Exile in the Bible results from God’s people not conforming to God’s revealed will.  This lack of conformity causes the banishment of rebellious sinners from the land.  The best example of exile is the Babylonian captivity in 586 BC.  God’s people refused the call of God’s prophets;  with a broken heart,  God allowed their enemies to overrun the land and take them into captivity.  God had revealed His will through a gracious law;  the people refused that law,  and off they went into exile under tyrannical,  foreign power. Similarly,  Canaanites were a rebellious people claiming the right to li ..read more

In Genesis 12:1-3,  God makes Abraham an incredible,  multifaceted promise:  “I will make you into a great nation;  I will bless you and make your name great,  and your name will be a blessing;  I will bless the one who blesses you and the one belittling you,  I will curse,  and through you,  all the nations of the earth will be blessed.” God’s undeserved promise was to a childless man and his sterile,  half-sister wife.  Abraham was well past his prime when God made that promise.  Eventually,  God would use stars as an analogy to explain the wealth of His unmerited grace to Abraham. Genesis 1 ..read more

My prayers for you this year are that your joys will know no end,  that you will go from one success in life to another and that boundless physical,  spiritual,  and emotional happiness will be yours. The likelihood for most of us is that God,  in His infinite wisdom,  will temper our hopes with challenges which must work out for our good. Scripture is replete with the idea that God is true to His promises.  If He said it,  He will do it. Think of the book of Zechariah.  Zechariah’s name means,  “the LORD remembers.”  The Bible presents YHWH as the one God who always remembers.  Sometimes thos ..read more