Instead of coming to Jerusalem, with the Assyrian armies coming, the Moabites fled all the way south to strongholds in Edon, such as the city of Petra (v. 1), which was about 50 miles south of Moab’s southern border. From here the Moabites sent an appeal to the king of Judah to give them …
Satan seeks to blind minds to God’s light, fortify minds against God’s truth and seduce minds from God’s love (vv. 1-6). We need to keep in mind that throughout this letter Paul is writing to a divided church, and a church that is being seduced by false teachers. These false teachers charged …
Psalm 105 covers events up to the Exodus from Egypt, and Psalm 106 covers events from the Exodus to the Babylonian captivity. Like Psalm 105 this Psalm traces the history of Israel but for a different purpose. In Psalm 105 the emphasis was on God’s grace and faithfulness. In this Psalm …
As this chapter begins it has been 37 years since Israel’s first spy mission into the promised land and 40 years since the Exodus from Egypt. While the people dwelt at Kadesh waiting for instructions to march, Miriam the prophetess died and was buried there (v. 1). The peop …
Turning to the crowd once again, David appeals to them for assistance and support for Solomon because of his youth and lack of experience (vv. 1-5). This temple, he stressed, was not for a mere human but for the almighty God. The task was great and required a great amount of material …
King Hezekiah had faithfully obeyed the Lord’s instructions. At this point King Sennacherib of Assyria invaded Judah (v. 1). He attacked the fortified cities with the goal of capturing all of them. When Hezekiah heard that Sennacherib was planning to sack Jerusalem (v. 2), he and his leaders …
In Palestine, a grain of mustard seed was a symbol for the smallest possible thing. (vv. 30-32) Actually it was not the smallest seed known. Palestinian mustard seed is about the size of our petunia seed. However, this tiny seed when it is planted in the ground becomes a tree that …
Israel gathered 32,000 troops at a spring called Hard at the foot of Mt. Gilboa (v. 1). However, the Lord objected to this number and commanded Gideon to send those who were afraid back home which amounted to two thirds of the men (vv. 2-3). Again, the Lord objected to the size of Gideon’s …
So far, the first two divisions of Revelation have been covered (cf. 1:19); the things which John saw (Chapter. 1) and the things which are during the church age (Chapters 2-3). Now we come to the largest section of the book which are the things yet future (Chapters 4-22). From Chapter …
In contrast to the long history of temples in Israel, there will be no temple in the New Jerusalem. This is because there is no need for a place to worship because God and Christ are present and there will be free access to them. Jesus is the temple (v. 22) and the light (v. 23). This means the …