...................................................................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. Notably, Romans 15:4 reveals: For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.(KJV) 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.

Friday, December 22, 2023

Looking Like a Bunch of Righteous Guys

The Words of Jesus the Christ,
the Son of God:

Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly.-Matthew 6:16-18***The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal details about several occurrences of fasting among the Israelites:

-Joshua was an Israelite from the tribe of Ephraim, descended from Abraham (Abram the Hebrew) and Sarah (Sarai), Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob (Israel) and his 2nd wife Rachel, their firstborn son Joseph and his wife Asenath, and Joseph and Asenath's 2nd born son Ephraim, whom Jacob proclaimed to be his own son. The Israelites in the tribe of Benjamin descended from Jacob and Rachel's 2nd and last son Benjamin. At least 30 years after Joshua led the Israelites across the divinely parted Jordan River and onto the Promised Land, men from the tribe of Benjamin raped a concubine from Bethlehem. Israelites from the other tribes cried, fasted, and offered sacrifices to the Lord God, and sought an answer from the Lord God before they went to battle the Benjamites the 3rd time.

-After the Philistines returned the ark of the covenant of the Lord to the Israelites, and the Israelites placed the ark in the home of Abinadab, the Israelites poured out water before the Lord God, and the Israelites fasted.

-King Saul was an Israelite from the tribe of Jacob and Rachel's 2nd and last son Benjamin. Saul was the 1st king to rule over the Israelites in the Promised Land, the land that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham, and Isaac, and to Jacob, and their descendants. After the Philistines killed Saul's Jonathan, Malchishua and Abinadab (Ishui?), and Saul's self-inflicted death on the same battlefield, the Philistines took the bodies of Saul and Saul's sons to their kingdom. Israelite men from Jabesh-gilead retrieved the bones of Saul and his sons, and buried the bones in Jabesh, and afterwards fasted. 

-Samuel the priest, prophet and judge was from the tribe of Levi, descended from Jacob and his 1st wife Leah, and Jacob and Leah's 3rd born son. Years before Saul and his sons were dead, Samuel anointed  Saul to reign as king, according to the command of the Lord God. At least twice, Saul did not obey the commands of the Lord God. While Saul reigned, the Lord God sent Samuel to anoint David, from the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 4th born son Judah, to reign as king. Sometime thereafter, David began serving as a musician and an armor-bearer for Saul. After David killed and beheaded Goliath the gigantic Philistine, David remained in Saul's service full time. Saul's son Jonathan and David 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 Saul and his sons were dead, David and the men with him mourned, cried and fasted. Moreover, 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 became the 2nd king to rule over all of the Israelites. After the Lord God struck the 1st child born to David and Bathsheba, and the child became ill, David fasted and pleaded with the Lord God and stretched himself on the ground. David arose from the ground and ended the fast when he learned that the child was dead.

-King Ahab was an Israelite and the 7th king to rule over all of the Israelites in the northern nation of Israel in the Promised Land. Ahab's wife Jezebel was a Sidonian (Zidonian) princess. When Jezebel wanted to steal land from Naboth, an Israelite, so that Ahab could have Naboth's land, she wrote letters to the Israelite elders and nobles in Jezreel, and told them to proclaim a fast, and commanded them to tell 2 specific lies about Naboth, and stone Naboth to death. After Naboth was killed, and possibly Naboth's sons were also killed, the Lord God sent Elijah the prophet to Ahab with a message, and Ahab fasted.

-David and Bathsheba's great-great-great-grandson Jehoshaphat was the 4th king to rule Judah, the southern nation in the Promised Land. When the Moabites, Ammonites and their allies came to attack, Jehoshaphat proclaimed a fast throughout Judah. The Israelites gathered in the royal city, Jerusalem, at the temple of the Lord, and Jehoshaphat prayed to the Lord God.

-Jehoshaphat's great-great-grandson Amaziah was the 8th king to rule Judah. During Amaziah's 29-year reign, the Lord God sent Jonah the prophet to Nineveh, Assyria. When the king of Assyria learned of the words spoken by Jonah, the king proclaimed a fast throughout Nineveh.

-Amaziah's great-great-great-great-great-great-grandson Jehoiakim (Eliakim) was the 17th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiakim's 11-year reign, the Lord God gave Jeremiah the prophet a command, and Jeremiah gave Baruch the scribe a command. Afterwards, Baruch wrote down the words that Jeremiah heard from the Lord God, and Baruch read the words to the Israelites in the temple, and a fast was proclaimed.

-Jehoiachin (Jeconiah/Coniah), the son born to Jehoiakim and Nehushta, was the 18th king to rule Judah. During Jehoiachin's 3-month reign, the Babylonians (Chaldeans) invaded Judah and Jerusalem and took more prominent Israelites, including Jehoiachin, his wives and mother, to Babylon. In Babylon, after Daniel, an Israelite captive, was put into the den of lions, according to the command of King Darius, ruler of Babylon, Darius spent the night fasting. When Daniel was studying the divinely inspired words written by Jeremiah the prophet, Daniel set his face towards the Lord God, and prayed, made supplications, fasted, and confessed his sin and the sin of his fellow Israelites.

-Jehoiakim's brother Zedekiah (Mattaniah) was the 19th king to rule Judah. During the 11th year of Zedekiah's reign, the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem, according to the will of the Lord God, due to the idolatry and other wickedness of the Israelites. Before taking more Israelites captive, the Babylonians looted and burned the temple, and broke the walls surrounding Jerusalem. Less than 70 years thereafter, King Cyrus, ruler of the Persian Empire, allowed Israelites to return to Judah and Jerusalem and build a temple, according to the will of the Lord God. Ezra the priest and scribe was from the tribe of Jacob and Leah's 3rd born son Levi. When Ezra was preparing to return to Judah, Ezra proclaimed a fast among the Israelites journeying with him, and Ezra and his fellow Israelites sought the Lord God.

-Nehemiah the prophet was an Israelite and the cupbearer for King Artaxerxes, ruler of the Persian Empire. When Nehemiah learned about the condition of the Israelites in Jerusalem and the state of the wall and gates, Nehemiah cried and fasted, and Nehemiah prayed before the Lord God. Moreover, Nehemiah answered Artaxerxes, and prayed to the Lord God, and sought permission and assistance from Artaxerxes, and was allowed to go to Jerusalem. In Jerusalem, after Nehemiah and his fellow Israelites observed the Feast of Tabernacles, they fasted.

-Mordecai was an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin, and was living in Shushan, Persia, with Esther (Hadassah), the orphaned cousin he raised as his own child. After King Ahasuerus (Xerxes), ruler of the Persian Empire, chose Esther to be his wife, Esther became the queen. When Mordecai learned that the Israelites throughout the empire were scheduled to be killed, he put on sackcloth and ashes, and loudly and bitterly cried, and the Israelites began mourning, fasting, crying, and wailing. Esther sent Hatach the eunuch to Mordecai, and Mordecai told Hatach about the upcoming fate of the Israelites. Esther sent Hatach with a message for Mordecai, and Mordecai sent a message to Esther, and Esther sent Mordecai a message that called for the Israelites in Shushan to fast for 3 days and nights, the same length of time that Esther and her maidens would be fasting.

Over 400 years after Mordecai and Esther worked to keep the Israelites from being killed, John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ, the Son of God, were born. John the Baptist was born into the tribe of Levi to Zechariah (Zacharias) the priest and his wife Elizabeth (Elisabeth). Jesus the Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Elizabeth's relative Mary, a virgin, and Jesus was born into the tribe of Judah, the tribe of Judah's kings, to Mary and her husband Joseph when Mary was a virgin. Approximately 30 years after John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ were born, Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist. Jesus having prayed, the heavens tearing open, the Holy Spirit descended as a dove and lit upon Jesus. The Lord God in heaven audibly acknowledged his Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert wilderness. Jesus fasted 40 days and nights and was tempted. Afterwards, Jesus was tended to by angels, and Jesus went to the area near John the Baptist, and John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of God taking away the sin of the world, and testified that Jesus is the Son of God. In Galilee, Jesus told specific Israelite men to follow him, and Jesus began to preach, teach and perform miracles among the Israelites, the treasured and chosen people of the Lord God. In Galilee, Jesus spoke to a group of Pharisees, and the disciples of John the Baptist, about the disciples of Jesus and fasting. When Jesus was speaking to a group of despisers who thought themselves to be righteous, Jesus told a parable that involved a Pharisee and the Pharisee's fasting.-Genesis 11:26-50:26, 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, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Jeremiah 36:1-32, 39:1-18, 52:1-34, Daniel, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts 1:1-26, Galatians 1:1-2:21, Jude

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