According to the Puritan Thomas Goodwin, “there were two grand pillars in the Old Testament: one, God’s promise of Christ; and the other, this manifesto of God’s gracious nature [in Exodus 34:6-7]...
John Bunyan describes the power of the word to convict the sinner: “Then the word works effectually to this purpose, when it findeth out the sinner and his sin, and shall...
The tree of life is mentioned exactly ten times in the Bible. The first three times are in Genesis when access to the tree was lost by the fall of man. The last three times are...
In Genesis 3:15, God refers to the seed of the serpent. Many Bible-believing students have seen this as a reference to the antichrist who, in imitation of the virgin birth, will have a miraculous birth. Modern movies have played on the theme of the devil's seed. But the real seed of the serpent will be accepted as the true "Christ" and his birth will be heralded as a wondrous proof of his divine heritage. This viewpoint is seen in ancient myths. According to "The Virgin Birth" by Robert Gromacki (p.212): "Alexander the Great made the priests say that he was a son of Zeus. He denied that he was the son of Philip and affirmed that he was begotten by a serpent cohabiting with his mother. Later, the Roman Caesar Augustus wanted the story spread that his mother, asleep in the temple of Apollo, was visited by the god in the form of a serpent. Conceived, he was later born in the tenth month." As the Bible tells us, "there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9).
An article in the September 15, 2006, edition of "Forward" tells of the sweet challah bread that is on every Rosh Hashanah table throughout the Jewish world. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year and it is equivalent to the Feast of the Trumpets in the Bible (Leviticus 23:23-25). Challah is a sweet bread especially made for the occasion to symbolize the desire for a sweet and good year. It is usually baked in a round or spiral shape. This roundness is used to symbolize the round crowns of the righteous and the cycle of the year. Since a circle has no end, it also indicates the desire for a long life.
