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This is the title of a sovereign who exercises regal authority over a certain territory. The term is used in the following senses in Scripture. (a) Jehovah God is king over the entire earth (1 Sam. 12:12; Mt. 22:7; 1 Tim. 6:16). (b) The title is sometimes used of the political rule of certain ear...
"Heresy" takes its rise from the Greek, hairesis (nine times in the N.T.). Originally, the term meant simply "to choose" (Lev. 22:18, 21 -- LXX). Then it came to signify a choice, i.e., an opinion -- especially a destructive opinion in the N.T. (2 Pet. 2:1). The term also takes on the sense of a ...
The term "body" is used in Scripture in both literal and figurative sense. Literal user of the body In a literal sense, the term "body" in Scripture refers to the physical "tabernacle" in which the spirit of man dwells (2 Cor. 5:1ff). This human body was fashioned on the sixth day of the creation...
After Jacob had his famous encounter with the "messenger" of Jehovah (Gen. 32:29; cf. Hos. 12:4-5), his name was changed to "Israel," suggesting, "he who strove with God." Later, the name is applied to the descendants of Jacob generally (Gen. 32:32; Ex. 1:9; 12:3). When the kingdom split during t...
"God" (theos) denotes the divine nature, the essence of what it means to be a deity. Here are some essential facts regarding God's nature. There is only one God (Dt. 6:4; Jas. 2:19), that is, one unified divine nature consisting of the sum total of those qualities that distinguish a being as divi...
Several Hebrew words are rendered by the English "wine," the most common of which are yayin (134 times) and tirosh (33 times). The basic term for "wine" in the Greek New Testament is oinos (33 times). In both Hebrew and Greek, wine is a generic term for the liquid produced from squeezed grapes. S...
"Prophecy" is a message from God; the act of bringing forth that message is "prophesying." "Prophecy" derives from a compound Greek term consisting of pro ("forth") and phemi, "to speak," hence, "to speak forth." (a) Most frequently in the Bible, prophecy, when used of righteous people, reflected...
The Greek word eirene ("peace") may derive from an original term meaning, "to weave together." This is a very significant Bible word. (a) There is a peace to be sought with God. Sin has separated man from his Creator (Isa. 59:1-2), so that rebellious man has become an enemy to God (Rom. 5:10; Jas...
This is a specific time determined by God for the vindication of divine operation. Acts 17:31 is a very comprehensive passage in this regard: (a) A day of judgment has been "appointed." (b) The entire "world" will be judged (cf. Gen. 18:25; Mt. 25:32; Rev. 20:11-12). (c) Judgment will be accordin...
The Greek term for "man" is anthropos. Plato suggested that the word reflects the idea of an "upward looking" one, hinting, perhaps, that man finds no rest upon this planet. He is ever searching for his Maker. The term "man" is used generically -- for human kind. "Let us make man in our image mal...
The most popular Greek word for "authority" is exousia (sometimes translated as "power"). The term, with various usages, is found 102 times in the New Testament. The word, together with some parallel terms, are employed of: • The authority of God (Lk. 12:5; Rom. 9:21; Jude 25). God's authority is...
"Predestination" is the idea that God determined something beforehand. The noun itself does not appear in the Bible, but the verb behind it does. The Greek term is proorizo (pro — "before" and horizo — "to mark out, to set a boundary"). It is found six times in the New Testament (Acts 4:28; Roman...
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...
This is one of the titles of a church official who oversees a local congregation of Christ's church in the company of fellow bishops (always a plurality of men). "Bishop" translates the Greek term episcopos, literally "oversee." The bishop is the same as an elder (presbuteros -- older man; see Ac...
Demons (not "devils" KJV) were evil spirits (Mt. 12:43-45) that were permitted to inhabit the bodies of some people during the days of Christ and his apostles. Almost certainly, this was to allow the Savior and his men the opportunity to demonstrate the superiority of God's power over Satan (see ...
This phrase appears eight times in the New Testament. It is the ancient term for what modern society calls "Sunday." The significance of this day is readily apparent in the following cases: • It was the day on which Christ was raised from the dead (Mt. 28:1; Mk. 16:2, 9; Lk. 24:1; Jn. 20:1). • Th...
Two Greek words express the idea of immortality -- athanasia (no death), and aphtharsia (no corruption). In the absolute sense, only God possesses immortality, i.e., an underived and unending existence (1 Tim. 6:16). Concerning those who are created in God's image (human beings exclusively), we p...
Prior to the incident at Babel (Gen. 11:1ff), the people of the earth spoke one language. Because of ancient man's ambition to "make a name" for himself, and due to his resistance to dispersing and filling the earth (Gen. 1:28), God "confounded" the human tongue and men began to speak languages t...
The term devil means one who slanders or accuses (cf. Rev. 12:9-10). This word is used thirty-three times in the New Testament of the arch-enemy of man, Satan (Mt. 13:28). Since only the deity is characterized by underived immortality (1 Tim. 6:16), Satan was obviously created (Col. 1:16). But si...
The gods of the biblical era were profuse. They were the inventions of the human mind in a world that had rejected the true God and his sovereignty over humanity. The Old Testament prophets denied the existence of pagan gods (cf. Jer. 2:28), as did the New Testament writers (1 Cor. 8:4). Neverthe...