WHEN FASTING TURNS TO FEASTING Part Five
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.
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 cry of this age is peace, peace, peace! Men are looking for peace and security. They want job security, health security. and life security — a time when war will cease and universal peace will prevail forever.
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.
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…
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.
Like the keen-eyed Ezekiel, Joel was a watchman over the nation of Judah, The word of warning burned within him as a Jeremiah ready to come forth in prophetic proclamation concerning God’s wrath.
The Word of God is clear. A day is coming (we believe during the first half of the Tribulation period) when Russia is going to launch an attack into the Middle East to control the world oil supply.
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).
The twentieth century man can sit comfortably in his home and watch the devastation which war leaves in its wake – via television documentaries. He watches masses of humanity slaughtered and made refugees, buildings leveled…
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.
On a Jerusalem hillside a huge crowd had gathered to witness an event which would change the destiny of mankind. Darkness had filled the whole earth at noon, and it was drawing near 3:00 p.m.
“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.
Little did David know when he penned Psalm 22 that he would record more details about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus than are recorded in any other chapter of the Old Testament.
Long ago a church father articulated a most important truth about biblical study: “The New Testament is in the Old concealed, and the Old Testament is in the New revealed.”
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.
There are a growing number of Christian “survivalists” in our country claiming that the Church of Jesus Christ must go through the Tribulation. However, it should be noted at the outset that not all post-tribulationists…
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.
What’s in a name? Not much. some would say. The ancient Hebrews, however, thought that names were very significant. Oftentimes, a person’s name would describe his character.
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…
For many people, ‘hope’ is simply the balancing of probabilities. A man wants to play golf. He looks out the window and says, “I ‘hope’ it doesn’t rain today” – but he knows it might.
It was near the conclusion of His earthly ministry that Jesus confirmed the certainty of a future kingdom upon the earth. Intertwined with that truth was the promise that He himself would return to establish and maintain this earthly kingdom…
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.
The persistent cry of the leadership of Israel in response to Jesus’ message was for a sign which would confirm His claim of messiahship. Their demand was consistent with the prevailing view that Israel’s promised…
There comes a day among men and nations when the cup of iniquity is filled full — when the mercy of God repeatedly flaunted issues in the judgment of God (Gen. 6:5-7; Jer. 9)
The Apostle John had both a unique opportunity and a heartrending experience as he watched God’s prophetic program of redemption for mankind brought to its culmination.
Holocaust, Just the word strikes terror in the hearts of millions as they recall the television documentary by that name. Paraded before their eyes was a destruction of people unparalleled in the annals of human history.
The world is searching for a leader. After centuries of confidently striding toward a day when humanity could deliver all of the systems necessary for a Utopia, man is crying for help.
On Sunday, April 6, 32 A.D., the Messiah rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. That event has come to be called “The Triumphal Entry”, and is celebrated annually on Palm Sunday.
“The times of the Gentiles” is the biblical designation for a period of time beginning with the Babylonian Captivity (606 BC) and ending with the physical return of Christ to the earth at the end of the Great Tribulation.
To say that we are living in perilous days is no longer newsworthy or shocking. Honest and informed men realize that the planet Earth is coming unglued. Traditional foundations are no longer eroding…
“My greatest personal concern is what the Russians are doing under the table about all of this.” These words were spoken to me by a well-known Israeli government official shortly after Anwar Sadat’s historic visit to Jerusalem.
Every informed Christian should view the future with an attitude of ultimate optimism. Of all earth’s peoples, they alone have “. . . an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away…
This glossary is not exhaustive. Many prophetic terms, because of space considerations, could not be included.
The year 1979 is tumbling uncontrollably toward its end. For America, it was anything but a good year. Nor does 1980 hold out hope for a new horizon of opportunity and change.
For centuries poets, novelists and musicians have written and sung about a “golden age” – or kind of “Utopia” when the problems, pains and conflicts of this world will disappear and all will be happiness and peace.
When the body of missionary-explorer David Livingstone was laid in Westminster Abbey, a British journalist wrote, “Let marble crumble ~ this is Livingstone!” It is hard to conceive of living stone.
Two days after President Carter’s dramatic trip to Israel in March and the announcement of a peace breakthrough between Israel and Egypt, I had dinner and an extended conversation with Mr. Harry Hurwitz. Mr. Hurwitz
The whole world has been aware of the historic series of Begin/Sadat meetings that have been occurring since November, 1977 when President Sadat made his historic visit to Jerusalem.
Their mood was somber. The small lamps flickering from the table top and about the room seemed to have difficulty dispelling the darkness invading the scene. This should have been a festive, happy occasion.
Mankind is racing madly, unconsciously and unalterably toward ARMAGEDDON. Political paralysis, moral excess, economic chaos and spiritual deadness – these are not ominous clouds on tomorrow’s horizon, but today’s present realities.
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.
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.
And the Lord shall scatter you (Israel) among all people, from one end of the earth even unto the other; and there shall you serve other gods, which neither you nor fathers have known, even wood and stone.
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.
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.
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.
The land and people called Israel comprise a major unifying theme running through the Scriptures. It was Israel the PEOPLE whom God chose…
One day, perhaps soon, a man is going to appear on the stage of human history. He will successfully navigate a meteoric ascendency to international power…