I joined the Beacon Lights Staff sometime in 1993 while attending Calvin College in preparation for seminary. My memories of working with Beacon Lights include the monthly meetings with a staff who became life-long friends working through the routine, never-ending task of generating topics and encouraging writers. From time to time we also worked through […]
The word of God found in the middle of the books of Kings and Chronicles reveals that the church was increasingly feeling the pressure of persecution from within the nation of Israel and Judah itself. It was becoming very clear that “they are not all Israel that are of Israel” (Rom. 9:6). We have here […]
As much as the people of God would like to live forever under a godly king who brought earthly peace and prosperity to the nation, such life was still corrupted with sin and death. The life that the church had enjoyed under King David and now under Solomon was only a taste of something far […]
The 30th century of His-Story begins with the rather strange scene of a tall and robust young man hiding among the baggage of his family and the people who had come to crown him king. His name was Saul. God had sent Samuel some days earlier to anoint him king privately, and now it was […]
This one hundred-year period includes a great deal of material and marks a shift from life under the judges to life under kings. The familiar stories of Eli and Samuel span this period—Eli serving as a priest and judge at Shiloh at the beginning, and Samuel serving as judge and prophet at the end. Nine […]
The twenty-eighth century of His-story opens upon a band of 600 Philistines entering the heritage of Shamgar, a man of God in Israel. They had poured their energy and resources into developing superior iron tools and weapons and felt ready to press into the land of these despised people who put their trust in God. […]
As the twenty-seventh century of His-story opens, the tribes of Israel have settled into their appointed places in the land of Canaan. They have been delivered from the bondage of Egypt, organized as a nation, and given the promised land. If this were an ordinary earthly story, we might expect them now to live happily […]
Life in Egypt had been good. The children of Israel had homes. They had plenty of good food. Their large families were well supported with a prospering business in cattle. They were strong, healthy, and robust. As a people, their numbers were growing exponentially into the hundreds of thousands. But the astounding growth and prosperity […]
The twenty-fourth century of history begins with Jacob, the weary pilgrim, coming to live in Egypt. By now his family had grown considerably because his twelve sons had families of their own, and the total count of people had reached 70 souls. This move into Egypt marks a significant change of life for the church, […]
The twenty-third century of history begins with a rather lonely and depressing scene. Jacob is on a journey. He is alone, leaving his home and family. He is fleeing the wrath of his brother, Esau, and heading toward the land and the family of his uncle Laban, where his mother grew up. Outwardly, it would […]