George Washington ordained that on Thanksgiving Day, among other things, we should “unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations, and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions” (NY, Oct. 3, 1789). However, Thanksgiving has often been a time that tests our national and personal fortitude. These times can make it difficult to, as he recommended “acknowledg[e] with grateful hearts the many and single favors of Almighty God.” It was during the Thanksgiving season internal strife led to Abraham Lincoln’s battlefield address in Gettysburg, PA (November 19, 1863). Just two years prior to his untimely death, Lincoln said, “we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain; that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.” How trying it must have been, during this bitter season of bloodshed, to find hope and express thanks. It was nearing the Thanksgiving season September 11, 2001, external strife led to George W. Bush’s “Ground Zero” address in New York, NY. Our President could have recited the precise words of Lincoln that day: “It is for us, the living to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us–that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion; that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain…” etc. How trying it was, during this bitter season of bloodshed, …

Here is a passage of Scripture with which we are well familiar: “These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so” (Acts 17:11). Having disbanded with his partner Barnabas over the disagreement with John Mark, Paul befriended Silas to embark on a second missionary journey through Asia Minor and Greece. After reasoning with Jews in Thessalonian synagogues for some weeks and facing bitter opposition, they were forced to carry on to the city of Berea (Acts 17:2-10a). The city of Berea contained a Jewish synagogue just about sixty miles from Thessalonica; and, as Paul’s custom was, he entered in and began expounding from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah of God (Acts 17:10b). However, something different happened in the Berean Jews that was lacking with the Thessalonian ones: these listened intently and sought for themselves the truth of Paul and Silas’ speech (v. 11). Of this context, McGarvey said, “We now have the pleasure of seeing one Jewish community listen to the truth and examine it like rational beings” (115). Another worthy comment is this one: “Their minds were less narrowed by prejudice…the Beroeans…examined the Scriptures themselves, to see if those arguments were justified…[T]hey made this scrutiny of their holy books their ‘daily’ occupation” (Coneybeare & Hawson 262). Wouldn’t we all like to evangelize the Bereans? Wouldn’t we like to sit down and reason with folks about …

Sometime, in every God-given day, David’s words, now 3,000 years old, never get out of date: “Come! Let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before Yahweh our Maker” (Psalm 95:6). “Yahweh” is the best pronunciation of God’s Hebrew name, YHWH. It is miscalled “Jehovah” in several translations, as in Psalm 83:18: “whose name alone is Jehovah.” Of the four letters, YHWH, God had told Moses, “This is my name forever, and this is my memorial to all generations” (Exodus 3:15). What a being! Only he could say, “I am that I am” (Exodus 3:14): “I am the A and the Z, the originator and completer…who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty” (Revelation 1:8), “from everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2). Because the Father and the Son “are one” (John 10:30), Jesus could say “before Abraham was born [two thousand years ago], I am” (John 8:58). Daily worship by a Christian, in his or her room, or in a family gathering, involves the sacred Three. Jesus is involved because he is listening, for “we have an intercessor with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous one” (1 John 2:1). Moreover, the Holy Spirit also is listening and speaks up for us: Likewise, the Spirit helps our praying, because we do not know how to pray as we ought. In regard to our groanings, too deep for words, the Spirit himself intercedes for us. The Searcher of hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, who, according to the will …

Each time we travel to the British Isles to attempt to serve Christ in his great work in that area of the world, we try to visit the great city of London so that we can enjoy looking at the displays in both the British Library and the British Museum. What a thrill it has been to stand and look upon the very same statuary on which the apostle Paul looked when he passed through the streets of Athens. It is almost breathtaking to look upon the terracotta cylinder upon which Cyrus wrote the decree for the Jews to return to their homeland at the end of the seventy years captivity in Babylon. Another favorite place to visit is the British Library that houses such things as the great Codex from Sinai, which was taken to Russia by Von Tischendorf and later sold to the British Library by the Russians for about $100,000.00. To see this ancient manuscript of a great portion of our New Testament will make one’s blood pressure rise. Across the room from this and other important manuscripts of the Bible are original copies of the Bishop’s Bible, which was the 1568 revision of the Great Bible of 1539 and the Geneva Bible of 1560, both ancient English translations, predating the King James Version. (Of course, both the Tyndale Version of 1526 and Wycliffe’s Version of 1388 preceded these, and they can be seen as well.) Also, one sees the very first copy of the King James …

Not long ago in a home Bible study, a question arose about what is involved in the expression, “the age of accountability.” Since I usually try to “call Bible things by Bible names and do Bible things in Bible ways,” I first admitted that I do not find that exact expression in the Bible, and thus cannot quote a Scripture that deals directly and specifically with it. However, I do find in the Bible the idea that a child is born pure and without sin, for “Sin is a transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4). Since the little child has not transgressed the law, I am sure he is not accountable for sin. Also, since Jesus said in Matthew 18:3, “Except ye become converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven,” I am sure we are not to become as little sinners. James also says, “To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). Since the baby did not know to do good, I am sure he is not accountable. But since Romans 3:23 says, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God,” I am sure there comes a time when he is accountable. Therefore, he must reach the “age of accountability” at some time, if he is a normal child. But like many of our manmade expressions that we use to explain a Bible idea, it may be …

Inspired James, half-brother to our Lord wrote, “And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell” (3:6). The most dangerous member we have in the human body is not the trigger finger, the fist or the foot, but that little member we call the tongue. James, in the context just mentioned, went on to say, “Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.” The power of the human mind to use the tongue for both good and evil is almost beyond comprehension. For example, a preacher of the Gospel may use his mind and tongue to convince men that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and bring them weeping down the aisle to be baptized into Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, and then turn right around and use that same mind and tongue to blaspheme or slander brethren, thus putting his own soul in jeopardy. In the KJV of the Bible, there is a word that has for many years intrigued this writer. The word is “backbiters.” It is found only once in that version of the Bible in Romans 1:30. In a context in which the inspired Paul listed the sins committed by those whom God had given over to reprobate minds, he used …

Aaron, the brother of Moses, was one of the central figures found in the Mosaic account of the great Exodus out of Egypt by the Hebrew people. The name Aaron is believed to mean “mountaineer, mountain of strength or illuminator” (WebBible). Others claim that the meaning of his name is uncertain (Harper’s 1). In Egypt, Amram took Jochebed, his father’s sister, who was a daughter of the tribe of Levi and she bore Aaron and Moses (Exodus 6:20). Aaron also had a sister, Miriam, who apparently was older, but there is little known of the early life of Aaron. Aaron took Elisheba, daughter of Amminadab, sister of Nahshon, as his wife and she bore him four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar (Exodus 6:23). As previously stated, Aaron would play a pivotal part in the deliverance of the children of Israel from 430 years of Egyptian bondage. He would be the mouthpiece of Moses and eventually the first priest of the Hebrew people. Many lessons can be learned from a study of the life and adventures of the man called Aaron. He performed the wonders of the Lord, he wielded the rod that became a serpent and he was in the presence of Jehovah God. After receiving the commission to bring the children of Israel out of Egypt, Moses begins to make excuses as to why this will be an impossible task for him to accomplish. “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to …

But, the two wrongs do not make one right. The reason being, the wrongs are not right, singularly or collectively. Now permit me to explain what I mean by all this jargon. On Sunday, October 17, 2004, the Montgomery Advertiser carried an article pertaining to a protest led by an extremist group from the State of Kansas that occurred in Montgomery, Alabama on Saturday, October 16, 2004. The group was comprised of some of the members of the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas. Their basic message in sermon and in songs was that God hates the homosexuals. They also “Thank God for Ivan,” believing that it was punishment sent from God for the immorality that exists in our country. Also that “God hates America.” A daughter of the preacher of this church explained that the signs and slogans are “about the United States’ enabling of the homosexual lifestyle.” Some of the songs and comments expressed the belief of this group that “the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were God’s wrath on homosexuals.” The beliefs of this radical group are not representative of the religious community in our nation. In fact, such extremism is injurious to an understanding of the nature of God and an acceptance of the Bible as being divinely inspired of God. Such ignorance and misguided zeal give fuel to the secular society to ridicule believers in Jesus Christ as being the only Savior of mankind and God the Father being the Creator of heaven and earth. But, these …

Who is it among us who has not known the embarrassment of a mentor saying to us, “Don’t you know any better than that!” Those are cutting but sobering words that greatly profit the person wise enough to listen, who knows that one is susceptible to foolish thinking and/or unwise actions resulting from pervading influences. Mother Eve learned the terrible lesson that one can be motivated to foolish thinking and unwise action through the influence of Satan’s cunning deception. That pattern begun in the Garden of Eden has continued in the world to this very day, reaching unto those who sit in the sanctum of “the heavenly places” (cf. Ephesians 2:6). Satan has continued his deceptive tactics ever since the “Garden” incident, using the power, wisdom and passions of the “world” to lure and ensnare the saints of God through ungodly influences. He was having success in varying degrees among the early Christians, which required the admonitory and corrective writings of the New Testament. A typical example of this is the First Corinthians epistle in which Paul says eleven times “Do you not know…” to awaken the dulled conscience of those saints in Corinth. These cutting but sobering words, for the most part, caused the Christians in Corinth to recall the truths they already had come to know, and carried a rebuff for being influenced by some means to act contrary to what they knew. If they were worthy auditors of this Epistle (which the Second Epistle implies they were), they …

[Publishing Peace. D. Gene West, ed. Moundsville: West Virginia School of Preaching. Nov. 2005: 3-4, 7-8.] Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy together form one continuous whole–one unit of Scripture–known as the Law (Torah, in Hebrew). The names given to the books in the English translations originated from the Septuagint. In the LXX, the books were named according to their content. Later, Latinized substitutions and/or word endings were used in the Vulgate. From these Latinized forms the English names were derived. In scholarly circles, especially, this unit of Scripture is often referred to as the “Pentateuch.”  The term “Pentateuch” is derived from the Greek and is a contraction of “pente” (five) and “teuchos” (volume). When used to modify “biblios” the meaning becomes “five fold book” or “five volume scroll”(Aalders). As Aalders notes, “Obviously this name emphasizes the unity of the five Books of the Law while it also recognizes the fact that the book falls into five sections”(2). Originally, the Hebrews also recognized a five fold division to the books as well. The Hebrews referred to the writings of Moses not only as the Torah (law or instruction) but also as the Humash (the five fifths). The names designated by the Hebrews for the books of the “five volume scroll” were different from the names by which most refer to them today. The Jews would most often refer to the books by their opening words (not word, as some mistakenly state). Thus, Genesis was known as the beresit (in the beginning). Exodus was known as …

Every authorized form of worship is subject to abuse and misuse; the Old Testament practice of burning incense is no exception. An altar of incense was authorized in Exodus 30:1-10. Even in that presentation, the warning to avoid offering “strange incense” is prominent. After preparing incense for burning in their censers, Nadab and Abihu were consumed by fire because of offering “profane fire before the Lord, which He had not commanded them” (Leviticus 10:1-2). Incense burning became a popular trend among the ancients as an act of worship to a false deity (1 Kings 11:8; 2 Kings 17:10-11; 23:5-6, 8), or as a feel-good measure made in unauthorized places and means (1 Kings 3:3; 13:1-2; 22:43; 2 Kings 12:3). The burning of incense apparently helped Israelites appreciate the reverence necessary when coming into the presence of God, and thus was connected with the idea of prayer. The cloud from incense protected the high priest from dying in the presence of God in the Most Holy Place (Leviticus 16:11-13). The Psalmist wrote: “Let my prayer be set before You as incense, The lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2). The imagery of incense in correlation with prayer continues in New Testament visions of grand worship to God. Revelation 5:8 identifies “golden bowls full of incense” of the heavenly vision as “the prayers of the saints.” In Revelation 8:3-4, an angel offers incense “with the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke …

Esau returned home exhausted from his hunting excursion in the field. Driven by hunger, his first thoughts turned to the all-you-can-eat buffet at “the Tent Dweller’s Restaurant” (Genesis 25:27). The Record says, “And Esau said to Jacob, ‘Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary’” (v. 30). The Hebrew phrase translated, “feed me,” means let me swallow or let me gulp. Table manners didn’t matter to Esau; he simply wanted his usual1 hearty meal of red lentil soup.2 According to the waiter, the “current market price” for the soup of the day was one birthright. “But Jacob said, ‘Sell me your birthright as of this day’” (v. 31). The hunter’s need for sustenance was so intense that he agreed to the exorbitant price (v. 32). Jacob offered his elder sibling a bowl of soup on the condition that Esau would make an oath3 before God as to his intentions. Esau consented and the two brothers exchanged destinies over a single meal. Call it a patriarchal “power lunch.” The birthright referred to the right of the first (born) or “primogeniture.” It was typically4 bestowed upon a man’s eldest son and included at least three factors: (1) a double-portion of the father’s estate (Deuteronomy 21:17), (2) the responsibility of providing for the family’s physical welfare, and (3) spiritual oversight of the entire clan (Genesis 18:19; cf. 22:9; 26:25; 35:1). Sadly, the only aspect of the birthright that absorbed Esau’s thinking was the double-portion (cf. Genesis 27:31). He was a man of “the …