From the Bible: people, places, lessons, and stories described and put in categories.
Friday, April 26, 2024
Bright Idea
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Plain and Simple
Then there was a famine in the days of David three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, It is for Saul, and for his bloody house, because he slew the Gibeonites. And the king called the Gibeonites, and said unto them; (now the Gibeonites were not of the children of Israel, but of the remnant of the Amorites; and the children of Israel had sworn unto them: and Saul sought to slay them in his zeal to the children of Israel and Judah.) Wherefore David said unto the Gibeonites, What shall I do for you? and wherewith shall I make the atonement, that ye may bless the inheritance of the LORD? And the Gibeonites said unto him, We will have no silver nor gold of Saul, nor of his house; neither for us shalt thou kill any man in Israel. And he said, What ye shall say, that will I do for you. And they answered the king, The man that consumed us, and that devised against us that we should be destroyed from remaining in any of the coasts of Israel, Let seven men of his sons be delivered unto us, and we will hang them up unto the LORD in Gibeah of Saul, whom the LORD did choose. And the king said, I will give them. But the king spare Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the LORD's oath that was between them, between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. But the king took the two sons of Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, whom she bare unto Saul, Armoni and Mephibosheth; and the five sons of Michal the daughter of Saul, whom she brought up for Adriel the son of Barzillai the Meholathite: And he delivered them into the hands of the Gibeonites, and they hanged them in the hill before the LORD: and they fell all seven together, and were put to death in the days of harvest, in the first days, in the beginning of barley harvest. And Rizpah the daughter of Aiah took sackcloth, and spread it for her upon the rock, from the beginning of harvest until water dropped upon them out of heaven, and suffered neither the birds of the air to rest on them by day, nor the beasts of the field by night. And it was told David what Rizpah the daughter of Aiah, the concubine of Saul, had done.-2 Samuel 21:1-11***The Amorites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Heth, the forefather of the Hittites, descended from Noah the ark builder, and Noah's son Ham, and Ham's son Canaan. Ham's son Mizraim was the forefather of the Egyptians, and Mizraim's son Casluhm was the forefather of the Philistines. The Arameans descended from Noah's son Shem, and Shem's son Aram. Shem's son Arphaxad was the great-great-great-great-great-grandfather of Terah. Abraham (Abram the Hebrew), Nahor (Nachor), Haran, and Sarah (Sarai) were born to Terah. Canaan was land inhabited by the Amorites, Canaanites, Hivites, Hittites, and other idolaters that the Lord God promised to give to Abraham's descendants and childless Abraham. The divinely inspired Scriptures of the Holy Bible reveal that the Amorites and Canaanites were 2 of the largest groups in Canaan, and oftentimes the majority of inhabitants in Canaan were referred to as Amorites and Canaanite, despite their different genealogical backgrounds. In Canaan, Ishmael was born to 86-year old Abraham and Hagar, Sarah's Egyptian maidservant. When Abraham was 99 years old, the Lord God gave him he covenant of circumcision, and Abraham circumcised 13-year-old Ishmael, and Abraham and the males throughout Abraham's household and property were immediately circumcised. Isaac was born to 100-year-old Abraham and 90-year-old Sarah. On the 8th day after Isaac was born, Abraham circumcised Isaac. When Isaac was 40 years old, he was married to Rebekah, Nahor's granddaughter. Fraternal twin sons Esau (Edom) and Jacob (Israel) were born to 60-year-old Isaac and Rebekah. Esau was Isaac's favorite, and Jacob was Rebekah's favorite. In Padan Aram, Haran, Jacob was married to Leah and Rachel, the daughters of Rebekah's brother Laban the Syrian (Aramean). Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and daughter Dinah were born to Jacob and Leah. Dan and Naphtali were born to Jacob and Bilhah, Rachel'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, their descendants 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 Israelites 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 Israelties 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. The Israelites destroyed the Canaanite king of Arad, and Amorite King Sihon, and Amorite King Og, and 5 Midianite kings, descendants of Abraham and his 2nd wife Keturah and their son Midian. 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. The Israelites, led by Joshua, destroyed, Jericho, and Ai, according to the commands of the Lord God. The Gibeonites learned about the destruction and tricked Joshua into making a peace treaty, and the Israelite leaders made a vow to the Gibeonites. After the Israelite leaders realized they had been deceived, they developed a plan, and Joshua pronounced the terms of the plan to the Gibeonites. Shortly thereafter, 5 Amorite kings united to defeat the Gibeonites, and the Gibeonites sought help from Joshua. The Lord God spoke to Joshua, and the Lord God caused the Israelites to defeat the 5 kings. 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. King Nahash the Ammonite was descended from Haran, and Haran's son Lot and Lot's youngest daughter, and the son Ben-Ammi, born to Lot and his daughter. When Samuel was elderly, and his sons Joel (Vashni) and Abiah (Abijah) were not obeying the commands of the Lord God, and 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. David lived in the wilderness and the woods, and hundreds of men joined David, and David was married to Abigail and Ahinoam. Michal was married to Palti (Phalti/Paltiel/Phaltiel). Saul killed some Gibeonites while reigning, although details of the incident are not revealed in the Holy Bible. After the Philistines killed Jonathan and his brothers Malchishua and Abinadab (Ishui?), 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 relative and army commander Abner placed Saul's son Ishbosheth (Eshbaal) as king over the other Israelite tribes. Ishbosheth's accusatory question about Saul's concubine Rizpah led Abner to leave Ishbosheth's side and offer allegiance to David. David demanded that Michal be brought to him. 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. During his reign, David went with a multitude of Israelites to retrieve the ark of the covenant of the Lord deom the home of Obed-edom. As the Levites were bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord, according to the commands that the Lord God gave Moses and Aaron, and David was entering the City of David, Michal saw David leaping and dancing before the Lord God. After the ark of the covenant of the Lord was placed in a specific tent, and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and blessed the Israelites, and gave them bread and cake, David went home. Michal spoke words to David, and David spoke words to Michal, and there was a distance between them, and Michal remained childless. The 5 sons under Michal's care were the sons born to Michal's older sister Merab and Merab's husband Adriel. Adriel was an Israelite, born to Barzillai the Meholathite, an Israelite probably from Abel-Meholah (Meholah). At least 900 years after Solomon, a son born to David and Bathsheba, became the 3rd king to rule over all of the Israelites, and 70-year-old David died, 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 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, 26:1-36:13, Deuteronomy 27:1-34:12, Joshua, 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 Scriptures