“ . . . and if I perish, I perish.” Esther 4:16 NASB Perish – Would you die for the cause? I imagine your answer will be conditioned by an assessment of the cause. Is it worth dying for? But what if you believe you will die either way? If you choose to stand up…
The wicked, in his haughtiness, does not seek Him. There is no God in all his schemes. Psalm 10:4 NASB electronic web edition Haughtiness – Haughty is not a common word in modern usage. We associate it with 19th Century English Romantic literature (like the book Pride and Prejudice). The synonym “proud” still finds a place in our speech, but…
For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east, Isaiah 2:6a NASB Your people – A statement from Yehezkel Kaufmannn’s book, The Religion of Israel, caused me to pose a question to the rabbi of Parma. Kaufmann wrote: “After the prophet depicts the end-time, he turns to reproach…
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes 1:18 NIV Grief – It’s the weight that hurts. The deep sense of sadness. Not just about the world’s mad dash toward destruction. Not just the unspeakable evil perpetrated upon the voiceless masses. Not just the moral inequity of economic and…
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes 1:18 NIV Grief – Stay stupid! Is that the solution to the problem? If Qohelet is right, wisdom and knowledge are the last things we would seek. They only bring sorrow and grief. Despite our disclaimers to the contrary, I’m pretty…
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes 1:18 NIV Sorrow – Yesterday we asked, “How can wisdom, a good thing, generate sorrow, a bad thing?” Maybe we should have questioned the translation before we questioned the ethics. In Hebrew, the word translated “sorrow” (NIV) is kaʿas. Other English…
For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes 1:18 NIV Wisdom – “The Sages promulgated the principle ‘Not the study of but the performance of mitzvot is the essence of virtue.’ ‘One whose wisdom is more abundant than his deeds—to what is he compared? To a tree whose branches…
which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth; Colossians 1:6 NASB Constantly bearing fruit – One of the legends about the ‘olam ha’ba is that…
“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Matthew 16:15 NIV You – Remember Hagar? When she was abused by Sarah, she fled to the wilderness, probably expecting to die. “Just get it over with,” she thought. “I can’t take this anymore.” Of course, the angel of the Lord found her there and…
No verse today. Just some personal reflections. For many years now, you and I have been exploring the origins of our faith. That means investigating the history of the ideas that we once accepted as part of our religious beliefs. What I’ve learned, and perhaps what you have also learned, is that most of my…
