For the month of February, we are reading the book of Isaiah at the Evansville Rescue Mission. Looks like we’re not wasting any time getting to what God cares about!
For the month of February, we are reading the book of Isaiah at the Evansville Rescue Mission. Looks like we’re not wasting any time getting to what God cares about!
Jeremiah 2:32, 33 NET Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels? Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire? But my people have forgotten me for more days than can even be counted. “My, how good you have become at chasing after your lovers! Why, you could even teach prostitutes a thing or two! (Jeremiah 2:32, 33 NET) First Jeremiah tries to compare Israel to a bride, which is a real surprise after everything else he’s been saying so far. The really cool thing is HOW he compares her to a bride. Does a young woman forget to put on her jewels? What is the point of her jewels? To ornament herself, to make herself beautiful, to show off her wealth, or her inheritance, or her rich lover? How do you spot a bride coming from a mile away? Does a bride forget to put on her bridal attire? By her smile or the marriage license in the groom’s back pocket? NO! By her dress! The...
In a couple of weeks, I’m going to preach at Exodus Church in Bloomington, Indiana. I’m pretty hyped about this for a number of reasons. My plan right now is to talk about the number one message that God has pounded into me since 2004. WHAT?! Yes. Since sometime around then, God has been beating into me one single message with a lot of tertiary details. It all begins in Numbers 16, with a lot of brass and bravado. Stick around, this is going to be fun.
Deuteronomy 6: 4-5 Listen, Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. There are a lot of folks that go in to great detail about the soul. They try to make us a trinity like God by saying we are body, soul, and spirit. Honestly, that stuff always confuses me and seems like a word game. There was a footnote I came across today that threw me for a loop, as so often happens when I’m reading the NET Bible http://net.bible.org. The note came after that word being in Dt 6:5 10 tn Heb “soul”; “being.” Contrary to Hellenistic ideas of a soul that is discrete and separate from the body and spirit, OT anthropology equated the “soul” (נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh) with the person himself. It is therefore best in most cases to translate נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) as “being” or the like. See H. W. Wolff, Anthropology of the Old...