Angels are messengers and servants. The Bible also reports that angels carry out God judgment… always justly and often harshly.     God’s judgment upon the disobedient Egyptians came in the form of ten plagues. The tenth plague was the death of the firstborn. On the dark night of the first Passover, “the destroyer” (Exodus 12:23) visited every home except those marked by the blood of the substitutionary Passover lamb. The New Living Translation calls “the destroyer” (CSB) t

Jesus told a story about two lives, two deaths, and two hereafters … it’s sometimes called “The Story of Lazarus and the Rich Man.” According to Jesus, Lazarus was pitifully poor. The rich man was loaded. Both died. The rich man went to Hell while Lazarus went to Heaven.   Some think that this is a parable… a fictitious story illustrating a simple lesson. I tend to believe that the story Jesus told was factual. Both men actually lived, died, and went into eternity.     Jesus

The anonymously written book of Hebrews makes the compelling argument that Jesus is better! Jesus is better than the Old Testament’s priests and prophets… His sacrifice is better than the sacrifice of sheep and goats… Jesus is better.   The author begins his letter by arguing that Jesus is better than the angels. (The first century Jews had a very high regard for angels.) Jesus “became superior to the angels, just as the name he inherited is more excellent than theirs … Are t

Are angels real? Are they at work in our world, or are they a Bible-era phenomenon? We know that angels are messengers, envoys from Heaven, delivering God’s message to people like Abraham, Gideon, Elijah, Peter, and others. But angels are more than just messenger boys, aren’t they?   The Bible clearly says, and it seems obvious, that forces of evil are at work in our world today. “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, ag

The last book of the Bible, “The Revelation”, is a look into the future… God revealed to John “what will take place after this…” (Revelation 1:19; 4:1). God revealed the future, and John recorded it for us to read and study. The Revelation is God’s revelation to us.   In chapters four through nineteen, we read about the destructive judgments that will befall the earth during the seven-year tribulation period. In chapter twenty God reveals details about the millennial reign o

After the resurrection of Jesus, and after Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit, God worked miraculously through the Apostles. “Many signs and wonders were being done among the people through the hands of the apostles … They would carry the sick out into the streets and lay them on cots and mats so that when Peter came by, at least his shadow might fall on some of them. In addition, a multitude came together from the towns surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and t

A fearless young prophet named Elijah barged into King Ahab’s throne room and announced God’s judgement on the northern tribes of Israel. “As the Lord God of Israel lives, in whose presence I stand, there will be no dew or rain during these years except by my command!” (1 Kings 17:1).   Three and a half years later, as the land languished in dusty drought, Elijah challenged 450 priests of the pagan god Baal to a contest. God won, as fire fell at Elijah’s prayerful request!  

After the Hebrews conquered Canaan, they lived a rollercoaster life of obedience and disobedience, of faithfulness and unfaithfulness. They must have known that their God, the only Living God, had led them out of Egyptian slavery and miraculously given them the land He had promised to Abraham. They knew about God, they had heard all the stories, but they didn’t always follow His instructions or serve Him faithfully.   According to the sixth chapter of Judges, there was a time

Angels are often seen as messengers … heralds … celestial couriers sent from God’s Heavenly throne room to a particular human recipient. Such was the case as Abraham worshipped at Mt. Moriah. An angel was dispatched with an important telegram.   God had led the radically obedient Abraham and his son, Isaac, to Mount Moriah… you remember the story. It’s one of my favorites!   After the three-day sojourn, the father-son duo arrived at Mt. Moriah… later called Mt. Calvary. Leavi

Let’s talk about angels … I’ve been thinking about them throughout the Christmas season as I remember that “an angel of the Lord stood before (the shepherds), and the glory of the Lord shone around them … the angel said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people’ … Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on eart