What gives

The bible being what it is ,one would assume that the writers of the bible would be the strong majority, influential individuals,who prevailed during that time. However one would be surprised to know that it has always been the minority report. What exactly was the function of the Hebrew bible? 1.To remember and retell the story about how God rescues his covenant people.(Exodus 17 vs 8,9,14). 2.The scripture becomes the terms of the partnership between God and Israel, much like marriage vows.(Exodus 24:3–4 ). 3.It functions as a story of the people’s failure and God’s plan to raise up a prophet to come.(Deutronomy 31:19-26). The pattern of the Hebrew bible is salvation, covenant, human failings and divine faithfulness. This pattern continues and completes itself in the new Testament and is every believer’s story. The prophets throughout the old Testament were the afflicted ones, they were the rejected minority, people who existed in the periphery,sometimes looked upon as a laughing sto...

The old Testament is often a source of confusion for most people. It seems like a conglomeration of individuals with partial victories and great losses ,disobedient and rebellous sinners,messy ,not the ideal examples,and bipolar often. How does one approach the Old Testament? I stumbled upon bible project in the net and I have been doing the study ever since. The Hebrew bible from which the Old Testament originates is divided into three parts Torah,Neviim, and Kethuvim. Torah is the Pentateuch ,Genesis ,Exodus,Numbers,Leviticus and Deutronomy. Neviim is the prophets Isaiah,Jeremiah,Amos,etc. Kethuvim are the writings like psalms,proverbs,etc. The difference between the old Testament and the TANAK(As the Hebrew bible is called ),Is the way the different books in the bible have been put into different categories and unlike the Hebrew bible the prophets are placed at the the end of the old Testament whereas the writings are placed last    in the Hebrew bible. In the 1940s, The de...

  (Acts of the apostles chapter 3 verse 1 to 8.) One of my favourites sunday school songs was based on this event from Acts. As is narratedI–  NowPeter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain man lame from his mother’s womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple; Who seeing Peter    and John about to go into the temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed on to them, expecting to receive something of them. Then Peter said, silver and gold have I none; But such as I have give I thee;in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And they took him by the right hand, and lifted him up; and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up ,stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking and leaping, a...

  Obadiah Is a minor prophet in Jerusalem during the time when the Babylonians invaded the southern part of Jerusalem..He is prophesying against Edomites. His complaint against the Edomites is that while the plunderers and invaders have invaded Israel, the Edomites have proudly stood aside ,watching it all and to add fuel to fire ,has taken advantage of the situation, plundering and killing Israelites whenever they could see their weak position. Who are the Edomites that God has expectations from them? Israelites and the Edomites share a common ancestry. Abraham’s son Isaac had two sons. The older one was Esau and younger one was Jacob.The Israelites were the descendants of Jacob and the Edomites were the descendants of Esau.They were neighbours. From the verse 15 onwards he warns the nations at large who go against the nation of Israel. Vs17 But upon Mount Zion shall be deliverance, and there shall be holiness;and the house of Jacob shall possess their possesions. Vs21 And saviors...

Augustin of Hippo or Saint Augustin was born in 354 A.D. in a small town in North Africa.He was born to a pagan father ,who got baptised in his death bed ,but his mother Monica was a zealous christian. Augustin ,from his childhood,was familiar with the attack on Christian church from within and without.However, he was more interested in living a wayward    life of over-indulgence. He remembers instances where he used to join with friends to steal pears from his neighbour’s vineyard ,not to eat themselves ,but simply to throw them to the pigs.Later, writing about the pear stealing of his youth he reflected, “”A real pleasure consisted in doing something that is forbidden. The evil in me was foul, but I loved it.” At 17 years of age Augustine was sent off to a school in Carthage where he immersed himself in the writings of different philosophers and forgot about his mother’s religion.  After his studies were completed he returned to his home town.,where he taught ‘rhetoric ...

Unlike the other minor prophets who spoke to the people with messages from God the book of Habakkuk is a dialogue between the prophet and the Lord. Habakkuk’s prayer is from that time in Israel’s history when the last good king of Israel ,king Josiah dies.Timeline would be somewhere between 609-586 BC. King Josiah was a mere child when he became the king of the southern part of Israel. While he was in power he put in a lot of reforms that was God-honouring ,besides one of the priests in the temple found an old Torah, on reading it the king realised that the Israelites had sinned and gone against the Lord so he repented for the nation and went about setting things right. However, after he passed away ,It was all downhill journey for Israel. God’s people wilfully disobeyed the Lord. Habakkuk laments before the Lord,”Oh Lord, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear.........” There are six different problems he attributes to the Israelites of that time. Sin, wickedness, destruction, v...

The Ten Boom family were devout Christians. They were Dutch and from a family of watchmakers. During the Second World War their house became a hiding place for fugitives who were hunted down by Hitler’s Nazis. On February 28, 1944, the Nazis raided the home and they were arrested. 10 days after the arrest the father died and the two sisters were transported to Ravensbruck concentration camp in Germany. Life in Ravensbruck was terrible but Betsy and Corrie spent the time there sharing the love of Christ. Betsy passed away while at Ravensbruck but Corrie survived the ordeal. After Corrie Ten Boom was released from the concentration camp she toured the world sharing her story and to testify of God’s love. She authored books and movies were made on it. In 15 April 1983 on a 91st birthday she passed away. Corrie famously recounts an incident from one such tour in Germany .She was sharing about her time in the concentration camp and testifying of God’s love. After church ,she was waylaid by ...

Simon Peter is perhaps one of the most enigmatic disciples of Jesus Christ. He was for all practical purposes a leader among the disciples both during Jesus’ time and after His ministry on earth was over. I am trying to look at different facets of Simon Peter’s character and the qualification he had to be a disciple or lead them. Background -We get introduced to Simon Peter in    the gospels ,by the sea of Galilee, casting a net into the sea, because he and his brother Andrew are. fishermen. According to Charles Pope,’Fishing was not necessarily a lucrative profession but was considered honourable because it supplied an important part of the diet. The disciples worked in the sea of Galilee which was a fresh water lake. Fishing was a huge industry specially in Bethsaida    (the fishery) and Magdala (the fish tower or dried fish). Commercial fishing was done by nets. The fishermen’s life required courage ,firmness as well as patience.’ We come to know Simon Peter is ma...

. “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound  That saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I am found Was blind but now I see.” Thus goes one of the most popular hymns ever composed. This hymn was written by a man named John Newton. John Newton was born in 1725. He went to the sea at 11 years of age which was quite common in those times. He was very unpopular in the ship and when he was a teenager ,due to his disobedience he was stripped of his rank ,tied to a mast,and was given 60 lashes and was reduced to a common seaman.He continued to be unpopular so he was kicked off that ship and got onto a slave trader’s ship on the way to Africa. One fine day his shipmates kidnapped him and sold him to a slave trader. He remained a slave in Africa for four years until his father sent a search party for him and he was rescued at the age of 25. However on his journey back home his ship faced a terrible storm in the sea and half the crew of the ship died. John N...

(Reference Acts of the apostles chapter 8 and 9). Saul of Tarsus was a zealous Jew.He was faithful to his     religion and     considered the followers of Christ a threat to the traditional Jewish religion. So he went about in every way possible to subdue and do away with the church.  The book of Acts records the first martyr of Christian history. It was Stephen ,a man full of Holy Spirit, who was stoned to death. Saul of Tarsus is introduced here as the young man ,at whose feet the witnesses laid down their robes,even as they stoned Stephen to death. The martyrdom of Stephen has been described as the hinge that changed the world for ever by Ravi Z. A great persecution of the church broke out at that time and Saul of Tarsus led many of these attacks,entering churches and imprisoning believers. This same Saul ,in his zeal for his religion ,the bible says “......yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord…...

Bible was written by 40 authors over 1500 years. There are 66 books in the bible. The old Testament was written in Hebrew and the new Testament was written in greek. The bible is God’s    revelation to us and inspired by the Holy spirit. Bible interprets itself and the Holy Spirit reveals the Word. The first book of the bible starts with the creation story all of us are familiar with. The first man and woman disobey God ,tempted by the serpent. As the serpent tells    Eve, ‘For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened, and you will be as gods knowing good and evil.’ Two major things happen at that time.  Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit which gives them the knowledge of good and evil. They can now play God and that is the root of all the problems in the world that we continue to face. Another very important thing happens. Genesis chapter 3    verse 24 says,’ so he drove out the man and placed a...

Bible was written by 40 authors over 1500 years. There are 66 books in the bible. The old Testament was written in Hebrew and the new Testament was written in greek. The bible is God’s    revelation to us and inspired by the Holy spirit. Bible interprets itself and the Holy Spirit reveals the Word. The first book of the bible starts with the creation story all of us are familiar with. The first man and woman disobey God ,tempted by the serpent. As the serpent tells    Eve, ‘For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof then your eyes shall be opened, and you will be as gods knowing good and evil.’ Two major things happen at that time.  Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit which gives them the knowledge of good and evil. They can now play God and that is the root of all the problems in the world that we continue to face. Another very important thing happens. Genesis chapter 3    verse 24 says,’ so he drove out the man and placed a...