Image from Madrid
This picture is typical of the interior of many cathedrals is Spain. Imagine all the labor, passion and commitment that went into this. Imagine how removed this is from the simple worship of the King. Such beauty – such tragedy.
Paradigm Shift
I will bless YHWH who counsels me. Indeed, my mind instructs me in the night. Psalm 16:7 My Mind – Would a Hebrew poet say that his “mind” instructs him in the night? Think about it. Even though the contemporary translation includes the word “mind,” the word does not appear in the Hebrew. Oh, you…
The Hebrew Bill of Rights (2)
The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places, yes, I have a beautiful inheritance. Psalm 16:6 Inheritance – If my destiny is in the hands of the Lord (as we learned in the first part of this verse), then what rights do I have? If I live under His Kingdom as a citizen in…
The Hebrew Bill of Rights (1)
The LORD is the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You support my lot. Inheritance/Lot – Personal rights are a big deal in our world. If you listen to the contemporary political rhetoric, it would seem that everyone has a “right” to just about everything. Apparently life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are…
The Fountain of Youth
“Of every tree in the garden you may surely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, not shall you eat from it.” Genesis 2:16-17 Knowledge – Often the most important thing we learn from the Bible is what it does not say. What I mean is that every biblical story,…
Buried By Desire
But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Matthew 23:11 Greatest – Yeshua was a great rabbi; the greatest rabbi who ever lived. But he wasn’t famous. The difference is crucial if we are going to understand our role in the Kingdom. The rabbis taught that “authority buries those who assume it.” They exhorted…
Changing Vowels
The tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tablets. Exodus 32:16 Graven – One of the reasons we read the sages is to discover the insights about God’s Word that come from centuries of exploration. Often we find something that we would have passed by…
God Refuses
I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood, nor will I take their names upon my lips. Psalm 16:4 Not Pour – God says, “No!” We don’t think of God as the one who refuses to accept our offerings and supplications, but that’s due to our arrogance. God makes it very clear that…
Assumptive Theology
and when there was a great hush, he spoke to them in the Hebrew dialect, saying, Acts 21:40 (NASB) Hebrew Dialect – Sometimes I am simply amazed at the theological assumptions that are built into our translations. Most of us never know that we are reading the bias of the translation committee. You might think…
Rearranging Bricks
“Let us, then, go down and confound their speech there, so that they shall not understand one another’s speech.” Genesis 11:7 (JPS) Confound – God has a real sense of humor, even when it comes to terribly important events. I would say that God has an Englishman’s sense of humor; that sort of dry wit…
