MIND (set)

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.  (Romans 8:5)

Having expounded on the doctrines of justification, sanctification and glorification, the apostle Paul now reaches a wonderful conclusion: for all who submit themselves to the authority of Jesus, there is no punishment, having been freed from prison of sin and death, which is the inevitable and inescapable fate of all humanity without divine intervention.

This means a new mindset, one that seeks to please Jesus as opposed to one set on self-gratification.  Paul’s Greek employs one noun, φρόνημα (phronéma) to cover the composite ‘mind-set’ of the translation (ESV) and it literally means being governed from within, impelled by personal insight, or more colloquially ‘going with your gut’. 

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ARK

 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood.  Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. (Genesis 6:14)

Jesus says that 

The word translated ark is תֵּבָה tebah and it means a box or chest, which is why it came to English translations in this fashion; ‘ark’ derives from the Anglo Saxon ærc for casket – as clearly, God only tasks Noah to build a sea-worthy vessel, not a boat or ship.

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POINTLESS

Pointless! Pointless! says Kohelet. Utterly meaningless! Nothing matters!  

(Ecclesiastes 1:2; Complete Jewish Bible)

Ecclesiastes stands with Job as wisdom literature within the sacred Hebrew Scripture which aims is to examine the human condition; however, they differ in that while Job remains committed to his faith in God, the author of Ecclesiastes ‘Kohelet’ is almost atheistic in his scepticism, beginning with the famous nihilistic declaration that all is pointless.

‘Pointless’ translates הֶבֶל hebel, which is ‘vapour’, literally the breath that condenses in cold air; figuratively it stands for something ephemeral, insubstantial and meaningless.  

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