Numbers 6:24-26, YHWH bless you and keep you; YHWH make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; YHWH lift up His face upon you and give you peace. In this blessing, for God’s face to shine upon His people is presented as the supreme blessing they can receive. However, in Ex. […]
2 Corinthians 4:17-18, ‘This light and momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen.’ The sufferings of this age—which are the sufferings of Christ on our behalf—are working eternal glory for those
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Psalm 30:5, For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes in the morning. Psalm 30:11, You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness… Divine anger, weeping, night,
Isaiah 16:10-11, “I have put an end to the shouting. Therefore, my inner parts moan like a lyre for Moab, and my inmost self for Kir-hareseth.” “Putting an end to shouting,” here refers to the Lord’s judgment on Moab and how it has silenced the glad shouts of harvest that were once heard in their
2 Corinthians 3:16-17, “But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” The Lord is the Spirit” means—I think—that, post-ascension, the Lord (typically Christ in Paul’s writings) is seen and known and received and communed with
1 Corinthians 15:21, “For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.” The Resurrection When Paul speaks of the resurrection, he has more in mind than just the resurrection of believer’s bodies (as he makes clear in verses 35-42, and even more so in Romans
Proverbs 9:10, “The fear of YHWH is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” An Ancient Analogy Many of you probably recognize this, but today’s picture is built on Plato’s famous “analogy of the cave”. Briefly, the analogy presents a cave in which people sit facing the
Matthew 23:38-39, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’” The Desolation of Israel What catches my attention here is the “for I say to you…” This phrase is introducing
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1 Corinthians 1:21, “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” This is a paradigmatic verse. Notice that the world did not know God through wisdom, therefore it pleased God to
Romans 5:18-19, “Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many were made righteous.” What is the “One Act of
Romans 8:36-37, “As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ But in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.” A Note On Translation First, notice that I translated the word immediately
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Leviticus 16:21, “And Aaron shall lay both of his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat…” (See also, Is.53:4-6). The Fulfillment of
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Leviticus 24:15-16, “Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin. Whoever blasphemes the name of YHWH shall surely be put to death.” Conforming Theological Imagination To Divine Revelation This is the sort of text that forces me to wrestle a bit with my own theology—which is good! Over the last few years, I
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Hosea 11:10-11, “They shall go after YHWH; He will roar like a lion; when He roars, His children shall come trembling from the west…and I will return them to their homes, declares YHWH.” Matthew 27:50, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit.” John 11:52, “[Jesus died] to
1 John 3:17, “…if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” This verse follows directly on the heels of John’s first real definition of love in this epistle, namely: “By this we know love, that He
John 13:8, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.” What does Jesus mean by this? What is it about receiving His service of foot washing that proves one either to be “in” or “out” of Christ? The Lord’s words here point us to a deeper meaning bound up
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John 16:20, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” The Context Of Jesus’s Words First, it’s important to determine how broad of an application these words have. Now, it is true that in this verse Jesus is talking most specifically about His impending betrayal and crucifixion, however, just as the
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Daniel 2:44, “The God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever…” I hadn’t considered before the implications for temporal perspective found
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John 4:24, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (See also John 3:6; 14:6,9; 16:14-15). In Spirit, I believe, means that one must be “born of the Spirit,” or to use a systematic theological category: “regenerated.” A person cannot worship the Father until they have been
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“but [the world] hates me because I testify concerning it that its works are evil.” – John 7:7 Very clear, very straightforward, very telling. The world hates the true Christ (and God in Him) why? Jesus says it comes down to the fact that He testifies to the world that its works are evil. This
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