We find ourselves in a very wealthy and important town, Jericho. It had a great palm forest and world-famous balsam groves. Its gardens of roses were known far and wide. All this combined to make Jericho one of the greatest taxation centres in Palest...

If human beings yearn for peace and security, they also need trustworthy guidance to bring them through hard times. The future is a closed book to us all. Even if we make plans for our way forward, with a clear path to follow, we can have no confiden...

The first verse of Zechariah 13 spoke of a cleansing fountain that would remove impurity from the house of David. The last verse shows us another method of purification – not by water but by fire.

Amos is a book of warnings. In its first chapter we are told about the warnings of judgement upon the nations surrounding Israel. This may lead us to ask, why does God give judgements upon the nations?

Yesterday’s passage, Luke 7, ended with Jesus showing respect to a woman of ill repute.  Chapter 8 picks up where chapter 7 left off. Tormented and marginalised by disease and spiritual affliction, a number of women are set free by Jesus and join ...

Paul is in prison and has come into contact with Onesimus, a slave who has fled from his Christian master Philemon. Onesimus has become a Christian too; Paul sends him back to Philemon 'not just as a slave, but more than a slave: he is a dear br...

The first part of Psalm 137 is a plaintive lament for what the people of God in exile have lost. The psalmist is disconnected from the Temple and the land, and therefore from God. How can he 'sing a song to the Lord in a foreign land?' (ver...

In chapter 3, Joel imagines a hypothetical place called the ‘Valley of Jehoshaphat’, meaning the ‘valley of decision/judgement’ (verses 2 and 14). God will gather all the nations there – the time for people to decide will be over; God will ...

John's ministry looks very like that of Elijah. Like him, he didn't do diplomacy and soft words; he told it like it was. He wasn't afraid of confronting kings (verse 9).

This chapter contains Jesus' Sermon on the Plain (verse 17), Luke's version of Matthew's Sermon on the Mount. It begins, though, with two stories about the Sabbath. Sabbath-keeping was – and is – one of the marks of an observant Je...

Is the New Testament anti-Semitic? Historically, verses like ‘His blood be on us, and on our children’ (Matthew 27.25, KJV) have been used to mark Jews as Jesus murderers and to justify violence against them. Some passages in the Gospels and the ...

In a rapidly shifting world, calls for strong leadership have been on the increase and, in some cases, they’re altering the political landscape beyond recognition. The issue is, what if the strong leader you called for begins to turn on you, and th...

The missional environment in Britain has changed, perhaps in more profound, challenging and hopeful ways than we yet realise. We are seeing a spike of interest in the Bible, in prayer, and in Christian faith.

From the biblical account, it looks as though Solomon lived a life marked by conspicuous consumption. There was nothing he denied himself; it was bling on a scale that would make a Russian oligarch look a little dowdy.

It's interesting to see what Paul commends the Thessalonian church for in his opening words. It isn't for their correctness of doctrine, but for the way they 'put their faith into practice', for the way they 'work so hard...

Psalm 89 is a Royal Psalm, one of a selection of psalms which all feature content concerning the relationship between God and the king. For example, some relate to coronations, some appeal for aid before battle, and some are for royal weddings.

King Jeroboam has rejected God and instituted the worship of two golden calves in an attempt to control his new country's religion. When he's faced with urgent questions of life and death, though, he realises that only the Lord can help him.

Unlike his father Abijah and his grandfather Rehoboam, King Asa clamped down on idolatry and 'remained faithful to the Lord all his life' (verse 14). He was also generous to the Temple, making gifts of gold and silver to replace those lost ...

1 and 2 Kings were originally one book, so 2 Kings picks up where 1 Kings concluded. In chapter 1 we encounter five men: Ahaziah the king, Elijah the prophet and three army captains. The last lines of 1 Kings tell us all we need to know about Ahaziah...

As we know from elsewhere in Scripture, people with leprosy were outcasts from society and not allowed to live in the city. Rejected and feared by society, their lives outside the city gates depended on charity. Yet in 2 Kings 7 it is they who bring ...