Elijah and Elisha: A Comparison

Elijah and Elisha: A Comparison

Genealogy of David from Ruth

Genealogy of David from Ruth

Five Finger Prayer

Five Finger Prayer

Thumb (people who are close to you) these are your close friends and family, often the first you think about when you pray. Give thanks to God and ask his protection on your parents, siblings, friends, and classmates.

Pointer (people who point the way) these are leaders in your life, such as teachers and pastors. Offer God your thanksgiving for them and ask him to help them in their important work.

Tall Finger (people in authority) the big people in the world need prayer too. Ask God to give wisdom to our government, military, and police.

Ring Finger (people who are weak) this is your weakest finger. We should remember others who are sick, live in poverty, or are treated badly. Pray that Jesus would give them new strength.

Little Finger (your own needs) God wants to hear your needs too, especially when you put others first. Pray for your own growth in mind, body, and spirit.

Summary of Bible Heroic Ladies

RUTH had the good sense to listen to someone older and wiser than herself, and most of us could learn a lot from her.

But her common sense is not the only reason the story is popular. Ruth was loyal to someone who needed her and had been good to her in the past, even when the sensible thing would have been to cut and run. Heaven knows Naomi had nothing to offer the young widow, but Ruth stayed with her mother-in-law even when there was no gain in it for herself.

It turned out to be the right decision. Naomi was financially destitute but she was street-wise, with a remarkable knowledge of the world and of men in particular. This proved more valuable than money. She told Ruth how to go about prodding Boaz, an eligible bachelor, into proposing - a skill that many young women today would like to learn. Ruth recognized good advice when she heard it, and acted accordingly. And she and Boaz lived happily ever after.

'So she went down to the threshing floor and did just as her mother-in-law had instructed her. When Boaz had eaten and drunk, and he was in a contented mood, he went to lie down at the end of the heap of grain. Then she came stealthily and uncovered his feet, and lay down. At midnight the man was startled, and turned over, and there lying at his feet was a woman! He said "Who are you?" And she answered "I am Ruth, your servant; spread your cloak over your servant, for you are next-of-kin".' 
(Ruth 3:6-9)

MARY of NAZARETH   was astute and observant. She saw what was going on behind the scenes at the wedding at Cana, and that the wine had run out - a severe embarrassment to any host and his family in Middle Eastern society.

She also knew what her son was capable of. She approached him with a suggestion, nudging rather than pushing him into action. Jesus complied, though not without mildly objecting. Her tactful request was a subtle and diplomatic way of starting him in his ministry.

Having made the suggestion she stepped back, letting him take over and follow up on her words in his own way. This he did, with his first miracle - a momentous event, even though it happened quietly. Mary knew when to speak, and when to be quiet.

The story finishes with the image of Jesus, his mother and his extended family moving away together. The Miracle at Cana is not the most famous story about Mary of Nazareth, yet it sums up her character and her relationship with her son better than any of the other, better known stories.

'On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him "They have no wine." And Jesus said to her "Woman, what concern is that to you and to me? My hour has not yet come." His mother said to the servants "Do whatever he tells you." Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to them "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. He said to them "Now draw some out and take it to the chief stewards." So they took it. When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from, the steward called the bridegroom and said to him "Everyone servers the good wine first and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk. But you have kept the good wine until now." After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother, his brothers, and his disciples; and they remained there a few days.' (John 2:1-12).

JUDITH was a puzzle. She was an Old Testament woman capable of brutal murder, but she was also a theologian, arguing for a more profound image of God.

Judith's story is certainly a bloodthirsty one - she hacked off the head of the drunken Holofernes with his own sword, after having prayed to God to make her a good liar, not a request God often hears. In fact, the story does not seem to have a moral theme at all.

But there is a very significant passage in the story, where Judith argues with the elders of her town about what God is and is not. This is the part that is significant to anyone who wishes to know God better.

She points out that God cannot really ever by known, and that we are foolish if we think we can know God. God is not human like us, even though we try to make him so by giving him human qualities. After all, if we don't know what is in the mind of the person beside us, or what our nearest and dearest really think - which we don't - how then can we expect to know what God is thinking, or what his plan for us is? All we can really do is trust in him, and hope for the best.

“Listenen to me, rulers of the people of Bethulia! What you have said to the people today is not right. Who are you to put God to the test, to set yourselves up in the place of God in human affairs. You are putting the Lord Almighty to the test, but you will never learn anything! You cannot plumb the depths of the human heart or understand the working of the human mind; how do you expect to search out God, who made all these things, and find out his mind or comprehend his through?.....God is not like a human being, to be threatened, or like a mere mortal, to be won over by pleasing. Therefore while we wait for his deliverance, let us call upon him to help us, and he will hear our voice, if it pleases him.' 
(Judith 8:11-17).

ESTHER married a fool. He had divorced his first wife over a petty matter, because his advisers told him to do so. Now he chose a second wife for her beauty - all very fine, but not when the woman in question is to be queen of a vast empire. She, a second Anne Boleyn, would need more than beauty and virtue to navigate the shoals of a corrupt and dangerous court. 

As it happened, Esther was up to the task. When she learnt about a plot to eradicate all the Jews in the kingdom, she went unbidden to the king - a capital offense for which she could be immediately executed. The Bible text says her heart was 'frozen with fear'. 

So as well as good looks and virtue, she had intelligence and courage, both of which she used to save her people from the pogrom that faced them. Of course she succeeded (or we would not be reading the story). The Jewish people were saved, their enemies annihilated, and the event is celebrated to this day in the festival of Purim.

 'Then the King's servants said "Let beautiful and virtuous girls be sought out for the king. The king shall appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom, and they shall select beautiful young virgins to be brought to the harem in Susa, the capital. Let them be entrusted to the king's eunuch who is in charge of the women, and let ointments and whatever else they need be given them. And the woman who pleases the king shall be queen.' Esther with Additions, Addition A, Chapter 2

'On the third day, when she ended her prayer, she took off the garments in which she had worshiped and arrayed herself in splendid attire. Then, majestically adorned, she took two maids with her; on one she leaned gently for support, while the other followed, carrying her train. She was radiant with perfect beauty and she looked happy, as if beloved, but her heart was frozen with fear.' (Book of Esther 6:14, 7:1-10, 8:1-2)

DEBORAH was a prophetess and a judge in ancient Israel.. She used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim; and the Israelites came up to her for judgment. 

Under God's inspiration she took command of the Israelite people and convinced them to fight the better equipped and trained Canaanite army, led by a terrifying Canaanite general Sisera. 

The general Deborah appointed to lead the Israelites was none too enthusiastic about his task, sensible man, but she seems to have convinced him he could win - though he only agreed to fight if she was there.

When the time came, God stood by the Israelites. A drenching storm made the flat land of the battlefield a quagmire. Sisera's iron-wheeled chariots became bogged in the mud, making his soldiers an easy target for the Israelite sling-men and archers.

Deborah's complete faith in God, even when she was facing impossible odds, was vindicated.

'..she sent and summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali, and said to him "The Lord, the God of Israel, commands you 'God, take position at Mount Tabor, bringing ten thousand from the tribe of Naphtali and the tribe of Zebulun. I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin's army, to meet you by the Wadi Kishon with his chariots and his troops; and I will give him into your hand.' Barak said to her "If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go." And she said "I will surely go with you." (Judges 4:4-9)

SHIPRAH and PUAH were two midwives who risked their own lives to save the Hebrew babies Pharaoh had ordered drowned at birth. Like unwanted kittens. The two women may have been Hebrews, or they may have been Egyptians. No-one is really sure. You would think Hebrews would have their own midwives - but then would Pharaoh trust them to carry out what was in effect the annihilation of their own race? - ethnicity at that time was patrilineal, so killing the boys meant killing the tribe. 

Surely Pharaoh would have employed Egyptian women to carry out this order of his? They would be more likely to obey. Or were Shiprah and Puah expected to be collaborators against their own people in this first recorded pogrom? 

Shiprah and Puah not only refused to obey Pharaoh's order, but they actively worked against it, doing all they could to help the little boys survive the dangers of birth.
When Pharoah saw his plan failing, he went to Plan B, ordering genocide by drowning for all the male babies. It was his own 'final solution'.


'Still not satisfied, the king of Egypt said to the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was named Shiprah and the second of whom was named Puah, "In your midwifery to the Hebrew women, take care to determine the sex of the infant: if it is a son, kill him instantly; if however it is a daughter, she may live."
But the midwives believed in God, and they would not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do. Rather did they help the male children live. For this reasons the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and said to them "On what authority have you done such a thing, that you would permit the male children to live?" Thinking fast, the midwives said to Pharaoh "We could not help it, because unlike Egyptian women, the Hebrew women are robust - in fact, they have often delivered their own babies before the midwife arrives."
Thus did God favour the midwives. And the people of Israel became more numerous still.
The Pharaoh's next move was to command the whole of his people thus: "Every son born to the Hebrews you must pitch into the river Nile; every daughter may be permitted to live".' (Exodus 1:15-22)

JAEL was a murderess, but a great heroine of Israel nevertheless. She finished  what Deborah had started She was a small, unarmed woman, but the Song of Deborah records with a certain macabre glee the way Jael murdered the fearsome enemy general Sisera. 

The general, Sisera, has been defeated by the Israelites and fled from the battlefield, presumably deserting his army. Exhausted, he took shelter in the tent of Jael. He should have known better. Jael lulled him into a false sense of security, let him fall asleep, then took a tent peg and drove it through the side of his skull.

The Israelites, when they heard what had happened, could not contain themselves. Not only was their enemy dead, but he had been killed by a lone woman - the most undignified death a soldier could have. 

Sisera's death, and particularly the manner of it, gave the under-dog Israelites a lot of simple joy - even rivalling similar stories like Goliath's death at the hands of David.

'Most blessed of women be Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite,of tent-dwelling women most blessed, He asked water and she gave him milk,

she brought him curds in a lordly bowl, She put her hand to the tent peg

and her right hand to the workmen's mallet; she struck Sisera a blow,

she crushed his head, she shattered and pierced his temple.

He sank, he fell, he lay still at her feet;

at her feet he sank, he fell; where he sank, there he fell dead.' (Judges 5:24-27)

RAHAB lived in a seedy part of town, up against the outer wall of the city. It was not a desirable location in ancient real estate, but in this case it turned out to be the right address.

Rahab was ideally placed to help Joshua capture the city of Jericho. At the time that he attacked the city, its glory days were over. It had fallen on hard times, and the walls were no longer patrolled by soldiers - in fact, they had become the worst part of town. 

Rahab, a Jericho prostitute or perhaps an inn-keeper, or perhaps both these things, practiced her trade from her house on the walls. When Joshua's scouts came to the city, her house was the perfect place to spend the night. She took pity on them, hid them, then when they were hunted by the city authorities she let them down on a rope from the window of her house, so that they escaped. In return, they promised to protect her and her family if the city was taken.

As it was. The walls came tumbling down, as the song goes, and Joshua's soldiers swarmed into the city. But Rahab was safe - she had left a crimson cord hanging down from the window overlooking the wall, just as she was instructed to do, and Joshua upheld the promise of the soldiers she had protected.

'Then she let them down by a rope through the window, for her house was on the outer side of the city wall and she resided within the wall itself. She said to them "Go toward the hill country, so that the pursuers may not come upon you. Hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned; then afterward you may go your way." ..... She sent them away and they departed. Then she tied the crimson cord in the window.' (Joshua 2:15-21)

JOANNA was born into one of the prominent and wealthy Jewish families of Galilee. Her husband was the Nabatean nobleman Chuza, who had come to Herod's court in the entourage of the young Nabatean princess who became Herod's wife. Herod soon promoted him to finance minister of his realm. Joanna lived in an impressive house in the new city of Tiberias. She became part of the Romanized culture of the Tiberian aristocracy. She first became aware of Jesus because he was a popular sensation - extraordinary tales of healing were circulating. She went to Jesus because she herself needed healing, and her encounter with him changed the whole course of her life.

She came to know Jesus of Nazareth better than most people. For two years or so she was in constant contact with him - though she always travelled in the group of women who supported Jesus. 
She was profoundly impressed by his religious ideas: that repentance was necessary to enter the coming kingdom of God, and that the way to God demanded renunciation of wealth and power. As a devout Jewish woman, Joanna had always given generously to the poor, but Jesus required a more radical step. She sold some of her property and gave it to the needy. Then she channelled her income into the common fund which Jesus and his disciples needed to live on. 

When Jesus arrived in Jerusalem for what was to be his last visit, Joanna knew the danger he was in. She knew the Jewish and Roman political world well, and she was terrified. A few days later she heard the news that Jesus had been arrested, then sentenced to death by crucifixion - she still had contacts in high places and so was able to find out what was happening. When the time came, she and some of the other women made their way to the place of crucifixion and watched Jesus die his agonizing death. There was nothing she could do except try to live through the nightmare. 

After waiting for the Sabbath to pass, she and some other women went with spices and ointments to the tomb, to follow the proper burial rituals. What she saw and heard there, on Easter morning, stayed with her as long as she lived. She told everyone she knew about that morning - first the disciples, then anyone she met. She was one of the first apostles, spreading the Good News.

Summary of Bible Heroes

NOAH

Noah was a good man in a wicked world. But unlike most of us, he was able to keep himself clear of the evil around him. He was married, with three sons who were also married, and he and his family lived somewhere in ancient Mesopotamia, the Land of the Two Rivers.

Floods were common, but there was one flood that was far worse than ever before, and most of the people and animals were wiped out. 

Noah and his family were not - Noah had sensed that the flood was coming and had gathered his family and many animals into a safe place, where they were able to sit out the unprecedented storm and wait for the earth to return to normal.

When it did, the first thing Noah and his family did was give thanks to God for saving them. He and his family started afresh in a new, washed-clean world. 

They became tillers of the earth - farmers, in fact. Among other things, they grew grapes, and Noah is credited with making the first wine. Unfortunately he misused this gift and got drunk, making himself an object of ridicule to his family. Then when he sobered up and realized what an idiot he had been, he cursed his son Ham, the son who had laughed at him most, instead of admitting his own failing. 

So although Noah saved humans and animals during the great flood, he was also a very human hero.

JOSEPH

Joseph was the son of Jacob and Rachel. He was his father's favorite, and as a mark of this favor Jacob gave him a long-sleeved coat, a garment of multi-colored strips unsuitable for day-to-day work. Joseph dreamt he would be greater than any of his eleven older brothers, and when he told them this they were angry at what they saw as his vanity. 

One day their anger spilt over into rage, and they trapped him and sold him to passing slave-traders. He was taken to Egypt, where he soon had great success, rising to the senior position in the house of his Egyptian owner Potiphar.

Unfortunately he attracted the attentions of his owner's wife, who took a passionate fancy to him - Joseph was also exceptionally handsome and attractive. When he rejected her advances she accused him of trying to rape her, and Joseph was imprisoned. 

Even in prison, however, his ability could not be hidden, and he succeeded in gaining the trust and admiration of all around him. He was able to interpret the dreams of fellow-prisoners, and one of them told Pharaoh about him. Since Pharaoh was plagued by a recurring dream he sent for Joseph, who was able to tell him exactly what the dream meant - that a terrible famine was coming. Pharaoh decided to prepare for the famine, and put Joseph in charge of the task. Joseph was of course successful, and saved Egypt from famine.

Meanwhile, Joseph's family was also suffering from the famine. They decided to go down into Egypt to buy grain, and of course they met up with Joseph. 

The irony was that they did not recognize this Egyptianized official as the brother they had sold long ago. But he recognized them, and played a rather cruel trick on them. 

In the end he was reconciled with them all, and reunited with his father before the old man died.

MOSES

Moses established one of the central themes of Judaism: its concern for social justice. This unique leader freed his people from slavery in Egypt, and led them to freedom, setting a template for later generations of Jews. 

Moses was in effect the founder of a nation, and organizer, law-maker, and defender of his people. Perhaps the most remarkable quality of this modest man was his solicitude for his people, in spite of their failings and ingratitude.

Moses was the greatest of the prophets, the only person in the Bible who spoke to God face to face, in contrast to the other prophets to whom God spoke only in visions and dreams. 

But he was also something of a tragic figure. He grew up in a foreign court and was rejected at first by his own people when he tried to help them. He became a fugitive when he intervened on behalf of a Hebrew slave and killed an Egyptian. His own people complained when he tried to free them from Pharaoh and slavery. 

After they escaped from Egypt, the people constantly complained, and there was opposition from his brother and sister, Aaron and Miriam, and attempts to dislodge him from his position as leader.

After all this, God did not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land when he finally arrived there - he glimpsed it from Mount Nebo, but did not live to enter it. 

He was, it seems, quite sensible in being reluctant to take on the job in the first place - see his hesitation in Exodus 3:11 - 4:16.

GIDEON

Gideon developed a type of warfare that helped the Israelites gain control over land dominated by the Canaanites, who were superior in number and technology, and who seemed to be an unbeatable enemy. 

He introduced guerilla warfare, and is credited with being the military leader who defeated the Midianites, one of Israel's enemies at that time.

He was an unlikely hero, a man from an obscure clan, and at first he doubted his ability to win any battle at all. But God kept nudging him into action, and eventually Gideon gathered quite a large group of soldiers to attack the enemy. He thought that was the way to go. But it was not what God wanted.

'You've got it wrong' said God, 'There are too many men in your army, making too much noise and needing too much military equipment' - or words to that effect. 

So Gideon cut down the numbers until he had only a small force, and then he attacked at night, surprising the enemy and panicking them so that they were easy to kill.

 This became the pattern of battle for the under-equipped and ill-trained Israelite soldiers when they faced a superior enemy - and it worked well for them over and over. They would attack when and where they were least expected, harassing the enemy and then drawing back into the hills where a large army could not follow them. Gideon had invented the military version of the David/Goliath strategy.

SAMSON

Samson was the son of conservative, godly parents, and was consecrated as a Nazirite at his birth - which meant that he was dedicated to God, would never drink alcohol and would always leave his hair uncut, to show his calling. His parents knew he was special, since his birth had been heralded by the appearance of an angel of Jahweh. 

Samson grew up to be an exceptionally strong man, but he was never a 'gentle giant'. Quite the reverse. He never negotiated with an enemy when there was a chance of fighting. He does not seem to have fought in the army, as other ancient heroes like Achilles did, in the Iliad. Rather, he used his personal strength to take on and vanquish an enemy, whoever they might be. 

He caused mayhem on numerous occasions. Some of his feats include: 

·         the killing of thirty Philistines who bribed/bullied his new wife into telling them the answer to a riddle Samson had composed

·         the burning of Philistine wheat fields just before harvest, as revenge when his wife-to-be was given in marriage to his best man at the cancelled wedding; he lit the tails of 300 unfortunate foxes and released them among the wheat

·         his final escapades with Delilah, who deceived him so that she could learn the secret of his strength. 

When the Philistines finally learned the reason behind his prodigious strength, they captured Samson and put out his eyes making him, they thought, utterly helpless. He was led into the temple of Dagon and made sport of as part of the entertainment. 

But unnoticed by the Philistines, his hair had begun to grow back. Thus, in one last effort, he pulled the two supporting pillars of the temple down and destroyed himself and up to three thousand Philistines as it collapsed.

DAVID

David is talked about as the ideal king and man, and his story is one of the great sagas of the ancient world. But if you read the story itself instead of relying on commentaries, you find a very different character. 

David has a lot in common with flawed heroes like Achilles in the Iliad, or Lancelot in the Arthurian legends. He is one of the most remarkable personalities in the Bible, a man with outstanding ability and also very human failings. 

He was a brave fighter, a wily politician, a gifted musician and poet. 

He was also sexually unrestrained and the head of a tragically dysfunctional family whom he made little effort to control. The Bible describes David as a good-looking man, red-headed and with beautiful eyes, and he certainly could charm and manipulate people.

With David, the two words that spring to mind  are 'unscrupulous',  and 'charismatic'.
He had relatively obscure beginnings, but by the end of his life he had established a monarchy that united the twelve tribes of Israel under one leader. He captured the fortress of Jebus then made it his capital, Jerusalem. He founded a dynasty that lasted for four hundred years and created a sense of national identity for the Jewish people, that has lasted to today.

The David and Goliath story has an enduring fascination for people everywhere.

MORDECAI

Mordecai was a descendent of King Saul, but he lived far away from Israel - in Shushan (Susa), the capital of the Persian Empire, during the Exile. 

He had a young cousin, an orphan, whom he looked after. Her name was Esther, and she was unusually beautiful and intelligent. When she was chosen to be the new wife of King Ahasuerus, the Persian king, he advised her not to tell people she was Jewish. She took his advice.

Mordecai was instrumental in foiling a plot to assassinate the king, and this was duly noted. He also made a dangerous enemy in Haman, the king's top minister, who became obsessed with hatred not only for Mordecai, but for the whole Jewish population. Haman did not know that Esther was Jewish.

Eventually Haman persuaded King Ahasuerus to conduct a nation-wide pogrom against the Jewish people. This would have gone ahead had not Mordecia suggested a way that Esther could save her people. It was a dangerous plan but it worked, and Haman was defeated and hanged on the very gallows he had erected for Mordecai - as were his ten sons.

Mordecai became the king's chief minister, and the events are celebrated each year at the festival of Purim.

JOSEPH OF NAZARETH

Joseph of Nazareth was an unlikely hero, an ordinary man from an obscure village in rural Galilee. He could never have guessed how many millions of people would know about his life and speak of him with respect and affection.

He remains the model of the ideal husband and father - though given the time and place, it cannot have been easy for him. He lived in a society that demanded virginity in a bride, and yet he was prepared to marry a girl who was already with child, a child whom he knew was not his. Someone who is never mentioned in the story is Joseph's mother: being a traditional Jewish mother, one wonders what she said about Joseph's marriage to Mary, a girl who was clearly no longer a virgin.

Joseph believed in his dreams, but perhaps family disapproval was also part of the reason that Joseph took his wife and child and moved to Egypt for a time. Perhaps there was also more work there. 

But when he returned he settled down in Nazareth to supporting and looking after his little family. He may have found work at the nearby town of Sepphoris, which was being rebuilt by the ruler of the area, Herod Antipas. If that was so, he probably took the boy Jesus along to learn the trade of carpentry/building.

Nothing is known of his later life or eventual death, but he has been revered through the centuries for the quiet devotion he showed to Mary and Jesus, and has been seen as a role model for husbands and fathers everywhere.

PAUL

Paul was a fierce, passionate man. His dominant characteristic must have been courage, both intellectual and physical, since he never hesitated to stand up for his beliefs, no matter who or what opposed him. It is because of his dedication that Christianity found a foothold in the ancient world and eventually grow into a religion that changed the world.

Paul never met Jesus face to face, but he believed he had seen Jesus in a vision (see right), and so knew his Savior at a deeper, truer level. This idea, that Jesus was Savior, took hold of Paul, so that he saw it as an overpowering mission to tell other people about Jesus.

Paul was a doer, and an organizer, and he travelled around from city to city, talking to whomever would listen. The people he talked to were not always hospitable to Paul's new ideas, and he often ended up in trouble - serious trouble. But he also had an growing band of followers and supporters, and he did not allow himself to be dispirited by setbacks.

His novel idea was that Jesus had come not just to the Jewish people, but to everyone, or every social level, religious background or nationality. This meant he clashed with the more traditionally-minded Jerusalem Christians, and on several occasions Paul was arrested and imprisoned. None of this fazed him. Paul was a man with a vision of how the world could be, and he gave his life to making this vision come true.