Were the Days of Creation 24 Hours Long? Geocentrism: Lessons from a Hard Goodbye
The timing of creation is not the first heated debate the church has worked through on a science-related topic. For three hundred years, the church wrestled over the location of the earth within our solar system. Although emerging scientific findings indicated the sun was at the center of our solar system and the earth rotated around it (heliocentrism), many fervently argued from the Bible that such findings were wrong.
The First Commandment: No Other Gods
The first thing God does as He begins to give His Law is to remind Moses and the Israelites of exactly who He is, and why they can trust Him. He is, after all, the God who chose them and who has brought them safely out of slavery in Egypt. He has already demonstrated both His power and His compassion. He has already demonstrated that He is able and willing to provide for them.
The Ten Commandments in Context
The Israelites had been living for 400 years as slaves to the Pharaohs in Egypt. Through a series of miraculous events, they have now been set free, and are on their way to the land God promised to give their nation.
Mary | Women in Jesus’ Genealogy
was engaged to Joseph who was a descendent of David (Luke 1:27). We know that she had lived, up to this point, a pretty virtuous life, good enough that the angel addressed her as “highly favored” (Luke 1:28). But we don’t know anything about her parents, what her interests might have been, what she enjoyed doing, what her hopes and dreams might have been.
Bathsheba | Women in Jesus’ Genealogy
The story of David and Bathsheba is a sad one in a number of ways. It put a permanent blight on David’s legacy. We read in 1 Kings 15:5, “For David had done what was right in the eyes of the Lord and had not failed to keep any of the Lord’s commands all the days of his life—except in the case of Uriah the Hittite” (emphasis added).
Were the Days of Creation 24 Hours Long? The Clarity of Scripture
Some have questioned: Isn’t the Bible is a simple book written for the average person to understand? Should considerations such as Hebrew syntax, literary forms, and the cultural context be necessary for one to properly understand Genesis 1-2? What about the clarity of Scripture? Doesn’t a technical analysis undermine this doctrine and imply the Bible is inaccessible to the masses?
Felled or Fallen?
Last weekend I was up in Cades Cove with my sisters continuing the great bear hunt. No luck again on bear, but I was struck by the multitude of fallen trees on both sides of the road. The question came to me, were those trees fallen, or had they been felled?
Ruth | Women in Jesus’ Genealogy
As our story opens in chapter 1 of the book of Ruth, Naomi, Elimelech and their two sons have left Bethlehem (ironically, “the House of Bread”) because of a famine. They settle in Moab where Elimelech dies. Both sons, who have married Moabite women, also die, and Naomi is left a bitter widow.
Were the Days of Creation 24 Hours Long? The Continuation of Day Seven
aving examined Moses’ construction of the first six days of creation, let us now turn our attention to the seventh day when God rests from His labor. One of the striking features of this day is its lack of closure. Unlike the first six days, day seven has no concluding refrain about this day drawing to an end (“and there was evening and there was morning, ______ day”). As readers, we are left wondering why Moses breaks here from his standard pattern. Why does he not depict this day drawing to a close? Has it not yet ended?
Rahab | Women in Jesus’ Genealogy
Two men have been sent by Joshua to secretly check out the city of Jericho to get a feel for what the Israelites would face when they got there. Unfortunately, either they weren’t very good at covert operations, or they just stood out as “not one of us,” and the king of Jericho found out about them. He sent soldiers to the house of Rahab, where he had been told the men were staying.