Category Archives: God’s Word: The Bible

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February 13, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, Church & Worship, God's Grace & Love, God's Word: The Bible, Knowing Him, Today: Make it Count, Wisdom & Guidance

IN PRAISE OF HIS WORD

I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. … The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces. … How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! [Psalm 119: 15-16, 72, 103 (ESV)]

The more you read the Bible; and the more you meditate on it, the more you will be astonished with it. [Charles Spurgeon]

BiblesPsalm 119, the longest of the psalms, is a song in praise of the Word of God. Since we don’t read this psalm in its original Hebrew, we fail to appreciate its intricate construction. Each of its twenty-two sections begin with a letter of the Hebrew alphabet in sequence. Each of the eight verses in those twenty-two sections begin with the letter that introduced it. For example, the first word of the first section begins with alef, as do the next seven verses. In the second section, every line begins with beth. The psalm continues that way up to the 22nd (and last) section where every line begins with the final letter of the Hebrew alphabet, tav.

Using a variety of synonyms (such as words, ways, precepts, testimonies, commandments, path, and law), the psalmist mentions God’s word no less than 183 times! Believed to have been written by David, Jeremiah, Daniel or Ezra, the psalm’s author refers to himself as God’s servant and claims to praise God seven times a day. Whoever it was, penning a 176-line song about delighting in God’s word as an acrostic was a true labor of love.

I thought of this psalm when reading author Ann Voskamp’s description of the joy with which a nomadic tribe in Northern Kenya reacted when Bibles arrived in their village. Packed in cardboard boxes, God’s Word arrived on the back of a camel and was greeted by more than a thousand Rendille tribespeople along with dozens of their distant neighbors. After waiting 30 years for this day, the Rendille finally had Scripture’s words written in their own language. Having written praise songs specifically for the celebration, the women sang, “We give thanks to the Lord. The Word of God is like a pillar in our life. We give thanks to the Lord for this day for it is the first time we have the Bible in our own language.” Voskamp described how several women even slept with their Bibles under their pillows, “because it was treasured. They had nothing more valuable or priceless in their entire lives than God’s Word.”  For these followers of Christ, their newly translated Bibles were better than “thousands of gold and silver pieces.”

Unlike the Rendille people, we’ve had God’s word in our own language since William Tyndale’s translation of the New Testament in 1525; ten years later, the entire Bible was available in English. As the best-selling book of all time, Lifeway reports that about 85% of American homes have a Bible and the average household owns between four and five! While I suspect those Rendille tribespeople regularly read their Bibles, the Barna Group found that only about 35% of Americans ever read any of it and 36% of Americans never read at all! Yet, last year, the American Bible Society found that 71% of Americans are curious about the Bible and/or Jesus. There seems to be a disconnect here! If we’ve got questions about cooking, investing, bitcoins, or a medical condition, we research those topics. But, when we’re curious about the Bible or Jesus, those four plus Bibles in our homes remain unopened!

Both the psalmist and Rendille tribespeople celebrated God’s beautiful gift of Scripture. Finding it as “sweet as honey” and better than gold, they treasured this lamp to their feet and light for their path. After witnessing the Rendille’s enthusiastic response to the Bibles’ arrival along with their gratitude and joy in the Word, Voskamp asked herself, “How many Bibles do I have that are on my shelf collecting dust? Do I treasure God’s Word like this?”

Hers is a valid question and one we all should ask ourselves. Do we cherish and appreciate God’s word as did the author of Psalm 119? Do we receive God’s love letter to His people with the enthusiasm of the Rendille people? We should! After all, other than Jesus, it is the best gift God gave to man! Scripture’s words belong in our hearts rather than collecting dust in our bookcases!

I venture to say that the bulk of Christians spend more time in reading the newspaper than they do reading the Word of God. [Charles Spurgeon]

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Your commandment makes me wiser than my enemies, for it is ever with me. … Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. … Therefore, I love your commandments above gold, above fine gold. [Psalm 119:97-98, 105, 127 (ESV)]

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February 10, 2025

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Bible Stories, God's Plan, God's Promises, God's Word: The Bible, Wisdom & Guidance

DIFFERENT LISTS

“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” [Luke 1:31-33 (ESV)]

doris longwing butterflyMost of us breeze through (or skip altogether) the Bible’s genealogies. Nevertheless, when genealogy and all those “begats” seem so important in Scripture, what explanation is there for the difference between the genealogies of Jesus found in Luke and Matthew? Because Jews were meticulous about recording genealogies, it’s inconceivable to have two conflicting yet correct lists of Jesus’ lineage.

The two gospels agree on one important point—neither Luke nor Matthew call Joseph Jesus’ “father”. Matthew refers to him as the “the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ” and Luke simply says that Jesus was enomizeto (considered, thought to be, or assumed) to be Joseph’s son. While the two genealogies agree from Abraham to David, they differ from then on. Matthew says David’s son Solomon was Jesus’ ancestor and Luke says it was David’s son Nathan. While there are a variety of convoluted explanations, most biblical scholars believe these are two different, but equally correct, genealogies—Matthew’s through Jesus’ legal father, Joseph, and Luke’s through His birth mother, Mary.

With his frequent references to the Hebrew Scriptures and emphasis on Jesus’ fulfillment of Messianic prophecies, Matthew’s gospel has a distinctly Jewish viewpoint and it is believed that he directed his gospel to Jews and Jewish believers. Reflecting the importance of the Messiah’s lineage to the Jewish people, Matthew’s gospel begins by calling Jesus “the Messiah, a descendant of David and Abraham” and follows the traditional Hebrew format of going from the past to the present where he again identifies Jesus as the Messiah. Although Joseph was Jesus’ father in name only, he was the Lord’s legal father and scholars believe Matthew provided Jesus’ official (paternal) genealogy from Abraham to David to David’s son Solomon and eventually to Joseph. His list emphasized both Jesus’s legal right to be the king of the Jews as well as His fulfillment of the Messianic prophecies.

On the other hand, Luke addressed his gospel to the “most honorable Theophilus” and his primary audience is thought to have been mostly Gentile Greeks. Luke lists Jesus’ ancestry the Greek way and goes from the present to ancient past. Unlike Matthew, he doesn’t stop with Abraham but continues all the way back to Adam. Scholars believe Luke’s to be Jesus’ actual physical lineage through His mother Mary and her father Heli. While giving a mother’s lineage was unusual, so was a virgin birth! To a Gentile, if Jesus weren’t the physical son of Joseph, there would be no need to know the man’s genealogy. Rather than Solomon, Jesus’ royal lineage comes through a blood relationship with Mary’s ancestor Nathan, another of David’s sons with Bathsheba.

Luke placed Jesus’ genealogy after His baptism when the Holy Spirit descended on Him and a voice from heaven said, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” That heavenly voice established Jesus’ divinity—that He was the son of God. By tracing Jesus’ line all the way back to the first man, Adam, Luke established the dual nature of Jesus—that He was fully human as well as divine. It also emphasized Jesus’ relevance, not just to Jews, but to the entire human race.

We’re left with the problem of Joseph’s father—Matthew says it was Jacob while Luke says Joseph was ”of” Heli. It is believed that Heli was Mary’s father and, with no Greek word for “son-in-law,” scholars posit that Joseph became Heli’s “son” through his marriage to Mary.

Rather than contradicting one another, these two genealogies complement each other by giving us both Jesus’ official and actual lineage. They agree that Mary was Jesus’ mother, that her husband Joseph was not Jesus’ father, and that Jesus descended from the family of Judah as well as the house of David both legally (through Joseph) and by bloodline (through Mary). They show that Jesus fulfilled God’s promise of offspring to Abraham as well as his promise to David that His offspring would sit on his throne forever.

Contradiction is not a sign of falsity, nor the lack of contradiction a sign of truth. [Blaise Pascal]

I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice. [Genesis 22:17-18 (ESV)]

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. [Jeremiah 23:5 (ESV)]

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January 9, 2025

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, Church & Worship, God's Word: The Bible, Knowing Him

WITH WONDER

But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” [Mark 10:14-15 (ESV)]

One day, the disciples scolded some parents for bringing their children to Jesus for a blessing. After telling them the Kingdom belonged to those who received it like a child, He called the children to Him. Unlike adults, children accept their humble position and live by faith and trust. Without self-consciousness and knowing they are in complete dependence on the giver, they receive gifts with humility and enthusiasm. Like explorers, children have a sense of wonder on their quest to learn about the world around them. They are filled with excitement and awe at every new thing they experience because life hasn’t become routine, predictable, or run-of-the mill to them.

Thinking of a child’s sense of wonder, I recalled my grand’s reaction to the small nativity I purchased for her more than twenty years ago. While her parents were away for the weekend in late November, she stayed with us. Although the tyke knew all about Santa, she didn’t know the Christmas story so I gave her a nativity set in a small wooden box. It had a handle on top so it could be carried like a purse and a latch in front that, when opened, revealed a stable and about a dozen wooden figures. As we opened the box, I told her the beautiful story that went along with those figures. Her eyes were big as saucers as she heard about the baby Jesus, angels, shepherds, wise men with gifts, and a star that led them to the baby. Filled with wonder at the amazing story, she had me tell it several times. When her parents came to pick her up, she immediately sat them down in our living room. After carefully opening her nativity box, she enthusiastically identified each character and explained the Christmas story to them.

How many Christmas pageants have we attended? How many Christmas Eves have we heard the words from Luke 2 or sung “Silent Night” in candlelight? How many times have we heard about the angelic chorus and the shepherds’ astonishment? Are we as astonished by the nativity as were they? Unlike a child, I suspect that we’ve lost our sense of awe and wonder at the incarnation—our astonishment that Jesus clothed Himself in a human body so that He could live a sinless life only to suffer a sinner’s death.

We’ve probably lost count of the Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, or Tenebrae/Good Friday services we attended. How many times have we heard about Jesus washing the disciple’s feet or the women discovering the empty tomb on Easter morning? For that matter, how many times have we read or heard about the feeding of the multitude, the miraculous provision of wine at Cana, blind Bartimaeus receiving sight, or the parable of the Prodigal Son? While familiarity doesn’t necessarily breed contempt, it can breed boredom.

In theater, the actors are expected to deliver a well-rehearsed performance in a fresh and new way every time. Called the “illusion of the first time,” they endeavor to make the audience feel like they are witnessing something happening for the very first time. What if we, as readers and hearers of the word, tried to create the “illusion of the first time”? What if we put on the eyes and ears of a child who’s hearing or reading it for the first time—someone who doesn’t know that Abraham won’t have to sacrifice Isaac, Lazarus will walk out of the tomb, only one leper will return to thank Jesus, the Red Sea will part, the walls of Jericho will collapse, or that young David will defeat the gigantic Goliath? What if we were hearing or reading those familiar narratives for the first time? Even though we know the stories, shouldn’t we be as filled with wonder as was my grand when she learned the Christmas story? Shouldn’t we be as amazed as were the shepherds when they heard an angelic chorus on the night of Christ’s birth, as astonished as were the mourners when Lazarus walked out of that tomb, as distressed as were the women at the foot of the cross, and as stunned as were the disciples when Jesus appeared Easter morning!?

While we may have the knowledge of decades-long believers, let us come to Scripture with a child’s awe and sense of wonder. Let us react to the words as if it were the first time we’ve read or heard them—as if we don’t know how the story ends. Let us recreate the “illusion of the first time” and have the wonder of a child!

A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement. [Rachel Carson]

And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel. [Matthew 15:30-31 (ESV)]

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December 26, 2024

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Bible Stories, Church & Worship, God's Word: The Bible, Holidays & Holy Days

THE NATIVITY (2) – LIONS, LAMBS, KINGS, AND SHEPHERDS

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. [Isaiah 11:6-7 (ESV)]

And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” [Revelation 5:5 (ESV)]

For centuries, access to the written Word of God was limited to just a few. The printing press wasn’t invented until 1439 and, at the time, only about 20% of the population could read. As a result, churches were decorated with paintings, stained glass windows, statues, carvings, and mosaics depicting biblical stories or illustrating theological concepts. For people who couldn’t read the book, religious art told the story. Consider how the Stations of the Cross in Roman Catholic churches illustrate the events of Good Friday. Sometimes, a picture really is worth a thousand words! While most nativity scenes are inaccurate, our depictions of the nativity don’t have to be historically exact to be meaningful.

At the Christmas market last week, an artist was painting a nativity scene. Having just written about the ox and ass found in depictions of Jesus’ birth, I was curious if he had them in his. Along with ox and ass, there was a lamb. The presence of this sacrificial animal is a vivid reminder that Jesus was the Lamb of God. It reminds us that His sacrifice on the cross is the reason for that baby in the manger.

But, front and center on the canvas, the artist painted a large lion looking down at the infant Jesus laying in a bed of hay. While not as common as the lamb, ass, and ox, the lion is no stranger to nativities. It points to Jacob’s promise to his son Judah that a conquering victorious king, the lion, would be from his line and suggests the words in Revelation 5:5 referring to Jesus as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.”  The lion’s presence also illustrates Isaiah’s prophecies of a time when God’s fallen creation will be remade into a place of peace, harmony, and order—a time when Christ will reign over all the earth—when a lion will eat straw rather than babies in a manger!

Although they didn’t arrive until Jesus was a toddler, we also find the magi in most nativities. Rather than kings, the magi probably were scholars or priests knowledgeable in astronomy and astrology. It may have been the extravagance of their gifts that caused them to be portrayed as royalty. Moreover, kings presenting gifts to the Messiah echo the prophecies of Isaiah 60 and Psalm 72.

While three gifts were presented, Scripture doesn’t say how many magi there were. Nevertheless, we see three. One king usually is depicted as a Black African, another as Caucasian, and the third as Asian. In Jesus’ day, there were three known continents—Africa, Asia, and Europe. In the 700s, the Venerable Bede (theologian and historian) posited that each of the magi represented one of those parts. As inaccurate as their depictions may be, their different races beautifully illustrate that Jesus came for the people of all nations and races. Seeing the kings of the world bowing in humble worship to the King of Kings, we are reminded that earthly kingdoms may fall but God’s Kingdom will not be destroyed!

In sharp contrast to a nativity’s richly attired kings are the often-barefoot shepherds in their simple attire. While kings were at the top rung of the social ladder, shepherds (along with taxmen and lepers) were at the bottom. The presence of both groups around the manger reinforces the unity that all people (both rich and poor) have in Christ! One shepherd often stands out from the others—a tall shepherd carrying a lamb on his shoulders. His presence is a subtle reference to Jesus as the “good shepherd” who will go to great lengths to save His flock.

Take time this holiday season to look at the various renditions of the nativity around you. Instead of looking for historical accuracy, try to find the scriptural and theological themes hidden within the art. Indeed, sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words!

May the kings of Tarshish and of the coastlands render him tribute; may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts! May all kings fall down before him, all nations serve him!  For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight. [Psalm 72:10-14 (ESV)]

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December 23, 2024

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Bible Stories, Church & Worship, God's Plan, God's Word: The Bible, Holidays & Holy Days

THE NATIVITY (1) – THE OX AND ASS

The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. [Isaiah 1:3 (ESV)]

Here betwixt ass and oxen mild, sleep, sleep, sleep, my little child… [13th century French carol]

The earliest known portrayal of Jesus’ birth is a bas relief on a Roman sarcophagus from around 385. It depicts the swaddled Christ child in the manger flanked by an ox at His head and an ass at His feet. Why are they present instead of Joseph and Mary? In 1223, Francis of Assisi brought some hay and a manger to a cave and celebrated Mass there on Christmas Eve. Even though Mary and Joseph weren’t present, an ass and an ox were! In 1291, Pope Nicholas IV commissioned Arnolfo di Cambio to create a permanent nativity. While there are statues of Mary and Jesus, Joseph, and three Magi, the sixth statue shows the heads of an ox and an ass rather than shepherd or angel. Besides the baby Jesus, the ass and the ox are the most ancient and consistent elements in depictions of the nativity. Why do these two animals, neither of which is mentioned in the gospels, have such a prominent place in our nativity scenes, Christmas cards, and carols?

In Scripture, the ox came to represent the people of Israel. As the most important and costly of sacrificial animals, the ox also represented Israel’s prosperity and power. In the temple, figures of twelve oxen (representing Israel’s twelve tribes) supported the huge bronze basin that held water for ritual cleansing. While the ox was considered a ritually “clean” animal, the undivided hoof of the donkey (or ass) made it “unclean” so it came to represent the pagan Gentile nations. Deuteronomy 22:10 specifically prohibited plowing with an ox and an ass yoked together. Jews interpreted this law as being about more than plowing—it was about not mixing the clean with the unclean or the Jew with the Gentile.

In the 8th century BC, Isaiah prophesied, “The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” At the time, he was bringing God’s charges against Judah and speaking of God’s judgment against them in the immediate future through Assyria and also God’s later judgement with Babylon’s invasion and the fall of Jerusalem. Dumb animals knew to whom they belonged, but God’s chosen people did not!

With the benefit of hindsight, however, the early Church fathers recognized a third prophecy in Isaiah’s words—that of the Messiah’s arrival when Israel failed to recognize Him. Like the donkey, however, the Gentiles knew their master’s crib. Because the ox and ass recognized the Christ when the world did not, they are shown with the Christ. This image illustrates Paul’s words to the Ephesians that Jews and Gentiles are reconciled and have become one in Christ. Their presence at the nativity became a visual way of saying that Jesus came to save the people of all nations!

Because the firstborn male was the Lord’s, Mosaic law demanded the sacrifice to God of every firstborn male of the people’s livestock. As a ritually clean animal, the ox was an acceptable sacrifice. As an unclean animal, however, the ass could not enter the temple or be offered to God. A law unique to the ass gave its owner a choice—rather than killing such a valuable animal, he could redeem it with the sacrifice of a lamb. We sinners, like the ass, are unclean and cannot enter God’s tabernacle but, like the ass, our owner can redeem us with the sacrifice of an innocent lamb, which He did! We are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God.

While seeing an ox and ass on Christmas cards or in nativity scenes may not be an accurate representation of that first Christmas, let us remember the symbolism behind their presence. While we may be as different as an ox is from an ass, Christ’s church is made up of one united people—people who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb!

There were only a few shepherds at the first Bethlehem. The ox and the donkey understood more of the first Christmas than the high priests in Jerusalem. And it is the same today. [Thomas Merton]

You are brought near to God through the blood sacrifice of Christ. Christ is the reason we are now at peace. He made us Jews and you who are not Jews one people. We were separated by a wall of hate that stood between us, but Christ broke down that wall. By giving his own body, Christ ended the law with its many commands and rules. His purpose was to make the two groups become one in him. By doing this he would make peace. [Ephesians 2:13b-15 (ERV)]

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November 25, 2024

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Attitudes & Behavior, Church & Worship, God's Word: The Bible, Holidays & Holy Days, Obedience, Salvation: A New You

CHRIST THE KING

“My kingdom isn’t the sort that grows in this world,” replied Jesus. “If my kingdom were from this world, my supporters would have fought, to stop me being handed over to the Judaeans. So then, my kingdom is not the sort that comes from here.” [John 18:36 (NTE)]

God’s kingdom, you see, isn’t about food and drink, but about justice, peace, and joy in the holy spirit. [Romans 14:17 (NTE)]

For those of us who attend liturgical churches, yesterday was the last Sunday of the liturgical (or church) year: Christ the King Sunday. A kind of liturgical “New Year’s Eve,” it is the climax and conclusion of the Church’s year.

Starting with Advent, the first half of the church year focuses on the events of Jesus’ life: His incarnation, birth, manifestation, temptation, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension. The second half of the church year begins on Pentecost (with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit) and, depending on Easter’s date, lasts 23 to 28 Sundays. Sometimes called Ordinary Time, this season focuses on the teachings of Jesus. Next Sunday, we start a new year with the first Sunday in Advent and begin another journey through Scripture to remind us of who we are and to whom we belong.

Like the rest of the liturgical church calendar, Christ the King Sunday is man-made rather than ordained by God. Nevertheless, having attended a liturgical church most of my life, I find comfort in regularly celebrating not just Christmas and Easter but the entire mystery of Jesus—from His incarnation through His death, resurrection, and ascension, to the gifting of the Holy Spirit and the expectation of His glorious return.

When I first saw the words “Christ the King” on the church hymn board years ago, I didn’t know that this observance is a modern addition to the church year. It was instituted in 1925 by Pope Pius XI in response to the growth of communism, fascism, atheism, and secular ultra-nationalism in Europe at that time. Although first observed by the Roman Catholic church, Protestant denominations such as the Lutheran, Anglican, Moravian, Methodist, Nazarene, and Presbyterian churches have joined in observing this day as a reminder that Christ reigns above all earthly rulers.

In the past, cults of personality have formed around leaders like Mussolini, Hitler, Stalin, Mao Zedong, and they continue to form around some world leaders today. Christ the King Sunday is a vivid reminder that our allegiance belongs to our spiritual ruler in heaven as opposed to any earthly political “messiah.” While temporal powers will fade away, Christ’s reign and His kingdom remain eternal. Whether Roman Catholic, Orthodox, or Protestant, observing Christ the King helps to move us from the politics of people to the politics of heaven.

Indeed, Jesus is unlike any other head of state in history. While most leaders are concerned with gaining, increasing, and maintaining power, Jesus gave up His divine power to live as a man among the poor and humble and to die a criminal’s death. While the world’s “kings” strive to amass wealth; King Jesus deliberately left the grandeur of Heaven to be born in a stable and live in a small village as a carpenter’s son. Believing that might makes right, the world’s leaders use economic and military might to enforce their will but Jesus chose to love and forgive his enemies. Jesus’ kingly degrees are unlike those of any earthly ruler: love God, love our neighbors, do unto others as we would have them do to us, pray for our enemies, turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, live in peace with one another, and invite the poor, crippled, lame and blind to our banquets—hardly the typical political platform!

The Kingdom of God is a present reality in our lives and yet, at the same time, the completed Kingdom is yet to come. Theologians describe it as our living in the already—what Christ has done—and the not yet—what He is yet to do when He returns in majesty and glory. Until that day, however, there will be a struggle between the kingdoms of this world and God’s Kingdom. We might want to ask ourselves to which kingdom we owe our allegiance and evaluate whether our actions, attitudes, and words reflect that allegiance. May we always remember that Jesus is our only king; indeed, He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Then I heard something like the sound of a great crowd, like the sound of many waters, and like the sound of strong thunder, saying, “Alleluia! The Lord our God, the Almighty, has become king! Let us celebrate and rejoice and give him the glory, because the marriage of the lamb has come, and his bride has prepared herself. … On his robe, and on his thigh, is written a name: King of kings, and Lord of lords. [Revelation 19:6-7,19 (NTE)]

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