Implicit is a sense of stability; a properly cultivated vine and fig tree meant life in one place.
Shechem’s actions were driven by where his heart was. That inhibited his ability (and willingness) to listen to Dinah, to see her resistance and accept it.
Because our sins live in the dark, we don’t see them unless we turn the light on.
A cloud of perfect people might make me feel self-conscious. But a cloud of faithful witnesses who are just like me—that sustains me.
Jesus famously cries out from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Why did he say this?
Reading the Bible is difficult, so while from one perspective we can happily say “I learn new things every time!”, seen another way we may sadly think, “Why did I miss that last time?”
One of the best gifts we have to help us process emotional pain is Psalms.
There are a host of women in the Bible who experienced horrible things before their lives improved.
This Proverbs 31 woman is completely consistent with the growth in Christ-likeness that God predestined for all of us.
Some Christians may think, since there is only one God, that he was angry and vengeful in the Old Testament but loving and compassionate in the New.