Dec 11 2022 21 mins 4
MICAH 3-4:
In Micah 1 yesterday we heard one of the sections of Hebrew poetry which is virtually impossible to translate and capture the same impact as the original. Micah— expressing his deep sorrow at God’s coming judgment, concatenated many place names— using them in a compound figure of speech based on the meanings of the names. For instance,
Mic. 1:10b NLT You people in Beth-leaphrah,
roll in the dust to show your despair.
The name Beth-leaphrah means ‘house of dust’.
For those following this plan in the GNT, Micah 1 would be a good place to open the NLT. The NLT footnotes do a good job helping us with the meanings of the names. That holds true until the reader gets to Adullam. No footnote for that one! Say, we’ve heard that name before, haven’t we? Who else hid there?
ISAIAH 51:
If you have time, go back to review Isaiah 50. God showed the thoughts of our Savior in advance of his coming in verses 4-6. Jesus’ resolve (alluded to in Luke 9:51) is shown in verse 7. And verse 9 might have been Paul’s inspiration for the last part of Romans 8! Verse 10 has been an amazing comfort to many with incurable disease or in hopeless situations.
REVELATION 3b:
One of the rewards given to the victorious from Philadelphia is this as NIV translates it:
Rev. 3:12a NIV The one who is victorious I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will they leave it.
That gives the wrong impression to me. “Oh, no, I don’t want to be made into a pillar and not be able to move!” NLT gives the right idea with neat economy of words like this:
Rev. 3:12a NLT All who are victorious will become pillars in the Temple of my God, and they will never _have to_ leave it.
Another part of their reward is this:
12b And I will write on them the name of my God, and they will be citizens in the city of my God—the new Jerusalem that comes down from heaven from my God. And I will also write on them my new name.
People get very concerned about the mark of the beast in Revelation 13. Observe here something that you will see throughout this book: EVERYONE gets a mark of ownership upon them— including all the saints, and even Jesus has a mark on his forehead.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
