An ancient Christmas: The branch

An ancient Christmas: The branch

In the previous article in this series, we considered Isaiah’s prophecy of the virgin. The background to that prophecy will prove helpful here, too, for Isaiah delivered this prophecy likely during the reign of the same king: Ahaz. As we noted previously, Isaiah...
An ancient Christmas: The child

An ancient Christmas: The child

Throughout the Bible, God’s promises frequently appear against the backdrop of deep darkness. It is usually in the midst of our gloom that the rays of divine hope shine brightest. That is what we have seen so far in our series on an ancient Christmas. It was when Adam...
An ancient Christmas: The virgin

An ancient Christmas: The virgin

The prophet Isaiah ministered to Judah around six hundred years before Christ. His ministry spanned the reigns of at least four Judean kings: Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. Three of those kings were godly, but Ahaz was a particularly despicable character. Second...
The greatest

The greatest

Every year, BibleGateway.com, which bills itself “the world’s most visited Christian website,” publishes a list of the most read Bible verses on its website. Every year, the list includes a number of well-known and beloved verses, such as Proverbs 3:5–6; Psalm 23:4; 1...
An ancient Christmas: The offspring

An ancient Christmas: The offspring

As we saw previously, there is a vocal minority within the wider Christian community that vociferously objects to the celebration of Christmas. They object on three major bases: the birth of Christ is nowhere celebrated in the Bible or in early Christian literature;...