Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever Psalm 146:5–6Every winter, millions of monarch butterflies make an extraordinary journey. Fragile as paper, weighing less than a paperclip you’d lose in a desk drawer, they travel nearly 3,000 miles from Canada to the forests of central Mexico. No maps. No guides. Astonishingly, the butterflies that arrive aren’t the ones who set out. It takes four or five generations to…
more1 Praise the Lord.
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise him!2 The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
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he gathers the exiles of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars
and calls them each by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power;
his understanding has no limit.
6…Praise Yah, for it is good to sing praises to our God;
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for it is pleasant and fitting to praise him.
2 Yahweh builds up Jerusalem.
He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the broken in heart,
and binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars.
He calls them all by their names.
5 Great is our Lord, and mighty in power.
His understanding is…The poet paints a vivid image of the natural world. But there’s more going on here than meets the eye. The references to sea creatures, the stormy wind and the depths are nods to pagan mythical figures: Tiamat, the divine sea monster; Baal, the storm god believed to control the weather and ‘the depths’, a code word for the forces of chaos.
The poet lists these scary characters with a wry smile. They’re neither gods nor demons, but simply part of nature. They depend on their Creator, who keeps them going every second of the day. Only God, the maker and sustainer of all,…
moreThese are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. 9 I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are rich! (Revelation 2:8,9)
‘Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Let anyone who has an ear listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.’ REVELATION 2:10–11
How do we make sense of world events? How can we have hope in a world at war, surrounded by injustice, persecution, and suffering? What is God’s plan to intervene? The book of Revelation is essential reading for all Christians as we seek to understand the world around us and our place in God’s salvation history.
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Towards the end of the first century, on the small Mediterranean island of Patmos, John received a…19 As many as I love, I reprove and chasten. Be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, then I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me. 21 He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me on my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”
“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”‘When he broke the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slaughtered for the word of God and for the testimony they had given; they cried out with a loud voice, “Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long…?”’ Revelation 6:9–10
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Images of war, injustice and suffering in the world continue to horrify us. Have we forgotten the lessons of the past? How long, sovereign Lord?
Since the Fall, sin and evil have been part of the human condition. The author Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote, ‘The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor…
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