Painting: The Prophecy of Isaiah by Marc Chagall, 1960's Isaiah 1-5: God’s Approaching Salvation Through Judgment Isaiah chapters 1-5 stand as an overture to the book of Isaiah. Here, God reveals His verdict of judgment against Israel and the reasons why He has a controversy with her. She is described as rebellious, her religion insincere, …
Pictured: Enrique Simonet - Flevit super illam 1892 In Matthew 24 Jesus answers His disciples' questions of: 1. When will the destruction of the temple be?, 2. What will be the sign of His coming?, and 3. What will be the sign of the end of the age? Jesus answers in three stages: 1.Twelve signs …
Pictured: The Mystic Lamb by Hubrecht and Jan van Eyck, 15th Century A Response to: "Leviticus 17:11" written by the Director of Education and Counselling of Jews for Judaism (Canada), Rabbi Michael Skobac. His article linked: Click here I. Does Leviticus 17:11 Concern Atonement? Rabbi Michael Skobac begins by quoting from Leviticus 17:10-12 and commenting, “What …
Daniel 1 Section Summary: Chapters 1-6 The book of Daniel can be divided into two main parts. The first six chapters describe the biography of Daniel as he served in the courts of Babylon, and the last six chapters contain four prophetic revelations. This biographical section, which will be outlined below, must also be viewed …
Project Objective: Imagine you are building a church in an inner city that is racially divided, violent, poverty stricken, and has a slew of social and economic problems. You are the pastoral leaders and you need to build a biblical foundation amongst yourselves and in your church in order to provide space for unity to …
Continue reading Race and America in 2019: Facilitating Discussions on Race
In the first chapter of Daniel a pattern of heart posture and spiritual disciplines can be found that carry broad applications for Christian discipleship. One of the wonders found in this chapter is how such godly characters were found in such young teenagers. In light of such a wonder, the real goal in the discipleship …
Continue reading Daniel 1: What kind of community formed teenagers like Daniel and his friends?
Zephaniah 1-3 The main theme throughout Zephaniah chapter one is "the day of the Lord," which event is spoken of 14 times in this passage with the following negative descriptions: at hand, sacrifice, punishment, crying, wrath, trouble, distress, wasteness, desolation, darkness, gloominess, clouds and thick darkness, trumpet, and alarm. It is spoken to Israel, but …
“The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory.” (Isaiah 62:2) Isaiah 62:2 reveals the heart and motives of Jesus as Bridegroom, King, and Judge. His heart is selflessly given and moved towards the redemption of his people. There is no selfish vindication to be found. Rather, he desires to invite others into …
Continue reading Meditation on Isaiah 62: The Beauty of Jesus as Bridegroom, King, and Judge
The judgements of God are for the salvation of mankind and are centered around the redemptive acts of God in and through the Messiah, Jesus. Thus, they are unto an ultimate victory and cleansing of the failure and sin of man. This care is clear in these passages, as it is God who initiates man’s …
Continue reading Meditation on Isaiah 62 – 63: The Beauty of Jesus as Bridegroom, King, and Judge
All scripture references are from the New King James Version God’s People are those who are in christ and have the holy spirit; an eschatological community, awaiting the fullness at the second coming of christ The main storyline throughout the Scriptures is God creating a people in the earth as his dwelling place.‘I will take …
Chapter 1: A "Theology" of the Spirit? The Spirit in Pauline Theology The Holy Spirit is an essential person of the Godhead in the fulfillment of Old Testament promises. The Old Covenant was discontinued and the Spirit, the presence of God, left the Temple. On the other hand, the New Covenant was continued and fulfilled …
The book of Daniel is widely known and acclaimed by scholars for it’s prophetic visions concerning the Messiah and the end of the age. Especially chapters seven through twelve record four eschatological visions, in which, chapter eight found partial fulfillment in Antiochus Epiphanies and even Hitler. Daniel chapter seven encompasses Daniel’s vision of four beasts, …
Continue reading The Antichrist: 10 Nation Confederation and The End of the Age in a Nutshell
Ephesus was an ancient city located near the modern day İzmir Province, Turkey. This ancient city was the main regional hub of idol worship to the goddess Artemis, “throughout almost all of Asia” as Acts 19:26 describes. The Temple of Artemis, also known as the Temple of Diana (the Roman Mythology equivalent to the greek …
Whereas Romans chapters one through four deal with man’s universal need for salvation and God’s provided righteousness through faith, chapters five through eight reveal the levels of freedom now available for the believer. In Christ, the believer is free from the wrath of God, sin, the Law, and death itself. These four worked together to …
Continue reading Alive to Christ: A Summary of the Book of Romans, Chapters 7-8, 12-16
All scripture references are from the New King James Version Romans 9:1-3 — Paul’s intercessory calling and ministry to Israel and the gentiles Paul was called by God to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles, to the seats of influence, and to Israel; however, even his ministry to the Gentiles worked to bring Israel to …
“My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.” Or, “my tongue is the pen of a ready scribe." The writer of Psalm 45 had no need of conjuring up a blessing for the royal wedding, …
In Psalm 45, a wedding scene between a King (Jesus) and a Queen (the Church) is composed in a song. The Psalm, like a dream that floats like Pontormo's colorful "Deposition", describes the inner beauty of the entire wedding scene: the bridegroom, the Bride, the participants, and even the music floating from the "ivory palaces". …
Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” (Revelation 11:15) Ephesians 4:1-23 describes the character the members of the church are to walk in towards one another, in light of the previously …
In Psalm 49:9, the Church is described as standing at the right hand of Jesus in the most beautiful and costly garments. This shows the readiness of The Bride of Christ at Jesus’ Second Coming and her refinement in all of it’s fulness (Revelation 3:18, 1 Peter 1:7). The image is of a bride who …
The book of Romans was written by Apostle Paul to the early Church of Rome, which church had become famous, having a depth of maturity and an abundance of members by the time Paul writes to them (Rm. 1:8; 15:14, 23). Tacitus writes about the persecuted Christians in Rome during the outbreak of a fire …
Continue reading By Grace Through Faith: A Summary of the Book of Romans, Chapters 1-6
What about Muslims who are truly peaceful? This seems to be the question the whole world is asking these days, and it comes up daily, here where I work, at The Hatune Foundation. I bring to my mind my own American Muslim friends as I ask this. Many Muslims I know, who have been born …
Many of us have heard a message that describes the second coming of Jesus to happen willy-nilly, at any given moment, and with no warning. This pre-tribulation rapture theory is interpreted from a few passages in the Olivet Discourse (Matthew 23:37-25:46) that I hope to get into briefly. As there are over 150 end-time chapters …
There was a point in time and history where Jesus took on flesh and became a man. He lived among us as “Immanuel”, “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14, and Matthew 1:23). But his life did not start in the New Testament. He forever was and forever will be (Revelation 1:8). But who was Jesus before …
Continue reading The Theophanies of Christ through the Old Testament: Introduction
See Pentateuch: Introduction“Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)The genius of the creation account God gave us, is that it establishes the heart posture that is required to approach God, as is reestablished throughout Scripture: faith and belief toward God. Take some time meditating on the following Scriptures:“And to make all men see …
See Pentateuch: Introduction The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Creation Genesis 1:1-5 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God …
Continue reading Genesis 1: The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in Creation
...and in his temple all cry, “Glory!” 