The Sabbath was once-weekly rest from normal business to worship and honor God. Those who sought to gain commercial advantage during this respite were not only upsetting the community’s economy, they were also offending God. Everyone knew the Sabbath requirements, so no one in the nation could plead ignorance of this all important rule. Continue reading WHY WAS GATHERING WOOD ON THE SABBATH A CAPITAL CRIME?
You’d think the almighty God could have figured out a better plan of salvation.
Something less bloody. Something that didn’t involve his Son on a slab. Continue reading WHY DID JESUS HAVE TO DIE?
Some Christian join skeptics on this point. They doubt Matthew’s claim about Mary: “While she was sill a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 1:18). Continue reading A PREGNANT VIRGIN?
Can we feel sorry for the man who invented murder?
Sure. Cain probably felt sorry for himself. He was the first child born into mankind’s fallen state. He friends a cursed land. It would have been a difficult life. He might have felt bitter. Perhaps he felt justified in keeping his best produce for himself and offering God the rest. Continue reading MEN OF THE BIBLE (CAIN: THE “FIRST” DRIP IN THE FLOOD)
Daniel’s survival was not the result of a force field set up by his strength of will or by compatriots feeding the lions just before he was locked among them. Daniel survived the lions because God protected him. Daniel’s friends survived the furnace because God protected them. In both cases, those threatened with death did not presume God’s intention to keep them alive; instead, they trusted in God’s deliverance, whatever the outcome. Daniel lived by God’s divine purpose-the only reason worth living. Continue reading HOW DID DANIEL SURVIVE THE LION’S DEN?
Matthew, atuthor of the Gospel of Matthew, was a Jewish citizen who collector taxes from his countrymen for the Roman government. After Jesus called Matthew to become one of His disciples, Matthew invited some of his tax collector friends to his home for a metal with Jesus and His other disciples. Continue reading BIBLE CUSTOMS AND CURIOSITIES (EATING WITH TAX COLLECTORS)
Continue reading SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY (1 JOHN 3:1-6) LIVING AS CHILDREN OF GOD
Trust in God is not a bargain we offer in exchange for freedom from pain, persecution, or threat of natural disaster. Trusting God means we don’t waver when things are not turning out the way we planned. Daniel’s friends told the king they Continue reading DOES TRUSTING GOD MEAN NOTHING BAD WILL HAPPEN TO US?
Gazing into someone’s eyes can make us feel as though we are seeing into the person’s soul. In the Bible, as in life, we find many types of eyes, including, beautiful eyes (Gen 29:17; Song of Sol 1:15; 4:1); prideful, arrogant eyes (Pro 6:17); lustful eyes (2 Pet 2:14); sad eyes (Ps 6:6); and desiring eyes (Zech 2:8). People who are seeking revenge take “an eye for an eye” (Exod 21:23-25; Lev 24:20; Deut 19:21). How a person judges morality is described as “doing right in [one’s] own eyes” (Judg 17:6; 21:25; 2 Kings 10:5, all ESV). This contrast with doing “what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (1 Kings 15:5, 11; 2 Kings 14:3, all ESV). The use of eyesight as an image is varied and far-reaching, but two main uses emerge in Scripture. Continue reading SIGNS AND SYMBOLS OF THE BIBLE (EYE)