Divine Genocide

Then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground.  Genesis 4:10  NASB To – In the past we discovered that God’s rebuke of Cain suggests that Cain’s murder is not simply of the one person, his brother, but rather of all those who would…

The Code

And Jesus answered them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted.  Matthew 13:11 NASB The mysteries – Do you know the mysteries?  According to the Messiah, knowing secrets has been granted to you.  So, when you open your Bible, are…

THE Question

Righteous are You, O Lord.  When I dispute with You, my brief will speak against You.  Why does the way of the wickedprosper, all who deal treacherously rest tranquil? Jeremiah 12:1  Robert Alter The way of the wicked – Do you remember “The Twilight Zone”?  If you do, you must remember the episode where a…

Abraham the Evangelist

Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their possessions which they had accumulated, and the people which they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan; so they came to the land of Canaan.  Genesis 12:5  NASB People – Language evolves.  Words that used to mean one thing now mean…

The Moral Encyclopedia

And He said: ‘Incline thine heart to every word which I shall speak to thee on this mount, and write them in a book in order that their generations may see how I have not forsaken them for all the evil which they have wrought in transgressing the covenant which I establish between Me and…

Believing Without the Book

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.  Isaiah 40:8  NASB Word of our God – Yesterday we discovered the awful truth that there was no such thing as “the Bible” until the Christian Church, and particularly the Protestant Christian Church, created a sacred book.  In the first century,…

Bursting the Bubble

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.  Isaiah 40:8  NASB Word of our God – The Foreword to the New American Standard Bible (1995) reads as follows: The New American Standard Bible has been produced with the conviction that the words of Scripture as originally penned in the…

A Little Letter Does It

Paul, a bond-servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the faith of those chosen of God and the knowledge of the truth which is according to godliness,  in the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago,  Titus 1:1-2 NASB For – Paul’s letter to Titus about qualifications for leadership.  Easy to read, often skipped until…

The Success Formula

so is My word that comes out of My mouth, it does not return empty to Me but does what I desire, and makes prosper what I have sent.  Isaiah 55:11  Robert Alter Makes prosper – Robert Alter chooses to translate the conjunction כִּי אִם־ as “makes prosper,” but in this case it seems the NASB…

Surprise, Surprise (2)

and said to the men, “I know that the Lord has given you the land, and that the terror of you has fallen on us, and that all the inhabitants of the land have despaired because of you.  Joshua 2:9  NASB I know that – Yesterday we discovered that the spies considered all that happened to them as…