Because most people in the ancient world constantly lived on the edge of starvation, obesity was neither an option nor, for most, something to be avoided. Only the rich could afford the luxury of being fat, and for this reason fatness became a mark of status and wealth.
Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (OBESITY)
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)
The prophet Ezekiel is addressed as “son of man,” a title used for him over ninety times throughout the book of Ezekiel. The title shows the contrast between Ezekiel, a man, and the almighty Lord. This name would portray Ezekiel’s human limits and weaknesses in contrast to the glory and greatness of God.
Continue reading WHAT DOES “SON OF MAN” MEAN?
5 And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;
6 For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?
Continue reading SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY (LUKE 11:5-13)
After Jesus launched His public ministry, He began to preach and baptize in the same area where John the Baptist was working. Jesus invited at least two of John’s disciples to join His ministry team. One of these was Andrew, the fisherman and brother of Peter. The other is unknown, but many people think he was the apostle John, the son of Zebedee. If John the Baptist objected to these disciples leaving him to follow Jesus, we see no hint of such an objection in the biblical account (John 1:35-39).
Continue reading JOHN CONTINUES TO HONOR JESUS
God’s final act of creation on day six was His greatest achievement. Now that the physical world was in place and He had filled it with animals and plants, He created Adam, the first human, to serve as its caretaker. The Creator account contains several clues that show Adam’s special status.
Continue reading THE ORIGIN OF HUMANKIND
Jonah stands alone among the prophets of the Old Testament. Certainly he was the only one (that we know of) to spend three days in the digestive tract of a fish. In the bigger picture, though, he was the only one (that we know of) to flatly refuse an assignment from God.
Continue reading MEN OF THE BIBLE (JONAH “RUNNING FROM GOD”)
1.And again he entered into Capernaum after some days; and it was noised that he was in the house.
2 And straightway many were gathered together, insomuch that there was no room to receive them, no, not so much as about the door: and he preached the word unto them.
Continue reading SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY (MARK 2:1-12)
For good reasons, some of which are associated with the universal male tendency toward sexual conquest. In general, the heart of a man will roam, while the heart of a woman seeks a home. Male sexual energy persists past female menopause, causing men to seek younger partners-or at least to be vulnerable to the temptation of doing so. The male by nature has no long-term investment in pregnancy; he may inseminate regularly with no time lost for childbirth. How are these biological appetites to be curbed, directed, focused?
Continue reading WHY ARE HUSBANDS SINGLED OUT AS THE PARTY RESPONSIBLE FOR KEEPING A MARRIAGE STRONG?
Generic term applied to a variety of skin disorders from psoriasis to true leprosy. Its symptoms ranged from white patches on the skin to running sores to the loss of digits on the fingers and toes.
Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (LEPROSY)