The cumulative effect of the news about the world situation is to throw a heavy, wet blanket over believers. The antidote for depression is hope. In this we have examples in Scripture written to communities undergoing severe trials. The advice given there is often practical, immediate and useful to us today.
Gibeon sits astride the Saddle of Benjamin and as such is strategically vital to the conquest and holding of the Land of Israel. Joshua knew this as did the Canaanite kings in the south. When Gibeon made a covenant with Israel it became the center of a major battle during which God fought for Israel.
There will be animal sacrifice in the Millennial Temple. This prospect will disturb some.
Once it was determined that the Lamb was worthy to take the scroll and open its seals, the unsealing process began. Since the scroll represents the legal title to the earth, as each seal is removed, there is a corresponding reaction on the earth. The first six seals seem to be sequential in time and then there is an out of sequence vignette where the 144,000 are sealed.
A hard heart is unable to understand the miracles of God. This does not happen to unbelievers only.
We study the events around Hanukkah because there is nothing new under the Sun. In the behavior of the Greeks, the Hellenized Jews and the faithful Jews we can see all of the things that are going on today.
History repeatedly shows that defense, no matter how stout, eventually loses. So it is with the Kingdom of God. If its citizens cease to press forward and take new territory, it will contract and wither under pressure from the enemy. That is what has been happening over the past 50 years in the United States. Speaker is Matt Behrens
Unbeknownst to Joshua, Achan had disobeyed God and taken spoil from Jericho. This caused Israel to be routed in what should have been a minor skirmish at Ai. Correction of that sin was expensive indeed.
God has always wanted to live among His people. The problem is that we cannot long survive such proximity. The Bible can be read as the story of the process whereby God changes us so that He can achieve His goal.
John is invited into the Heavenly Throne Room where he sees God and the Lamb. The arrangement of that heavenly venue is mirrored in the stellar constellations. The ceremony John witnesses is the delivery of a sealed scroll to the Lamb - the only one in creation who is worthy to receive and open it.