Solomon says there is “a time of war” (Eccl 3:8) but some people aren’t ready when it comes. After the priest had rallied the troops, calling them to keep their hopes in God, “Then the officers shall speak to the people” (Deut 20:5). Israel to this day has a very small standing army. When war […]
They say that if blood was indelible, Jerusalem, the “city of peace,” would be red, all red. Few other nations, if any, have faced more warfare than Israel. The land they occupied was at the crossroads of the ancient world, with the superpowers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Nubia to the south and Chaldea, Assyria and […]
Here are God’s principles for the courts: honesty, corroboration, inquiry, fair sentencing. As important as being straight about boundary lines, God’s people also need to be straight about telling the truth. In Israel, false testimony could be as fatal as a knife to the heart. That’s why “by the mouth of two or three witnesses […]
“Ask for the old paths, where the good way is, and walk in it; then you will find rest for your souls” (Jer 6:16). After discussing the difference between murder and manslaughter, and taking a life, it hardly seem important to talk about taking land, but that’s the next subject. “You shall not remove your […]
“But thus the eternal counsel ran: ‘Almighty love, arrest that man!’” (Jehoida Brewer) So there they were—six cities strategically placed throughout the Promised Land, three on each side of the River Jordan. God told them, “You shall prepare roads for yourself” (Deut 19:3), to provide good accessibility to the cities. A man fleeing the avenger […]
We’re using this title because we had an earlier tour of them when we studied Numbers 35. Why did God arrange for Israel’s six cities of refuge? He wanted problems resolved. Since He was the giver of life and people were made in His image, anyone who maliciously took another life forfeited his own. On […]
Read More… from January 13, 2023 — Revisiting The Cities Of Refuge
No other volume claiming to be a holy book provides the ironclad proof of fulfilled prophecies. Let’s have one more lesson on God’s prophets. First, we should distinguish between their role in forthtelling, or speaking in a forthright way about present conditions, and foretelling—predicting future events. Both were vital to the nation. Israel, unlike the […]
Read More… from January 12, 2023 — The Themes Of The Prophets
“Do not believe every spirit…because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 Jn 4:1). The word “prophet” comes from the Hebrew root naba’ meaning to speak by inspiration. The Lord was deeply concerned that the people could trust everything He said, including what He communicated through men. He knew that those who […]