Jacob was the father of 12 sons who became the twelve tribes of Israel which form the Jewish nation as it exists today. He died at an old age with all his sons around him. The Lord revealed Himself to Jacob, forgave him, and blessed him through his whole life.
The suggestion in these verses is that people make too many plans without consulting the Lord. No matter what our wishes for the future are, we must remember that sooner or later our lives end! While we have our lives on earth, we must all learn to trust God more.
How often do we sing songs, in church, or at home, throughout the day, without really thinking about the words? In this verse the psalmist is speaking to his own soul to lift the focus. At the same time he is encouraging all of us to sing from our hearts.
This chapter does not make for good bedtime reading, and we need to read on in the following few chapters to get the end of the story. Jesus riding out on His white horse sounds like the end of a good fairytale with the prince arriving on his white horse.
Babylon, the mother of prostitutes. This woman is really a mystery spiritual personality and very few earthly leaders seem to have escaped her clutches. She is not a real person, but a demonic being sent from hell, she can have a powerful effect on people on earth, not just leaders.
My experience as a speaker in many different churches is that one of the greatest dividers in Christian communities is the use of the gift of tongues. There are believers who say that those who do not speak in tongues and operate in the spiritual gifts are not real Christians.
From conception Jesus was a mystery! When Mary had her first angelic visitation, her question to Gabriel was How will this be? It was a mystery to her. Paul was constantly trying to make his readers and listeners understand all that Mary had understood, that Jesus was no ordinary child.
The first part of what Nebuchadnezzar had seen in his dream was encouraging. It showed the king that God saw him and had blessed him, but after the encouragement came the bad news and Nebuchadnezzar behaved like an animal for a long time! It all sounds strange, but it happened!
Much of what the followers of Jesus believed was true. He was the real king, and would take His throne. But not by force or argument, but by submission to the plan of His Father God. How Jesus succeeded in this is one of the greatest mysteries in the world.
This verse makes us think that the seventh angel does not get the chance to blow his trumpet because just before he does, all is accomplished. The world as we know comes to an end. There have always been people who speculated that the end of the world was near!
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