The Bible doesn’t say exactly how or when Peter died. But it hints. How. Jesus told Peter, ” ‘When you are old, you will stretch out your hands. .’ . . .Jesus said this to let him know what kind of death he would die to glorify God” (John 21:18-19).
When. First Peter places the apostle in Rome. Several Christian writers from early centuries say he died there-crucified.
Continue reading WHO’S WHO AND WHERE’S WHERE IN THE BIBLE (PETER’S DEATH)
The story of God asking Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac is one of the most perplexing and controversial narratives in the Bible. On the surface, it seems cruel and immoral for God to ask a father to kill his own child. However, when we look deeper into the story and the context in which it is told, we can see that it is a powerful metaphor for faith, obedience, and ultimate trust in God’s plan.
Continue reading HOW COULD GOD ASK ABRAHAM TO KILL HIS SON?
Jehoram was the world’s best-known fratricidal maniac. He waited until power was solidly in his palm, then wiped out all possible bloodline competitors. The crime carried little strategic advantage, and alternatives, such as appointing brothers to cabinet posts, might have been more effective in securing Jehoram’s reputation and power.
Continue reading HOW COULD ANYONE BE SO CRUEL AS TO EXECUTE ALL HIS BROTHERS
The battle of Gettysburg, the bloodiest three days in U.S. war history, saw about 100,000 men fall. The entire Vietnam war involved about 55,000 U.S. casualties. A half-million dead and injured in one day is a staggering sum, almost more violence then we can conceive an army enduring.
Continue reading HOW COULD ANCIENT ISRAEL SUSTAIN 500,000 WAR CASUALTIES IN A DAY?
26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them.
27 And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him,
Continue reading SCRIPUTRES OF THE DAY (ACTS 21:26-36)
THE PASSOVER is the Old Testament feast that celebrates and remembers God’s liberation of Israel from Egypt. After Joseph saved Egypt from starvation (Genesis 41), the Israelites lived in Egypt as guests. Eventually, the Egyptians forgot about Joseph and enslaved the Israelites for hundreds of years (Exodus 1:6-14).
Continue reading OLD TESTAMENT ORIGIN OF THE PASSOVER
MOSES
After Joseph saved Egypt from starvation (Genesis 41), the Israelites lived in Egypt as guests. Eventually, the Egyptians forgot about Joseph and enslaved the Israelites (Exodus 1:6-14). For many years the children of Abraham suffered under Egypt’s slavery.
Continue reading ISRAEL IN EGYPT
Jerusalem was not Israel’s first capital. Shiloh was-for at least a century.
A high plains village nearly half a mile above sea level and thirty miles north of Jerusalem, in Israel’s hill country, Shiloh was where Joshua and the Israelites pitched the tent of God, or the worship center called the tabernacle. This is where the Israelites came to offer sacrifices to God and to celebrate religious holidays.
Continue reading A LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT (SHILOH)
Peter gives much the same advice that Paul did in letters he wrote to a pair of churches in the same area: Ephesus and Colosse. Most Bible experts say Paul was probably in Rome from about AD 60 to 62 awaiting trial when he wrote those two letters. Perhaps Peter visits him there, hears what’s happening in Turkey, and decides to add his advice in a separate letter to all churches in the region. Silas, the man who helps Peter write this letter, is also one of Paul’s associate ministers.
Continue reading SUBMIT TO PEOPLE IN CHARGE
In the beginning, Eve was not her name.
Eve wasn’t even second choice for the name of humanity’s mother. It was third. Adam came up with it only as they were leaving the Garden of Eden, forced out of God.
Continue reading A LITTLE KNOWN FACT ABOUT (EVE)