Revelation and Rome
The beast of Revelation 11 most directly corresponds to the Roman Empire. John will later elaborate on the nature of the beast. In fact, he will describe two beasts: one…
Who Is the Beast?
The two witnesses of Revelation 11 represent the church, who've been given the crucial task of prophesying to the nations. God's people must warn humanity that if they persist in…
Measuring the Temple
We're now on the cusp of Revelation 11, perhaps the most bewildering chapter in the Bible. We've learned about the crucial scroll (introduced in chapter 5) which contains God's plan…
Elections & Consequences
Unless you've been living under a rock, you know that a Presidential election is rapidly approaching. Many Americans are no doubt worn out by the relentless political ads. Most Christians…
From Persecution to Empire
The third century was a tumultuous time for the Roman Empire. 30 emperors reigned during this century, but few died peacefully. Most were victims of bloody coups which triggered further…
Translation of the Seventy
The last few weeks we've been tracing the formation of the Old Testament. Let's summarize what we've learned so far. The key criterion for inclusion in the sacred writings was…
The Other Joseph
The book of Genesis describes the dramatic story of Joseph, son of Jacob. Sold into slavery by his own brothers, he eventually rose to power in Egypt. But there is…
The New Exodus
Holy week is already upon us since Easter comes relatively early this year. The method used to calculate Easter Sunday is quite confusing: it's the Sunday following the first full…
The Plight of Israel
Last week, we examined the horrendous massacre perpetrated by Hamas terrorists on October 7th. Hamas still holds about 200 hostages and continues to hurl rockets towards Israel. The Israeli Defense…
Not Of This World
In 1961, archeologists were excavating an ancient theater in the city of Caesarea, along the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Caesarea became the capital of the Roman province of Judea in…