This portion of Scripture contains what is commonly called “The Golden Rule.” It is a mistake to think that our Lord was teaching a system of ethics that will do away with evil and raise us to a higher spiritual plane. The Jews despised the Romans because they oppressed …
As soon as Hezekiah finished talking the Levite leaders went to work (vv. 12-14). These leaders gathered all of the Levites together and they went through a ceremony to make themselves clean (v. 15). Then they began to purify the temple according to the law of the Lord. The pries …
Zechariah began his book with a short speech telling the people to repent (vv. 1-3). This means ‘to be sorry. There is an old saying that he who will not learn from history is doomed to repeat it. Zechariah starts off with a solemn warning to the people to not repeat the …
Ruth was not from the children of Israel but from one of the heathen nations, the Moabites. God had commanded His people to have nothing to do with this nation because of their sinfulness (Deut. 7:3, 23:3). Ruth grew up in Moab and she knew nothing about living for God, instead she …
This passage contains Jeremiah’s anguished cry as he wept over the destruction of the city he had loved and he calls for the people to cry out to God (vv. 11-19). He vividly portrays five sketches of Jerusalem’s condition which prompted his cry:Of the starvation that had de …
Israel as a nation has not only been a scattered people and a sinful people, but they have been a suffering people. However, one day their suffering will be turned into joy. Like our Thanksgiving day in the United States the “Feast of Tabernacles” was a time of feasting …
We now move from a description of Solomon’s palace to a description of the temple and its’ furnishings. Bronze was used for the furnishing on the outside but the furniture on the inside was made of gold. The description of the bronze work of the temple makes it apparent that gr …
Paul tells how he kneels to the Father in prayer (v. 14), where all beings on earth and in heaven get their direction (v. 15). Unfortunately, many Christians have a very selfish approach to God in their prayer life. They are always asking, always wanting more from God. They want …
Chapter nine begins the second half of Solomon’s forty year reign. The nation of Israel had reached a high point. A magnificent center of worship had been completed and national prestige had never been higher. However, now that everything was completed, the drive that had motiva …
Paul returns to the subject with which this letter began – the eating of meat offered to idols. In expressing their Christian liberty, some of the Corinthians were living dangerously close to idolatry. Paul says that it is true that an idol is nothing, but the ones behind …