As discontent rises in the coming months, let us be careful not to be like these rabble rousers, only complaining and wanting what we do not have.

When she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile. Exodus 2:3

Self-denial is essential in the Christian life (Matthew 16:24), but unless it is coupled with following Jesus in the path of love, mercy and service, it will be of no benefit to our character.

Jealousy and suspicion in marriages needs to be acknowledged, brought into the open and brought to resolution.

In the Bible, the concept of measurements and weight are intricately connected to the idea of judgement.

Beech trees need cool, nutrient-rich soil, as well as plenty of rain and atmospheric humidity. These conditions are not common in Palestine, so there are not likely to have been any beech groves there.

How easy it is to attach God’s name to our particular cause, to our political party, to our church denomination, and boldly proclaim to the world, ‘God is on our side’.

Why God’s four questions in Genesis 3 should still be asked today.

Certain food agencies are considering the possibility that in the future insects could become the main source of protein for humanity. The Bible envisaged this scenario thousands of years ago.

In the Louvre Museum, Paris, there are several objects that will provide an interesting approach to biblical archaeology.

The Israelites in Moses’ time kept God at a distance and, if we are honest with ourselves, we often struggle with this today. Yet the promise remains: Come near to God and he will come near to you.

“The problem of the term is that it seems to suggest a unified translation of the Old Testament”, says researcher Peter J. Williams of Tyndale House (Cambridge).

For some Christians ‘structure’ is a dirty word, being seen in opposition to the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit. Yet there is structure all through the Bible.

Self-sufficiency weakens us, deprives us from support which we might have benefitted from, and widens the gap between our public persona and our private struggles.

“Ash, arrowheads dating from the period, as well as Iron Age potsherds, lamps and a significant piece of period jewelry” have been unearthed. The findings appear to confirm the Biblical account of 2 Kings.

The root of the opposition which we face is spiritual, so the weapons with which we counter it are spiritual too: Prayer, Faith, Acknowledgment of our reliance upon God – coupled with effort, strategising and resolution.

The Bible warns us that an obsession with the ‘good’ of productivity actually prevents us from doing real good.

Spelt (Triticum spelta) is much older than wheat (Triticum aestivum) and was therefore the variety that was best known and most widely used in Bible times.

The experience of God granting their desires did not draw the people of God any nearer to him.

A genetic study of the remains of an old cemetery confirms their Mediterranean origin, as the Old Testament says.

The Bible only mentions ebony once, in the book of Ezekiel.

What did it mean to be a priest during the time of Moses? What ideas did the holiness of priests convey?

The 2,600-year-old seal bears the inscription “(belonging) to Nathan-Melech”, a name that appears in II Kings 23:11.

It is not the Triumph which is the problem, but how we treat it.

“Like a tree planted beside flowing streams...”