life and mind your own business. But things happen. People see what you’ve done. They hear about your choices. They recognize your face. Suddenly, you’re…
Then she arose with her daughters-in-law that she might return from the land of Moab, for she had heard in the land of Moab that the Lord had visited His people in giving them food. Ruth 1:6 NASB In giving them food – How do you know when God is working? What signs do you…
“But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all…
By Your favor do good to Zion; build the walls of Jerusalem. Psalm 51:18 NASB Do good – What is this verse doing in this poem? For the last seventeen verses, David has been dealing with personal confession and the agony of his own sin. Suddenly, without warning, the text shifts to a statement about…
And since Jews ask for a sign, and Greeks seek wisdom I Corinthians 1:22 Sign/Wisdom – Why do Jews ask for a sign but Greeks seek wisdom? The answer is to be found in the cultural paradigms of these two groups of people. Once we uncover this difference, we can determine which paradigm fits our…
And you shall bind them for a sign on your hand; and they shall be for frontlets between your eyes. Deuteronomy 6:8 Sign – What do Exodus 4:8, Jeremiah 32:20, I Samuel 2:34 and Isaiah 20:3 have in common with binding tefillin on the arm and the head? Maybe we should start with the…
“From every tree of the garden you may surely eat but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not eat, . . .” Genesis 2:17 Surely Eat – Did you enjoy those bananas yesterday? When we examined achol tochel, we discovered that Eden is God’s design for Man’s pleasure. It’s…
And Bo’az took Ruth and she became his wife. And he went in to her, and YHWH granted her conception, and she bore a son. Ruth 4:13 Granted – Why is the book of Ruth even in the Tanakh? It’s about a Gentile woman. It’s filled with extraordinary, and perhaps scandalous, behavior. It seems like…
