Neither the Bible nor external texts give any date of birth for Belshazzar or indication of age so we can only speculate. His grandmother, Adad-Guppi, was born 649 BC and lived 98 years (according the Haran Inscription). This being the case we expect his father, Nabonidus, to have been 60+ when he took the throne […]
Did the serpent walk before he was cursed in the Garden?
The simple answer is that we don’t know, because the Bible does not tell us. However, there are hints which may suggest that it did. After Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God spoke to Adam, Eve and the serpent. The key verse […]
Doesn’t the name “Immanuel” show that Jesus is God, and therefore proves the Trinity? (Isaiah 7:14, Matthew 1:23)
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel [1]. ESV footnote [1] Immanuel means God is with us Isaiah 8:8 and it will sweep on into Judah, it will overflow and pass on, reaching even to […]
In what sense did the slave girl of Acts 16:16 have “the spirit of Python”?
Q. What do you think about the slave girl who was able to foretell the future? The easy answer is that she had some form of mental illness, but this doesn’t seem to fit with the way it reads given that her owners were able to make profit from her illness… it seems to be […]
What would the world be like if there was no sin in it?
If there was no sin in the world it would be a very different place – it would be ‘very good‘. This is how God describes the world before there was sin in it (Genesis 1:31). When Adam and Eve sinned there were two big consequences that God brought about. People from then on would […]
Is God talking about Adam and Eve in Genesis 1:27 or about other males and females created before Adam and Eve?
Adam was the first man and Eve was the first woman. Genesis 1 gives the summary of creation, while Genesis 2 gives some extra detail, including the information that God had created a male first (Adam) and only created a woman (Eve) after the man had realised that none of the animals was a fit […]
What should we learn from Solomon’s story?
There are many lessons we can take from the life of Solomon. Here is a highlight: God made King Solomon an incredible offer, “Ask what I shall give you.” (1 Kings 3:5). If you were in his position and could ask for anything, what would you ask for? Solomon, with endless possibilities before him, asked for […]
How has the population grown from only two people?
In 2009, the US Census Bureau estimated that the world’s population was growing at the rate of 1.10% per year. At that rate, it would double every 63.3 years and the population would take only 2007 years to grow from 2 people to the current 6.8 billion. Obviously human beings have been around for a lot […]
What were the urim and thummim?
The urim and thummim were used to determine God’s guidance on specific questions. For example, Saul used the urim and thummim to determine who was guilty when he thought someone had sinned. Therefore Saul said, “O Lord God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me […]
What Bible passage is the song “Today is the day” about?
The lyrics of the Lincoln Brewster song “Today is the day” are available here. This is primarily based on Psalm 118:24: This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. The song also includes the words “I won’t worry about tomorrow\\ I’m trusting in what you say” […]