...................................................................LET US LEARN TOGETHER WHAT IS GOOD. Job 34:4b(NIV)................................................................Some people see the Bible as a long and boring book filled with incidents and events from the lives of ancient people who probably never existed. The biblical stories are seen as fables. Romans 15:4 (KJV) reveals: For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. In this blog, many of the situations and conversations found in the divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible have been placed in categories that correspond to expressive sayings and phrases. Reference information, background information and links connecting the people and places are given to help you find a place to begin reading the Bible for yourself.

Thursday, April 22, 2021

For My Servant David's Sake and for Jerusalem's Sake

Jeroboam, the son born
to Nebat and Zeruah

And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon's servant, whose mother's name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king. And this was the cause that he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breaches of the city of David his father. And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph. And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they were alone in the field: And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces: And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee: (But he shall have one tribe for my servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:) Because they have forsaken me, and have worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, Chemosh the god of the Moabites, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon, and have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in mine eyes, and to keep my statutes and my judgments, as did David his father. Howbeit I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand: but I will make him prince all the days of his life for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, because he kept my commandments and my statutes: But I will take the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give it unto thee, even ten tribes. And unto his son will I give one tribe, that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen me to put my name there. And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign according to all that thy soul desireth, and shalt be king over Israel. And it shall be, if thou wilt hearken unto all that I command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do that is right in my sight, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as David my servant did: that I will be with thee, and build thee a sure house, as I built for David, and will give Israel unto thee. And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but not for ever. Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.-1 Kings 11:26-40***The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that the Sidonians (Zidonians) descended from Noah the ark builder, and Noah's son Ham, and Ham's son Canaan, and Canaan's firstborn son Sidon (Zidon). The Egyptians and Philistines descended from Ham's son Mizraim. The Moabites and Ammonites descended from Noah's son Shem, Shem's great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Terah, Terah's son Haran, Haran's son Lot, and Lot's daughters. Moab, the forefather of the Moabites, was born to Lot and Lot's oldest daughter, and Ben-ammi, the forefather of the Ammonites, was born to Lot and Lot's youngest daughter. The Israelites descended from Terah's children Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai), their son Isaac and his wife Rebekah, and Isaac and Rebekah's youngest fraternal twin son Jacob (Israel). In Padan Aram, Haran, Jacob was married to Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean). Shem's son Aram was the forefather of the Arameans. Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Leah's maidservant. Gad and Asher were born to Jacob and Zilpah, Leah's maidservant. Joseph was the 1st son born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel and Joseph were Jacob's favorites. During. Jacob's 20th year in Haran, he began journeying home to Canaan with his family, servants, animals, and possessions. Near Bethlehem, Benjamin was born to Jacob and Rachel, and Rachel died. Joseph was 17 years old when his brothers sold him to merchants traveling to Egypt and led Jacob to believe that Joseph was killed by a wild beast, and Joseph was 30 years old when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, proclaimed him second-in-command. Jacob was 130 years old when he moved with his family from Canaan to Egypt. In Egypt, Jacob proclaimed Manasseh and Ephraim, the sons born to Joseph and his wife Asenath, to be his own sons, and the tribe of Joseph became the tribe of Manasseh and the tribe of Ephraim. Sometime after 147-year-old Jacob died in Egypt, and Jacob's family buried his body in Canaan, and 110-year-old Joseph and his siblings were dead, the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt. Miriam and her younger brothers Aaron and Moses were born into the tribe of Levi to Amram and Jochebed. Moses was 80 years old and Aaron was 83 when the Lord God sent them to speak to the Israelite elders and Pharaoh. The elders believed the words of the Lord God spoken by Aaron. Pharaoh did not believe, and he made work for the Israelites more difficult. After the Lord God brought the 10th and final plague upon Pharaoh and Egypt, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to get the Israelites and their animals and go worship the Lord God. Moreover, Pharaoh told Moses and Aaron to bless him. Before Moses and Aaron led the Israelites, and those with them, away from Egypt, across the divinely parted Red Sea, into the desert wilderness of Shur, and the desert wilderness of Sin, the Israelites asked for and were given an abundance of valuable goods, fulfilling the words that the Lord God spoke to Abraham. In the desert wilderness of Sinai, in the region of Mount Sinai, the Israelites heard the voice of the Lord God proclaim the Ten Commandments to them, and the Lord God began giving Moses judgments, statutes and laws for the Israelites, and the Lord God made a covenant with the Israelites, and the Israelites said they would obey the words of the Lord God. When Moses was upon Mount Sinai 40 days and nights with the Lord God, the Lord God gave Moses commands about the offering willing Israelites were to bring, and the Lord God described to Moses and showed Moses the likeness of the tabernacle, and the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the other sacred items the Israelites were commanded to make, and the Lord God told Moses that only Aaron, and Aaron's sons and the sons born to their descendants were to serve the Lord God as priests. Meanwhile, the Israelites thought they were abandoned and told Aaron to make gods to lead them. Aaron told the Israelites to bring him their gold earrings, and Aaron made a golden calf that the Israelites sacrificed to and worshiped, and Moses burned and ground. During the 40-year journey to Canaan, the Promised Land, Miriam the prophetess died and was buried in Kadesh, in the desert wilderness of Zin. Upon Mount Hor, 123-year-old Aaron the high priest died. Near Canaan, Moses proclaimed his last messages to the Israelites and spoke about their upcoming desire to be led by a king. When Moses went upon Mount Nebo, the Lord God showed Moses the Promised Land, and 120-year-old Moses the prophet died, and was divinely buried.  Joshua, Moses' aide and successor from the tribe of Ephraim, led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. After 110-year-old Joshua died, and was buried in his tribe's portion of the Promised Land, the Israelites were led by elders, judges, and their own minds. Samuel the priest, prophet and judge was born into the tribe of Levi to Elkanah and Hannah. When Samuel was elderly, and his sons Joel (Vashni) and Abiah (Abijah) were not obeying the commands of the Lord God, and King Nahash and his Ammonite army were preparing to attack, the Israelite elders demanded that Samuel appoint a king to lead them, and Samuel anointed Saul, from the tribe of Benjamin, to reign, according to the command of the Lord God. Saul was at Gibeah of God (the hill of God) when the Spirit of God came upon him. At least twice, Saul did not obey the commands of the Lord God. Samuel told Saul that the Lord God rejected Saul from being king and had torn the kingdom from Saul. David was from the tribe of Judah, and lived in Bethlehem, and was a man after God's own heart. While Saul reigned, the Lord God sent Samuel to anoint David to reign as king, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David, and the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. After Saul heard about David's skills, strength, appearance, and favor with the Lord God, he commanded that David's father Jesse send David to him, and David began serving as a musician and an armor-bearer for Saul. Amid the Valley of Elah, David killed and beheaded Goliath the gigantic Philistine. David and Jonathan, Saul's son, made a covenant. The Israelite women sang of David higher than they sang of Saul, and Saul was angry. Saul wanted to kill David, and became afraid of David, and sent David on missions to get killed, and commanded others, including Jonathan, to kill David. Saul's daughter Michal was married to David and helped David escape from their home. After the Philistines killed Jonathan and his brothers Malchishua and Abinadab (Ishui?) upon Mount Gilboa, and Saul's self-inflicted death on the same battlefield, men from the tribe of Judah anointed 30-year-old David, and David began to reign only over the tribe of Judah. Saul's son Ishbosheth (Eshbaal) ruled over the other Israelite tribes. Sometime after Ishbosheth was murdered, the Israelite elders went to David, and David made a covenant with them. The elders anointed 37-year-old David, and David began to rule over all of the Israelites. David put forth a challenge, and his nephew Joab successfully conquered a Jebusite fortress, and the fortress became the City of David, and Joab became commander of the army. Before 70-year-old David died, Solomon, a son born to David and Bathsheba, became the 3rd king. During the 4th year of his 40-year reign, Solomon began building the temple of the Lord, and in the 11th year workers finished building the temple in Jerusalem. Solomon's building projects put a toll on laborers and taxpayers, and after Solomon's marriages to 700 idol worshiping princesses, Solomon became an idolater. Rehoboam, the son born to Solomon and Naamah, was the 4th king to rule over all of the Israelites. After Rehoboam gave a specific answer, the Israelites split into 2 kingdoms, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of Solomon. Judah was the nation in the south and consisted of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin. Jerusalem was the royal city and Rehoboam was the 1st king to reign. Israel was the northern nation and consisted of the other Israelite tribes. Samaria was the final royal city, and Jeroboam the Ephrathite (Ephraimite), from the tribe of Ephraim, was the 1st king to reign. Jeroboam established idolatry throughout the kingdom, and a random system of priests, and put a golden calf in Dan, a city in the northernmost region, in land allotted to the tribe of Dan, and a golden calf in Bethel, a city in the southernmost region, in land allotted to the tribe of Benjamin and controlled by the tribe of Ephraim. During the beginning of Rehoboam's 17-year reign in Judah, the priests and Levites, including the priests and Levites who relocated from the northern nation of Israel, helped strengthen Rehoboam and Judah. However, after 3 years of obeying the Lord God, Rehoboam and many Israelites in Judah began worshiping idols. Over 900 years after Rehoboam's son Abijam (Abijah) became the 2nd king to rule Judah, and Rehoboam's son Nadab became the 2nd king to rule the northern nation of Israel, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, was born. Jesus was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born in Bethlehem into the tribe of Judah to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin.-Genesis, Exodus, Numbers 13:1-14:45, 20:1-29, 26:1-27:23, Deuteronomy 31:1-34:12, Joshua 1:1-4:24, 23:1-24:33, Judges 1:1-2:23, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra 1:1-11, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26

Reference Information
Ephrathite = apher = eprati  = Ephrathi/Ephraath = an inhabitant of Ephrath, a descendant of Ephraim, an Ephraimite

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