Daughter As Cities and Countries

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‘Daughter As Cities’ is part of the collection of Daughter Zion posts. This one has taken a while to start because every time I thought I was ready God dropped another ‘Muse Moment’ on me. So, no, this is not the last one in this collection, but I needed to start.

That is where I will begin, at the start with Eve. Yes, she is the ‘mother of all the living’, but she started out as a daughter of God. Her title/Divine calling travels through the pages of the Bible and into Revelation. I believe that cities and nations are referred to with feminine nouns (with respect) because they share in Eve’s calling; ‘mother of all living’. Scholars have a lot to say about cities and people groups and their development in our history. My very simple take on the subject is that they have allowed for sharing (many things) and have attracted bullies. With that said, think about Tree #2; the knowledge of good and evil.

In Genesis 4:17 we see Cain building a city that he names after his son, Enoch. After the Flood, mankind decided to build Babel in Genesis 11 and in Revelation 18, we see it being destroyed. (If John was using code and Babylon = Rome; that has happened when the Goths {Arian’s followers} trashed the city.) So, cities begin with man and The Great City comes down with God in the last days. FYI – Byblos has nothing to do with Babylon; it is a city north of Sidon in the Levant. Nimrod in Genesis 10:2 is also a city builder.

The Holy Spirit has John, A Sent One and Writer, highlight women and cities many times when he writes. John stresses Jesus’ love and continued care for Mary, His mother, and the role of the women at the tomb; they saw Him first at the Resurrection. 2 John uses the terms: chosen lady and chosen sister, normally understood to be churches (in cities). In Revelation 21:9, John is shown the “bride, the wife of the Lamb”. The opening of Revelation is to seven churches/angels that are referred to with the name of their city. I studied Sardis in Revelation 3; the angel has a masculine noun, church and Sardis are feminine, and the people have a neutral noun. John continues this Tale of Cities with:

  • Old Jerusalem – Chapter 11. Rome, Jerusalem, Constantinople, Athens, and Pisidian Antioch are all built on seven hills.
  • Babylon – Chapter 17 and 18.
  • New Jerusalem – Chapter 21. In Chapter 22 the Holy City is poleōs, which is a feminine noun.

Take a Muse Moment and consider trying to tell the Bible Story without referring to cities and people groups.

Some references:

The Day of the Lord

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The Children of Jacob, the Seed of Abraham, had descended into a dark time when Amos quoted the people as they said, “The day of the Lord.” I will offer three things that put them into darkness: 1. They wanted a king or political ruler to be their leader. 2. Idols and other religions that led them away from the Lord. 3. Assyria.

Amos 5:18 Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord! to what end is it for you? the day of the Lord is darkness, and not light. (KJV) To set this in proper context, start reading at 2:4 and go to 5:17. This was not just to Israel/Mt. Samaria, but also to Judah/Mt. Zion; the Father was not happy with the people. Yes, some were trying to follow God and there had been some good kings in Judah; but as you read 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles with Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, and Nahum things were not right. (Jonah is about him and Nineveh.)

Because of the timestamps (kings), I put Amos leading the parade of this impressive troop of prophets who spoke to Judah and Israel (all of Jacob’s children). Assyria was the storm cloud over the Fertile Cresent, and all would suffer in its shade. In Amos’ day the North was still several kings away from total deportation; that actually happened in two separate storms. Judah was not spared the wrath of Assyria’s hail of arrows, and all of its fortified cities would fall and a deportation of Judah also took place. (Only Jerusalem was spared.)

I mention these to show that prophecy can have multiple levels in its massa. Amos was speaking to several events, but I have read commentaries that make it sound like the fall of Jerusalem was the ‘day’.

The transliteration “the day of the Lord” appears in Amos, Isaiah, Obadiah, and Joel. “The day” is used more often and you have to think it is the same ‘day’. This ‘day’ even appears in Revelation. There are many references to “the day” and most are negative and speak of judgment. I will point to Isaiah 61:2b the “day of vengeance of our God” as being a good reference point. In doing that I have to again point out that the vengeance is overshadowed by the “year of the Lord’s favor”. BOTH will happen.

Again, it needs to pointed out that another parade of prophets used the same message as Babylon overpowered the Levant and its reign rained misery on many, especially Judah. The multiple judgments of Babylon are mentioned in Isaiah 46 and 47, and the rise of Cyrus, the Persian, is foretold in Isaiah 44 and 45.

Given that Amos was at the head of the parade, who was he writing to in 5:18 and what were they expecting?

  • Israel – a triumph over Judah and the collapse of Assyria
  • Judah – victory over Israel and the enemies in the first part of Amos
  • The Ones Who Hoped, that a Messianic figure would arise as in Psalm 110, unite the two kingdoms and rule the nations.

Hezekiah did bring some back to the Lord by opening up a Passover celebration to all of Jacob. Unfortunately, his son Manasseh, the evil, plunged Judah back into idolatry, Assyria, and laid the ground work for the fall of Jerusalem. Josiah did bring the Light back, but his kids doused that wick and sealed ‘the day of the Lord’ for the city.

Josiah’s Generation, His Legacy, and The Day
The Day

Amos 5:18 Hebrew Text Analysis

Long for Hebrew Concordance: ham·miṯ·’aw·wîm — 2 Occurrences ‘Long for’ in Nu 11:34 is lust for other foods than the manna from the Lord.

The Bible and Science – Cud to Curd

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So there are no soured expectation later, I am not going in to the processes of milk formation or cheese production; this is a by-product of the post – Ruminants.

Leviticus and Deuteronomy refer to animals that chew the cud and have split hooves. This was a way for the Children to determine if they should eat them; camels and rabbits chew cud but do not have split hooves. Sheep, goats, cows, and the deer-family do meet those qualifications and they have a stomach and digestive process that needs for them to rechew their food (cud). It seems that they lack the ability to produce certain enzymes.

This process starts with the animal consuming a large amount of roughage or plants. The first chew breaks the plants down, some, and adds ‘juices’ to it as it rests in an upper part of the stomach. Later, this juicy mix is pushed back up the esophagus into the mouth. There it is squeezed and the liquid is swallowed and the ruminant chews the cud.

I remember as a city-boy going to my uncle’s farm and seeing cows chewing something even when there were no plants or feed around. I asked how they were eating and I was told they were chewing the cud. That went right over my head, but I had an answer.

As the animal chews it again, the plant material is broken down more so that bacteria in the stomach have more area to work. When it is small enough, it passes into other sections of the stomach and small intestines where fatty acids and other nutrients are removed for the animal to use in bodily processes.

There were two things that I found interesting that can have a negative impact on this process:

  • Eating food that does not have enough fiber in it. Too little fibrous material can shut the process down and could lead to death.
  • Tannins are a chemical in the plants. To much of this can be toxic to the animal.

Now to the cruds. Cottage cheese is an example of curds; the stuff Little Miss Muffet ate with her whey. They are a step in the making of cheese. To help milk form into curds a chemical called rennet is added; this is found in the stomach of young cows. The young animal would give their all for the cheese making process;{

Cheese and milk are mentioned in the Bible. Remember, the Land flowed with milk and honey, which speaks to it being blessed. Cheese is the reason David got to go see Goliath, 1 Samuel 17. Jael, Judges 4, gave Sisera milk from a skin, that milk may have been curdling because they did not have refrigeration.

Paul, Peter, and the Book of Hebrews all talk about milk and compare it with food for our Christian growth.

Dear fellow SHEEP of the Flock of Jesus, I will synch this with the Ruminants post. Jesus is leading us to green pastures and quiet waters, but we still need to pay attention to what we consume. Milk is fine and needed, but at some point, we need to start eating ‘solid food’. If we don’t ‘eat’ teachings that cause us to rechew them we may lose the ability to digest ‘massa’ for our growth.

Tannins DO NOT taste nice and can be toxic; think tannic acid for curing leather. The Children of Jacob, the heirs of Abraham, were fed tannins from the time of Solomon to Jeremiah, some ate, some did not. In the writing of Amos and Isaiah the religious and political leaders are called out for their toxic ways, Isaiah 32:6 and many other verses. Under the shadow of Assyria many stayed with idols, looked to Egypt for help, and even tried to make peace with the ‘great king’ of Assyria, and then shuttered when ‘he’ came to crush them. The Father called them out for chewing on these toxins for many years and offered them hope if they would only bring ‘words with them’ when they came to repent.    

Our time in history is just as bad. Political leaders are mispresenting the Father and Jesus; be careful what you eat and then decide to rechew.

The Bible and Science – Ruminant

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This post flows through dietary laws, a current buzzword, and a comparison of how we should study. Ruminants are an important part of Bible history, and their science is a work of art in the digestion world. There are about 200 ruminant species (roughly) world-wide that chew a cud.

Ruminants can graze a large amount of food and later rechew it and then send it on for it to be used in its life processes. In good-ole-boy speech that is they can pig out and then chew on it all night long. (Pigs are not ruminants.) This process is known as rumination, which means they regurgitate what they have eaten, rechew it breaking it into smaller pieces, mix saliva into the food again, and swallow their meal a second time.

The first chew and swallow are important because microbes are introduced that ferment the food, while in the stomach, that helps break down the plants’ cellulose. The saliva helps the food to form a solid and liquid layer. The solids or cud is then rechewed, helping to break it into smaller particles that allows for the nutrients to be absorbed.

This ‘liquid meal’ can now pass into the omasum or “third stomach” which keeps the particle size small so it can go into the abomasum. This part of the stomach releases chemicals that further helps in the digestion process. The omasum also absorbs volatile fatty acids (VFA) and ammonia, which is important. Then this digesting mass is passed into the abomasum. The final step for digestion and absorption is done in the small intestines.

Those VFAs are from the fermentation of the carbohydrates the animal chews on. These non-sugar compounds are what is used to make glucose and lactose in the ruminant.

FOOD – In the Bible mankind begins and ends his story in a garden with fruit trees; in between those two points foods, feasting, and fasting shows up in religion.

Ruminants (sheep, goats, and cows) are the center point of the sacrifices in the ancient world. For Hebrews those animals also provided a meal after the sacrifice, not all of the animal was burnt. 1 Kings 4:22+23 list the daily provisions for Solomon, they are heavy on ruminants, but I doubt that the average family ate that good. (With 1,000 wives to feed maybe they did use that much!)

Thoughts, opinions, and ‘facts’ about the food laws are abundant and free. These laws were given after the food from Egypt was gone and about a year and a half before they should have gone into the Promised Land where “milk and honey” waited for them. I also know Peter and Paul said a lot about food because of the insight they were given.

Why ruminants? I do not have the 411 from the Lord on that subject. I tend to think that the lifestyle of the animals is better because of the moving about to find pasture. This in turn may lead to a healthier animal for us to eat.

To Ruminate

Buzzwords are just so buzzy. Yes, I have used ‘to ruminate’ occasionally, so I can’t be to mean. In the ‘good ole days’ it used to be chew the cud or reflect or meditate or ponder or muse, but no more now we ruminate. Psychology seems to associate rumination with negative thoughts; while dictionaries cover all of the bases. I just wonder how many people know the actual process requires eating grass, throwing it up, rechewing it, and then swallowing the goods. Would using this word qualify as exploitation of animals?

My Comparison with Studying

My turn to contemplate and deliberate on ruminate to graduate and show myself approved. I now step into the Land of Metaphor to conclude this study. For my convenience I will only travel from the head to small intestines, after that this metaphor could get messy. In this Land there are lessons to be learned, so we can improve how we study. At the beginning of a study, we take in a lot of information and mix it around with stuff we already know. After the church service, Bible study, or a long talk at small group we know that some info is usable now and it is passed on, however, something was hard to swallow even with some extra chewing. In our quiet time, the thought, or notes, or second listen brings the hard stuff back to be ‘chewed on again’. Added resources in the form of a concordance, text analysis, or second talk with a friend lets us send it into our lives where it is useful. We pull out the good and neutralize the bad before it is absorbed and becomes a working part of us. Bye the way bringing in too little food can shut the whole system down.

Ruminant – Wikipedia