Dr Paul Allen

Zephaniah the prophet pointedly condemned the mixing of other religions with faith in the one true God (sometimes called syncretism). Judah had become a people who bowed in worship to the true God but who also relied on the god Molek (Zephaniah 1:5). Zephaniah described their adoption of pagan culture (v. 8) and warned that as a result, God would drive the people of Judah from their homeland. Yet God never stopped loving His people. His judgment was to show them their need to turn to Him. So Zephaniah encouraged Judah to “Seek righteousness, seek humility” (2:3). Then the Lord gave them tender words promising future restoration: “At that time I will gather you; at that time I will bring you home” (3:20). It’s easy to condemn examples of obvious syncretism. But in reality, all of us easily blend God’s truth with the assumptions of our culture. We need the Holy Spirit’s guidance to test our beliefs against the truth of God’s Word and then to stand for that truth confidently and lovi...

Image via Wikipedia "And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it." ( Revelation 21:24 )   This somewhat enigmatic verse assures us that, even in the eternal ages, God still has a place and purpose for distinct nations. Presumably, they will all speak the same "pure language" ( Zephaniah 3:9 ), but they will continue to be recognized as nations.   The nations were originally established after the confusion of tongues and dispersion of the families at Babel ( Genesis 11:9 ). There seems to have been 70 families there, and these became the 70 original nations, as listed in the Table of Nations in  Genesis 10 . There were three basic streams of nations ( Semitic , Japhetic , and Hamitic ) and although there has been much mixing and proliferation, these three basic streams of nations (not "races"!) are still roughly distinct.   In his day, as God was about to establ...