So the Lord was sorry that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was grieved [g]in His heart. Genesis 6:6 NASB Was sorry – There is perhaps no greater theological conundrum than God’s emotional expressions. Divine emotions are the ultimate stumbling block for Western philosophical theology. No, it’s not the problem of evil, nor is it why bad…
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are [a]crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 NASB Crushed – What does it mean to be “crushed in spirit”? The word, and its similarly spelled parallel, is used in poetry and laments. It emphasizes the “emotional and spiritual suffering”[1] of a person or people. Here it is an adjective. …
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:5 KJV Wounded – He might have been wounded for your transgression, but not for mine. Believe me when I tell you that I bear the…
But the children struggled together within her; and she said, “If it is so, why am I in this condition?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. Genesis 25:22 NASB Why am I? – What happens to us before we are born? We usually believe that gestation is the perfect world of complete need satisfaction. Helpless, that’s true, but…
Happy who seizes and smashes your infants against the rock. Psalm 137:9 Alter Happy – It’s difficult to believe God in the midst of great trauma. If God is good, if He cares about us, then why do we suffer so much? It doesn’t feel like a test. It feels like abandonment, or divine failure. …
“Listen now, you rebels; shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” Then Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his staff; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their livestock drank. Numbers 20:10b-11 NASB Struck – We know this story from Sunday school days. The ensuing punishment given…
For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. Romans 7:14-15 NASB Bondage – What if we read Paul’s letter to the Romans not as…
Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law…
Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living. Genesis 3:20 NASB Mother of all the living– Previous investigation of the crucial story (see Guardian Angel) helped us see that the name given to the woman by Adam was certainly not uplifting. In fact, there are reasons to believe that…
So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 1 Kings 3:9 NIV Right and wrong – The translators of the NIV completely ignore the Hebrew connection between Solomon and Adam. I suspect it is deliberate. The Hebrew text…
