When the people of Israel were being bitten by a plague of snakes, God told Moses to make a bronze snake as an antidote: The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” So Moses made a bronze snake […]
Who were the Pharisees?
The Pharisees were a Jewish political party which began in about 140 BC after the Maccabean revolt. After the destruction of the temple in AD 70, the beliefs of the Pharisees became the basis for Rabbinic Judaism from which comes traditional Judaism today. The Pharisees were notable for their conflicts with the rival party of […]
Do you need to have the anointing to be saved?
There are no passages in the Bible indicating that anointing is required for salvation. Anointing in the Bible commonly refers to the pouring of oil upon someone or something. Anointing in the Old Testament The first occurrence of anointing is recorded in Genesis 28:10-22. Jacob had fallen asleep using a stone as a pillow. He […]
What is grace?
Grace is primarily a positive disposition towards someone. We can see this clearly throughout the Old Testament, where people often asked others to look on them with an attitude of goodwill. Here are a few examples (where the word ‘favour’ (Heb. chen) is a synonym with ‘grace’)1: “‘I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, male servants, and female servants. […]
What did John mean when he said “‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me”? (John 1:30)
John the Baptist said this when Jesus came to be baptised: The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, “After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he […]
What are Semitic languages?
This is a group of related languages that includes Arabic and Hebrew. They are related to some very early languages dating from 2500 BC or earlier and written in Sumerian cuneiform. Later Semitic languages were written in the Ugaritic, Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic alphabets. The word “Semitic” comes from Shem, one of Noah’s […]
Who were Jethro’s ancestors?
Jethro was the “priest of Midian” and the father-in-law of Moses (Exodus 3:1; 4:18). He was also called “Reuel” (Exodus 2:18) and is described as a Midianite in Numbers 10:29. The original Midianites were probably descendants of Midian, one of Abraham’s sons by Keturah (Genesis 25:1-4). The land where they lived then became known as […]
How did the NT canon become established? Did the church decide what books it should include?
We’ll deal with both of these questions in turn: How did the NT canon become established? As each new part of the New Testament (NT) scriptures was written it would have become accepted by the Christian community because it was written by people they knew were authoritative.1 In this way the traditional canon of NT […]
Did God create evil?
To help answer this question it’s important that we define the word ‘evil’. Here are two possible definitions: Sin, wrongdoing or wickedness Calamity; something causing harm, injury or suffering So we could ask two further questions: Did God create immorality, wickedness or sin? No. The Bible is very clear that God is the source of […]
Why did Jesus call himself the “son of man”?
Jesus often called himself the “son of man”.1 Two such occasions are recorded in Mat. 8:18-20 and Mark 14:61-62: {18} Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. {19} And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you […]