Dr Paul Allen

Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy hill. Let all who live in the land tremble, for the day of the LORD is coming. It is close at hand   (Joel 2:1). In Genesis 1:5, God called the light “day.” Thus, day in the Bible means “time of light,” or “light-time.” Because God’s glory shines around Him, whenever He appears there is light. The expression “day of the Lord,” therefore, refers to a time when God appears. There is a second aspect to the “day of the Lord,” however. In Genesis 1, we are told repeatedly that God saw what He had made and that it was good. God was passing judgments. Judging requires sight, and seeing requires light. Thus, when God appears and shines His light, it is a time of judgment. The day of the Lord, then, is a time when God comes to His people. He shines His light upon them, exposing their deeds to His view, and passes judgment on them. At various times in the history of the church and in the history of nations, God chooses to pay a vi...

"Son of man" appears 25 times in Luke, a copy (c. 800) shown here. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Interpreters of John’s Apocalypse have struggled since earliest times with the language that he uses to describe the visions that the risen Jesus Christ granted him. How much of the detail of the three series of judgments, and of the later visions, does John want to be taken literally? How much is symbolic?  Some of John’s descriptions are easy to recognize as symbolic (or metaphorical). For example, when the risen Jesus promises to the Christians in Philadelphia, “If you conquer, I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God ” (Rev. 3:12), even interpreters who want to explain the contents of the book of Revelation as literally as possible state that “this is of course a figure of speech.” Since the Reformation , the importance of a literal interpretation has been recognized and emphasized by evangelical interpreters of Scripture. However, the expression “literal inter...

English: A painting created by Leonardo Da Vinci depicting St John the baptist (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 11:7-15  "For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, and if you are willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come" (  vv. 13-14 ). Given John the Baptist 's earlier declarations about Jesus , his doubts about the Lord's identity raised in  Matthew 11:1-6  could have led many to question the consistency of his ministry. How could they not doubt his steadfastness and teaching since he has gone from exalting Jesus ( 3:13-17 ;  John 3:22-36 ) to inquiring if He is truly the Christ ? Alternatively, how could they trust in Jesus as the Messiah if the beloved John the Baptist had doubts about Him? Jesus addresses these thoughts with His own questions. When swayed by the wind, the long reeds beside the Jordan River are visual metaphors of those who teach according to the whims of men. Christ's inquiry about the reed intends to ask ...

Whore of Babylon (french illuminated "Book of Revelation") (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD .” ( Malachi 4:5 ) This is the next-to-last verse of the Old Testament and so marks the final mention in the Old Testament of the fearsome theme of the Day of the Lord. As the text says, it will be a “great and dreadful day.” This phrase occurs frequently in the Bible , reminding us over and over again that although God is merciful and longsuffering, He will not remain silent forever. Man’s “day” will end someday, and the day of the Lord will come. Note some of the other prophecies: “Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! . . . the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light” ( Amos5:18 ). “The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the LORD come” ( Joel 2:31 ). “The great day of the LORD . . . is a day of wrath, a da...

The upper part of The Transfiguration (1520) by Raphael, depicting Christ miraculously discoursing with Moses and Elijah. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 17:9–13 “I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands” ( v. 12 ). Puritan commentator Matthew Henry remarks that “there is a proneness in good men to expect the crown without the cross.” This is a comment on Matthew 17:1–8 and Peter’s desire to build “tents,” or “tabernacles” (kjv), for Jesus , Moses, and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration ( v. 4 ). Peter is rebuked for his wish indirectly — the Father silences the apostle when He proclaims His Son’s identity ( vv. 5–6 ).  Once more, Peter has missed the whole picture about the Savior. He thinks it is time to celebrate the fullness of the messianic age according to Zechariah 14:16–19 , a vision of the Feast of Booths (or, the Feast of Ta...

HOLY SPIRIT - FOIX (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Paul’s letters to the Thessalonians speak only briefly of the Holy Spirit . He expresses deep concern over the new converts. God had established the Church through a mighty move of the Spirit. But, because of violent opposition, Paul was forced to leave. He wrote to encourage them. They must not forget that the gospel came to them “not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction” ( 1 Thessalonians 1:5). As a result, the believers became “imitators” of the evangelists and “of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering,” having “welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit” (v. 6). From this we see that Acts, even with as much attention as it gives to the Holy Spirit, does not always mention things made clear elsewhere. Acts tells of the opposition at Thessalonica , but does not mention the Holy Spirit’s work there. The nearest it comes is to quote the Jewish opposition: “These men wh...

Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglican Church http://www.stjohnsashfield.org.au, Ashfield, New South Wales. Illustrates Jesus' description of himself "I am the Good Shepherd" (from the Gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 11). This version of the image shows the detail of his face. The memorial window is also captioned: "To the Glory of God and in Loving Memory of William Wright. Died 6th November, 1932. Aged 70 Yrs." (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Let’s start with the “born again” language — which in Greek doesn’t say “born again” but rather “born from above.” The combination of this particular verb lemma with this particular adverb occurs two times: John 3:3 and John 3:7 . The general meaning of the phrase isn’t difficult to discern. It follows from what is the referent of “above”. The Gospel of John , from whence the two occurrences come (and from the same chapter) answers that question in John 3:31-32 – “He who comes from above is above all. He ...

English: An etching by Jan Luyken illustrating Matthew 24:41 in the Bowyer Bible, Bolton, England. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Premillennialism is the belief that Jesus will physically return to earth before the future 1,000 year kingdom. The tribulation is final seven-year period of wrath inflicted on the planet before the kingdom begins. Meanwhile, the term  rapture  refers to the event that occurs before Jesus establishes his kingdom in a literal and physical sense, when he will descend from the heaven, and Christians who are still alive will be caught up together with Jesus in the clouds. At the rapture, will meet him in the air and then we will always be with the Lord. There are essentially three possibilities about when this rapture will happen in relationship to the tribulation. Either the rapture will happen before the tribulation (the pre-trib view), during the tribulation (the mid-trib/pre-wrath view), or after the tribulation (the post-trib view).   ...

The upper part of The Transfiguration (1520) by Raphael, depicting Christ miraculously discoursing with Moses and Elijah. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 17:9–13 “I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but did to him whatever they pleased. So also the Son of Man will certainly suffer at their hands” (v. 12). Matthew Henry remarks that “there is a proneness in good men to expect the crown without the cross.” This is a comment on Matthew 17:1–8 and Peter ’s desire to build “tents,” or “tabernacles” ( KJV ), for Jesus , Moses, and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration (v. 4). Peter is rebuked for his wish indirectly — the Father silences the apostle when He proclaims His Son’s identity (vv. 5–6). Once more, Peter has missed the whole picture about the Savior. He thinks it is time to celebrate the fullness of the messianic age according to Zechariah 14:16–19, a vision of the Feast of Booths (or, the Feast ...

The Great Day of His Wrath (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head." ( Obadiah 15 ) The book of Obadiah was possibly the earliest of the prophetic books of the Old Testament and is certainly the shortest, with its single chapter. Its theme is God's coming judgment on the Edomite nation, not only because of their general wickedness, but particularly because of their abusive treatment of their Israelite relatives (Jacob's brother Esau was the father of the Edomites ). The prophecy of Obadiah contains (in our text) the first mention (chronologically) of the coming "day of the LORD." Although it appears at first to focus especially on the Edomites, it is really looking far ahead to the end times, when the judgments of that day will be "upon all the heathen." There have been many precursive and partial fulfil...