Seeking the Gospel Truth

When we left our friends, the Israelites, at the end of Genesis, the whole clan of Jacob was reunited and prospering in the fertile land of Goshen, near the  Nile delta, in Egypt. There were 70 of them. We pick up the story 400  years later and their situation changed drastically. (There is a Genesis Bible Study Playlist, search for it.) You can follow along in my blog where there are li...

As this next passage starts, the year is 1070 BC and “messages from the  Lord were very rare, and visions were quite uncommon” (1 Samuel 3:1). It  was a time of a spiritual drought. What happens when people stop  communicating with God? They turn to their own ways and it usually  doesn’t end well. As is the case in these next two chapters. However,  there’s a young lad nam...

From Hannah’s beautiful prayer of praise to God in the beginning of 1 Samuel 2, we change tone to the corruption of the  Eli’s sons. They were born into the Tribe of Levi, thus they are  Levitical priests charged with serving and representing God at the Tabernacle . But, what happens when they are corrupt and their father doesn’t properly correct them? Let’s dig in…. Keep reading in my b...

We’ve gone through the first 8 books of the Bible in the Old Testament . In case you didn’t know, the Old Testament Books are not in chronological order. For instance, according to the site, Bible Timeline ,  the story of Ruth takes place circa 1140 BC, right after the story of  Gideon. Whoever put the Bible as we know it together would have to have  stuck Ruth’s love story in betwe...

Redemption. Historically, the word means purchasing the freedom of a  slave in order to set them free. In Hebrew law, when a married man died,  his closest, male next-of-kin, had the right to purchase his property  and also marry his widow. They came together as a package deal. In the  story of Ruth, Naomi is the widow of Elimelech, whose name means “God is  King”. Ruth is...

Our love story started with a famine in the Promised Land . Then back in Bethlehem, Ruth happens to go glean grain during the harvest in the field of Boaz ,  who just happens to be kin to her mother-in-law, Naomi. Now that the  harvest is done, Naomi needs to secure Ruth’s future as well as the  future of our own redeemer. Let’s dig in…. Keep reading in my blog where there are links...

There are no such things as coincidences in God’s Kingdom! When certain  things happen in life, and you ask why, look around to see if you don’t  see God’s hand in everything. Sometimes, you’re too close to the problem  or issue, but if you step back, you’ll see it was all in His plan.  Here’s were you see God’s hand in providing our future redeemer, Jesus.  Let’s dig in…....

The Book of Ruth is a love story, which is a great respite from the Book of Judges . However, we need to remember the most repeated phrases in Judges: “The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight and served the images of Baal (Judges 2:11 NLT);” “In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 21:25 NLT). This story takes place around 1100-1200...

Judges is one of the toughest most depressing books of the Bible.  Sure, it has some heroes in it, but it ends in a hopeless way. The main  phrase in the last few chapters was not, “Israel did evil in God’s  sight.” No it changed to, “In those days Israel had no king; all the  people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes.” The lesson here is that doing something might see...

The downward spiral of the Israelites finally leads to total collapse.  Lawlessness prevailed all over the Promised Land. The repeated phrase  changes from “The Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight,” to “Israel  had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own  eyes.” Gee, that sounds like the world today! There was no strong,  God-fearing leadership....

Here we have the most famous and infamous judge of the Hebrews —  Samson. Bible stories make for epic movies and one of them is Cecil B.  DeMille’s Samson and Deliliah, 1949, starring Victor Mature as Samson  and Heddy Lamarr as Delilah. Now, as usual, they took the typical  Hollywood “creative licenses” and changed the story line a lot. I won’t  get into details and spoil...

When we last left the Israelites, they were  going through a Judge every 20-some years. That was part of the vicious  cycle that was spiraling out of control…. They get in trouble by worshiping the gods and idols of the local pagans , resulting in oppression and suffering They call to God God sends a “judge” or leader He/She is victorious The judge dies They get in trouble, AGAIN, by wor...

Spirals may make beautiful pieces of art, nature or architecture, but  when a whole culture is described as being in a downward spiral, it’s a  bad thing. It’s ugly. It’s sad. Sorry, to depress you, but as our story  continues of the Israelites during the time of the Judges, that’s  exactly what happened. As the country went further and further away from  God, the oppressi...

In this next story, we meet Gideon, the underdog. We all love underdog  stories — especially when they win. However, this is also a lesson in  how to do more with less. How? Let’s dig in…. Keep reading in my blog where there are links to dig deeper and check out the graphics depicting the story…. It’s time to GET RIGHT WITH GOD! Are you ready to meet God today? You may just meet God toda...

In today’s story we have Girl Power! The Book of Judges is full of  unlikely leaders and in this chapter we have heroines — yes, women —  which shows that God can use ANYONE, even YOU, if you let Him! Let’s dig  in….. Keep reading in my blog where there are links to dig deeper and watch the special music videos at the bottom…. It’s time to GET RIGHT WITH GOD! Are you ready to meet G...

Life is messy. So is the Book of Judges. As we  continue our journey through God’s Story, the History of Israel and  Jesus’ ancestry, we find a phrase repeated over and over again… “The  Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight.” Over and over again. It became  a vicious cycle. As the generation that knew Joshua dies off, the next  generation starts doing what God told them...

My heart broke the morning of June 24, 2021,  when I got up and checked the news on Twitter and saw that at 1:15 AM  EDT, a 13-story condo, Champlain Towers South, in Surfside, Florida,  collapsed. Only one third of the building remained standing. Needless to  say, I was in shock. I lived in Miami for 10 years from 1988-98. Around  1990 I lived on South Beach (Miami Beach)...

In the final chapters of the Book of Joshua, we  find him giving final directions from God to the Israelites. The  Promised Land was divvied up and each of the 12 tribes got a parcel of  the land and the Levites got cities all over the area. Two-and-a-half  tribes (Ruben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh) wanted the land to  the east of the Jordan River — known as “Trans...

If you like maps and geography, you’ll love these next chapters as an  aging Joshua allocates the Promised Land — the New Eden — to the 12  Tribes of Israel. This isn’t an easy task. Some complain. Others ask for  special favors. Here, too, they get a rest from battles, a rest from  war. Plus, the tabernacle has to be set up somewhere! Everyone gets a  new home, even God....

Before we get into today’s chapters, let’s go back and review God’s  promises to Moses. This will help you better understand why what  happened in these next chapters, had to happen. Let’s dig in…. Keep reading in my blog where there are links to dig deeper, check out maps of Israel in Joshua's day and watch a special video at the bottom…. It’s time to GET RIGHT WITH GOD! Jesus didn’t su...

Have you ever been scammed? I have, more times than I’d care to admit.  It’s when you fall for a clever scam artist and you end up losing money —  or worse. Did you know that God could help you when you face a  situation that may not be in the up-and-up? That’s the lesson that  Joshua and company learned in today’s chapter. Let’s dig in…. Keep reading in my blog where there are...

The Israelites just had a victory over Jericho —  with God’s help! They couldn’t have done it without Him. However, one  person disobeyed God’s command. Since this battle belonged to the Lord,  so did the spoils. It only took one person’s greed and lust of the eyes,  to ruin it for everybody, including 36 who lost their lives. The next group of people they encounter are the pag...

Yes, a holy war is about to begin as God leads  the Israelites into the Promised Land. What makes this different from  other wars is we already know the outcome. Not just that this is a  history book, but God tells Joshua, Jericho is yours! Nothing like  knowing you’re going to win before the battle even starts! That  definitely is a boost of confidence as well as trust. Y...

The Israelites are about to enter the Promised  Land. Joshua, Caleb, and some others who were youngsters when Moses led  them out of Egypt, probably remembered the parting of the Red Sea .  Here, they were facing the Jordan River. It wasn’t as big as the Red  Sea, but at this time of year, it was overflowing its banks, which means  the current was strong. The Jordan also h...

The Jericho adventure starts with the introduction of an unlikely hero,  Rahab, the prostitute. God’s reputation preceded Him and the Israelites.  Back then, news spread rather quickly considering they didn’t have  social media. Stories spread by traveling family, friends and merchants.  The residents, as well as the king of Jericho knew about the parting of  the Red Sea a...