991. More than a weapon. From the story of David, we are familiar with the sling, but in addition to using a sling against wild animals or robbers, the shepherd found it very handy for directing the sheep. A stone could be dropped close to a sheep that was lagging behind and startle the sheep into coming along with the rest of the flock.
992. In selecting pasture for the flock, it is an absolute necessity that plenty of water is provided too. Flocks are often stationed near a stream of running water, but the sheep can be afraid of water that is running too quickly or that is roiled up with mud. The shepherd looks for pools of water or provides some quiet place where the sheep can quench their thirst.
993. More than one flock may be kept in the same fold. Often flocks are even mixed while being watered at a well. No attempt is made to separate them. When it is time to separate the sheep, one shepherd after another will stand up and call out: "Tahhoo! Tahhoo!" or a similar call of his own choice. The sheep will lift their heads, and after a scramble each one will begin following his master.
994. The Eastern shepherd has a personal relationship with his sheep that gives the figure of the Lord as the Shepherd of His people deep meaning. Not only does the shepherd often know his sheep by name, he never drives them, but leads them instead. This does not mean that he is always in front of them. He may walk by their side or sometimes follow behind.
995. The shepherd is so acutely aware of each of his sheep that often he doesn't even need to count them. He is able to feel the absence of any one of his sheep. When a shepherd of Lebanon was asked how he could keep track of his sheep if he didn't count, he replied, "If you were to put a cloth over my eyes, and bring me any sheep and only let me put my hands on its face, I could tell in a moment if it was mine or not."
996. The shepherd plays with the sheep to pass the hours. A shepherd does this by pretending to run away. The sheep will soon overtake him and completely surround him, jumping and twisting with delight. The sheep know their shepherd will not leave them or turn them away, just like the Lord will do to us.
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
Friday, January 15, 2016
Bible Trivia: Relationship Between the Shepherd and the Sheep l
986. Palestine has always been known for large flocks of sheep, and Arabs of the Bible lands have been largely dependent on sheep for their living throughout the centuries. The large number of sheep in the land can be understood when we read that Job had fourteen thousand sheep (Job 42:12), and that King Solomon, at the Temple's dedication, sacrificed one hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats (1 Kings 8:63).
987. Fat-tailed sheep were the most common variety. The fat tail provides reserve strength for the sheep, much like the hump does on a camel. When the sheep is butchered, this fatty tail is quite valuable. People will buy the tail, or part of it, and use it for frying. The Pentateuch makes reference to the fat tail of the sheep in Exodus 29:22, "Take from this ram the fat, the fat tail..."
988. The youngest boy in the family becomes the shepherd of the sheep. As the older son grows up he begins to help the father with sowing, plowing, and harvesting the crops, so he passes the shepherd tasks down to the younger brother and on down until the youngest of all becomes the family shepherd. Such was the custom when Jesse raised his family of eight sons. David was the youngest.
989. The shepherd's scrip is a leather bag. When he leaves home to tend the sheep, his mother will fill it with bread, cheese, dried fruit, and perhaps some olives. It was into a bag like this that David placed the five smooth stones when he went to battle with the giant Goliath.
990. The Law of Moses speaks of tithing (giving ten percent) from the flock. "The entire tithe of the herd and flock-every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod-will be holy to the Lord" (Lev. 27:32). To do this Jewish writers tell us that the shepherd called the animals to him and as they would pass under his rod at a narrow entrance he would mark every tenth one with his rod, which had been dipped into a dye.
987. Fat-tailed sheep were the most common variety. The fat tail provides reserve strength for the sheep, much like the hump does on a camel. When the sheep is butchered, this fatty tail is quite valuable. People will buy the tail, or part of it, and use it for frying. The Pentateuch makes reference to the fat tail of the sheep in Exodus 29:22, "Take from this ram the fat, the fat tail..."
988. The youngest boy in the family becomes the shepherd of the sheep. As the older son grows up he begins to help the father with sowing, plowing, and harvesting the crops, so he passes the shepherd tasks down to the younger brother and on down until the youngest of all becomes the family shepherd. Such was the custom when Jesse raised his family of eight sons. David was the youngest.
989. The shepherd's scrip is a leather bag. When he leaves home to tend the sheep, his mother will fill it with bread, cheese, dried fruit, and perhaps some olives. It was into a bag like this that David placed the five smooth stones when he went to battle with the giant Goliath.
990. The Law of Moses speaks of tithing (giving ten percent) from the flock. "The entire tithe of the herd and flock-every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod-will be holy to the Lord" (Lev. 27:32). To do this Jewish writers tell us that the shepherd called the animals to him and as they would pass under his rod at a narrow entrance he would mark every tenth one with his rod, which had been dipped into a dye.
Thursday, January 14, 2016
Bible Trivia: Dead Sea Scrolls
981. Muhammed ed Dib was tending goats in the spring of 1947, while the British still controlled Palestine. In the arid hills that surround the northern Dead Sea shore, the young goatherder dropped a stone into a cave and heard it hit something. Investigating further, he found clay pots filled with scrolls and scraps of old leather covered in mysterious writing. His accidental find was the beginning of one of the most momentous and controversial discoveries in history-the "Dead Sea Scrolls."
982. Muhammed's find launched a wider search of the surrounding area, called Qumran, approximately ten miles south of Jericho, on a plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. Over the years many more scrolls and remnants of scrolls were uncovered. It was soon clear that these ancient scrolls included some of the oldest known texts of the Hebrew Bible ever found.
983. More than two hundred Biblical documents have been found, some almost complete, written in both Hebrew and Aramaic-a Syrian language closely related to Hebrew, and the language spoken by Jesus. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain at least a portion of every book of the Hebrew Bible, except the Book of Esther.
984. Among the Dead Sea Scrolls is a complete "Book" of Isaiah, composed of seventeen separate pieces of leather stitched together to form a roll nearly twenty-five feet long. Sophisticated dating techniques have proved that some of these scrolls were written nearly three hundred years before Jesus was born. Others came From Jesus' own lifetime.
985. Copper scrolls were also discovered in the Dead Sea caves at Qumran, describing a treasure-twenty-six tons of gold and sixty-five tons of silver-hidden at sixty-four locations throughout Israel. Most scholars believe the treasure is a hoax or myth, although others hold that the treasure was indeed taken from the Temple and hidden before the Roman legions arrived in A.D. 70. It is very rare to find a Hebrew text on thinly beaten sheets of copper such as these.
982. Muhammed's find launched a wider search of the surrounding area, called Qumran, approximately ten miles south of Jericho, on a plateau overlooking the Dead Sea. Over the years many more scrolls and remnants of scrolls were uncovered. It was soon clear that these ancient scrolls included some of the oldest known texts of the Hebrew Bible ever found.
983. More than two hundred Biblical documents have been found, some almost complete, written in both Hebrew and Aramaic-a Syrian language closely related to Hebrew, and the language spoken by Jesus. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain at least a portion of every book of the Hebrew Bible, except the Book of Esther.
984. Among the Dead Sea Scrolls is a complete "Book" of Isaiah, composed of seventeen separate pieces of leather stitched together to form a roll nearly twenty-five feet long. Sophisticated dating techniques have proved that some of these scrolls were written nearly three hundred years before Jesus was born. Others came From Jesus' own lifetime.
985. Copper scrolls were also discovered in the Dead Sea caves at Qumran, describing a treasure-twenty-six tons of gold and sixty-five tons of silver-hidden at sixty-four locations throughout Israel. Most scholars believe the treasure is a hoax or myth, although others hold that the treasure was indeed taken from the Temple and hidden before the Roman legions arrived in A.D. 70. It is very rare to find a Hebrew text on thinly beaten sheets of copper such as these.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Bible Trivia lV
976. Hammurabi is best remembered for a code of law, set down toward the end of his reign on clay tablets and on stelae, or stone pillars. Clear parallels as well as clear differences can be drawn between Hammurabi's code and the law Moses received from God on Mount Sinai. Sadly the tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written disappeared with the ark of the covenant, but Hammurabi's laws were uncovered by French archaeologists in the ancient city of Susa and remain on display in the Louvre in Paris.
977. Towers known as ziggurats, which literally means "houses that lift up their heads," were erected throughout the Babylonian Empire and were probably intended as stairways for men to ascend and meet the gods. A ziggurat resembles a pyramid, but its sides are steplike. In constructing the tower, the builders "had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar" (Gen. 11:3 KJV). The bricks were made from mud and the "slime" was asphalt, found all over the Iranian oil fields even today.
978. Pottery, made from clay and baked in a kiln, is one of the most durable materials ever made. Glass flakes away, metals corrode and rust, wood and fabrics are destroyed by dampness and insects. Pottery alone survives. Although a pottery jar easily be shattered, the broken pieces or shards may last for centuries and give clues to when the pottery was made, who made it, and its relationship to pottery made by neighboring people.
979. Archaeologists have studied the shards discovered in the Negeb that date from about the time Abraham crossed it. All the pottery made throughout this vast area was almost exactly the same, revealing that those were settled times and that the people of the Negeb traded peacefully with one another.
980. The Shema is the central confession of the Jewish faith: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." It is originally found in Deuteronomy 6:4, and Jesus quoted it, saying that the verse that follows ("Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength") is the greatest commandment.
977. Towers known as ziggurats, which literally means "houses that lift up their heads," were erected throughout the Babylonian Empire and were probably intended as stairways for men to ascend and meet the gods. A ziggurat resembles a pyramid, but its sides are steplike. In constructing the tower, the builders "had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar" (Gen. 11:3 KJV). The bricks were made from mud and the "slime" was asphalt, found all over the Iranian oil fields even today.
978. Pottery, made from clay and baked in a kiln, is one of the most durable materials ever made. Glass flakes away, metals corrode and rust, wood and fabrics are destroyed by dampness and insects. Pottery alone survives. Although a pottery jar easily be shattered, the broken pieces or shards may last for centuries and give clues to when the pottery was made, who made it, and its relationship to pottery made by neighboring people.
979. Archaeologists have studied the shards discovered in the Negeb that date from about the time Abraham crossed it. All the pottery made throughout this vast area was almost exactly the same, revealing that those were settled times and that the people of the Negeb traded peacefully with one another.
980. The Shema is the central confession of the Jewish faith: "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one." It is originally found in Deuteronomy 6:4, and Jesus quoted it, saying that the verse that follows ("Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength") is the greatest commandment.
Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Bible Trivia lll
971. Samaritans did not have a great reputation among Jews. They were not good neighbors. The Jews and Samaritans had a long and unhappy history. The Samaritans had first come into the land when Assyrians conquered Israel. An offshoot sect, they followed the Books of Moses but did not treat the rest of the Hebrew Scriptures as sacred. As a result bad blood grew between the groups.
972. As archaeologists excavated the mound of the ancient city of Jericho (about a mile or so northwest of the modern city), they found not one ancient city but instead successive cities, each built atop the ruins of the previous ones. Jericho is the oldest known city in the world. Above the first signs of human habitation, five cities were built in antiquity-and the fourth of these appears to be the one that was conquered by Joshua.
973. Double walls nearly thirty feet high, with each wall about six feet thick, were discovered by archaeologists at the Jericho site. It is clear that this city had a violent end. Sections of the wall crumbled, and there is evidence of fire so intense that it burned bricks and cracked stones.
974. Shibboleth. Jephthah's men fought and defeated the tribesmen of Ephraim (another Israelite tribe who did not help Jephthah in his battle with the Ammonites). If an Ephraimite tried to cross the Jordan, Jephthah's men would ask him to say "Shibboleth," a word that means either "ear of corn" or "flood torrent." But due to regional dialects, these men couldn't pronounce the "sh" sound, and said "sibboleth" instead. Forty-two thousand men with this speech deficiency died at the Jordan. A contemporary story is told from World War II in which Dutch resistance fighters were able to cull out Nazi infiltrators who couldn't pronounce a particular Dutch name. "Shibboleth" has since come to mean a word or catchphrase that is distinctive to one group.
975. Hammurabi (meaning "westerner") was am Ammorite who conquered several Sumerian cities and developed a small empire, making him the first king to elevate Babylon from a small town to a major power. Some scholars believe that Hammurabi-generally dated as king of Babylon from 1792-1750 B.C.-might be the mysterious King Amraphel, king of Shinar, mentioned in Genesis 14.
972. As archaeologists excavated the mound of the ancient city of Jericho (about a mile or so northwest of the modern city), they found not one ancient city but instead successive cities, each built atop the ruins of the previous ones. Jericho is the oldest known city in the world. Above the first signs of human habitation, five cities were built in antiquity-and the fourth of these appears to be the one that was conquered by Joshua.
973. Double walls nearly thirty feet high, with each wall about six feet thick, were discovered by archaeologists at the Jericho site. It is clear that this city had a violent end. Sections of the wall crumbled, and there is evidence of fire so intense that it burned bricks and cracked stones.
974. Shibboleth. Jephthah's men fought and defeated the tribesmen of Ephraim (another Israelite tribe who did not help Jephthah in his battle with the Ammonites). If an Ephraimite tried to cross the Jordan, Jephthah's men would ask him to say "Shibboleth," a word that means either "ear of corn" or "flood torrent." But due to regional dialects, these men couldn't pronounce the "sh" sound, and said "sibboleth" instead. Forty-two thousand men with this speech deficiency died at the Jordan. A contemporary story is told from World War II in which Dutch resistance fighters were able to cull out Nazi infiltrators who couldn't pronounce a particular Dutch name. "Shibboleth" has since come to mean a word or catchphrase that is distinctive to one group.
975. Hammurabi (meaning "westerner") was am Ammorite who conquered several Sumerian cities and developed a small empire, making him the first king to elevate Babylon from a small town to a major power. Some scholars believe that Hammurabi-generally dated as king of Babylon from 1792-1750 B.C.-might be the mysterious King Amraphel, king of Shinar, mentioned in Genesis 14.
Monday, January 11, 2016
Bible Trivia ll
964. Jericho is the world's oldest city. It was founded about 3500 B.C.
965. Polytheism, the belief in more than one god, distinguishers our age from that of the Bible more than any other cultural issue.
966. The name Jesus is the Greek version of the name Joshua.
967. David, the shepherd, warrior, and king of Israel, broke half of the Ten Commandments, from what we are told in the Bible. More than likely he broke all ten!
968. Frankincense and myrrh are both fragrant resins imported from India, Arabia, or Africa. They were therefore costly and precious in the Holy Land.
969. The star. About the time of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, a phenomenon occurred in the night sky. There has been considerable dispute about what this bright star of Bethlehem may have been. Whatever the astronomical phenomenon was exactly, it did not go unobserved in the ancient home of astronomy, Mesopotamia. The wise men or magi who saw the star and believed that it heralded the birth of Jesus were probably astronomers.
970. Magus is a Persian word that referred to the priests of Persia, and from magus we get our English word magic. In the ancient world the priests who could predict eclipses and the motions of the planets must have seemed to possess magical powers.
965. Polytheism, the belief in more than one god, distinguishers our age from that of the Bible more than any other cultural issue.
966. The name Jesus is the Greek version of the name Joshua.
967. David, the shepherd, warrior, and king of Israel, broke half of the Ten Commandments, from what we are told in the Bible. More than likely he broke all ten!
968. Frankincense and myrrh are both fragrant resins imported from India, Arabia, or Africa. They were therefore costly and precious in the Holy Land.
969. The star. About the time of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem, a phenomenon occurred in the night sky. There has been considerable dispute about what this bright star of Bethlehem may have been. Whatever the astronomical phenomenon was exactly, it did not go unobserved in the ancient home of astronomy, Mesopotamia. The wise men or magi who saw the star and believed that it heralded the birth of Jesus were probably astronomers.
970. Magus is a Persian word that referred to the priests of Persia, and from magus we get our English word magic. In the ancient world the priests who could predict eclipses and the motions of the planets must have seemed to possess magical powers.
Saturday, January 9, 2016
Bible Trivia l
956. Through Trinity is a common Christian term, the Bible never mentions the Trinity as such. It was a doctrine developed much later when the church was more established.
957. Dreams were often used as a means for God to speak to His prophets and other favored children. Items within the dreams symbolized real events or people or even future happenings. Joseph's dream about wheat sheaves foretold the time when he would be powerful in Egypt and lead that people through a drought and famine.
958. The doctrine known as "Immaculate Conception," the belief that Mary herself was conceived without sin, has no Biblical justification. This belief began early in Christian history and was officially accepted as dogma essential to Roman Catholic beliefs by Pope Pius IX in 1854.
959. Knowing the basics. In a 1997 survey, the London Sunday Times found that only 34 percent of 220 Anglican priests could recite all of the Ten Commandments without help.
960. Two separate creation stories are told in Genesis (Gen. 1:1-2:3. and Gen. 2:4-25), but there is no mention of an apple in the Garden of Eden story.
961. The original Hebrew word for "ark" meant "box" or "chest" in English.
962. Although the King James Version is often associated with Shakespearean English, neither Moses nor Jesus is ever quoted as saying "thee" or "thou."
963. Place names in the Bible often from the person or persons who settled the area. They would give it a special name to commemorate the occasion.
957. Dreams were often used as a means for God to speak to His prophets and other favored children. Items within the dreams symbolized real events or people or even future happenings. Joseph's dream about wheat sheaves foretold the time when he would be powerful in Egypt and lead that people through a drought and famine.
958. The doctrine known as "Immaculate Conception," the belief that Mary herself was conceived without sin, has no Biblical justification. This belief began early in Christian history and was officially accepted as dogma essential to Roman Catholic beliefs by Pope Pius IX in 1854.
959. Knowing the basics. In a 1997 survey, the London Sunday Times found that only 34 percent of 220 Anglican priests could recite all of the Ten Commandments without help.
960. Two separate creation stories are told in Genesis (Gen. 1:1-2:3. and Gen. 2:4-25), but there is no mention of an apple in the Garden of Eden story.
961. The original Hebrew word for "ark" meant "box" or "chest" in English.
962. Although the King James Version is often associated with Shakespearean English, neither Moses nor Jesus is ever quoted as saying "thee" or "thou."
963. Place names in the Bible often from the person or persons who settled the area. They would give it a special name to commemorate the occasion.
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