Dr Paul Allen

Crossing of the red sea (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt , afterward destroyed them that believed not.” ( Jude 1:5 )   This is the first example Jude provides of those who refused to respond to God ’s leading and gracious provision. Israel had witnessed stunning miracles, and a few very public judgments, before the 12 spies were sent out to investigate the Promised Land .   For example, the institution of the Passover was a wonderful and fearful event. God showed His hand both in salvation of those who obeyed and in swift judgment on those who refused.   The exodus of Israel from Egypt was unique. Not only did God enrich the nation in one day, but demonstrated His awesome power at the parting of the Red Sea and the destruction of the army of Pharaoh. Everyone in Israel observed this. They all experienced God’s power firsthand. ...

English: Jesus Christ - detail from Deesis mosaic, Hagia Sophia, Istanbul (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker (Ps. 95:6). The writer of Psalm 95, in exhorting Israel to praise God in a solemn assembly, directs them to worship God properly as Creator and Redeemer. He also warns the church not to harden its heart against God, but to worship Him with sincerity. The psalmist instructs believers to thank God for electing them to eternal life by His free favor. God supplies us with ample ground for praise when He invests us with spiritual distinction and advances us to a greater status than the rest of mankind by making us heirs to His kingdom. This honor rests on no merits of our own, but only the merits of Jesus Christ . The duty of God’s people, therefore, is to devote themselves entirely to God. The worship of God demands our whole strength. We must keep in mind God’s authority as we approach Him in worship...

Image via Wikipedia "And I besought the LORD at that time, saying, O Lord GOD, thou hast begun to shew thy servant thy greatness, and thy mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can do according to thy works, and according to thy might? I pray thee, let me go over, and see the good land that is beyond Jordan, that goodly mountain, and Lebanon ." ( Deuteronomy 3:23-25 )   This was the heartfelt prayer of Moses , for he was longing to see the Promised Land that had been his goal for so many years. He knew that God, rebuking his disobedience at Meribah , had said: "Therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them" ( Numbers 20:12 ). Yet he desired greatly to "go over" the Jordan, to see firsthand the "goodly mountain."   The "goodly mountain" most likely was majestic Mount Hermon , the 9,200-foot, snow-capped peak dominating the southern end of the mountain ranges of Lebanon. Go...