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Author Archives: Mark
Zelophehad’s Daugthers
The story of Zelophehad’s daughters is a story of family, love for a father, and a lasting legacy. With only fifty words they had their wish come true, their father’s name did not “disappear” just because he had no sons (Numbers 27:1-11). Now, this did not happen without conditions (Numbers 36) and a little reminder to Joshua and the elders (Joshua 17:4), twelve more words. Their story is recorded in three books of the Bible-Numbers, Joshua, and 1 Chronicles. If you timeline this, Numbers 27 occurs and then the elders of Manasseh in Numbers 36 are worried about land that has not even been won yet but God agrees and sets conditions for inherited land and how it should be passed on if no son was born to a father. After Numbers 27 + 36 Moses is called to go up the mountain, view the land and die so this may have been the last set of rules he sought God on.
The girls loved their father and he had brought them up to be obedient and independent. They had a strong sense of justice and knew that just because there was no male descendant that they should not exclude them from their rights in the Promised Land. So they looked to God and the authorities to do the right thing.
Zelophehad’s daughters were very conscious of politics in the camp and were aware that their father had made some wrong choices. So they start their petition for the inheritance with the fact that he died for his own sins, not Korah’s. Korah wanted to be a priest (Numbers 16) and lead a rebellion against Moses and Aaron (see Jude 11). The daughters were very aware that he was not a perfect man when they said he died for his own sins, which would have been grumbling, complaining, and wanting to go back to Egypt.
Names are important in the Bible and it is always interesting to see what the names of people mean. (I know that sometimes I make too much of the meaning.) I always assume that the name we see was the one given them at birth but it is always possible that it could have been changed as they grew or that they were nicknames. With that said here are the meaning for the daughters’ names from my Strong’s/Vines Concordance for the KJV.
- Mahlah – 4244 – weak one
- Noah – 5270 – movement (not exactly the same of Noah of the Ark)
- Hoglah – 2295 – partridge
- Milcah – 4435 – queen
- Tirzah – 8656 – delightsomeness
Zelophehad’s name is used 11x in KJV and 9x in the NIV. In the Strong’s Concordance it is not given a meaning but in the NIV Concordance, it listed as – shadow of dread, terror or protection from dread. He is also the son of Hepher (pit or shame). Maybe the Dead Sea Scroll’s shed new light on the root words that made up his name.
As part of Manasseh, the girls received land on the west side of the Jordan not in Gilead that was for the shepherds of the family.
The last mention of them is in 1 Chronicles 7:15. Where again it is pointed out that God had done something special for Zelophehad and his daughters. The land was the inheritance and it was important but his daughters gave him the gift of being remembered because they were brave enough to stand up for their family name and their father.
Jeremiah 10 and 51
While reading on lightning in the Bible I noticed that Jeremiah 10: 12 – 16 and 51: 15– 19 are almost exactly the same. Having the same theme run through a book or even several books is not unusual, after all, God can repeat Himself if He wants. But if God repeats Himself it is usually to stress a point or confirm what was said, or in the case of the History Books – Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles two different people wrote for two different audiences. (See Kings and Samuel) The repetition here seems to be for making the point of God’s power and authority to do the acts that were to follow.
In Jeremiah 10:12 -16, the passage is introduced by a statement that false gods did not make the heavens and earth, the NIV has a footnote that it is written in Aramaic. (Probably for the people of/in Babylon or as a further study has found, it was a common language of the day.) God is angry because of the idols His people are making and worshiping. So after the passage, the destruction of Israel and Judah is foretold. This apparently made people mad because Baruch son of Neriah, his scribe, notes that the people of Anathoth, his hometown, wanted to kill him. Jeremiah is a member of the priestly class and Anathoth is a city that was set apart for the priest by Joshua and Moses; nothing like making your family mad, especially if they are church leaders.
In Jeremiah 51: 15 -19 the introduction to the verse is the prophesying that Babylon will be filled with men eager to destroy the place, and it is followed by the acts that will happen when the city is destroyed. The end of this story is chapter 51:59 – 64 where Jeremiah asks Seraiah, Baruch’s brother, to pronounce complete and lasting ruin on Babylon. (Saddam Hussein tried/started rebuilding ancient Babylon before the Gulf War, it came to a stop.) It is interesting that the last sentence is, “The words of Jeremiah end here.”
The final part of this study is found in Psalm 135: 7. The passage about the lightning, rain, and wind is also here as it is found in Jeremiah.
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses.” (NIV) In a previous post I compared Psalm 135 and 136 for similar content (see that post). But the same themes in Jeremiah are here also:
- The Lord does what pleases Him. (vs. 6)
- The destruction of an enemy is told. (vs.8 – 11)
- Idols are worthless pieces of silver and gold. (vs. 15 – 18)
- Jacob and Israel are treasured possessions. (vs. 3 – 4)
I can still see David writing Psalm 135 but the prophetic nature of this Psalm now becomes even clearer. Ok, maybe Jeremiah/Baruch did write it and threw in verses 19 – 21 just to aggravate his kinsmen.
Bible studies are fun, you start with lightning and end up comparing prophesy in Jeremiah.
We Sat On The Beach
We sat on the beach today, my wife and I. 
Just went for a drive and wound up there.
No rushing traffic today, we needed air.
We faced the water, safely in front of the rushing tide.
A steady ocean breeze blew through the windows.
No concrete towers or wires overhead.
Waves and fluffy clouds overhead, white and spots of black with a little red from a sleepy sun. Just following one another silently, making their own lanes.
No rushing cars or moving people.
Birds ran along the sand. Pelicans flew low between long rolling waves. Gulls patrolled looking for dinner.
Crabs scurried in and out of their holes and jellyfish wash silently on shore.
No traffic noise or engine sounds or radios extra loud.
We talked and laughed, while waves roared ashore.
Our busy time was behind us, we faced a busy sea.
No red lights or flashing numbers.
Waves rolled at their pace, moving up the sand, changing colors with passing clouds while the light slipped lower.
Shadows inching across the sand covering the dunes decorated in yellow flowers.
No horns or tire noise pushing cars.
A quiet sound the waves provided, the sort that God can be heard through when He whispers to your ears.
Another drive, home this time but better than before; fresh and ready, until the next time.
Seven Miracles in John
From the Book of John, we Christians, have selected seven miracles to explain John 20:31. These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. (NIV) Why only seven are highlighted I do not know? Seven is the number of completeness and these are expounded more but John did mention other miracles than just these seven. (There are two other posts listed below that show other miracles that are mentioned in John.) We also limit the “I am” statements Jesus makes.
John 14:12 gives us a promise from Jesus that we will do greater miracles than these that are shown. The word greater carries the component of more in number, not more fantastic. I chose to think “the more” comes from all of the Church performing miracles. The seven miracles highlighted here in John are amazing and worthy of being looked at and studied.
The seven traditional outstanding miracles that John wrote about to 
show the people of his day that Jesus was the Christ are:
- Turning water into wine in Cana (2:1-11)
- Healing an official’s son in Capernaum (4:46-54)
- Healing an invalid at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (5:1-18)
- Feeding the 5,000 near the Sea of Galilee (6:5-14)
- Walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee (6:16-21)
- Healing a blind man in Jerusalem (9:1-7)
- Raising dead Lazarus in Bethany (11:1-45)
I found this and thought it was good.
Gary Shogren says: “I have no idea who made this up, but I’ve used it for years.”:
THE SIGN
T – turning water into wine
H – healing the nobleman’s son
E – elevating the lame man
S – supper for 5000
I – interim on the sea [walking on water]
G – giving sight to the blind
N – notification of Lazarus to “come forth”
http://www.journeyintotheson.com/grand-central-station/the-seven-signs-of-johns-gospel/
In the NIV the words “miracles” and “miraculous signs” are used twenty-four times with two of these being Jesus asking people why they would not believe (John 12:37 and 15:24). John 2:18 and 6:30 are people asking Jesus to show them signs so they can believe. Jesus comments in 4:48 that Jews will never believe unless they see signs and wonders, this sounds just like Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:22 when he says,” Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom.”
SIGNS FOR THE JEWS For years I have heard that these seven miracles were signs that the Jewish people believed the Messiah would do when he came to deliver them. I have looked for why these particular miracles and where they originated but have not been able to find them. What I did learn was that the ancient Hebrews, as well as modern Jews, are looking for a leader who would be a military and civic leader. See Vines Dictionary under the word for semeion which is number 4592 in the Greek Dictionary in Strong’s Concordance and this website http://www.jewfaq.org/mashiach.htm . (Note, the website does not believe Jesus is the Messiah and they tell why!) (Kurt Cameron and his guest on TBN in September 2013 said that other major world religions all wanted a part of Jesus, that may be but I do not think that Judaism is one of them.) Since the Jews were (are) looking for a military and civic leader I guess they thought that the Messiah would “one-up” the leaders that they have had and be a combination of Moses, Elijah, and Elisha, and probably several others. Since I could not find where they got the “list” of miracles I started my own:
- Turning water into wine in Cana (2:1-11) – Moses had water from a rock (the water/wine came from “rock” vessels) and changed bad water to good. Jesus changed the water to wine.
- Healing an official’s son in Capernaum (4:46-54) Elijah and Elisha both healed a son, they had to touch the boy, Jesus did it at a distance.
- Healing an invalid at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem (5:1-18) Elisha healed the captain with the seven dips in the Jordan (See #6), and the people left Egypt all healed to face forty (38) years of wandering.
- Feeding the 5,000 near the Sea of Galilee (6:5-14) Moses and manna. Elisha feeding the one hundred (2 Kings4:42).
- Walking on the water of the Sea of Galilee (6:16-21) Moses divided the waters why not walk on them.
- Healing a blind man in Jerusalem (9:1-7) (I got nothing.) Second thought, maybe the man said it in John 9:32 “Nobody has ever heard.” Jesus did something no other leader had ever done. A third thought, Elisha told Naaman to go wash in the Jordan, that is the second recorded case of leprosy being healed. A fourth thought, this has strong elements of the creative process of Man in Genesis.
- Raising dead Lazarus in Bethany (11:1-45) Elisha’s bones raised a dead man. Jesus called him out of the grave.
I remember someone saying that the seven miracles in John were more oral tradition than written fact, but it was fun thinking about where they may have started. Well, if you have/know where the seven signs or miracles of Jesus being the Messiah started, please let me know.
It is not considered one of the seven, but Jesus had a habit of hiding Himself! So, I call it a Plus One.
In one of the comments, the greatest miracle was given in the form of a prophecy. Please see Seven Miracles of Jesus +1, +1, +++++
Jesus refers to Himself as the I am in John, giving more proof of who He is.
For other thoughts on miracles please see Miracles and Storms
I also used this blog as a reference: http://considerjesus.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/seven-signs-in-the-gospel-of-john/ in writing my blog. The artwork is from http://clipart.christiansunite.com/Pictures_of_Jesus_Clipart/Healing_the_Sick_Clipart/
