Supplying wood for priests to use in offering burnt sacrifices on the altar was a task assigned to the Nethinims, or temple servants (Ezra 2:43). But not enough of these servants returned from the exile in Babylonia and Persia to handle this task.
Continue reading BIBLE CUSTOMS AND CURIOSITIES (WOOD FOR THE ALTAR)
Physical or material image or form representing a reality or being considered divine and thus an object of worship. In the Bible various terms are used to refer to idols or idolatry: “image,” either graven (carved) or cast, “statue,” “abomination.” Both Testaments condemn idols, but with idols the OT expresses more concern than the NT, probably reflecting the fact that the threat of idolatry was more pronounced for the people of the OT.
Continue reading DEFINITON OF THE DAY (IDOL)
Place name meaning “swelling,” “fat,” “bulge,” or “mound,” It became the proper name of a portion of the hill on which the city of David was built (2 Chron 27:3). The Ophel was just south of Mount Moriah, on which the temple was constructed, joining the old city with the area of Solomon’s palace and temple. The hill has been inhabited since pre-Israelite times by peoples such as the Jebusites from whom David took the site.
Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (OPHEL)
Cattle were primarily a measure or symbol of wealth in biblical times. They were both familiar and significant, good characteristics for symbolic use. Among his livestock, the wealthy Job had a thousand oxen (Job 1:3). Cattle not only provided meat, milk, leather, and other by-products, they were the main animal workforce in ancient agricultural societies. Oxen (castrated bulls) pulled plows as well as wagons. Continue reading SIGNS AND SYMBOLS OF THE BIBLE (BULL/CALF)
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All forms of idolatry were forbidden in Israel (Exo 20:2-6; Lev 19:4), but Baal worship was especially popular among the people. Baal was one of the primary deities of the Canaanites. He was regarded as the god with the power to bestow or withhold fertility to Continue reading WHY WAS BAAL WORSHIP CONSIDERED SO OFFENSIVE?
God’s initiative in encountering people. Biblical words for the presence of God usually relate to the “face” of God. Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (PRESENCE OF GOD)
The book of is curious. It’s the only book in the Bible that never overtly mentions God. It contains no references to the Mosaic law or to sacrifices. You don’t see priests making offerings here, or saints singing psalms, or prophets pointing the people back to God’s promise. Continue reading WOMEN OF THE BIBLE (ESTHER: THE QUEEN OF PERSIA)
HUNGER- Strong need or desire for food. Scripture contains haunting pictures of hunger. Isaiah 29:8 uses the image of a hungry person dreaming of eating only to awake hungry again. In Lam 4:9 those who fell by the sword are reckoned better off than those pierced by hunger. Hunger frequently takes on a theological significance. Exodus 16:3 recounts Israel’s complaint that Moses led them from Egypt to kill them with hunger in the desert. Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY “HUNGER”