Many brave and experienced soldiers came to Hebron (300,000) to make David king over a once again united monarchy. Every tribe was represented, including the Levites and both halves (east and west of Jordan) of Manaseh. The decision to make David king was one of total unity. All …
When Jesus and His disciples arrived back at Capernaum, the tax collectors were waiting for them (v. 24). Every Jew 20 years or more of age was required to pay a temple tax of half a shekel (Exodus 20:13-24). Apparently Peter and Jesus had not yet paid their tax for that ye …
Psalm 119 is the longest of the psalms. With 176 verses it is the longest chapter in the Bible. Every verse, except 4 or 5 contains a synonym for the Word of God. The Word of God is spoken of as “His Testimoniesâ€, “His waysâ€, “Your preceptsâ€, and “Your statutesâ€. It has an interesting …
This chapter deals with Human Relationships. Here we find the laws concerning the cities of refuge which were intended to save the lives of those not guilty of premeditated murders. There were six of these cities which were spaced throughout the land so that they might be easily reached by …
This chapter introduces the book by giving the background and preparation of the prophet. It opens with Nebuchadnezzar’s besieging of Jerusalem which took place during the reign of Jehoiakim, the eldest son of Josiah (v. 1). Jeremiah had warned Jehoiakim of an impending invasion …
A special divine revelation in the form of a warning was given both to the wise men and to Joseph in the form of a dream (vv. 13-15). He is warned to take Jesus and Mary and flee to Egypt (v. 13). The reason being that Herod would be searching for the child to kill him. The question might be, …
Ezekiel’s job was to give God’s Word to the prisoners in exile. Many of the events of this book are in visions that God showed to Ezekiel. These visions were pictured to Ezekiel so that he would know what to tell the people He witnessed an awesome visual display. It blew hi …
Jesus now moves from Tyre through Sidon to Decapolis which was largely a Gentile area (v. 31). It seems that He went north before swinging south and some think that this journey may have stretched into as much as eight months. This would have given the Lord a lot of valuable time …
The following is the outline of a message for this passage of Scripture I read from Brian Bill: 1. Keep faith with others: Don’t allow your relationships to rupture (v. 10). 2. Keep faith with God: Don’t unite with an unbeliever (vv. 11-12). 3. Keep faith with your spouse: Don’t get divorced (vv. 13- 16).
Jeroboam was the most idolatrous king in Israel’s history, the worst of the lot because of his powerful influence. Jeroboam’s son Abijah became sick. We are not told what ailed the lad. Prompted by this sickness, Jeroboam told his wife to disguise herself and go to Shiloh and v …