As I’ve memorized Psalms, I’ve spent time in deep thought as to the meaning. I plan to try to put into words some of those thought. This is my first attempt. Psalm 2: All you see is not all there is … This Psalm is interesting and somewhat obscure. There are hints on almost every line of something going on that you cannot quite see. Lines make you kind of want to read it again as if you didn't quite get the meaning. You might read it again, and then you will say something like this:, - ...

Introduction Romans 13 is a biblical truth teaching that human governments have been ordained by God. God desires order in society rather than chaos, and because of sin, chaos would reign (Genesis 4-11). Thus, as a part of his plan for the redemption of humanity, and until he consummates the end of time, God has ordained governments to exercise authority for a time. In contrast, Revelation 13 is a different biblical truth (given via an apocalyptic/symbolic metaphor) which teaches that governm...

Psalm 136 can be looked at as a practice passage for the new Hebrew reader. It, like a children's reader, has a repeated passage -- כִּי לְעוֹלָם חַסְדּֽוֹ׃ -- which translates to "His steadfast love endures forever." The rest of the verses are short sayings of God's work in history and in the nation of Israel. These are punctuated by the recurring refrain. Verse 1: "Give thanks to YHWH for He is good! His steadfast love endures forever." One can imagine the choral reading of the passage b...

The following two Psalms are very similar. Psalm 14 and Psalm 53. I turned today to read Psalm 53 just as part of daily reading. I think something distracted me, and then I began to read. I thought I had turned to Psalm 14 (which I recently memorized). After I checked, it was only then that I realized these two Psalms have the same beginning. I read Psalm 53 and noticed they are uncannily similar through the first four verses (in those 4 verses I think only one place where YHWH is used in ψ14 ...

Numbers 6:24-27 Aaronic Blessing & Promise) יְבָרֶכְךָ יְהוָה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ The LORD bless you, and keep you; יָאֵר יְהוָה ׀ פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ The LORD make His face shine on you, And be gracious to you; יִשָּׂא יְהוָה ׀ פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלֽוֹם׃ The LORD lift up His countenance on you, And give you peace. וְשָׂמוּ אֶת־שְׁמִי עַל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וַאֲנִי אֲבָרֲכֵֽם׃ So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them. ...

Shema: Deuteronomy 6:4-5 (w/ Lev. 19:18b ... i.e., "Jesus Creed") שְׁמַ֖ע יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ יְהוָ֥ה ׀ אֶחָֽד׃ וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֥ וּבְכָל־נַפְשְׁךָ֖ וּבְכָל־מְאֹדֶֽךָ׃ וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ כָּמ֑וֹךָ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֽה׃ Numbers 6:24-27 יְבָרֶכְךָ֥ יְהוָ֖ה וְיִשְׁמְרֶֽךָ׃ יָאֵ֨ר יְהוָ֧ה ׀ פָּנָ֛יו אֵלֶ֖יךָ וִֽיחֻנֶּֽךָּ׃ יִשָּׂ֨א יְהוָ֤ה ׀ פָּנָיו֙ אֵלֶ֔יךָ וְיָשֵׂ֥ם לְךָ֖ שָׁלֽוֹם׃ וְשָׂמ֥וּ אֶת־שְׁמִ֖י עַל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וַאֲנִ֖י אֲ...

The topic of Open Theism One imagination about how God foreknows all history. VIEWS ABOUT GOD’S SOVEREIGNTY There are at least 3 ways that Christians explain the inner-workings regarding the Sovereignty of God or the Omniscience of God as it relates to His knowledge or awareness of events in human future (i.e., events that are yet to happen - one might see a need to qualify that statement to say “events that are yet to happen according to our perspective in limited time”, but I am going to av...

On an earlier attempt to blog (on another platform), I created a post entitled, "The Atonement: One Theory Alone Is Not Enough." I saved my posts from that earlier platform, and I am going to include it below. However, here is a link to a much better writer than me. His Post is entitled, "Not a Binary Choice: Recovering the Full Picture of the Atonement." I think he says things much better than I. Here is the link: https://johndaniels.substack.com/p/not-a-binary-choice-recovering-the Below...

YHWH's Redemptive Suffering Royal Prophetic Servant Isaiah 52:13-53:12 13 See, my Servant, shall prosper; he shall be exalted and lifted up and shall be very high. 14 Just as there were many who were astonished at him —so marred was his appearance, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of mortals— 15 so he shall startle many nations. Kings shall shut their mouths because of him, for that which had not been told them they shall see, and that which they had not heard they shall contem...

YHWH's Prophetic Suffering Royal Servant Isaiah 50:4-11 4 The Lord GOD has given me a trained tongue, that I may know how to sustain the weary with a word. Morning by morning, he wakens ... wakens my ear to listen as those who are taught. 5 The Lord GOD has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I did not turn backward. 6 I gave my back to those who struck me and my cheeks to those who pulled out the beard; I did not hide my face from insult and spitting. 7 The Lord GOD helps me; therefor...

YHWH's Prophetic Royal Servant Isaiah 49:1-6 1 Listen to me, O coastlands; pay attention, you peoples from far away! The Lord called me before I was born. While I was in my mother’s womb, he named me. 2 He made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me a polished arrow; in his quiver he hid me away. 3 And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 4 But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for not...

Introducing YHWH's Royal Servant Isaiah 42:1-4 1 Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. I have put my spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry out or lift up his voice or make it heard in the street. 3 A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench. He will faithfully bring forth justice. 4 He will not grow faint or be crushed until he has established justice in the earth, and the coas...

I have something very different in mind for this post and some others related to it. I completed a course [Footnote:1] on Isaiah 40-55 -- the Second Section of Isaiah (this past summer, and I have been processing and studying. I have memorized the four Servant Songs found in this section of Isaiah. Those songs, I think, provide a key/outline (neither of those is quite the right word) to understand this section of scripture (Isaiah 40-55). [Footnote:2] There are, of course, many other keys to...

I'm taking a short, informal course on Paul's letter to Philemon. I've decided to make the thought questions presented in the course posts on this platform. This is the beginning. INTRODUCTION TO PHILEMON The occasion of this short letter (25 verses) is for Paul to write a letter that Onesimus will carry with him back to Philemon -- to deal with the relationship between Onesimus and Philemon. What we know about Onesimus is that he is a slave of Philemon (more details about this probabilit...

Just a couple of notes here. First, I have attempted to fix the double posting of THE FACEDOWN REPORT. I’m not sure why it doing this and my fix didn’t fix it. I’m not going to spend much time (this was just recreation for myself, yet I decided to publish). If I do figure out a fix I will fix it. Second, I apparently have a subscriber. So, welcome! I have no idea who you are. Apparently you can be as anonymous as me — or else I just don’t know this platform’s mechanics. If you wish to tell ...

Qoheleth is currently taking a snorkeling holiday in paradise. So here are the snorkel reports while I’m enjoying this adventure. I’ll attempt to update, but it’s not my biggest priority while traveling. 11 Saturday Arrive. Travel was good/uneventful. Check in. Walk beach path. Just touched feet to water once. Dinner. Bed early. 12 Sunday Morning Poolenalena beach. Saw 5-6 turtles {I’ll keep a sum total in brackets}. One can almost always count on good snorkeling at this beach, and always a...

Qoheleth is currently taking a snorkeling holiday in paradise. So here are the snorkel reports while I’m enjoying this adventure. I’ll attempt to update, but it’s not my biggest priority while traveling. 11 Saturday Arrive. Travel was good/uneventful. Check in. Walk beach path. Just touched feet to water once. Dinner. Bed early. 12 Sunday Morning Poolenalena beach. Saw 5-6 turtles {I’ll keep a sum total in brackets}. One can almost always count on good snorkeling at this beach, and always a...

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE EVANGELICAL? This English word evangelical is a Biblical term. It's Greek transliterated into English (Latin) letters. The verb form: <εὐαγγελίζω> translates to "I am telling the good news." This verb occurs about 53 times in various forms (for example: <εὐαγγελίζομαι> is the same word in the infinitive form) in the New Testament. The basic meaning is to proclaim, to address, or to announce good news. There is also a noun form: <εὐαγγέλιον> wh...

The purpose of this post is to show how a text of scripture means what it means. We often say that it just means what it says. Or we say that the meaning is plain. I want to respond that the meaning is clear and plain if (and only if) the interpreter has taken careful measures to know what that passage meant to those who originally were the hearers of the passage. A passage of scripture has a time, a place, a certain group of people, and a situation to which it is addressed. Knowing its mean...

I have a little problem with insomnia. It comes and goes. There are times I sleep wonderfully (at my age, now, there is always at least one bathroom trip in the night; I never used to have). There are times I don't sleep very well at all (thankfully, this is rare). Most times, when I have trouble, I have an hour, at least -- sometimes as long as two or more hours -- that I awaken and just cannot get back to sleep. I used to think it was related to work stress, but now that I'm retired, it's per...

INTRODUCTION I grew up Southern Baptist -- twice a day on Sunday in church (Sunday School and then morning worship with Church Training [originally Training Union so you can see how old I am] followed by the evening service on Sunday pm). We were also in church every Wednesday night for Prayer Meeting, as well as, for a large part of my childhood, again in church on either Tuesday evening or Thursday evening for “Visitation” (going out with our Sunday School teacher to visit prospects or ba...

INTRODUCTION All scripture is inspired <θεόπνευστος> by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16-17 NRSV). The Greek word (Theo-pneustos) means "God breathed." I don’t believe God errs, and I can therefore embrace the concept of biblical inerrancy. If God is who He says He is, then He is error-free and thus scripture is error-free. (Read on to get the full view that this applies to the original "autographs" of scripture,...

My Extended Bio This was originally my Bio on the header of this site. I have decided to shorten the Bio. Thus, I have made this post about myself (and why I chose the name Qoheleth < קֹהֶלֶת > . If You Met Me in Church or Somewhere Else If you meet me today and we introduce ourselves, I will tell you I am a retired school teacher. I usually completely leave out a portion of my history: the fact that I was once a pastor. I loved seminary, but the pastorate was very difficult for me...