Dr Paul Allen

  Moab (Isa. 15:1–16:14) The Moabites were the product of Lot’s incestuous union with his daughter (Gen. 19:30–38) and were the avowed enemies of the Jews (Num. 25; 31; Deut. 23:3). The plight of Moab (Isa. 15:1–9). Within three years (16:14), this prophecy against Moab would be fulfilled with great national lamentation. At least fourteen different references to lamentation occur in this chapter: weeping, wailing, baldness, sackcloth, crying out, etc. The people fled to their temples and prayed to their gods, but to no avail (15:2, NIV). Even a day of national humiliation did not stop Assyria from invading Moab and ravaging the land. Advancing armies often stopped up the springs and watercourses, and left the land in desolation (vv. 6–7). Where there was water in Moab, it was stained with blood, so great was the carnage (v. 9). How could the weak Moabites ever hope to defeat the great Assyrian lion? The plea of Moab (Isa. 16:1–5). The one place the Assyrians could not conquer was J...

When exposed to evil, we might doubt God ’s presence. Soldiers’ accounts and memoirs often recall times of doubt as they grappled with war, atrocity and, ultimately, the struggle between good and evil. While Scripture is clear that good will triumph, it also says evil will win its share of battles. Second Kings 3 records a war event where evil won. Does God take sides? Second Kings 3 describes the rebellion of Moab , led by its king, Mesha, against the monarch of the northern kingdom of Israel , King Jehoram (3:5). Like his father Ahab, Jehoram solicited King Jehoshaphat of Judah (the southern kingdom) for assistance against his enemy (3:7). They were joined by the king of Edom (3:9). The invasion route—“by way of the wilderness of Edom”—is critical to the storyline. Edom was the territory settled by the descendants of the red-haired Esau (Gen 25:25; 36:1, 8). “Edom,” a play on the word adom (אָדֹם, “red”), was epitomized by the reddish soil and rock of its wilderness. By tak...

Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, was a military general in the Book of Judges   Wikipedia ) Judges is the account of how Israel behaves between the death of Joshua and the leadership of a king. Instead of remaining loyal to God and following His laws, this generation of Israelites wanders in their faith, worshiping idols, indulging in violence, and mingling with the evil nations around them. The book of Judges opens with a snapshot of the political and spiritual landscape: The land is not fully possessed yet, as Israel does not drive out a few “pockets” of the people they were told to eliminate. The military and spiritual leader Joshua is dead. The people begin worshiping false gods (introduced by the Canaanites living among them). Judges presents various examples of how God deals with His people during this time period. The stories of Judges follow a pattern ( Jgs 2:11–23): Israel turns from God and serves idols. God turns Israel over to the op...

Jan van Scorel, Ruth and Naomi in the fields of Boaz. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Naomi has been left without a husband and without an heir and, Ruth, her daughter-in-law, has asked their relative Boaz if he will become a kinsman-redeemer. If he accepts, he will take all that belongs to Naomi and he will marry Ruth; the first child born to them will not be considered his child, but the child of Naomi and her now-dead husband, Elimelech . This child will not carry on Boaz’s name and family line, but Elimelech’s. Though it is a significant commitment and a significant sacrifice, Boaz is willing. Before he can do this, though, he must see if this other relative, who is more closely related to Naomi, will accept the role.  For that reason Boaz calls this man into a formal legal proceeding. He is a little bit crafty, first telling this man only that Naomi is seeking to sell all the land that belonged to Elimelech. He asks if this man will be willing to buy the land. At leas...

The Prophet Balaam and the Ass, by Rembrandt van Rijn, 1626. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The Holy Spirit was not only able to deal with Moses and the people of Israel ; He was able to deal with their enemies as well. To reach the plains of Moab across the Jordan from Jericho, the Israelites went around the country of Moab. Then they moved north and won great victories over the people of Gilead and Bashan on the east side of the Jordan River . King Balak was afraid he would be next ( Numbers 22:2, 3). He was wrong, of course; the next step would be for Israel to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land; but Balak did not know that. He did realize, however, that Israel did not win their victories because of superior numbers or equipment. It had to be what Israel was saying it was: their God was with them. Balak determined, therefore, that the only way to stop Israel was to turn their God against them. So he sent messengers in all directions looking for someone who had power with J...

Lucas Cranach the Elder (1472-1553): Adam and Eve. Beech wood, 1533. Bode-Museum, Berlin (Erworben 1830, Königliche Schlösser, Gemäldegalerie Kat. 567) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) The emphasis placed on pride, and its converse humility, is a distinctive feature of biblical religion, unparalleled in other religious or ethical systems . Rebellious pride, which refuses to depend on God and be subject to him, but attributes to self the honour due to him, figures as the very root and essence of sin. We may say with Aquinas that pride was first revealed when Lucifer attempted to set his throne on high in proud independence of God (Is. 14:12–14). The fallen devil (Lk. 10:18) instilled the craving to be as gods into Adam and Eve (Gn. 3:5), with the result that man’s entire nature was infected with pride through the Fall (cf. Rom. 1:21–23). The ‘condemnation of the devil’ is associated with pride in 1 Tim. 3:6 (cf. ‘the snare of the devil’ in 1 Tim. 3:7; 2 Tim. 2:26); pride was his undoi...

Balaam and the angel, painting from Gustav Jaeger, 1836. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “Woe unto them! for they . . . ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward.” ( Jude 1:11 ) Balaam is a very complex character recorded in Numbers 22–24. He is cited for an ability to communicate with “the LORD” and had a reputation for accurate prophecy ( Numbers 22:6-8 ). As the new nation of Israel traveled northward into the Sinai Peninsula , Balak the king of Moab became worried that Israel would subjugate his nation and recruited Balaam to curse them. Balaam “loved the wages of unrighteousness” ( 2 Peter 2:15 ) but was astute enough to know that he could not talk God into doing anything God did not want to do! But even though Balaam was aware of the dangers of getting involved on the wrong side of God’s work, he wormed and squirmed through several interchanges with God until he was finally allowed to go. “God’s anger was kindled” at the stubbornness of this man, and the famous in...

Recently some Bible College students from a particular church, went to a cemetery, laid on the tombstone of Aimee Simple McPherson (pentecostal speaker from California ) to try to receive a transfer of her Holy Spirit anointing to themselves.  ON WHAT SCRIPTURAL BASIS CAN THIS BE JUSTIFIED? Their actions somehow appear to be linked to an event from 2 Kings 13:21.  During the spring, the usual season of beginning campaigns in ancient times. Predatory bands from Moab generally made incursions at that time on the lands of Israel . The bearers of a corpse, alarmed by the appearance of one of these bands, hastily deposited, as they passed that way, their load in Elisha ’s sepulchre, which might be easily done by removing the stone at the mouth of the cave.  According to the Jewish and Eastern custom, his body, as well as that of the man who was miraculously restored, was not laid in a coffin, but only swathed; so that the bodies could be brought into contact. The...

Balaam, the Angel and the Ass; Woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) “And the LORD opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?” ( Numbers 22:28 ) This tale of a donkey talking has been the object of great ridicule by skeptics. That it is not an allegory or fable, however, but a real historical event was confirmed in the New Testament by the apostle Peter ( 2 Peter 2:15-16 ). There is no naturalistic explanation for it, of course, but to insist that the event was impossible is simply to deny the power of God . Such miracles of creation are very rare, however, and there must always be a good reason when God intervenes in the laws which normally govern His creation. One reason in this case, obviously, was to rebuke the prophet Balaam, who was resisting God’s will simply for monetary gain. Balaam’s voice itself would soon also have to be constrained and controlled by God to ...

English: Moses Pleading with Israel, as in Deuteronomy 6:1-15, illustration from a Bible card published 1907 by the Providence Lithograph Company (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Deuteronomy 32; 34 “So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of  Moab , according to the word of the Lord…no one knows the place of his burial to this day” (34:5–6). The singing of songs is an excellent way to memorize history.  Significant events in redemptive history have also been captured in song.  Miriam’s song in Exodus 15:20–21, for example, celebrates Israel ’s deliverance from Pharaoh’s army. Revelation 19:6–10 records a song we will sing during the “ marriage supper of the Lamb ” at the consummation of redemption. Moses’ song in Deuteronomy 32 is yet another instance of this practice. The setting is the plains of Moab just before the Israelites are to conquer the land of Canaan . God has just predicted that future generations of Israel will go astray and f...

Moses with the tablets of the Ten Commandments, painting by Rembrandt (1659) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Author and Date of Writing:  Moses , about 1406 B.C. The book refers to Moses’ involvement in writing it (1:5; 31:9, 22, 24). Later Scripture refers to Mosaic authorship ( 1 Kings 2:3; 8:53; 2 Kings 14:6; 18:12). Both Jesus and Paul believed Moses wrote Deuteronomy (Mark 10:3–5; John 5:46–47; Rom. 10:19). The book’s formal prologue (1:1–5) and the epilogue about Moses’ death (chap. 34) were perhaps added by Joshua to round out the book. Many modern critical scholars believe that Deuteronomy (or at least chaps. 12–26) first came into being as a pious fraud composed by scribes during the 600s B.C. at the time of King Josiah . These scribes subsequently “discovered” the book and claimed it came from the time of Moses (2 Kings 22–23). This belief became the keystone of the famous Documentary Hypothesis, sometimes called “ JEDP .” Two centuries of modern critical study, ho...