The Babylonian Exile #5
From the time of Jeremiah’s call to prophesy until the time when Jerusalem’s walls were breached by Nebuchadnezzar, he had been Jehovah’s messenger to the Jews and to the house of Josiah, Judah’s final good king. The message of Jeremiah was to urge Judah to subject herself to Babylon’s yoke. Jeremiah was known by the […]
The Babylonian Exile #4
Judah’s exile in Babylon was an epoch. In its formative years as a nation, Jacob’s seed had willingly gone to Egypt and because they had multiplied so rapidly there they were viewed as a “threat” to the Egyptians, and because the ruling regime had changed (“there arose another king that knew not Joseph,” Exo. 1:8), […]
The Babylonian Exile #3
Hezekiah was a good king but the flattery of receiving attention from the Babylonian monarch led him to give way to vanity. He showed the Babylonian king’s messengers all his treasures and his government. Because of this, God sent Isaiah to tell him that that nation would carry his treasures away in the future, as […]
Seven Ducks in a Muddy Puddle
We all have heard about how to be cleansed from our spots and our blemishes, but still, there are many skeptics of the plan of salvation. We can compare them to a fellow in the old testament by the name of Naaman. Naaman was a very high ranking man: “Naaman, commander of the army of […]
Jesus and Authority
When Christ finished preaching His sermon on the mount, the multitudes “were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Matthew 7:28-29). Their reaction is important because it indicates to us that we should respect authority. We need to be told how to be upright, and […]
Why Did Uzzah Have to Die?
All the stories of the Bible have a purpose. Romans 15:4 says, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.” One narrative that at first seems obscure but gives us a very good lesson is found in 2 Samuel 6:3-7. […]
What Does the Lord Require?
The question was posed, “With what shall I come before the LORD, And bow myself before the High God?” (Mic. 6:6). The prophet’s response was, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your […]
What Disciples Believe About Baptism
An ad for the First Christian Church has ran in The Lufkin Daily News titled, “What Disciples Believe.” One point was “Baptism by Immersion.” This is true because it is what the Bible teaches. Baptism is a burial that requires much water, with the people going down into and coming up out of the water […]
The Babylonian Exile #2
Assyria, like a great river, swept southward into Judah, having overwhelmed Syria and the ten northern tribes. Earlier, Hezekiah, Judah’s king, had revolted against Assyria’s rule and now the nation was feeling the fury of Assyria. Isaiah had prophesied of this advance into Judah saying, “… and it shall sweep onward into Judah it shall […]
The Babylonian Exile #1
Likely no event in Jewish history was more momentous than the Babylonian exile. There are many “high-water marks” in Israel’s history: her bondage in Egypt, Moses’ contest with Pharaoh, the institution of the Passover, and her trek from the nation which had enslaved her, Moses receiving, then giving the Law and priesthood with a pattern […]