# Bible Profiles (Page 3)

(Acts 6; 8; 21:8-11) The Lord’s church has an abiding relationship with the Seven Servant-leaders of Acts Six. Elders and Deacons in our churches are selected by the members in like manner as they were. The evangelists Philip and Stephen were chosen with the other five brothers.Tragically, Stephen’s life was cut short in martyrdom in Acts seven. Philip, after ‘serving the tables’ of the neglected Grecian widows (Acts 6), went down to Samaria to preach (Acts 8). It was Christian…

(Acts 9:10-19; 22:12-16) Ananias of Damascus is inextricably connected to the conversion of Saul of Tarsus.When God told Ananias in a vision that Saul was in town, he was unsurprisingly concerned. A visit to that man was considered dangerous for one’s health. His reputation for harming Christians naturally preceded him.But visit him he must. Saul had been blind and praying for the last three days. God told him in a vision to expect Ananias, “a devote observer of the Law…

(Acts 6-7; Acts 22:20) There are some people of whom “the world was not worthy” (Heb.11:37).Stephen was one of these!The apostle Paul would look back on the day that he gave hearty approval to the mob-murder of the first Christian martyr (Acts 22:20). The man that Paul and the others hated from the depth of their being was to be the kind of man that Paul would one day strive to be.The neglect of the Grecian widows was a potential…

(Luke 24:13-35) Hope will inspire you to persevere under the most difficult of circumstances. A sense of meaning will focus your mind and heart on the outcome, despite the present trials.By contrast, disappointment and despair will debilitate you. When disillusionment sets in, the heart goes into crisis mode.Cleopas and his friend were discussing Jesus when Jesus joined up with them on the road to Emmaus. Why Jesus didn’t reveal himself to them we’ll never know. But what is obvious is…

(Gen.3:20; 4:1; 1Tim.2:13; 2 Cor. 11:3) Eve, the mother of us all, is the only person created who permeates our every thought and plagues the regrets of our hearts. And all this without her name ever needing to be spoken. Her beginnings were perfection, her end desolation. Her duty a simple command, her rebellion a world of confusion. In the Hebrews Eleven Hall of Faith we do not find her. Rather, Paul holds her forth to illustrate the grave concern…

(John 1:43-51; 21:2; Matthew 10:3; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:14). Philip had found the Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. News he was not going to keep from his friend, Nathanael.Nathanael would have been familiar with the small and insignificant town of Nazareth. So, asking: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Jn.1:46), was probably said more out of surprise than anything else. As Nathanael approached Jesus, the first thing that Jesus did was to expose the pure thoughts and intentions of his…

(Genesis 19; Luke 17:32) Lot’s family lost a lot in a very short time. Their house and livelihood were burned up, Lot’s wife was turned to a pillar of salt (leaving him a widower and his daughters without their mother), and Lot’s daughters also lost the men to whom they were betrothed. The prospective sons-in-law dismissed the panic as a joke, and thus stayed behind and faced the consequences of their disbelief. ‘Evacuate or perish’ had been the order of…

(1 Samuel 15) Agag was attacked by King Saul. Saul’s army slaughtered everyone and everything except Agag and the best of the livestock.Agag was an Amalekite. Though relatives to Israel, through the line of Esau, they did evil to Israel during the exodus from Egypt (Numbers 24:20). Here God ordered Saul to wipe them from the face of the earth. But Saul did not complete the task assigned, and even beyond this date, they continued to plague Israel.Samuel confronted Saul…

(Genesis 39) Joseph was in a unique group of men in scripture. Joseph, King David (1 Samuel 16:12), and Absalom (2 Samuel 14:25), were the only men specifically described as good looking.It was because Joseph was “well-built and handsome” (Genesis 39:6), that the wife of Joseph’s owner, Potiphar, took an unhealthy interest in him. She quickly and directly made her desires known. Leaving nothing to the imagination she said, “Come to bed with me!” (Genesis 39:7).His flatly refused and stated…

(Luke 10:38-42) Jesus visited Mary and Martha. The thought of Martha working while Mary sat, conjures up images of unequal work distribution. We imagine Martha clad with apron, peeling potatoes and putting a roast in the oven. All the while imagining Mary sitting serenely in comfort, taking in every word that Jesus spoke.I would say that the second image is accurate. But the first? far from it. Mary, Martha and Lazarus were rich. Remember Judas’ bulging eyes when Mary poured…