This week’s phrase is from Genesis 45:18:
And take your father and your households, and come unto me: and I will give you the good of the land of Egypt, and ye shall eat the fat of the land.
Back in the days before dieting and obesity were problems, fat was a good thing. Fat was a sign of prosperity, and so to live off the fat of the land meant to live off the prosperity, the riches, the wealth, of the land.
This week’s phrase comes from Genesis 19:24-26:
Then the LORD rained down burning sulphur on Sodom and Gomorrah— from the LORD out of the heavens. Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities— and also the vegetation in the land. But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
Fire and brimstone is not so much a phrase, but more an adjective used to indicate something involves the anger and judgement of God.
This week’s phrase comes from Genesis 5:25-27:
And Methuselah lived an hundred eighty and seven years, and begat Lamech:
And Methuselah lived after he begat Lamech seven hundred eighty and two years, and begat sons and daughters:
And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died.
Really, really, old!
This week’s verse is Genesis 3:19 (again!)
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
However, in this instance it is the latter part of the verse which is of interest. The Book of Common Prayer uses this verse during its Order for the Burial of the Dead.
Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself.
Although, even outside the Church, the phrase is used widely.
Quite simply, we came from dust and we shall return to dust.
Q. What is adoption?
A. Adoption is an act of the free grace of God, in and for his only Son Jesus Christ, whereby all those that are justified are received into the number of his children, have his name put upon them, the Spirit of his Son given to them, are under his fatherly care and dispensations, admitted to all the liberties and privileges of the sons of God, made heirs of all the promises, and fellow-heirs with Christ in glory.
(Question LXXIV of the Westminster Larger Catechism.)
qrDl h ydFLoFaIUSy RXPVqs ItThis week’s verse is Genesis 3:19
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Alas, work is arduous and sometimes painful and we know it. We use this phrase so often when what we labour for is difficult.
This week’s verse is Genesis 4:9.
And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
Cain and Abel had offered up the fruit of their labour to God, Cain offered some of the fruit of the land and Abel the first lamb. God was very pleased with Abel’s offering but not with Cain’s. Out of jealousy, Cain murdered his brother. God asked Cain where his brother was, and Cain retorted “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Weirdly, the phrase is still used today for very similar reasons!
This week’s verse is Genesis 3:3.
But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
Here, Eve is telling the serpent that Adam and herself are forbidden by God to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This is where the popular phrase “Forbidden Fruit” originates. The phrase today can be applied to anything desirable which is deemed off-limits.
According to Merriam-Webster, the first known use was in 1605.
Almost four-hundred years ago on May 2nd, 1611, one of the greatest influences on the English language, the Authorised Version (AV) of the bible, was published. It wasn’t the first translation of the bible into English, and it certainly isn’t the last. However, along with the works of Shakespeare and the Oxford English Dictionary, it has been instrumental in forming the English language into what we use today. To celebrate the quadricentennial of the AV, every week this year, I plan to tweet a bible verse which has become a well-known phrase.
Q. What is justification?
A. Justification is an act of God’s free grace unto sinners, in which he pardoneth all their sins, accepteth and accounteth their persons righteous in his sight; not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but only for the perfect obedience and full satisfaction of Christ, by God imputed to them, and received by faith alone.
Q. How is justification an act of God’s free grace?
A. Although Christ, by his obedience and death, did make a proper, real, and full satisfaction to God’s justice in the behalf of them that are justified; yet in as much as God accepteth the satisfaction from a surety, which he might have demanded of them, and did provide this surety, his own only Son, imputing his righteousness to them, and requiring nothing of them for their justification but faith, which also is his gift, their justification is to them of free grace.
Q. What is justifying faith?
A. Justifying faith is a saving grace, wrought in the heart of a sinner by the Spirit and Word of God, whereby he, being convinced of his sin and misery, and of the disability in himself and all other creatures to recover him out of his lost condition, not only assenteth to the truth of the promise of the gospel, but receiveth and resteth upon Christ and his righteousness, therein held forth, for pardon of sin, and for the accepting and accounting of his person righteous in the sight of God for salvation.
Q. How doth faith justify a sinner in the sight of God?
A. Faith justifies a sinner in the sight of God, not because of those other graces which do always accompany it, or of good works that are the fruits of it, nor as if the grace of faith, or any act thereof, were imputed to him for his justification; but only as it is an instrument by which he receiveth and applieth Christ and his righteousness.
(Questions LXX, LXXI, LXXII and LXXIII of the Westminster Larger Catechism.)
After a lunchtime conversation with my work colleagues about the price of meat, I thought I’d have a look to see how much different meats actually cost per kg. The prices are a snapshot of the prices at Tesco on 24-Nov-2011.
| Beef | Mince | £3.28/kg |
| Burgers | £4.39/kg | |
| Stewing steak | £5.19/kg | |
| Casserole steak | £7.50/kg | |
| Shoulder joint | £7.50/kg | |
| Rump Steak | £8.61/kg | |
| Rib roast | £9.88/kg | |
| Sir loin | £15.47/kg | |
| Fillet steak | £22.98/kg | |
| Chicken | Whole chicken | £2.43/kg |
| Legs | £2.96/kg | |
| Thighs | £3.62/kg | |
| Breast quarter | £4.16/kg | |
| Breast fillet | £9.63/kg | |
| Fish | Mussel meat | £4.45/kg |
| Seafood sticks | £5.00/kg | |
| River Cobbler | £6.46/kg | |
| Whole trout | £6.99/kg | |
| Haddock fillets | £7.96/kg | |
| Cod fillets | £8.70/kg | |
| Plaice fillets | £9.17/kg | |
| Cooked and peeled prawns | £9.53/kg | |
| Raw king prawns | £13.96/kg | |
| Salmon fillets | £16.89/kg | |
| Trout fillets | £18.19/kg | |
| Scallops | £18.75/kg | |
| Tuna steak | £19.98/kg | |
| Lamb | Mutton mince | £3.18/kg |
| Shoulder | £5.00/kg | |
| Mince | £6.73/kg | |
| Leg | £8.99/kg | |
| Shanks | £8.99/kg | |
| Steak | £11.34/kg | |
| Shoulder fillets | £12.50/kg | |
| Chops | £14.15/kg | |
| Pork | Shoulder joint | £2.19/kg |
| Leg joint | £2.99/kg | |
| Pork mince | £3.00/kg | |
| Ribs | £3.36/kg | |
| Belly slices | £3.78/kg | |
| Shoulder steaks | £3.89/kg | |
| Boneless Streaky slices | £4.78/kg | |
| Trimmed rib rack | £4.99/kg | |
| Pork chops | £5.97/kg | |
| Smoked back bacon | £6.88/kg | |
| Loin Steaks | £7.71/kg | |
| Fillet | £7.99/kg | |
| Escalopes | £11.67/kg | |
| Medallions | £11.67/kg |
The Lord’s my shepherd, I’ll not want;
He makes me down to lie
in pastures green; He leadeth me
the quiet waters by.My soul He doth restore again,
and me to walk doth make
within the paths of righteousness,
e’en for His own name’s sake.Yea, though I walk through death’s dark vale,
yet will I fear none ill;
for Thou art with me, and Thy rod
and staff me comfort still.My table Thou hast furnished
in presence of my foes;
my head Thou dost with oil anoint,
and my cup overflows.Goodness and mercy all my life
shall surely follow me;
and in God’s house for evermore
my dwelling-place shall be.
Scottish Psalter, 1650
Q. Wherein consisted Christ’s humiliation after his death?
A. Christ’s humiliation after his death consisted in his being buried, and continuing in the state of the dead, and under the power of death till the third day; which hath been otherwise expressed in these words, He descended into hell.
Q. What was the estate of Christ’s exaltation?
A. The estate of Christ’s exaltation comprehendeth his resurrection, ascension, sitting at the right hand of the Father, and his coming again to judge the world.
Q. How was Christ exalted in his resurrection?
A. Christ was exalted in his resurrection, in that, not having seen corruption in death, (of which it was not possible for him to be held,) and having the very same body in which he suffered, with the essential properties thereof, (but without mortality, and other common infirmities belonging to this life,) really united to his soul, he rose again from the dead the third day by his own power; whereby he declared himself to be the Son of God, to have satisfied divine justice, to have vanquished death, and him that had the power of it, and to be Lord of quick and dead: all which he did as a public person, the head of his church, for their justification, quickening in grace, support against enemies, and to assure them of their resurrection from the dead at the last day.
(Questions L, LI and LII of the Westminster Larger Catechism.)
