Current hostilities should not surprise Bible believers, for the attitudes and actions of Israel’s hostile neighbours were foretold many years ago. If you compare a map showing Israel’s enemies in Psalm 83 with a modern map of the same area, you will see a remarkable correspondence with the nations seeking Israel’s hurt and destruction.
Psalm 83 begins
Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.
The world looked on during the funeral and associated ceremonial following the death of Queen Elizabeth II, queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island, whose influence was felt also throughout and beyond the Commonwealth of which she was head. Immediately upon her death, her eldest son became king, and has chosen to be called Charles III [not all previous kings have been known by their first given names after accession, the late queen’s father being one example]. The new king has become monarch at nearly three times the age that his mother did, with little prospect of a long reign.
Around 2,800 years ago there was a drought in Israel lasting 3½ years, brought about because of Israel’s disobedience of God’s laws. The leading example of the nation's wickedness was their King, Ahab, so, Elijah the Prophet strode into his palace, announced the coming drought, and strode out again.
…Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 1 Kings 16:33
And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. 1 Kings 17:1
In this little section of our webpage we examine, in detail, the things we hold true as a fellowship of believers in the God of Heaven. Our aim is to challenge you to sit for a few moments and consider your own ideas on some fundamental questions, and to provide a framework of Bible teaching to help you order your thoughts.
We already have a section in our main menu called What we believe, with short-form summaries of our beliefs, but in this section we're providing more supporting detail.
We live in an imperfect world in which suffering is a fact of life and we cannot eradicate it. We are vulnerable and susceptible to suffering and death, unscrupulous humans even intentionally inflict suffering upon others. Suffering has many causes: war, poverty, disease, bereavement and depression are only a few, but some types of suffering can be beneficial - pain can alert us to the need for medical assistance, for example, and suffering is an important element of human development - the process we usually call growing up.