One thing that we can clearly discern from looking around at creation, is that God is a God of order. It’s true that chaos and confusion now exist within that order, but a deep purpose of Genesis 1 and 2 is to show how God brought order and purpose to His creation. This principle extends out into...

King David took accounting of the military power of Israel, in 1 Chronicles 27. Because Israel was a tribal nation, meaning that it was composed of tribal family units, it made sense to count the military by tribe and clan. From our human perspective the more men of military age the stronger and ...

Temptation is a reality that we should never ignore. Even in times of victory we may be faced with opportunities to compromise on our godly convictions. Temptation will happen and it needs to be met with the strength that comes from a life surrendered to Christ. Jesus Himself faced temptations an...

Important leaders have come and gone for thousands of years, and God has seen them all. True greatness does not come through political, social, or economic power, true greatness comes from aligning yourself with God. This is a lesson that Rehoboam was forced to learn. As Solomon’s son,
Rehoboam s...

The Bible is the Word of God, it always tells the truth. In the Bible, we see many people who are not committed to the ways of the LORD, even though they had the opportunity to be. This ends up being the case with Asa king of ancient Judah. Judah began as a country after the split of ancient Isra...

The short reign of King Ahaziah of Judah was a mess. Ahaziah ruled over Judah for one year, and he was evil in the sight of God. Ahaziah was the second king of that name, so we’ll call him Ahaziah II. His uncle was the first Ahaziah and was king of northern Israel. Both Ahaziahs were
descendants ...

Uzziah was also known as Azariah (SEE 2 KINGS 1 4 : 2 1 ). When Uzziah was just sixteen the people of Judah made him king instead of his father Amaziah. The Bible says that Uzziah did what was right in the sight of the LORD, and that he pursued God in the days of Zechariah. He had a long reign of...

The nation of northern Israel that emerged after God’s kingdom split in two, fell in 722 BC to the kings of Assyria. Almost two hundred years later, the nation to the south, Judah, fell to the king of Babylon. There were four kings involved in Jerusalem leading up to its demise: (1) Jehoahaz, who...

After all Israel fell, both north and south, God’s people were humbled. They spent about seventy years in captivity. When the LORD was ready for them to return to Jerusalem, He restored the Sabbath and the land was ready to receive them. The people were called back to Jerusalem through a Persian ...

In the Bible, the Word of God, the LORD speaks to us. Yet, from the words of someone not in God’s Kingdom, Cyrus, God tells the people that the Temple is going to be rebuilt. Cyrus tells them that they will not have to pay for the rebuild, it will be paid for by the Assyrian king. This is a mirac...

There were three waves of Israel’s return from exile, that is when the people came back to Jerusalem from the eastern nations. The first two are recorded in the book of Ezra, and the third return is recorded in the book of Nehemiah. The first wave was 538 BC, recorded in Ezra 1-6. The second wave...

When the people gathered to help Nehemiah build the wall of Jerusalem, they needed to be organized, they needed to be a nation again. When they finished the hard grind of building the wall, they needed to be motivated to come alive again. There were so many Jews who had come back to Jerusalem—the...

Following the burning of the city of Jerusalem, the capital of ancient Judah, there were seventy years of abandonment. During this time, the walls were breeched and the Temple was in rubble. When Ezra writes of the first return, the men came to the city and built the foundations of thealtar of Go...

There are very few places in all of history that we can find a plan for complete annihilation of the Jewish people. The book of Esther is that place. This book is about a young Jewish orphan girl named Hadassah who became the queen of Persia. She was raised by her cousin Mordecai who had adopted ...

In Esther 5, we hear how Haman boasts to his friends and family about being promoted by the king, we get to see his arrogance and self-indulgence. As the book continues, we see how God works out Haman’s evil plans for the good of God’s people. In Esther 6, God uses Haman’s selfishness to honour M...

The question is why? Why would God allow or make someone suffer who has done nothing wrong? The book of Job is a wonderful study on how God’s will actually works, and on how we think. Often our personal pain drives our thoughts about God. When we feel good, God is good! When we suffer, we call in...

The three friends of Job are listed as Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They really don’t seem all that friendly though. They start well; they come and sit in silence with Job, mourning with him. But then they start to talk. Rather than continue in their mourni...

People often equate their purpose in life with success and what they can accomplish. In other words, if each brick laid is an accomplishment, then many accomplishments build up to success. The higher the tower, or the more accomplished you are, the more successful you are, and the more you have f...

One of the reasons why the Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID) program exists in Canada is to solve the problem of loneliness and depression. It is very sad. MAID permits clinically diagnosed individuals to legally seek suicide from a medical practitioner. In short, a doctor determines their healt...

Some of the big questions that have confronted every curious thinker for thousands of years are about how the universe came into being and what, or Who, keeps everything in its place? Most big thinkers have seen God as the source of all things. But in the last three hundred years, some philosophe...

When we state the obvious, we are really saying nothing. There is a man by the name of Elihu who was arrogant, proud, and full of himself. He expected to reveal such wisdom that even God would be amazed at his thoughts. He kept quiet while Job’s friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar commented on Jo...

I have experienced several tornados and hurricanes in my life. I’d really prefer not to ever experience those kinds of storms again. They are very loud and very lethal. While some are quick, others endure for a few days. But one thing is for sure, they are all destructive and devastating. No one ...