“Avodah”, one of the key Hebrew words for “work,” also means “worship.” Jonathan Sachs, former Chief Rabbi in Britain, writes about Exodus 1:13-14: ‘These two verses contain the word avodah in one form or another five times. Translated more literally, they read: The Egyptians made the Israelites labour with crushing rigour. They embittered their lives…
This is the second in a series of 3 posts about a trip to the Holy Land. In my first post, I wrote: “My strongest initial impressions from this trip might be summarised with the words ordinary, familiar and radical.” I was surprised by how small the land is. Places whose names are familiar from…
I was privileged to spend two weeks in the Holy Land with my wife and sons in March 2023. We were guided by Brian and Peri Zahnd (pastors of Word of Life Church in St Joseph, Missouri) and Jack Sara (Palestinian native of Jerusalem and president of Bethlehem Bible College). Over 8 days they took…
The “Holy Land” is home to more than 12 million people and a significant place for at least the half of humanity that is Jewish, Christian or Muslim. It is a beautiful and conflicted land treasured by so many. I am mindful that I am neither a native nor a resident of the land, nor…
In order to add billions to the UK’s GDP, the Government wants to double the number of 14-15 year olds who study a foreign language at school, primarily through investing £14.9 million in a Centre of Excellence to: “Improve standards of language teaching across the country in line with the teaching methods set out in…
An additional 10% of pupils learning Chinese at school would increase the UK’s GDP by £12 billion Joint research by RAND and the University of Cambridge projects that an additional 10% of pupils learning Spanish, French, Arabic or Chinese at school would increase the UK’s GDP by £9-12 billion/language over 30 years. (1) (2) The…
“Pilgrim” comes from the Latin word “peregrinus,” meaning “foreigner” – literally, someone walking “through” (per-) the “fields” (ager). Being foreigners on a journey is a recurring theme in Scripture. We are citizens of a kingdom that is not yet fully here, and we should never feel entirely settled until it is. So we read that the…
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you…
“El Shaddai” is a name of God that occurs 48 times in the Bible and is usually translated as “God Almighty.” There is debate around the origins of “Shaddai,” but contenders for the etymological root are words for “mountain”, “wilderness”, “strength” or “breast”. It is also suggested the name may come from a mountain in…
Psalm 105 praises God’s faithfulness to His covenant with Abraham, which he reaffirmed to his son Isaac and grandson Jacob and thus to his descendants – the people of Israel. This covenant is summarised in verse 11: “To you I will give the land of Canaan as your portion for an inheritance.” So does the land of…