The prophet Zephaniah declared that God would eventually punish the Assyrians for their cruelty and pagan worship (Judges 1:6 and Nahum 2:3). Their capital city, Nineveh, would become a laughingstock among the nations.
Continue reading BIBLE CUSTOMS AND CURIOSITIES (MOCKERY AND RIDICULE)
Cloth covering. 1. Women’s veils Rebekah veiled herself before meeting Isaac (Gen 24:65). Her veil was perhaps the sign that she was a marriageable maiden. Tamar used her veil to conceal her identity from Judah (Gen 38:14,19). Another Hebrew term renders “veil” at Isa 3:23. Here veils are but one of the items of finery the elite women of Jerusalem would lose in the coming siege. The same Hebrew term in rendered “shawl” (NASB), “cloak” (HCSB, NIV, REB), and “mantle” (KJV, NRSV) at Song 5:7. There, removal of the shawl was part of a
Continue reading DEFINITION OF DAY (VEIL)
Neither the ark of the covenant nor the temple of Solomon housed God in a literal, confining sense. God is both infinite and omnipresent. As the martyr Stephen declared. “The Most High doesn’t live in temples made by human hands” (Acts 7:48. Acts 17:24).
Continue reading HOW DID GOD “DWELL” IN THE ARK AND IN THE TEMPLE?
Term used by the KJV to translate two closely related Hebrew words (tannim and tannin). At times the terms appear to be interchangeable. Context indicates that the first term refers to a mammal inhabiting the desert (Isa 13:22; 35:7; 43:20; Lam 4:3). Most modern speech translation equate the animal with the jackal, though perhaps the wolf (REB) is intended. The second term has four possible uses: (1) “great sea monster” (KJV, “great whales”) in the sense of a large sea
Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (DRAGON)
The Bible is a historical book as well as a spiritual one. As such, it contains many important historical leaders and describes their impact on the nation of Israel. These people are not often used as symbols in the Bibles, but their influence on the history of God’s people carries symbolic importance because of the particular interactions they had. The Jews look back on these leaders as people who operated under the sovereign will of God either to help them as an instrument of mercy or to test and punish them as an executor of his just wrath.
Continue reading SIGNS AND SYMBOLS OF THE BIBLE (XERXES THE GREAT “and Other Significant Rulers”)
10 Moreover the Lord spake again unto Ahaz, saying,
11 Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above.
12 But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the Lord. Continue reading SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY (ISAIAH 7:10-17: THE SIGN OF IMMANUEL)
Could any punishment be worse than being forced to eat stones? Jeremiah used this graphic image to show how severely the Lord was punishing the nation of Judah for her sin and idolatry. Continue reading ROCKS FOR DINNER?