Biblical Studies/Theology

The Early Years

A look at Paul’s background as a Jew, a Roman, and a Pharisee. Beshert is a Yiddish word meaning “fate” or “destiny.” My late mother used it frequently when she…

The Road Before the Road

A look at Paul’s conversion experience and how God drew the apostle to Jesus Salvation should never cease to amaze us…

‘I Will Not Forget You’

Three critical, frequently misinterpreted chapters in the book of Romans reveal Paul’s tender heart for Israel. Romans 9—11 is often misunderstood. Some pastors…

Paul the Persecuted

During his 30-plus years serving Jesus, Paul endured much at the hands of many people in many ways. Living as God’s servant isn’t easy. The apostle Paul counseled his…

Introduction to Colossians

Although the apostle Paul penned the book of Colossians nearly 2,000 years ago, its message rings as true today as when he…

A Midnight Song in Philippi

The city of Philippi awoke one morning, unaware that change was coming. It was a bustling Gentile metropolis in the Roman…

Inside View May/Jun 2025

Christian Zionism is a question of which side a believer in Jesus takes: Israel’s or its enemies’. The growing belief that the Lord has rejected Israel…

Whose Side Is God On?

Many Christians sit on the fence concerning Zionism. But we can’t afford to ignore God’s promises to Israel. It has been more than a year and a half since Hamas…

God’s Sufficiency

When an army goes to war, its survival and success in battle depend on a lifeline of supplies. Likewise, missionaries who go forth to preach the gospel…

What Happened to the Tikvah?

As the coordinator for the Tikvah Team, The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry’s volunteer network, I am grateful…

The Ultimate Passover Lamb

When Jesus entered Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey shortly before His crucifixion, more was transpiring than met the eye…

One With God

Jesus possessed divine authority because He is divine. Some people say He never claimed to be God but He stated His deity plainly: “I and My Father are one”…

The God-Man’s Symphony

Like a composer conducting a score he wrote himself, Jesus orchestrated all the events of His death. It has been said…

To Calvary and Beyond

he resurrection of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the Christian faith. Jesus told His disciples He would be killed, as prophesied in Scripture…

The Contented Life

Contentment is a difficult word to define. It varies based on each person’s values and perspective on life. Some people believe pleasure, popularity, prestige, power…

Malchus’s Encounter With Jesus

Rising in the morning, Malchus didn’t know his time was near. He had no clue his blood would be shed that evening as he shared…

Salvation to the Nations

Salvation to the Nations

John “Hannibal” Smith, leader of the A-Team in the 1980s television series of the same name, always had a plan to…

The Great Delusion

The Great Delusion

In 1917, famed American journalist H. L. Mencken concocted a story that has never completely come undone. The fact that everyone…

The Path to Peace

Everyone faces discouragement. The Jewish patriarch Moses became so discouraged with the Israelites’ complaints for meat in the wilderness that he said…

Essene or Not Essene?

John the Baptist’s ministry and message bear striking similarities to a sect of Judaism active in the 1st century called the Essenes. Like John, the Essenes lived…

Jesus & John

John the Baptist is one of the strangest, most unusual, and most interesting people found in the pages of the Bible. From the predicted forerunner of the…

‘Why Then Do You Baptize?’

While preaching in the Judean wilderness, John the Baptist proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Mt. 3:2)…

Speaking Truth to Power

Celebrated Jewish cartoonist Bob Mankoff once said in an interview, “I know everybody wants humor to be subversive and…

The Death of John the Baptist

The wine flowed freely throughout the lavish banquet hall. The occasion was the pagan birthday celebration of Herod Antipas…

Steadfast in Unity

We live in a changing, decaying, unraveling world. A general increase in lawlessness and crime, government regulations, high taxes, poor education, and a…

Inside View Sep/Oct 2024

God designed and ordained marriage as the natural order of a man and a woman becoming one flesh. The first marriage occurred at the beginning of human history…

Do You Believe in Miracles?

Do You Believe in Miracles?

It was dubbed the “Miracle on Ice.” On February 22, 1980, the United States Olympic hockey team defeated the…

Marriage: The Beginning of Meaning

Marriage: The Beginning of Meaning

Genesis, the first book of the Bible, describes the beginning of everything. It opens with the creation of the universe…

Reflections of the Trinity

Reflections of the Trinity

In his letter to the Ephesian believers in Christ, the apostle Paul paralleled the marital relationship between a man and a woman…

The Christian’s Walk

The writers of Scripture often used the word walk to describe the Christian’s conduct or manner of life. The apostle Paul instructed Christians to…

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

Are Christians Eternally Secure?

Many Christians are not certain they will enjoy eternal life when they die. Some doubt because they have neglected to…

Israel’s 6 Steps of Redemption

Ezekiel said, “So the house of Israel shall know that I am the LORD their God from that day forward” (39:22). Israel will…

Israel’s Hope

The Battle of Gog and Magog will mark a dark time in Israel’s history. Facing a united attack from a coalition of powerful nations, Israel may feel helplessly alone…

One Thing I Do

Professional athletes devote their lives to the pursuit of a prize. They focus all their efforts on reaching their goals, putting aside all distractions…

The Million-Dollar Question

Israel is always at the center of conflict. Will there ever be true peace—shalom—in the Middle East?..

Paul’s Testimony

Contending for the faith is not easy. It’s an unpopular, perilous, thankless job. It is more pleasant to be an appeaser than an opposer…

The Truth About Sin

The world is filled with iniquity. The evil we see overtaking the world today proves yet again the truth of Scripture: “The heart is deceitful…

Why Blood?

Today we don’t associate blood with cleansing. In fact, bleeding is often the result of an injury or disease. So, it’s natural to wonder why…

Israel’s Reconciliation

Scripture places much emphasis on Israel’s reconciliation with God through faith in His promised Son. Beginning in Genesis 12, we see God working…

A Special Type of Fear

Most people fear something. Some fear heights, others fear wild animals, and others fear spiders or snakes or sharks. In Australia, where I live, you can experience…

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

Was Jesus Impeccable?

Theologians hold two positions on the nature of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness (Mt. 4:1–11). One position teaches…

The Great Forgiver

Corrie ten Boom couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was 1947, two years after World War II had ended; and Corrie just finished talking to…

I’m Forgiven—Now What?

If you have placed your faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, you may be wondering about the practical implications…

The Way Back to God

Few believers in Jesus Christ will deny that we have been swept up in a period of chaos and confusion that threatens the survival of our nation…

How to Become Right With God

“How do I become right with God?” is neither a Jewish question nor a Gentile one. It is a human question…

Words of Warning

Life is full of warnings. The Internet, TV, and billboards bombard us regularly with warnings, telling us what to think, believe, and do…

The Many Faces of David

How do you encapsulate the biblical hero David? The “man after [God’s] own heart” (Acts 13:22) was a…

A Boy Named David

My first encounter with King David came in a Sunday-school kindergarten class. We learned a peppy little song called “Only a Boy Named David”…

The Warrior King

The acronym SERE refers to military training for Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape. It prepares U.S. combatants for wilderness survival, enemy evasion, and…

The Sweet Psalmist of Israel

Imagine an aging, frail King David (1 Ki. 1:1) reflecting back on his life—his mind flooded with moments of joy and sadness…

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

What Is the Key of David?

The “key of the house of David” or “key of David” is mentioned only twice in the Bible (Isa. 22:22; Rev. 3:7). Possessing the key…

A King After God’s Own Heart

It’s easy to imagine the men who became America’s Founding Fathers in 1776 hard at work in the small east room…

David and Goliath

Hollywood often makes a mess of things when it takes on the Bible. Its multiple renditions of David’s battle with Goliath are frustrating…

The Jewish Temple Mount Deed

The most contested piece of real estate on Earth is the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Today, its 36 acres house a…

Paul’s Partners

The apostle Paul personally discipled several committed men who partnered with him in spreading the gospel. Most of them came to salvation in Christ during…

Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh

I’m sure he meant well, but the president of the United States was not supposed to kiss the Queen Mother of the United Kingdom…

Bridging the Gaping Chasm

What an experience it must have been. For 400 years, the Israelites lived in Egypt, a land whose gods were as numerous as the…

God’s Holy Mishkan

God’s revelation concerning the Israelites’ Tabernacle covers 50 chapters in the Old Testament, while His revelation about the creation of the world…

Patterning Christlikeness

Many godly men and women in the Bible serve as examples for us of how to live for Christ. They trusted God’s…

Inside View Sep/Oct 2023

Recently, I have had trouble seeing clearly. My doctor attributes my struggles with vision to advancing cataracts, which must be removed…

dove wings

Signed, Sealed, Delivered

Most people want a stamp of affirmation when they complete a transaction. All types of affirmation exist…

Nose and mouth of Jesus

In Jesus’ Words

For many who come to faith in Jesus Christ, the phrase once saved, always saved plays an integral part in their discipleship. For others, eternal security is a false teaching…

Unconfused

Unconfused!

Paul and Peter wrote 59 percent of the New Testament’s 27 books. Paul wrote 14 (some people believe he also wrote Hebrews), and Peter wrote two…

The Mind of Christ

In Philippians 2:3–4, Paul admonished Christians to live in spiritual unity with one another. Nothing was to be done within the church through selfish ambition…

Close up of a Jewish papyrus in a museum

The Enduring LXX

The oldest translation of the Hebrew Scriptures is called the Septuagint, usually identified as the LXX, Roman numerals that stand for 70…

Abstract painting of the Apostle Peter looking up

The Jewishness of Peter

Newsflash: The apostle Simon Peter was not a Roman Catholic. He did not consider Rome his homeland, and he certainly…

Abstract painting of an Apostle writing

Peter and the Gospel of Mark

It was well attested in the early church that Peter was the source of Mark’s Gospel. Papias of Hierapolis…

Close up of a Jewish papyrus in a museum

The Jewish Tanakh

Have you ever wondered why Jesus used the phrase from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah (Mt. 23:35) when He…

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

Q: What Is a Biblical Mystery?

A mystery is something that is difficult or impossible to understand or explain. It has a secret quality whose meaning is…

A Gold Crown atop an open Bible

The Gospel of the King

Many people are confused by the relationship between the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) and the New Testament. Both were penned by Jewish men…

Jesus on top of a mountain teaching to a crowd of people

Sermon on the Mount

One of the most often-quoted passages in the New Testament is Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Mt. 5—7). Delivered to His disciples atop a mountain near Capernaum…

3 Proofs and a Mystery

When the apostle Paul’s epistles and the Epistle to the Hebrews were written in the 1st century AD, the only Holy Scriptures accepted in the synagogues and churches were…

Spiritual Unity

The 6th-century BC Greek storyteller Aesop, whose oral tales compose the famous Aesop’s Fables, has been credited with the origin of the…

Icon of an open Bible. The Berean Box.

Q: Does God Really Know Me?

The answer to the title’s question is an unequivocal yes! God is omniscient and knows everything about your life…

To Live is Christ

An old martyr once told his executioners, “You take a life from me that I cannot keep and bestow a life upon me that I cannot lose…”

God & Money

The popular musical Hello Dolly! had many memorable lines; but my favorite is this one: “Money,” said Dolly Levi, “pardon the expression, is like manure…

Behind the Book

Reading the book of Esther is like reading a novel filled with suspense. Chock-full of intrigue, heroism, pathos, and deception, it holds your attention from beginning to end…

Ahasuerus

King Solomon wrote, “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; He [God] turns it wherever He wishes” (Prov. 21:1)…