The word "exegesis" means "to lead out." It is a part of the larger science of interpretation known as "hermeneutics." A form of the original word appears in John 1:18, where the apostle affirmed...

Existentialism is the name of a philosophical movement that began in Germany just before World War II. It attempts to probe the meaning of "human existence" apart from divine revelation and its res...

The name of the second book of the Old Testament means "departure" or "going out." It contains Moses' record of Israel's departure from Egyptian bondage and the nation's separation unto God as a ho...

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 me...

Ezekiel was a prophet during the Babylonian captivity; his ministry lasted more than twenty years. Jeremiah had foretold that the captivity would last seventy years (Jer. 25:11), but false prophets...

The book of Ezra documents Israel's first two returns from Babylonian captivity. The narrative covers approximately eighty years, from Cyrus's edict to Ezra's arrival in Jerusalem.  Zerubbabel led...

Faith is the willingness to trust and obey God without ever having seen him. It is not a gullible "leap in the dark," as existential "faith" postulates. Instead, it rests on evidence that allows u...

Faithfulness carries the idea of integrity, steadfastness, true, dependable, etc. Two important emphases of this quality are stressed in the Bible. (a) God is faithful is all things (see Psa. 36:5;...

This expression generally refers to the apostasy of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, whereby the human family was introduced to heartache, disease, and ultimately death (Gen. 2:17; 3:16ff; Rom. ...

God is frequently referred to under the figure of a "father" (107 times in the Gospel of John alone). The Scriptures apply the term in several ways: (a) God is the Father of all men in the sense th...

"Fellowship" translates the Greek koinonia, meaning "participation, association, sharing," etc. Fellowship exists on two levels -- the vertical level (that which the Christian enjoys with God), and...

This phrase appears eight times in the N.T. It is the ancient expression for what modern society calls "Sunday." The significance of this day can be readily seen in the following cases: (a) It was ...

Each year, the ancient Hebrews would offer the "firstfruits" of their crops to God as a token of their thanksgiving for the bounty that would follow (Lev 2:12, 23; 23:17, 39). In his initial lett...

In the O.T., this term referred to the first individual born to parents, whether of man or beast. The firstborn was accorded a place of special prominence (cf. Gen. 48:13-18; Dt. 21:15-17; 2 Chron....

The Flood, recorded in Genesis 6-8, was the most widespread disaster ever to effect this planet. Waters from the atmosphere above, and from chasms beneath the earth, inundated the entire globe (Gen...

The Bible affirms the omniscience of God, i.e., the fact that he knows everything -- past, present, and future (1 Sam. 16:7; Psa. 139; Isa. 40:13ff; Acts 1:24; Heb. 4:13). One aspect of divine omni...

The most common word in the Greek N.T. which conveys the idea of "forgiveness" is aphesis, a compound term meaning "to send away from." (a) Forgiveness is a divine response to human sin, issuing ou...

Form Criticism is a modern approach to the Bible that has its origin in a liberal mentality. It asserts, for example, that the Gospel records are basically "myths." The "scholarly critic," therefor...

The Greek term porne is a comprehensive term, covering every sort of illicit sexual activity by human beings. Note: (a) Unmarried people who desire to vent their sexual appetites may marry; otherwi...

Animals operate largely according to instinct, an inherited pattern of behavior. Human beings are different. Made in the very image of God himself (Gen. 1:26-27), people possess volition, i.e., the...