Search results

God led the Israelites, but also acted through human leaders (Moses, Aaron, Joshua, etc). Jesus appointed twelve apostles (human beings!) to lead His church. They in turn appointed elders to oversee every church, and in their letters commanded us believers to submit to our church leaders (e.g...

Neither. He was the son of Joseph!

Sorry, but the word 'brethren' doesn't appear in my Bible at all - its only use in modern English (according to my dictionary) is to refer to a community of monks. And the Greek also makes no distinction between 'natural' brothers and brothers in the sense of fellow-Jews or fellow-believers -...

Handing on the baton (Numbers 27:12-23) Like Aaron, Moses has excluded himself from the land of Canaan by his failure to uphold God’s honour at Meribah. With Israel now poised to cross the Jordan, the time of his death is rapidly approaching - and his main concern, as always, is for the...

What do you mean by "the word 'brothers' as opposed to the word 'brethren'"? They are the same word! Only 'brethren' is the old plural form of 'brother', which nobody now uses. There is no change in meaning involved in updating the language, and nobody is being deceived.

Eyes on the prize: five wise virgins (Numbers 27:1-11) In an intensely patriarchal society such as ancient Israel, daughters do not normally inherit any share of the family estate. But a certain Israelite (Zelophehad) has died at some point during the nation’s wanderings without leaving a son...

If James' teaching is incompatible with Paul, then Paul's is incompatible with his own! He didn’t teach justification by faith alone in the sense of a faith that is disconnected from obedience; he expected believers to “demonstrate their repentance by their deeds” (Acts 26:20) and to work out...

I'm sorry, I thought I had made it quite clear: The former (first-mentioned) kind of faith - the faith that produces works - is the kind of faith that justifies. The latter (last-mentioned) kind of faith - the 'faith' that does nothing - is little more than wishful thinking. Dietrich...

The Bride and the guests are never mentioned together in the same passage. The Bride is the Church viewed collectively. She will definitely be at the wedding! The guests are us as individuals. We have a choice, whether to be there or not.

This was one altar amongst thousands. The Athenians (the vast majority, at any rate) were worshipping pagan gods, not the true God. But the presence of this altar seemed to Paul to suggest that a few people were dissatisfied with these deities and were groping for the truth. Bear in mind that...

1) I think you are underestimating Joseph; Matthew depicts him as being unusually generous and willing to do the best for his wife, even before he knew all the facts - so why not her son also? And we are told that he shared Mary's anxiety when Jesus went missing (Luke 2:48). 2) Luke tells us...

There are many adoptive fathers and stepfathers who show their adopted/step-children great affection, even if they have children of their own later. In the absence of any evidence either way, let's give Joseph the benefit of the doubt. I think a far greater cause of family friction would have...

Samuel was in Sheol, where all the dead (righteous and wicked) went. As far as I can see, nobody goes to Hell/Gehenna until after the final judgement.

One of the problems is that the word 'hell' has changed its meaning. Centuries ago, it meant 'the common grave' - and so the KJV uses it to translate the Hebrew word 'Sheol' and the Greek word 'Hades'. These days, most people understand 'Hell' to be a place of suffering, the place of final...

Idolatry again (Numbers 25) Finally the Israelites come to the east bank of the River Jordan, on the border of the country of Moab and within a stone’s-throw of their goal. And at this point, at the very end of their long journey, they very nearly throw it all away. For those who could not be...

So now we know how scientists feel when they hear Christians talk authoritatively on subjects that they actually know very little about, and misrepresent or misunderstand the beliefs of their opponents.

Grumbling (Numbers 21:4-9) Now the Israelites are in the final stage of their prolonged journey. But it must seem to them as though they are never going to reach their destination! Within weeks, discouraged by the unusually arid terrain they are obliged to traverse, they are complaining again -...

One must remember that all the apostolic letters were written to deal with problems that had arisen in the churches and to counteract specific false teachings. Paul puts a lot of emphasis on grace because Gentile believers were being bullied into converting to Judaism. James is dealing with a...

Facing death (Numbers 20:22-29) Not long after the incident at Meribah (Numbers 20:1-13), Aaron is told that he is about to die, in fulfilment of God’s judgement. He will not enter Canaan, but will go straight to the final home of God’s people (verse 24). He is given due warning, so that he can...

I could say the same. Nevertheless, as soon as we join with other believers we are in a 'denomination' of some kind (even if it's the "non-denominational" denomination!). The denominations don't 'own' us, nor do they (in most cases) impose particular doctrines on us. I have changed denomination...