Imperatives in the Bible

by Nov 13, 2009Exegesis

Just because something is an imperative in Scripture doesn’t mean it’s a command to you and me. Always read the context.

Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. (Jer 9:4)

Likewise, just because something isn’t an imperative doesn’t mean it’s not a command to you and me. The moral examples of Jesus and Paul, especially, constitute a command: Go and do likewise!

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. (Mat 9:36)

Read More 

Ode to Moses

Preaching weekly through Genesis over the last year or so has given me a much deeper appreciation for the literary artistry of Moses. We're in chapter 46, and I see better than ever that the themes of seed, land, and blessing are truly ubiquitous after chapter 12....

Loglan, Lojban, and Bible Interpretation

I thoroughly enjoyed Arika Okrent’s In the Land of Invented Languages. One of the stories that stuck with me was Okrent's description of how the megalomaniacal inventor of the language "Loglan" thought he could come up with a worldview-neutral language. "Loglan" is...

Moisés Silva on the Hermeneutical Spiral

Moisés Silva's essay in Revelation and Reason: New Essays in Reformed Apologetics offers a somewhat startling thesis: "My theological system should tell me how to exegete." (86) Many exegetes profess to come to the text sans system, but Silva argues that because this...

Leave a comment.

0 Comments