Dr Paul Allen

An angel prevents the sacrifice of Isaac. Abraham and Isaac, Rembrandt, 1634 (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) What, if anything does the Scripture say about burial? The answer might surprise you. The earliest account we have of burial has to do with Abraham and his immediate family. Having given Abraham promises of blessing and inheritance--which were all dependent on the coming of the Redeemer--the Scriptures reveal to us that all of God's dealings with Abraham have--in some sense or another--to do with the prospect of redemption.  God promised Abraham land, but--contrary to the opinions of many--this was a promise of the inheritance of the New Heavens and the New Earth that believers get in union with Christ. Abraham actually never inherited any of the land. He did, however, become heir of all things in Christ.  The promise, the Apostle Paul tells us, was that Abraham and all his spiritual offspring would inherit the world (Rom. 4:13) through the righteousness of faith. ...

Zadkiel was said to be the Angel who prevented Abraham from sacrificing his son, Isaac. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "By faith Abraham , when he was tested, offered up Isaac , and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, 'Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.' He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking, he did receive him back" (Heb. 11:17–19). Apart from Christ 's obedient sacrifice, probably the greatest act of faith in fear and trembling recorded in all of Scripture is the obedient response of Abraham when God commanded him to sacrifice his son Isaac. This occurred after God had given Abraham a promise of future generations through Isaac and after God had made him wait many years for the birth of Isaac. In the interim, Abraham had taken steps to make sure that this promise was fulfilled with the aid of his wife Sarah , who, regarding herse...

This is obviously a controversial verse, but it is chock full of interesting Greek tidbits, not the least of which is semantic range. Peter is encouraging Christian wives to respect their husbands, being submissive (ὑποτασσόμεναι, 3:1) to them, and placing an emphasis on internal qualities and not external beauty. The goal is evangelistic; their behavior may win their husbands to the faith. As an example of submissiveness Peter refers to Sarah, who was submissive to Abraham her husband, κύριον αὐτὸν καλοῦσα. The participle καλοῦσα is expressing one way in which she expressed her relationship to Abraham. She addressed him as “lord.” BDAG gives the range of meaning for κύριος as: one who is in charge by virtue of possession,  owner (such as the owner of the vineyard or the master of the house) one who is in a position of authority, lord, master of earthly beings, as a designation of any pers. of high position (which is where they place our verse) of transcendent being...

"The Prophet Jeremiah" (1968) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." ( Genesis 18:14 ) This rhetorical question posed to Abraham by the Lord was in response to Sarah's doubts concerning His promise that they would have a son. It would, indeed, require a biological miracle, for both were much too old for this to happen otherwise. With God , however, all things are possible, and He can, and will, fulfill every promise, even if a miracle is required. This same rhetorical question was asked of the prophet Jeremiah . "Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying, Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?" ( Jeremiah 32:26-27 ). The One who created all flesh, who raises up kings and puts them down, could surely fulfill His promise to restore Israel to its homeland when the...

Molnár József: Ábrahám kiköltözése (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it." ( Revelation 2:17 ) This intriguing promise is one of seven promises in Christ 's letters to seven representative churches--promises made "to him that overcometh." Although there are various opinions as to who constitute these overcomers, 1 John 5:4 would indicate that "whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." On this assumption, all who have been truly born again through faith in Christ will someday be given a new name by their Lord . No one will know what his new name will be until he receives it, and even then it may remain unknown to everyone else. ...

The First Mourning (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) "And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living." ( Genesis 3:20 ) Sarah , Abraham 's wife, was called the mother of all "the children of promise" ( Galatians 4:28 ), and the wife of Noah was the mother of all post-Flood mankind, but Mother Eve, alone, was "the mother of all living." "Adam was first formed, then Eve," Paul said in 1 Timothy 2:13 , and so-called "Christian evolutionists" have never yet been able to explain God 's unique formation of Eve's body in any kind of an evolutionary context. Eve, as our first mother, experienced all the great joys and great sorrows that all later mothers would know. She evidently had many "sons and daughters" ( Genesis 5:4 ), and probably lived to see many generations of grandchildren. With Adam, she had even known paradise, but sin had entered their lives when they rebelled ag...

Image via Wikipedia "These all died in faith , not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them." ( Hebrews 11:13 ) Some have struggled with the word faith , desiring a succinct definition of it, but nowhere in Scripture does a working definition of faith appear. In places, however, the Bible gives a rather indirect definition of faith. Keeping in mind that the words belief and faith are translations of the same Greek word, let us look at several such texts. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist , said of Mary, "And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord" ( Luke 1:45 ). Paul knew that God intended for him to be brought before Caesar and encouraged his shipmates as they were about to be shipwrecked with the words: "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me...

Image via Wikipedia The author of Hebrews defines faith as “the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen ” (Heb. 11:1).  Faith fills the vacuum of hope. Hope , when coupled with faith, has substance, and substance is something rather than nothing. Faith also provides evidence for that which is not visible.  Faith is not blind. Indeed far from being blind, it is both far-sighted and sharp-sighted. Its evidence rests not on speculation but on confidence in a God who sees what we cannot see. It rests on trust in the reliability of every promise that is uttered by God. It is one thing to believe in God. It is quite another to believe God. Abraham believed God when He said He would show him a better country. He believed God again later when God dramatized His covenant promise in Genesis 15, and by this faith Abraham was counted righteous. He was justified by his faith.  That Abraham’s faith was genuine is seen in that he obeyed God by faith....