My way
Food has never really been that important to me, as you can tell by my hulking hundred and fifteen frame-soaking wet. For me, it has always been a question of eating for survival or purely social reasons. When I find myself getting hungry, which is normally at very odd hours in the morning, I generally pick myself up from bed very quietly, so as not to disturb Altovise, tiptoe out of the room. As soon as I pass the threshold. I hear a voice from beneath the blankets, "The chicken soup is in the big pot, and the vegetable soup in the little one."
Then I trot into the kitchen and put the pot of my choice on the stove. Sometimes, when I desire a real gourmet treat, I mix the two soups together-"Ain't no soul food ever tasted like that!" In a way, eating kosher food comes close to soul food for me, and since I've been in show business, I've eaten more kosher dishes than black-eyed peas.
Greens (Collard)
6 bunches of collard greens
4 pounds flanken
1 green pepper, diced
2 onions, diced
pinch of sugar
pinch of baking soda
4 whole dry red peppers
salt and pepper to taste
Method: Cook flanken in water to cover for about 3 hours, until meat falls off bones. Reserve meat. Wash greens 5 or 6 times in salt water, break them up in pieces and cook them in broth from the flanken. Then add peppers, onions, sugar, soda, red pepper. Cook for 45 minutes.
Add meat or serve it separately with strong white horseradish and cornbread. Dunk bread into soup.
Friday, August 14, 2015
Kosher Cookbook: Elke Sommer-German Coffee Cake
Icing
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
3/4 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted (scant 3 cups) salt
4 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla rum
finely chopped pecans
Method: Cream butter and sugar with hand beater until fluffy. Add salt and stir in milk. Keep beating until very fluffy. Add vanilla. Cut cake into 1 1/2 inch squares. Pour a generous teaspoon of rum on each cake square. Spread icing on all sides and roll in chopped fresh pecans. The icing part is pretty messy, but it all comes out beautifully as you roll it around in the chopped nuts. I use a chopping bowl for this. You can substitute moist coconut for nuts and you have Snow Rum Balls instead of Pecan Rum Cakes. Or, if you leave out the rum, you have plain Snow Balls, which are great too. Make them 2 1/2 inches square and you have a dessert dish instead of an accompaniment. Makes about 44 little cakes.
Elke Sommer
The Fifth Question by Joe Hyams
Elke never had kosher food until I took her to a seder at my friend, Marshall Flaum's house. Not wanting to embarrass Elke, Marshall and I decided to read the service in English so she could follow along.
Elke didn't say anything. We read the Hagaddah in our native tongue and when we came to the traditional blessings, we were careful to point to the transliteration. When we came to the four questions, we honored Elke by asking her to read them. She rose regally, turned the transliterated part over and set her sights on the Hebrew. As I was about to caution her that she was looking at the wrong page, she began, "Ma Nishtana Halailah Hazeh, Mikol Halelot..."
Marshall and I sat flabbergasted as she read the Hebrew flawlessly.
Marshall recovered his composure first, "How, where?" He hadn't recovered that well.
"My father was a minister. He studied the Old Testament in it's original. He taught me how to read Hebrew."
"But," I interrupted , "You never told me you knew how to read Hebrew."
Elke looked at me with her soulful and tantalizing eyes, "You never asked," she said simply, as she sat and began reading the answers for the four questions in Hebrew.
German Coffee Cake Serves 8
3 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 eggs
1 cup milk
Method: Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, spices and sugar. Work vegetable shortening into dry ingredients. Add eggs combined with milk. Stir until smooth. Pour into a greased shallow pan (8 by 12). With fork, blend the first five ingredients below and spread smoothly on top of batter; then sprinkle with nuts:
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts
Bake in 350-degree oven 30 minutes.
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
3/4 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted (scant 3 cups) salt
4 tablespoons milk
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla rum
finely chopped pecans
Method: Cream butter and sugar with hand beater until fluffy. Add salt and stir in milk. Keep beating until very fluffy. Add vanilla. Cut cake into 1 1/2 inch squares. Pour a generous teaspoon of rum on each cake square. Spread icing on all sides and roll in chopped fresh pecans. The icing part is pretty messy, but it all comes out beautifully as you roll it around in the chopped nuts. I use a chopping bowl for this. You can substitute moist coconut for nuts and you have Snow Rum Balls instead of Pecan Rum Cakes. Or, if you leave out the rum, you have plain Snow Balls, which are great too. Make them 2 1/2 inches square and you have a dessert dish instead of an accompaniment. Makes about 44 little cakes.
Elke Sommer
The Fifth Question by Joe Hyams
Elke never had kosher food until I took her to a seder at my friend, Marshall Flaum's house. Not wanting to embarrass Elke, Marshall and I decided to read the service in English so she could follow along.
Elke didn't say anything. We read the Hagaddah in our native tongue and when we came to the traditional blessings, we were careful to point to the transliteration. When we came to the four questions, we honored Elke by asking her to read them. She rose regally, turned the transliterated part over and set her sights on the Hebrew. As I was about to caution her that she was looking at the wrong page, she began, "Ma Nishtana Halailah Hazeh, Mikol Halelot..."
Marshall and I sat flabbergasted as she read the Hebrew flawlessly.
Marshall recovered his composure first, "How, where?" He hadn't recovered that well.
"My father was a minister. He studied the Old Testament in it's original. He taught me how to read Hebrew."
"But," I interrupted , "You never told me you knew how to read Hebrew."
Elke looked at me with her soulful and tantalizing eyes, "You never asked," she said simply, as she sat and began reading the answers for the four questions in Hebrew.
German Coffee Cake Serves 8
3 cups flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 eggs
1 cup milk
Method: Sift together flour, baking powder, salt, spices and sugar. Work vegetable shortening into dry ingredients. Add eggs combined with milk. Stir until smooth. Pour into a greased shallow pan (8 by 12). With fork, blend the first five ingredients below and spread smoothly on top of batter; then sprinkle with nuts:
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
1 cup brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup coarsely chopped nuts
Bake in 350-degree oven 30 minutes.
Thursday, August 13, 2015
Prophets Speak V
430. The Hebrew Bible gained much of its present shape during the exiled years in Babylon. The Pentateuch, or Torah, approached the form it now holds, and the history of Israel, from Joshua through 1 and 2 Kings, and the earliest prophetic writings, were all most likely composed during the exile.
431. Jeshua was allowed to return to Jerusalem after nearly fifty years of captivity by King Cyrus of Persia. This young man, whose name means "the Lord is salvation," led the way for Jews to begin worshiping again. He served as chief priest and helped to lead the effort to rebuild the temple.
432. The beginnings of the diaspora, the great dispersal of Jews throughout the Mediterranean world and eventually into Europe, is marked by the period of exile and return. While in Babylon some Jews had entered official government service, such as Nehemiah, "a cupbearer" to one Persian king, and Mordecai, who also served a Persian king in the Book of Esther.
433. Daniel was a statesman, not a prophet. As a result, Jewish scholars do not place this book among the prophetic books. However, because Daniel had the gift of prediction, the New Testament calls him a "prophet" (Matt. 24:15). Daniel saw many symbols in his prophetic visions, and he often recorded them without attempting to interpret what they meant.
434. Starting in 538 B.C., about seventy years after the destruction of Jerusalem, Jews began returning to their Holy City. The Book of Ezra describes the exiles return. Ezra was a priest who led a group of Jews to their Homeland. He was accompanied by some seventeen hundred Babylonian Jews, including some Levites. A census was recorded of who returned to the Promised Land. Much of this book deals with temple worship and its responsibilities. Ezra taught the details of the Law of Moses so that Jews could reinstitute the practices in the Promised Land.
435. In Jewish history, law, and theology, Ezra is a character of great significance. Some Hebrew scholars rank him second only to Moses as a lawgiver and prophet, and he's considered by many as the second founder (after Moses) of the Jewish nation. Not only did Ezra reinstate the law and temple worship practices, he required that all Jewish men get rid of their foreign wives and children. Ezra ends poignantly with the words, "All these had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives."
436. Around 520 B.C., Haggai came onto the scene. The work of rebuilding the temple had nearly stopped. Haggai cheered the people on to continue the effort. He also gave great comfort to the other two priests who were hard at work. Within four years the work was done and the temple was rebuilt.
437. The Judah of the return from Babylon was a far cry from Solomon's empire, and the second temple, completed in 516 B.C., was modest, despite the fact that Cyrus provided funding for the rebuilding of the temple. All the gold and silver vessels that had been salvaged from the original temple and taken to Babylon were returned to Jerusalem. But never again in Scripture is the fate of Judaism's most sacred object, the ark of the covenant, mentioned.
438. At the rededication of the city of Jerusalem in 445 B.C., all the Jewish people and all who could hear with understanding gathered at the square in front of the Water Gate. Ezra began to read the Book of Moses before the assembly, "which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law" (Neh. 8:3). This verse refers to the fact that most Jews no longer understood Hebrew. By the time of the return, Aramaic, a related Semitic language, had replaced Hebrew as the common language.
431. Jeshua was allowed to return to Jerusalem after nearly fifty years of captivity by King Cyrus of Persia. This young man, whose name means "the Lord is salvation," led the way for Jews to begin worshiping again. He served as chief priest and helped to lead the effort to rebuild the temple.
432. The beginnings of the diaspora, the great dispersal of Jews throughout the Mediterranean world and eventually into Europe, is marked by the period of exile and return. While in Babylon some Jews had entered official government service, such as Nehemiah, "a cupbearer" to one Persian king, and Mordecai, who also served a Persian king in the Book of Esther.
433. Daniel was a statesman, not a prophet. As a result, Jewish scholars do not place this book among the prophetic books. However, because Daniel had the gift of prediction, the New Testament calls him a "prophet" (Matt. 24:15). Daniel saw many symbols in his prophetic visions, and he often recorded them without attempting to interpret what they meant.
434. Starting in 538 B.C., about seventy years after the destruction of Jerusalem, Jews began returning to their Holy City. The Book of Ezra describes the exiles return. Ezra was a priest who led a group of Jews to their Homeland. He was accompanied by some seventeen hundred Babylonian Jews, including some Levites. A census was recorded of who returned to the Promised Land. Much of this book deals with temple worship and its responsibilities. Ezra taught the details of the Law of Moses so that Jews could reinstitute the practices in the Promised Land.
435. In Jewish history, law, and theology, Ezra is a character of great significance. Some Hebrew scholars rank him second only to Moses as a lawgiver and prophet, and he's considered by many as the second founder (after Moses) of the Jewish nation. Not only did Ezra reinstate the law and temple worship practices, he required that all Jewish men get rid of their foreign wives and children. Ezra ends poignantly with the words, "All these had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives."
436. Around 520 B.C., Haggai came onto the scene. The work of rebuilding the temple had nearly stopped. Haggai cheered the people on to continue the effort. He also gave great comfort to the other two priests who were hard at work. Within four years the work was done and the temple was rebuilt.
437. The Judah of the return from Babylon was a far cry from Solomon's empire, and the second temple, completed in 516 B.C., was modest, despite the fact that Cyrus provided funding for the rebuilding of the temple. All the gold and silver vessels that had been salvaged from the original temple and taken to Babylon were returned to Jerusalem. But never again in Scripture is the fate of Judaism's most sacred object, the ark of the covenant, mentioned.
438. At the rededication of the city of Jerusalem in 445 B.C., all the Jewish people and all who could hear with understanding gathered at the square in front of the Water Gate. Ezra began to read the Book of Moses before the assembly, "which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law" (Neh. 8:3). This verse refers to the fact that most Jews no longer understood Hebrew. By the time of the return, Aramaic, a related Semitic language, had replaced Hebrew as the common language.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Prophets Speak IV
420. The prophet Jeremiah warned of the oncoming destruction by hostile empires, and he said sinful people would become "meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth" (Jer. 7:33 KJV). By "fowls" that would feast on the slain, Jeremiah undoubtedly meant vultures, because they feed on dead animals. The griffon is a huge vulture in the Holy Land, particularly in the mountainous areas. Although it is large and powerful, it never kills its own prey, and it will not feed on any animal that shows signs of life. It is a remarkably clean bird in its habits, bathing almost often as it finds water.
421. The Babylonians came. They laid waste to the countryside and were on the verge of capturing Jerusalem just as Jeremiah had foretold. Yet on the eve of destruction, Jeremiah did a strange thing. He bought a piece of real estate, a field near his home village. He paid seventeen shekels of silver for it, had the deed signed, sealed, and witnessed, and then instructed Baruch to put the deed in a clay jar so that it could be preserved for a long time. For just as he believed that God would surely destroy the nation of Judah, Jeremiah also believed that God would build it up again. "Is there no balm in Gilead?" Jeremiah cried out and answered his own question by refusing to despair. God would not forsake his people, no matter how faithless they had been.
422. Jeremiah is believed to be the author of the Book of Lamentations. In chapter three, the writer cries out:
I am the man who has seen affliction,
by the rod of His wrath.
He has driven me away and made me walk,
in darkness rather than light;
indeed He has turned His hand against me,
again and again, all day long.
He pierced my heart,
with arrows from His quiver.
I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
He has filled me with bitter herbs,
and sated me with gall.
verses 1-3, 13-15
423. Origin of the term Jews. In the year 587 B.C. the Holy City lay in ruins, and its people were led off to captivity in Babylon after the armies King Nebuchadnezzar overran Judah and conquered Jerusalem. Their name changed to "Jews" (from the Hebrew Yehudi, which means "belonging to the tribe of Judah"). They kept alive their faith and their way of life during the years of exile.
424. Habakkuk is thought to have been a prophet around the time of Jeremiah. He struggled with how God would want His people, despite how badly they were behaving, to come under the influence of an even more ungodly people-the Babylonians. God was faithful to His prophet and assured Habakkuk to trust Him for the answer.
425. Ezekiel spoke knowingly about the land and its life. Scholars disputed for a long time about what animal he meant by "the great dragon" (Ezek. 29:3 KJV), until archaeologists excavated ancient Babylon and discovered the remains of an enormous gate that was ordered to be built by Nebuchadnezzar. The ruins of the Ishtar Gate showed decorations with rows of animal sculptures-at least 575 figures in all. One of the animals is a fantastic beast: the Sirrush or Dragon of Babylon.
426. Why a dragon? No one knows for certain why the image of the Sirrush was placed on the gates, but Nebuchadnezzar ordered these words inscribed on it: "Fierce bulls and grim dragons I put and thus supplied the gates with overflowing rich splendor that all humanity may view it with wonderment." It is possible that these figures were intended to impress or even frighten the Medes and Persians. So although actual dragons never existed, sculptured figures of them must have been seen by Ezekiel during the exile in Babylon.
427. The valley of dry bones was a graveyard to which the prophet Ezekiel was commanded to preach. As he did so Ezekiel watched the bones reattach to one another and come to life-an image of the spiritually dead nation of Israel coming back to life by the power of God's Word. This event, recorded in Ezekiel 37, is one of several strange visions of the prophet.
428. The period of the exile in Babylon, lasting approximately from 586 to 538 B.C., deeply impacted Judaism and the Bible. Without the Temple in Jerusalem as the focal point of Yahweh worship, the Jews were forced to create a new form of communal ritual with the earliest beginnings of the synagogue as the center for prayer, Torah study, and teaching.
429. The spirit of hope to return to Jerusalem and restore the Temple gave many exiled Jews a purpose. They began to look for a Messiah, a new leader or savior. However, only a minority of the Jews took advantage of the offer to return to Judah and rebuild Jerusalem. Many of these people had lived in Babylon for two generations and intermarriage had become common.
421. The Babylonians came. They laid waste to the countryside and were on the verge of capturing Jerusalem just as Jeremiah had foretold. Yet on the eve of destruction, Jeremiah did a strange thing. He bought a piece of real estate, a field near his home village. He paid seventeen shekels of silver for it, had the deed signed, sealed, and witnessed, and then instructed Baruch to put the deed in a clay jar so that it could be preserved for a long time. For just as he believed that God would surely destroy the nation of Judah, Jeremiah also believed that God would build it up again. "Is there no balm in Gilead?" Jeremiah cried out and answered his own question by refusing to despair. God would not forsake his people, no matter how faithless they had been.
422. Jeremiah is believed to be the author of the Book of Lamentations. In chapter three, the writer cries out:
I am the man who has seen affliction,
by the rod of His wrath.
He has driven me away and made me walk,
in darkness rather than light;
indeed He has turned His hand against me,
again and again, all day long.
He pierced my heart,
with arrows from His quiver.
I became the laughingstock of all my people;
they mock me in song all day long.
He has filled me with bitter herbs,
and sated me with gall.
verses 1-3, 13-15
423. Origin of the term Jews. In the year 587 B.C. the Holy City lay in ruins, and its people were led off to captivity in Babylon after the armies King Nebuchadnezzar overran Judah and conquered Jerusalem. Their name changed to "Jews" (from the Hebrew Yehudi, which means "belonging to the tribe of Judah"). They kept alive their faith and their way of life during the years of exile.
424. Habakkuk is thought to have been a prophet around the time of Jeremiah. He struggled with how God would want His people, despite how badly they were behaving, to come under the influence of an even more ungodly people-the Babylonians. God was faithful to His prophet and assured Habakkuk to trust Him for the answer.
425. Ezekiel spoke knowingly about the land and its life. Scholars disputed for a long time about what animal he meant by "the great dragon" (Ezek. 29:3 KJV), until archaeologists excavated ancient Babylon and discovered the remains of an enormous gate that was ordered to be built by Nebuchadnezzar. The ruins of the Ishtar Gate showed decorations with rows of animal sculptures-at least 575 figures in all. One of the animals is a fantastic beast: the Sirrush or Dragon of Babylon.
426. Why a dragon? No one knows for certain why the image of the Sirrush was placed on the gates, but Nebuchadnezzar ordered these words inscribed on it: "Fierce bulls and grim dragons I put and thus supplied the gates with overflowing rich splendor that all humanity may view it with wonderment." It is possible that these figures were intended to impress or even frighten the Medes and Persians. So although actual dragons never existed, sculptured figures of them must have been seen by Ezekiel during the exile in Babylon.
427. The valley of dry bones was a graveyard to which the prophet Ezekiel was commanded to preach. As he did so Ezekiel watched the bones reattach to one another and come to life-an image of the spiritually dead nation of Israel coming back to life by the power of God's Word. This event, recorded in Ezekiel 37, is one of several strange visions of the prophet.
428. The period of the exile in Babylon, lasting approximately from 586 to 538 B.C., deeply impacted Judaism and the Bible. Without the Temple in Jerusalem as the focal point of Yahweh worship, the Jews were forced to create a new form of communal ritual with the earliest beginnings of the synagogue as the center for prayer, Torah study, and teaching.
429. The spirit of hope to return to Jerusalem and restore the Temple gave many exiled Jews a purpose. They began to look for a Messiah, a new leader or savior. However, only a minority of the Jews took advantage of the offer to return to Judah and rebuild Jerusalem. Many of these people had lived in Babylon for two generations and intermarriage had become common.
To All The Kids Who Survived The 1940s, 50s, 60, and 70s!!!
First, we survived being born to mothers who took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid aid with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day, and we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendos, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!!!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!!!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't, had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!!!
When we did something we were not supposed to or got into trouble, we got spanked (by a hand, a hairbrush, or a belt) or even worse we got our legs "switched" with a branch from a special bush grown in the backyard and even had to go cut it ourselves before it was used on us. But we never thought of calling the police or Social Services to report our parents fo child abuse!!!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!!!
Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets, and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, booster seats, seat belts or air bags.
Riding in the back of a pickup truck on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank Kool-aid aid with sugar, but we weren't overweight because, WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day, and we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendos, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVDs, no surround-sound or CDs, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or chat rooms.........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!!!
We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them!!!
Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't, had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!!
The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!!!
When we did something we were not supposed to or got into trouble, we got spanked (by a hand, a hairbrush, or a belt) or even worse we got our legs "switched" with a branch from a special bush grown in the backyard and even had to go cut it ourselves before it was used on us. But we never thought of calling the police or Social Services to report our parents fo child abuse!!!
These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!!!
Monday, August 10, 2015
Prophets Speak lll
410. Micah lived after Amos and Hosea. He prophesized of a future king who would be born in Bethlehem. He looked forward to that time as the current kings he suffered with consistently led the people toward idol worship and other forms of sin.
411. Jehoiada and his wife saved the line of kings from the wrath of King Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, who tried to seize the throne by killing the entire family. Jehoiada was chief priest at the time. They stole Ahaziah's baby, Joash, and hid him for six years. Then they overthrew Athaliah and put Joash on the throne to reinstate his lineage.
412. Following the reign of Manasseh, a notorious king of Judah who reintroduced idol worship, a crucial moment in Biblical history occurred in 621 B.C. During the reign of King Josiah, an ideal king who reigned for thirty-one years after taking the throne at age eight, a scroll that was about to be removed from the temple was discovered by a priest. When Josiah read the scroll, he tore his clothes in anguish because he knew how far the people had fallen from God. He began vigorous reforms and removed all pagan items from Jerusalem.
413. Hilkiah was the priest who found the scroll that brought King Josiah to his knees. Together he and the young king tried to bring the people back to God.
414. The longest prophetic book in Hebrew Scripture, Isaiah has had a remarkable impact on our language. Perhaps more than any other book of Hebrew prophecy, Isaiah has played a central role for Christians and has even been called the "the fifth Gospel" because so many of the book's prophecies were fulfilled in the life of Jesus.
415. The Book of Isaiah has two distinct halves. The first thirty-nine chapters seem to have been written before the Babylonian conquest of Israel, but the rest of the book was clearly written after that event. That has lead scholars to suggest there were two authors or possibly even two different prophets named Isaiah.
416. Many well-worn phrases were born in Isaiah. Besides providing Handel with wonderful lyrics, Isaiah has yielded phrases commonly used even today:
"White as snow"
"Neither shall they learn war any more"
"The people that walked in darkness"
"And a little child shall lead them"
"They shall mount up with wings as eagles"
"Be of good courage"
"Like a lamb to the slaughter"
417. The Servant Songs is the name given to the passages of Scripture in Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52, and 53 describing an innocent man who endures great pain. Many Jewish scholars did not know what to do with these passages and could not reconcile them to the images of the Messiah coming as a mighty King. But Christians from earliest times have applied them to Jesus Christ, who suffered greatly for the sins of all humankind.
418. Christians and Jews disagree on a key portion of Isaiah's prophecies found scattered throughout Isaiah chapters 42, 49, 50, 52, and 53 in songs that speak of a "suffering servant of God." When Isaiah speaks of a despised, rejected man of suffering who is led like a lamb to slaughter, Christians see another symbolic prophecy of Jesus. Jewish readers, on the other hand, prefer to view this as either a reference to Isaiah himself, the prophet who suffered because his words were unpopular.
419. Huldah, the wife of Shallum, is one of the most noteworthy Hebrew prophetess. She was active in ministry during the days of King Josiah. When the Book of the Law was found in the temple, the religious leaders came to her and asked what God wanted the nation to do. This "Book of the Law" is generally thought to be an early version of Deuteronomy, which places special emphasis on removing any trace of idolatry from the worship of God. For the first time since the time of the judges, before the rise of the monarchy in Israel, the Passover was properly celebrated.
411. Jehoiada and his wife saved the line of kings from the wrath of King Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, who tried to seize the throne by killing the entire family. Jehoiada was chief priest at the time. They stole Ahaziah's baby, Joash, and hid him for six years. Then they overthrew Athaliah and put Joash on the throne to reinstate his lineage.
412. Following the reign of Manasseh, a notorious king of Judah who reintroduced idol worship, a crucial moment in Biblical history occurred in 621 B.C. During the reign of King Josiah, an ideal king who reigned for thirty-one years after taking the throne at age eight, a scroll that was about to be removed from the temple was discovered by a priest. When Josiah read the scroll, he tore his clothes in anguish because he knew how far the people had fallen from God. He began vigorous reforms and removed all pagan items from Jerusalem.
413. Hilkiah was the priest who found the scroll that brought King Josiah to his knees. Together he and the young king tried to bring the people back to God.
414. The longest prophetic book in Hebrew Scripture, Isaiah has had a remarkable impact on our language. Perhaps more than any other book of Hebrew prophecy, Isaiah has played a central role for Christians and has even been called the "the fifth Gospel" because so many of the book's prophecies were fulfilled in the life of Jesus.
415. The Book of Isaiah has two distinct halves. The first thirty-nine chapters seem to have been written before the Babylonian conquest of Israel, but the rest of the book was clearly written after that event. That has lead scholars to suggest there were two authors or possibly even two different prophets named Isaiah.
416. Many well-worn phrases were born in Isaiah. Besides providing Handel with wonderful lyrics, Isaiah has yielded phrases commonly used even today:
"White as snow"
"Neither shall they learn war any more"
"The people that walked in darkness"
"And a little child shall lead them"
"They shall mount up with wings as eagles"
"Be of good courage"
"Like a lamb to the slaughter"
417. The Servant Songs is the name given to the passages of Scripture in Isaiah 42, 49, 50, 52, and 53 describing an innocent man who endures great pain. Many Jewish scholars did not know what to do with these passages and could not reconcile them to the images of the Messiah coming as a mighty King. But Christians from earliest times have applied them to Jesus Christ, who suffered greatly for the sins of all humankind.
418. Christians and Jews disagree on a key portion of Isaiah's prophecies found scattered throughout Isaiah chapters 42, 49, 50, 52, and 53 in songs that speak of a "suffering servant of God." When Isaiah speaks of a despised, rejected man of suffering who is led like a lamb to slaughter, Christians see another symbolic prophecy of Jesus. Jewish readers, on the other hand, prefer to view this as either a reference to Isaiah himself, the prophet who suffered because his words were unpopular.
419. Huldah, the wife of Shallum, is one of the most noteworthy Hebrew prophetess. She was active in ministry during the days of King Josiah. When the Book of the Law was found in the temple, the religious leaders came to her and asked what God wanted the nation to do. This "Book of the Law" is generally thought to be an early version of Deuteronomy, which places special emphasis on removing any trace of idolatry from the worship of God. For the first time since the time of the judges, before the rise of the monarchy in Israel, the Passover was properly celebrated.
Saturday, August 8, 2015
Prophets Speak ll
400. Majors and Minors, part 2. Israel's prophets were not the type of people to include on your invitation list to a party. The Hebrew prophets denounced evil, corruption, and immorality. The three longest prophetic books, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, along with Daniel and Lamentations, have traditionally been labeled the "Major Prophets." The other twelve books are called the "Minor Prophets."
401. Jonah was cast into the sea by the sailors around him in order to stop the raging sea. The prophet knew God had sent the storm after he refused to go and minister to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. When he was thrown overboard, the sea calmed, but Jonah was swallowed by a huge fish. Many believe the fish was a whale, but it is also possible that it was a shark that "saved" Jonah. He returned to Nineveh after spending three days in the belly of the big fish.
402. The plant that God appointed to grow and shade Jonah after he finished preaching at Nineveh is sometimes translated a "gourd plant" and sometimes a "plant." It is believed that the writer meant for his readers to imagine the castor bean. In hot climates it grows very fast and often seems like a tree, with huge umbrella-like leaves that make wonderful shade. The Hebrews valued the oil of its beanlike seeds and used it widely in lamps and ceremonial rites.
403. Nineveh's demise in 612 B.C. brought the city to its end. Nineveh fell after a two-month siege carried out by an alliance among Medes, Babylonians, and Scythians. The attackers destroyed Nineveh by releasing the Khoser River into the city, where it dissolved the buildings' sun-dried bricks. This was a remarkable fulfillment of Nahum's prophecy: "The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved" (Nah.2:6). Nineveh was lost for well over two thousand years.
404. At the forefront. In the period of the divided kingdom, the focus of the Bible books moves away from the kings to the ministries of a series of "prophets," those who spoke on behalf of God after receiving divine messages through dreams or visions. Prophets tried to counsel-usually with little success-to the rulers and people of Israel and Judah. The prophets became crucial Biblical characters who overshadowed the kings and took their message to the entire nation.
405. Hosea suffered greatly as a prophet. His name means "Save, oh God!" His was a unique task: to marry a prostitute and live as a faithful husband to her. Their relationship paralleled what Israel was doing to God-God was a faithful husband to a harlot nation. Hosea thus could speak from experience and feel personally what great pain God must suffer when His people abandon Him repeatedly.
406. Gomer was the wife Hosea was sent to marry. She bore three children to Hosea, though none of them were likely his own children. God provided names for each of the children, but they were not names to rejoice over. Rather they were fateful reminders of what Israel had become. Their names were Jezreel (in honor of a massacre that took place in Jezreel for which God was going to punish the Israelites); Lo-Ruhamah, which means "not loved'; and Lo-Ammi, which means "not my people."
407. God's chosen people. One of the most significant lines in Amos is the prophet's message to Israel from God: "You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins" (3:2). This is the essence of the Jews' designation as the "chosen people." God's covenant with the people did not entitle them to special favors; rather, being chosen increased their responsibility
408. Amos was the first prophet to have his words written down. One of the more interesting facts about his book is that he used the lion to emphasize that his mission was to bring the Hebrews back to righteousness. No other wild animal is mentioned so often in the Bible as the lion. It appears in thirty-one of the sixty-six books of the New Testaments.
409. Lions were still abundant in the Bible lands when Amos lived, and they ranged from Africa across the Near East to India. In the Holy Land itself, the lion was exterminated by about the time of the Crusades in the Middle Ages. It vanished from Egypt in the last century, and the last wild lion was seen in the Near East was captured in Iran in 1923. Hunting lions was an ancient sport in the Bible lands, and many pictures show them being captured in nets and pits. Like many other Near Eastern monarchs, King Darius of Persia kept a den of lions-into which Daniel was cast.
401. Jonah was cast into the sea by the sailors around him in order to stop the raging sea. The prophet knew God had sent the storm after he refused to go and minister to Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrian Empire. When he was thrown overboard, the sea calmed, but Jonah was swallowed by a huge fish. Many believe the fish was a whale, but it is also possible that it was a shark that "saved" Jonah. He returned to Nineveh after spending three days in the belly of the big fish.
402. The plant that God appointed to grow and shade Jonah after he finished preaching at Nineveh is sometimes translated a "gourd plant" and sometimes a "plant." It is believed that the writer meant for his readers to imagine the castor bean. In hot climates it grows very fast and often seems like a tree, with huge umbrella-like leaves that make wonderful shade. The Hebrews valued the oil of its beanlike seeds and used it widely in lamps and ceremonial rites.
403. Nineveh's demise in 612 B.C. brought the city to its end. Nineveh fell after a two-month siege carried out by an alliance among Medes, Babylonians, and Scythians. The attackers destroyed Nineveh by releasing the Khoser River into the city, where it dissolved the buildings' sun-dried bricks. This was a remarkable fulfillment of Nahum's prophecy: "The gates of the rivers shall be opened, and the palace shall be dissolved" (Nah.2:6). Nineveh was lost for well over two thousand years.
404. At the forefront. In the period of the divided kingdom, the focus of the Bible books moves away from the kings to the ministries of a series of "prophets," those who spoke on behalf of God after receiving divine messages through dreams or visions. Prophets tried to counsel-usually with little success-to the rulers and people of Israel and Judah. The prophets became crucial Biblical characters who overshadowed the kings and took their message to the entire nation.
405. Hosea suffered greatly as a prophet. His name means "Save, oh God!" His was a unique task: to marry a prostitute and live as a faithful husband to her. Their relationship paralleled what Israel was doing to God-God was a faithful husband to a harlot nation. Hosea thus could speak from experience and feel personally what great pain God must suffer when His people abandon Him repeatedly.
406. Gomer was the wife Hosea was sent to marry. She bore three children to Hosea, though none of them were likely his own children. God provided names for each of the children, but they were not names to rejoice over. Rather they were fateful reminders of what Israel had become. Their names were Jezreel (in honor of a massacre that took place in Jezreel for which God was going to punish the Israelites); Lo-Ruhamah, which means "not loved'; and Lo-Ammi, which means "not my people."
407. God's chosen people. One of the most significant lines in Amos is the prophet's message to Israel from God: "You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins" (3:2). This is the essence of the Jews' designation as the "chosen people." God's covenant with the people did not entitle them to special favors; rather, being chosen increased their responsibility
408. Amos was the first prophet to have his words written down. One of the more interesting facts about his book is that he used the lion to emphasize that his mission was to bring the Hebrews back to righteousness. No other wild animal is mentioned so often in the Bible as the lion. It appears in thirty-one of the sixty-six books of the New Testaments.
409. Lions were still abundant in the Bible lands when Amos lived, and they ranged from Africa across the Near East to India. In the Holy Land itself, the lion was exterminated by about the time of the Crusades in the Middle Ages. It vanished from Egypt in the last century, and the last wild lion was seen in the Near East was captured in Iran in 1923. Hunting lions was an ancient sport in the Bible lands, and many pictures show them being captured in nets and pits. Like many other Near Eastern monarchs, King Darius of Persia kept a den of lions-into which Daniel was cast.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)