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Judges of Israel
[Bible]The judges were leaders whom God raised up after the death of Joshua and before Saul became king to deliver Israel from foreign enemies and to govern the people. They appear chiefly in the Book of Judges.
Urim and Thummim
[Bible]The Urim and Thummim were objects in the Old Testament that the high priest carried in the breastplate of judgment and used when seeking God's will. Scripture does not describe their appearance or explain how they were used.
Jehovah
[Bible]Jehovah is the proper name of the God of Israel in the Old Testament. It is written with four Hebrew consonants (YHWH), and scholars often read it as "Yahweh."
Gabriel
[Bible]Gabriel is an angel of God named in the Book of Daniel and the Gospel of Luke. He explained the meaning of visions to Daniel and announced the births of sons to Zacharias and to Mary.
Idolatry
[Bible]Idolatry is the worship of gods other than God or of images made by human hands. Scripture forbids it in the Ten Commandments and treats it as a fundamental sin that breaks the covenant.
New Covenant
[Bible]The new covenant is the covenant that God promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34 to make with Israel. The New Testament teaches that this promise was established through the death of Jesus Christ.
Noahic Covenant
[Bible]The Noahic covenant is the covenant God made after the Flood with Noah, his descendants, and every living creature. In it God promised never again to destroy the earth by a flood and appointed the rainbow as its sign (Genesis 9). It is also called the "rainbow covenant."
Sinai Covenant
[Bible]The Sinai Covenant is the covenant God made at Mount Sinai with the people of Israel after the Exodus, with Moses serving as mediator. Centered on the Ten Commandments and the law, it established Israel as "a kingdom of priests."
Jezreel
[Bible]Jezreel is a Hebrew place name meaning "God sows." It refers to a city in the northern kingdom of Israel and to the broad valley around it. The city held a royal palace of the house of Ahab and was the setting of the revolt led by Jehu. Jezreel is also the name of a son of the prophet Hosea.
Sign
[Bible]A sign is a token that God displays to reveal His will and power, or the authority of one He has sent. The Gospel of John calls the miracles of Jesus "signs" and records them as evidence intended to lead people to faith.
Heavenly Rewards
[Doctrine & Theology]Heavenly rewards are the rewards that God is understood to give believers for their faithful lives and service. The term refers chiefly to the recompense received at the Last Judgment or in heaven.
Seer
[Bible]A seer is "one who sees" what God has shown. In the Old Testament it is an older name for a prophet. Samuel, Gad, and Iddo, among others, were called by this title.
Replacement Theology
[Doctrine & Theology]Replacement theology is the theological view that God's covenant relationship with Israel was transferred to the church after Jesus Christ. It is also called supersessionism.
Vision
[Bible]A vision is a means by which God makes something known to a person by showing scenes or meanings that cannot be perceived with ordinary sight. Visions appear frequently in the Old Testament prophetic books and in the Book of Acts.
Land Flowing with Milk and Honey
[Bible]An Old Testament idiom describing the abundance of the land of Canaan, which God promised to give to Israel. It first appears in Exodus 3:8 and recurs throughout the Pentateuch and the Prophets.
Firmament
[Bible]The firmament is the expanse that God made on the second day of creation in Genesis 1 to divide the waters above from the waters below; God called it "Heaven." The English term renders the Hebrew word raqia.
New Creation
[Doctrine & Theology]New creation is the biblical teaching that God, through Christ, makes people new and will renew the whole of heaven and earth at the last day.
Forgiveness of Sins
[Doctrine & Theology]The forgiveness of sins is God's pardoning of human sin, by which he no longer holds a person liable for the guilt and punishment that sin incurs. Protestants generally understand it as a grace grounded in the cross of Jesus Christ and received through repentance and faith.
Effectual Calling
[Doctrine & Theology]Effectual calling is a term in Reformed soteriology for the inward call by which God, through the Holy Spirit, actually brings those who hear the gospel to faith. It is also called effective calling or efficacious calling.
Guardian Angel
[Doctrine & Theology]A guardian angel is an angel whom God sends to protect a person or community; the term also refers to the belief that God sends such angels. The Catholic Church teaches it as doctrine, while Protestants generally affirm angelic protection but do not insist that each person is assigned a single angel.