According to the terms of the law which they teach you, and according to the verdict which they tell you, you shall do; you shall not turn aside from the word which they declare to you, to the right or the left. Deuteronomy 17:11 NASB Turn aside – It all comes down to choosing whom…
But the Lord was angry with me on your account, and would not listen to me; and the Lord said to me, ‘Enough! Speak to Me no more of this matter.’ Deuteronomy 3:26 NASB On your account – John Maxwell aside, the role of the biblical leader is not so wonderful. It’s easy for us…
“Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘If a person sins unintentionally in any of the things which the Lord has commanded not to be done, and commits any of them,” Leviticus 4:2 NASB Unintentionally – Why must we atone for something we did in ignorance? Atonement seems to imply that there was some deliberate…
Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. Ephesians 4:26-27 NASB Be angry – I get angry. Just ask my wife. I can lash out, criticize, debunk and disparage with the best. Paul certainly doesn’t have to instruct…
Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves. Romans 15:1 NASB The weaknesses – Who determines where you put your effort? Do you perform the cost/benefit analysis before you commit? “How do I know that the beggar at the intersection will really use the…
Thus says the Lord, “The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness—Israel, when it went to find its rest.” Jeremiah 31:2 To find its rest – Good luck with this one! The root rāgaʿ is a very difficult one to separate into its philological and semantic relationships. Although there is a development…
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. Genesis 32:24 NASB Wrestled – On the surface, especially in translation, the story seems straightforward. Jacob is alone. He fights all night. He is defeated but tenacious. He is blessed with a new name, Israel. But nothing about this story is so…
Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. Genesis 32:24 NASB Until daybreak – Someone confronts Jacob in the night; someone who isn’t supposed to be there. Or is he? Does Jacob go back across the ford of Jabbok because he “knows” (in some Hebraic way) that there is someone…
One of the frustrations of traveling and teaching is the lack of time to meditate. I’m afraid that spiritual knowledge can’t be rushed, especially in the Hebraic context where knowing is not simply gathering information but also absorbing the content into life transformation. It’s far easier to accumulate books, audio files and web pages than…
