Bible 911 – Acts

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Acts 9:11 And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, 12. And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. (KJV)

This is a true 911 call. Saul of Tarsus was calling for help and Jesus sent Ananias from the Eternal Miracle Saints. Ananias had training in the things of the Lord, because even though he was reluctant, he went and preformed emergency laying-on-of-hands and spoke the word-of-faith. The sortie was successful and Ananias helped more by washing the patient. Saul told and retold of his miracle service for many years.

I believe that this event and the one in 1 Samuel 16 share some common elements and are course-setters for the people of God. Once these two events were accomplished the path and direction God wanted His people to follow came into view. Here are some commonalities.

  • A zealous but “blind” man named Saul from Benjamin are in both of the stories.
  • Both events have a servant following the leading of God to anoint the “shepherd” with a call from the Father.
  • Neither servant is happy about going; they had to overcome their paradigms to do the right thing.
  • David and Saul/Paul set a “new” direction. Both influence the written Word.

There are times that Judah and Benjamin are paired together:

  • Judah and Benjamin in the second trip to Egypt for food
  • David, King Saul, and Jonthan
  • David and Mephibosheth
  • David and Benjamin at the time of Absalom. This one is complex with many people from Benjamin involved.  
  • At the time of Rehoboam when the kingdom split
  • This one with Jesus and Paul    

Through the centuries this pairing took many forms depending on the individual players. If I was writing a drama Saul/Paul would be a descendent of Mordecai through Mephibosheth. He would be attempting to reclaim King Saul’s stolen kingdom, and then come to the Light.

Damascus and Saul’s mission were two things that caught my attention. The one clear fact that my study left me with is Damascus is a long way from Jerusalem.

Was it in a different political jurisdiction? How did Saul and the High Priest have authority to make those arrest? Was Saul a member of Herod’s household? My internet search produced some facts and many highly charged opinions. It was interesting and it reminded me that our God will use who is available to produce Their results.   

When did Paul start praying? Was it before the vision of Ananias or after? I rest in the fact that he was praying. I would be pretty sure that the topics and request of his prays and fasting changed over those three days.

What happened with the company of soldiers? Okay, they are never called that, but Saul was going to make arrests. They saw the light but not Jesus and heard sounds. A blind and reformed Saul must have affected them somehow.  

A disciple?! Paul expounds on Ananias’ story in Acts 22. I want to put aside how to pronounce his name and the legends that now surround him and ask a question. What has happened to us? Jesus spoke to him, in a vision. Ananias, spoke back. He accepted what was said and proceeded in obedience and changed a man’s life. Lord, may we all be used like that. He is described as in the Bible by Luke is a disciple; not a leader, not a super-saint who was lost in pray, and not someone with a lot of credentials other than having studied the Bible. Father, forgive me and make me/us more open like Ananias.

Vision – Visions drive this story. True to form English translators use one word for three different Greek words. In Acts 26 Paul/Luke uses a different word for vision than in our 9:11 verses; I will focus on our 9:11. (Another study may happen on vision.) Strong’s Greek: 3705. ὅραμα (horama) — Vision To my surprise the first use of this word is in Matthew about the transfiguration. My limited paradigm of a vision has been expanded. The different context that comes under this word covers all sorts of supernatural occurrences.

The two men in our story, one a devout man and the other an enraged zealot, got clear messages to direct them and build their faith. God visiting both of those men changed them and our world.

Well, this is my final Bible 911 post. I have grown and learned many things as I did this study.  

Assyria, Our Forgotten Enemy – Kings

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This post is about the kings of Assyria, Judah, and Israel (northern kingdom). The rulers are how we label and set times (years) for the actions we see in the Bible. The Bible has many historical notes in it that sometimes we miss, but it is one of the non-Assyrian sources that talks about the conquest of the Assyrian kings. There are many preserved texts of clay tablets, stones, and wall reliefs that tell stories of this period. With that said, some of this material is not just from our Bible.

Aggressions, conquest, and Temple news is in our Bible and the writings of the Assyrian kings. We know there were documents that have been lost to history about Judah and Israel. Even with Assyria in control, the kings of smaller countries attacked and held campaigns against each other. We can see this with Pekah of Israel and Rezin of Damascus against Judah and King Ahaz. King Amaziah did this against Edom and stole their gods.

Taking conquered kingdoms gods was a practice that Assyria did regularly; they took Marduk of Babylon and held a trial and found him guilty. Tribute and captivity of the people to other lands are how they controlled the kingdoms they conquered. Gold, silver, and other valuables, like wool and sheep, are mentioned many times in the Bible. The Temple and palace treasuries were emptied many times.

My search terms were Assyria and Ninevah. I will give the Assyrian king then kings from Judah and Israel; some biblical kings do not have direct mention with Assyrian kings, but they were in the same time periods. This is just a brief look and not a comprehensive list of interactions. From my Background post many of the prophets were writing in this period and may mention Assyria or Ninevah but not a specific biblical king. Pronouncements of Assyrian judgment are found in many places in the Bible.

  • King Ahab fought Assyria at Qarqar in 853 BC Battle of Qarqar – Wikipedia  This is not found in the Bible.
  • Tiglath-Pileser/Pul 745-727 – Ahaz 2Kg 16, Menahem 2 Kings 15, Pekah
  • Shalmaneser 727-722 – Hezekiah, Hoshea 2 Kg 17
  • Sargon 722-705 – references in Obadiah 20 and Isaiah 20
  • Sennacherib 705-681 He built up Ninevah making it his administrative capital – Hezekiah and Manasseh. 2 Kings 19 and 2 Chronicles 32
  • Esarhaddon 681-669 – Mentioned in Ezra 4, Isaiah 37:38
  • Ashurbanipal 669-631 – King Josiah. Ashurbanipal and Pharaoh Necho were beaten by Babylon.

The Assyrian Conquests (853 bce–612 bce) | Encyclopedia.com

Sepharad – Encyclopedia of The Bible – Bible Gateway in Obadiah, refers to exiles from Judah

List of Assyrian kings – Wikipedia  look at the bottom

List of Assyrian Kings – Bible History

Kingdoms of the Arabs – Kedar / Kedarites

Assyria, Our Forgotten Enemy – A Little Background

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Spiritualizing the influence of Egypt and Babylon has been done many times, I really cannot remember a sermon about the evils of Assyria. From my background studies I will say they were not nice and taking populations captives or razing whole cities to the ground was common, Assyria did it to Babylon twice.

Assyria/Ninevah and the Books of the Bible that cover that time period.

This would be my order of reading for a timeline.

Kingdoms

There was history going on outside of Israel. Some of these major players are in the story of God’s People some are not. There were many other kingdoms that do not make it into Scripture, but they were there. This is just a list, their interactions and treaties were complex and changed through the years.

Assyria, Our Forgotten Enemy and Ahaz

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References for King Ahaz are: 2 Chronicles 28, 2 Kings 16, and Isaiah 7:1-12. Isaiah 14:28 is the year he died, and Isa 57:3 – 13 describe the actions of Ahaz. To get a good portrait of him you need to consider all of the references together, as each adds something special to the study.

Who He Was

Ahaz is the son of Jotham and the grandson of Uzziah, and the father of Hezekiah. He is also the king who made many bad choices. In a time of trouble, he turned to the gods of Damascus and then to Assyria for help. Because of the king of Assyria, he changed the temple and the worship of God.

The Enemies Ahaz Dealt With

  • Edom – 2 Chronicles 28:16-18 and 2 Kings 16:6 speak of troubles with Edom/Esau/Amalekites. (Boundaries changed over the years and so did population sizes.) They were joined by the Philistines and Aram/Samaria in reducing Judah because Ahaz did not choose the Lord. The Book of Amos has things to say about Edom in this time period. This unrest started in the womb and can still be seen in the Book of Esther, and in King Herod’s rule. See Hosea 11:12-12:6.
  • Assyria – This enemy had been around for a while, as King Ahab was the first Hebrew king to fight them, at Qarqar. They deported Israel, twice, and took part of Judah into captivity. The important note with Ahaz is he wanted help from Assyria. See Hosea 5:13.
  • Samaria – Pekah son of Remaliah (Israel) and Aram/Damascus – Rezin. Their conflicts is Ahaz’s story in 2 Chronicles 28 and 2 Kings 16. Isaiah 7 through 10 adds the final note to them and Assyria. Remaliah | The amazing name Remaliah: meaning and etymology
  • Ahaz – He had a battle with his history and chose the wrong side. I wonder when Isaiah 7:10 happened? Was it before he followed his non-David side and threw off all of the things of God?  

2 Kings 16:2 Ahaz was 25 when he started to rule for 16 years, that makes him 41 at his death.  2 Kings 18:2 Hezekiah was 25 when he started ruling. 41-25 = 16 years old when Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, he had been a father for 9 years when he became king. Customs, social norms, and political pressures may account for this, or he may have just been an out-of-control royal.  

A Contrast – Kings and Chronicles verses Isaiah. History verses God’s prospective. Isaiah, Hosea, and the minor prophets through Zephaniah covers the years of Assyria’s assault and the moral decline of Israel and Judah. In those Books during that time, judgment is pronounced but in all of that is also the Lord offering a better way and promises of His righteousness and redemption. An example is Isaiah 7 – 10, in these chapters is promises of the Messiah.

Ahaz let Assyria direct his spiritual life. It seems Abijah, Hezekiah’s mother, a daughter of Zion, was better and directed Hezekiah to the Lord.  

The Kingdom of Heaven/God – IS LIKE

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The IS LIKE post continues my study of Kingdom. IS LIKE is the phrase that will be my focus, most verses with this declaration occur in Matthew. The word like and relate terms are numerous in the Gospels, so I have included some links to allow you to go further. I will be honest, add your leaf and ink concordance, my Strong’s/Vines Concordance gave me some thoughts that were not in the electronic versions. But I do enjoy the resources I have found on-line.

ὅς | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

ὅμοιος | Free Online Greek Dictionary | billmounce.com

Strong’s Greek: 3666. ὁμοιόω (homoioó) — To make like, to liken, to compare

You find IS LIKE verses in Mark and Luke also, I may just reference them as many are repeats of the ones in Matthew. John did not have any that I could find, but he had a term that was great and I will talk about it. Some of this needs to be “repeats” so I will cover them now.

  • Matthew has the most references to kingdom. He uses “of heaven” the most, with just a few “of God” when the leaders were being addressed. I think this reflects his primary audience. I do not think that there is a difference in what he is talking about because the other writers use the same parables, they just use “Of God”. Look at the Lord’s Prayer.
  • Mark and Luke use “of God” when it is needed. Luke has many verses about the kingdom.
  • John does not have many verses with the word kingdom in them. That is probably because he was focused on the King and showing Him as the Son of God. He does use “my kingdom” when Jesus is talking to Pilate. See Chapter 3 and 18 for the times he brings kingdom into his Gospel.

In Matthew the first message about kingdom is “repent for it is near”, both John the Baptist and Jesus shared this word. Jesus added healing as a witness that He had come and was bring the kingdom.

Matthew 6 and Luke 11 have versions of The Lord’s Prayer; it is also known as The Our Father. The reason I bring this up is who the kingdom belongs to, and where it/He is located. Our Father is in Heaven and we are asking for His Kingdom to come. I found Psalm 9:7-11 as an Old Testament verse that lends itself to the Prayer’s terminology.

Parables, proverbs, and stories are very much a part of Hebrew literature, remember Proverbs and Judges 9. The thing I like about them are there is more than one level to them for us to ponder. Even the ones that Jesus explained to His disciples may have more in them. I like His explanations and don’t usually try to go deeper, most of the time I can barely absorb His teaching about them. But I have found that as you grow in the Lord, the more you may see. However, if your later insights cancel the simple ones, it may be time for more study.

These “IS LIKE” parables are very much like that. My Strong’s/Vines points out you may have to view or consider the whole and all the parts and characters to get the most out of them. I know I have added thoughts to many of them. Sometimes you need to really look at what the IS LIKE is talking about. An example is the humble or little child parables, looking at the circumstances for Jesus’ words are just as important as the little children.

Matthew 13 

  • 24 – a man who sowed good seed
  • 31 – mustard seed (See Luke 13:18+19)
  • 33 – yeast (See Luke 13:20)
  • 44 – treasure hidden in a field
  • 45 – merchant looking for fine pearls
  • 47 – net that was let down and caught all kinds of fish
  • 52 – owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom (teacher of the law)

Matthew 18

  • 4 – a humble child is the greatest in the kingdom
  • 23 – king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants

Matthew 20:1 – a landowner who is looking to hire labors to work in his field

Matthew 22:2 – king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. This was taught on the Temple Mount before the leaders and the people.

Matthew 25:1 – will be like ten virgins with their lamps going to meet the bridegroom. This was on the Mount of Olives to the disciples. (Sadducees asked a question about marriage while He was on the Temple Mount) This further enforces the Palm Sunday ride into Jerusalem was a part of a marriage contract for paying the bride’s price.

  • 14 – man on a journey

AS I REFLECTED ON THE ABOVE PARABLES IN MATTHEW, I NOTICED HOW THAT LIST WOULD ALSO SERVICE AS AN OUTLINE FOR JESUS’ LIFE AND MINISTRY HERE ON EARTH.

Mark

  • 4:26 – 29 – a man scatters seeds on the ground
  • 10:15 – the little child receiving the kingdom

Luke

  • 13:18 – a mustard seed planted in the garden (See Matthew 13:31+32)
  • 13:20 – yeast (See Matthew 13:33)
  • 18:17 – a little child receiving the kingdom

John – 3:3 born again God, 3:5 born of water and the Spirit God, 18: 36 Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world (MY KINGDOM). He was talking to Pilate.