“A little leaven leavens the whole lump” (Galatians 5:9 ESV). Paul used a proverb about leaven to warn the Galatian believers about the corrupting influence of legalism. Leaven was essentially yeast, often preserved in a small piece of fermented dough from an earlier batch. When that small piece was kneaded into fresh dough, the yeast

“Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way” (Proverbs 23:19 ESV). Solomon urged his son to do more than merely listen to wise instruction. Biblical hearing was meant to lead to obedience. The emphatic sense of “you” suggested, “Whatever others may choose, you listen.” The goal was not simply to

“Jacob shall take root, Israel shall blossom and put forth shoots and fill the whole world with fruit” (Isaiah 27:6 ESV). Isaiah spoke to a people who had known judgment, scattering, and discipline. Yet he looked ahead to a day when Jacob would once again “take root.” Israel would not merely survive. God would restore

“My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right” (Proverbs 23:15–16 ESV). The wisdom teacher had just instructed his son concerning the necessity of loving discipline. Now he revealed the goal of that discipline. He did not merely want

“Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol” (Proverbs 23:13–14 ESV). Solomon taught his son that loving parents must not confuse withholding correction with showing love. The “rod” pictured deliberate, measured

“Surely there is a reward for the righteous; surely there is a God who judges on earth” (Psalm 58:11 ESV). David wrote Psalm 58 against corrupt rulers or judges who had been entrusted with authority but instead used it to “deal out violence.” The psalm’s severe language of judgment can be difficult for us to

“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!” (Isaiah 14:12 ESV). Isaiah spoke to Judah concerning the future fall of Babylon long before Babylon had carried Judah into captivity and before Cyrus conquered that mighty empire. In

“In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples, of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious” (Isaiah 11:10 ESV). Isaiah spoke to Judah during a time when other powerful nations threatened to dominate them. At the end of Isaiah 10, Assyria appeared

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone” (Isaiah 9:2 ESV). Isaiah had just described Israel’s condition with the words “distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish” (Isaiah 8:22). The northern territories of Zebulun and Naphtali had been

“When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you, and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food” (Proverbs 23:1–3 ESV). Solomon warned his son about the dangers of sitting at the table of a