The above question has been asked over hundreds of years concerning the Messiah. Put another way one might ask, how could someone recognise the Messiah, or how will I know when Messiah comes? Intriguingly
Samson’s parents encountered a mysterious guest foretelling his birth and instructing them to raise him as a Nazarite, since he would begin to deliver Israel. Interestingly this reading is the Haftorah passage accompanying the
Each of the gospels recognise Yochanan the Immerser (John the Baptist) as the messenger preceding Yeshua the Messiah fulfilling three prophecies (Isaiah 40:3; Malachi 3:1, 23 (4:5) ). Josephus’ account concerning John agrees with
I was moved when I attended a Holocaust Memorial Service yesterday and especially with the closing song, ‘I believe’ by Mark Miller. I believe in the sun even when the sun is not shining.
Meeting the Lord of glory How would you prepare to meet the king? You would probably adorn your best attire and learn the protocol and you would not need to make an introduction, since
Many years ago I had a lightbulb moment, when I recognised that in addition to the Bible accurately fulfilling prophecy and speaking authoritatively on things to come, it also diagnoses present patterns of behaviour
Some people assume that since there are historical accounts that adulate the winners and erase their shortcomings, the Bible should be regarded in the category of ‘history written by the victors.’ To answer this
If we made a thorough investigation into Jesus’ full birth certificate, we would conclude that He is Messiah. Matthew Henry wrote, “Unless Jesus is a Son of David, and a Son of Abraham, He
Keep in mind that King David authored this psalm, as he leads us in worship, away from an attitude of haughtiness towards a lifestyle of humble dependence upon the God of Israel. The first
How is the psalmist able to have assurance of mercy and abundant redemption, when crying out to the Lord from the depths? This is both a song of ascents and a penitential psalm which
The preservation of Israel is a miracle past and present; encouragingly, it is also promised for the future. The antagonism from Zion’s enemies is inexplicable through rationalist explanations such as envy, ignorance or otherness.
There are great blessings for those who fear the Lord and walk in His ways and if someone trusts in the Lord, they will be doers as well as hearers of the word of
Unless our labours are directed by the Lord, our work is in vain, but if our labours are built by the Lord, many blessings will follow. This central psalm in the Songs of Ascents
This song of ascents shows how the Lord oversaw His people’s return to Zion despite their troubled history. Israel and the nations both marvelled and continue to marvel in how the Lord has done
Artistic Impressions of Messiah From previous visits to the National Gallery, I was struck by the volume of biblically themed art and artistic license employed. A visitor may well be led to assume that
It is one thing to know about the Lord but another thing to know Him personally. It is one thing to acquire human wisdom, knowledge and understanding and another thing to gain godly wisdom,
Judah had failed to listen to Jeremiah’s preaching and had recently been exiled to Babylon. This was by no means the end of the story, since the Lord foretold they would return after seventy
David sought to build a temple for the Lord, though instead, the Lord would build David a house. We often refer to the ‘Davidic Covenant’ though it is clear that the Lord is sovereign
This chapter develops the promise of the covenant in Genesis 12 and the making of the covenant in Genesis 15 with the Lord’s covenant sign, circumcision. The Lord appeared to Abram as He had
Ruth Rosen collated the accounts of several Jewish doctors who trusted in Jesus as their Messiah. Due to the nature of their profession, these individuals were more acquainted with trying to relieve the suffering
Some hymnal traditions have made great use of singing metric psalms. The psalms were of course set to music and singing Scripture helps us to memorise parts of the Bible and to retain a
The Torah is unequivocally clear that the Israelites are God’s chosen people and also states exactly why. Deuteronomy 7:7-9 explains, “The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you
In the 18th and 19th century, there was an abundance of philosemitic hymns in the United Kingdom. Since so many hymns from that era have been written, I narrowed my search to survey ‘Grace
Exodus 23:14-17 Three Feasts point towards Messiah In these four verses we see that three times a year, all the male Israelites kept these feasts. These were the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast