Interesting Bible based Articles for you

The Sign of the Fig Tree

Signs which Jesus Gave

Signs which Jesus Gave

The Lord Jesus Christ gave various signs to help us identify the days immediately preceding his return to earth.  Many are contained in what is known as the Olivet Prophecy – recorded in Matthew chapter 24, Mark chapter 13 and Luke chapter 21.

Israel a Nation RebornA Nation Reborn

Probably the greatest sign that Jesus gave concerned the rebirth of the nation of Israel.  This came to pass in 1948, after almost 2,000 years during which the Jewish people were dispersed among nations all over the earth.  Jesus predicted that dispersion when he warned that Jerusalem would be overthrown by the Romans.

“When you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know that its desolation is near … For these are the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled … there will be great distress in the land and wrath upon this people.  And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations.  And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles…” (Luke 21:20–24).

The Fig Tree

Immediately after these prophetic words in the Olivet Prophecy we have these words:

The Sign of the Fig TreeThen he spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.  So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will by no means pass away” (Luke 21:29–33).

In Scripture, the fig tree is symbolic of the nation of Israel.  For example: I found Israel like grapes in the wilderness;

 I saw your fathers as the firstfruits on the fig tree in its first season.  But they went to Baal Peor and separated themselves to that shame; they became an abomination like the thing they loved (Hosea 9:10).

 For a nation has come up against My land, strong, and without number; his teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he has the fangs of a fierce lion.  He has laid waste My vine and ruined My fig tree; he has stripped it bare and thrown it away; Its branches are made white (Joel 1:6–7).

 Further, Jesus told another parable about the nation of Israel using the same metaphor of a fig tree (Luke 13:6-9) and acted out another parable to the same effect when he cursed a fig tree which had become unfruitful (Mark 11:12-14).  What Jesus was predicting was that the nation of Israel – pictured as a fig tree – would again revive and would do so at a time when many other nations were also achieving independence. That is exactly what has now happened to the nation of Israel. Read more

Loading

Noah and the Deluge That Destroyed the World

Days of Noah and the Coming of Christ

The Days of Noah and the Second Coming of Christ

20 Noah and the DelugeThere are two earth-shattering events which cannot be explained on the basis of uniformitarianism. The first was the creation of the world and the second event was the worldwide flood. It was the second of these two events, the flood, which was the basis for Peter’s comparison with the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the final destruction of the world.

What can humanity expect in the near future—at the Second Coming of Christ? Like it was in the days of Noah, today’s world is filled with political corruption, lying, slander, public displays of depravity, violent crimes, abortion, theft, adultery, drug-taking, drunkenness, gambling, and greed of all kinds, not to mention wars, rumors of wars, and terrorism. Does this sound familiar? (Refer to Romans 1:18–22.) Just like in the days of Noah (antediluvian period – Age of Conscience), “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time.” (Genesis 6:5, NIV)

The teaching echoed by both Christ (Matthew 24:37–39; Luke 17:26–27) and Peter (2 Peter 3:6–7) in the New Testament speaks of the destruction of mankind by flood and then by fire at the time of Chris’s return.

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.” (Matthew 24:37–39, NIV)

Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.” (Luke 17:26–27, NIV)

The parallels between the days of Noah and the Second Coming are described by the apostle Peter as well:

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking, following after their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.’ For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice [“deliberately forget,” NIV] that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water, through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water. But the present heavens and earth by His word are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2 Peter 3:3–7, NAS) [Bold, emphasis added] Read more

Loading

Climate Change 2022

WORLD-WIDE CLIMATE CHANGE

WORLD-WIDE CLIMATE CHANGE

Our climate is changing before our eyes’: Greenhouse gases, sea-level, ocean heat and ocean acidification all reached record highs in 2021, damning WMO report reveals

  • Four key climate change indicators set new records in 2021, a new report shows
  • Greenhouse gas concentration; sea level rise; ocean heat; & ocean acidification
  • World Meteorological Organization published State of the Global Climate report
  • It confirmed that past seven years have been the warmest seven years on record 

By SAM TONKIN FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 18:00 AEST, 18 May 2022 | UPDATED: 18:13 AEST, 18 May 2022

Climate Change 2022Four key climate change indicators reached record highs last year, a damning new report has revealed, as experts warn that global warming is ‘leaving no corner of Earth untouched’.

Greenhouse gas concentrations, sea level rise, ocean heat and ocean acidification all broke records in 2021, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).

Its State of the Global Climate in 2021 report also confirmed that the seven years from 2015 to 2021 have been the warmest since the industrial revolution, with 2016 being the warmest year on record.

WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas said it was further evidence that ‘our climate is changing before our eyes’.

He also added that it was ‘just a matter of time before we see another warmest year on record’.


Despite the reality of Climate Change and the problems it is presenting to the world, we need not fear as God has a Plan and a Purpose with this Earth and Mankind upon it.  SEE THIS ARTICLE God’s Purpose with the Earth Read more

Loading

God vs Man

God versus Man

God versus Man

God vs ManHuman pride is the greatest enemy in the relationship between God and mankind. It will deceive the heart of man every time and thus obscure the difference between God and man.

Worlds Apart (God Reveals Himself to Us)

Many agree in theory that but for Jesus Christ the relationship between God and man is tenuous indeed.

The man and ant comparison is inadequate. The gap between God and man is the difference between the finite and the infinite. It is the difference between One who can see millions of light years in space, and one whose vision is limited by the horizon.

Everyone acknowledges this great difference in theory, but what happens in life? Where does God fit in?

How is He thought of?

The Average Man

The Average ManLook at the average man in the developed world. He has a good life, good job. There are people who are less important than he is. In his own little sphere at home, he is the boss (or thinks himself so). His wife and children respect him, and look to him for guidance and protection. He seems to be the centre around which the whole universe turns. You can see what a feeling of complacency this makes. His ideas about himself can get all out of proportion. He does not travel much and has little comprehension of the earth’s immensity. He does not recognize that there are seven billion others like him, each of whom feels he is the centre of the universe.

The Christian Man?

Take this modern man, however, and make a Christian out of him and see his feeling of self-importance grow.

This man of mediocre ability has the opportunity and privilege not given to many; the privilege of standing up and being listened to. He has become a kind of guardian of other people’s morals.

There’s a touch of the martyr about him too; he doesn’t allow himself to do some of the things that other people do, so he stays out of politics and avoids the military. This is painless because of the society in which many people live which is built around the rights of minorities. All this lends special importance to him. He’s respected by his friends, does not harm anyone, may even do good works. He says his prayers, which are mostly repetitious, night after night, automatically, often swiftly, to God his kindly benefactor and may make some trivial personal requests. Read more

Loading

God Rules in the Kingdom of Men

GOD RULES IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN

GOD RULES IN THE KINGDOM OF MEN

Daniel 4:30-32

“30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honourDaniel's Prophecies God Rules of my majesty? 31 While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. 32 And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.”

As we look down through history we can see how God’s hand has been engaged among the nations making this passage a reality among the Kingdoms of Men to serve God’s Purpose.

Yes man might think he is in control of his own destiny and that is true when it comes to believing in God of not and living forever or dying forever.

But God has a purpose with man and this earth and that purpose has been revealed in the Bible for all to read and learn of.  More than 3000yrs ago we have specific prophecies spoken by God that have all come to pass and are yet coming to pass in the very world we live in today.

No matter what look at whether it is the rise of the successive Kingdoms of man from Babylon, Medo Persia, Greece, Rome or the rise of the EU or BREXIT or the latest 2016 USA Presidential Elections we can see God’s hand in all of this ensuring that His Purpose overall is and will be accomplished despite what man my think or do.

Through all of the Bible we are told that Israel is central to God’s purpose, so that whatever happens with Israel we can be sure that God’s hand will be involved somehow either in allowing it to happen or in saving His people from an otherwise dangerous situation.

The Nation of Israel is God’s Witness to this world Read more

Loading

Temple Structure

My Father’s House has many Mansions

My Father’s House has many Mansions

My Fathers House“In My Father’s House are Many Mansions…”

This is a passage of Scripture, in John chapter 14 verse 2, which causes some people to believe that Jesus was offering a place in heaven but, as Mark Buckler explains, the Lord had something quite different in mind.

Jewish Book

Many of us easily forget, when we read the Bible, that it is a Jewish book, written mainly by Jewish writers about Jewish people.  It is so easy for us to read it with two thousand years of ideas and interpretations in our minds that we forget to ask a simple question:

What did the writers of this passage understand by it when they wrote it and what did their readers or hearers understand?

So, when Jesus talked about the many rooms in his Father’s house, what did he mean by this and what would his hearers have understood?

Incidentally, this is a passage that is often read in church funeral services and today it is thought to promise an inheritance with God in heaven.  Is that what Jesus meant?

God’s House Read more

Loading

Bible Teaching and Christian Life

Bible Teaching and Christian Life

Bible Teaching and Christian Life

There were some people living in Corinth in New Testament times who were sceptics. They did not believe in any other world than this world, theyBible Teaching and Christian Life saw no evidence for any other life than this life, and out of this belief they formed this proverb:

“Let us eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we die.”

They lived lives which were wholly sensual and transient and that way of life arose directly out of their philosophy.

By contrast, the Bible records the lives of many people who were transformed by the things they came to believe, people like the apostle Paul.

He started out as someone who hated the very sound of the name of Jesus of Nazareth and was determined to persecute his followers and have them executed, if need be. Read more

Loading

Do Christians Need Priests?

Do Christians Need Priests?

Do Christians Need Priests?
Bible Teaching About Church Organisation

Do Christians Need Priests?FOR many people the organisation and traditions of religion create large barriers to its acceptance. Believing that God can be worshipped acceptably by an individual in a forest or on a mountain – places which bring readily to mind His awesome creative power – they shy away from grand robes and imposing buildings. When it is suggested that somehow God cannot he properly worshipped other than through a human intermediary and according to set rites, their worst fears are confirmed. The hierarchy of priests (cardinals, archbishops, bishops, canons, etc.), is confusing to them and also suggests that there are two categories of worshipper – priests and lay people. Possibly, even that those who claim to be ordained by God are more favoured than everyone else.

Churchmen argue that priests and the church speak on God’s behalf; they interpret God’s commandments for men, and plead with God on man’s behalf; only they are allowed to bless the sacraments of communion: the bread and wine shared by worshippers in remembrance of Christ’s sacrifice. They claim that today’s priests are the rightful successors to the Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles; that God speaks today through the church as He spoke in earlier centuries through prophets and apostles. Read more

Loading

Pagan Influence on Mainstream Christianity

Pagan Influence on Mainstream Christian Teachings

Pagan Influence on Mainstream Christian TeachingsPagan Influence on Mainstream Christianity

In this article, we shall demonstrate that most of the practices of today’s mainstream “Christianity” as well as most of its beliefs were only introduced into the religion as a regrettable outcome of an excessive undue willingness to compromise with the surrounding pagans in order to attain their support and conversion. This was the same paganism Jesus fought so valiantly during his lifetime to destroy. This will be proven, by the will of God, through the writings of Christians themselves. We shall demonstrate how all of these practices and beliefs were well established among many other pagan cults centuries before the arrival of Paul and his “visions.”

The expanse of land between the river Nile and the river Euphrates was home to the Jews for centuries before the coming of Jesus. During this period, this land fell under the rule of many empires, including the Babylonians, the Persians, and the Romans, all of whom had extensive contact with many other cultures and beliefs. We shall see in what follows that the religion of Jesus was revised and modified after his departure through the influence of all of these cultures and beliefs and how it now bears characteristics of many of these religions, including Buddhism, Roman and Greek worship, Hinduism, Persian and Egyptian beliefs, in addition to Judaism and many others. Read more

Loading

The Race of Life

The Race of Life

The Race of Life

The Race of Life

The world of the First Century, when the New Testament was written, was in many ways very much like today’s world. For example, people loved to watch athletics and First Century athletes were stars, just like today!

Bible writers often used pictures from everyday life that were designed to catch the attention and make their readers think. One of the pictures that’s often used is the picture of life as a race.

“Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it. And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown” (1 Corinthians 9:24–25). Read more

Loading

The Real Jesus

THE REAL JESUS CHRIST

THE REAL JESUS CHRIST

The Real JesusTrue Christian faith is centred around the work of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. His life, death and resurrection form the basis for God’s plan of salvation.

It is vital to understand the real reason for Jesus Christ, his true status as Son of God and how we can benefit from his work. Jesus prayed to His Father just before his cruel death:

“This is eternal life, that they (true believers) may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

The Virgin Birth

Over 2000 years ago the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary with this message:

“You will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call his name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest…Then Mary said to the angel, How can this be, since I do not know a man? [i.e. she was a virgin]. And the angel answered and said to her, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:31-35).

Through the Holy Spirit (God’s breath/power) acting upon her, Mary conceived Jesus while still a virgin. Thus Joseph was not the true father of Jesus. Without the Holy Spirit acting upon the womb of Mary, Jesus, the Son of God, could not have come into existence.

Jesus was “begotten” by God (John 3:16), rather than created as Adam was originally. This explains the closeness of God’s association with Jesus and also helps explain his natural aptitude for the ways of God his Father. Read more

Loading

The Meaning of Life

The Meaning of Life

The Meaning of Life

The Meaning of LifeThroughout time, men and women have asked the big question:

   What is this life all about?

  ❖  Is there a purpose or meaning to it?

To answer these questions, we can turn to the Bible message and see that it is still relevant to us living in the 21st century. We will look at what the Bible tells us about the meaning of life, then go on to consider the Bible message to us personally.

We will consider the meaning of life in three sections:

❖  Where did we come from?

❖  What is life all about?

❖  Where are we going?

Then we shall look further at God’s plan and the promises which He has made.

Where Did We Come From? Read more

Loading

The Logic of Faith

The LOGIC of Bible Faith

The LOGIC of Bible Faith

The LOGIC of Faith – The Inspiration of Scripture

The Logic of FaithInspiration
The Evidence of Peter
The Evidence of the Prophets
How God revealed Himself through Prophets
Balaam – Jeremiah – Amos
Visions and Events
Style
Conclusion

Inspiration
To anyone studying the Bible it is of vital importance to know where the ideas in the Bible came from. If they are merely the opinions of ancient clerics then they are of historical interest but there is no need to take them especially seriously today. If, on the other hand, they represent the words of a higher authority, then they provide a guide to life that must not be ignored.

The Bible makes claims for itself. For example:
2 Timothy 3:16. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

This passage tells us that the Bible is inspired by God. However, to understand this claim it is necessary to decide what is meant by the word inspiration. Read more

Loading

Time to Stand Still

Finding the time to Stand Still?

Finding the time to Stand Still?

It isn’t easy to find time to think. Life is so busy and there is always such a lot to do. Even when on holiday there are places to go, things to see,Time to Stand Still shops to visit and meals to eat. It can be exhausting! Just sitting and thinking is seldom an option.

Stand still

Sometimes we need to find time to take stock, especially when we are really stressed and times are hard. Fleeing refugees were once being pursued by their erstwhile slave masters when they came to an impassable barrier. What were they to do? Fortunately they listened to their leader and he gave them this startling advice:

Time to Stand Still in Awe of God“Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever’”(Exodus 14:13).

As it happened the fleeing Israelites couldn’t do much else. The sea was in front of them and the Egyptian army was behind them, so they had to stand still. Then it was that God opened a way across the sea which enabled them to escape. Thus it was that Israel moved forward as a nation and reached Mount Sinai where God declared them to be His special people, through whom He would communicate to all nations.

Kadesh Barnea

Less than two years later, the infant nation assembled on the edge of the Promised Land and hesitated. God had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey and now they had to possess it, under His guidance. But they asked for a scouting party to be sent in first, so they could see what they were up against, and selected twelve men – one from each of their tribes – to go and spy out the land. Read more

Loading

Getting to know God

Do YOU KNOW who GOD IS?

Do YOU KNOW who GOD IS?

Getting to know GodHow do we get to know anyone? Is it possible to know someone you have never met? For example, can you get to know an artist just by studying his or her artistic work? Starting with these questions, Anna Hart explores how we can get to know God, who we have not met.

Artistic Work

You may get some clues about the type of scenery an artist likes, by studying his portfolio. But what can the paintings tell you about his moral standards, his likes or dislikes? It is unlikely that you would be able to deduce much useful information.

Or think about a musical composition.  Some composers have set scriptural words to pieces of music which are so moving that a listener can be reduced to tears. We might imagine that a composer able to do this would have a strong religious faith. However, this is certainly not always the case, and some very popular religious music has been composed by self-declared atheists.

So a person’s body of work does not, of itself, help you to know the individual. Even people we have met and think we know can react differently from how we expect, for people are unpredictable by nature. It is only when they tell us about themselves that we can start to understand them.

God’s Handiwork

It follows that whilst we can learn something about God by studying His creative handiwork, we cannot conclude that we know what He is like just because we are keen students of nature. We need something more if we are to get to know the God who made the universe. The Bible says this:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork (Psalm 19:1).

When we look at nature we certainly see beauty, and many people would argue that there is clear evidence of design. There is majesty in high mountains, peace in a babbling brook, glory in a fiery sunset and excitement in a roaring sea. But what does this tell you about the character of God? Nature also gives us earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, storms, hurricanes, beasts of prey, suffering and death.

What do these things tell us about God?

Wrong Assumptions

We often hear people say things like ‘I can’t imagine a God who would disapprove of …’ or ‘I am sure that God would not mind…’ or ‘God would like that’. Read more

Loading