True faith is not belief without evidence – but trust without reservation. It is neither blind nor unreasoning. Faith – the biblical kind – rests upon the revealed Word of God. Abraham is repeatedly set forth as a man of faith…
The twelve sons of the aged patriarch had arrayed themselves about his deathbed, most probably in the order of their births. Jacob had issued to Reuben his portion, i.e., because of Reuben’s sin he would forfeit the double blessing of the firstborn (Gen. 49:34).
“Gather yourselves together, and hear, ye sons of Jacob; and hearken unto Israel, your father” (Gen. 49:2). The twelve sons dutifully assembled. They arranged themselves in a semicircle around their aged father as he sat on the edge of his deathbed.
Perplexed had to be the feeling of Habakkuk when God answered his cry for justice in Judah. Most likely he sat in stunned silence contemplating the unexpected revelation from God.
The women of Israel came out to welcome their returning, victorious army. They cried, “… Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands” (1 Sam. 18:7).
God, where is justice? Why are You insensitive, indifferent, and inactive to the cry of the righteous? How long will You remain silent? cried Habakkuk, as he sat overwhelmed by the social and moral corruption flooding the land.
The old man gathered his strength and sat up on the bed with his feet on the floor. He sensed that the end was near. Looking back over a life that had its ups and downs…
Few verses of Scripture have more captivated the mind, encouraged the heart and kept the child of God pressing on in the midst of adversity than the familiar thirty-first verse of Isaiah forty.
Habakkuk’s name comes from the Hebrew word “Habkaku” which means to embrace. Ancient rabbinical legends were developed around Habakkuk’s name. Some believe him to be the son of the Shunammite woman (2 Ki. 4:16)…
“. . . how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! . . .” Hab. 1:2
Sick society is a phrase often heard to describe the moral degeneracy seen in American culture. Analyses warn that the tidal wave of moral changes sweeping this country could mean the demise of its social order.
To promise is one thing. To do what is promised is quite another thing. It would be wonderful if men could plan great things and accomplish them. But for most men, their word of promise exceeds their reality of accomplishment.
Whenever a citizenry groans under the burden of an incompetent political leader, they always can take hope that someday there will be a change. In a democracy, that change can come at election time.
The struggles and sufferings of Israel are well documented from Egyptian slavery to the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. Like an echo, the Diaspora Jew would face nineteen more centuries of anguish as the shadow…
There were two important figures that stood out in the minds of Old Testament Jewry. The first was that of a shepherd. It was a common sight to see them leading their sheep to pasture.
After most ministers finish their sermons, both preacher and congregation leave to eat a meal. It has often been said that since most Christians don’t drink and smoke, their biggest vice is eating.
Legally, he was the right man for the job, He was a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Judah and of the family of David. He had a right to rule over Israel.
Things that are very special often become common after a period of time. A young couple will often appear deeply in love but after marriage find their love has lost its zing and wonder where it went.
The Jordan River, which forms the eastern boundary of Israel, is one of the most famous short rivers in the world. It runs through a deep canyon, the southern portion of which is well below sea level…
Israel had just been judged for her sins. For seventy long years the Jewish people had suffered in Babylon. A remnant had now returned to Jerusalem and was struggling to reestablish the city.
Will God? What saith the prophet? Jeremiah said to Judah, “If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I [God] will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them.” (18:8).
Isaiah’s hopes were in danger of being dashed on the perilous rocks of human frailty and transience. He was about to stumble because his vision had been focused in the wrong place.
Judah was on the verge of expiring! Her spiritual chart read: head sick, heart faint, body full of wounds, bruises, and putrefying sores. From head to toe there was no soundness in her, cried isaiah (Isa. 1:6).
The first three visions of Zechariah the prophet relate to external blessings. God told the prophet of a day when the Jewish people would be restored to their land. He also promised that the enemies of Israel would be destroyed…
When man rebelled against God, he doomed himself to a restless, unending search for meaning to life and history. Throughout most of his existence on planet Earth, man has been plagued by three major questions…
The die was cast — the decision was final — Jesus was leaving. Israel’s tragic plight was now sealed. They had brought it on themselves. During three years of public ministry Jesus had pleaded…
In our first study in the Book of Zechariah we learned that God gave the prophet a series of eight visions in one night. These visions cover the first six chapters of the book, In the first vision the Lord did three things.
The Ark of the Covenant was the central furnishing in the Tabernacle and also later in the Temple of Solomon. It was a chest made of acacia wood covered by gold, 3 ¾ feet in length and 2 ¼ feet wide and high.
The Book of Joel bears its author’s name and means “Jehovah is God.” Little is known of Joel’s background with the exception that his father was Pethuel (1:1) and Luke confirms him as a prophet (Acts 2:16).
Discouragement was the mood of the day. Disappointment was in the heart of every Jew. They were disillusioned. If God himself had let them down, where could they turn?
Jesus is coming again. Nature impatiently awaits it (Rom. 8:19-21). Justice legally demands it (Mt. 24:27-28). Christians eagerly anticipate it (Heb. 9:28). And the Bible authoritatively proclaims it (Mt. 24:32-35).
We nearly fell out of our cushioned synagogue seats when we heard the rabbi’s answer! I had accompanied a group of believers from a suburban Detroit church to a conservative synagogue to learn more about Jewish beliefs and customs.
The trespass offering is the final Levitical sacrifice required of the Israelite. Although it is similar to the sin offering (Lev. 7:7), there are a number of differences. The sin offering deals with sin against God;
When Adam sinned he brought spiritual and physical death upon the human race. All die – rich or poor, strong or weak, young or old, schooled or unschooled – it is appointed unto man once to die!
Moses the prophet and Paul the apostle are the two towering, stellar personalities of human history. No son of Adam’s race, however noble, however brilliant, however benevolent, however powerful, whether warrior or physician…
If anyone ever had a love and burden for the Jewish people, it was the Apostle Paul. He not only expresses his love and concern for them in Romans 9-11, but also God’s.
“I have never before heard a message on Ezekiel’s Temple vision,” were the words of Dr. Paul Smith of Toronto’s famed Peoples’ Church, as I stepped up to the pulpit one Sunday evening not too long ago.
The coronation of an earthly monarch usually takes place early in life and commences his reign. For the believer, however, the coronation day takes place at death when he is raised to a higher realm of glory.
Mankind has done much talking about peace, but experienced little of it throughout the centuries. Someone estimated that in the last 5,600 years there have been 14,531 wars and only 292 years of world peace.
When the term Levitical offering is mentioned, blood sacrifice flashes across the mind of most people. True, the offerings in the the Levitical system were blood sacrifices, with one exception.
In the land of Israel a broad valley stretches thirty-six miles from the port city of Haifa on Mount Carmel southeastward to the Jordan River. This fertile plain separates the mountains of Galilee to the north from those of Samaria to the south.
The sacrificial worship of Israel is detailed in the first seven chapters of Leviticus. Every step was minutely revealed to Moses concerning the five offerings, from the animals to be offered to the duties…
We have seen Elijah as the man of the hour on Mt. Carmel. Thus far, Elijah has shown himself to be a mighty man of God who was brave, fearless and committed.
If one thinks about it — and I am writing this editorial to encourage you to do so — the birth and death of Jesus are uniquely ironic.
The Supreme Court had not yet banned Bible reading in the public schools, so there was nothing unusual about a Jewish teenager telling his parents that his teacher had read from the Bible.
Man’s redemption and reconciliation to God is the major theme of the Bible. The Old Testament reveals God’s provision for redemption through an animal sacrificial system given to the nation of Israel.
There were two kinds of Old Testament prophets: prophets of words and prophets of deeds. Of the former, the greatest is doubtless Isaiah. Of the latter, there has not been a greater than Elijah.
Paramount to all other thoughts in the Passover is the one of redemption. As Jewish people the world round sit at the Passover table every year, they remember God’s faithfulness in delivering His people Israel.
In the last issue, we were introduced to a man who came roaring out of the mountains of Gilead – a “rustic renegade from the rural regions”. This wild looking character marched into the palace of Ahab…
We live in a time when people are conscious of sports heroes. There’s a Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, a Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, and a Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;…But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles foolishness (1 Cor. 1:18,23).
The ministry of the priest was the focal point of Judaism. He was held in high esteem among the people as the one who represented them before God, made atonement for sin, and instructed them in righteousness.
These simple Christian hearts are much better than our Jewish clerics who think of their wedding fees . . . .
The high priest, arrayed in the stately garments of his office, methodically entered into the tabernacle to begin his day of ministry. Did it really make any difference how he dressed when representing the nation…
Put yourself in an Israelite’s position as you contemplate coming before the Lord to worship. Would you be able to enter into the tabernacle, kill the animal you have brought as a sacrifice, offer its blood upon the altar…
Daniel was a man of prayer. He learned early in life how to lay hold of God and be able to get answers from Him. He won many spiritual battles on his knees…
The high priest having meticulously followed all the required steps for ceremonial cleansing, left the holy place and slowly made his way to the brazen altar to offer the appropriate sacrifices for the Day of Atonement.
Clad only in a white linen garment, the high priest drew back the heavy veil in front of the holy of holies and was immediately enclosed by the glory of God.
In a spirit of reverence, we loose the shoes from off our feet, part the veil and enter onto the sacred ground of the holy of holies to gaze upon the small golden ark of the covenant.
Light from the golden lampstand illuminated the table of showbread causing it to sparkle with a dazzling beauty as the small ornately tooled table stood stately on the right side of the holy place.
God’s man was on the ground. The bolt of light that put him there made the high noon of a brilliant Syrian sky look like midnight by comparison.
On May 14, 1948 at 4:30 p.m. a dead nation was resurrected — Israel was reborn. Many predicted and millions more hoped that she would be stillborn. Four wars and thirty-one years later…
“I’ve been to the mountain, and I have seen the glory of the Lord,” would be the testimony of Moses if he were here today. Just think of the piercing words Moses heard when God thundered from Mount Sinai, “. . . Come up to me . . . .” (Ex. 24:12).
Four thousand years have extended their span between Israel’s birth, demise and rebirth as a modern state in May of 1948. This prophesied rebirth is unparalleled in all the annals of recorded history.
Under international law no Arab state, not even Jordan, has “rights”. Nor do they in any other part of Western Palestine. It was British Mandate.
Cut out for yourself two stone tablets like the former ones, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the former tablets which you shattered.
In May, 1948, defying both the natural and reasonable, Israel became a living reality. During the following thirty years little David fought Goliath on four separate occasions.
All of the provisions which God made with Israel were made for the ultimate benefit of the whole earth. This required the coming of a Messiah to offer the supreme sacrifice for sin; once for all;
Three streams are cutting deep channels through the processes of human history. The origin of each is faithfully related in the Holy Scriptures. Furthermore, their ultimate destinies were penned by inspired writers millenniums ago.
On May 14, 1948 Israel declared her independence as a sovereign nation. The next day six Arab nations struck against Israel with only one motive, “to push her into the sea.”
The rock Masada is an austere natural fortress located at the eastern edge of the Judean desert. Its extended summit mounts sheer inclines which rise abruptly to an imposing height thirteen hundred feet above the western shore of the Dead Sea.
The forty years Moses spent on the back side of the desert had not been wasted years. Invaluable lessons had been learned. Moses needed the weary discipline of those quiet years before he could obey the high vocation and ministry to which God was now calling him.
From the top of the Mount of Olives Jesus would have a panoramic view of the spectacular and familiar surrounding landscape. Five miles to the south and snuggled in the Judean hills lay Bethlehem – city of His birth.
For reasons not fully known to us, and in an unprecedented move to seek a solution to the Mid-East unrest, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt has broken from the league of Arab nations.
The radio voice was polished and persuasive — it was also disseminating theological absurdities. Upon listening, one would chuckle were it not for the fact that this revival of prophetic gobbledygook called British-Israelism has captivated the minds of so many people.
Six weeks ago I sat across the table from an official of the new Israeli government. He shared with the small group of those present his government’s concern that the United States was making a major shift in its Middle East policy.
It was a cold wintry night. I could hear the wind whistling through the trees as I walked my post. What I wouldn’t have given for a little warmth and a hot cup of coffee. Guard duty in the army can be a very lonely experience.
If I had been called upon to write the epitaph of Moses, I probably would have written, “Moses, God’s lawgiver is dead, or Moses, God’s statesman is dead,” or “Moses, God’s miracle worker is dead.”
The term “Christian” means “one who is a follower of Christ or Messiah”. As the title “Messiah” or “Anointed One” is a Jewish term…
The land and people called Israel comprise a major unifying theme running through the Scriptures. It was Israel the PEOPLE whom God chose…
There is a book in the Bible which is all about the rescue of the Jewish people from a threatened massacre. The villain is a man named Haman, who wanted to…
This is an age of humanism. Men are trying desperately to deny God and to deify man. The truth of God is being rejected for a lie, and men…