“‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you.  If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will […]

Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”-Exodus 20:20 Today’s post marks the completion of my treatment of the 10 Words of God, and boy what a roller coaster ride that was! I don’t know about […]

In my last post, I said that the English language (or maybe it’s just the Western mindset) makes too sharp of a distinction between one’s thought life and one’s actions. I also said that in Hebrew, words meaning “strong desire” while not being 100% equal to “taking action to fulfill the desire” are much more closely […]

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” -Exodus 20:17 Up until now, all of the preceding Words of God have dealt with persons— their lives, their marriages, their freedom, and their legal […]

The question I want to explore today is who is the “neighbor” mentioned in the 9th Word of God of “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor”? See, this commandment is the first to explicitly identify the person to whom an Israelite adult male has an obligation, his “neighbor”. Well, the short, quick, and […]