Why God breathed into the first Adam?
As God creates man, He
breathes into his nostrils the breath of life (Gen 2:7). In ancient Jewish
wisdom, that breath of life is the ability to speak. Cherish your ability to
speak and constantly work at improving it.
A Land flowing with Milk and Honey
What is common? Both Honey and Milk are taken orally. Honey is sweet and Milk isnourishing. May our words be sweet as honey and nourishing as milk to build our
family, church and community. Uncover the Trans-formative Potential.
Abraham did not press the
snooze bar three times.
The task God asked Abraham to do in sacrificing Isaac
was a formidable one. Abraham could have procrastinated and delayed it but in
Gen 22:3 "And Abraham awoke early in the morning took his 2 young man and
Isaac his son, and went to the place of which God had told him". The
Hebrew word "and he awoke early" is vayaSHKeM. Since Hebrew words
that share the same root also have a shared idea. The Hebrew word for
'shoulder' is SHEKEM. To shoulder and waking up early must be related. Abraham
woke up early in preparation to shoulder the burden of his duty. He did not put
it off, did not procrastinate.
How could the wife of King David despise her husband?
In 2 Samuel 6:16, as the ark
of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal watched from a window. And
when she saw King David leaping and dancing, she despised him in her heart. Why
did she despise her husband? Ancient Jewish wisdom show the answer emerges from
the text. She is identified as, “Michal, the daughter of Saul” rather than as
“wife of David”. When she defies her father and saves her husband’s life, she
sees herself as David’s wife. (1 Sam 19:11).
Hearing vs seeing
To keep our balance without
falling, God made the balance mechanism in ears. However, our eye sees
everything upside down. Is there a lesson to learn? Pay attention to hearing vs
seeing. Paul in Romans 10:17 says “Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word
of God”. Idols you can see but cannot hear, God you cannot see, but can hear.
Prayer (Tefillah)
The English word ‘prayer’ is derived from the Latin term
for prayer, precor, which literally means “to beg”. Begging Yahweh to fulfil
our needs and desires, uncontrollably, in confusion, without though, rhyme, or
reason is not tefillah. Tefillah is derived from the Hebrew word ’pileil’,
which means to judge, and the act of engaging in tefillah in the reflexive
‘lehitpaeil’, to judge or to analyse oneself. Am I listening to my prayers?
Does what I say impact me? Have I changed? If we change ourselves, we have
changed our whole situation.
