Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 10033 The trumpet judgements of Revelation 8-9 and 11 represent the second and more intense wave of divine judgement during the Tribulation period. Proceeding from the seventh seal, they escalate the devastation significantly, moving from the partial destruction of the seal judgements to catastrophic ecological and supernatural interventions that leave no doubt about the…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 10122 Tartarus is the rarest of the New Testament terms for a place of punishment, occurring only once in the entire Bible, in 2 Peter 2:4. It is a word drawn from Greek mythology, and its single New Testament appearance has generated considerable discussion about who is held there, why they are there, and…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08094 Ezekiel 28 contains a remarkable passage that moves beyond the human prince of Tyre to describe a figure of extraordinary beauty, wisdom, and original exaltation who was present in Eden and is called a “covering cherub.” Who is this figure, and what does the passage reveal about the origin and fall of Satan?…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 08091 The phrase “powers and principalities” appears in several New Testament passages and has become almost a shorthand in Christian vocabulary for the unseen spiritual forces at work in the world. But what does the language actually mean, and what does it tell us about the organisation and activity of the spiritual realm? The…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08090 In Daniel 10, the prophet receives a vision and is told by an angelic messenger that his arrival was delayed for twenty-one days because “the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me” (Daniel 10:13). This “prince of Persia” is not a human ruler. He is a powerful spiritual being capable of opposing…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08140 The New Testament contains a remarkable statement about the future relationship between believers and angels, one that sits uncomfortably with the instinctive assumption that angelic beings are permanently our superiors. Paul tells the Corinthians that the saints will judge angels, and this claim has significant implications for how Christians understand both their present…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08141 Few pastoral situations require more care than the moment a church member approaches their pastor and says, “An angel spoke to me.” The claim touches on deeply held convictions about the supernatural, personal experience, and spiritual authority, and handling it badly can damage the person, the congregation, or both. Getting it right requires…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08138 The New Testament makes several references to angels being involved in the giving of the Law at Sinai, a detail that is not immediately obvious from the Old Testament narrative itself. Stephen mentions it in his speech before the Sanhedrin, Paul refers to it in Galatians, and the writer of Hebrews builds an…
Reading Time: 4 minutesQuestion 08139 Whether angels experience something analogous to human emotion is a question the Bible does not answer systematically, but it does offer a number of passages that present angelic beings as responding to events with what looks remarkably like genuine feeling. The question matters because it touches on what it means to be a…
Reading Time: 3 minutesQuestion 08136 Peter’s statement that angels “long to look into” the things of the gospel is one of the most striking and often overlooked remarks in the New Testament. It sits within a passage about the privilege of salvation, and its force depends on grasping what it tells us about the gospel from the perspective…