The Lampstand Magazine

The experiences of the Israelites in exile, following the fall of first Israel and then Judah, are the subject of several books of the Old Testament. The final chapter of 2 Chronicles and the books of Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Daniel, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi all deal with this period. That ...

The fifth seal

“When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, ‘O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on th...

1We think we have problems with bushfires here in Australia, but Israel is not only fighting fires resulting from the dry summer; fires have erupted in the Golan Heights as the result of rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel by Hezbollah terrorists. Deserted local towns and villages close to I...

A violin cannot play a sweet note unless the strings are under pressure, but if you put too much pressure on the strings, they snap. So do you. When the violin is NOT being used, you must release the tension on the strings (Tanya Wheway).

We hear a lot today about the evils of pressure. Pressure...

Romans 2

v1-2. But what of the Jew, who stands in judgment as he looks on the rest of the world? One who thinks he is, by race, above the Gentiles, whose attitude may be expressed thus: “Yes, this is true of the Gentile world, but I am thankful that I am not like other men”. He has forgotten...

Five women are mentioned in the royal genealogy of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 1. Four of these women are specifically named, three are Gentiles (Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth), two likely were alive at the same time (Rahab and Ruth), and one has an Old Testament book bearing her name.

Ruth’s mention i...

Our introductory article explained the purpose of the book of Chronicles. This is identified by the Septuagint title for the book, “the acts left out”, alerting us to the fact that it is a selective history. By the omission of some details and the insertion of others not found in the book of Ki...

The account of Christ walking on the water has been known to us for as long as we can remember, from growing up in Sunday school or learning about this for the first time as a new Bible student. It remains a standout story of the biblical record, one of those stories that excites the mind in it...

The shortest psalm in the Bible is Psalm 117, which consists of two verses:

“O praise Yahweh, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.

For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of Yahweh endureth for ever. Praise ye Yahweh.”

It predicts a time when all the wor...

An armoured terrorist lurks in the city. Suddenly, thousands of pieces of sticky rope fly at him from all directions. They bind together, immobilising him in a net. The net dissolves the intruder’s armour, and simultaneously signals for miniature robotic snipers to land on the net and use it ...