Inability to speak. In the OT muteness is traced to God (Exod 4:11). God made Ezekiel mute (Ezek 3:26) in response to Israel’s failure to listen to his message. Later He restored Ezekiel’s speech (24:27; 33:22) as a sign of the people’s receptiveness to hear. Daniel became speechless in response to the appearance of a heavenly messenger (Dan 10:15).
Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (MUTENESS)
Meaning “to feel passion with someone” or “to enter sympathetically into one’s sorrow and pain.” In various translations of the Bible, this English word is used to translate at least five Hebrew words in the OT and eight Greek words in the NT. The subtle variations in the original terms are emphasized below, with the inevitable overlapping of meaning being apparent.
Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (COMPASSION)
Zechariah foresaw a future time when all of the nations would worship the one true God. The praise of the Lord would be so widespread that even horses would have “HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD” inscribed on the bells on their harnesses. These are the same words embroidered on the hat worn by the high priest of Israel (Exod 28:36).
Continue reading BIBLE CUSTOMS AND CURIOSITIES (HOLINESS AND HORSES)
The metalsmith has a very old pedigree. Cain was a smith, and it was one of his descendants, Tubal-Cain, who was described as “the forger of instruments of bronze and iron” (Genesis 4:17,22). Cain was the father of the Midianite tribe of Kenites who seem to have been involved in many aspects of Israel’s history (see, for example Genesis 15:19; 1 Samuel 15:6). They appear to have exploited the copper of the Sinai with the Egyptians. Artifacts of Kenite metalworking have yielded much of the archaeological information we know concerning ancient metal-working.
Continue reading MANNERS AND CUSTOMS OF THE BIBLE (WORKERS WITH METAL)
OLD TESTAMENT
The aspects of the fruit of the Spirit advocated by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23 occur not only here but also elsewhere in the Scriptures. Most of the attributes are those by which God himself lives.
Continue reading THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT
As the biblical authors address the ethics of political leaders and believers in general, they state that it is the treatment of the most disadvantaged members of society-the orphans-that is to distinguish them as God’s people. The Lord paved the way of this moral high road by identifying himself as the one who is the provider of food and clothing for the fatherless (Deut 10:18). He is the helper, defender, and father of the orphan (Psa 10:14, 18; 68:5; 146:9).
Continue reading EVERYDAY LIFE IN BIBLE TIMES (ORPHAN “FARTHERLESS” PT3)
Most other Bible prophets lived before God punished the Jews by exiling them to Assyria and Babylon, in what is now Iraq. So those earlier prophets warned the Jews where they were headed if they didn’t stop sinning. But even those prophets offered hope, promising that God would bring the Jews home one day.
Continue reading BIBLE BOOK OF THE DAY (ZECHARIAH)
The Hebrew verb “make sport” is used to indicate ridicule (e.g. Gen 21:9) but also sport in the sense of entertainment (Jug 16:25,27) or play (Exod 32:6; 104:26; Zech 8:5).
Continue reading DEFINITION OF THE DAY (SPORTS)
Giving the powerful role that fasting might play in developing this perspective, the biblical authors are roundly critical of those who abuse it. Typically, the presentation of fasting is surrounded by positive connotations, as when Luke mentions the widow Anna, who spent her days at the temple praying and fasting (Luke 2:36-37). But those who presumed that the mere act of fasting was sufficient in and of itself as leverage with which to force the Almighty into
Continue reading EVERYDAYL LIFE IN BIBLE TIMES (FAST)