In the stories of Elijah and Elisha we find repeatedly told how something new comes to replace the old. This starts with the prophets themselves, Elisha succeeds Elijah. These two prophets, who even in their names are very similar, are… Lees verder
Elijah is one of the well-known prophets from the Old Testament. His name means: (my) God is YAHWEH. Elijah is often mentioned in the same breath as his successor Elisha, whose name means: God is salvation. Their names are similar… Lees verder
In Exodus 15, Israel has left Egypt. They have passed through the Red Sea and the hostile Egyptians have been swallowed up by the water. They arrive at Marah and the people are thirsty, but the water of Marah is… Lees verder
The principle that people are given different names is found many times in Scripture. Abram becomes Abraham (Gen. 17:5), Jacob becomes Israel (Gen. 32:28), Saul becomes Paul (Acts 13:9), etc. All these name changes have meaning and often the meaning… Lees verder
In the previous blog we saw that being filled in spirit is the same as letting the word of Christ dwell richly in us, because His words are spirit and life (John 6:63). In Ephesians 5, Paul gives three characteristics… Lees verder
In the previous blog we saw that Paul states in Ephesians 5 that the days in which we live are evil and that we should therefore redeem the time. It takes wisdom not to go along with the foolishness and… Lees verder
In Ephesians 5, Paul speaks about how we as believers walk in the light (:8), in a world that is in darkness (:11). This age is an evil aeon and in that context Paul says that we should walk as… Lees verder
In the book of Esther it is striking that the divine name JAHWEH, which we encounter almost 4000 times in the Old Testament, does not appear. We also do not find terms such as God (Elohim) or other designations for… Lees verder
In the prophecies we find predictions regarding the future, along the lines of: “My servant David, who would be king over them (=Israel)”. For example in Ezekiel 34:23-24; 37:24-25. These verses are about the future Messianic Kingdom that Christ will… Lees verder
After Judas betrayed Jesus, he repented and returned the thirty pieces of silver he had received for his betrayal to the chief priests and elders of the people (Matt.27:1). Judas throws the pieces of silver into the temple and ends… Lees verder
This morning I spoke in Epe about election. Beforehand I had a conversation with one of the attendees about a passage in Romans 9 that deals with God’s election of Jacob. I also briefly mentioned this in the study and… Lees verder
In the books of Moses we find many laws and institutions that had a practical application under the old covenant, but that also, and above all, point forward to something better. The law is the introduction of a better hope… Lees verder
Anyone who is familiar with Paul’s letters knows that Paul is the apostle who reveals mysteries. Of this he says that the things he reveals were not previously made known (Eph.3:5). Yet early in Scripture we find a statement about… Lees verder
Time and again I am amazed that intelligent people, who can read very well, suddenly can no longer read when they open a Bible. In fact, they suddenly read the opposite of what is written. They read in 1 Timothy… Lees verder
One of the great prophets from the Old Testament is Samuel. We find the beginning of his stories in the beginning of the book of 1 Samuel. Samuel is Eli’s successor. The moment Samuel appears, we see Eli disappear. Eli… Lees verder
In chapter 4 of the letter to Philippians we find a beautiful passage. Few passages are as “practical” for a believer as this one. In the Statenvertaling there is an inscription above the chapter: admonitions. But this word completely misses… Lees verder
In the well-known passage from Acts 17 where Paul speaks on the Areopagus about the unknown God, according to most Bible translations, Paul calls on the Greeks with whom he is talking to, to repent. Repentance is a well-known word… Lees verder
El Shaddai is translated as: God Almighty. God is Almighty, which means that He is above all powers, because He is the one and only God. But that does not mean, as is sometimes said, that He can do everything.… Lees verder
How did Jesus die? This question seems like an obvious question, after all, Jesus was crucified and will have died of His wounds. Or more precisely, when that moment came, it said: He let go of the spirit (Matt. 27:50),… Lees verder
In Genesis 4 we find the well-known story of Cain and Abel, in which Cain kills his brother Abel. In the verses that follow, we encounter the first mention of the word cathar (H5641), which is translated hidden. This word… Lees verder
In the previous blog we saw that Genesis is composed of different parts by several writers, who are distinguished from each other by the concept of toledoth. Moses is the editor of Genesis. He brought the various writings together, made… Lees verder
In Genesis we encounter a concept that, when carefully studied, turns out to be a key concept. It is the Hebrew toledoth (H8435). The expression occurs 13 times and runs like a common thread through the first book of the… Lees verder
A few weeks ago I wrote a series of blogs about the first verses of Genesis. I want to pick that up again now, because there is much more to say about the creation story. For example, about the six… Lees verder
Yesterday I spoke in a study about Solomon’s judgment, in which Solomon judges between two whores and through his wisdom brings the truth to light. Solomon uses a sword for this, without actually using the sword. 1 Kings 324 Then… Lees verder
The fear of the Lord, literally: the fear of YAHWEH, is a concept that we encounter quite often in the Hebrew Bible and most believers will also be familiar with the term. The best-known text is probably: the fear of… Lees verder