You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men Mark 7:8 ESV Tradition – When are we unwittingly following the traditions of men rather than the commandments of God? The answer to this question is not so obvious since traditions are usually considered necessary and authoritative. In fact, more often than…
“Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit” John 1:47 NASB Deceit – The Greek word is dolos. We are probably most familiar with the translation “guile,” but neither guile nor deceit really captures the flavor of this word. The word is used in classic Greek to describe bait for fishing and also…
During my last trip to South Africa, I had a chance to talk with Irene at her home in the White squatter camp. The interview that I filmed will be ready to see later, but I discovered something that we can all do quickly. Irene’s 15th birthday is 22 December. I would like us…
“Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” Matthew 11:6 ESV Stumble – David Flusser points out that the Hebrew verb behind this Greek gospel expression is a word that means “to be led into sin, to go astray from the right understanding of the will of God.”[1] In other words, the…
The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying Jonah 1:1 NASB Jonah – This is an easy one. The Hebrew word is yonah, which of course, is our English word “Jonah.” But this Hebrew word also means “dove.” It is the same word used of the bird that Noah released…
“But I say to you, do not resist him who is evil; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also.” Matthew 5:39 ESV Resist – What a mess we have made of this verse! Because of this translation, believers often think that they should be complete pacifists when it…
Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, James 1:2 ESV Count – “Never confound the trial of faith with the ordinary discipline of life, much that we call the trial of faith is the inevitable result of being alive.”[1] If we take Chambers’ insight seriously, we soon discover that…
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, Matthew 2:1 ESV “Jesus is just alright with me” Born – Now it seems unremarkable when we assert that Yeshua (“Jesus”) was Jewish. What could be more obvious? Born in…
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion: Greetings. James 1:1 ESV Dispersion – One of the common claims of some of the followers of the “Messianic movement” is that those who are now discovering their Hebrew roots are part of the “lost tribes of…
James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the dispersion: Greetings. James 1:1 ESV James – If we’re going to study the work of someone, it might be useful to know the author’s name. It might be useful to know the author’s heritage and past influences and…
