Sometimes good motives moves us to do bad things.
Jehoshaphat was a good king of Judah who strengthened his cities and his army to the point that the surrounding kings feared to attack. He then sent his officers throughout the country with Levites and priests to teach his people the law of the Lord. Continue reading MEN OF THE BIBLE (JEHOSHAPHAT: BAD COMPANY)
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?
Nothing humbles likes utter humiliation. Ever though Nebuchadnezzar was impressed with God’s power in the furnace incident, he did not come to terms with his own standing before God. His pride and position caused him to accept the worship of others as if he were a god. Continue reading WHY DID KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR LOSE HIS MENTAL HEALTH?
Nehemiah describes himself as “the king’s” cup-bearer” (Nehemiah 1:11). That’s a palace servant who brings the king his wine, after tasting it to make sure no one has spiked it with poison. Continue reading MORE THAN THE KING’S WINE TASTER
While Ahasuerus was entertaining his royal officials (see notes on Esther 1:8), his queen, Vashti, was serving as hostess at a feast for the wives of these men, Separation of men and women at such royal events must have been the normal practice in the Persian court. Continue reading SEPARATION OF PERSIAN WOMEN
David was one of the greatest heroes of the Bible and a man after God’s heart. But, let’s face it, when he had a man killed so he could take his wife, he failed big time.
Uriah the Hittite was a good man and a loyal soldier. He didn’t deserve to die because another man couldn’t control his passions. Bathsheba didn’t deserve to be made a widow by her king. Continue reading MEN OF THE BIBLE (DAVID: AFTER GOD’S FORGIVING HERAT)
Depending on how the original words are translated, Jesus received visitors who could be referred to as wise men, magi, or astrologers. We don’t know names, how far they traveled, or how many arrived. We usually think there were three of them because they brought three gifts, but there could have been more. Continue reading MEN OF THE BIBLE “THE WISE MEN” HONORING THE KING
In a few places in the Bibles, the term beast is used in its modern descriptive sense of la menacing or mindless animal whose behavior is somewhat unpredictable. Jacob compared his son Issachar to a donkey or beast of burden (Gen 49:14), creating a picture of capacity and stubbornness as strong traits in his ninth born. Many biblical monsters seem to be mythical, or at least are symbolic of threats of God’s order and authority in the world. But unlike the monstrous beasts of surrounding cultures and religions, God retains power over all the beasts and chaos in the world, and will ultimately defeat them. Continue reading SIGNS SYMBOLS OF THE BIBLE (BEAST)
ZECHARIAH 12 The city of Megiddo (“Map 6”) controlled the pass between the Valley of Jezreel and the Sharon plain. Routes that traveled northwest to the Phoenician coast and east to Damascus were also controlled by this city Many critical battles took place at Megiddo, one of the most strategic cities in the region now called Palestine. An archaeological excavation of Tell el-Mutesellim during the first decade of the twentieth century located the city, including numerous layers of occupation. Megiddo was first inhabited during the Neolithic Age. The Megiddo of the Early Bronze I period boasted the largest known temple in the Levant (Syria-Palestine) for that time period. Excavation
In a literal sense, heaven is the eternal dwelling place of God (Gen 24:7), the angels (Gen 28:12), and the saints-Christians who have died (Eph 2:6; Rev 20:4). The imagery surrounding heaving in Scripture is filled with pictures of an otherworldly paradise, the world as it was meant to be in all of its original perfection. Heaven itself is not an image in Scripture-it is a real place, in the same way earth is a real place, in the same way earth Continue reading SIGNS & SYMBOLS OF THE BIBLE (HEAVEN)