All Articles For Holstege, Joseph

The lion is the strongest among beasts (Prov. 30:30). With his sharp claws he can rend a man in pieces (Ps. 7:2). With his powerful jaw he can crush bones and devour a man before he hits the floor (Dan. 6:24). His roar is like the battle cry of nations or the crashing of the seas (Is. 5:29). In the Scriptures, the strength of the lion is a powerful warning for the fierceness of our foes. The devil is not just any adversary, but a roaring lion who seeks victims to devour (I Pet. 5:8). The wicked man is a...

It is universally recognized as the symbol of Christendom. If you walk through the arched doorway of a gothic cathedral, you will see a version of it in gold, encrusted with jewels, prominently displayed on the back wall. If you visit a military cemetery, you will see thousands of them in neat, white rows, casting shadows over manicured green grass. It dangles from silver chains or leather loops on the necks of men, women, and children all over the world. It marks arms, wrists, and ankles with the black ink of the tattoo. It is embossed in the leather binding...

A single hair is thin enough to be overlooked at a passing glance. Chances are you do not even see the few filaments littering the headrest of an armchair or floating aimlessly in the air. Hair in its basic unit is insubstantial and unnoteworthy. It was quite an impressive display of marksmanship, then, when the men of Benjamin with the left hand slung their stones “at an hair breadth,” and did not miss (Jud. 20:16). On the other hand, when a collective of single hairs populates the human head, the effect can be rather marvelous. One wonders what the head...

In the morning of August 24, 1572, the body of a Frenchman fell lifeless from the window of the Paris residence where he was staying. It was neither suicide nor accident. His name was Gaspard de Coligny, the nobleman who took charge of the Protestant cause in France. Moments before his body was dumped out the window, Coligny was killed in cold blood by assassins, triggering the brutal campaign of persecution known as the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre. The Reformation in France struggled against vehement persecution from the beginning. John Calvin was among many Frenchman who lived as a refugee,...

Whatever beautiful things the Bible may declare about them, feet are not the most attractive members of the human body. (And that is even assuming we have in mind a regular foot, rather than the six-toed monstrosity of the giant slain by David’s mighty men, II Sam. 21:20.) The tendency of sandaled feet to get dirty on the dusty paths of Palestine explains why the first act of hospitality was the washing of feet. Thus Abraham washed the feet of three men in the plains of Mamre (Gen. 18:4), Lot washed the feet of two angels in Sodom (Gen. 19:2),...

In days of pestilence and its resulting trouble, warranted is the apostle’s admonition that we “be not soon shaken in mind” (2 Thess. 2:2). When tempted to broadcast our opinions on said pestilence and its effects, the caution of Proverbs 29:11 is also in order: “A fool uttereth all his mind: but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards.” Fear and turmoil will fill the soul of the man whose nose is fixed to his newsfeed. “Perfect peace” is the blessing for the man, woman, or child “whose mind is stayed on thee” (Isa. 26:3). The mind is a...

The old adage says there is a reason we were created with only one mouth, but with two ears. The biblical description of the ear would confirm the wisdom of this clever observation. The ear is more than an oddly shaped appendage of flesh and cartilage such as the one Peter smote off the head of Malchus (John 18:10). God planted the ear in the skull of man just as a gardener might plant a patch of delicate tulips in the earth (Ps. 94:9). If we are amazed by the intricate design of the seeing eye, we should be as...

March 16, 2020 Dear Zion Congregation, It has been quite a weekend and week beginning! Just a few days ago we were going about our lives as normal and coronavirus was something we heard about on the news. It was a matter for shrugging shoulders or even jokes about the panic and hysteria into which some were descending. But now we are at home with our children looking ahead to days and even weeks of disrupted plans, changed schedules, and isolation. Now we are beginning Monday without the blessing of assembling in God’s house on Sunday. Now our lives are...

Like the helm of a ship or a bit in the mouth of a horse, the tongue is a very little member (Jam. 3:3-5). Perhaps we are most conscious of our tongues when tasting a little food or drink, though we probably do not lap water with our tongues “as a dog lappeth,” as did the 300 soldiers of Gideon (Jud. 7:5). But it is especially in its capacity for language that the tongue “boasteth great things” (Jam. 3:5), even greater than steering the bulk of a ship or controlling a powerful horse. If you have ever used a glossary...