Kevin Jessip

In ancient times, watchmen were posted to observe enemy activity in order to provide safety for the citizens of a region or city. Given the responsibility to guard life and property, watchmen were assigned to important locations, such as the city gates, walls, or areas where the enemy intended to enter, attack, weaken, or rob. One group of watchmen was called natsar , a Hebrew word for a person standing guard in a watchtower (see 2 Kings 17:9; 18:8). The Hebrew word for watch is mishmereth...

Ezekiel chapters 38 and 39 are perhaps the most important prediction of war for our time, as a careful study of this passage indicates that this major battle has not yet occurred. In addition, the alignment of nations that are mentioned in these chapters is certainly clear and understandable in the present day. Ezekiel predicts that a coalition of nations surrounding Israel will rise up and ascend "like a cloud to cover the land" (38:9), entering Israel on the northern mountains bordering...

Scholars have established certain principles for interpreting Scripture called "hermeneutics." The first rule of interpreting Scripture is to take every word at its primary, ordinary, usual, and literal meaning, unless the facts of the context within a verse or passage, studied in the light of other related passages, determine a departure from the literal meaning and require a passage to be interpreted figuratively or metaphorically. One of the rules of interpretation is called the "law of...