Lamentations (3)

Exposition | by | Volume 30, Issue 1 | January – February 2024

The first song of Lamentations introduces Jerusalem’s affliction and the sin that was the source of the problem. We find Jerusalem as a widow, alone and reeling from the recent invasion of the Babylonians. The second song (chapter 2) builds on these themes. Particular emphasis is placed upon the role that God himself played in the destruction of Jerusalem. Whereas chapter 1 recognises that Yahweh is righteous, chapter 2 acknowledges God’s justification in personally being involved in Jerusalem’s downfall. While the Babylonians may have been the instrument, God was the true architect. The fall of Jerusalem in AD70 is expressed in similar terms when we read of Christ coming at the head of the Roman army in the seventy weeks prophecy (Dan 9:26-27). Throughout the New Testament, AD70 is described as the “coming of the Son of Man” (eg: Matt 24:37) when our Lord used the Romans as the tools of God’s justice. Once again, the book of Lamentations would repeat itself through history.

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David, Uzzah and the Ark of the Covenant

Editorial | by | Volume 30, Issue 1 | January – February 2024

AUDIOFREE

One of David’s final battles with the uncircumcised Philistines is described in 2 Samuel 5. He had just been anointed king at Hebron and the enemy seized that opportunity to strike quickly and remove him from his newly acquired throne: “When the Philistines heard that they had anointed David king over Israel, all the Philistines came up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the hold. The Philistines also came and spread themselves in the valley of Rephaim” (5:17-18). Note that “all” the Philistines came. David had been their arch-enemy for years and now they sought to hunt him out and destroy him before he could consolidate his power and threaten them further.

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When Aretas was King of Damascus

Miscellaneous | by | Volume 29, Issue 6 | November – December 2023

In 2 Corinthians 11:21-33 the Apostle Paul enumerates his many trials and afflictions which he had suffered in his service of the Truth. He recalls the humiliating circumstances surrounding his escape from Damascus when he was let through a window and lowered down the wall in a basket. The occasion was the time shortly after his conversion (cp Acts 9:25), and Paul tells us incidentally that at that time there was a governor in Damascus who was subject to Aretas the king.

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Christ Before Creeds – Rediscovering the Jesus of History 

Book Review | by | Volume 29, Issue 6 | November – December 2023

by Jeff Deuble 

In Christ before Creeds, Jeff Deuble recounts his own personal journey of discovery, from Trinitarian Pastor, to Unitarian Bible student. That journey involved intense Bible study, much soul searching, and a willingness to look again at many of his own long-standing bel…

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The Genius of the Foetal Circulatory System

Marvels of Creation | by | Volume 29, Issue 6 | November – December 2023

It is difficult to imagine a more profound testimony to design than the delivery of a fully developed baby that, only nine months ago, was a single cell. The degree of regulatory control and informational complexity of the process that drives embryonic development is far beyond human comprehension. Few biological phenomena are as gripping and awe-inspiring as the process of reproduction and the development of a baby in utero. The signature of design here is unmistakable, for so much of the process—from conception to delivery—depends on foresight and planning.

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Salt

Quiz | by | Volume 29, Issue 6 | November – December 2023

Questions

Who was changed into a pillar of salt?

What seas were the borders of the inheritance of the land of Canaan?

With all offerings, salt had to be offered (Lev 2:13; Mark 9:49). What offering explicitly mentions that it must be seasoned with salt?

What waters failed/were cut off …

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Israel’s 9/11

Watchman | by | Volume 29, Issue 6 | November – December 2023

On Saturday 7 October Hamas launched 5000 rockets at Israel in an early morning surprise attack it called “Operation Al-Aqsa Flood”. Mohammad Deif, the Hamas military commander, issued a statement saying that the ongoing attacks were in retaliation for Israel’s “desecration” of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and urged Arabs in Jerusalem and inside Israel, in the Negev, the Galilee and northern Israel to “set the earth on fire under the feet of the occupiers”.

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