Dr Paul Allen

English: High priest offering a sacrifice of a goat, as on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur; from Henry Davenport Northrop, "Treasures of the Bible," published 1894 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Book of Leviticus is the heart and center of the Pentateuch. The theological heart of Leviticus—and, therefore, also of the Five Books of Moses —is the Day of Atonement (Lev 16). On this most sacred day, the high priest of Israel would bring the blood of sacrifice into the holy of holies to cleanse both the tabernacle dwelling of God and the camp of Israel . Ultimately, every other sacrifice and ritual in Israel's cult derived its meaning and significance from this annual entrance into the earthly throne room of God. Worship in ancient Israel was through the chosen and anointed mediator, the high priest. Significantly, then, in the Pentateuch "messiah" refers exclusively to Aaron the high priest—he is the one anointed with oil, whose mediation allows God...

David Slaying Goliath (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Bible uses human examples in order to help us on our own Christian pilgrimages. From Hebrews 11 and 1 Corinthians 10 two principles in particular could be discerned. First, the Bible uses past examples of men and women who trusted in the Lord despite extreme hardships to show us that even in the face of the many difficulties that we too face in life we have strong reasons to trust in the Lord, as did the saints of old (Heb. 11).  Second, the Bible also points to examples of unbelief in order to warn us not to head down that path, or to turn back if we are already giving ourselves over to the deceitful pleasures of unrepentant sin (1 Cor. 11). These principles were derived from examining ways that the New Testament uses human examples from the Old Testament . What about Old Testament stories that are not mentioned in the New Testament as examples to follow (or avoid)? Is it legitimate for us to look to these stories as ...

English: Christ and the woman of Samaria at Jacob's Well (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew , ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?' (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)" ( John 4 :7-9) In John 4:7-9, Jesus crossed three barriers. The first was that which separated Samaritans from Jews. In the eighth century BC, the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and deported the Israelites who lived there. In their place, the Assyrians brought other peoples to populate the land (see 2 Kings 17:24). These Gentiles sought to worship both the gods of their homelands and the local deity, the God of the Israelites, so they mixed the religions. This was a grave offense to the Jews, and over the centuries their hatred only grew as the Samari...

English: Moses Sees the Promised Land from Afar, as in Numbers 27:12, by James Tissot (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God ; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.” ( Exodus 19:17 ) This is the first of more than 30 references to events that took place outside the camp of the Israelites in the wilderness under Moses. In this first mention, it was “without the camp” that God first met with His people and gave them the Ten Commandments . The first temporary tabernacle was also “pitched . . . without the camp” ( Exodus 33:7 ). However, when the regular tabernacle was established, it was placed in the midst of the camp, and the camp was considered holy before the Lord . “For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp . . . therefore shall thy camp be holy” ( Deuteronomy 23:14 ). Accordingly, anything unclean was commanded to be banned from the camp (vv. 10-13), including even “the bodies of those beasts, whos...

Christ and the Samaritan woman  (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, 'Give me a drink.' (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, 'How is it that you, a Jew , ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?' (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)" ( John 4 :7-9) In John 4:7-9, Jesus crossed three barriers.  The first was that which separated Samaritans from Jews. In the eighth century BC, the Assyrian Empire conquered the northern kingdom of Israel and deported the Israelites who lived there. In their place, the Assyrians brought other peoples to populate the land (2 Kings 17:24). These Gentiles sought to worship both the gods of their homelands and the local deity, the God of the Israelites, so they mixed the religions. This was a grave offense to the Jews, and over the centuries their hatred only grew as the Samaritans developed their o...

A 13th century book illustration produced in Baghdad by al-Wasiti showing a slave-market in the town of Zabid in Yemen. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I. In the Old Testament a. Introduction Under the influence of Roman law , a slave is usually considered to be a person (male or female) owned by another, without rights, and—like any other form of personal property—to be used and disposed of in whatever way the owner may wish. In the ancient biblical East, however, slaves could and did acquire various rights before the law or by custom, and these included ownership (even of other slaves) and the power to conduct business while they were yet under their masters’ control. Slavery is attested from the earliest times throughout the ancient Near East, and owed its existence and perpetuation primarily to economic factors. b. Sources of slaves (i) By capture. Captives, especially prisoners of war, were commonly reduced to slavery (Gn. 14:21, claimed by the king of Sodom; Nu. 31:9; Dt. 20:1...

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt (1659) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Now therefore, I pray thee , if I have found grace in thy sight, shew me now thy way, that I may know thee, that I may find grace in thy sight: and consider that this nation is thy people.” ( Exodus 33:13 ) “ Moses the man of God ” ( Deuteronomy 33:1 ) was surely one of the greatest men who ever lived. He was the leader of a great nation, he received the tablets of the law from God, and he compiled and wrote the Pentateuch . It was said that “there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face” ( Deuteronomy 34:10 ). Yet, “the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth” ( Numbers 12:3 ). It was such a man as this who made two remarkable requests of God. The first was, as above: “Shew me now thy way.” The second, just a moment later, was: “Shew me thy glory” ( Exodus 33:18 ). These were not selfish r...

FMoses in a Burning Bush (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) John 3:16–17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” (v. 17). Even Christians who attend churches that are faithful to the teaching of Scripture have an unfortunate tendency to see a tension between God the Father  and God the Son. Without necessarily being conscious of it, many think of the Father as harsh and vindictive, seeking only to punish mankind. At the same time, His Son Jesus Christ is viewed as the compassionate and merciful one who must persuade His Father to spare some of His people from wrath. However, this is a gross distortion of the biblical teaching. As this passage indicates, it is the Father Himself who, out of love for creation, has sent His Son to save transgressors (John 3:16–17). In fact, when we look at the wide scope of redemptive history, we find that the Almighty has always...