The Sabbath in Bible Times

Why Was there a Sabbath? The Sabbath, or “day of rest”, established by God at Creation is still observed by Orthodox Jews today. God’s purpose for the Sabbath was not simply that His people “take a day off” to remember His act of Creation, but also that they would be set apart from all other nations by their observance of it. The pagan nations, which eventually surrounded Israel, didn’t observe the Sabbath. Therefore, if the Jews continued to keep it, it would help protect them from assimilating into pagan cultures, and also make Israel stand out to its neighbors. Josephus, … Continue reading →

Demons and Exorcism in Jesus’ Day

Though you may be skeptical of the term “exorcism”, the occurrence of people being possessed by demons, and those demons being exorcised was common during the first century. There is not only evidence for it in the Jewish community, but also in the greater Greek world of the time. Aside from Jesus and the Apostles, the Bible refers to assistants of the religious leaders whose job it was to free people from demonic control (Acts 19). Accounts of demonic oppression and control are found in the Old Testament in the story of Saul (I Kings 4:29-34). Jews had techniques for … Continue reading →

Who Was the Good Samaritan?

Many people have heard the story of the Good Samaritan. From the story, we can tell that there is a significance to the fact that it was the Samaritan, not the priest or the Levite who stopped to help the wounded man. Knowing a little bit about who the Samaritans were and what their relationship was to the Jews adds a new dimension to the story. Samaritans viewed themselves as Israelites, and as true remnants of the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh. They believed that they had held to the monotheistic faith of their fathers and upheld the Torah (the … Continue reading →

What Did the Members of the Early Church Do?

In the book of Acts, Luke gives us wonderful insight into what life was like for the early church. It is fascinating to study what these first Christians did when they came together to fellowship. We can learn much and evaluate our own worship by considering their example. 1. Teaching– The apostles had a large role in the beginnings of the church. As new believers were added to the church, they took the responsibility of telling everyone about Jesus’ life. They undoubtedly passed on everything they had heard Christ say and saw Him do. They likely took the Old Testament … Continue reading →

Divorce in the Bible

In Matthew 19:3 the Pharisees went to Jesus and asked, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for any cause?” They were testing Jesus to see if He would agree with the Old Testament, or contradict it in a way that would allow the religious leaders to trap Him or turn the Jewish people against Him. The Old Testament rule for divorce is found in Deuteronomy 24:1 “When a man hath taken a wife, and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favour in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness … Continue reading →

Betrothal and Wedding Customs at the Time of Christ

When I read the story of Mary and how she was expecting to bear Jesus, while she was betrothed to Joseph, I am always interested in the customs of the day. Here is an overview of the betrothal and wedding customs at the time Jesus was born. Stage 1- Betrothal Betrothal was what we would consider an “engagement” today. The first stage of the betrothal was finding a suitable spouse for the bride or bridegroom. In the ancient Near Eastern culture, this was most often initiated by the families of the bride and groom. Though a young man could make … Continue reading →