Building the Community

Reading the Old Testament often means reading prophecies about destruction. The Lord frequently called prophets to warn the wicked that...

God chose Abraham’s seed to be His covenant people so that they would “be a blessing” to all people (see Genesis 12:2–3). But instead, by...

Most likely no one will ever threaten to throw you into a fiery furnace or a den of lions because of your faith in Jesus Christ. But none...

Ezekiel was a prophet in exile. Along with other Israelites, he had been captured and sent to Babylon several years before Jerusalem was...

When the Lord first called Jeremiah to be a prophet, He told him that his mission would be “to root out, and to pull down” (Jeremiah...

At first, Jeremiah didn’t think he would make a good prophet. “Behold, I cannot speak,” he protested when the Lord first called him...

Early in His earthly ministry, Jesus Christ visited a synagogue in Nazareth, the village where He was raised. There He stood to read from...

Throughout his ministry, Isaiah spoke of a mighty deliverer (see, for example, Isaiah 9:3–7). These prophecies would have been especially...

“Comfort” is the first word of Isaiah chapter 40. It marks the beginning of a different tone, a different emphasis in the prophet’s...

One of the things the Lord asks prophets to do is to warn about the consequences of sin. In the case of Old Testament prophets, this...

Even if this is your first time reading the book of Isaiah, you might find passages that sound familiar. That’s because, of all Old...

In the first chapter of the book of Proverbs, we find these words: “My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law...

The traditional Jewish name for the book of Psalms is a Hebrew word that means “praises.” That word, Tehillim, is also related to the...

The writers of the Psalms shared deeply personal feelings in their poetry. They wrote about feeling discouraged, afraid, and remorseful....

We don’t know for certain who wrote the Psalms. Some have been attributed to King David, but for most of them, the writers remain...

It’s natural to wonder why bad things happen to good people—or for that matter, why good things happen to bad people. Why would God, who...

Many events in the book of Esther might seem like luck or coincidence. How else do you explain how an orphaned Jewish girl became the...

The Jewish people had been held captive in Babylonia for about 70 years. They had lost Jerusalem and the temple, and many had forgotten...

Despite the prophet Elisha’s impressive ministry, the spirituality of the Northern Kingdom of Israel kept declining. Wicked kings...

A prophet’s main mission is to teach and testify of the Savior Jesus Christ. Our record of the prophet Elisha, however, doesn’t include...