The 17 books of prophecy included in the Old Testament, along with Revelations, the one book of prophecy included in the New Testament, are some of the hardest scriptures to rightly interpret and understand. That’s largely because prophecy tends to speak in symbolic terms, which offer plenty of opportunity for misinterpretation. Yet we feel a … Read more
Within the four Gospels in the Bible, we find Jesus referring to people known as the “scribes and Pharisees” repeatedly. This phrase actually doesn’t exist as many times as it seems; but in every case, it is used in a negative manner. Mostly, we see Jesus rebuking them, saying “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,” … Read more
The Bible is filled with practical knowledge, revelations from God, and abundant symbolism. The Jews weren’t alone in their affinity to find something symbolic in everything they saw; many ancient cultures were the same. Those ancient people looked for signs in nature and the world around them. While the Bible doesn’t encourage the “seeking of … Read more
The world we live in is filled with evil. Satan has wasted no time, starting in the Garden of Eden, in teaching mankind the knowledge of evil and how to fill our lives with it. He started by ensuring that Adam and Eve would gain the knowledge of good and evil, then has majored in … Read more
Roughly one-third of the Bible is written in poetic form, making it more challenging to understand. Poetry, by its very nature, uses a lot of literary mechanisms which leave gaps that the reader has to fill in. Much attention must be paid to each and every detail in the poetry, in order to capture the … Read more
The story of Noah is one that has fascinated people through the centuries. It’s not that the story of the flood is unique, as it is far from that. Many, if not most, religions have a story of a flood, even a worldwide flood, lending credibility to the story in the Bible as well as … Read more
Prayer, regardless of the form it takes, is probably one of the biggest signs of religious belief. People pray to their god, regardless of who he, she or it is, in order to seek favor, blessings, healing or any of a host of other things. Many ancient, pagan religions prayed to their gods for rain, … Read more
Believers the world over complain about being plagued by the existence of the devil. Whether or not they are is possibly open for debate; but as far as those believers are concerned, there’s no doubt that they are. They see bad things happen in their lives and assume that the devil is behind them; causing … Read more
One of the least studied and least understood books of the Bible is the Song of Solomon. This poetic story is the Bible’s version of Romeo and Juliet, without them committing suicide. It is filled with wisdom about marriage, for those who can understand it. Unfortunately, being written in a poetic form, it is extremely … Read more
Tithing is perhaps one of the most confusing, misunderstood and controversial teachings of the Bible. That shouldn’t surprise us, as people are very attached to their money. Getting them to give it up is problematic, unless it is for something they truly want. Many believers get around this sticky point by saying that the tithe … Read more