Dr Paul Allen

What kind of God does the prophet proclaim in Isaiah 42:18– 43:21? What must God be like if He promises to restore and renew despite the abject failure of His people? What kind of God is our covenant Lord? The answer is that He is like no other! I, I am the LORD, and besides me there is no savior. ( Isa. 43:11) In a series of statements that open chapter 43, a sixfold depiction of God’s glory emerges. First, God is the Creator. Using two distinct words, both found in the carefully constructed narrative of creation in Genesis 1 and 2, Isaiah describes God as having “created” and “formed” Jacob/ Israel : But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel. (Isa. 43:1) The first word, “created” (bara), usually refers to the creation of something new. It does not necessarily imply that the creative result was ex nihilo, out of nothing. Genesis 2:7 tells us that man was not created (bara) ex nihilo but from “the dust of the earth.” The second word, “f...

The following article is adapted from the  ESV Archaeology Study Bible —a new study tool that roots biblical text in its cultural and historical context.  1. Rosetta Stone In 1798, Napoleon invaded Egypt. He brought with him a scientific team of scholars and draftsmen to survey the monuments of the land. The most important find of the expedition was the Rosetta Stone. It proved to be valuable as the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics . The stone dated to the period of Ptolemy V (204– 180 BC ) and was inscribed in three scripts: demotic, Greek, and hieroglyphic. The Greek, well known to scholars at the time, proved to be a translation of the ancient Egyptian language on the stone. Translation of hieroglyphics marked the beginning of the study of ancient Egyptian texts and grammar and provided the basis for modern Egyptology studies. 2. Dead Sea Scrolls In 1947, shepherds stumbled upon a cave in a rugged, arid area on the western side of the Dead Se...

Photo credit: Randall Price A New Cave, an Old Controversy: Dramatic New Discovery in Israel will Re-Ignite Debates By Craig A. Evans . The last Dead Sea Scrolls cave, linked to the ruins on the marl shelf at the mouth of Wadi Qumran , was discovered in 1956, bringing the total number of caves to eleven — eleven caves containing the famous Dead Sea Scrolls, ceramic jars, and a number of other artifacts. For sixty years archaeologists and looters have been searching for a twelfth cave. Would another one ever be found? Most didn’t think so. This is what makes the announcement from Hebrew University so astounding: A twelfth cave has been discovered! Playing in the dirt One of the Operation Scroll volunteers was archaeologist Randall Price, who today serves on the faculty of Liberty University . One of the briefly examined caves in 1993 — cave 53 — caught his attention.  Last year Price received permission to excavate that cave. Last month (January 2017) he, Oren G...

English: manuscript of the Epistle to the Romans (fragment) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” ( James  2:10 )   The law of God , centered in the Ten Commandments , is “holy, and just, and good” ( Romans  7:12 ) and expresses perfectly the will of God for holy living. “The man that doeth them shall live in them” ( Galatians  3:12 ).   The problem is that no man can possibly do them all. He may keep most of the commandments most of the time, but he will inevitably fail in some of them some of the time. Since the law is a divine unit, breaking any commandment—as our text reminds us—breaks the whole law, bringing the guilty one under God’s curse of death. “Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them” ( Galatians  3:10 ). “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight” (...

It’s possible to hear what is being said but not listen, to watch but not see, to be present and yet absent. In such a condition, we may miss important messages meant for us. As Ezra read God ’s instructions to the people of Judah, “All the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law” (Neh. 8:3). Their attention to the explanation produced understanding (v. 8), which resulted in their repentance and revival. In another situation in Samaria , Philip, after the persecution of the believers broke out in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), reached out to the Samaritan people . The crowd not only observed the miraculous signs he did, but they also “paid close attention to what he said” (v. 6). “So there was great joy in that city” (v. 8). The mind can be like a wandering adventurer that misses a lot of excitement close by. Nothing deserves more attention than words that help us discover the joy and wonder of our Father in heaven. —Lawrence Darmani Lord, our minds are so prone to di...

English: Statue of Asclepius, exhibited in the Museum of Epidaurus Theatre. Deutsch: Statue des Asklepios, ausgestellt im Museum des antiken Theaters von Epidauros. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Jesus healed a man who couldn't get into a pool belonging to a Roman god Asclepius. The lower pool would flush from the upper pool and people were fooled by the rumor that an angel brought healing. Jesus healed the man to simply show, his belief was in a false ido and Jesus was God.  The history of the pool began in the 8th century BC , when a dam was built across the short Beth Zeta valley , turning it into a reservoir for rain water ;a sluice-gate in the dam allowed the height to be controlled, and a rock-cut channel brought a steady stream of water from the reservoir into the city The reservoir became known as the Upper Pool (בריכה העליונה). Around 200 BC , during the period in which Simon II was the Jewish High Priest , the channel was enclosed, and a second pool was ad...