# Bible Profiles (Page 4)
Uriah the Hittite—Better that he never knew!
(2 Samuel 11-12) Uriah the Hittite died oblivious to the mess that King David had made of his life. He would surely be horrified that his name is remembered only for the sins done against him by the greatest of the kings of Israel. Uriah was a Hittite. A foreigner who distinguished himself in Israel’s army. He rose in fame to be counted as one of ‘The Thirty.’ The elite of the king’s troops.It was while he was gallantly and…
The Widow—The Might of the Mite!
(Mark 12:41–44; Luke 21:1–4) Giving in the temple courts was a public affair. The prideful rich fronted up with large quantities of coins and let the sound of the metal on metal ring out their righteousness. The poor just slinked by.Jesus drew the attention of his disciples to a woman who would have spent so little time at the contribution receptacle that the event could just as easily have been missed. Her two small copper coins were Leptas. Their combined…
Zacchaeus—The New Normal
(Luke 19:1-10) Jesus did not shy away from controversy. He refused to allow anyone to dictate his standards or set the parameters of his kingdom. To the ‘good’ folk of Jesus’ day, tax collectors were lumped in with sex workers and other ‘sinners.’ It was their conclusion that expecting a tax collector to be righteous was like expecting the town drunk to be sober. After all, tax collectors collected money for the Roman government. They were helping the occupiers to…
Father of the demon possessed boy—”Help!”
(Mt.17:14-23; Mk.9:14-32; Lk.9:37-45) The arrival of a child into the world brings joy, love and hope into a family. The arrival of a demon brought sickness, misery, confusion, and strained faith to this particular family. The reality of a suffering child is painful all the time. A sense of helplessness must have coursed through this father’s veins day and night.The arrival of the disciples brought a sense of possibility. They had been given power to heal in the past, maybe…
Eutychus—Awake, O sleeper.
If Ananias and Sapphire were the first church members to die during the contribution, then Eutychus was the first to die during the sermon.Troas is well known to Christians as the place that Paul and Luke worshipped with the saints specifically on a Sunday. Luke records in his travel log: “On the first day of the week we came together to break bread” (Acts 20:1). It is at this point that some of my brethren leave the text as if…
Michal—The Queen that never was!
Showing overt interest in a man just wasn’t done in the time of King Saul. Especially if you were a princess. Michal was the second daughter of King Saul (1Sam.14:49) and she made no secret of her interest in the giant-slayer (1Sam.18:20).Daivid’s rise to prominence as a mighty warrior evoked jealously in King Saul (1Sam.18). This envy was probably the reason that Saul reneged on his promise to give his first daughter, Merab, in marriage to David (1Sam.18:19). When Saul…
Ahithophel and Hushai—”Spy vs Spy!”
(2 Samuel 15-17) No one was as smart as Ahithophel in his day. He was the renowned counsellor of King David. Both David and Absalom considered his advice like that of a prophet of God (2Sam.16:23). But he obviously had ambitions of his own.When Absalom conspired against King David, Ahithophel did the numbers. He calculated that he, as counsellor to the new king, could defeat David. And, left to himself, Ahithophel would have indeed ruled over the Kingdom. Absalom would…
Nadab and Abihu—”This will do!”
(Leviticus 10) There was a time when a sermon on obedience wasn’t complete without reference to Nadab and Abihu. Their sudden incineration at the hands of God was considered fair warning to all who might choose a similar path.The simple act of offering ‘strange fire before the Lord, contrary to His command’ cost them their lives (Lev.10:1-2). Nadab and Abihu, two of the four sons of the Aaron, the High Priest, served God at the highest levels of spiritual responsibility…
Demas—He left the Lord
(2Tim.4:10; Col.4:14; Philemon 24) I made a friend of an old elder in a distant congregation many years ago. I really enjoyed his faith and wisdom. Because of distance, I could only visit face to face with him every few years. On one visit I asked him why he was no longer an elder. Unable to contain his sadness, and with tears in his eyes, he said, “Because my son has forsaken the Lord and broken up his family.”The apostle…
Dorcas—Back from Paradise
(Acts 9:36-42) “If” I am ever in need of prayer because I am nigh unto death, it goes without saying that I would appreciate your prayers. And, if I may be so bold as to make a suggestion in advance (lest it ever happen): “Please, get down on your knees and pray for a complete and total recovery—a recovery, right then and there! No small prayers-thank you!”If the apostle Peter had gone into that upper room with the faith and…