Monthly Archives: June 2025

Bear Fruit – Lift Up or Cut Off

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As I pondered about working on this post- Bear Fruit – Lift Up or Cut Off, I read Proverbs 30. It is addressed to King Lemuel and called an oracle (NIV); it had a footnote. The note said it could be “Lemuel king of Massa”. Massa and Nasa were words from the post Bear Fruit. So, I started on this post today. It may help to read Massa | The amazing name Massa: meaning and etymology. In Bear Fruit I studied John 15:2 about the idea of lifting branches up or cutting them off in the context of bearing fruit. In Hebrew nasa means to lift up.

Topics, words, and ideas that branched out from this study:

  • Hebrews 5:13,14 to 6:1,2.
  • Good Fruit verses Bad Fruit
  • Are you producing enough fruit?
  • Who do you let tell you about your fruit production?
  • Cut off verses pruning, especially in Greek.
  • Verses with cut down or lift up in them. Use your favorite Bible app and its wordsearch function. It could give you a great Bible study.

John 15:2, John 15:2 Greek Text Analysis , uses the word prune. Any gardener will tell you that means cutting something off, usually to improve it. So, it is important and possibly gave context to the idea of “cutting off” in the first part of the verse, but the word kathairō is used once in the New Testament. Strong’s Greek: 2508. καθαίρω (kathairó) — To cleanse, to purify, to prune. There is a related Greek word that is used many times for “clean”. Strong’s Greek: 2513. καθαρός (katharos) — Clean, pure, clear. The word that started this study is Strong’s Greek: 142. αἴρω (airó) — To lift, to take up, to raise, to remove, to carry away. I hope you see the connection in the root word.

God removing someone (or many people) or things is seen with Noah. The words or phrases may change but the fact does not. A few teachings from John the Baptist and Jesus may help.

John – Matthew 3:10 is John talking to Pharisees and Sadducees about the axe at the root of the tree. “Every tree that does not produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”

Jesus – Matthew 7:19 repeats that thought for false prophets. If good fruit is not being produced, trees are cut down and burned.

Luke 13:6 – A fig tree has been planted. The owner has been looking for fruit for three years and has found none, he orders it cut down. Why use up the soil? A worker asked for one more year, he will give it special attention. (Ask the Father to send laborers into the field.) This parable is connected to Leviticus 19:23 and the planting and eating of fruit from trees you plant. For the first three years the fruit is holy.

Why Hebrews? 6:1,2 is the framework for many beginning classes in Christianity. These are the six foundational stones that you may be presented. Foundations are important, they need to be strong because your very spiritual life is setting on them. I have watched many things get built and I know that before you put down the foundation the soil underneath it has to be prepared correctly or the foundation may have problems. 5:13,14 is the preparation for laying a foundation. Righteousness and knowing good from evil are the soil your foundation is sitting on. If these are off, there will be problems. Then comes the question of what has been built on top of the foundation?

Please, consider Job and his three friends. It seems that they had shared experiences and had seen similar things in their lifetime. The dialogue is strong and the comments serious, but in the end the Lord prunes Job so he can produce more fruit and lifts the friends up to know Him better.

There are other questions about fruit that must be address. Who are you listening to about the fruit you are producing? Is it good or bad, how much is needed, is it coming fast enough, you should be doing more are things you may hear about your fruit. Who are those people helping; the Father, you, or themselves?

Lift up, prune, or cut off; yes, the Father does all three because He wants good fruit. So, how is your relationship with the Father?

The Lord’s Prayer – Two Additions to the Study

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Job 23:12 and Proverbs 30:8 have a phrase that caught my attention – Daily bread. When Jesus taught the Prayer, provisions was the first petition after acknowledging God and praising Him. In Matthew and Luke, the Greek word is epiousios. It was translated daily bread, but since that was the first time it was used in Greek the exact meaning is vague. I was surprised to find the phrase daily bread was not used that many times in the Bible. The Hebrew gives you the idea of a legal amount and that is enough to cover you for that day. Strong’s Hebrew: 2706. חֹק (choq) — Statute, decree, ordinance, law, regulation

As leaders of the government Nehemiah and Solomon had daily food allotments. There are many times that food, supplies, and provisions are given to and for people going on trips or to war. Use those as search words; be flexible as those terms change with translators and when they were writing. My take-away is simple, God is interested in your wellbeing and wants to take care of you.

The other addition to the study is a precursor to the Lord’s Prayer. I grew-up in a denominational church that included the afterthought to Luke’s version of the prayer in all of its writings and study helps.  1 Chronicles 29:11 is a prayer from David when he was rejoicing that the people were giving to the building of the temple. It sounded like the beginning and the end of the prayer I grew-up with.

1 Chronicles 29:11 Thine, O Lord is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. (KJV)

Bible 911 – 2 Samuel

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2 Samuel 9:11 Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons. (KJV)

Ziba

If I was writing a biblical fiction story, Ziba would be the servant that went on the donkey hunt with Saul in 1 Samuel 9. (We are never told if he gave up that little bit of silver.) He is identified in 2 Samuel as the chief steward over Saul’s personal household. He is a main character in 2 Samuel 9, 16, and 19.

I like looking up names and including them in studies, when I can. Ziba is a good example of why you need to study. Meanings for this name varies depending on what website you look at. Many of them seem to focus on “good qualities”, and he is made out to be a great servant. I am giving the link to Abarim Publications, because they actually sight possible root words for the meaning they give. Ziba | The amazing name Ziba: meaning and etymology I may be negative here, but the buttering up of David and the story he tells on Mephibosheth in Chapter 16 cast some serious shade on his loyalty in Chapter 9.

It is a good assumption that Ziba had done his job for a long time. He had many years where there was no male heir to Saul’s property because Mephibosheth seemed to be in hiding in Lo Debar. Michal was with David, interesting he did not ask his wife about other heirs. Merab had a husband and several sons. So, Ziba was living the good life with his fifteen sons and twenty servants, and all of Saul’s property with no one to watch over him. I may watch to many dramas, but the giving up of Mephibosheth in Chapter 9 seems to me to be a good way of getting rid of the last rightful heir to Saul’s holdings. He may have assumed that Mephibosheth would be killed by David. That seemed to be the way things were done, especially in the Northern Kingdom of Israel; get rid of all of the family and servants. See Judges 9.

I believe Ziba was a loyal servant to King Saul, but would he have been as good to Jonathan and the other children. It looks like he followed his master’s behavior, Saul started out good, but power and wealth changed him. Given his job and possible importance in Benjamin, and the small army of his family he could have had his own thoughts of claiming the throne. So, I will not vote for Ziba to be Servant of the Year, but he did get to the river crossing very fast (both times).

The popular belief that Lo Debar was a dump and Mephibosheth crawled around in the dirt begging are two ideas I do not agree with. This is a good example of names not telling the whole story, you need to check non-concordance Bible reference works. Lo Debar was a guard city for Gilead on the Jordan River valley, and its main industry was pottery. Part of its pastureland would have been the steep side of the valley wall.

Makir was possibly a family member, and he had enough clout to help take care of David and all who fled from Absalom. Because of where Makir lived I will say he was an important person in Lo Debar. See Joshua 17:3 for his possible connection in Gilead. Zelophehad from Numbers 36 may have been a grandfather.

Mephibosheth:

  • Was the grandson of the king and would have been heir to the throne of Israel.
  • Jonathan would have made a plan to take care of his child.
  • He had a wife and a son when David called for him. See 1 Chronicles 8:34 and 9:35 – 44 for his family tree, he will be listed as Merib-Baal in verse 40.
  • Jonathan may not have broadcast the covenant he had with David, because Saul was crazy.
  • Who and where was his mother?
  • David had lost track of his friend and had no idea the Jonathan had a son.

There is no doubt in my mind that Mephibosheth had lived in fear and in the shadows for most of his life; because he did not know the truth about David. To go from fear to feasting is always amazing, but this came with stories of his father and a faithful friend who would protect him.

The relationship of David (the Messiah figure) and Benjamin (Jacob’s only child born in the Land) will get looked at. (This is a study not an answer.) There are “types and shadows” here that have connections into the Christian Church. My bullet points are not put in any order as this is a study.

  • Benjamin is the second born son of Rachel, who was Jacob’s favorite. He would have been given the double blessing if Joseph had not been found.
  • Judah was given the blessing of being the ruler, and Joseph got the double portion blessing. Joshua was the leader after Moses, and Manasseh did get two portions of land (Lo Debar may have been in the East Bank portion). Samuel, an Ephraimite, anointed both Saul (Benjamin) and David (Judah). My personal belief is that Samuel and David are members of the Order of Melchizedek.
  • The tribe of Benjamin stayed with Judah when the nation split in two. If you read 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles you will see that members of the other ten tribes did move south to continue worshipping Yahweh at the Temple. Jerusalem was actual in the portion given to Benjamin. I do wonder about the Tribe of Simeon because its portion was in the middle of Judah. I tend to forget that the Tribe of Levi stayed with the Temple, so many of them had to move also.
  • David and Jonathan’s friendship sets the pattern for what happened in 2 Kings 12.
  • Saul, the king, tried to cleanse Israel of the Gibeonites (2 Samuel 21) his grandsons paid for that. Saul, the Pharisee who was from Benjamin, tried to cleanse Israel of Christians. He gave up his life for Jesus (Judah).
  • King Saul did religious things like fasting, seeking God through the priest, and following the food laws. David went further than these by actively bring the Ark to Jerusalem and praising God in song and dance. David also had prophets, seers, and priest on his staff.
  • The appointed feast found in Leviticus 23 are seldom mentioned, and you never see about The Year of Jubilee, Leviticus 25. I know there are lost books that may have told about these events. Hezekiah is noted as one who observed Passover, but it is about 250 years after Solomon.
  • I am reading through 2 Chronicles as I write this post and the attitudes and actions of the people (Judah, Benjamin, Levi, and some from the other ten) in the southern kingdom towards God and David’s family is interesting. They seem to be all over the place but for better or for worst they do keep a descendent of David on the throne.
  • This story is a good picture of Grace.
  • See below for David’s return to Jerusalem and the Tribe of Benjamin.

Verse 8

We look at some things very differently than the ancients. Dogs are one of those things. The Bible has many references to dogs; the NIV has about 40. Add in some archology finds and you get a decent picture of dogs in the Iron Age. They were part of the Hebrew society. There are references for them herding and guarding, and they managed to be around the dinner table. Yes, there is a fair amount of distain for them and some of their behavior is used for a very figurative description in Deuteronomy.  Oldest-Ever Evidence of Canines Proves Israel’s Canaan Dogs Roamed Mideast 9,000 Years Ago – Israel365 News

Verse 8 is one of the three times the term “dead dog” is used in the NIV. I found it interesting that David and Benjaminite’s have a connection to all three.

  1. 1 Samuel 24:14 – David compares himself to a dead dog when talking to King Saul.
  2. 2 Samuel 9:8 – Mephibosheth, a Benjaminite and Saul’s grandson uses the phrase when he questions David as to why he was summonsed.
  3. 2 Samuel 16:9 – Shimei, a Benjaminite, is described as that when Abishai (Judah) wants to kill him for cursing David.

Yes, they were an unclean animal, but so was the camel, the horse, and the donkey.

David’s Return and Bemjamin

2 Samuel 19 -21 have several narratives that center on David and the Tribe of Benjamin. In one respect parts of this section are foundation stones for 1 Kings 12 where God moves Benjamin to stay with Judah when the nation divides. There are a few new characters – Sheba son of Bicri (Chapter 20) and Rizpah the daughter of Saul’s concubine. The others are in this list:

  • The people arguing with each other, 19:9.
  • Judah standing with the king.
  • Shimei (Chapter 16), going with Judah, leading 1,000 Benjaminite’s to get David at the Jordan.
  • Ziba
  • Mephibosheth, who is unkept, making accusations against Ziba.
  • Sheba (20:1), who leads a rebellion and separates the kingdom.
  • Gibeonites (Joshua 9:15) who have a problem with the dead King Saul.
  • Rizpah (21:8) and her sons and Merab’s sons who are killed to pay the blood debit to the Gibeonites.

Gilgal at the Jordan is where Joshua and the Children crossed. It is also where many of the men were circumcised. This assembly was no less crazy with all of the arguing and Sheba taking off with most of the people in rebellion.

With Rizpah and Merab son’s being killed, that ended Saul’s family line outside of Mephibosheth who is extended grace because of Jonathan’s covenant with David. The final story with the Tribe of Benjamin is the story of Esther.