She had prayed for a son. Oh how she had prayed! She poured out her heart to the Lord. Her lips moved, but no sound came out. So absorbed was she in prayer.

The Lord answered and gave Hannah a son. She named him “Samuel” which means “heard by God.” As she had vowed, when her child was around the age of five, she brought him to the Tabernacle at Shiloh. There he would serve the Lord for the rest of his life. Hannah and her husbandbwould see him once a year at the annual sacrifice. Eli, the priest, now served as a sort of religious foster father. 

The jailer had heard of Paul. Pretty much everyone in Philippi had by now. They had heard how Paul and his friend, Silas, had come into town several days earlier. Not finding a synagogue to meet in, they met with some women who were gathered at the river flowing through Philippi. A prominent woman named Lydia was converted to Paul’s strange message about a foreign god – a god named “Jesus.”

Sennacherib, the king of Assyria was coming. He would lay siege on Jerusalem and attack the other cities in Judah. He made Judah’s king, Hezekiah, pay a large tribute to him. He then humiliated Hezekiah by striking him on the cheek with a rod. 

Simeon’s aged eyes didn’t look forward to death. No. They looked forward to life.

The man dressed in high priestly garb stands over the opened box. Lights are lit and cameras are rolling to record the momentous event. At first the box is only filled with sand. Suddenly, lights begin flashing and bulbs start exploding. Fog begins to pour out of the box and jets of light shoot upwards. The rays of light turn into ghostly beings that pass through the soldiers who are watching. Then beams of fiery light shoot out from the box and through the Nazi soldiers, killing them. The Nazi officer and Nazi spy melt and Belloq, the archeologist dressed as a high priest, blows up. Then fire comes from the box, the Ark of the Covenant, and consumes the bodies – except for Marion and Indiana Jones.

At the time of the Annunciation, there were probably a few dozen children in Nazareth that were named “Jesus.” That’s because “Jesus” is the New Testament version of the Old Testament “Joshua” or “Isaiah.” 

God had called. The messenger left his post and stepped into the throne room. God was sending His appointed messenger, Gabriel, on the most important mission of his life.

Have you ever been burned? It is fairly common for us to get a minor burn from hot water or a curling iron or touching a hot stove. There are many different types of burns resulting from exposure to heat, chemicals, electricity, friction, radiation, and even cold. Burns can range from a minor first-degree sunburn that burns the first layer of skin all the way to a fourth-degree burn that injures muscle and bone. These types of burns can be so severe that you actually feel no pain at all.

“Don’t stir the pot!” “Live and let live.” “You go your way, and I’ll go mine.” You’ve heard those things. Maybe even said them a time or two. We want to be left alone. “Don’t bother me, I’m fine!” And especially when it comes to religion … people even get a bit more stern: “Don’t impose your religion on me!” Which for many these days means: “Don’t even bring it up for discussion; don’t say something is wrong; don’t talk about sin; don’t do anything that might get people upset. Don’t go there. Stay superficial. Stay where it is safe, so we can all just feel good about ourselves.”

Perhaps you have seen the movie “Noah” starring Russell Crowe. If you haven’t, but are planning on doing so … I’m sorry, but here are some spoilers. There is a big flood where Noah and his family are the only ones who survive on a big boat. That’s about the only similarities there are between the movie (and make-believe) version and the biblical (and true) version. 

You will also notice the differences between the movie and Bible in that there is no abuse of the environment, no theistic evolution, and no stowaways on the ark. There are also no rock monsters anywhere in Genesis 6.