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A careful consideration of the various texts in the Old Testament that mention the "angel of the LORD" (KJV) or the "angel of Jehovah" (ASV) reveals that this being was not of the ordinary angel class. The Angel of Jehovah promised to multiply Hagar's seed, and she confessed, "You are a God who s...
Biblical chronology has to do with the relationship of the events recorded in Scripture to specific dates. Some events are a bit ambiguous in terms of date. Others are more precise. While the Bible does not provide a precise date for the world's creation, two things are clear. • Human history ext...
This word derives from the Latin term rapio, "to snatch." The corresponding Greek expression is harpazo, signifying "caught up" (cf. 2 Cor. 12:2, 4) or "caught away" (Acts 8:39). At the time of Christ's return to raise the dead (Jn. 5:28-29; Acts 24:15), the Lord's people will be "caught up" to b...
This theory attempts to reconcile the six days of creation activity (Gen. 1) with the billions of years required by evolutionary chronology. However, there is overwhelming evidence that the "days" in Genesis 1 are ordinary solar days. Moses, who wrote the entire Pentateuch, viewed the creation da...
Luke wrote the Book of Acts. He addressed it to Theophilus, a Gentile Christian official. The aim of the narrative is to record the establishment of the church of Christ on the day of Pentecost (see reference) and the spread of the Christian movement throughout the ancient world -- all the way to...
A Jewish historian who lived around A.D. 37-103. He was initially a resistor against the Roman invasion of Judaea (A.D. 70), but he surrendered eventually. He went to Rome where he was commissioned to write a history of the Jewish people. He mentions both John the Baptist and Jesus. Of Christ he ...
This book surveys some 424 years, from the beginning of Solomon's reign to the edict from the Persian king, Cyrus, to free the Jews. Cyrus commissioned the Jews to return from the Babylonian captivity to re-establish their dominion in Canaan. He even furnished the financing for the project. The b...
The Hebrew term yom, with its Greek equivalent, hemera, typically signifies a unit of time determined by the full rotation of the Earth upon its axis. That is its meaning in Genesis 1, concerning the "days" of the creation week. Exodus 20:11 makes this clear, as its meaning is the same as the Sab...
The Greek noun hesuchia does not signify absolute silence, i.e., absence of sound, but that which is tranquil, causing no disturbance. When Paul addressed an unruly mob, and they perceived that he spoke in Hebrew, they "were the more quiet" (Acts 22:2). One might say they "idled down" as suggeste...
The Greeks had several words that reflected various concepts of "love." Forms of three of these are found in the N.T. (a) The noun storge had a variety of uses in the ancient world, but it most commonly had to do with family love. Paul uses a negative form of it twice to designate those who are "...
The doctrine of hereditary total depravity is also known as "original sin" in Roman Catholicism. This concept asserts that all children come into the world with both the effects and guilt of Adam's original sin. By "heredity," therefore, they are totally (completely) depraved (evil). Proponents o...
Expediency is sometimes defined as the method by which a determined goal is achieved, regardless of the moral consequences. This is not the biblical concept of expediency. In Bible parlance, a method can be expedient only if it is lawful. In other words, if there is a generic authority for a prac...
This expression takes its rise from the language employed by Christ in his conversation with Nicodemus (Jn. 3:1ff). The facts regarding the "new birth" are these. (a) It is an absolutely essential requirement for entering the kingdom of God. Jesus said that "except" one is born "anew" he cannot e...
Jesus once prayed that God's will might be done on earth, just as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). Jehovah's will is what is best for humanity and what he requires us to implement in our lives. The Lord has the right to exert his will because of who he is (deity), and he can impose it in any way c...
The name "Jesus" means "savior." "Christ" means "anointed." These names suggest that this noble person was "anointed" of God (Acts 10:38) to be prophet, priest, and king, and indeed, the Savior of the world (Matthew 1:21). The following facts about Jesus are paramount: • He existed eternally as t...
Repentance has a variety of uses in the Scriptures. (a) One form of "repentance" is simply a feeling of remorse. It was in this sense that Judas "repented" (Mt. 27:3) just before he hanged himself and perished eternally (Jn. 17:12). (b) Valid repentance is a "change of mind" that results in a cha...
This is Paul's first letter to his convert, Timothy, who was from the city of Lystra (Acts 16:1). It appears to have been written after Paul's release from his initial Roman imprisonment (Acts 28). Timothy was a frequent traveling companion of Paul. The apostle warns the young evangelist about fa...
"The Lord's supper" is the name Paul gives to the memorial meal of bread and fruit of the vine that Christians eat in remembrance of Christ's death. The expression appears only once in the New Testament (1 Corinthians 11:20). The word rendered "Lord's" (kuriakos) means "belonging to the Lord." It...
This book contains the historical record of the change in Israel's form of government from judges to that of the kings. The nation, in an act of rejecting God, desired a king to be like their pagan neighbors (1 Sam. 8:4ff). The book spans more than a century, from the birth of Samuel to the death...
The Greek term palingenesia consists of two components. Palin means "again, back," and genesis, denotes "to become, come about, birth." The word thus signifies a rebirth or a renewal. The actual word is found but twice in the N.T., though the idea is suggested frequently. (a) In Titus 3:5 the wor...