Explore a collection of Bible talks covering important scriptural themes such as Joseph’s faith in God’s promises, the significance of the Tower of Babel, and the prophecy of God’s coming Kingdom. Each archived class delves into biblical teachings with references to history, prophecy, and God’s plan for the future.
Use the links below to automatically scroll to each section, where you can read detailed summaries and explore these topics further:
The faith of Joseph, one of Israel’s most beloved leaders, serves as a powerful reminder of God’s unwavering promises. Joseph firmly believed that God would fulfill the promise made to Abraham and his descendants—that they would become a great nation and inherit the land of Canaan, now known as Israel.
As Joseph approached the end of his life, his trust in God’s promise remained strong. Despite the Israelites living comfortably in Egypt, he made them swear to carry his body back to the Promised Land when God would deliver them out of Egypt.
“Then Joseph said to his brothers, ‘I am about to die. But God will surely come to your aid and take you up out of this land to the land He promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.’ And Joseph made the Israelites swear an oath and said, ‘God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up from this place.’” (Genesis 50:24-25)
Centuries later, under the leadership of Moses, this promise was honored. As the Israelites finally left Egypt to return to the land promised by God, Moses ensured Joseph’s body was taken with them as Joseph had requested.
“So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle. Moses took the bones of Joseph with him because Joseph had made the Israelites swear an oath. He had said, ‘God will surely come to your aid, and then you must carry my bones up with you from this place.’” (Exodus 13:18-19)
Joseph’s unwavering faith in God’s promise not only looked toward Israel’s physical return to the Promised Land, but also foreshadowed the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan. One day, Abraham, Joseph, and all who believe in God’s promises will inherit the Promised Land forever. This eternal hope continues to inspire believers today as we await the day when God’s promise will be fully realized.
The Tower of Babel story, found in Genesis, has fascinated scholars and archaeologists alike, with its parallels found in many ancient cultures. Voltaire, writing before the American and French revolutions, claimed that no trace of the Tower of Babel could be found. However, archaeologists have since uncovered remnants of similar structures—ancient towers in Mesopotamian cities, known as ziggurats.
Babylonian clay tablets reveal that ziggurats were central to the religious practices of ancient Mesopotamians, often built in several stories with a shrine located at the top. Some scholars have linked the Tower of Babel to the Etemenanki, a famous ziggurat in Babylon dedicated to the god Marduk.
Interestingly, in the ancient Sumerian myth “Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta,” the story of a massive ziggurat being constructed in Eridu bears striking similarities to the biblical account of Babel. Enmerkar, the builder of the ziggurat, recites an incantation asking the god Enki to either restore or disrupt the linguistic unity of the people, reflecting the confusion of languages found in the Genesis account.
Just as the Genesis story of Noah’s flood finds parallels in other cultures, the story of a great tower or structure reaching toward the heavens appears in various national myths. In Greek mythology, the Gigantomachy tells of giants stacking mountains to reach the gods, only to be repelled by Jupiter’s thunderbolts. Scholars suggest that this story may have influenced the Tower of Babel narrative.
In the Americas, the Great Pyramid of Cholula in Mexico stands as a parallel to the Babel story. Built over a thousand years ago, it’s the largest structure made by Mesoamerican Indians. A 16th-century Dominican friar recounted a myth from Cholula that tells of giants who built the pyramid to reach the sky, only to have their efforts thwarted by an angered god who scattered them and destroyed the tower.
The Aztec chieftain Ixtlilxóchitl told of a similar tale in which men, after surviving a great deluge, built a tall tower to protect themselves from future floods. However, their languages were confounded, and they scattered to different parts of the earth.
Stories similar to the Tower of Babel can be found in cultures all over the world. From the Tohono O’odham people of Arizona and the Cherokee in North America, to myths from Nepal, Assam, Botswana, Zambia, Ghana, and even Papua New Guinea, humanity seems to share a collective memory of a great tower and a scattering of people. Like the Genesis flood narrative, the Tower of Babel story appears to be a shared cultural memory, reflected in the myths and stories of various civilizations.
The Bible tells us of a future time when God’s kingdom will be fully established, and all evildoers will be removed from the earth. Revelation 20:7-10 speaks of a final rebellion, after which those who have willfully participated will not be found in the Book of Life. They will be “cast into the lake of fire,” a symbolic expression used in the book of Revelation to describe the “second death.”
The first death is the natural end of life, as Hebrews 9:27 says: “It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” Those who die without understanding God’s purpose perish like the beasts (Psalm 49:20), but those who have known God’s plan will be judged and held responsible (Romans 14:12).
The second death, however, is reserved for those who have rejected God’s call to repentance. After judgment, they are restored to life only to face punishment and ultimately die a second death, this time inflicted by divine judgment. This is not a natural death, but a permanent destruction: “The wicked shall perish…into smoke they shall vanish away” (Psalm 37:20). This eternal obliteration ensures that evil will no longer exist.
God’s justice is perfect, and punishment is meted out according to each individual’s deeds, whether a few or many stripes (Luke 12:47). But ultimately, as Jesus said, “God will destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28), symbolized by Gehenna, the place where trash was discarded. This means that when God’s judgment is complete, the earth will be free from sin and death, as Paul predicted: “The last enemy that will be destroyed is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26).
With the removal of all evil, the earth will be inherited by the meek, who will live in a world of peace. Numerous passages in Scripture point to this future hope:
“The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth” (Psalm 34:16).
“Evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait on the Lord, they shall inherit the earth” (Psalm 37:9-11).
“The upright will dwell in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the earth” (Proverbs 2:21-22).
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).
In this promised future, God’s kingdom will be a place of righteousness, free from sin, where the meek will live forever in the abundance of peace.