The Bible doesn’t reveal how Sarah (Sarai) reached when she learned that Abram wanted her to be his wife (see Gen 11:29). We’re also not told how she handled the fact that she was barren (see 11:30), though we could probably imagine how devastating this realization was.
Continue reading WOMEN OF THE BIBLE (SARAH)
Any priest could offer incense accompanied by some of the grain offering on the altar of incense. It is possible that priests offered incense by itself, although there are no clear indications for this practice (Leviticus 10:1-3; Numbers 16:16-18; Deuteronomy 33:10; 1 Samuel 2:28; Ezekiel 8:10-11).
Continue reading THE ALTAR OF INCENSE
Surely they should follow God, but following God requires that we observe and follow leaders who are following God. Mature Christian mentors help our faith develop and our understanding of God’s will to grow.
Continue reading SHOULD CHRISTIANS FOLLOW OTHER PEOPLE, OR SHOULD THEY ONLY FOLLOW GOD?
Make haste, o God, to deliver me; make haste to help me, O Lord.
2 Let them be ashamed and confounded that seek after my soul: let them be turned backward, and put to confusion, that desire my hurt.
Continue reading PSALM 70: 1-5 (A SHORT PRAYER FOR HELP)
[Jesus said] “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults-unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging.” MATTHEW 7:1-2
Continue reading LEADING OTHERS
The events that occurred at the Water Gate in Nehemiah’s time can be described as a spiritual revival. The people knew that God had made it possible for them to rebuild the city. Now they were ready to hear what else God would say to them. They listened intently. When Ezra opened the scroll of God’s law, they stood out of respect and anticipation over what they were about to hear.
Continue reading WHY WAS EZRA’S READING OF GOD’S LAW SO POWERFUL?
God always listens to prayers, That does not mean, however, that He is always going to answer them or necessarily be pleased that the person is praying. In Jeremiah 14, God had already made up His mind that He was going to punish Israel for their sins. He told Jeremiah not even to bother praying for the people. Furthermore, He told Jeremiah that He wasn’t going to listen to the cries of the people.
Continue reading DOES GOD BECOME SO ANGRY AS TO REFUSE TO LISTEN TO PRAYERS?
From a historical perspective, it seems that Daniel came of age at exactly the wrong time in Israel. He was born just in time to see his once-great nation fall to the Babylonians. As punishment for their centuries unfaithfulness and disobedience. God allowed his people to be defeated by their enemies. Daniel, along with other young, strong, and capable people in Israel, was carried away into captivity in Babylon.
Continue reading MAN OF THE BIBLE (DANIEL “UNSHAKABLE FAITH”)
In our eclectic, pluralistic era, it may sound arrogant to claim that God forgives sins by one way only, and that one person only-Jesus-speaks the truth about God. How can Christians be so exclusive?
Continue reading IS JESUS THE ONLY WAY TO GOD?
In the Old Testament book of 1 Samuel, we meet a woman named Hannah. She was married in a man named Elkanah, of the tribe of Ephraim. They lived in the hill country, in a little town with a big name-Ramathaim-zophim.
Continue reading WOMEN OF THE BIBLE (HANNAH “THE MOM WHO LET GO”)