What should we call him?

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

What should we call him?

Many of us have nicknames that only our friends would use. Others may have a short form of their name that most people will use and friends may use a longer form. With a name like “Mark” no-one can shorten it much, so sometimes friends call me “Marcus” instead!

In the Bible there are many people who are given more than one name. Abraham and Sarah were names given by God to replace the their original names. Jacob was renamed Israel and even King Solomon was given another name. Can you think of other examples? If you can, why not send me a list?Continue reading

Weapons and warfare

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

Weapons and warfare

The study of history is difficult. Written records do not always tell the whole picture (and some records don’t even tell the truth!), while archaeology can only analyse what is found. Altogether, this will always give us an incomplete picture. An example of this in relation to warfare is shown when some people conclude from archaeology that the Babylonians did not have bows. In such cases, the Bible can add to our knowledge as history written at the time, or even before the events took place. The Bible has a few references to bows and arrows being used by the Babylonians. One of them is the chilling warning found in Jeremiah 5:16 that “Their quiver is like an open grave” (see also Jeremiah 6:23 and Jeremiah 51:56). The threat of the attacking Chaldean army was very real.Continue reading

The king and the queen mother

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

A king’s mother

When Jeremiah collected the loincloth that he had buried near the Euphrates (see the post “Jeremiah: priest or prophet?“), God gave him a message to deliver which included a reference to “the king and the queen mother” (Jeremiah 13:18).  We are not told who this refers to, so are there any other hints that can help us to work out who they were?Continue reading

Seals and signets

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

Seals and signets

When God challenged righteous Job to acknowledge his sovereignty, he said that the light of dawn makes the features of the landscape stand out in the same way as when clay is shaped under a seal (Job 38:12-14). The glare of light can highlight the detail of shapes in just the same way as the glare of truth can highlight dishonesty. Seals and signets were used to avoid dishonesty, so let’s see how.

Why use a seal?

Throughout the Bible we read of people sealing documents to make sure they were not changed. A scribe would use damp clay to form a seal, then press a carved object into it.  Anyone trying to tamper with the document would damage the impression left in the clay.Continue reading

King Jehoiakim’s death – how did it happen?

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

Jehoiakim’s death

As the end of the kingdom of Judah drew near, the empire of Babylon became an increasingly dangerous threat to Judah and the surrounding kingdoms.  Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, had agreed to serve Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, in the fourth year of his reign.[1]  However, after three years, he rebelled, probably believing that Nebuchadnezzar would be too busy with various rebellions that were occurring in areas much closer to Babylon.  For quite a while it appeared that he was right, but after about four years the army of Babylon returned.  Shortly afterwards, Jehoiakim was dead and his son Jeconiah (also known as Jehoiachin) had become king.Continue reading

Family friendships

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

Family friendships

Personal friendships are a wonderful part of life, and faithful friendships help us enormously.  Family friendships, when members of one family are consistently friendly to another family, can help even more.

During the reigns of King Josiah and his sons, various members of two families are presented in the books of 2 Kings, 2 Chronicles, Jeremiah and Ezekiel with enough hints at connections to suggest that the families got on well together.

So who are these families?Continue reading

Sieges

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

Sieges in Bible times

Nations come and nations go.  Empires rise and empires fall.  Cities blossom and flourish, then moulder into dust.

When a nation has a leader with grand ideas and a strong desire for power, its neighbours must pay heed to their defences.  Armies swell and walls are built or strengthened to protect important cities.  Watchers are placed at borders and leaders must decide what defensive action is best.Continue reading

God’s cup of anger

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

God’s cup of anger

Many prophets of God saw unusual sights and strange visions.  At times, it is hard to tell whether what they were seeing was real, a vision or a dream.  In Jeremiah 25:15-38, God gave Jeremiah a cup – God’s cup of anger – to take to many different nations.  Verse 18 talks of those nations being ruined “as at this day”, which suggests that this part of the text was written some time after the prophecy was fulfilled.Continue reading

Languages around Israel

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was trying to build an empire by picking off one enemy nation at a time.  The nations around Israel knew this and were doing their best to form a coalition and fight King Nebuchadnezzar together.  They sent envoys to Jerusalem for an international conference to arrange joint resistance. Of course, communication requires shared language and there were many different languages around Israel.

Sometimes, however, actions can communicate when language cannot, and while the envoys were there, God told Jeremiah to make a yoke and wear it – acting out a symbol of servitude for the foreign kings whose envoys had gone to Jerusalem (Jeremiah 27:1-11).
Continue reading

The stocks in the Bible

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

Comfort

Comfort is important to us.  To get comfortable, we will often be willing to spend a lot of money or work very hard – maybe even change our job or move to a different house, town or country. Some prophets, however, could not avoid the stocks in the Bible: it was all part of doing their job.

We do our best to avoid discomfort and expect others to do the same, so when we look at the lives of prophets in the Bible, the difference stands out.Continue reading

Priest or prophet?

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

Jeremiah: priest or prophet?

Have you ever wondered what a prophet of God did when he wasn’t prophesying?

Of the people who we know as prophets, many seem to have been used by God on only a few occasions.  For example, Abraham, Oded (2 Chronicles 28:9), Uriah (Jeremiah 26:20) and various other prophets who aren’t even named.Continue reading

Silence – things missing from Jeremiah

By Mark Morgan | Jeremiah

Sometimes when we have a pet theory – but little evidence! – we use arguments from silence.  For example, we might argue that since something has not been reported as happening, this is proof that it never happened.  Of course, it’s not proof at all, because history doesn’t report most things that happen. Arguments from silence don’t prove anything, however it is valuable at times to observe things about which the Bible is silent and ponder what the reasons for the silence might be.  Let’s look at things missing from Jeremiah – events or facts which the book of Jeremiah does not mention.Continue reading