For most of the book of Job, Job wanted answers. He wanted to understand why everything he had built and loved had been taken from him, and he wanted God Himself to explain it. By the time God answered him, Job had lost his children, his wealth and his health. He had spent chapter after … Read more
Moses asked God a lot of questions. God had a few for Moses, too. They began almost as soon as God called Moses from the burning bush. Moses wanted to know why he was the man for the job. He worried that the Israelites wouldn’t believe him, so God asked, “What is that in your … Read more
Amos did not start out as a prophet. He was a shepherd and a grower of sycamore figs when God took him from tending the flock and sent him to prophesy to Israel. God gave Amos a series of visions warning that judgment was coming. In one of them, Amos saw the Lord standing beside … Read more
Ezekiel was carried by the Spirit of the LORD into a valley filled with bones. There were a lot of them, scattered across the valley, and they were completely dry. God led Ezekiel around among them and then asked, “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel answered, “Lord GOD, You Yourself know.” Ezekiel was … Read more
Jacob was on his way home after years away, and he was terrified. His brother Esau was coming to meet him with four hundred men. The last time Jacob had seen Esau, Esau wanted to kill him. The night before they met, Jacob sent his family and possessions across the Jabbok River and stayed behind … Read more
Isaiah sees the Lord sitting on a throne with seraphim above Him calling, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of armies.” The foundations shake, the temple fills with smoke, and Isaiah is terrified. He says he is a man of unclean lips who has seen the King. One of the seraphim takes a burning coal … Read more
Elijah had just come off one of the biggest victories of his life and one of the most famous victories in the Bible. On Mount Carmel, he challenged the prophets of Baal, and God answered Elijah’s prayer with fire from heaven. Then Jezebel threatened to kill him, and Elijah ran. In the wilderness, he sat … Read more
Samuel had been the one who anointed Saul as Israel’s first king. He had watched Saul begin his reign with promise, and he had also watched him repeatedly disobey God. Eventually, God told Samuel that He had rejected Saul from being king. Samuel was devastated. 1 Samuel 15 says Samuel was distressed over Saul and … Read more
Joshua had just watched Israel pull off an impossible victory at Jericho. The walls fell, the Israelites took the city, and everything appeared to be going exactly as God had promised. Their next target was Ai, a much smaller city. The spies Joshua sent ahead told him there was no reason to send the whole … Read more
Before Samson was born, the Angel of the LORD appeared to his mother and told her that although she had been unable to have children, she was going to have a son. He would be a Nazirite from the womb and would begin to save Israel from the Philistines. She told her husband, Manoah, about … Read more