In Revelation 5:8-9, after the Lamb has taken the book that could not be opened by any other, the four beasts and twenty-four elders fall down before Him and...
The "chariot of the cherubims" is part of the design of the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Solomon. This chariot is not mentioned anywhere else in scripture. Neither does there seem to be...
Yesterday I read Ezekiel 14:21, which states, "For thus saith the Lord GOD; How much more when I send my four sore judgments upon Jerusalem, the sword, and the famine, and the noisome beast, and the pestilence, to cut off from it man and beast?" Of these four sore judgments, three make perfect sense to us today. The sword is war, famine is lack of food and/or water, and pestilence is disease in epidemic proportion. All of these are present concerns. However, we do not much think of the "noisome beast" as a threat. Of course, these beasts might come in the form of insects. However, we are seeing more conflicts from larger beasts. Today's newspapers report of a rash of alligator attacks in Florida. After only 17 deaths from such attacks since 1948, three people have been killed in separate incidents just this week. If God removes His protecting hand from us, we may have more to fear than we think from the "noisome beast."
"Honor: A History," a new book written by James Bunting, deals with the importance of honor as a concept in the past and the loss of that sense of honor today. The Bible commonly uses honor (spelled "honour") in the sense of giving honor to someone else (as to God) or receiving honor from others (as in honoring our father and mother). The closest Bible word for what is meant by a sense of honor is the word honourable. To be honourable is to receive honor or to be worthy of receiving honor. Samuel was introduced to Saul as a man of God and "an honourable man" (1Samuel 9:6). Jabez, who prayed and received answer to his prayer, was "more honourable than his brethren" (1Chronicles 4:9). Joseph of Arimathaea was "an honourable counsellor, which also waited for the kingdom of God" (Mark 15:43). Honor is the opposite of shame in the Bible. Therefore, a sense of honor involves living in such a way as to avoid shameful acts and associations. The emphasis in the Bible on having a "good name" (Proverbs 22:1; Ecclesiastes 7:1) embodies the idea of that sense of honor; that determination to act in an honourable way. George Washington was famous for the importance he placed on his reputation and honor. We long to see such honor today.
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).
"Rejuvenile" is the name of a new book by Christopher Noxon. It is also the name given to a commonly observed person today: one who is physically an adult but is often childlike in interests, habits, and sometimes in more serious ways. This person has also been variously named a kidult, a grup, a twixter, or an adultescent. This phenomenon comes in varying styles and degrees. On the mild side, it may be displayed in the man who wears a cartoon tie or the father who plays in the kiddie gym with his young children. More serious are the middle aged woman who wears skimpy outfits made for teens and the aging baby-boomer who sports a pony-tail and does Elvis impersonations while driving down the highway. Most serious are adults who never take to adult responsibilities: the 40-year-old man who still lives with mom and spends his money on juvenile pursuits; the 40-year-old woman who goes from job to job and from boyfriend to boyfriend.
