Dr Paul Allen

Philip Ryken The Bible describes the exodus in careful detail. Nevertheless, it has often been challenged on historical grounds. One standard objection concerning information given in Exodus 12 is the size of the Exodus. It deserves a response. The text says, “The people of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. A mixed multitude also went up with them, and very much livestock, both flocks and herds” (vv. 37–38). This account gives the kind of who, what, when, where, and how information that a good historian is careful to include. But what about “How many?” Can we really believe that God brought so many Israelites out of Egypt? That’s a good question. There are three common answers to choose from. Answer #1: Inflated Statistics If there were 600,000 men, then there were perhaps 2 million Israelites in all, and this number presents difficulties. If there were so many Israelites, why aren’t they mentioned in the annal...

This is a tenfold summary of key biblical Christology. 1. The person or subject of the incarnation is the eternal, divine Son. John 1:14 states this well: “The Word became flesh.” In other words, it was not the divine nature but the divine Son from eternity (John 1:1) who became incarnate. The Son, who has always been in eternal relationship with the Father and the Spirit, and who shares the same, identical divine nature with them, freely chose to humble himself by assuming a human nature to redeem his people (Phil. 2:6–8) and to reverse all that Adam did by ushering in a new creation (Col. 1:18–20). 2. As the divine Son, the second person of the triune Godhead, he is the exact image and correspondence of the Father and is thus truly God. Along with the Father and Spirit, the Son fully and equally shares the one divine nature. As the image and exact correspondence of the Father (Col. 1:15; Heb. 1:3), the Son is truly God. All of God’s perfections and attributes are his since our Lord i...

Mark Ward (author of Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible) explores the origin of the word “Lord” in the English language—a word that, of course, shows up countless times in our English Bibles. Word histories are history, and they can come with all the drama that human life does. They can even point us to the love and plan of God. The origin of the word “Lord” Think, for example, of the clash of Christianity and Anglo-Saxon culture that had to happen to give us the simple word “Lord.” In English-speaking Christianity, “Lord” is the very name of God (“I am the Lord, that is my name,” Isa 42:8). Lord today is wholly unremarkable, utterly traditional.  But when Christianity came to the Germanic tribes living on the island of Britain 1,400 years ago, they had no tradition of Christian words. Somebody had to look at the words available and pick some that kind of fit. Anglo-Saxon Christians of the period used several words to name the biblical God, including one that or...

The idea that Jesus never claimed to be God would be laughable if it weren’t so tragic. The entire Bible is filled with clues as well as clear declarations of the divinity of Christ.  But perhaps my favourite go-to section of the Bible to show this is John 8, 9 and 10. In chapter 8 Jesus proclaims Himself to be the I am of the old testament. (John 8:58) In chapter 10 Jesus declares Himself as one with the Father. (John 10:30). But it is in chapter 9 that we see Jesus do something that only God can do. In chapter 9 we see Jesus heal a man who was blind from birth. But he heals him in a way that the man has never seen Jesus. He goes to wash at the pool of Siloam and comes back seeing.  Instead of giving him a chance to rejoice, he is immediately met with scepticism. Once Everyone including the Pharisees realizes that he was actually born blind they cast him out since it is quite obvious that he sees that Jesus is special and the Pharisees hate Christ and want to kill him. What f...

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...

At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, . . . and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father . – Philippians   2:10 –11 – The wonderful hymn of Christ ’s humiliation and exaltation reaches its climax in these verses. Paul has said that the Father exalted Jesus and bestowed on Him  the name . He’s said it was the name which is above  every  name. And here he says that  at  that name—which is better rendered:  in honor  of that name—every knee is going to bow. So what’s the name? Jesus has a lot of names. Is it: Son of Man? Son of God ? The Alpha and Omega? The First and the Last? The Faithful and True? The Beloved Son in whom the Father is well-pleased? Is it Christ? The Messiah? Is it the long-awaited prophet? Is it our Great High Priest? Is it the King of kings? Finally, the almost unbearable suspense is broken, and the Apostle Paul tells us that every knee will bow and every tongue wil...

They replied, “We want to perform God ’s works, too. What should we do?” ( John 6:28 ) This question is often asked by people who try to work their way into heaven. It was also asked in various ways by men in the New Testament , and it is vitally important to get the correct answer to such questions there and nowhere else. For example, a rich young ruler once asked Jesus, “What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered, “Go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor . . . and come, take up the cross, and follow me” ( Mark 10:17 , 21). That is, there is nothing of his own that one can bring to Christ to earn salvation; one must simply be willing to yield himself fully to Christ. A lawyer had asked Jesus the same question, “tempting him.” This time, His answer was, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself” ( Luke 10:27 ). But this stand...

As I’ve talked to people of other religions, it has dawned on me that most if not all of them teach that everyone is a child of God . Whether you are Muslim and teach that all children are born Muslim but then are led away by the devil, or whether you are Mormon, and teach that everyone on earth existed previously as a spirit child of God, most religions agree that people are born children of God except Christianity. Over the last year or so, I’ve noticed that many Christians mistakenly agree with these false religions. The Bible is very clear that this is not so . There are many passages that teach that one must become a child of God at some point in their life, and there are four main ones that come to mind that we must look at to understand this. John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God . John ...

One of our first thoughts, when we hear someone claim to have witnessed a miracle, is that there might be some sort of natural explanation - because miracles are not the norm in nature. In the Gospels , we are told there was a similar response relating to Christ’s resurrection. When the Jewish priests were told the report of the empty tomb, they spread the tale that Jesus’ disciples had stolen His body (Mt 28:12–15). Even believers reacted this way . When Mary Magdalene initially saw Jesus , she made a natural assumption, supposing He was the gardener ( Jn 20:10 –15). When the disciples heard the report of the women who had gone to Jesus’ tomb, they thought the women were spreading rumors or false tales (Lk 24:11). Later, when they saw the risen Jesus, these same followers thought they were seeing a ghost or hallucination (Lk 24:36–43). Throughout history many have had similar responses regarding Jesus’ resurrection, attempting to come up with naturalistic theories to explain away...

Here are eight biblical truths about the kingdom of God as it is revealed in  Scripture  and eight ways that this prayer changes our world. The Kingdom of God Is Divine The kingdom of God is the reign of God .  The word for kingdom is taken from  basileia , the word for king, and simply means "the reign of the king." It means all of the territory of His realm. The king is God; His territory includes the whole cosmos. But the question of the ages is this: Is your life part of the territory of the reign of this King? It is important to remember that the kingdom of God did not start with Jesus' appearance; it just made a giant leap forward. The kingdom of God has always been. God has always been on the throne . "The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all"  ( Psalms 103:19 ) . Wherever God is, there is His rule and reign . If you will not submit to His rule and reign, the kingdom of God still exists. If you ...