From our Store
50 results
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 the first return in 536 B.C., and the second was under the leadership of Ezra in 457 B.C. The narrati...
This book contains the inspired record of Israel's final return from the Babylonian captivity. The leader of the trek was Nehemiah, who brought the Hebrews back in 444 B.C. It is the story of the rebuilding of Jerusalem's walls in a time of great discouragement. Though the people had been zealous...
The text of the Bible consists of three languages. (a) The O.T. was composed principally in Hebrew. This Semitic tongue was well adapted to emotional, poetic, and religious expression. It was ideal for the revelation of divine religion in the early days of man's history. (b) Some portions of the ...
"Confession" means "to say the same thing." In connection with our salvation, confession is the personal acknowledgment of the transgressions in our lives that God has spoken of and condemned through divine revelation. But confession involves more than mere tacit acknowledgment. Judas confessed: ...
The term "heaven" is used in different ways in the Bible. The expression may refer to the atmospheric region just above the earth where the birds fly, the rain forms, and the wind blows (Gen. 1:10; 7:11; Dan. 8:8). The outer space region that houses the stars, the sun, and the planets is also des...
Before Jesus was born, the angel informed Mary: "the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God" (Lk. 1:35). The descriptive reveals something of the unique essence of Christ. The phrase "son of" is sometimes employed in the Scriptures to depict the nature of someone (cf. Mk. 3:1...
The Greek word krino means to render a verdict (Lk. 7:43; Acts 15:9). Prepositions may be attached as prefixes to provide some direction to the term. For example, diakrino suggests the idea of distinguishing between objects (1 Cor. 6:5; 11:31; 14:19); anakrino means to investigate or thoroughly s...
The church in Thessalonica was established on Paul's second missionary journey (Acts 17:1ff). After he left the region, he received a report regarding the congregation in Thessalonica, containing both positive and negative news. This letter, written from Corinth (Acts 18:1, 5), is a response to t...
The Greek word diakonos comes into the English language as "deacon." The term basically means to serve. It is used of ordinary servants in a secular sense (Jn. 2:5, 9) or of those who serve generally in the cause of Christ (rendered "minister" in 1 Cor. 3:5; 2 Cor. 3:6; Eph. 3:7). It can even be ...
Praise, in the highest sense of the term, is a feeling toward, and/or outward expression of, devotion to deity. It acknowledges thanksgiving for Heaven's glorious creation, beneficent providence, and redemptive mercy (cf. Ex. 15:1-19; Rev. 4:8, 11; 5:9, 12-13). Deity, because of his very nature, ...
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 English word "atonement" derives from an Anglo-Saxon term that practically signifies "a making at one." Though the English term "atonement" is common to the Old Testament, it is found only once in the New Testament (Rom. 5:11 KJV). There, the original term (katallage) is better rendered as "r...
Prayer is a mode of communication between a human being and deity. Prayer is almost a human "instinct," reflecting man's innate need for contact with his Maker (Acts 17:27). It has been said that when one realizes that he is "lost," he cannot help praying. While that may well be true, the Bible p...
Sanctified suggests "having been separated from (something), set apart." The term is used in a variety of ways in the Bible. (a) Both God the Father and Christ the Son are to be sanctified (Num. 20:12; 27:14; 1 Pet. 3:15), which means they are to be set apart as unique and authoritative Sovereign...
The most common word in the Greek New Testament that conveys the idea of "forgiveness" is aphesis, a compound term meaning "to send away from." Forgiveness is a divine response to human sin, flowing from the loving and merciful disposition of God (Jn. 3:16; Eph. 2:4). Forgiveness is possible beca...
This is an expression used frequently in the Old Testament to describe those who forsook their loyalty to God and began to serve Satan again. No fewer than thirteen times, the prophet Jeremiah rebuked ancient Israel for her backsliding ways (Jer. 2:19; 3:6; cf. Hos. 4:16 KJV; 11:7). It is useless...
Peter's second letter is a caustic warning regarding false teachers who are promoting "destructive heresies" (2:1). The false teaching concerns the nature of Christ, sensual indulgence, the coming of Christ, and the end of the world. Appealing heavily to O.T. history, he shows by multiple example...
This English term is a rendition of the Greek zoopoieo, "to make alive." It is found about a dozen times in the N.T. and is rendered by such expressions as "quicken," "give life," and "make alive." Consider these facts: (a) The power to "make alive" is always attributed either to God (Jn. 5:21; R...
This small book contains one of the 1,005 songs penned by king Solomon (1 Kgs. 4:32). It extols the passion and bliss of wedded love, and praises the king's "beloved." Many scholars have suggested that the theme is illustrative of God's love for Israel, and Christ's love for his church. It is a t...
Citizenship is the legal relationship that one sustains to a city, state, or country. Paul was a citizen of Tarsus in Cilicia (Acts 21:39), and he enjoyed the privileges of "citizenship" in the Roman empire (Acts 22:28). His citizenship granted certain protective procedures (cf. 22:25), and the p...
