The Tree Of Life And Prosperity

One of Israel’s most successful venture capitalists uses the words and actions of the Hebrew patriarchs to lay the foundations for a modern growth economy based on timeless business principles and values. Entrepreneurs, businessmen, and investors are constantly looking for principles and rules that will pave the way for success. Usually, those at the forefront are successful entrepreneurs from Silicon Valley or legendary Wall Street investors. But the principles of economic growth, wealth creation and preservation were written long before the rise of the modern market economy and its heroes. Michael Eisenberg—one of the most successful venture capitalists in Israel, and one of the first investors in Lemonade, and Wix—reveals in The Tree of Life and Prosperity the eternal principles for successful business, economics, and negotiation hidden in the Torah—and shows their relevance to the modern world we live in.

The tree of life is an iconic visual symbol at the edge of religious thought over the last several millennia. As a show of its significance, the tree bookends the Christian canon; yet scholarship has paid it minimal attention in the modern era. In The Tree of Life a team of scholars explore the origin, development, meaning, reception, and theology of this consequential yet obscure symbol. The fourteen essays trek from the origins of the tree in the texts and material culture of the ancient Near East, to its notable roles in biblical literature, to its expansion by early church fathers and Gnostics, to its rebirth in medieval art and culture, and to its place in modern theological thought.

Since 1990 Roland Murphy's Tree of Life has been a standard introduction to the wisdom literature of the Bible. Now The Tree of Life is available in a third edition, complete with a new preface by the author and a special supplement that surveys the latest developments in wisdom research. This superb study thoroughly explores the wisdom writings of the Bible, interpreting this literature in a way that illumines the development of Israel's search for wisdom throughout its tumultuous history. Murphy looks at each wisdom book individually -- Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ecclesiasticus, and Wisdom of Solomon -- and adds to them a discussion of wisdom from other parts of the Old Testament. His careful investigations expose the various guises that wisdom adopts -- the "fear of the Lord," moral formation, the universality of human experience, the mysteries of creation, and others.

The book of Proverbs was written to develop skillful living and thinking. Its wisdom will benefit the inexperienced as well as the mature. The title of the book comes from Proverbs 3:18 where the father urges his son to pursue wisdom saying, “She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her.” The commentary opens with an explanation of the long lectures of the father to his son. Then each of the short proverbs are grouped together in common topics. This commentary covers the entire book of Proverbs.

Too often readers approach the Book of Mormon simply as a collection of quotations, an inspired anthology to be scanned quickly and routinely recited. In Beholding the Tree of Life Bradley J. Kramer encourages his readers to slow down, to step back, and to contemplate the literary qualities of the Book of Mormon using interpretive techniques developed by Talmudic and post-Talmudic rabbis. Specifically, Kramer shows how to read the Book of Mormon closely, in levels, paying attention to the details of its expression as well as to its overall connection to the Hebrew Scriptures—all in order to better appreciate the beauty of the Book of Mormon and its limitless capacity to convey divine meaning.

Ever wonder why things just don't seem to be happening in your Christian life the way you want them to? Or has your heartfelt plea ever been, "Oh God, where am I?" Checkup with God to see where you are in His school of maturity for you. We all want to know God's will for ourselves and where we are headed. II Peter, chapter one is a curriculum outline of spiritual growth. The steps start with "faith" and add one-by-one until we walk in "love." Most of us start with the Lord fired with zeal and spreading the Gospel wherever we go. Unfortunately, we do not always have the greatest wisdom on how to apply all the excitement we feel. We can indeed be a "little nut" for the Lord until He can mature us. An acorn begins life as a little nut and grows into a mighty oak. We can allow the Seed of God to sprout, branch out, dig deep roots, and grow us into being a "Tree Of Life" for the Kingdom of God. Not only are we blessed in every aspect of our life as we mature, but we have fruit to give and leaves to cover others. Every Christian can find themselves, and their church, somewhere in the "add to" list of II Peter. This helps in understanding where and why we are in the Lord. Finding our place in God is the desire of every Christian.