Unforgettable

I shall delight in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word.  Psalm 119:16  NASB Not forget – Victor Hamilton’s remark in TWOT is crucial.  We have the tendency to think of “forget” as a mental lapse, but he makes it quite clear that this is not the biblical usage.  šākaḥ is an action verb. Forgetting is…

Says Who?

“The Son of Man is going away just as it is written about Him; but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good [a]for that man if he had not been born.”  Matthew 26:24 NASB As it is written – I recently engaged in a lively interchange with someone…

The Power of the Past

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: “He is the one who catches the wise by their craftiness”;  1 Corinthians 3:19 NASB Foolishness – Pay attention to Richard Lim’s insight: “Christians, in particular, bore the brunt of such polemical assaults because they lacked the protective armor of…

Variety Is the Spice of Life

As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.  Romans 4:17 NIV As it is written – When Paul used the phrase, kathōs…

Walking before Talking

Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.  John 14:6 NASB Way – The Greek term, hodós, is used for both literal roads, streets, and pathways, and figuratively for the course of life.  In Greek mythology, hodós is connected to the choice between the…

A River Runs Through

Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.  John 14:6 NASB Truth – The apostolic writings have been handed down to us in Greek.  Of course, the writers were Jews so their Greek was really Jewish-Greek, what we call koine Greek.  That means we…

Okay, Now What?

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him.  Answer a fool as his folly deserves, that he not be wise in his own eyes.  Proverbs 26:4-5  NASB 1995 Do not answer/ answer – Proverbs is instruction in piety.  It’s practical.  It’s didactic.  It’s anthropological (human) rather than divine.  “Live…

The Bibles (1)

As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.  Psalm 18:30  NIV Flawless – Yes, that’s right.  The title of this little investigation is not “the Bible.”  It is “the Bibles.”  Why?  Because there is no such thing as the Bible.  Hold on!  Take a deep breath—and…

Second Skin

Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  Ephesians 6:11  NIV Full armor – In my dream I’m covered with some kind of black plastic tarry substance.  It tries to hold me down to the ground.  I try to fight it off, but no matter what…

Auto-Bible-ography

“ . . . and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”  John 8:32  NASB Truth – It’s time to write your autobiography.  Well, no, not really.  Did you ever think about the illogical assumptions of an autobiography.  First, of course, is the fact that the real meaning of a life can’t…