218. The Book of Moses. Other wise known as the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible attributed to Moses are the cornerstone of the books contributed by later generations. These books include Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
219. Genesis. Genesis comes from a word meaning "to be born." From that same word we also get words like genetic, congenital, and genealogy. Though it marks the beginning, the best way to look at Genesis is not merely to begin and look forward, but to stand at Exodus and look back. Moses is writing for his fellow Israelite slaves. As they struggle with Egypt's oppression, Moses answers the question, "How did we get in this mess?" Genesis is the answer to that question. It tells the story of the Israelites ancestors-all the way back to the first human beings.
220. Exodus. This book opens several hundred years after the close of Genesis. Jacob and some seventy family members had grown into hundreds of thousands. God's promise of descendants to Abraham also included a promise of land on which the descendants would live. this land had already been settled and was called Canaan, after its original settlers. It is now the area of Palestine or Israel. Exodus means "the going out of." It is the story of the Hebrew people being led by Moses out of Egyptian captivity into the wilderness for forty years.
221. Leviticus. The Levites were descended from Jacob's son Levi. Moses and Aaron were Levites. the Levites were to keep the tabernacle and all its services for the rest of the nation, and the priests were to have the most essential parts of that service. This book is somewhat of an appendix to Exodus as it is a log of the laws and guidelines for the Israelites.
222. Numbers. The English title of this book refers to the census of the twelve tribes that opens the book. The Hebrew title, Ba-Midbar (in the wilderness"), is more accurately descriptive because the book begins with the decision to leave Sinai and cross the desert toward the Promised Land.
223. Deuteronomy. This book is essentially Moses' farewell address-actually three addresses- in which he restates the acts of God. Solemnly Moses warns of the temptations of Canaan and its evil ways. Moses pleads for loyalty to and love of God as the main condition for life in the Promised Land. A central message in Deuteronomy is that the worship of God is to be centralized in one place, so that the paganism of local shrines may be eliminated.
224. The books of history. If the books of Moses can be considered the cornerstone of the Bible, then the next twelve books can be thought of as the first story of the building. The historical record of ancient Israel that began with Genesis through Deuteronomy is continued with these next twelve books. While the first five books brought Israel to the edge of the Promised Land, these next twelve tell what happened once Israel took up residence there.
225. Joshua. Moses and Aaron were not allowed to enter the Promised Land, and neither were any of the people who came out of Egypt because of the Israelites' griping in the wilderness. Permission came at last for the Israelites to "conquer" the Promised Land after forty years of waiting. The Book of Joshua tells this story. As in many war stories, it gets pretty gory.
226. Judges recounts the history of Israel from the death of Joshua to the time just before the birth of the Hebrew prophet Samuel, roughly a two-hundred-year span. the judges were warrior-like rulers over the tribes of Israel.
227. Ruth. The short Book of Ruth-shortest of all the historical books-provides a welcome respite from the harsh times described at the end of Judges. The opening verses tell of the Moabites, Ruth's marriage to a Hebrew man during a time of famine, and how she chose to return to Judah with her mother-in-law after her husband's death. Her loyalty and kindness were rewarded and forever remembered by the Jewish people because she became the great-grandmother of King David.
Wednesday, July 1, 2015
Horseflies on the Fourth of July
THE FOURTH OF JULY has become one of America's most celebrated holidays. Family barbecues, homemade ice cream, and fireworks consume the nation, as its citizens pay tribute to what they consider to be the birthday of the United States. It is a grand show of patriotism, but there is one small problem. Nothing very important happened on July 4th, 1776, except that the delegates of the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia had to cut their work short because of a horde of giant horseflies that invaded Independence Hall.
The first official move toward independence from Great Britain came on July 7, 1776, when Richard Henry Lee of Virginia petitioned the Second Continental Congress to make a clean break from the mother country. Nearly all of the delegates leaned toward Lee's clarion call, but few had the fortitude to take the final step that would turn the colonies into "free and independent states." They preferred to ponder the problem for awhile, so they tabled Lee's motion.
The delegates did indeed ponder the problem, but not for long. In less than a month, they experienced a remarkable change in attitude. Recent actions by the British put reconciliation beyond reach. By July 2, 1776, the colonists were ready for action, and Lee's motion for a declaration of independence was brought back for a vote. It passed unanimously, and Thomas Jefferson, with four other delegates, accepted the assignment to prepare the wording of the document that recorded the act of Congress.
That night John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, "The Second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the Great Anniversary Celebration."
So just what did happen on July 4th, 1776? Actually the Congress met that day for a single item of business. They gathered to simply approve the wording of the document which had been drawn up by Jefferson and his colleagues.
As the meeting was called to order, the July temperature began to rise quickly. The sergeant at arms opened the windows to allow any hint of a breeze to flow across the room. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, a slight puff of wind brought with it an invasion of giant horseflies from a nearby stable. The assembled delegates, who had been arguing over trivial points in Jefferson's wording, were suddenly swatting horseflies.
After a few minutes of battle, the insects prompted one tormented delegate to move to accept the document as it then stood. The motion was seconded and passed, as the delegates fled the building and the horseflies.
Therefore, the notion that July 4th, 1776, is Independence Day clearly misses the mark. The vote on independence had been taken two days earlier, and the document itself wasn't signed until August 2, 1776.
What Americans should be celebrating on July 4th is National Horsefly Day, for it was those pesky insects that cut short the debate on the wording of Jefferson's document and preserved its dignity for future generations.
The first official move toward independence from Great Britain came on July 7, 1776, when Richard Henry Lee of Virginia petitioned the Second Continental Congress to make a clean break from the mother country. Nearly all of the delegates leaned toward Lee's clarion call, but few had the fortitude to take the final step that would turn the colonies into "free and independent states." They preferred to ponder the problem for awhile, so they tabled Lee's motion.
The delegates did indeed ponder the problem, but not for long. In less than a month, they experienced a remarkable change in attitude. Recent actions by the British put reconciliation beyond reach. By July 2, 1776, the colonists were ready for action, and Lee's motion for a declaration of independence was brought back for a vote. It passed unanimously, and Thomas Jefferson, with four other delegates, accepted the assignment to prepare the wording of the document that recorded the act of Congress.
That night John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, "The Second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable in the history of America. I am apt to believe it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the Great Anniversary Celebration."
So just what did happen on July 4th, 1776? Actually the Congress met that day for a single item of business. They gathered to simply approve the wording of the document which had been drawn up by Jefferson and his colleagues.
As the meeting was called to order, the July temperature began to rise quickly. The sergeant at arms opened the windows to allow any hint of a breeze to flow across the room. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, a slight puff of wind brought with it an invasion of giant horseflies from a nearby stable. The assembled delegates, who had been arguing over trivial points in Jefferson's wording, were suddenly swatting horseflies.
After a few minutes of battle, the insects prompted one tormented delegate to move to accept the document as it then stood. The motion was seconded and passed, as the delegates fled the building and the horseflies.
Therefore, the notion that July 4th, 1776, is Independence Day clearly misses the mark. The vote on independence had been taken two days earlier, and the document itself wasn't signed until August 2, 1776.
What Americans should be celebrating on July 4th is National Horsefly Day, for it was those pesky insects that cut short the debate on the wording of Jefferson's document and preserved its dignity for future generations.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Famous Quotes about the Bible ll
207. "There are no songs comparable to the songs of Zion, no orations equal to those of the prophets, and no politics like those which the Scriptures teach."---John Milton
208. "When you read God's Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, it is talking to me, and about me." Soren Kierkegaard
209. "You can learn more about human nature by reading the Bible than by living in new York."---William Lyon Phelps
210. "The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world."---Charles Dickens
211. "What you bring away from the Bible depends to some extent on what you carry to it."---Oliver Wendell Holmes
212. "The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me." Martin Luther
213. "The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people."---G. K. Chesterton
214. "Intense study of the Bible will keep any man from being vulgar in point of style."---Samuel Taylor Coleridge
215. "'The Bible,' we are told sometimes, 'gives us such a beautiful picture of what we should be.' Nonsense! It gives us no picture at all. It reveals to us a fact: It tells us what we really are; it says, this is the form in which God created you, to which He has restored you; this is the work which the Eternal Son, the God of Truth and Love, is continually carrying on within you."---F. D. Maurice
216. "Read the whole Bible, and read it in order; two chapters in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament, daily if you can possibly spare the time; and you will have more time than you are aware of; if you retrench all needless visits, and save the hours spent in useless or unimportant conversation."---Adam Clarke, a Methodist circuit preacher of the nineteenth century, believed that only through regular Bible reading would Christians grow wise in their salvation.
217. "You may as well quit reading and hearing the Word of God, and give in to the devil, if you do not desire to live according to it."---Martin Luther
208. "When you read God's Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, it is talking to me, and about me." Soren Kierkegaard
209. "You can learn more about human nature by reading the Bible than by living in new York."---William Lyon Phelps
210. "The New Testament is the very best book that ever was or ever will be known in the world."---Charles Dickens
211. "What you bring away from the Bible depends to some extent on what you carry to it."---Oliver Wendell Holmes
212. "The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold on me." Martin Luther
213. "The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people."---G. K. Chesterton
214. "Intense study of the Bible will keep any man from being vulgar in point of style."---Samuel Taylor Coleridge
215. "'The Bible,' we are told sometimes, 'gives us such a beautiful picture of what we should be.' Nonsense! It gives us no picture at all. It reveals to us a fact: It tells us what we really are; it says, this is the form in which God created you, to which He has restored you; this is the work which the Eternal Son, the God of Truth and Love, is continually carrying on within you."---F. D. Maurice
216. "Read the whole Bible, and read it in order; two chapters in the Old Testament and one in the New Testament, daily if you can possibly spare the time; and you will have more time than you are aware of; if you retrench all needless visits, and save the hours spent in useless or unimportant conversation."---Adam Clarke, a Methodist circuit preacher of the nineteenth century, believed that only through regular Bible reading would Christians grow wise in their salvation.
217. "You may as well quit reading and hearing the Word of God, and give in to the devil, if you do not desire to live according to it."---Martin Luther
Monday, June 29, 2015
Famous Quotes about the Bible l
195. "The Book of Books, the storehouse and magazine of life and comfort."---George Herbert
196. "Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, adversity is the blessing of the New Testament."---Francis Bacon
197. "Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me...the passages which trouble me the most are those that I do understand."---Mark Twain
198. "The English Bible, a book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of it's beauty and power."---Thomas Babington Macaulay
199. "The Bible is a window in this prison of hope, through which we look into eternity."---John Sullivan Dwight
200. "If you believe those four words, 'In the beginning God,' you have no problem believing all of the Bible."---Raymond Barber
201. "Unless I am convicted of error by the testimony of Scripture or by manifest reasoning, I stand convicted by the Scriptures to which I have appealed, and my conscience is taken captive by God's word."---Martin Luther
205. "The Bible is no mere book, but a living creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it."---Napoleon Bonaparte
206. "In the twentieth century our highest praise has been to call the Bible 'the world's best-seller.' And it has come to be more and more difficult to say we think it is a best-seller because it is great, or vice versa."---Daniel Boorstin
196. "Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament, adversity is the blessing of the New Testament."---Francis Bacon
197. "Most people are bothered by those passages in Scripture which they cannot understand; but as for me...the passages which trouble me the most are those that I do understand."---Mark Twain
198. "The English Bible, a book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of it's beauty and power."---Thomas Babington Macaulay
199. "The Bible is a window in this prison of hope, through which we look into eternity."---John Sullivan Dwight
200. "If you believe those four words, 'In the beginning God,' you have no problem believing all of the Bible."---Raymond Barber
201. "Unless I am convicted of error by the testimony of Scripture or by manifest reasoning, I stand convicted by the Scriptures to which I have appealed, and my conscience is taken captive by God's word."---Martin Luther
205. "The Bible is no mere book, but a living creature, with a power that conquers all that oppose it."---Napoleon Bonaparte
206. "In the twentieth century our highest praise has been to call the Bible 'the world's best-seller.' And it has come to be more and more difficult to say we think it is a best-seller because it is great, or vice versa."---Daniel Boorstin
Friday, June 26, 2015
William Jennings Bryan and the Monkey Trial
When Charles Darwin began thinking about the origin of species, he raised a ruckus that continues to this very day. At no time, however, has the debate caused more controversy than in the so-called Monkey Trial of 1925. The jury in that case returned a guilty verdict, giving a leading prosecutor a thumping victory, but he never lived to enjoy it.
It all started when a high school biology teacher by the name of John Scopes decided to test a Tennessee law that prohibited public school instructors from teaching any theory that man is descended from a lower order of animal.
Scopes was immediately indicted and brought to trial. Overnight, the entire country focused on the town of Dayton, Tennessee. The famous defense attorney Clarence Darrow ran to help Scopes, while William Jennings Bryan, three-time presidential candidate, rushed in to advise the prosecution.
The outcome of the trial was a forgone conclusion. The judge, John Raulston, was a rural magistrate from the hamlet of Fiery Gizzard, Tennessee, who was strongly prejudiced against the defendant. Scopes was found guilty of being in violation of the Tennessee law and fined a hundred dollars.
The guilt or innocence of the teacher, however, was not what held the nation spellbound. The attraction of the trial lay in the gargantuan struggle between the liberal Darrow and the fundamentalist Bryan, who agreed to testify as an expert witness on the Bible.
The verdict of history is that the aging politician was no match for his cynical opponent. Through no efforts of his own, his side won the case, but there was a price. Bryan was publicly raked over the coals by Darrow and discredited in the minds of many. Not even the guilty verdict could raise his slumping spirits. After the trial, Bryan trudged home, and within a few days he died in his sleep, never having gained his self-confidence.
So the Scopes trial was the last battle for the aging warrior, but he did have the last word. He may not have convinced the skeptics, but the statute that set the stage for the Monkey Trial spectacle, although later ignored and unenforced, remained on the books. For a long time the state of Tennessee agreed with Bryan and denounced the theory of evolution, while at the same time turning a blind eye to his fundamentalist arguments.
It all started when a high school biology teacher by the name of John Scopes decided to test a Tennessee law that prohibited public school instructors from teaching any theory that man is descended from a lower order of animal.
Scopes was immediately indicted and brought to trial. Overnight, the entire country focused on the town of Dayton, Tennessee. The famous defense attorney Clarence Darrow ran to help Scopes, while William Jennings Bryan, three-time presidential candidate, rushed in to advise the prosecution.
The outcome of the trial was a forgone conclusion. The judge, John Raulston, was a rural magistrate from the hamlet of Fiery Gizzard, Tennessee, who was strongly prejudiced against the defendant. Scopes was found guilty of being in violation of the Tennessee law and fined a hundred dollars.
The guilt or innocence of the teacher, however, was not what held the nation spellbound. The attraction of the trial lay in the gargantuan struggle between the liberal Darrow and the fundamentalist Bryan, who agreed to testify as an expert witness on the Bible.
The verdict of history is that the aging politician was no match for his cynical opponent. Through no efforts of his own, his side won the case, but there was a price. Bryan was publicly raked over the coals by Darrow and discredited in the minds of many. Not even the guilty verdict could raise his slumping spirits. After the trial, Bryan trudged home, and within a few days he died in his sleep, never having gained his self-confidence.
So the Scopes trial was the last battle for the aging warrior, but he did have the last word. He may not have convinced the skeptics, but the statute that set the stage for the Monkey Trial spectacle, although later ignored and unenforced, remained on the books. For a long time the state of Tennessee agreed with Bryan and denounced the theory of evolution, while at the same time turning a blind eye to his fundamentalist arguments.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Strange and Amazing Facts About the Bible ll
183. The oldest verses in the Bible are believed to be fragments from "the Song of Deborah."
184. The newest verses in the Bible are thought to be found in the Gospel of John, which dates from around A.D. 100.
185. Job was written when? Job, the book that appears before the Psalms, is actually a much older book than the books it is located near. Job and Genesis are actually on similar timelines1
186. The most press? David receives second place for being mentioned a whopping 1,118 times in the Bible. He is second only to Jesus in this regard. Sarah, the wife of Abraham, receives most references as a woman-fifty-six!
187. The name Jesus appears seven hundred times in the Gospels and Acts, and less than seventy times in the Epistles. The name Christ can be found sixty times throughout the Gospels and Acts, but 240 times in the Epistles and the Book of Revelation.
188. The most press for an animal? Sheep win the prize with mention of this very necessary animal occurring over four hundred different times.
189. Who was the oldest? Methuselah is believed to have lived 969 years on earth before he died (Gen. 5:27), making him the longest-lived person. Prior to the flood, people lived very long lives, but afterward, only a few (patriarchs and Moses among them) lived beyond the expected seventy-or eighty-year life span.
190. The longest-reigning king in the Bible was Manasseh, who oversaw the kingdom of Judah for fifty-five years (2 Kings 21:1). The shortest-reigning king was Zimri, who wore the crown of Israel for only seven days (1 Kings 16:15).
191. Weddings galore. King Solomon, son of David, is the most-often married man in the Bible. This king had seven hundred wives (all of royal birth!) along with an additional three hundred concubines (1 Kings 11:3).
192. A longer name can't be found in the Bible than that of Maher-shalal-hash-baz. The Lord told Isaiah, in 8:3, to give his child, born of a prophetess, this name, which means "quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil."
193. Though God is invisible and has no body parts, the Bible always refers to him with masculine pronouns, and we are said to be made "in his image" according to Genesis.
194. Shakespeare honored?! William Shakespeare is perhaps the only man not of Bible times who is honored in the Bible. How? In honor of his forty-sixth birthday, which happened to be the year the King James Version was being printed for the first time, the scholars took the forty-sixth Psalm and made sure that forty six words into the psalm appeared the word shake and forty-six words from the end of the psalm appeared the word spear.
184. The newest verses in the Bible are thought to be found in the Gospel of John, which dates from around A.D. 100.
185. Job was written when? Job, the book that appears before the Psalms, is actually a much older book than the books it is located near. Job and Genesis are actually on similar timelines1
186. The most press? David receives second place for being mentioned a whopping 1,118 times in the Bible. He is second only to Jesus in this regard. Sarah, the wife of Abraham, receives most references as a woman-fifty-six!
187. The name Jesus appears seven hundred times in the Gospels and Acts, and less than seventy times in the Epistles. The name Christ can be found sixty times throughout the Gospels and Acts, but 240 times in the Epistles and the Book of Revelation.
188. The most press for an animal? Sheep win the prize with mention of this very necessary animal occurring over four hundred different times.
189. Who was the oldest? Methuselah is believed to have lived 969 years on earth before he died (Gen. 5:27), making him the longest-lived person. Prior to the flood, people lived very long lives, but afterward, only a few (patriarchs and Moses among them) lived beyond the expected seventy-or eighty-year life span.
190. The longest-reigning king in the Bible was Manasseh, who oversaw the kingdom of Judah for fifty-five years (2 Kings 21:1). The shortest-reigning king was Zimri, who wore the crown of Israel for only seven days (1 Kings 16:15).
191. Weddings galore. King Solomon, son of David, is the most-often married man in the Bible. This king had seven hundred wives (all of royal birth!) along with an additional three hundred concubines (1 Kings 11:3).
192. A longer name can't be found in the Bible than that of Maher-shalal-hash-baz. The Lord told Isaiah, in 8:3, to give his child, born of a prophetess, this name, which means "quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil."
193. Though God is invisible and has no body parts, the Bible always refers to him with masculine pronouns, and we are said to be made "in his image" according to Genesis.
194. Shakespeare honored?! William Shakespeare is perhaps the only man not of Bible times who is honored in the Bible. How? In honor of his forty-sixth birthday, which happened to be the year the King James Version was being printed for the first time, the scholars took the forty-sixth Psalm and made sure that forty six words into the psalm appeared the word shake and forty-six words from the end of the psalm appeared the word spear.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Strange and Amazing Facts About the Bible l
170. A stack of scrolls was the form of the Bible until the fourth century A.D. Then it was compiled into one volume, though it was hardly complete at that point!
171. It wasn't until the sixteenth century, many, many years after the Bible was first printed, that it was divided into the chapters and verses we are accustomed to today.
172. No mention! There are two books of the Bible that never state the name of God: Esther and Song of Solomon.
173. There are twenty-four books in the Hebrew Bible. Generally the books are categorized within three sections: the Law (Torah), Prophets, and Writings. The Hebrew Bible has only what Protestants would call the "Old Testament."
174. The Protestant version of the Old Testament contains thirty-nine books. This is different from both the Hebrew Bible and the Catholic Bible. The New Testament of the Protestant version contains twenty-seven books.
175. The Catholic Bible's Old Testament contains the thirty-nine books of the Protestant version's Old Testament but also includes seven books of the Apocrypha.
176. How many chapters? There are 929 chapters in the Old Testament and 260 in the New Testament, making a grand total of 1,189 chapters in all!
177. How many letters? With 3,566,480 letters in the Bible, and a word count between 773,692 and 773,746, depending on how the hyphenated words are counted, this Book is quite large.
178. The shortest book in the New Testament is 3 John, which contains only 294 words in it's fourteen verses! John's second book has one less verse but four more words.
179. The shortest book in the Old Testament is Obadiah.
180. The longest book in the Bible is the Book of Psalms. It has 150 psalms.
181. The longest verse in the Bible (King James Version) is Esther 8:9, which has ninety words total. The shortest verse, John 11:35, includes only two words: "Jesus wept."
182. The Book of Isaiah is the most-often quoted Old Testament book, with 419 references made to it in the New Testament. The Book of Psalms is second and referred to in the New Testament 414 times.
171. It wasn't until the sixteenth century, many, many years after the Bible was first printed, that it was divided into the chapters and verses we are accustomed to today.
172. No mention! There are two books of the Bible that never state the name of God: Esther and Song of Solomon.
173. There are twenty-four books in the Hebrew Bible. Generally the books are categorized within three sections: the Law (Torah), Prophets, and Writings. The Hebrew Bible has only what Protestants would call the "Old Testament."
174. The Protestant version of the Old Testament contains thirty-nine books. This is different from both the Hebrew Bible and the Catholic Bible. The New Testament of the Protestant version contains twenty-seven books.
175. The Catholic Bible's Old Testament contains the thirty-nine books of the Protestant version's Old Testament but also includes seven books of the Apocrypha.
176. How many chapters? There are 929 chapters in the Old Testament and 260 in the New Testament, making a grand total of 1,189 chapters in all!
177. How many letters? With 3,566,480 letters in the Bible, and a word count between 773,692 and 773,746, depending on how the hyphenated words are counted, this Book is quite large.
178. The shortest book in the New Testament is 3 John, which contains only 294 words in it's fourteen verses! John's second book has one less verse but four more words.
179. The shortest book in the Old Testament is Obadiah.
180. The longest book in the Bible is the Book of Psalms. It has 150 psalms.
181. The longest verse in the Bible (King James Version) is Esther 8:9, which has ninety words total. The shortest verse, John 11:35, includes only two words: "Jesus wept."
182. The Book of Isaiah is the most-often quoted Old Testament book, with 419 references made to it in the New Testament. The Book of Psalms is second and referred to in the New Testament 414 times.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)