ellauri156.html on line 365: This reference to Bathsheba’s “purification” is interesting and perplexing. The King James Version reads, “and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness: and she returned unto her house” at verse 4. The New King James Version is slightly different: “and he lay with her, for she was cleansed from her impurity; and she returned to her house” (note the change from a semi-colon to a comma, and from a colon to a semi-colon). The NIV reads, “and he slept with her. (She had purified herself from her uncleanness.)” The NRSV reads, “and he lay with her. (Now she was purifying herself after her period. Or was it colon? Only David knows, and Dog of course, but they don't tell.).”
ellauri164.html on line 597: Honoring God in leadership—as all Christian leaders in every sphere must attempt to do—is a terrifying responsibility. Whether we lead a business, a classroom, a relief organization, a household, or any other organization, we must be careful not to mistake our authority for God’s. What can we do to keep ourselves in obedience to God? Meeting regularly with an accountability (or “peer”) group, praying daily about the tasks of leadership, keeping a weekly Sabbath to rest in God’s presence, and seeking others’ perspective on God’s guidance are methods some lead­ers employ. Even so, the task of leading firmly while remaining wholly dependent on God is beyond human capability. If the most humble man on the face of the earth (Num. 12:3) could fail in this way, so can we. By God’s grace, even failures as great as Moses’ at Meribah, with disastrous consequences in this life, do not separate us from the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises. Moses did not enter the Promised Land, yet the New Testament declares him “faithful in all God’s house” and reminds us of the confidence that all in God’s house have in the fulfillment of our redemption in Christ (Heb. 3:2-6).
2