A shepherd from Midian and his brother stood before Pharaoh and demanded the release of the Hebrew slaves. Pharaoh was the strongman leader of the strongest country in the world. He ignored God’s command to release 600,000 male slaves and their women and children. Despite the demonstration of God’s power-the Nile turned to blood-Pharaoh returned to his palace and put “the whole thing out of his mind” (Exodus 7:23 NLT). Continue reading MEN OF THE BIBLE (PHARAOH: A HEART IN DENIAL)
The Bible does NOT condone slavery but recognizes slavery as part of the social structure of the times. Rather than attacking slavery directly, biblical guidelines weakened and undermined the institution from the inside by reminding Christian masters that they had a Master and were to treat slaves as brothers (Ephesians 6:9). For slaves, the dignity that came with freedom in Christ had a powerful long-term social effect. Continue reading DOES THE BIBLE CONDONE SLAVERY?
As a physical feature, darkness is nothing in and of itself. Darkness is instead defined as the absence of light. Synonymous with emptiness, darkness is used to describe the earth at the very beginning of creation when “darkness covered the deep water” (Gen 1:2). Out of this absence, the first thing God created was light. In the beginning, Scripture pictures light and darkness as balanced parts of a single day and night: “So God separated the light from the darkness. God named the light day, and the darkness he named night” Gen 1:4-5). Continue reading SIGNGS AND SYMBOLS OF THE BIBLE (DARKNESS)
The people of Bible times sang while working in the fields to escape from the monotony of farm work. Isaiah declared that the singing and gladness of the Moabites would be taken away when God judged them for their idolatry and disobedience. Continue reading BIBLE CUSTOMS AND CURIOSITIES (NO SINGING AT WORK)