Dr Paul Allen

“ Cursed be Canaan ; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.… Blessed be the Lord, the God of Shem ; and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth , and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant” ( Gen. 9:25–27 ).- Genesis 9:24–29 Exodus 20:12 teaches us necessarily to obey all authorities, for “it pleases God to govern us by their hand” (Heidleberg Catechism, 104). How we treat our leaders (family, church, or civil) reveals what we think of our Father, since He ordains them all ( Rom. 13:1–7 ). Having despised God by dishonoring his father, today’s passage records the curse Ham earned for his seed. These verses illustrate the maladies that can result if we do not obey our authorities faithfully. Let us first note this text has a sordid history of being used to justify ethnic slavery and racism. However, this use is manifestly unjustifiable. The malediction says nothing about race; it is based on faith, and in any case is pronounced on...

T he book of Joshua presents most readers with a troubling question: how can a God of love command his followers to destroy an entire nation of people? The Canaanites had lived in their land for centuries before Joshua and his people came to claim it for themselves. While some in Canaan fought against God’s people and were destroyed as a result (cf. the battle of Ai , 8:14ff), others did not attempt armed aggression against Israel . The people of Jericho, for instance, retreated inside their city walls and mounted no attack against the Jews. Nonetheless, following divine orders, the Israeli soldiers “destroyed with the sword every living thing in it—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys” (6:21). The God of Joshua also required a similar kind of wrathful judgment against his own people when they sinned. Following the battle of Jericho , a soldier named Achan took in plunder “a beautiful robe from Babylonia, two hundred shekels of silver and a wedge of gold...

TEMPLE Mount : It’s the hill at the heart of much of the Middle East ’s turmoil. Now, for the first time, archaeologists say they have found evidence of King Solomon’s temple . The veracity of the Old Testament ’s accounts of King Solomon building the First Temple has long been questioned. While remnants of the Second Temple abound, only uncertain hints of an earlier structure have previously been found . The Bible states Solomon’s Temple was destroyed by Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II . This has been dated to about 587BC. The Second Temple, remnants of which include the Jerusalem’s famous Wailing Wall, was razed by the Romans about AD70. But the Times of Israel is today reporting a secret archaeological excavation  on Temple Mount has unearthed the first ever artefacts conclusively dated to the First Temple — some 2600 years ago. The paper says the dig was done with the permission of the Islamic organisation that administers the 7th Century Dome of the Rock , from which t...

Dome of the Rock (Skalní dóm) (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Will a third temple be built? This is a possibility, although at present it is impossible to imagine how this could happen, given the political and religious situation in Jerusalem in particular and in the world at large. Orthodox Jews who want to build a third temple would be able to do so only if they could get the Israeli government to occupy the temple mount and either tear down the Dome of the Rock and build the third temple at the spot some believe was the location of Solomon’s temple , or build the temple between the Dome of the Rock and the Al-Aqsa Mosque (as others suggest for the location of Solomon’s temple). This scenario is not feasible politically, as the violent reaction of the Muslim world can only be imagined,18 and as none of the (mostly secular) Israeli governments have any motivation to build a Jewish temple and renew the sacrificial cult. Given the significance of Jesus as described in the New Testa...

John the Baptist baptizes Jesus. The artist Adi Holzer created this handcolored etching The baptism in 1997. Today is his seventy-fifth birthday. (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 21:23–27 “They answered Jesus , ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things’” ( v. 27 ). Many scholars believe Matthew 21:21 refers implicitly to Rome’s destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 a.d. The disciples might have seen Mt. Zion as Jesus told them believing prayer can cast a mountain into the sea, perhaps getting them to wonder if the Temple Mount might one day fall away. Jerusalem’s fall to the Romans is, in the New Testament , seen as God ’s judgment on those Israelites who rejected Christ ( Luke 19:41–44 ). Of course, not every ethnic Jew was condemned, for Jesus and His earliest followers were faithful sons of Abraham. But divine wrath fell upon most of the religious authorities and the temple because they would not bow to the...

A stone with Hebrew inscription "To the Trumpeting Place" excavated at the southern foot of the Temple Mount (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 21:23–27 “They answered Jesus , ‘We do not know.’ And he said to them, ‘Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things’” (v. 27). Many scholars believe Matthew 21:21 refers implicitly to Rome ’s destruction of the Jerusalem temple in 70 A.D. The disciples might have seen Mt. Zion as Jesus told them believing prayer can cast a mountain into the sea, perhaps getting them to wonder if the Temple Mount might one day fall away. Jerusalem ’s fall to the Romans is, in the New Testament , seen as God’s judgment on those Israelites who rejected Christ (Luke 19:41–44). Of course, not every ethnic Jew was condemned, for Jesus and His earliest followers were faithful sons of Abraham. But divine wrath fell upon most of the religious authorities and the temple because they would not bow to their Messiah. This passage depicts...

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 21:12 –13 “ Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons” (v. 12).  Messianic expectations were at a fever pitch after Jesus came into Jerusalem   on a donkey (Matt. 21:1–11), and the next action He performed only added fuel to the fire. We will today look at our  Lord’s cleansing of the temple in Matthew 21:12–13 and examine what it teaches us about the Christ. Of Herod’s ...

English: Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 21:14–17 “Have you never read, ‘Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise’?” ( v. 16 ). During the last week of His life, Matthew 21:17 tells us, Jesus is spending His nights in Bethany, a village on the Mount of Olives less than an hour’s walk from Jerusalem. Our Lord is likely a guest at the home of His friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, for John’s gospel puts Christ there just before He enters Jerusalem on Palm Sunday ( 11:1 , 17–19 ; 12:1–8 , 12–19 ). Retiring each evening to Bethany would provide Jesus fellowship during this crucial time. Such respite is needed due to His conflicts with the Jewish authorities. Jesus’ cleansing of the temple does not sit well with the Sanhedrin, the religious governing body of the Jews made up of the chief priests and other leaders. In fact, these officials want to destroy Him ( Mark 11:15–19 ). Their hostility is clear when th...

Jesus casting out the money changers from the Temple by Giotto, 14th century (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Matthew 21:12–13 “ Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons” ( v. 12 ). Messianic expectations were at a fever pitch after Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey ( Matt. 21:1–11 ), and the next action He performed only added fuel to the fire. We will today look at our Lord’s cleansing of the temple in Matthew 21:12–13 and examine what it teaches us about the Christ. Of Herod’s building projects, none were greater than the Jerusalem temple , which he expanded. It sat on what we now call the Temple Mount , an area of some thirty-five acres. Only priests could enter the temple itself, which took up a small part of the mount and was surrounded by three courts: Israelite men could enter the court closest to the temple. Israelite men and women could occupy...