All Articles For Nehemiah

Previous article in this series: January 15, 2013, p. 175. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up: So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading. And all the people went their way to eat, and to drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth, because they had understood the words that were declared unto them. Nehemiah 8:5, 8, 12 Introduction We are engaged...

Do you read your Bible? Likely you wonder whether I am addressing this question to you. Maybe you even wonder why this question should be put to any reader of the Standard Bearer. Is it not a presupposition that any one who reads this paper also reads his Bible? Yet now that you are confronted personally with this question do not brush it aside; still more, do not be too ready to answer in the affirmative.

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. The book of Malachi is the last of the Old Testament prophecies written before the birth of Jesus Christ. Approximately 400 years of silence would follow the words of this prophecy, until the time when Gabriel would be sent to godly Zacharias and Elisabeth to announce the birth of the forerunner or our Lord (Mal. 3:1; Mal. 4:5, 6; Luke 1:1-20). The importance of this book of the Bible cannot be overstated. The times in which Malachi prophesied correspond exactly to our own; the sins current among God’s people and...

Previous article in this series: September 1, 2008, p. 460. “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.  Jeremiah 6:16 We gratefully acknowledge that, for almost 85 years, the Protestant Reformed Churches have asked for the old path of catechism: the church instructing her youth. God be praised for preserving the PRC on that path, giving rest to our (and our children’s!) souls. Catechism was God’s way...

Rev. Hanko is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church in Lynden, Washington. Introduction The prophecy of Haggai, though little known, is a book of enormous value, not only as a record of God’s dealings with His people in the Old Testament, but also as a reminder of God’s regard for and faithful care of His church in the New Testament. The book of Haggai is a book about the church, about the calling that every member of the church has within the church, and about God’s faithfulness to His church. It is, therefore, a book that very much needs to...

Rev. Haak is pastor of Bethel Protestant Reformed Church in Elk Grove Village, Illinois. We cannot be sure what feast it was to which Jesus went up, and at which He healed the man beside the pool of Bethesda. If it was the Passover, and we are inclined to think that it was, then Christ’s ministry covered a space of about three and a half years. (See ch. 2:13; 5:2; 6:4; and 12:12.) This much is certain, it was our Lord’s second appearance in Jerusalem recorded by John. While in Jerusalem Jesus went on a Sabbath day to walk among...

Rev. Hanko is a minister emeritus in the Protestant Reformed Churches. Are family devotions on the way out? Has our life become so involved that there is hardly time for family worship? Is it virtually impossible to schedule a time when the whole family is home together? The question could even be cast in this form: has it become virtually impossible in our busy existence for the father of the family to function in his priestly calling? In the office of believers we have become partakers of Christ’s anointing (Lord’s Day 12, question 32). Thereby we are ordained from all...

Mrs. Lubbers is a wife and mother in the Protestant Reformed Church of South Holland, Illinois. “And all the congregation of them that were come again out of the captivity made booths, and sat under the booths … and there was very great gladness.” Nehemiah 8:17 There are some things in our personal lives that we should hold on to no matter how busy and complicated our lives become. Each of us, for instance, should commit himself to pockets of time for reading worthwhile books and meditating. And personal prayer times ought to punctuate each day, reminding us that earthly...

Rev. Haak is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Lynden, Washington. “The Lord gave the word: great was the company of those who published it.” The compulsion to preach the gospel is the greatest yearning and desire which God works in a sanctified heart. Many are the holy desires which God works in the hearts of His children. Believing parents can confess that God gives them a great jealousy and yearning to impart to their children the “praises of the Lord, and his strength, and his wonderful works that he hath done” (Ps. 78:4). A wife and mother is...

Gise J. Van Baren is pastor of the Protestant Reformed Church of Hudsonville, Michigan. After the return from Florida, there was to be no more walking for Alice. Earlier, two persons would hold her, each by an arm, as she slowly walked from one end of the room to the other. Once or twice a day was enough. This would loosen her muscles a bit, preventing cramps and pain. But now even this short walk had become too difficult. One more activity had to be given up. There would be no more walking for Alice. No more walking! She had...