“Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matthew 13:30 NASB Allow both – The point of the parable is that…
Richard Nisbett The Geography of Thought, How Asians and Westerners Think Differently . . .and Why, (Free Press, 2003). All citations in quotations. My comments and explanatory notes added. “Westerns have a strong interest in categorization, which helps them to know what rules to apply to the objects in question, and formal logic plays…
Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, and revive me in Your ways. Psalm 119:37 NASB Looking at vanity – The NIV renders the verse, “Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.” A footnote explains that two manuscripts of the Masoretic text and the Dead Sea scrolls…
I have just learned that one of the women who was on the Israel tour is in the hospital in Israel. Valerie Cole and Scott stayed after the tour for a few extra days. Valerie didn’t feel well and after two days ended up in the emergency room with a burst appendix. Emergency surgery and…
But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’ Luke 18:13 NASB Beating – In the words of Eric Clapton, [CLICK HERE]. Rabbi Hirsch gives us the Hebraic version: Hitpallel, from which ‘tefilla’…
“It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the Lord your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, Deuteronomy 11:13 NASB To serve Him with all your heart – Maimonides points out that the Hebrew expression, le’ovdo bekol…
nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will…
The Way of God – Moshe Chaim Luzzatto I consider Luzzatto’s book, Mesillat Yesharim, a critically important work in the explication of the power of the yetzer ha’ra and the obligation each of us has toward others. The book elaborates a step-by-step evaluation of the “fearless moral inventory” needed to combat the subtleties of the…
If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. Psalm 139:8 NASB In Sheol – This verse is often used as a proof text for the omnipresence of God, but I don’t think David had any theological doctrine in mind when he wrote it. It…
And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, Acts 9:5 NASB Who are you? – Good question, wrong subject. Sha’ul asks the right question but of the wrong person. The question should have been, “Who am I?” Of course, Sha’ul recognized immediately that the person he…
