Isaiah 16:3-30:19

And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer; and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. --Paul the Apostle And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from trans... Read More

There is a great need in the body of Christ for consistent reading of the Holy Scriptures in their entirety, book by book, chapter by chapter, verse by verse. In this case we are encouraging a chronological reading of the Scriptures. Most of the confusion is created when certain teachers, groups, or... Read More

Beside (1839) (existemi from ek = out + hístemi = to stand) literally means to stand out from or to stand outside oneself (and thus to be beside oneself). To put out of position, to displace or to change. To remove from its place. For example Aristotle writes "you won't budge (existemi) me from my p... Read More

Darkness (4653) (skotia from skotos = darkness) means literal darkness in some NT uses (Jn 6:17, 20:1), but more often (14/16x) is used figuratively to refer to spiritual darkness. In every NT figurative use, darkness is contrasted with light in all but one passage (1Jn 2:11). As noted below "Darkne... Read More

Discernment (144) (aisthesis from aisthánomai = to apprehend by the senses, to perceive and in NT speaks primarily of spiritual perception; our English = aesthetic; the root verb is aio = to perceive) refers to the capacity to understand referring not so much to an intellectual acuteness but to a mo... Read More

Flee (5343) (pheugo) means to flee away in the sense of to take to flight in order to seek safety. To flee in the sense of to escape something, being made safe from danger by eluding or avoiding it (He 11:34-note, Mt 3:7, Acts 27:30). To flee in the sense of to avoid, shun (Webster = to avoid delibe... Read More

Mourning (3997) (penthos) means grief or sorrow. Our English noun mourning describes an outward sign of grief (such as wearing of black clothing) or a period of time during which such signs of grief are shown. As someone has well said we should mourn over sin as long as we have sin to mourn over! Pe... Read More

Do, done, did, doing; Make, made, makes, making; Perform, Practice (4160) (poieo) occurs 568 times, primarily in the Gospels and in a wide variety of contexts, which makes it difficult to do a simple word study. BDAG says poieo is "a multivalent term (possessing many meanings), often without pointed... Read More

Open Letter Dear Brother, I am most grateful for the two emails, very sobering, yet edifying in the assurance that God will do nothing except He reveal His intention to His servants the prophets (Amos 3:7). I believe you are seeing something that significantly coincides with my own impressions conce... Read More

In reading Matt. 1, 2, we learn, among other things, how the word of prophecy ought to be used; but we see also, how the carnal intellect treats it; and thus it furnishes a sound and healthful word to us, when we set ourselves down for a meditation on the prophetic Scriptures; for we are both guided... Read More