Patterns of Jesus Christ hidden in the Old Testament
Does history repeat itself? World War 2 was about 30 years after World War 1. The COVID-19 pandemic was about 100 years after the Spanish flu. And workers lost jobs in the industrial revolution, and the invention of cars, computers and probably will do so with the invention of AI (Artificial Intelligence).
There are many prophecies about Jesus in the Old Testament. They can be clear and direct or hidden and indirect. Today we are looking at the latter – patterns of people, objects and events in the Bible that relate to Jesus Christ. (more…)
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Prophecies about Jesus: He is eternal
When I was in high school there were two views of the origin of the universe – The steady state theory (that the universe was eternal and was continually creating new matter) and the big bang theory (that the universe had a beginning). Since then, the steady state theory has been discarded. But it was attractive to scientists because it removed the need for a creator God because the universe was eternal. Now there is a need for a creator to kick off the universe. And the Bible says that it is the creator who is eternal. (more…)
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Opportunities and dangers in sport
Many people enjoy playing and watching sport. But how should a Christian be involved with sporting activities?
This post is based on a book by Stephen Liggins, “The good sporting life – Loving and playing sport as a follower of Jesus”. (more…)
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Where will you respawn?
Despite the way some people may react, death is not that big a problem in a video game. You may lose your loot, position or game but there’s always another life. On the contrary, the Bible says real human death is a once off occasion, life is not repeatable, it’s a one time only offer. And what comes next is crucial.
“People are destined to die once, and after that to face judgement.” Hebrews 9:27 (more…)
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What’s so special about Easter?
Everyday in the world about 190,000 people die. That averages as 8,000 deaths per hour and two deaths every second. In Australia we do a pretty good job at keeping death out of conversation and mind. However there’s no denying it is an inevitable and ordinary part of life. Death isn’t, in a manner of speaking, anything special. So why do we have a public holiday – an extra long weekend with Good Friday and Easter Monday, in remembrance of one man’s death? What has the death of one specific, Jewish man who lived 12,217 kilometres and 2,000 years apart from our lives today got to do with us? (more…)
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Today’s lifesavers
We appreciate, perhaps now more than ever, the sacrificial and life saving service of our doctors and nurses. A survey in 2021 showed that doctors and nurses are the professionals we Australians trust more than any other. Paramedics and surf lifeguards are also held dear in our Australian hearts. How important and comforting it is to know there’s someone there to save us if our life is at risk. In a moment of life and death there is nothing more vital than being rescued and nothing more beautiful than our rescuer’s face. (more…)
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Log rafts, geology and migration
One of New South Wales’ main inland rivers is being choked with woody logs and other floating debris after unprecedented flooding. Several large rafts made of wood and other debris are blocking parts of the Macquarie River in the state’s west. Logjams like these are a natural phenomena on rivers, often after flooding. Willow logs are creating many of the blockages as willows float and then bind together to form rafts bridging from one bank of the river to the other. The longest raft is about 130-metres long, with thick vegetation growing on it since it has been there for months. (more…)
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Who is the one true God?
Paul in Athens
My wife and I visited our son and his family in France last year. Although many French people are nominally Roman Catholic, it is largely an ungodly nation. There are old Roman Catholic churches in most towns, but attendance is low. We went to the Museum of Arts and Crafts (Musee des Arts et Metiers) in Paris. This is a science and technology museum showing the history of tools and machines developed by scientists and engineers dating from the 1500s to the present. Part of this museum is housed in an old church built in the mid-11th century (church of Saint Martin des Champs). The main church building houses old cars and flying machines and a long pendulum hangs from the dome (demonstrating the rotation of the earth). When atheism replaces Christianity, some church buildings become museums. (more…)
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Prophecies about Jesus: His family line
When a job is advertised there is usually a job description and a list of essential requirements (like qualifications, skills, and experience). What were the essential requirements for the Jewish Messiah? One of them is one’s family tree.
Prophecies about the family line of the Jewish Messiah can be traced through the Old Testament and its listed in detail at the beginning of the New Testament (Mt. 1:1-16). (more…)
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Authority questions
Life is marked by events of suffering, both great and small. At present there is great suffering in Turkiye (earthquake) and the Ukraine (war). Some are the products of a natural disaster impacting entire communities with grief and loss. Others are the fruit of human evil that has a profound effect on the world. Still others are private, affecting a person of a family. In all these cases people struggle to understand why it happens. And they question God’s goodness or His justice. (more…)
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Source questions
Life is marked by events of suffering, both great and small. At present there is great suffering in Turkiye (earthquake) and the Ukraine (war). Some are the products of a natural disaster impacting entire communities with grief and loss. Others are the fruit of human evil that has a profound effect on the world. Still others are private, affecting a person of a family. In all these cases people struggle to understand why it happens. And they question God’s goodness or His justice. (more…)
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Zoology questions
Life is marked by events of suffering, both great and small. At present there is great suffering in Turkiye (earthquake) and the Ukraine (war). Some are the products of a natural disaster impacting entire communities with grief and loss. Others are the fruit of human evil that has a profound effect on the world. Still others are private, affecting a person of a family. In all these cases people struggle to understand why it happens. And they question God’s goodness or His justice. (more…)
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Meteorology questions
Life is marked by events of suffering, both great and small. At present there is great suffering in Turkiye (earthquake) and the Ukraine (war). Some are the products of a natural disaster impacting entire communities with grief and loss. Others are the fruit of human evil that has a profound effect on the world. Still others are private, affecting a person of a family. In all these cases people struggle to understand why it happens. And they question God’s goodness or His justice. (more…)
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Astronomy questions
Life is marked by events of suffering, both great and small. At present there is great suffering in Turkiye (earthquake) and the Ukraine (war). Some are the products of a natural disaster impacting entire communities with grief and loss. Others are the fruit of human evil that has a profound effect on the world. Still others are private, affecting a person of a family. In all these cases people struggle to understand why it happens. And they question God’s goodness or His justice. (more…)
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Comprehensive outline of the book of Matthew
The first book of the New Testament, Matthew, was written by the apostle Matthew.
I like having titles on the paragraphs or sections of my Bible. This helps to indicate the context of a particular passage of scripture. A comprehensive outline (section headings) of the book of Matthew is given below. Because of the large number of levels, the labelling is changed in chapters 21-27 (Appendix A). (more…)
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God’s love letter to you
We can not live well without love. It is a universal truth as much as it is a cliche. Love lost, love unrequited, love received – these are the real events that make our lives and mark our memories. Without true love in our lives, whether it be a parent, a child, a lover, a friend, or a pet, we limp along surviving but never thriving. And it is not a coincidence that as the oft- quoted Bible verse declares, “God is love” (1 John 4:16). God is love, and He has created us to exist, to thrive, in His love. (more…)
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Lessons from the book of Genesis
What is the purpose of the book of Genesis in the Bible? Why was it written? And why was it included in the Bible? What are the main lessons in it, both for the original readers and for us today?
When was it written? The book of Genesis was compiled and edited by Moses (Lk. 24:27; Acts 15:1) between 1446 B.C. (the date of the Exodus) and 1406 B.C. (the death of Moses). A likely possibility is during the year that Israel spent encamped in the wilderness at Sinai when Moses probably composed most, if not all, of the Books of Exodus and Leviticus. Such an assumption would place the date of composition of Genesis between 1446 and 1445 B.C. (more…)
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Writing racism into the Constitution
The Australian government is promoting an indigenous voice to parliament in addition to the representation they have through the current democratically elected parliamentarians, several of which are indigenous. This proposal is based on “The Uluru Statement from the Heart (TUSH). The objective is to close the gap that still exists between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians.
This post comes from an article by Mark Powell that lists some reasons for rejecting this proposed additional indigenous voice. (more…)
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From lament to praise
The ODB reading today reminded me of warfare in the Ukraine, Myanmar, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Afghanistan. These wars commenced in 2014 (escalated in 2022), 1948, 2018, 1991, and 1978 respectively.
In about 605 BC the prophet Habakkuk wrote, (more…)
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Comprehensive outline of the book of Genesis
The first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, was compiled from eleven older documents by Moses (Appendix A).
I like having titles on the paragraphs or sections of my Bible. This helps to indicate the context of a particular passage of scripture. A comprehensive outline (section headings) of the book of Genesis is given below. (more…)
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Good times and bad times at Shechem
What can we learn from history? The Bible says that it was written for our instruction (Rom. 15:4; 1 Tim. 3:16). It gives us examples to follow and examples to avoid (1 Cor. 10:6, 11). And it can give us confidence from God.
The city of Shechem was in a valley between Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim in central Israel, 55 km (35 miles) north of Jerusalem and 11 km (7 miles) southeast of Samaria. It was strategically located on the main road through the central hill country of Palestine “(the way of the Patriarchs”, or “the Ridge route”). But it had no natural defenses and required extensive fortification. Shechem was a very ancient commercial center due to its position in the middle of vital trade routes through the region. (more…)
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The Creator who entered His creation
Our children and grandchildren spent many hours playing with Lego. They used their imagination and creativity to build many things. In Genesis we are told that in the beginning of time God created the universe and all that is in it. This was greater than creating with Lego – He didn’t just assemble ready-made components, He made the atoms and molecules of all the components. And He made living creatures, which do a lot more then Lego technic or Lego robots. Living creatures make their own decisions and don’t just follow a computer code. And they can communicate with each other. (more…)
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A brief summary of the 66 books of the Bible
This paragraph summary of each book of the Bible is from Got Questions. (more…)
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A simple summary of the Bible
This post is a summary by MissionAssist of the main message of each book in the Bible. It uses EasyEnglish which is clear and simple English. It is suitable for those whose first language is not English. (more…)
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