W. Graham Scroggie, the widely known preacher and author, wrote of Joseph, “…Of all Hebrew characters, he is the most perfect type of Christ. We see him in three aspects: first, as the princely son; second, as the patient sufferer; and third, as the people’s saviour. Was not Christ all this?”1 More is told about […]
Jacob’s prediction concerning Zebulun takes us back to this expression at his birth, for though a different word is used in the original for dwelling, the meaning is the same: “Zebulun shall dwell at the haven of the seas, and he shall give shelter to ships.” It is difficult to determine Zebulun’s exact boundaries, but […]
Judah was Leah’s fourth son and, at his birth, she declared, “Now will I praise the Lord, therefore she called his name Judah,” which means “praise” (Gen. 29:35). On this occasion the neglected woman apparently lost sight of her complaint and lifted her heart to God. The early conduct of Judah was not entirely praiseworthy. […]
Sketching the career of Reuben as a man and as a tribe, there is nothing that we can take hold of till we come to the act for which his dying father rebuked him so pointedly. Jacob knew his son well, and ascribed his sin to utter moral weakness. Such character expresses itself in acts […]
Judah typifies Christ as king; Levi foreshadows the Lord as priest. No one in Israel could function as both king and priest. The Pharaohs professed that they were sons of Ra, the chief god. Augustus Caesar became the chief priest of Rome. One king of Judah, Uzziah, aspiring to burn incense in the Holy Place, […]
A separate kingdom from that which the Lord established in Jerusalem, comprising ten of the twelve tribes, was set up under Jeroboam in bc 975 and its whole history of 250 years is one long, dark tale, unrelieved by the occasional gracious visitations of national revival which light up the annals of Judah. After many […]
The door would slam against the sultry summer afternoon. My ball glove would be tossed deftly into the cubbyhole behind the door and I would take the stairs two at a time up to the kitchen. Then I would spit out the words, “I’m never playing with Freddy again!” My mother had been through this […]
In John 14 four men ask four questions and the Lord gives four answers. It is interesting to note that a part of the Passover recorded in Exodus 12 was a question-and-answer period. When the children at the table asked: ”What mean ye by this service?” it was the responsibility of the father to explain […]
John 15 is the Lord’s teaching on the fruitful life. A barren Christian is an anomaly. It was never intended. The Lord said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (Jn. 10:10). Yet, sad to say, barrenness abounds in this dry and thirsty land of our […]