Have you ever wondered, "If God is real, then why doesn't He make it more obvious? If He really wants us to believe in Him, then why doesn't He make it easier for us to see him?" It's easy to read the Bible and think, "If only God would show up for us today the way He showed up for His people back then." If you have ever felt this way, welcome to the book of Esther. "The God of Great Reversals" was written to shed light on the Gospel story woven throughout the only book of the Bible that never mentions God's name. In it you will find that even in the darkest days, God never stops working to keep His promises and to rescue His people. Ultimately, the reversals in the book of Esther point us forward to the greatest reversal of all when God used the death of His only Son to bring about the salvation of all his people. It is only this great reversal that is able to bring us hope even when we don't understand where God is or what He is doing.

We’re all waiting for something. It might be a spouse or a baby. It might be healing or a home. Regardless of what we're waiting for, it’s easy to feel discontent when things aren’t going as planned and our dreams are delayed—especially when questions of “Why?” and “How long?” remain unanswered. God uses seasons of waiting to teach us patience and make us more like himself. But sanctification is not the only purpose God has in mind. When we wait faithfully with unmet longings, we become a powerful picture of the bride of Christ waiting for the day when he returns and God’s kingdom reigns.

“But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” –Matthew 19:30 The Bible is full of ironic situations in which God overturns the world’s wisdom by doing the opposite of what is expected—people are punished by their own sin, the persecution of the church is the catalyst for its growth, Paul claims to have strength through weakness, and more. In this book, biblical scholar G. K. Beale explores God’s pattern of divine irony in both judgment and salvation, finding its greatest expression in Jesus’s triumph over death through death on a cross. Unpacking this pattern throughout redemptive history, Beale shows us how God often uses what is seemingly weak and foolish to underscore his own strength and power in the lives of his people today.

The fruit of a decade’s research, this volume offers a new interpretation of the dense Christological narrative in Philippians 2:6–11, taking inspiration from recent advances in our understanding of the letter’s Greek and Roman setting and from insights made possible by recently created linguistic databases (such as TLG and PHI). The passage’s praise of Christ engages the language of Hellenistic ruler cults, Platonic metaphysics and moral philosophy, popular (Homeric) beliefs about the gods, and Greek love (eros), to articulate a scripturally grounded theology in which God is revealed to be one in two persons (God the Father and LORD Jesus Christ). The volume also explores hitherto unseen ways in which the central Christ Hymn is tightly connected to the rest of Paul’s argument. The hymn presents Christ as an epitome of the ideals of Greek (and Roman) virtue, to support Paul’s summoning his readers to a life of praiseworthy and exemplary civic conduct (in 1:27). New or recently proposed translations are advanced for numerous words and phrases (in, e.g., 1:8, 11, 27; 2:3, 4, 6, 11; 3:2, 4) and a new (non-Stendahlian) approach to Paul’s boasting in 3:4–6, that is Christological rather than biographical, is put forward.

We applaud men for doing good things. We enshrine God for doing great things. But what about a man who does God things? One thing is certain. We can't ignore him. If these moments are factual, if the claim of Christ is actual, then he was, at once, man and God. The single most significant person who ever lived. Forget MVP. He is the entire league. The head of the parade? Hardly. No one else shares the street. Who comes close? Humanity's best and brightest fade like dime-store rubies next to him. Dismiss him? We can't. Resist him? Equally difficult. Why would we want to? Don't we need a God-man Savior? A just-God Jesus could make us, but not understand us. A just-man Jesus could love us, but never save us. But a God-man Jesus? Near enough to touch. Strong enough to trust. A next door Savior.

We are living in such critical times today that it is imperative for believers to learn to use every tool given to us by the Holy Spirit. We are called to be kingdom influencers--to discern the times in which we live, to discern the moves of the Holy Spirit, and to discern angels and demons. With extensive expertise and personal experience, prophetic leader Jane Hamon takes a deep dive, biblically and practically, into one of the least known and most unused gifts of the Holy Spirit, covering the following topics: - discerning the presence of God - discerning the times - discerning angels and demons - discerning the hearts of people around you - acting wisely with what you discern - walking in wisdom and balance - and more This book will help you operate in greater spiritual authority and walk in wisdom as you help build God's kingdom on earth.

Demonstrating the pervasive presence of God in modern Hebrew literature, this book explores the qualities that twentieth-century Hebrew writers attributed to the divine, and examines their functions against the simplistic dichotomy between religious and secular literature. The volume follows both chronological and thematic paths, offering a panoramic and multilayered analysis of the various strategies in which modern Hebrew writers, from the turn of the nineteenth century through the twenty-first century pursued in their attempt to represent the divine in the face of metaphysical, theological, and representational challenges. Modern Hebrew literature emerged during the nineteenth century as part of the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment) movement, which attempted to break from the traditional modes of Jewish intellectual and social life. The Hebrew literature that arose in this period embraced the rebellious nature of the Haskalah and is commonly characterized as secular in nature, defying Orthodoxy and rejecting God. Nevertheless, this volume shows that modern Hebrew literature relied on traditional narratological and poetic norms in its attempt to represent God. Despite its self-declared secularity, it engaged deeply with traditional problems such as the nature of God, divine presence, and theodicy. Examining these radical changes, this volume is a key text for scholars and students of modern Hebrew literature, Jewish studies and the intersection of religion and literature.