Lamentations means “funeral songs.” Possibly authored by Jeremiah, it talks about the total destruction that happened to Jerusalem and the temple. The cause of this destruction is identified as the sin of the people and the destruction itself acknowledged as God’s judgement. But in the midst of it the author sounds notes of hope of … Read the rest

A Message Set in History
This part of Jeremiah focuses on the reigns of the last kings of Judah, Jehoiakim (who ruled 11 years, 608—597 BC), Jehoiachin (3 months, 597 BC ) and Zedekiah (11 years, 597–­586 BC). As Jeremiah is a book where chronological sequence of events is not strictly followed, it might be … Read the rest

“Is not my word like fire,” declares the Lord, “and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces” (Jeremiah 23:29 NIV).

Highlights
I Context of the Book
II The Call of Jeremiah
III God’s Complaint Against His People

IV God’s Call to His People
V Jeremiah and Jesus: A Comparison
VI Communication in Symbols … Read the rest

The Servant of the Lord

Isaiah 49:1—7, 50:4—9, 52:13—53:12

Jesus Christ, the Messiah is described here as The Servant of the Lord. Jesus clearly exhibited servanthood during his life. John 13:1—7, Mark 10:42—45, and Philippians 2:6—8 make His servant attitude very clear.

Isaiah 49 opens with reference to God’s eternal plan of bringing Jesus to … Read the rest

God—the Holy One of Israel.

In this portion of Isaiah we find God—the Holy One of Israel. His attributes are presented here forcefully. We will try to see these one after another.

I God the Comforter
II God Who Sends Messengers
III The Incomparable God

IV God the Creator
V God’s Salvation
VI God’s Forgiveness… Read the rest

I Focus of the Book

Jesus Christ is the focus of the Book of Isaiah. John tells us, Isaiah “saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him” (John 12:41). That is perhaps the reason why this book is the most quoted Old Testament book in the New Testament.

Insight: “We see Christ in this book and … Read the rest

“MEANINGLESS! MEANINGLESS!”
says the Teacher.
“Utterly meaningless!
Everything is meaningless”
(1:2 NIV).

I Why This Book?

The Book of Ecclesiastes surprises us with many thoughts which seems to contradict the rest of the Bible. So it is quite natural to ask the question why this book should at all be included in the Bible. Let … Read the rest

Every word of God is flawless (Proverbs 30:5).
The Book of Proverbs contains practical wisdom. It deals with everyday life, work and relationships. It teaches the fear of God.

Topics
I Wisdom
II Relationship with Parents
III Unanswered Prayer
IV Your Heart

V Work
VI Success
VII Wealth
VIII Health

IX Giving
X Communication
XI … Read the rest

Introduction
“The Psalms are poems or songs of praise, worship, thankfulness, and repentance, and each one of them is complete by itself. They also show a variety of feelings, emotions, attitudes and interests. . . .

Because the Psalm are written by so many people, from different time periods, and they show such a variety … Read the rest

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” ­­ Isaiah 55:8, 9 NIV

I God and the Problem of Pain and Suffering

● The first … Read the rest

“And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?” — (Esther 4:14).

Highlights
I The Seeming Absence of God
II God Keeps His Instruments Prepared and Hidden
III God Causes Others to Remember You!
IV God Puts You in a Position of Influence to Fulfill His Purposes… Read the rest

Nehemiah is an outstanding character of the Old Testament. Let us take a sweeping glance at his life at the very outset. Nehemiah was a man of prayer and action. He held a high position of trust in a royal court as a cupbearer to the king.

He was a master-­builder, an able administrator, a … Read the rest

Two Psalms Tell the Story
Let us begin by looking at two Psalms:
The first one, Psalm 137 talks about the captivity of God’s people in Babylon: “By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion” (Psalm 137:1 NIV). The people remembered Zion, and made a resolve in their hearts not … Read the rest

Kings of Judah and Israel

The True King

God Himself is the true King of Israel. It was very much evident even to Prophet Balaam who was hired by Balak king of Moab to “to put a curse” on Israel when they came out of Egypt. But Balaam could only bless Israel and he said: … Read the rest

King David

The Story Continues

The life of David is first presented when we find Samuel asked by God to go and anoint one of the sons of Jesse of Bethlehem (1 Samuel 16:1). That son was David. This anointing had eternal significance (Isaiah 11:1, Revelation 5:5, Revelation 22:16).

From the time of David’s anointing … Read the rest

The Book of I Samuel records the beginnings of the nation of Israel. It covers a period of about 115 years from the time of the birth of Samuel through the period of Saul and the anointing of David and ends with the death of Saul.

It teaches us valuable lessons through the life­-stories of … Read the rest

Focus: Jesus, our Kinsman­-Redeemer!

I Introduction: The Book of Ruth can be understood on two levels:

● One, simply as a story of the life of a woman. If you read it like that, there is tragedy, a journey, romance, wedding, the birth of a child and finally a settled home in her life.… Read the rest

Judges deals with a period of 300 to 400 years from the time of Joshua’s death to the arrival of Samuel. After Joshua there was no leader for the people of Israel. Instead the tribes acted independently most of the time.

A Pattern: Disobedience­­>>Defeat­­>>Repentance>>Deliverance­­>>Rest

The Book of Judges presents us with a pattern of Christian … Read the rest

Joshua means “Yahweh is salvation”. The Hebrew form is Yehoshua, which in course of time abbreviated to Yoshua and Yeshua (two variant forms). Yoshua is Joshua, Yeshua is Jesus.

I A Sunset and a Sunrise

It was time for Moses to depart. His one great task remained undone. That was leading the Israelites to the … Read the rest

Getting Ready

After forty years of wilderness wandering the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land of Canaan. A journey of eleven days from Mt. Horeb would have taken them to this point (Deut. 1:2) but it took them forty years because of their rebellion against God.

The Book of Numbers describes their forty … Read the rest

1. Divine Provision
We have several illustration in Numbers of the ways in which God provides for his people. For example, 20:1—11; 21:1—9; 27:1—11 (see 36:1—12); 27:12—23 ; 35:1—5; 35:6—28. Think of ways in which God provides for his people today.

2. Divine Displeasure
One of the sadder aspects of Numbers is the fact that … Read the rest

Leviticus means “about the Levites.” Levites were the tribe chosen by God to be His priests. They were taken in place of the first­born of all Israelites. The first­born was commanded by God as devoted to Him. See Numbers 3:11—13.

Holiness

The key to understanding Leviticus is holiness. In Leviticus 11:44, 45 God says, “I … Read the rest

This section of the Bible focuses on four things:

1. The Ten Commandments (Ch. 20)
2. The Offerings and the Building of the Tabernacle (Ch. 25 to 31 and 35 to 40)
3. The Garments of the High Priest (Exodus 28)
4. Moses’ Intercession and Intimacy with God (Ch. 32—34)

I The Ten Commandments (Exodus

… Read the rest

Exodus means “exit” or “departure.”

The Blood of the Lamb 

“The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you.” (Exodus 12:13 NIV). “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed” (1 Corinthians 5:7b NIV).

The Holiness of God

“Who

… Read the rest