Dr Paul Allen

Israel is full of ancient ruins, but who destroyed what and when? Earth’s magnetic field is helping researchers identify remains of wars described in the Bible. According to the Bible, the Holy Land was a frequent target for conquering empires: from the ancient Egyptians to the Arameans, from the Assyrians to the Babylonians. Of course, the good book interprets these tragedies from a religious standpoint, usually as divine retribution for the sins of the ancient Israelites. But many of the wars mentioned in the biblical text were historical events. Settlements were often burnt down and, in some cases, were rebuilt only to be sacked again a century or so later – leaving archaeologists today puzzling over multiple layers of destruction and struggling to figure out who destroyed what and when. Questions about the dating of ancient sites in the Levant are not purely academic. They lie at the heart of the longstanding debate over fact and fiction in the Bible. Now a new scientific technique...

How goes the world? Answering that question tends to lead to discouragement. Everything seems upside down. Evil is considered good; good is considered evil. Truth has fallen in the streets and is trampled by academic processions, political machinery, and populous parades.  It seems that Christianity is an ever-shrinking minority with less influence than numbers. Who is in control? How can these things be? Although we may not know why things are the way they are, we must believe that the Bible is true and that there is a throne secluded from natural sight that governs absolutely with an agenda of self-glory and salvific good—God’s throne. It may seem that the world is out of control, but it is not. Throughout biblical history, God assured His people of His unfailing purpose at times when they needed that assurance most. Ezekiel lived when it appeared that hostile powers would successfully have their pagan way against God’s redemptive plan.  Since he was a priest, Ezekiel knew t...

Zephaniah the prophet pointedly condemned the mixing of other religions with faith in the one true God (sometimes called syncretism). Judah had become a people who bowed in worship to the true God but who also relied on the god Molek (Zephaniah 1:5). Zephaniah described their adoption of pagan culture (v. 8) and warned that as a result, God would drive the people of Judah from their homeland. Yet God never stopped loving His people. His judgment was to show them their need to turn to Him. So Zephaniah encouraged Judah to “Seek righteousness, seek humility” (2:3). Then the Lord gave them tender words promising future restoration: “At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home” (3:20). It’s easy to condemn examples of obvious syncretism. But in reality, all of us easily blend God’s truth with the assumptions of our culture. We need the Holy Spirit’s guidance to test our beliefs against the truth of God’s Word and then to stand for that truth confidently and lovi...

JOEL 2:1–11 “The LORD utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome; who can endure it?” (v. 11). Despite God ’s clear proclamation that Israel ’s impenitent and flagrant violation of the covenant would result in the nation losing its homeland ( Deut. 28:15–68), by the time the Babylonian exile came upon Judah , a tradition had developed that Jerusalem was inviolable. Divorcing their election from its covenantal context, the Judahites were convinced, up until Jerusalem fell to Nebuchadnezzar in 586 BC , that the Lord would keep the city safe. We see evidence of this in Jeremiah’s ministry, when he had to tell the people on the eve of Judah’s fall that they could not trust in the fact that God put His temple in Jerusalem (Jer. 7:1–4).  Even as the menace of Babylon grew, Jerusalem refused to believe God would take the kingdom from her. Consequently, Joel’s word...

Before we can appreciate this truth, we must get our bearings. Ezekiel was a prophet to the people of Judah during their years of captivity in Babylon. This captivity came about in three stages. In 605 B.C. when Daniel and his friends were taken. In 597 B.C. when ten thousand more of Judah’s citizens, including Ezekiel, were taken. In 586 B.C. when Nebuchadnezzar and his forces dealt the final blow to Judah by destroying the city of Jerusalem and carrying away even more captives. Ezekiel seems to have begun his prophetic ministry around 592 B.C. and continued it until the year 570. It was there in Babylon that Ezekiel received this vision of the cherubim. What did this mean? Many of the Jews had a tendency to believe that God was present only in the temple. On the basis of this vision, Ezekiel could assure his fellow captives that God was present there in Babylon just as he was in the temple of Jerusalem. Our circumstances can be such that we can also be tempted to belie...

King Hezekiah on a 17th century painting by unknown artist in the choir of Sankta Maria kyrka in Åhus, Sweden. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) From the revival in Judah under the reign of King Hezekiah (2 Chron . 29) to the Protestant Reformation that returned the church to the biblical gospel after its eclipse in the medieval era , we see that God is often pleased to shine His light when the darkness seems overwhelming.  In every case, the faithful who lived in dark times called out for the Lord to revive them, and God answered their prayers by shining the light of His truth in this dark world. We live in a day of darkness, when the gospel and the church are under attack on every front. Yet we do not live in a day without hope, for God's kingdom cannot ultimately be conquered.  As such, we have confidence that as we cry out to the Lord, He will revive us that we might rejoice in Him and His truth again (Ps. 85:6). Related articles Without Excuse (pilgrimpa...

English: A woman smoking crack from a glass pipe. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Lamentations 2:11–12  My eyes fail from weeping,  I am in torment within;  my heart is poured out on the ground  because my people are destroyed,  because children and infants faint  in the streets of the city.  They say to their mothers,  “Where is bread and wine?”  as they faint like the wounded  in the streets of the city,  as their lives ebb away  in their mothers’ arms. Jeremiah ’s words are laced with emotion . And stewing just beneath his grief was an anguished question: How could God have permitted these children to suffer? All people—including children—are born into sin (see Ro 5:12). The sin of Adam and Eve infected each succeeding generation, leading to the suffering and consequences that sin produces. While these children had not participated in the specific sins that incited God’s wrath, they were not themselves sinless. Unfortuna...

Andrea Celesti - Queen Jezabel Being Punished by Jehu - WGA4622 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) ATHALIAH Her name means: "The Lord Is Great" Her character: Granddaughter of Omri, one of Israel's most idolatrous and evil kings, she was the daughter of Ahab and most likely of Jezebel as well. She was the only woman to rule over Judah. While Ahab and Jezebel spread Baal worship in the northern kingdom of Israel , Athaliah was busy promoting it a few years later in the southern kingdom of Judah . Controlled by her need for power, she murdered her own family members to secure it. Her sorrow: That her attempt to destroy the royal line of Judah failed. Her joy: That her ruthlessness paid off, at least for a time, making her the ruler of Judah. Key Scriptures: 2 Kings 11 ; 2 Chronicles 22 ; 23:11-21 JEHOSHEBA Her name means: "The Lord Is Great" Her character: A princess and the wife of the high priest, she was a courageous woman whose actions preserved the line of Ju...

English: Old World Map Near Jerusalem City Council, made by Arman Darian from 180 tiles. Based on a 1585 map by Heinrich Bunting - see http://bigthink.com/ideas/2113 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner ’s fire and like fullers’ soap.” Malachi 3:2 His first coming was without external pomp or show of power, and yet in truth there were few who could abide its testing might. Herod and all Jerusalem with him were stirred at the news of the wondrous birth.  Those who supposed themselves to be waiting for him, showed the fallacy of their professions by rejecting him when he came. His life on earth was a winnowing fan, which tried the great heap of religious profession , and few enough could abide the process. But what will his second advent be? What sinner can endure to think of it? “ And he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill ...

Frieze of prophets (Photo credit: Boston Public Library ) In 539 BC , Babylon fell to a coalition of Medes and Persians. The new rulers of the Mid East made it their policy to restore captive nations to their respective homelands. Among those captives were the Jews . They returned to Judah with authority to rebuild their temple. Seventeen years later, construction still languished, and God raised up the prophets Haggai and Zechariah to rebuke the neglect of his house. In 520 Haggai preached "Is it time for you to live in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruin?" Through Haggai, the Lord asked the Jews how they had fared since their return. "You have sown much and harvested little; you eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm; and he who earns wages, earns wages to put them into a bag with holes" (Haggai 1:6, Revised Standard Version ). Haggai said God wanted them to bring w...