jbivol
The Golden Calf – Exodus 32 and Chiasms
What has happened to Moses? We do not see him, The mob was blind with frustration. The people assembled unto Aaron; it was near forty days since Moses had ascended the fearful mountain and since then there was no word, no signal, no sighting of Moses. Whispers grew into a mob’s roar that demanded to know, “What has happened to Moses? We do not [...]
Chiasms, Memorable Teaching
“For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little” (Isaiah 28:10). Effective teaching employs repetition, precept upon precept as noted in Isaiah. Sadly, as the Isaiah context shows, the immediate hearers seem to have included those slow of heart. A special style of effective repetitive teaching called Chiasms appears throughout the [...]
Cain and Abel
Genesis 4 The account of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 raises a number of questions in the mind of the reader, among which are these three. (1) When Cain murdered his brother, why was the penalty not death? Why “a fugitive and a wanderer in the earth?” And then, though he was not remorseful, why did God grant him a blessing? (2) Why [...]
Confirmation of a Fall Birth Date
Luke's gospel tells us that after Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist, she "hid herself five months . . . and in the sixth month" Mary was told that she also would bear a son. (Luke 1:24-26, 36) The inference of Luke 1:5-24 is that Elizabeth conceived at the end of Zacharias' "days of . . . ministration" -if we can determine what time that [...]
What was the star of Bethlehem
We now know that Herod died in January of BC 1, and that Jesus was born in the fall of BC 2. (See previous article.) Since the wise men from the east visited Jesus between these two events, it settles an otherwise debatable matter concerning the date of their visit and of Joseph's flight to Egypt to escape Herod's decree. Now we know that [...]
Jesus’ Birth & Herod’s Death
Bible Students have long believed that Jesus was born in 2 BC (SS, Vol. 2, pp. 54-62). But most modern historians have dated his birth at from 4-7 BC. The reason for this is that Jesus was born before Herod died (Matt. 2:1), and it has been thought that Herod died in the spring of 4 BC, following an eclipse of the moon early [...]
The Irony of “Desolation” in the Gospel Age Covenants
One benefit of the Apostle's argument in Galatians 4:21-31 is his demonstration of the fact that two covenants are operable during the Gospel Age. As Jesus ignored the Highway of Holiness (Matt 7:13,14) because it was not an option when he spoke, Paul here ignores the Keturah Covenant because it was not an option for the Gospel Age. This clearly demonstrates that the Law [...]
Coup in Turkey
A coup from the Turkish military occurred on Friday, September 12. Its purpose was to calm the rising strife fomenting among the leftist element. The coup accented the severity of the unrest which in past months had led to the ambushment of several American military personnel stationed in Turkey. These developments are of particular interest to brethren who have understood Ezekiel's prophecy to show [...]
War in the Middle East
Monday, September 22, 1980 - Iraq declared war on Iran. How does this relate to the mustering of nations for the Armageddon conflict at Israel? Ezekiel 38:5 mentions Persia (Iran) as an ally of Gog (Russia). In past decades, however, Iran has been aligned with the Western powers. This changed with the deposition of the Shah in 1979. Since then Iran has been bitterly [...]
“7 Times” – 4 Times
"Hew down the tree. . . leave the stump of his roots in the earth, even with a band of iron and brass . . . let a beast's heart be given unto him; and let seven times pass over him" - Daniel 4:14- 16 This text comes from a dream of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. Many things occur in dreams which are impossible [...]
The Dragon of Revelation 20
As there appears to be some question regarding the identity of the dragon of Revelation 20, the following is offered as a summary of the position that it represents primarily the civil power as a tool of the adversary. Dragon appears in the New Testament only in the book of Revelation. There it appears only in chapters 12, 13, 16 and 20. The 12th [...]
Rod of An Almond Tree
"Jeremiah, what seest thou? . . . I see a rod of an almond tree........ Thou hast well seen: for I will hasten my word to perform it." JEREMIAH 1: 11, 12 What does an almond rod have to do with the Lord "hastening" to fulfill his word? It is evidently a play on words in the Hebrew. In Nelson edition of the American [...]