The Letter to Philemon

By Mark Morgan | Paul

Facts and figures

Of all the books of the Bible, only the second and third letters of John are shorter that the letter to Philemon if length is determined by number of words.

Writers	Paul and Timothy
Location and time	Sent from Rome in about 61-62 AD while Paul was imprisoned there
Delivery	Probably delivered by Onesimus, the subject of the letter
Addressees/recipients	Philemon, Apphia and Archippus in Colossae
Summary of message for Philemon	Forgive Onesimus your runaway slave and welcome him as a believing brother.
Number of chapters	1
Number of verses	25

Introduction

Most of what we know about Philemon and  his slave Onesimus comes from the letter to Philemon itself.  However, extra details in the letter to the Colossians suggest that both Onesimus, the subject of the letter, and Archippus, one of the recipients, came from Colossae.

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Jesus’ 12 Apostles

By Mark Morgan | Jesus

Setting the Scene for Jesus’ 12 Apostles

Early in the New Testament we read about the birth of John (later known as John the Baptist), a priest’s son who was to become a prophet and announce the coming of a saviour from the house of David.

Many people went to John and obeyed his call to repentance and baptism. Most left after they were baptised, but some stayed longer and became John’s disciples. While they were with him, they saw Jesus come to be baptised and some heard John’s announcement that this was not only the lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world, but also the son of God. Two, in particular, believed John and immediately followed Jesus to learn more about him. They also called their friends, and soon Jesus had followers of his own.

Apostles

As we delve into what is known about Jesus’ apostles, it’s worth noting that ‘apostles’ means ‘ones sent’. The word is used because, although many people followed Jesus, he wanted to send out 12 special disciples in pairs to preach. Before doing so, he spent all night in prayer to God (Luke 6:12-16).

It is very likely that all of them were Jews (see Mt 15:24; 10:5; Jn 1:47). With the possible exception of Judas Iscariot, whom some suggest came from Kerioth in Judah, they were probably all from Galilee, based on the observation: ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?’ (Acts 2:7).

There are four lists of Jesus’ apostles, and you’ll notice as you read them that there are some differences in order and slightly varied names. Judas Iscariot is missing from the list in Acts because by that time he had betrayed Jesus and committed suicide.

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Daniel and history

By Mark Morgan | Daniel

Students of history must often assess credibility. For example, when two historical records contradict each other (e.g. Herodotus and Xenophon), which – if either! – should you believe? There are many reasons why this is not an easy question to answer, and even if one decides to accept a given historian’s record of a particular event, one may consider the other historian’s report of a different situation more credible. Most of the time, historians are describing events they have not personally witnessed, which leaves them at the mercy of their sources – although a healthy scepticism can help a historian avoid being too badly misled by unreliable sources. What about Daniel and history?

I am not a historian, I am a Bible student. However, I find history fascinating, particularly where it relates to the Bible. I also have a healthy dose of scepticism, so when many scholars (theologians and historians) dismiss Daniel as religious fiction and assign a composition date of the third or early second-century BC for the first six chapters, and 167-164BC for the later chapters, I ask why.

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Pairs of Opposites

By Mark Morgan | Miscellaneous

Pairs of Opposites

We like using pairs of opposites.

Up and down; yes and no; right and wrong; left and right; male and female; to and fro; first and last; plus and minus; night and day; these are all examples of pairs that roll smoothly off our tongues. We feel comfortable with them and they help us to locate ourselves in a world full of choices and contradictions. Many, like left and right or up and down, are physical opposites.  Others are more abstract concepts like right and wrong or good and bad. Some, like ups and downs, sweet and bitter, or black and white, describe physical opposites, but are also often used as representations of more abstract or spiritual concepts.

The Bible is full of word pictures and parables and uses many of these opposites to help us locate ourselves in the world of spirituality.

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David – a shepherd

By Mark Morgan | David , Miscellaneous

What is God like? Do you know how he thinks or what his character is like?

When we are looking for friends, we want them to have characteristics we appreciate or admire – often ones that will match or complement our own.

God does the same.

When God rejected Saul as king over Israel, he told him that he had found a man after his own heart to be the next king.^[1]1 Samuel 13:14 This man was David, the son of Jesse^[2]Acts 13:22 from Bethlehem, who became famous when he used a sling to kill Goliath the giant.

The expression, “a man after his own heart”, reveals a kinship of thought and fellowship of mind between God and David.

For me, it prompts the question: what was it about David that God liked?

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Paul’s background

By Mark Morgan | Paul

The narrative of the New Testament is dominated by two people: Jesus of Nazareth and Paul of Tarsus. The earthly life and preaching of Jesus fills the gospels, while the faith he fathered drives the rest of the New Testament, with Paul as the main advocate for that faith. How did Paul’s background prepare him for that crusade?

If we imagine life as a sport, one might say that Jesus defined the playing field, described the rules, placed the goalposts and took his God-given position as referee, while Paul explained different aspects of the rules and how the teams should be organised to play together on a day-to-day basis.

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Moses’ and Aaron’s family trees

By Mark Morgan | Family trees , Jeremiah , Miscellaneous

Many people – perhaps most – have heard of the Ten Commandments or the Law of Moses. Fewer would know much about Aaron, Moses’ brother. In this article, we present Moses’ and Aaron’s family trees. Being brothers, the main difference is the central character – as you’ll see below.

We learn about the life of Moses in the Old Testament of the Bible, since he was born about 1,500 years before Jesus.  However, the name of Moses was still known by everybody who lived in or around Israel in Jesus’ day, and the New Testament contains many references to the law which God gave through him.

So where did Moses come from and why was he so famous?

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Unexpected instructions from God

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah , Miscellaneous

Recently, my oldest daughter suggested that it might be good to write an article on some of the unconventional, unexpected or peculiar things that God told people in the Bible to do.

We discussed the idea and came up with quite a long list of cases where the instructions of God were completely unexpected by the people who received them and in many cases would have seemed bizarre.

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Harmony of Bible records of Jesus’ Prophecy on the Mount of Olives

By Mark Morgan | Harmonies , Jesus

Jesus’ prophecy on the Mount of Olives

There were only two days left before Jesus was to be betrayed and crucified when his disciples commented on the glorious construction of the temple in Jerusalem.

Jesus surprised them by telling them that the temple they were admiring would be completely destroyed.

Naturally, the disciples wanted to know when this disaster would take place, and asked if it was linked to his return and the end of the age.

Jesus’ answer gave details of events that would take place in years that stretched far beyond their lifetimes – in fact we are still waiting today for some of this prophecy to come to pass. These prophecies give details of Jesus’ return from heaven to earth, so they are vitally important to all followers of Jesus.

The Bible passages which record the prophecies are as follows:

• Matthew 24:1-51 [and probably the parables of Matthew 25:1-46]
• Mark 13:1-37
• Luke 21:5-36

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Harmony of Bible records of Paul’s conversion

By Mark Morgan | Harmonies , Paul

The conversion of Paul

Paul, the apostle of Jesus originally known as Saul, was converted from Judaism to Christianity by unexpectedly meeting Jesus. Luke describes the events in Acts 9 and also reports two occasions on which Paul himself described his conversion in Acts 22 and Acts 26. Paul also comments on the surrounding events in Galatians 1 & 2. The goal of this article is to put together these four records in chronological order. In this article, we present a harmony of Bible records of Paul’s conversion and the basis for the order chosen.

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Timeline of Isaac’s life

By Mark Morgan | Timelines

The life of Isaac

Sandwiched in between the more famous Abraham and Jacob is Isaac, the longest-lived of the patriarchs.

Isaac is probably best known for being tricked into blessing his younger son Jacob when he intended to bless Esau. The result of this deception was Isaac gave a blessing to Jacob that fulfilled what God had promised before the birth of the twins: the older (Esau) would serve the younger (Jacob).

There are some other details in Isaac’s life that may be well-known so let’s go through a few below.
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Timelines of Abraham’s and Jacob’s lives

By Mark Morgan | Timelines

Timelines can help us get a sense of the order and duration of events in people’s lives. Timelines of Abraham and Jacob are presented below.
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