“When did destiny become manifest?” asks Ernest Lee Tuveson in his classic Redeemer Nation: The Idea of America’s Millennial Role (Midway Reprint Series) . He answers the earliest formulations of the apocalyptic American millennialism arises in the 1760s, best exemplified by the . . . . Continue Reading »
INTRODUCTION We want help making a decision, guidance for marriage and child-rearing, instructions about how to overcome sin. In response, God gives us a book full of genealogies, architectural blueprints and procedures for offering sacrifice, narratives of ancient history. The Bible doesn’t . . . . Continue Reading »
Isaiah’s account of Sennacherib’s siege of Jerusalem is organized in a neat chiasm: A. Sennacherib’s invasion and the Rabshakeh’s message, 26:1-22 B. Hezekiah goes to temple, Isaiah prophesies, 37:1-7 A’/C. The Rabshakeh’s boast is repeated in a letter, 37:8-13 . . . . Continue Reading »
Genesis 2:9; 3:6: Out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food . . . . So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. The word . . . . Continue Reading »
Human life is shot through with envy. Envy whispers in our ear about a neighbor who has slightly more than we do –a nicer car, more recognition, a prettier wife, more accomplished children. Envy wants to silence praise for others and grows angry when praise continues (Nietzsche). Enslaved to . . . . Continue Reading »
The Cambridge Alumni magazine this month has an interview with Professor Simon Conway Morris hos is proposing what the articles describes as a “radical rewriting” of evolution. His theory is that convergence - “the tendency of very different organisms to evolve similar solutions . . . . Continue Reading »
Some musings on God’s worldliness at http://www.firstthings.com/ this morning. . . . . Continue Reading »
The Lover calls his bride his “darling” (Song of Songs 1:9, NASB). The Hebrew is ra’yah , and this is the first use of the word. Of the 10 uses in the Hebrew Bible, nine are in the Song and always the Lover’s term of endearment for his Beloved (1:15; 2:2, 10, 13; 4:1, 7; . . . . Continue Reading »
Solomon’s first wife was an Egyptian princess (1 Kings 3:1). She was Solomon’s mare among the chariots of Egypt (Song of Songs 1:9). We can imagine Pharaoh showing Solomon around the capital, displaying his court and his stables and gathering his army to make an impressive military . . . . Continue Reading »
In his first speech of praise to his Beloved, the Lover of the Song compares her to “my mare among Pharaoh’s chariots” (Song of Songs 1:9). Among other things, the comparison evokes the story of the exodus, where Pharaoh’s horses and chariots are overthrown. Griffiths ( Song . . . . Continue Reading »
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