The working age of Levites

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

What is the right age to start our life’s most important work? Some people begin to excel in their chosen profession at a very early age (for example, Mozart began composing at four or five years of age), while others shine much later (Oscar Swahn won his first Olympic gold medal at the age of 60).  The Levites helped with the worship of God – who has killed people for flouting his rules of worship.  For everyone’s good, the job had to be learned thoroughly. So what was the working age of Levites?

We still have rules today about the age at which one can start or stop work, and the same was true for priests and Levites in Israel.

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A Bumper Harvest

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

Jeremiah had prophesied that Nebuchadnezzar would destroy Jerusalem.  The destruction happened, just as God had said, but straight after that, Judah had a bumper harvest.  This is a very unusual situation.  When a nation is attacked and pillaged, a famine normally follows, further increasing the survivors’ sufferings.

Let’s explore what happened at that time, and perhaps we can find out why.

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Timeline of the prophet Daniel’s life

By Mark Morgan | Daniel , Timelines

Daniel was an extremely godly man, presented by Ezekiel the prophet as an example of righteousness along with Noah and Job (Ezekiel 14:14, 20).  Angels also say that he is “greatly loved” (Daniel 9:23; 10:11, 19).  In short, Daniel is a wonderful character and reading his life’s story in the Bible is very valuable.

Timeline

This timeline of the prophet Daniel’s life is a rough overview because most of the events cannot be located exactly in his life.  Some can be located in history, but we are not told Daniel’s age at any time.
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The Stewardship of Money

By Mark Morgan | Miscellaneous

Based on a booklet “The Stewardship of Money” written in England during the 1940s by F. Mitchell and revised by Mark Morgan, November 2021.

Chapter 1 – Why Should We Give?

a.    Because we ourselves, and all we have, are God’s

The Christian life begins when we receive Jesus Christ as our personal saviour. It was by his coming into our lives that we became Christians at all. No doubt when we first came to him, it was with a sense of frustration or a burden of sin and helplessness, and our conscious need was to receive forgiveness, peace and power. These, we discovered, were available only in Christ, and, receiving him, we enjoyed the gifts he always brings.

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How should Christians use money?

By Mark Morgan | Miscellaneous

Money is mentioned more than 200 times in the Bible, starting with God’s requirement that even slaves bought with Abraham’s money had to be circumcised as part of God’s covenant with him (Genesis 17:12-13).

Money in the Old Testament

In the Old Testament we are often told of God blessing those whom he loved by giving them riches: Abraham (Genesis 13:2; 24:35); Isaac (Genesis 26:12-13); Job (Job 42:10); David (1 Chronicles 29:28); Solomon (1 Kings 3:13; 10:23); Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:5; 18:1); Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 32:27). In fact, there is frequently a connection between righteousness and the blessing of riches, particularly in Psalms and Proverbs (Proverbs 10:4, 22; 22:4).

Yet in all of them, there is the repeated warning not to set our heart on riches. There is a warning that if riches are too important to us, we will fail (Psalm 62:10; Proverbs 11:4, 28; 27:24).
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Egypt in the Bible

By Admin | Jeremiah , Joseph

The Bible names many different countries: Israel, Babylon, India, Ethiopia, Persia, Syria, Moab, Egypt, Italy, and many more.  The most common one is Israel – not surprisingly, since God says that for him it is the centre of the world, the land he promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (whom he renamed “Israel”).^[1]Sometimes it is hard to separate God’s love for the land from his love for the people he chose to give it to: see Ezekiel 5:5; 20:6; 38:12; Isaiah 41:8-9; Zechariah 2:8 and Jeremiah 12:14.  When … Continue reading Continue reading

Jeremiah in Egypt: Tahpanhes

By Admin | Jeremiah

After Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem, he appointed Gedaliah governor of Judah and left some soldiers to provide support for the new administration.  However, evil men assassinated Gedaliah and killed the soldiers.  Afraid, the people who lived in Judah decided to escape to Egypt to avoid any retribution from Nebuchadnezzar.  First they went to Tahpanhes (Jeremiah chapters 43-44), which was the closest major city of Egypt to Judah.

According to Wikipedia, it was later known as Daphnae and is now called Tell Defenneh.  At that time, it was located beside a lake on a branch of the Nile delta.  The site is now situated on the Suez Canal.  The meaning of the name “Tahpanhes” is uncertain. Continue reading

Jehoshaphat’s family tree

By Mark Morgan | Family trees , Jehoshaphat

King David, Solomon, Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa and then Jehoshaphat: this is Jehoshaphat’s family tree.

King Jehoshaphat was a descendant of King David, from the tribe of Judah, and began to reign over Judah about 100 years after the death of King David. He was a righteous and faithful king who would be high on the list of the best kings of Judah – although he had a problem with being too tolerant of evil people.

A family tree centred on King Jehoshaphat is included below. The family tree extends up to King David in simplified form, however the generations around Jehoshaphat include much more detail.
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Timeline of Jehoshaphat’s life

By Admin | Jehoshaphat , Timelines

For those who don’t know, Jehoshaphat was the fourth king of Judah after the kingdom of Israel split in two – Israel and Judah – following the death of King Solomon.  Jehoshaphat was a righteous and faithful king who would be high on the list of the best kings of Judah – although he had a problem with being too tolerant of evil people. Here, we provide a timeline of Jehoshaphat’s life. Continue reading

The birth of Jacob’s sons

By Admin | Joseph , Timelines

Some people have no children at all, while others have many children. However many we have, though, we are used to the fact that it normally takes about 9 months of pregnancy for each child. So what happened with the birth of Jacob’s sons?

At first glance, we could think that this 9 month limit wasn’t true in the family of Jacob, the son of Isaac! However, his was no ordinary family, thanks to the trickery of Laban, his father-in-law.  This post looks at Jacob’s speedy transformation from having neither wife nor child to having 4 wives and 11 sons. Continue reading

Washing in Bible times

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah , Jesus

In the last two years we have all become familiar with calls to wash our hands frequently.  With COVID-19 leaving its mark all over the world, we are all encouraged to be vaccinated, but also to use soap, hand sanitiser and disinfectants.  How does our response to COVID-19 compare with cleansing and washing in Bible times?

Many people have observed that the Law of Moses concentrates heavily on cleanliness and frequently mentions washing – yet it is not the only part of the Bible where this is true.
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Destroying Solomon’s Temple

By Admin | Jeremiah

Destroying Solomon’s Temple

Why is destroying things so much more fun than building them?

We can dimly appreciate how much time and effort it takes to build a tall brick chimney, yet when such an amazing edifice has outlived its usefulness, large crowds gather to watch the demolition.  No-one watched the long months of building as the chimney grew one round of bricks at a time, yet many will revel in the spectacular destruction as a carefully placed explosive charge brings those bricks crashing down.

Breaking down is always easier than building up – but that doesn’t mean it is always easy. Continue reading