My brother and I shot up in bed when a huge BOOM! exploded outside. We were sleeping at our grandparent’s house when lightning struck. No one was hurt (except for a majestic tree splintered by the strike). Even after the adults calmed us down I lay awake, wondering when the next explosion might fall from the sky.

The guards surrounding the tomb of Jesus glimpsed the power behind the power of lightning. There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.

The angel’s body appeared as compressed lightning, blinding eyes and scorching flesh. These hardened professional soldiers fainted dead away, overcome by fear.

If one angel can do such damage, what might a thousand accomplish? How might the splendor of God himself, the Creator of this angel, manifest to you and me? Apparently his brilliance would fry us (as God told Moses, no one can see my face and live).

I hold no real idea of the power and glory of God. Pictures are painted in Scripture, but experiences are rare. These pagan guards caught a glimpse, as did the women who arrived at the tomb and conversed with the angel (he toned down for them). I can only watch a lightning storm and try to imagine a man made of such stuff standing before me.

I constantly misconstrue or ignore the magnificence of God. But someday I’ll see him in full regalia and better appreciate the power behind the power.

Matthew 28 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Max LaRochelle

I’ve only been on a boat in the ocean a handful of times. Gazing out from the deck with no shore in sight is unnerving to this landlubber. In the midst of the deep one gains perspective as to how much water envelopes our planet.

Isaiah prophesied about a coming man of righteousness, a king who judges rightly. True peace follows the king—the lion will lay down with the lamb. No one will misunderstand this new order, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.

Many of Isaiah’s words found their fulfillment in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. But we look forward to others. Not all the peoples of this earth are filled with the knowledge of the Lord, and it’s hard for me to imagine this coming to fruition. But Biblical prophecies tend to be spot on, so we should count on this reality in the future.

If you need a bit of vision to imagine it coming true, then take a cruise far from land and contemplate those waters covering the sea.

Isaiah 11 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Javi

Have you ever been really afraid? Not scared like watching a movie, but fearing for your life? I’ve been frightened several times after the fact, knowing I just experienced a close call, but I cannot think of a time when I watched my doom emerge over the horizon.

King Ahaz and those in Jerusalem witnessed an army bent on destruction march to their gates. They were so frightened that the hearts of Ahaz and his people were shaken, as the trees of the forest are shaken by the wind.

Despite the walls of the city, there seemed no way to stop the invaders. Then the prophet Isaiah delivered a message, reminding the king of the presence of the Lord. Isaiah told Ahaz, If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.

The message applies to you and me as well. We face fears which shake us, and exaggerate worries about the future. But the invaders of this world exist as husks, empty threats before the Lord our God.

Stay grounded when anxieties raise their ugly heads. Because like Ahaz, if we do not stand firm in our faith, then we will not stand at all.

Isaiah 7 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Clay Banks

My high school math teacher liked to hand out his tests prefaced with the bleak prediction, now we’ll separate the sheep from the goats. He enjoyed this bit of drama, but for the rest of us—sheep or goat—the biblical reference got lost in the angst of test-taking.

This idea of separating sheep from goat originated with Jesus. When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Jesus goes on to describe his sheep as those who give the hungry something to eat, who clothe the indigent, who care for the sick and the prisoner and the poor. The goats ignore all of the above, concerned only for themselves.

To give his point a bit more pop, Jesus pointed out that the righteous (the sheep) go away to eternal life, but the goats to eternal punishment. Consequences follow the culling of the herd.

Jesus laid out the natural results of faith in him. The Christian religion is not merely a private matter, but overflows into the ways we live. Jesus continually underscored our need to do unto others and we would have done unto us.

Fortunately, we don’t have to be good at math to understand Jesus. Sheep follow the Shepherd, goats not so much.

Matthew 25 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Harry Grout