King Herod’s Wickedness: A King Who Feared Jesus
When I read Matthew 2, I’m struck by the contrast between Herod and Jesus. This is more than a dark episode in the Christmas…
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Cherubim in the Bible: What Are They?
What are cherubim? The little winged figures of later art do not prepare us for the guardians at Eden, the figures over the mercy…
Methuselah: Did His Name Predict the Flood?
Methuselah lived 969 years, but that famous number is only part of the question. Did his name really predict the flood, and can we…
King Cyrus: Why Did God Call Him His Anointed?
Cyrus is one of those Bible figures who can surprise you. God called this foreign king His shepherd and His anointed even though Cyrus…
Benaiah in the Bible: The Mighty Man Who Served David and Solomon
Benaiah is usually remembered as the man who went into a snowy pit and killed a lion. That scene deserves attention, but his life…
Ishmael in the Bible: His Story, Promise, and Place in Genesis
Ishmael’s life comes from one of Genesis’s most painful family stories. I find it important that Scripture does not erase the sin that produced…
Aquila in the Bible: The Faithful Tentmaker Who Served Christ
Aquila never gets a long speech or a chapter centered on him. We meet him in short notices beside his wife Priscilla, yet those…
Martha in the Bible: More Than the Busy Sister
What are we supposed to learn from Martha? She is often remembered only as the busy sister whom Jesus corrected, but that is not…
Onesimus in the New Testament: The Gospel and Restoration
Onesimus appears only briefly in the New Testament, but his story brings the gospel into a very difficult relationship. What happens when Christ saves…
Ehud in the Bible: What His Deliverance of Israel Teaches
Ehud's story is one of the more surprising accounts in Judges. God used this left-handed Benjamite to free Israel from Moab by killing its…
Epaphroditus: The Quiet Servant Paul Honored
Epaphroditus appears in only a few verses, yet Paul calls him a brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier. I want to slow down over…
Barnabas in the Bible: The Son of Encouragement
What kind of encouragement actually strengthens a church? Barnabas is often remembered as the “Son of Encouragement,” but Acts gives that name more weight…