Most often, however, it appears that a masseba was set up as a sacred stone. In this case, the unnaturally placed stone or series of stones provided worshipers with a physical location at which to meet their deity. To this day, surviving sacred stones break the natural contours of the landscape, inviting us to come in for a closer look.
Continue reading EVERYDAY LIFE IN BIBLE TIMES (SACRED STONE “TO SET UP OR TO DESTROY” PT2)
17 And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree;
18 Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee.
19 Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
Continue reading SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY (LUKE 11:17-24)
The sheer unlikelihood of this event has caused many to interpret Jonah’s book as allegory or parable, not history as such. Indeed, no other account exists of a human being surviving such an event. Did it really happen to Jonah, and if so, how did he survive? Continue reading HOW CAN A PERSON SURVIVE SEVENTY-TWO HOURS INSIDE A FISH?
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?