In English, we have the phrase, “Keep your eye on the ball.” As native speakers, we know what it means. The “ball” is what is important. The phrase warns us not to be distracted from the main goal. For example, if a politician is running for office, his staff will remind him to keep his ..read more

The word angel comes from the Greek angelos, which means messenger or angel. Angelos occurs 179 times in the NT. It refers to human messengers ten times. John the Baptist was “My angel/messenger” (Matt 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27). John the Baptist sent messengers (angelōn) to Jesus (Luke 7:24). The Lord Jesus sent messengers (angelous) before Him when He went to a Samaritan village (Luke 9:52). Rahab “received the messengers [angelous] and sent them out another way” (Jas 2:25). Angels were probably God’s first creation. They were present during the seven days of creation (Job 38:4-7). Before ..read more

Yesterday, I had the privilege of listening to a compelling sermon by Philippe Sterling on the parallels between Isaac and the Lord Jesus. I’ve invited him to contribute an article to the magazine on this topic. This blog serves as an initial exploration of this fascinating subject. A Biblical type is a historical incident that is recorded in the Bible and that has profound prophetic significance. Biblestudytools.com defines a Biblical type in this way (see here): The word “type” is derived from a Greek term tupos, which occurs 16 times in the New Testament. It is variously translated in the ..read more

Lord willing, and if He doesn’t take us to be with Him first, I’m looking forward to the OT commentary that GES is in the process of producing. It is scheduled to be published in the not-too-distant future. I’m anxious to see where the various authors believe Christ, grace, and rewards are found in the books of the OT. Many years ago, in the first Bible church I attended, I got a preview of such an OT occurrence. An elder was teaching through the little book of Haggai. When he came to Haggai 2, he explained that the Jews had just returned from seventy years of captivity in Babylon. They were ..read more

About twenty years ago, at the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, I heard a speaker present a message about the Angel of the Lord (Malak Yahweh). The speaker suggested that the Scriptures show that the Angel of the Lord is never the preincarnate Lord Jesus Christ. After the talk, I asked Dr. Arnold Fructenbaum, who had been in the audience, what he thought of the talk. He said, “I know my Messiah appeared many times to believers as the Angel of the Lord.” I agree with him. We know that the expression the angel of the Lord often refers to God in the flesh because the text t ..read more

In Luke 6:12-15, the Lord chooses twelve men to be His inner circle of disciples. At first glance, these verses seem to be placed in the book randomly. In fact, they seem out of place. The Lord has been both miraculously healing people with different diseases and interacting with the religious leaders, who oppose Him (5:12–6:11). After choosing the Twelve, He will heal even more people (6:17-19). In what seems an interruption of these accounts, Luke gives us the names of the Twelve. What is the purpose? Furthermore, why does the Lord even need to designate twelve men to be His disciples? Thro ..read more

“And he [Abraham] believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Gen 15:6). What are the hundred most significant words in the Bible?i In my list, the first word alphabetically is Abraham. While teaching about him in Sunday school, I gave six proofs that Abraham believed in Jesus Christ for his salvation. These proofs require no knowledge of Greek or Hebrew, but many people are unaware of them. Proof #1: Paul said Abraham believed in Jesus for his justification. In both Rom 4:1-5 and Gal 3:6-14, Paul cited Gen 15:6 as proof that justification by faith in Christ, apart ..read more

Many years ago I read an article as part of a class I attended on the Gospel of Mark. The article was about the Mount of Transfiguration, and I still remember a couple of points it made. I think they stuck with me because I had never considered these ideas. One point was that the Mount of Transfiguration is a neglected part of the ministry of Christ. The author suggested this was because most NT scholars are not sure what to make of the events on that mountain. He said this is why we don’t hear many sermons on it. I don’t know if that is true or not. I haven’t kept track of how many messages ..read more

In one of the great OT passages regarding the Resurrection, Job proclaims: For I know that my Redeemer lives, And He shall stand at last on the earth; And after my skin is destroyed, this I know, That in my flesh I shall see God, Whom I shall see for myself, And my eyes shall behold, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25-27) These verses, among others (Dan 12:1-2; Isa 26:19; Hos 13:14; Ps 16:9-11), are often used to demonstrate that the OT saints not only believed in the coming Messiah, but believed that through Him they would live forever. Job understood that his Redee ..read more

Luz Long and Jesse Owens were polar opposites. Long was a German Nazi and looked the part. He was blond, white, and an educated lawyer. Owens was a black American who grew up in poverty under segregation. In the 1936 Olympics, held in Berlin, Luz and Owens competed against each other in the long jump. Hitler wanted to show the superiority of the Aryan race. Long was a poster child for Hitler’s vision. In the Führer’s eyes, Owens was a despised, inferior human being. Owens won the event, and Long came in second. But the two men walked arm in arm in the stadium in front of Hitler. Long and Owen ..read more