Should a prophet or a priest fight in the army of Israel?
Elisha the prophet was with the army of Israel when Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Jehoram king of Israel and the king of Edom went to attack Mesha the king of Moab (2 Kings 3:9-12). We don’t know if he was there to fight or just sent by God to make sure that a prophet was available when one was needed.
While reading some parts of the Bible I have always wondered about the names “Chaldea” and “Babylon”. In the past I have always let my uncertainties drift along, while my questions remained unanswered. Were the two just different names for the same place; did the names change with time? Why were the differences there? This time, I decided that I needed to know properly! Continue reading
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
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
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
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 seals (Job 38:12-14).
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
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 the 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 came. Shortly afterwards, Jehoiakim was dead and his son Jeconiah (also known as Jehoiachin) had become king.Continue reading
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
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
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, Jeremiah was given a cup – God’s cup of anger – to take to many different nations. Verse 18 talks of the 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
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was trying to build an empire. Defeating several small enemies one by one was going to be much easier for him than fighting a group of enemies who had banded together to fight a common enemy. The nations around Israel knew this and were doing their best to fight King Nebuchadnezzar together. They sent envoys to Jerusalem to meet together and arrange joint resistance.
But it wasn’t going to work.Continue reading
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
