Light Magazine

Volume 31 No.1

In this issue:

• Edom – A big industrial surprise!

EDOM was one of Israel’s enemies in ancient Biblical history. The Bible records several battles fought with their quarrelsome neighbour to the south of The Dead Sea over a long period of time. Now to regular readers of this magazine, it may not come as a surprise that archaeological finds provide evidence of the existence of the ancient kingdom of Edom, exactly as recorded in Scripture. However, it did recently come as a big surprise to sceptical scientists!

• Basic Bible teaching – The Devil and Satan

In order to understand what the Bible is telling us by the words ‘devil’ and ‘satan’, first we need to focus on the events in the garden of Eden – recorded in Genesis – then look at how the words are used throughout the rest of the Bible.

• Why does God allow suffering?

Human suffering is one of the greatest barriers to a belief in the existence of a loving God. The question is often asked: ‘Why does God allow war and suffering?’ It is one of the arguments used by those who deny the existence of God. The Bible gives us the answer to that question.

• We know they lived! – 50 people from the Bible

There are nearly 3,000 different people mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. Many of them were quite ordinary folk, who we would not expect to leave their mark on the pages of history. But others were emperors, kings and great leaders. More than two thousand years after their story was written, how do we know if they were real people, or just fictitious, legendary figures from Jewish folklore?

• Comment – “now take a deep breath…”

The Genesis account of creation could hardly be more different to the currently accepted narrative of evolution, which says that humanity is the result of several billion years of unguided accidental change. But can the story of evolution account for the very complicated mechanism of breathing which we now know so much about?

• Signs of the times

The inability of governments and world leaders to reach agreement over contentious issues is very much a common thread that runs through so much of what’s going on in our world right now. Fortunately we don’t have to be anxious about the terrible things that are happening in our world. The Bible reassures us that God is in control and that Jesus will soon return to take over the government of all the world.

• From our mailbag: Prophecies in the book of Daniel

A question has been asked about the historical authenticity of the book of Daniel, contending that prophecies contained in the book must have been written after the event or were interpreted retrospectively. To answer that question you need to look at the facts!

• The Bread of Life

One of the powerful ways in which the Bible communicates its message and teaching is by using metaphors and symbolism. The ‘centre-pin’ of the Bible’s message and teaching is the salvation of mankind through the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are not surprised to find that Jesus himself used symbolism to help us understand who he was and why he was sent.

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