God’s lifelong faithfulness to Abraham was anchored in his promises to the patriarch. God declared his covenant with Abraham when he called him to leave Haran for the Promised Land. Even when circumstances threatened the promises, including Abraham’s poor choices, God kept his promises. God promised to give Abraham land for him and his descendants,…
Abraham is a central figure in the book of Genesis, whose legacy extends throughout the Old and New Testaments. Bible readers know him for the promises God gave him; for nearly sacrificing his son, Isaac; and for his faith in God. And, because of his importance, people also want to know about his family. Abraham…
Abraham, the first Hebrew patriarch, is known for being the father of the Jewish race and the nation of Israel. His wife and some of his children are central to his story in the book of Genesis. Sometimes when people refer to Abraham’s children, they mean all his descendants. Yet, others want to know how…
According to the book of Genesis, Abraham was the first Hebrew patriarch. In the Old Testament, he is known as the father of the Jewish people. In the New Testament, writers, especially the Apostle Paul, highlight Abraham’s faith in God. One event in Abraham’s life people want to know more about is when his wife…
Abraham is one of the most influential figures in the Bible. His story is told in the book of Genesis, and its themes and promises echo through the Old and New Testaments. Because of his significance, Bible readers are interested in the details of his biography, including the identity of his family members. Abraham’s father…
Jews and Christians celebrate Abraham because of his important role in the book of Genesis, which reverberates throughout the Bible. As the first Hebrew patriarch, and a great man of faith (Rom. 4), God used him to father the nation of Israel (Gen. 12:1-3). While Bible readers want to know about Abraham’s life, they are…
Abraham is one of the most significant people in the Bible. In the Old Testament, his legacy is that he was the first Hebrew patriarch, the father of the nation of Israel. In the New Testament, in addition to being the forefather of the Jewish people, his legacy is that he was a man of…
The Old Testament, which accounts for two-thirds of the Christian Bible, tells the story of how God used the nation of Israel in his plan to redeem the world from sin. Long after authors penned the 39 books of the Old Testament, readers started organizing their content into chapters for easy reading and accessibility. The…
The Bible is the best-selling and most-read book in history. From its first book, Genesis, to its last, Revelation, Scripture tells one unfolding story about God’s plan to redeem his creation from sin. The Bible has two parts, the Old and New Testaments, and many people want to understand their differences. The Old Testament is…
The Old Testament makes up the first two-thirds of the Christian Bible. It primarily tells the story of how God chose and used the nation of Israel to be his instrument of redemption to save people from all races, languages, and cultures from sin. Many people know that Genesis is the first book of the…
The Old Testament comprises the first 39 books of the Christian Bible. Its main subject is how God worked in and through the nation of Israel to execute his plan to redeem people and save them from sin. There are four sections in the Old Testament: the books of law, history, poetry, and prophets. Many…
The Old Testament, also known as the Hebrew Bible, comprises the first two-thirds of the Christian Bible. It’s called the “Old” Testament because Jesus Christ fulfilled it and established a new covenant or testament when he died on the cross and rose from the dead. One question many people have about the Old Testament regards…
The New Testament is among history’s most important and influential collections of writings. However, many people are unfamiliar with it, having never learned about its message, purpose, setting, themes, genres, and authors. So what’s “new” about it? And what is a “testament”? These are just a few questions people want to know about it. The…
Over 2,000 years ago, people who walked and talked with Jesus of Nazareth wrote the 27 books of the New Testament. The drive to preserve and spread Jesus’ teachings and stories about him led the authors to create a written record of their experiences and others. One question many people ask is, what language did…
The New Testament records stories and teachings about the life, ministry, and followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Each book is either written by an apostle of Jesus (e.g., Paul) or a close companion to one (e.g., Mark to Peter). Whether a book is a Gospel, a historical record, or a letter, each has chapter divisions,…
People in the ancient world had different ways of measuring than most societies today. While their calculations could be remarkably precise, their tools had less sophistication than current technologies. Some terms of measurement in the Bible are unknown to modern readers. An example is the cubit which appears hundreds of times in the Old Testament…
The New Testament is the most significant collection of writings in world history. Each gospel, letter, historical account, and sermon describe the life and ministry of Jesus of Nazareth and the community of his followers. Like learning each book’s purpose, setting, and audience, knowing who wrote each one helps readers understand their message and meaning…
From “God is love” (1 John 4:16) to “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44), love is one of the central themes of the Bible. Because love is an attribute of God and the reason he sent his son Jesus into the world (John 3:16) to die a sacrificial death before rising again, readers want to know…
The Bible occasionally mentions the physical appearance of its characters, like Esther’s beauty (Est. 2:7), Samson’s hair (Judges 16:17), and Eglon’s weight (Judg. 3:17). It also refers to some people’s height, like Saul (1 Sam. 9:2), who was tall, and Zaccheaus (Luke 19:3), who was short. Yet many people wonder how tall Adam, the first…
Readers find the concept of meekness in some of the most memorable verses in the New Testament. One of Jesus Christ’s most famous teachings includes a statement about the importance of meekness and its result. The Apostle Paul also referred to it several times. In the Bible, meek means gentle. The word describes a person…
The Bible includes many examples of women with extraordinary faith in God. Hannah is one of them. Her story is told in the book of 1 Samuel in the Old Testament. Hannah’s life included distressing relationships and physical challenges. Yet, she was devoted to God and sought him diligently, and he responded to her in…
In the Bible, people measure it in various ways. There are references to minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. While Bible readers can relate to many of the descriptions, some terms, like “generation,” are unspecific. Since some important passages in the Bible use the term, many people want to know how long a generation…
Most people have moments in their lives when they are forced to decide between faith and fear. Caleb is well-known for his decision when he came to such a crossroads. The Bible is full of stories about faithful men and women trusting God when faced with overwhelming odds. Caleb is one of them. Caleb was…
Students of the Bible find references to hyssop from Exodus in the Old Testament to the Gospel of John in the New Testament. It plays a part in important stories like Israel’s exodus from Egypt and Jesus’ crucifixion. Yet some Bible readers aren’t sure exactly what it is. Hyssop is a plant whose stalks grow…
Melchizedek is a character in the Bible, found in the Old and New Testaments, that fascinates many readers. The books of Genesis and Psalms in the Old Testament refer to him, as does Hebrews in the New Testament. Although Melchizedek lived about two thousand years before Jesus, an important prophecy compares the two. So, who…
Nicodemus is one of the most fascinating people in the New Testament. The Gospel of John records a powerful one-on-one conversation that he had with Jesus that has impacted him and the lives of millions and millions of readers over the centuries. Later, he shows up in a surprising moment in the Gospels. Nicodemus is…
Ecclesiastes is the twenty-first book of the Old Testament. In modern Bibles, it appears with other books that belong to the category of wisdom and poetry literature, like Job, Psalms, Proverbs, and Song of Solomon. Ecclesiastes has many memorable verses and passages, making it a favorite book for many Bible readers. Its intrigue leads many…
The New Testament comprises about one-third of the Bible. While it’s a continuation of the story that started in the Old Testament, it reveals the era of the New Covenant that Jesus of Nazareth inaugurated through his death and resurrection. The New Testament contains books belonging to genres like biography, epistles or letters, historical accounts,…
Judah is an important man in the Bible. His story is told in the Old Testament, but his legacy extends into the New Testament. Yet, Bible readers aren’t as familiar with him as they are with Abraham, Isaac, and Job, even though Judah was in Jesus Christ’s family line. So who was Judah in the…
Sadly, experiencing unholy fear is part of the human experience because the world is filled with sin. The Bible instructs believers to fear God alone (e.g., Prov. 9:10), yet many are tempted to fear things like failure, other people, and potential problems related to relationships, finances, and health. This reality makes many people wonder how…
The Bible mentions that most people live into their 70s and 80s (Psa. 90:10). Yet this wasn’t always the case. In the world before the flood in Noah’s day, the book of Genesis reveals that people often lived much longer. Scholars debate the reason for this. Nevertheless, many people are curious to know who the…
People have been fascinated with numbers in the Bible for thousands of years. Some readers look for deeper meanings in any number that appears in the Bible, whether Old or New Testament writers use them literally or figuratively. Some non-Jewish and non-Christian religions are also interested in numbers in the Bible and interpret them with…
The story of Balaam in the Bible is full of intrigue, conspiracy, and surprise. Unfortunately, some Bible readers don’t know much about him because his story is in the Book of Numbers, which isn’t often preached or taught in churches. Yet learning about Balaam will help people understand more about God’s sovereignty, protection, and care…
Ezra is an important character in the Bible. Some people know that a book in the Old Testament has the title Ezra, but they don’t know much more about him. God called Ezra to a critical ministry at a significant time in Israel’s history. Learning more about Ezra will help today’s readers understand the Old…
Many people have heard of Cain from the Bible but don’t know much about him. The Old Testament figure is central to one of the Bible’s earliest and most famous stories about a fractured family relationship involving envy, greed, and anger. Many have also heard of the “mark of Cain,” which a few Bible readers…
According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, the primary definition of “sodomy” is “anal or oral copulation with another person.” Yet, sometimes popular definitions of words and how the Bible uses them can be significantly or slightly different because of cultural and linguistic differences. So what does sodomy mean in the Bible? In the Bible, sodomy refers to…
The colorful arc of a rainbow is one of the most beautiful sights in all of creation. The pattern of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet is what people commonly see in the sky when a rainbow appears. Rainbows aren’t unique to the modern world; skywatchers in the Bible saw them, too. In…
Mary, the mother of Jesus and the wife of Joseph, is one of the most important and beloved figures in the Gospels. She demonstrates faithfulness to God throughout her life, even when her son Jesus dies on the cross for the world’s sins. One question people have about Mary is how old she was when…
Jesus performed many miracles during his public ministry. For example, he turned water into wine, healed people from physical ailments and diseases, and even rose people from the dead. Jesus also supernaturally multiplied bread and fish for people. These feedings are mentioned multiple times in the Gospels, leading Bible readers to ask how many people…
God loves color. He created a universe full of them. The colors that the Bible mentions the most are blue, red (including scarlet), purple, black, and white. Scripture rarely refers to green, yellow, orange, or gray. Sometimes Bible writers use colors literally; at other times, they use them symbolically. One question people often ask about…
The Bible calls Noah a righteous and blameless man (Gen. 6:9). Many people know him because he, along with his family, survived the flood that God sent to the world as a punishment for sin (Gen. 6-9). After the flood, Noah’s sons and wives began repopulating the earth. This story leads many people to which…
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is the centerpiece of the Christian faith, according to the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 15:17). Along with the crucifixion, the resurrection is the climactic moment of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Gospel writers mention the day Jesus rose from the dead, and Bible readers want to understand when it…
Between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, he appeared to hundreds of people, taught Scripture, and performed miracles. He also forgave Peter, helped Thomas to believe, and told the disciples to await the Holy Spirit’s imminent arrival. These events cause many Bible readers to wonder how long Jesus was on the earth after his resurrection. According to…
The resurrection of Jesus Christ, along with his crucifixion on the cross, is the climactic moment of all four Gospels in the New Testament. In each Gospel, the resurrection occurs near the end of the book, which can leave readers wondering what happened next in the story of Jesus and his followers. After Jesus rose…
One of the most well-known belief statements in Christian history, The Apostles Creed, states that Jesus Christ descended into hell after he died on the cross. The line reads, “He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried; he descended to hell.” However, Bible scholars debate whether or not Jesus went to hell…
Joseph, the husband of Mary and the earthly father of Jesus, is an important figure in the early chapters of Matthew and Luke. The Gospels depict Joseph as faithful, loving, and protective of his wife and son and sensitive to God’s guidance. Yet what many people want to know is where he was when Jesus…
When Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph in a manger in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago, he was on a mission. His arrival wasn’t random, as the Father purposefully sent him to earth. Jesus had a clear objective and reason for coming. So what was Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth? Jesus Christ came…
The New Testament teaches that before Jesus rose from the dead, some of his followers placed his body in a tomb, where it lay for three days. The tomb, which had been cut out of a rock, belonged to Joseph of Arimathea. Even though Jesus’ body was in the tomb for a short time, many…
Jesus Christ’s crucifixion, along with his resurrection from the dead, is the central event of the Christian faith. Not surprisingly, devout believers, and Bible readers of all kinds, study the details of Jesus’ death at the end of the four Gospels. Eyewitnesses testified that the authorities crucified Jesus next to two criminals, and many people…
Baptism is a meaningful ceremony in the life of a Christian. The water in which a person is immersed represents death, and being lifted out depicts new life (Rom. 6:4). In the early church, baptism was associated with repenting of sin and becoming a follower of Jesus (Acts 2:37-41). Because of what baptism means for…