Tag Archives: Edom

Day 242 (Aug. 30): God to shame shepherds (leaders) for helping themselves and not their flock (Israelites), God to gather scattered sheep, Canaan will be restored, Edom to suffer for treating Israel mercilessly, the land of Israel has been beaten and mocked but God will restore it and punish those who spoke and acted against it, God is especially angry at Edom, God promises a more beautiful Israel than before and one that will not be mocked, God to cleanse the Israelites and their land

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It’s hard to believe that today, we are two-thirds through the Bible.  We will start reading the New Testament on Sept. 24.  Yipee!

If you are joining BibleBum for the first time, welcome! This blog is exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture. 

To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.  As you journey through the Bible, think about all the blessings that surround you.  As you read further and further, they will multiply.

Ezekiel 34-36

Questions & Observations

O. (Ezekiel 34:1-10): We have talked about God’s use of shepherds and flocks, which is richly used in this passage!

Q. (34:23): Does “David” here refer to David’s line down to Jesus?

A. It refers to a ruler from his line that will serve God as David did.  We will be hard pressed to find such a person until Jesus.

Q. (34:25-31): Here God says that the Israelites will return to their land, not threatened by neighboring kings nor wild animals and they will be known for their plentiful harvests.  However, historically, the Israelites have had it good and they eventually ruin it.  We know that this will happen again since Jesus, the Messiah has to come and save them.

A. There’s a lot that will take place between “then” and when Jesus comes on the scene, but Jerusalem will be Israel’s home and capital for around 500 years before the events of the Passion.  Jerusalem will be destroyed in 70 AD by the Roman army, so I would say God let things run for a pretty good amount of time, wouldn’t you?

Q. (36:25-27): Has this passage been used to create sprinklings in churches?  Or, is that in the NT?

A. Ritual sprinkling of water was part of the ritual of the priesthood, which is what God is referring to here.  The NT tradition of baptism is something else, but the notions of purification that underlie it are fairly similar.  Though I don’t know all the details, it would not surprise me if this verse is cited in the theology of Christian “sprinkling” (rather than immersion) baptisms.

Q. (36:37): God says he is ready to restore Jerusalem.  Has it been 70 years yet?

A. Not yet.  Patience, there is still much to do before they will be ready.

Day 240 (Aug. 28): Jeremiah cries out the woes of Jerusalem, Jeremiah asks God if He is still angry, Obadiah prophesies that Edom will be condemned for celebrating Judah’s fall, Jerusalem to become a refuge for those who escape, Israelites to take over defeated nations, Ishmael revolts at Gedaliah’s appointment to govern Judah

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Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Lamentations 5:1-22

Obadiah 1:1-21

2 Kings 25:22-26

Jeremiah 40:7-16

Jeremiah 41:1-18

Questions & Observations

O. (Lamentations 5:7): Jeremiah, who wrote this (Jeremiah does not identify himself, but tradition holds that he is the writer- Rob), is obviously suffering, but we see that he still has his wits about him because after his complaints in v. 5:1-18, he praises the Lord … briefly.  I wanted to point out that in v. 7, Jeremiah is blaming the Israelites ancestors for all of their present suffering.  My first thought was, “Excuse me, God has been warning you over and over again — through you, no less — that the idol worship had to stop or Judah would see doom.  And, it didn’t stop.  But, in reality, their ancestors are the ones who set the precedent.  Of course, they could change their ways, but as we have discussed before, change is hard and what your ancestors taught you is engrained.  So, in all fairness, the ancestors deserve their fair share of blame.  (I’m not trying to approve or disapprove of God’s actions here.  I know better!)  The subject of being so engrained in your world that you can’t leave it all to follow Christ came up in a speech that the headmaster of my daughters’ school, Rev. Bob Ingram, gave at their convocation chapel this past week.  He discussed having a hardened heart.  Check it out at:

http://www.genevaschool.org/wp-content/uploads/08.22.13-Opening-Convocation.Ingram.pdf.  When I think of a hardened heart, I think of pharaoh not letting the Egyptians go because God hardened his heart, which pretty much means he was stubborn and prideful.  In another example, in his speech, Rev. Ingram brings up the wealthy man in the NT who followed Jesus and obeyed all of the laws.  He asked Jesus what more he could do.  Jesus told him that there was one thing left: to sell his possessions, give it to the poor and follow Me.  He couldn’t do it.  That is how our hearts are hardened today.  We can be good Christians and do everything that society tells us to do, but can we give our entire lives over to Jesus?  There is a family in one of my daughter’s classes that are interviewing to be missionary directors or something like that in South America.  Here they are, both have great jobs, their daughters are in an awesome school, they have family close by, but they listened to God’s calling.  The husband had heard God call him to mission work.  He finally told his wife and she said, “OK.”  I’m not saying that we all need to do mission work, just that we need to listen to God and give ourselves to Him.  I always put myself in other people’s shoes and compare myself — a self-defeating habit I’m trying to squash — and think that maybe I should take in a foster child or go on a mission trip.  Well … not that it’s a bad thing, but God hasn’t called me to do that.  He did call me to do this blog and I think that I have mission work in my future.   You?

O. For a quick look at Obadiah, go to: http://biblesummary.org/obadiah/1.htm

Q. (Obadiah 1:19-21): I guess this is why God has scattered the remaining Israelites — so they will inhabit all of the surrounding nations?

A. It appears to be part of the way that God has ensured the survival of His people throughout the ages.

Q. (2 Kings 25:25): Why did Ishmael kill Gedaliah and all of those with him?

A. There could be a number of factors at play here.  First, he might have been loyal to Zedekiah and avenging his capture.  He also might have been an ally of Ammon, which was mentioned, whose people may have pushed him to kill the ruler.  A third possibility is that he was angry at Gedaliah for encouraging the people to submit to Babylon and killed him in a desire to continue the revolt against Babylon.

Q. (Jeremiah 41:1-18): Is there any importance to Ishmael killing Gedaliah?

A. Not especially.  I’m not aware of any particular way that this affects the “downstream” action.  From here, we will focus on the captivity in Babylon through Ezekiel, Daniel, and Ester, and begin the restoration of the nation via our other writings.

Day 239: (Aug. 27): Lord’s anger is like an enemy’s to Jerusalem, Jeremiah cries out to God for mercy, Jeremiah tells of his mockery, Jeremiah is steadfast to hope for relief, Jeremiah asks God for revenge on his enemies, after all the destruction and suffering, God’s anger is satisfied, Edom will be punished for celebrating Jerusalem’s demise

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Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Lamentation 2-4

Questions & Observations

Q. (Lamentations 2:1-22): Reading this, I can’t help but imagine what Jeremiah is going through.  He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem and the anguish of the people.  Now, he is living among it.  I was tearing up as I read His description.  Then, we read where He is pleading to God to be fair.  V. 20 was a clear image where he says, “Should mothers eat their own children, those once they bounced on their knees?”  So, this goes on for 70 years?

A. No, he’s describing the condition of the siege.  Once Jerusalem was destroyed, the people became subjects of Babylon and under the rule of the leader of Judea, who would take better care of them in theory at least.  That’s not to say they had it easy, but nowhere nearly as bad as during the siege.

Q. (3:1-20): I never imagined that Jeremiah would not be spared.  I didn’t think about him suffering along with the others.  He is obviously pouring out his anger at God for these devastating times.  But, then in v. 21, he does a 180° turn and proclaims God.  This reminds me of Job, David, Solomon and others who have cried out to God, blaming him, but then following it with their faithfulness to Him.

A. Lamentations 3 is one of my favorite chapters of the whole Bible, because it lays out the devastation of God’s wrath and the anguish of Jeremiah in agonizing words, but then turns to say that God is still the hope of His people, and His mercies are ever new.  Amazing!

O. (4:12): Like I have said, sometimes I’m slow to realize things.  I always thought Jerusalem was a lesser metropolis because we continuously talk about her invaders, especially Babylon and Egypt and how powerful they were.  But, here, it’s apparent that Jerusalem really was grand because it says, “Not a king in all the earth — no on in all the world — would have believed that an enemy could march through the gates of Jerusalem.”  (And, like Rob said the other day, Jerusalem was on higher ground with land “flowing with milk and honey.”)

Day 234 (Aug. 23): Death of Ezekiel’s wife a picture of what’s to come, Ammonites and Moabites will be overrun by desert nomads because they disrespected Judah, God gets revenge on Edom and Philistia, Zedekiah told of Babylon’s immediate invasion and his capture, punishment handed out for enslaving Hebrews, God refuses Zedekiah’s request to save Jerusalem from Nebuchadnezzar, God charges Judah’s royalty to use justice, Egypt punished because pharaoh claimed the Nile for himself, Egypt compared to fallen Assyria

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Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Ezekiel 24:15-25:17

Jeremiah 34:1-22

Jeremiah 21:1-14

Ezekiel 29:1-16

Ezekiel 30:20-26

Ezekiel 31:1-18

Questions & Observations

Q. (Ezekiel 24:15-17): Reading that God killed Ezekiel’s wife as a demonstration to the people on what their lives will be like seems cruel.  Ezekiel is putting up with a lot from God.  The lack of fairness comes to mind, but being fair is not something God has promised.  After going past my initial shock of his wife dying and Ezekiel not being allowed to mourn for her, I think how desperate these times are that God had to kill his messenger’s wife to try to get through to the people and how hard it must have been for God to make such harsh demonstrations and punishments.  These people are so obstinate.

A. It is a poignant scene, no doubt.  The wife’s death appears to coincide with the destruction of the temple, which surely caused Ezekiel a great amount of anguish as a priest.  God called upon him to mourn for his wife in a way that would be an example for his people: to carry on despite the crushing loss.

Q. (25:1-17): Has Ezekiel already lain on his side for over a year to take the sins of the Israelites and Judeans?  Here he has to travel to give messages to these other kingdoms, so I guess his time bound to bed is finished?

A. The story doesn’t tell us about when he completed the action, but no, I don’t believe that he is traveling to these lands as he’s a captive in Babylon.  He’s not allowed to leave.  God instructs him to symbolically “face” these nations and issue the statements.  He is not delivering these oracles in person.

O From Rob: If there’s any movie buffs out there who are fans of Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction (and I can’t say I am, just passing this along), Ezekiel 25:17 is the verse that Samuel L. Jackson’s hit-man character, Jules, uses when he is about to execute his targets.  If you watch the film, however, you will quickly note that the writers, including Tarantino, MADE UP most of the “verse” that Jules “quotes”, though the ending is similar to the King James Version.  I’m not linking to the scene, because it is extremely violent, but you might get a laugh out of how exaggerated the verse Jules uses is, and the way that it is played up to “sound” like a wrathful Bible verse.  Hollywood is certainly fond of treating the Bible in such a manner, so it is certainly wise of Christians to know what the Bible ACTUALLY says.

Q. (Jeremiah 34:1-7): Zedekiah is captured here, but I thought he was going to suffer for a while.  Here, it says he will die peacefully.

A. He will suffer by being sent into exile, rather than dying in the midst of battle.  The fall of Jerusalem is the conclusion of Babylon’s war against Judah; after this, “peace” is established by virtue of Judah’s people no longer resisting.

Q. (34:8-22): Is this passage out of order?  Zedekiah has been captured.  How could he make a ruling when he’s in exile?  Did he make it a while ago and now the people are not releasing the slaves?  I don’t know who is being addressed.  Who is doing the enslaving of Hebrews?

A. It’s not out of order.  Jeremiah is saying that Zedekiah’s capture is “about” to happen, and the city will be destroyed.  Jerusalem and its surrounding cities were under a long siege, which is about to come to an end.  So Zedekiah is not YET in exile.  Babylon is the only one enslaving the Judeans, but they are doing it slowly over the course of several years.

O. (Ezekiel 29:16): It’s so interesting to see all the countries at play here to make God’s messages come true, like here when He says that Egypt will be a minor kingdom so Israel will not be tempted to trust it and see how foolish they were to ever have trusted it.

Q. (30:20-26): We see that God is strengthening Babylon and weakening most other countries, like Egypt here.  Were there reasons (weather yielding good crops, politics, uprisings, etc.) other than God planned it this way — well, really the peoples’ sinning caused the suffering — that caused all of this turmoil.  What I am asking is “is it God’s pure wrath at hand or does He use forces of nature to show His wrath?”  I may have mentioned this before that I saw a program on the History Channel or somewhere like that that told about how the plagues could actually be explained through geography.

A. God can do as He pleases with such efforts, and He is certainly capable of using a nation like Babylon to humble His people and the surrounding nations including Egypt. Like His use of messengers, God is capable of using third parties to His own ends, but He can also speak for Himself as He does in His messages to Jeremiah or Ezekiel as we read about in these chapters.

Q. (31:14): Just wondered if the “pit” here is referring to hell?

A. No, just the grave.  We won’t see much reference to hell until the NT, which certainly doesn’t jive with the common trope that God is purely wrathful in the OT and peaceful in the NT.  The NT, frankly, has MUCH more to say about eternal damnation then the OT does — something to watch for.

Day 228 (Aug. 16): God makes Ezekiel a messenger/watchman for Israel, Ezekiel only to speak when he has message from God, Ezekiel bears sins of Israel and Judah as he’s force to experience devastation of siege, Judah urged to submit to Babylon, Ignore false prophets, Jeremiah condemns Hananiah, Jeremiah prophecies that Babylon will be empty

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Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Ezekiel 3:16-4:17

Jeremiah 27-28

Jeremiah Wears an Ox Yoke

Questions & Observations

Q. (Ezekiel 3:24, 4:4-7, 12): This isn’t a literal description right?  Ezekiel’s hands weren’t really tied so he couldn’t move?  It gets worse in Ch. 4.  Why such harsh treatment for someone who is to spread God’s messages?  And dung for fuel to bake his bread.  This is unbearable!

A. I believe that the being tied was symbolic.  It did not imply that he could not move, but should be understood as God restricting his movements metaphorically.  As to the rest of the requirements, it appears that God meant this literally as he made provision for Ezekiel’s needs, though scantily, of food and shelter.  The idea here is that Ezekiel will act out the siege that is befalling Jerusalem on various levels: being trapped within the “walls,” given meager rations, and forced to improvise fuel.  Dried manure was commonly used as fuel in this era, and is still used in parts of the world today.  I cannot imagine it is a pleasant fuel to use, but I believe that that was an intentional choice on God’s part: the unpleasantness was meant to be part of the symbolic penance.

Q. (4:5-6): What is the significance of the length of time Ezekiel was required to rest on his left and then right side?

A. Based upon the model he built, having Ezekiel lie on his left side would have meant he was on the “north” side of Jerusalem, which would have symbolized Israel.  Having him lay on his right side would have caused him to be on the south side, representing Judah and its sins.  The 390 years appears to be the length of time that has taken place since Solomon’s turning away from God, and all the Northern kings who followed down this path away from God.  The 40 years is a bit trickier, but is probably a reference to Manasseh’s long reign before his repentance.

Q. (Jeremiah 28:1-17): Why were there false prophets?  Were they appointed by the king to say what he wants them to say much like the king creates man-made idols to help him in the way he wants help?

A. That’s one possible explanation.  Another is that this man thought he was hearing from God but was simply mistaken as Jeremiah is told.  Telling people what they want to hear is surely a way to make oneself popular, so perhaps this man became a “prophet” because he liked being the center of attention for sharing positive messages that the king and others would have liked to hear.  Those are my guesses.

Day 223 (Aug. 11): God’s destruction of Ammon, terror in Edom, fear in Damascus, Nebuchadnezzar sets sites on Kedar and Hazor, Jehoiachin reigns after Jeoiakim dies, Reign of David’s descendants ends with Jehoiachin, God tells of righteous descendant coming, Lord gives warning against false prophets

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Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Jeremiah 49:1-33

2 Kings 24:5-7 / 597 BC

2 Chronicles 36:6-8

2 Kings 24:8-9

2 Chronicles 36:9

Jeremiah 22:24-23:32

Questions & Observations

Q. (Jeremiah 49:1-33): What are we supposed to take from this scripture other than God is cleansing the earth?  I can see why he chose a flood the first time.  I think it would be easier and a lot less to orchestrate, but, probably harder to rebuild.  And, do we know why God chose Nebuchadnezzar to do a lot of the fighting?

A. God is not cleansing the whole earth, but all of the nations spoken of here (including Judah) are in the path of the Babylonian army, who is conquering this area on their way to Egypt, as the writing eludes to.  Why God chose Nebuchadnezzar specifically is something of a mystery, but perhaps some further readings from Daniel might help spell it out: the story of Nebuchadnezzar from Daniel 4 is one of my favorite OT scriptures.

Q. (22:30): Does God really halt the lineage of David as king?

A. Yes.  For their sins, David’s descendants will no longer serve as king — the nation has no king anyway, they will be in exile under a foreign ruler — but there is a loophole that we will come to much later.

O. (23:12): I really like when God says, “I, the Lord, have spoken!”  It feels like he is a judge and putting his stamp on it.

Q. (23:14): Why are Sodom and Gomorrah brought up fairly often?  I know what happened and that the townspeople were horribly wicked, but I wouldn’t have thought that this was a story that was handed down near as much as the Flood, Joseph and Pharaoh, and the Exodus.

A. Because they are (ok, were…) in this area of the Middle East and much closer than Egypt.  At least that would be my guess.

Q. (23:17): I find that the last two lines of this verse is a subject that has been on my mind.  Are all of our actions supposed to coincide with God’s desires?  I don’t know anyone who has that strong of a relationship with God that He will guide them through their every move.  But, let’s just talk about our important desires, mainly the thing that we do, like what work, volunteering, starting a new business, joining a new group, getting deeply involved in a hobby.  Are the things that we spend most of our time doing supposed to glorify God?  Here are some specific examples: training for a marathon, decorating our house, surfing or other water sports, watching sports, crafts, etc.  Basically, we can spend hours doing things we enjoy, but do they glorify God?  There are millions of people out there that need to be saved, so how can we justify spending hours on ourselves?  I question some big projects that I want to do.  This blog is the start of one.  I want to expand it.  I felt God’s guidance when the ideas popped into my head.  But, I haven’t heard that affirmation in a long time.  Does God just need to say it once, like the above observation says, “I, the Lord, have spoken,” and he doesn’t need to say anymore?  Then, there are all of those desires that God has not directed me on.  How am I supposed to view those?

A. The further we walk with God, and the closer we grow to Him, I think, we will find the answer to your questions, though probably not with 100% certainty.  Think of it as a relationship with a human friend: the more time you spend with that friend, the more you know that person’s desires, and at a certain point (say with a spouse), you can probably guess with a fair degree of accuracy what that person would do or would ask YOU to do in a certain situation.  It is the same with God: as we grow to be more like Him in the person of Jesus, we will come to know the ways that God is glorified by our actions.  I believe that God is most glorified by us being the people that He designed us to be.  If God has given you a head for business ventures, then He is glorified in you when you do so well, though only if you give Him the credit for what you accomplish.  God certainly desires us to be healthy, so training for a marathon or other event is surely God-honoring.  So part of our mission in our walk is to figure out what exactly God has given to us in terms of spiritual gifts (a NT topic we will walk through later) and natural abilities.  With this information, and the Spirit as our guide, I believe that we will be able to act in ways that give God glory, even if we never hear Him directly speak to us.  We do not necessarily need to hear from Him in order to know what He desires, that is one of the main functions of reading scripture.  I hope that helps.

Day 217 (Aug. 5): God’s wrath poors over nations, Baruch reads scrolls of God’s prophecies, Baruch and Jeremiah hide for safety, King Jehoiakim burns the scroll, the scrolls are rewritten and lengthened, God empowers Baruch, Egypt’s boasting was its ruin, reassurance for the rebuilding of Israel

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Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Jeremiah 25:15-38

Jeremiah 36:1-32

Jeremiah 45:1-5

Jeremiah 46:1-28

Questions & Observations

Q. (Jeremiah 24:15-29): Can you explain this “cup”?  And, how did Jeremiah get around to all of these nations?  This is something that took many, many years?  I wouldn’t think that all of these nations would have welcomed Jeremiah.  Was it in the reading that God would protect him?

A. I suspect that this section is a vision of some sort; I highly doubt that Jeremiah went to all of these nations — and as you mention, he would hardly be welcomed.  But the cup itself is an image of God’s wrath, which will be poured out upon these nations for their various sins.  This period in the Middle East was one of extreme turmoil, with nation conquering nation and repeated periods of slaughter that can be see as God’s wrath being poured out.  It was a horrible time, and poor little Judah is caught in the middle of this ongoing endless war within this region.  But surely we live in more civilized times today.

Q. (24:33): And you wonder where some people get a sick sense of humor. (lol) God is saying here that these people are basically the “sh” 4-letter word.

A. Sort of.  I think God is comparing the sheer number of unburied bodies to the mass quantity of manure that a farmer would typically use on a field.

Q. (36:5): Why does Jeremiah say he is a prisoner?

A. Jeremiah is imprisoned by the king who doesn’t like what he is saying.  I believe that we will see more about this later, though I am honestly not sure why the imprisonment didn’t come “first” in our reading.  My notes indicate that he may not have been a prisoner — other translations render this word “restricted” — but may simply have been forbidden from going to the Temple to proclaim his message.  In a linear reading of Jeremiah — which we are obviously not doing here — chapters 7 and 19-20 contain various speeches and actions at the Temple that surely made the officials and king not care much for what Jeremiah had to say.

Q. (36:19): OK, the officials were very interested in the Lord’s messages, but they told Jeremiah and Baruch to hide because they knew the king would not be receptive to them?

A. Yup.

Q. (46:20, 2-26): A horsefly, that’s funny.  What I take from this is that God’s instruction of the different kings drinking from the cup of doom is given more details of who will do what to whom.

A. Yes I would say that’s right.  Egypt will be “eaten” by this horsefly from the north — as will every nation in Babylon’s path — under Nebuchadnezzar.

Day 200 (July 19): Forewarning to nations of impending destruction, Edom targeted for ill treatment of Israel, the earth will be restored, wealthy oppressors judged heavily, false prophets put aside, hope for Israel’s restoration, Israel’s leaders are administering the evil, peace among nations will come, Israel’s return from exile, ruler from Bethlehem a bright light, the remnants of Israel will have power

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Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Isaiah 34-35

Micah 2-5:15

Questions & Observations

Q. (Isaiah 34:1-7): This is all speaking metaphorically, right?  V. 5 says that “when my sword has finished its work in the heavens, it will fall upon Edom.” Why would God need to “clean house” in the heavens?

A. This will sound a bit odd, but it refers to the destruction and displacement of the stars/heavens in the previous verses.  I’m not exactly sure what he is saying, but it appears to mean that God will violently destroy the heavens on the Day of Judgment (to make the way for the new Heaven and Earth), and the metaphorical extension of this metaphor is to say that God will destroy these heavenly bodies with His sword.  It should as you say, in NO WAY be taken literally.

Q. (34:16): This is very clever prose.  The verse makes an emphasis on the fact that the new inhabitants of Edom — jackals, owls, desert animals, hyenas, wild goats, night creatures and buzzards — will live there with mates, ensuring that they will have offspring and continue to inhabit the land.

A. Clever isn’t it?  My notes indicate the Edom is used here as a symbolic nation that represents all the enemy nations of Israel.

Q. (Micah 2:3): I like the ring of that “I will reward evil with evil.”

A. That is God’s prerogative.  We are called to something different: Matthew 5:43-48, Romans 12:14-21.

Q. (2:6-11): Basically, this says that a crime against people is a sin against God.  You hurt his people, you answer to Him.

A. Yes, all sin is ultimately against God, including evil against other people.  It is part of the reason that when Jesus was asked about the greatest commandment, He gave two answers: love God, and love your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40).

Q. (4:6-13): I had a thought from this passage: God is punishing the other nations for influencing them to worship other idols and act wicked.  Thus, He is destroying them and making Jerusalem a beacon to show that He is Lord of lords.  Is this accurate?

A. I would say it is.

Q. (5:2): Is Jesus the one Micah is speaking of?

A. The writer of Matthew’s Gospel sure thought so: see Matthew 2:3-6.

Day 197 (July 16): Isaiah prophecies for Ethiopia, Egypt, Babylon, Edom, Arabia, Jerusalem, Shebna and Tyre

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Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Isaiah 18:1-7

Isaiah 19:1-25

Isaiah 20:1-6

Isaiah 21:1-17

Isaiah 22:1-25

Isaiah 23:1-18

Questions & Observations

Q. (Isaiah 18:1-7): I’m not sure what is going on here.  Why was Ethiopia brought into the picture?

A. Back on June 30th, when we last looked at Isaiah, I mentioned that this is the “Jonah” section of Isaiah.  What I mean by that is it is the section where God commands Isaiah to prophecy to various nations in the area, and now the list includes the various nations and tribes we see here, Ethiopia (other translations call it Cush), Assyria, Tyre, Edom, etc.  God is calling these other nations to repentance just as He does with Israel.

Q. (19:1): Rob, I want to look back to your second answer on Day 195 about angels and demons.  You said that fallen angels may be some of the demonic influences in other nations.   Just to get this straight, can they be associated with some of the man-made gods that were created?  Or is it more like God, unseen, but a lesser power?  I’m just bringing this up because verse 1 says “The idols in Egypt tremble.”

A. The idols worshipped in these other nations are not God, but they may — we can’t be sure — be associated with other spiritual powers such as demons.  Certainly many of the actions required of these “gods” such as human sacrifice reflect a spirit that is certainly against what the true God desires.  So in that sense, these gods are acting in ways counter to what God desires.  But it remains a mystery how much influence these evil, demonic spirits have in the OT.  We only get glimpses: our focus is to be on God.  Regarding the “quaking idols,” I believe Isaiah is using metaphorical language.

Q. (19:3): Rob, can you comment about “spirits of the dead”?

A. It’s referring to a soul or other spirit of a person disconnected from a body by death.  The ancient world believed that consulting with such spirits was one way to control the future, so it is no surprise that we see this here.  Israel was strictly forbidden from doing it, but other nations were not.

Q. (19:23-25): God is just expanding His kingdom here?

A. Sort of.  This is once again a vision of life in the Kingdom of God after the great Day of Reckoning or Judgment.  In that day, Isaiah says, the former conflicts — like the rivalries between Egypt, Israel, and Assyria — will disappear and the people will be united in the worship of God.

Q. (20:1-6): What happened?  I thought Assyria and Egypt were allies.  It seems as the king of Assyria is always a thorn in someone’s side.  Poor Isaiah — naked and barefoot for three years!  That is some servant!  Now, the Philistines are thrown into the ring too.  I don’t know what’s going on here.

A. These various factions are constantly making and shifting alliances.  We see this in the story we are reading as well: sometimes Judah and Israel (before being destroyed) were allies, and sometimes they were bitter enemies.  Assyria and Egypt are the two most powerful nations of this era at this time, so it is no surprise that they both tried to gain the upper hand against each other, even if it meant betraying former alliances.

Q. (22:1-14): So, Jerusalem finally got hit.  Reading the account is strange.  It says they were destroyed by famine and disease.  Famine and disease usually occur over time.  This account sounds like it happened in one day.  Is there any reason to the order of destruction of these countries?  Israel was destroyed some time ago.

A.  Narratively speaking, this is a prophecy of Jerusalem’s destruction, not the “event” itself if that makes sense.  The city will be under siege for several years before it falls — which we will read about in Jeremiah and 2 Kings — with plenty of time for the famine and disease aspects Isaiah talks about to take place.

Q. (22:15-25): The palace administrator was obviously corrupt, but we haven’t heard much about him, right?

A. No, we do not know much of anything about him, other than the fact that his name implies that he was not an Israelite: he was most likely an Egyptian.

Q. (23:17-18): So even the most proud place will convert to God?  Why is Tyre likened to a prostitute?

A. Tyre was a sea-faring nation, and they hired their ships out to whoever gave them the most money.  They didn’t care where it came from or what it was for.  God is saying that they have sold their soul and are “whoring” themselves out in ways that do not please Him.  In the Day of the Lord, all nations will see God’s glory and turn to Him, even the most proud.

Day 13 (Jan. 13): Descendants of Esau, Edom’s origins, Edom’s rulers, Israel’s descendants

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Welcome to BibleBum where we are exploring the entire Bible in one year to better learn how to follow God’s instructions and discover the purpose for our lives.  The BibleBum blog uses The One Year Chronological Bible, the New Living Translation version.  At the end of each day’s reading, Rob, a cultural history aficionado and seminary graduate, answers questions from Leigh An, the blogger host, about the daily scripture.  To start from the beginning, click on “Index” and select Day 1.

Genesis 36:-19

1 Chronicles 1:35-37

Genesis 36:20-30

1 Chronicles 1:38-42

Genesis 36:31-43

1 Chronicles 1:43-54

1 Chronicles 2:1-2

Questions & Observations

Q. What significance is there in letting the readers know the lines of Esau?

A. It appears that the writer wants us to know that the descendants of Esau aligned themselves with the various tribes in the land of Canaan, the land promised by God to the descendants of Jacob.  It appears that the rivalry the began with Jacob and Esau would continue for many generations (watch for the word Edomites, which is the most common name for Esau’s family).  Various later sections of the Old Testament list Edom as one of the greatest rivals and enemies of Israel.  So what the writer wants us to bear in mind is that these enemies tribes of Israel trace their origins and alignment to the rival of one of their founding fathers: Jacob and his brother Esau.

Q.  With some exceptions, it appears that the Bible usually traces ancestry through the men.  Are women viewed less important?

A. Yep.  The Bible definitely prioritizes men over women, as did the larger world it was written in.  Though there are a few women who “make the cut” as being mentioned (Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel and Leah, Miriam, Rahab, Deborah, Ruth, Naomi, Esther is a fairly complete list), it is mostly the lines of men that are traced by the story.

Q.  (36:12) Esau’s son had a concubine.  How were concubine’s viewed?  One of God’s commandments is, “Thou shall not commit adultery.”  Of course, as humans surrounded by temptation, all of God’s commandments were not followed.  But, is a man having one wife something that gets decreed later?

A. Concubinage is something the Bible discusses (and does not necessarily approve of), and it is something of a different category from adultery.  We might think of it like this: a powerful ruling man (a king or ruling person such as in this case) already has a wife, but he has the wealth to take on other women and be in relationship with them (with the wife’s knowledge- this isn’t the man sneaking around).  Especially if the other women are of a different class (many concubines were from lower class families or were even servants or slaves), rather than marry her (he already had a wife), he would make her something like a “lower wife” or concubine.  Basically, it was a way for the man to control a greater number of women (and the children they produced- something important to keep in mind) without technically violating his marriage vows.  We will see this come into play as Israel establishes its own line of kings in later OT books.

Q. (36:15): Can you describe a “clan”?  How big are they?  Does it have the same meaning as “nation”?  Do they let others in?

A. I tried to find some good material on this, and honestly didn’t come up with a whole lot.  Clan size could very greatly, especially since it would have involved servants or other “extra” members (who weren’t technically family) in the count.  If a clan got big enough to have a particular ruler, it could be considered a kingdom.  Usually, kingdoms referred to locations (the kingdom of Jerusalem, or Babylon, etc.) and territory, rather than family (where clan would be rightly used).

Q. (1 Chronicles 1: 35-37): Why does the Bible repeat these descendant stories?  Who wrote 1 and 2 Chronicles?

A. Yes, the Bible frequently repeats stories of many sorts, including genealogies.  Part of the reason for this was that there were various materials circulating among the various tribes before what we know as the OT was assembled (which happened in fairly modern times).  Since it was so important for a family to be able to trace its roots, it is unsurprising that genealogies were frequently presented.

We don’t know exactly who wrote 1 and 2 Chronicles, but we do know that they were written much later than most of the other works of the OT (one of the last books written along with Malachi).  Chronicles (its only one book in Jewish Bibles- though the material is the same) was written to teach the history of the Jews to the people in the post exile period when Jerusalem was being rebuilt.  It was written as a way for the Israelite people who lived around 500 BC (give or take a few hundred years) to connect with their history.  As such, there are frequently places where Chronicles tells us a story that we have already “heard” elsewhere.

Q. (Gen. 36: 31): So there were kings ruling over the clans of Jacob, the clans of Esau and other groups — the whole Canaan area?  Do we need to know what was going on around these areas at the time?

A. The entire land of Canaan was under the control of various tribes, and this continued even when the Israelites return to the land several hundred years later.  This does not mean that these kings controlled everything, it is clear from the story that Jacob and his sons did not serve a king, they were powerful enough to be in charge of their own area.  So Jacob’s family controls its own territory.  But the story is telling us that some of the clans the Israelites will deal with when they return to Canaan from Egypt will trace their roots to Jacob’s brother Esau.