High Adventures in Tibet

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High Adventures in Tibet by David V. Plymire is one of my favorite books. It is not a new book but they have reprinted it several times so it is still available.

It is the story of David Victor Plymire a pioneer missionary to Tibet from 1908 to 1949. The book starts with an article that is a reprint of a 1937 Readers Digest article about a group of Bonism priest calling for Yamantaka the King of Hell. It sets the tone for the book especially when you notice that this occurred during the time Plymire was a missionary.

The book relates the highs and lows the missionary endured for the privilege to bring the Word of God to this rugged land at the top of the world.

Below are several websites that have more information on the man and his family.

http://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/341.htm#610

http://world.ag.org/article/call-obedience-0

Picture from, it is also in the book.   http://world.ag.org/article/call-obedience-0

Fruit and Nuts – Mark + Almonds

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John Mark, the writer of the Gospel of Mark, is our first example of “fruit” from a ministry, that of Barnabas his cousin (Colossians 4:10). Barnabas “the encourager” took him under his wing when he and Paul had a falling out because of Mark (Acts 15:39). We really don’t hear a lot about Barnabas again but Paul tells Timothy to bring Mark along when he comes to see him (2Timothy 4:11). That is a real turn around for Paul and a line of thought is that change in Mark was because of Barnabas. He also helped Peter in his ministry (1 Peter 5:13).

Barnabas gets credit for the “fruit” but let’s look at where the “seeds” got planted. (Warning some of this comes from a very active imagination.)

Jesus himself, I believe, planted the seeds of Mark’s faith, because I think Mark was frequently with the disciples. Many scholars will say that there is a probability that Mark was the young man who “lost” his clothes in the Garden the night Jesus was arrested. Why would he have been with them? The upper room was at his house! Peter went back to Mary’s house (there were several) after the angel let him out of jail (Acts 12:12) this Mary is identified as Mark’s mother.  That would have also put him in the prayer meeting at Pentecost and possibly he was the one carrying the jug that the disciples followed to find the room (Mark 14:13).

Personally, I think that Peter and Andrew were his uncles and James and John were his cousins (Why not?). That would lead to this idea real easy; Mark was the little boy with the five biscuits and the two fish lunch. (I warned you.) I actually wrote a short story along that train of thought; he went along for the boat ride when Jesus needed the rest. But can you imagine getting a little boy’s attention for life with that miracle and what could his mother say when he comes home with twelve baskets of leftovers?

See this site for St. Mark http://www.americancatholic.org/Features/Saints/Saint.aspx?id=1364

Now for the nuts – almonds.

The two stories that always get my attention about almonds are the ones in Jeremiah 1: 11,12 I see a rod of almond; You have seen well, for I am watching over my word to perform it. And Numbers 17:8 where Aaron’s rod produced almonds in the Tent of Meetings.

The almond tree is the first tree to blossom in the spring so it became associated with watchers and the “first one”; the word almond comes from “shaqad” to be alert, sleepless, on the lookout for – hasten, remain, wake, watch. These scriptures are where it is used with these meanings: Watch– Jeremiah 31:28, 44:27, Proverbs 8:34; Wake-Psalm 127:1; Hasten– Jeremiah 1:12.  It is a play on words in Jeremiah 1:12 with the almonds and watching (footnote NIV and Strong’s).

The name Luz (the town that became Bethel) has a reference to almond trees.  This is where Jacob had his dream of the ladder to heaven.

The menorah or lamp had almond-shaped cups for the flames. The Maccabees received a miracle, the sign to continue the rebellion, with this type of lamp. The oil kept burning for a week instead of a day.

Over the years I have used several reference books to gather this material on almonds but this one had several interesting stories with it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond

For almond pic http://www.rootsofpeace.org/press/press-2009/2009/11/big-buzz-with-afghan-farmers-1.html

For menorah pic  http://www.judaica-mall.com/16307.htm

El-Shaddai

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“I Am Who I Am” was God’s answer to Moses when he asked about what to call Him. In the footnotes in my NIV it says that, “Lord (Yahweh) sounds like and may be derived from the Hebrew for I Am (Exodus 3:14). Then in verse 15 He says that He is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob (why not Israel) and then says that is how He wants to be remembered. “God” here is Elohim.  Now I do want to say that it depends on your concordance as to exactly how some of these names are listed; my Strong’s is slightly different than my NIV Concordance.

A generic name for god is “el.” So if you are reading and a name has “el” in it like Israel or Bethel you know it has something to do with a god or God. According to the Vine’s Dictionary in the ancient world it was thought that if you knew a deity’s name that would give you a special “in” with that deity. Nice to know that humanity has not changed much some people still think that they can manipulate God.

The verse that actually started this study was Exodus 6: 2+3. Moses is “pointing out” all of the trouble that the Children are having but God sees it as the opportunity He needs for their deliverance. In the verse He says that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew Me as God Almighty (El-Shaddai) but they did not know Me as Lord (Yahweh). Vine’s talks about how scholars relate this phrase (El-Shaddai) to the power of mountains. In Psalm 80 they also had a “God Almighty” but there it is Elohim Saba. So you may need to look for exactly which phrase it is that is being used and I can tell you that the translation you read may handle these phrases just a little different.

In researching I found this website which maybe helpful to you: http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Names_of_G-d/El/el.html

So what name do you know God as or what name has He made Himself known to you? 

Psalm 80

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I have been looking at the names that describe God so as I read Psalm 80 its three repeating verses caught my eye. The verses are #3,7 and 19; the verses add a name of God each time it repeats, and part of my study was to look at body parts and it talks about the face of God.

The three names that are added are:

1. God – Elohim means great or mighty one

2. Almighty – Saba focuses on power to conquer or means commander of the army (host)

3. Lord – Yahweh implies a personal covenant relationship with the true God

Different translations handle these verses differently so checking several will be a good study. (I used the NIV.) I did a definition study of the other words in the verse and a loose translation without the names would be:  Physical bring us back O (different names) establish favorable circumstances as a sign of favor so that we can be rescued from earthly enemies.

If you now read the verse adding the definitions for the names, it really adds a new depth to the verse.

I like how Asaph added another name as the Psalm proceeded. Now there are three other sets of names in Psalm 80 the first is “Shepherd of Israel” and then in verses 4 and 14 and these are combinations of Lord, God, and Almighty; if numerology interests you that is six times the names of God are used and a total of twelve individual uses.

Asaph starts the Psalm by calling on the Shepherd of Israel who led Joseph.  I like that title – Shepherd of Israel.  I read several ideas about why he would start off with Joseph and then mention Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh so know that you will find many ideas. So here is mine; Joseph is actually the “firstborn heir” which was an important position in a Hebrew family.  Benjamin was his brother by the same mother and Ephraim and Manasseh are his children; that would make them Rachel’s (the “loved wife”) children. Jacob was making Joseph the “ruler” of the family when the brothers got rid of him. One sign of this was the coat of many colors. He actually was the first-born son just not the first-born son, but Reuben lost the birthright of the first-born (Genesis 35:22).

Here are a few other “nuggets” that I found in doing this study.

  1. “Restore” carries the idea of return or repent; it is different from the New Testament “repent” or metanoia. Metanoia is a mental change while shoob or restore usually refers to a physical return.
  2. The word for face is paneh which comes from panah; it means to turn or look. Another word is paniym and it refers to the “face bread” or shewbread that was put into the Tabernacle.  They did not have a physical image of God, but they had the bread. I am not an etymologist, so I do not know if they are related but the Spanish word for bread is pan.
  3. I read in my Bible Glow app; that the psalms in Book 1 (#1-41) more often use Yahweh (the Lord) and Book 2 (#42-72) uses Elohim (God) more often, there is no apparent reason for this grouping.
  4. A little background – this is in the Third Book of Psalms and most of these are attributed to Asaph (means gather or collector). He was a Levite and part of King David’s praise team.

I used my Strong’s Concordance with Vines Dictionary as a reference book. pic of bread from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Challah

Hope and LORD God

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This study is going to cover several things; it started out as a look at the word “hope” and then I noticed the differences in Lord God. So I had fun comparing the passage in different translations.

I set Psalm 71 in 1 Samuel 30:6 (see psalm position), this passage is where Ziklag was burned, because it sounds like someone trying to encourage them self in the Lord.

Hope in verse 5 is tiqvah #8615 (Strong’s Concordance, 2001) and means a cord or attachment, it is used 34x; other usages are expectancy and line. While in verse 14 it is yachal #3176 and means wait and to be patient, it is used 42x; other usages are tarry, trusted, and variant. If I am really exploring a word I will look up all the usages of the word and how they are set in the passages.

Other Old Testament (King James) words that are translated as hope are:

  1. #983/982/986 – batach –refuge, security, trust ex. –Ps. 16:9, 22:9, Eccl. 9:4
  2. #2342 – chuwl – twist, whirl, dance, writhe (in pain), figurative-to wait ex. – Lam. 3:26
  3. #2620 – chacah – to flee (for protection), to confide in  “It is often used where God is compared to a rock, shield or one with protective wings. ex. –Prov.14:32
  4. #2976 – yaash – to despond (no hope) ex. – Jer.2:25
  5. #3689 – kecel – fatness, silliness, (in a good sense) trust ex. – Job 31:24
  6. #4009 – mibtach – from 982 refuge, security, assurance ex. – Jer. 17:7
  7. #4723 – miqvah – something waited for, confidence, collection (of something) ex. – Ezra 10:2
  8. #7663/7664 – sabar –to scrutinize, to expect ex. – Is. 38:18, Ps. 119:116
  9. #8431 – towcheleth – expectation ex. – Job 41:9                                        Interesting note – in the KJV I do not see a reference for “hope” until the Book of Ruth.

The New Testament (KJV) really only has one word for hope but according to Vine’s Dictionary it has several definitions (Vine’s is in my concordance).

# 1680/1679 – Elpis (noun and verb) to anticipate (with pleasure), expectation, confidence

Hope is not a fruit of the Spirit – Galatians 5:22; if you look at the list of things to add to your faith in 2 Peter 1:5+6 you will notice it is not there either. I feel it is because if you get those things they are what allows you to have HOPE.

Notice the variations from Lord God, Lord Jehovah, Sovereign Lord to just repeating Lord twice. I have seen people pick a verse like this to use as a comparison when they are shopping for a new Bible.

Psalm 71

Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)              5 For you are my hope, Adonai Elohim, in whom I have trusted since I was young.

New American Standard Bible (NASB) 5 For You are my hope; O Lord [c] God, You are my confidence from my youth. [c] Heb YHWH, usually rendered Lord

Darby Translation (DARBY)                   5 For thou art my hope, O Lord Jehovah, my confidence from my youth.

New International Version 1984            5 For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth.

Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)5 For You are my hope, Lord God, my confidence from my youth.

King James Version (KJV)                    5 For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth.

New King James Version (NKJV)        5 For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You are my trust from my youth.

Wycliffe Bible (WYC)                           5 For thou, Lord, art my patience (For thou, Lord, art whom I put my trust in); Lord, thou art mine hope from my youth.

Amplified Bible (AMP)                          5 For You are my hope; O Lord God, You are my trust from my youth and the source of my confidence.

Psalm 70

Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA) 5 For thou art my patience, O Lord: my hope, O Lord, from my youth;

All of the references came from: www.biblegateway.com (each has their own publishing company) Use the parallel function at the right side of the page after you have gotten your scripture on the screen.