Dr Paul Allen

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 ) Matthew 24:29–31 “All the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory” (v.30). For most people, the biggest obstacle to our interpretation of Matthew 24:1 –35 is probably today’s passage. Believers usually read the astronomical upheaval in verse 29 and the appearance of the Son of Man on the clouds in verses 30–31 in an overly literal fashion and place these events in the future. That is, most Christians read verses 29–31 as an ...

Map showing the Babylonian territory upon Hammurabi's ascension in 1792 BC and upon his death in 1750 BC (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “I will punish the world for its evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; I will halt the arrogance of the proud , and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible” (Isa 13:11). The passage before us is filled with descriptions of God’s wrath against a prideful and haughty people. Isaiah calls Babylon the “world” because it seemed to encompass the whole earth in its power and glory. It was a prideful city and refused to honor its Creator, and in due time it would be completely destroyed. The doctrine we draw from this prophecy is that it is impossible for us to escape punishment from the Lord if we are puffed up with vain confidence and flatter ourselves. Isaiah included every kind of pride in his charge against Babylon, from men thinking they were something they weren’t to admiring their own riches and despising others in comparison to them...

English: Head-piece to Nahum. Nahum 3:3. Vignette with a horseman raising his sword during combat with a fallen soldier in clouds; letterpress in two columns below and on verso. 1798. Inscriptions: Lettered below image with production detail: "P J de Loutherbourg invt.", "Js. Fittler sculpt" and publication line: "Publish'd Jany. 22 1798 by Thos Macklin Fleet Street". Print made by James Fittler. Dimensions: Height: 490 millimetres (sheet); width: 395 millimetres (sheet). (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings." ( Nahum 2:4 ) This strange prophecy, found in the midst of the small book of Nahum , could almost be seen as a description of twenty-first century freeway traffic! In context, however, the entire book of Nahum deals with the coming destruction of Assyria and, especially, its gre...