God is Sovereign. We have been thinking about the story of the Jews who were ordered taken into exile in Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar at the beginning of the sixth century BC. Jerusalem and the great Temple were destroyed and a small remnant were taken into…
Ezra 1 In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfil the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in…
It is easy to think of the prophet Jeremiah as all “doom and gloom.” We have seen the pictures of the broken cistern in chapter 2 and the potter and the clay in chapter 18 and the warnings against empty religion in chapter 7. But…
What does the future have in store? That is a question that most people ask at one time or another. Where is life leading? What will I be doing next year? In five years? In 25 years? It’s a question young people ask. What job…
There are many things I am cosmically useless at! One of them is pottery. When we had pottery classes at school I could NOT get the clay to do what I wanted at all! As the culmination of a whole year’s pottery classes we were…
2 Timothy 3:5 in the Good News Bible contains this solemn warning. In the last days, it says, people 5will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power. The New Living Translation puts it like this. 5 They will act…
Imagine living in a hot country like Uganda – or Israel! You’re bound to get very thirsty. We all need 6 pints a day just to stay healthy. If you need water you could dig a big hole in the ground to catch the rain,…
If the call of Moses and the Escape of the Slaves from Egypt into the Promised Land was the start of springtime for the nation of Israel, and the reigns of the great Kings David and Solomon were the height of the summer, then the…
“Home, home on the range, Where the deer and the antelope play; Where seldom is heard a discouraging word And the skies are not cloudy all day.” I thought I would begin by giving you a Quick burst of the official song of the American…
The Exile of Israel into Babylon has always been a wonderful and inspiring picture of encouragement and hope for Christians. Until Christ returns and we are promoted to glory, Christians will always be God’s chosen people in a time of exile in a foreign land.…
Does God still send judgment on sin? We are looking at the story of the exile of the Israelites taken away from Jerusalem to Babylon. Next week we will be considering ways in which the story of the Exile serves as a warning to Christians…
The history of God’s chosen people the nation of Israel is full of wonderful examples of faith to inspire us as Christians. But at the same time there are as many examples of sins to avoid which serve as warnings for us. As has been…
