One time as Jesus was speaking to a crowd, he called his listeners an “evil generation.” Curiously, the only evidence that Jesus cited for that generation’s guilt was their desire for “signs.” At first take, this is a paradox, because throughout Scripture, signs and wonders are an affirmation of God’s presence in the world and of His work among His people. To understand Jesus’ negativity toward “signs”, we must recall the context of that story.

Spring is a season of growth and promise—illustrated by singing birds and blooming buds. During this time, nature is filled with hope as new life lays ahead. Yet, in this very moment of supreme opportunity, Jesus perceives something ironically debilitating his followers—worry.

Every Friday night, many Jewish families gather and welcome the Shabbat, or Sabbath.  At this weekly traditional gathering, God is thanked for his provision, specifically with blessings related to two elements—the wine and the bread.  This is, because the entire meal in biblical and Jewish tradition can be summed up by those two things—wine symbolizes drink and bread represents food.  

It can be argued that the spread of Christianity was empowered by its universal message, making it highly compatible in many cultures and languages.  Yet, that strength can also be a weakness, when the shifting winds of culture and language blow back on the original biblical meaning and context.  To safeguard the gospel message, a robust relationship with Hebrew and Greek are essential for the future of the Evangelical church.

Today, Israel is in the midst of a five-year drought.  As we are ending this year’s short window of the rainy season, consistently below average rainfalls threaten to dry up the legendary “Land of Milk and Honey.”  Historically, drought births famine, as lack of rain destroys agriculture and instigates starvation. 

There is only one story in the gospels where Jesus reads from the Scripture when he was in his hometown synagogue. At some point after the destruction of the First Temple in 587 B.C., Jews first began meeting in synagogues every Sabbath—or Shabbat—and reading from the five books of Moses. Those first books of Hebrew Scripture—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy—also known as the Torah, formed the core scripture readings in the synagogue every Shabbat.

The writer of Lamentations sits astonished. The unbelievable has happened. It is the 6th century B.C. and the holy city of Jerusalem is no more, and its temple—the House of God—is razed. The city of the Judean kings is plundered and left bare. David’s descendants have been murdered, raped, and enslaved. Bodies of old and young lie in the road; like an apocalyptic nightmare, the famished survivors wander the ravaged streets like zombies, even eating their children.

We all know the story. A rich man dies and goes to an afterlife of suffering. He returns to warn his equally avaricious “brother” about the torment to come. These rich men have spent their lives worrying about “the bottom line” while ignoring the needs of those around them. They have grown wealthy by their tightfistedness to the detriment of others.

Easy answers are cheap and abundant. They populate the web like gaudy road signs hocking their wares. Likewise, everyone has an opinion, and with the dawn of social media we get to hear them daily. The “opinion smog” that pollutes our emails and browsers makes it taxing to filter the internet air.