ISAIAH PROPHESIED the fall of Babylon before it had risen. At the time of the prophesies we read this week, Assyria was still the dominant power in the ancient Near East, but the phrase, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon,” was revealed to the prophet anyway.Continue Reading
PROPHESYING DURING a time just before a calamity has to be one of the worst jobs ever. Isaiah was called to be a prophet during a visit to the throne room of God, but his orders were to make sure the people of Judah didn’t listen to God.Continue Reading
THE DIVISION of the kingdom of Israel is the focus of our Old Testament study this week. Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, gets some bad advice from his young friends, not just rejecting the request of the northern tribes for tax relief, but doing so with a rather crude euphemism.Continue Reading
PAUL RETURNS to Jerusalem in this week’s study, in spite of warnings from believers from Asia to Judea that he would be arrested and possibly killed. But Paul already knew that.Continue Reading
MATTHEW 24 and 25 are among the most important chapters in the New Testament. Jesus spells out the future days of vengeance on Israel, the days of Tribulation, and the return of the Messiah to reign on Earth.Continue Reading
JESUS IS in Jerusalem and, knowing that his time is short, begins to speak of his return, both directly and in parables.Continue Reading