You shall fear YHWH your God, you shall serve Him; and you shall cleave to Him; and you shall swear by His name. Deuteronomy 10:20 Cleave – Do you know where we first encounter this verb? It’s in Genesis 2:24, the quintessential verse about marriage. “For this reason, a man shall forsake . . ….
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1 Et – Do you remember the un-translated et that precedes the words for heavens and earth? It is a particle (the smallest part of a language structure) that indicates that the next word is the direct object of the verb. It is never…
O YHWH, You have heard the longing of the oppressed; You will make firm their heart. Your ear will give heed, to judge the orphan and the crushed. Psalm 10:17-18 Give Heed – “Now pay close attention!” That’s the idea behind this Hebrew verb, qashav. YHWH hears the cry of the oppressed. He hears it…
“Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you.” 1 Samuel 12:24 In Truth – Read it carefully. You are likely to understand this little phrase as though it were an adjective, not a preposition. Do you think that it says,…
The question of life is death. From the moment we are born, death begins its conquest of our body. No matter what we do to convince ourselves otherwise, it will relentlessly, inevitably overtake us. All of us know this fact. It is so much a part of our reality that often sends us into a…
The LORD said to Moses, “How long will this people spurn Me? And how long will they not believe in Me, despite all the signs which I have performed in their midst? Numbers 14:11 Not Believe – This event in the history of wandering in the wilderness is crucial for understanding God’s view of belief. …
“If any man has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mark 4:23 Hear – Instead of reading this in Greek, try reading it in Hebrew. After all, Jesus spoke the words in Hebrew so that’s the way we want to understand them. Of course, you don’t actually have to translate this Greek text back into…
Nevertheless, hear to the word of YHWH, all Judah who are living in the land of Egypt Jeremiah 44:26 Word of the LORD – We have a serious problem. We don’t hear God’s words. We read them. That means that we must rely on a translator or a translation committee. We aren’t in the same…
“This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, . .” Acts 7:38 Congregation – Loss of the authority of God’s Word as it is written leads to re-reading the text to fit our life experience, to fit the framework…
he who does these things shall not be shaken forever Psalm 15:5 Does – David asks a very important question. “Who will spend time in Your presence?” It’s worth reading the list in Psalm 15. You will notice one important quality about every facet of the answer. They are all actions toward others. Not a…
