Of all the provinces under the Roman Empire, Judaea was the most difficult to govern. Since the day Herod was appointed its king in 37 BC, seeds of revolt against Rome seethed continuously. The Jews’ rebellion reached a climax approximately 100 years later in the Great Jewish Revolt (66-73 AD) which resulted in the destruction of the temple…

According to Jeremiah, ‘he doth not afflict from his heart’. Unlike His acts of mercy, God takes no pleasure in executing judgement upon the sinner. Thus, Isaiah calls this ‘His strange work’. To a God that is love, meting out punishment upon His children is indeed ‘a strange act’...

The ironclad war machine of Rome may have won the caesars an exceedingly vast territorial domain, but as far as pagan glories are concerned, Babylon exceeded all heathendom. Indeed, the splendour of Babylon’s hanging gardens, lofty walls, and imposing temples earned the Mesopotamian city-state its golden legacy…

In times of old throughout all nations, the existence of the spiritual world was unquestioned. As such, Satan employed mediums to communicate his deceptions. The Bible often speaks of those who had ‘familiar spirits’, which represented a certain method of divination…

For twice refusing to obey divine instructions, Saul was rejected by God as king. Nevertheless, the disgraced monarch would haunt the throne of Israel for several more years before at last slaying himself on the battlefield…

Naturally endowed with a kingly form and a humble disposition, the Lord put everything in place to make Saul’s reign honourable and prosperous…

Sadly, very few seek God during these extended grace periods, which only last so long. But because God is ‘not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance’, He dispatches ambassadors with direct appeals to those approaching their end (2 Peter 3:9)…

Since at least the days of Nimrod, men have bound themselves together in secret societies. While clothed with noble pretences, these organisations have but one purpose. After the manner of their grand master, these assemblies of Satan use craft and deception to wage war against God and His law…

In Bible prophecy, a woman is a symbol of a church. A virtuous woman symbolises a pure church, while a harlot symbolises an impure church. In Revelation 17, John was shown a striking depiction of the self-styled ‘mother church’ of Rome…

There is a true proverb of the world that states: ‘It is easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled’. The human heart naturally recoils from humility, and pride forbids men from departing from what they have learned. As such, bringing truth to a man is never an easy task…

Like other Ancient Greek philosophers, Socrates used formal debates as a means of indoctrinating his disciples. Seeing that Western intellectual tradition traces back to the Ancient Greeks, this culture of debate has deeply influenced the way Western minds interact. In our society, debating is both taught and encouraged…

Estimated at having a net worth of over US$2 trillion, Solomon is regarded as one of the richest men in history. But after making it to the top, Solomon discovered that only grief is obtained by the pursuit of mammon…

When wrongs are committed against them, men often pursue justice through the courts. There, an honest judge will administer justice by afflicting the evil doer according to the law. While civil magistrates and judges do serve in the place of the Judge of all the Earth, the policy observed in this world’s courts is not the mindset that God has when correcting His children…

Since the fall of man, God has been rejected as the King of this world by the larger part of mankind. Notwithstanding this, God has not stepped down from His throne; the Creator yet reigns sovereign over heaven and earth…

The Bible informs us of the fiery child sacrifice that accompanied the worship of Moloch (2 Kings 16:3), and also of the whoredom attending the worship of Baal (Numbers 25). While the Bible briefly mentions these sins, it is light upon the grisly details. By this we may understand that God desires us to be aware of His displeasure at such wickedness, but does not want us to be deeply acquainted with it…

The San Marzano tomato was bred in the rich volcanic soils surrounding the infamous Mount Vesuvius. Since it first began to be commercially produced in 1926, this heirloom variety has been prized worldwide for its rich sweetness, impressive root structure, and resilience to disease…

The declaration given in the fourth commandment is clear – the heaven, the earth, and the sea were all made during the six literal days of creation week. Therefore, to claim that any of the solids, liquids, or gases comprising our world pre-existed the Genesis creation is a direct contradiction to the words of God Himself…

Having kept the last passover with His disciples, Jesus knew that the great agony of His existence lay at the door. Before departing for His final conflict with sin and Satan, Jesus gathered His disciples together for prayer. Even though He was the One about to suffer and die, the focus of Christ’s prayer in John 17 was not Himself…

The faithful Christian wisely avoids being drawn into this Hegelian power-play. But if we aren’t careful, the partisan spirit which rules over the children of disobedience can gain a mastery over us via other disputes…

Simply stated, the name Jehovah means ‘the self existent one’. This title conveys that God was, is, and always will be. The rich meaning of this name is perhaps why Isaiah called God ‘the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity’ (Isaiah 57:15). Since God has eternal existence, it follows that He is without a beginning. Interestingly, however, Proverbs 8:22 declares that the LORD’s way did have a beginning…