Dr Paul Allen

There are more significant questions beneath this question, making this an essential issue to many. As we move toward an answer, here are three pivotal concerns behind the question that can help us understand why this gnaws at many people’s hearts. 1. What do we mean when we talk about heaven? Generally, when people think about heaven, they refer to what theologians more appropriately call “the intermediate state.” When a believer in Christ dies, their soul leaves the earth, and they go into the presence of Jesus until the second coming of Christ. Here, we are liberated from physical pain, sin, the presence of evil, and all effects of the fall. We shall see the face of Jesus and experience unfettered communion with him. We will be, ideally, euphorically and eternally happy. The intermediate state, though, is temporary. At the second coming of Christ, we will descend with Jesus to the earth, where heaven will become a place on earth. At that point, the resurrection of the dead will occu...

  Moab (Isa. 15:1–16:14) The Moabites were the product of Lot’s incestuous union with his daughter (Gen. 19:30–38) and were the avowed enemies of the Jews (Num. 25; 31; Deut. 23:3). The plight of Moab (Isa. 15:1–9). Within three years (16:14), this prophecy against Moab would be fulfilled with great national lamentation. At least fourteen different references to lamentation occur in this chapter: weeping, wailing, baldness, sackcloth, crying out, etc. The people fled to their temples and prayed to their gods, but to no avail (15:2, NIV). Even a day of national humiliation did not stop Assyria from invading Moab and ravaging the land. Advancing armies often stopped up the springs and watercourses, and left the land in desolation (vv. 6–7). Where there was water in Moab, it was stained with blood, so great was the carnage (v. 9). How could the weak Moabites ever hope to defeat the great Assyrian lion? The plea of Moab (Isa. 16:1–5). The one place the Assyrians could not conquer was J...

  The word “Babel” means “gateway to a god” and sounds like the Hebrew word balal, which means “confusion” (Gen. 10:8–10; 11:1–9). In Scripture, Babylon symbolizes the world system man has built in defiance of God. Jerusalem and Babylon are contrasting cities: One is the chosen city of God, the other the wicked city of man. The city of God will last forever, but the rebellious city of man will ultimately be destroyed (Rev. 14:8; 16:19; 17–18). God musters His army (Isa. 13:1–5, 17–18). God is sovereign. He is able to call any army He desires, to accomplish any task He assigns. He can summon them with a whistle (7:18), or by using leaders to raise a banner, shout, and beckon to the soldiers (13:2). In this case, God is mustering the army of the Medes (v. 17; 21:2); and He calls them “My sanctified ones.” Even though they did not believe in Jehovah God, the Medes were set apart by God to do His holy work. God punishes His enemies (Isa. 13:6–22). The city of Babylon was completely des...

Throughout the centuries, the book of Isaiah has been a vital source of nourishment for the Church. In fact, in the early church, Jerome (342–420 AD) thought Isaiah’s message so clearly conveyed the gospel that Isaiah “should be called an evangelist rather than a prophet.” The New Testament writers found Isaiah to be a vital source for Christian nourishment, as it refers to his prophecy over 250 times! Handel’s Messiah is infused with selections from Isaiah, as the repeated refrains “comfort ye” and “unto us a son is given” draw from Isaiah 40 and Isaiah 9.  Many who have attempted to read through the book of Isaiah have found the experience to be a bit of a challenge. Its historical context is foreign, its poetry is complex and its organization may at times feel disjointed. These are common experiences of all who set out to study and read Isaiah. Therefore, gaining a sense of the historical context and the structure of his prophecy will greatly help you to better understand Isaiah...

How do I overcome my fear of the future? It’s an ancient question for God’s people who have always been tempted to worry about the unknowns. God knows we struggle here. And overcoming this fear is a matter of getting the right view of God and of his providence over every detail of our lives. Let's look at Isaiah 41:1–13. Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;      let the peoples renew their strength; let them approach, then let them speak;      let us together draw near for judgment. Who stirred up one from the east      whom victory meets at every step? He gives up nations before him,      so that he tramples kings underfoot; he makes them like dust with his sword,      like driven stubble with his bow. He pursues them and passes on safely,      by paths his feet have not trod. Who has performed and done this,      calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first...

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...

When you read the Psalms , do you identify with the psalmist when he claims  blamelessness  and  uprightness  and  integrity  and  righteousness ? Blamelessness Blessed are those whose way is  blameless ! (Psalm 119:1) I was  blameless  before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. (Psalm  18:23 ) I shall be  blameless , and innocent of great transgression. (Psalm  19:13 ) Uprightness My shield is with God , who saves the  upright  in heart. (Psalm  7:10 ) The  upright  shall behold his face. (Psalm 11:7) Let all the  upright  in heart exult! (Psalm 64:10) Integrity Judge me, O Lord, according to the  integrity  that is in me. (Psalm 7:8) Vindicate me, O Lord, for I have walked in my  integrity . (Psalm 26:1) You have upheld me because of my  integrity . (Psalm 41:12) Righteousness The Lord upholds the  righteous . (Psalm 37:17) He w...

English: The Prophet Isaiah (Is. 1:1-7,16-31) Русский: Пророк Исайя (Ис. 1:1-7,16-31) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) This is a highly complex question, and an answer less than book length barely scratches the surface. There has been more discussion of the unity of Isaiah by both defenders and critics than any other prophetic book of the Old Testament .  It is the unanimous opinion of the critical school of thought that the Book of Isaiah is not a unity. Chapters 40–66 are supposedly written by an unknown author or authors living at the end of the Babylonian captivity (after 540 B.C.) and are designated as Deutero-Isaiah or Second Isaiah.  Many overlapping and equally unfounded lines of argument are used to support this contention. The critics contend that chapters 40–66 presuppose the exile. The city of Jerusalem is portrayed as ruined and deserted (44:26; 58:12), and the people are portrayed as suffering at the hands of the Chaldeans (42:22, 25; 47:6).  Those who...

“Would You Rather…?” has become a very popular game in the past few years. One of my favorite “would you rathers” of all time is: would you rather have fingers the size of your legs, or legs the size of your fingers? The Bible seems to present many different “would you rathers”, such as: would you rather live on the corner of a roof or with a contentious wife? But mostly the Bible isn’t very good at the game. It asks questions like: would you rather spend eternity in hell or in heaven? With Jesus or the Devil ? I found one of the Bible’s most devastating “would you rathers”. As I was reading through the Bible I came across a passage in Ezekiel 3:17-21 that completely changed my life. Here God is speaking to the prophet Ezekiel. He has just picked him to be his prophet, and has already told him that he is going to be a messenger to Israel , and now he is going to make him his ambassador. 17  “ Son of man , I have made you a watchman for the house of Isr...

“Mine hand also hath laid the foundation of the earth, and my right hand hath spanned the heavens: when I call unto them, they stand up together.” ( Isaiah 48:13 ) The human hand is an anatomical marvel; nothing remotely comparable exists among the primates or any other animals. It is a marvel of design. But surely the “hand of God”—of which man’s hand is only a very dim shadow—is infinitely more powerful and skillful. Note the testimony of Isaiah 45:12: “I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.” God did not have to use intermediate processes or pre-existing materials. Everything was “commanded” into existence and “I, even my hands,” made all of it, including man. Creation was direct—a direct product of God’s mighty hands. Not only was it direct, it was also immediate, as our text above makes emphatically plain. His hand laid the earth’s foundation and spanned the heavens. Then, “when I ...

“And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.” ( Isaiah 53:9 ) It is generally recognized that the amazing 53rd chapter of Isaiah, written over 500 years earlier, is the most explicit and complete exposition of the substitutionary suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ in all the Bible, including even the New Testament accounts. And this prophecy that His death and burial would be with both the “wicked, and with the rich” is surely one of the most remarkable. How could such a prediction possibly come to pass? Yet it did! Unjustly condemned, not for any violent or deceitful acts, but only for telling the truth, Jesus was crucified between two wicked criminals, yet He was buried in a garden tomb lovingly built by a rich member of the council that had condemned Him to death. Furthermore, that elaborate tomb had almost certainly been personally designed and built ahead of time by Jose...