Thought for Today: Thursday May 18:
When you were very young and started speaking, did you talk to your parents in long sentences and for great periods of time? I doubt it. And yet they were not disappointed in you; they were delighted by your first attempts to speak. In the same way, when we truly understand that YHVH is our Loving Heavenly Father, and we are His children, then we will not worry so much about disappointing Him by our prayers. Do not worry about your lack of eloquence; no matter how simple they are, YHVH delights in our prayers when they truly express the feeling and desires of our hearts.
BIBLE STUDY LESSON 07
SERIES P --- YHVH’S PROPHETS
JEREMIAH BUYS A FIELD
From Jeremiah 32
Adonai spoke to Jeremiah again when he was a prisoner in the dungeon of King Zedekiah’s palace. It was a difficult time in Judah, for the army of Babylon had besieged Jerusalem. This was during the tenth year of Zedekiah’s reign and the eighteenth year of the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Zedekiah had thrown Jeremiah into prison because of his prophecies. [Why do you tell people that Adonai is giving this city to the king of Babylon?] the king asked Jeremiah. [Why do you tell them that I will be captured and brought face to face with Nebuchadnezzar for trial? Why do you prophesy that I will be imprisoned in Babylon for many years until I die? And why do you tell them that they cannot win against the Chaldeans, no matter how hard they fight against them?] About this time Adonai spoke again to Jeremiah while he was in prison. [Your cousin Hanameel the son of your uncle Shallum will visit you here in prison and will offer to sell you his field at Anathoth, for you are next in line to buy it,] Just as Adonai had said, Hanameel came to visit Jeremiah in prison. [When Hanameel told me why he had come,] said Jeremiah, [I was sure that Adonai had spoken to me.] [You have the first right to buy my field,] said Hanameel. [Do you want to do it?] Accordingly {continued Jeremiah}, I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanameel. Before witnesses which we had gathered, I signed the deed and sealed it, and weighed seventeen shekels of silver as payment. Then I took the two copies of the deed which contained the terms and conditions of the purchase, one sealed and the other unsealed and gave them publicly to Baruch the son of Neriah and grandson of Maaseiah, while Hanameel and the witnesses who had signed the deed of purchase and the prison guards watched. While all these witnesses listened, I said to Baruch, [Adonai of hosts Commands you to take these two copies of the deed, the sealed deed of purchase and the open copy, and place them in a clay vessel, so they will remain for a long time. For Adonai assures us that houses, fields, and vineyards will someday be bought here in this land again.] After I had given the copies of the deed to Baruch, I prayed to Adonai. [O Adonai YHVH, by Your great power and Your outstretched arm You have made the heavens and the earth,] I prayed. [There is nothing too difficult for You to do. You have shown Your abiding love to thousands while You cause a man’s children to share the guilt of their father’s sins. O Adonai YHVH of hosts, great and mighty in wisdom and deed, You see all that men do and reward men according to their lives and their deeds. You performed great miracles in the land of Egypt which we remember even to this day. Today also You have worked great miracles in Israel and throughout the world, bringing great honour to Your Name. With great miracles by Your strong hand and outstretched arm You brought Israel from Egypt and gave them this land flowing with milk and honey, which You had promised to their ancestors. They entered the land and possessed it, but they failed to obey You and follow Your Commands, almost completely. This punishment has come from You, and siege mounds have been built against Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, and they will capture the city with sword, famine, and plague. All that You have said has come to pass. Yet now, Adonai, You have instructed me to buy this field and pay money for it before witnesses, even though the city will be captured by the Chaldeans.] Then Adonai spoke to Jeremiah, saying, [I am Adonai YHVH of all people. Is anything too difficult for Me to do? I am about to let the Chaldeans and Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon capture this city. Even now they are outside the walls, and they will soon come into Jerusalem and burn the city with all the houses on whose roofs incense was burned to Baal and drink offerings poured out to foreign gods, provoking Me to anger. Ever since this city was built, the people of Israel and Judah have angered Me with their deeds, so I plan to destroy it. Yes, the sins of the people and their leaders -- kings, princes, priests, and prophets -- have stirred My anger against this city, for they have turned their backs to Me instead of looking to Me with their faces. Even though I have faithfully taught them, they have refused to listen and learn from Me. Instead, they have set up their evil idols, even in My temple. They have built the high places for Baal in the Hinnom Valley and have burned their own children there as offerings to Molech, even though I never told them to do this or ever thought of such an evil. They have brought to Judah terrible evil by doing these things. Now I am telling you that this city of Jerusalem will be captured by the king of Babylon by means of the sword, famine, and plague. But some day I will let My people return to this place from all the lands where I will scatter them in My anger. I will let them return to Jerusalem, and they will at last live here in safety. They shall be My people, and I will be their YHVH. I will unite their hearts and minds to worship Me forever, for their own sakes and for the sake of their descendants. I will make a Covenant with them which shall endure forever, and I will never desert them or cease doing good to them. I will put a desire for Me in their hearts so that they will not turn away from Me. I will plant them again in this land with great joy in My whole heart and soul. As I have brought all this trouble to them now, so I will bring them much good, as I have promised. Once more, fields will be bought and sold, and deeds will be signed and sealed and witnessed, both in the land of Benjamin and in the land around Jerusalem, as well as the cities of Judah, the hill country, and even to the Negeb and the plains of the Philistines. As I restore their lands, so will I also restore their fortunes.]
COMMENTARY
WEIGHTS AND MEASURES
At first, people paid each other in goods like cattle, barley or oil. This system was replaced by the use of gold, silver and copper in the form of dust, lumps, objects or bars. Their value was determined by their weight. But neither balances nor weights were precise, and weights and measures varied from one city to another. The Israelites used the same system of weights as the Canaanites and Babylonians. The basic unit of their weight system was called the [shekel.] It was also the basic unit of their money system, which developed later. There were three different kinds of shekels. The first -- the commercial or common shekel and weighed more than the second; temple shekel -- and less than the third -- royal shekel. Fifty shekels made up a {minah,} and sixty minahs a {talent.} Half-shekels were called {bekahs.} The lightest weight was a {gerah,} which meant {grain.} Pharmacies still weigh items in grains. The Hebrews used parts of the body to measure length. A {cubit} stretched from elbow to wrist. Half a cubit, called a {span,} ran from thumb to little finger with the hand stretched wide. A handbreadth, or {tepah,} stretched across the palm. The smallest measure, a digit, survives today as the inch. Obviously, none of these measures was very exact. For solids and liquids, the Israelites used measures similar to modern bushels and gallons. Merchants loaded their donkeys with {homers} of grain -- probably several bushels. A woman drew a {bath} of water from a well -- a jug that is thought to have held close to six gallons. Priests used a small potful, or {hin,} of liquid for religious rituals, and a tiny bit, or {log,} to purify lepers. No one knows the precise amounts of any of these measures.
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Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy. Psalms 61:1-3 ESV
The Levites are to camp around the Tabernacle of the Testimony, so that there will be no wrath unleashed on the community of Bnei-Yisrael. So the Levites are to maintain care of the Tabernacle of the Testimony.
Numbers 1:53
God placed the Levites as a spiritual covering/barrier over the people of Israel. He didn't put them between himself and the people because of any animosity he felt toward them, but because his presence, like fire or radiation, is dangerous.
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BIBLE STUDY LESSON 06
SERIES P --- YHVH’S PROPHETS
THE BROKEN YOKE
WARNINGS FROM JEREMIAH
From Jeremiah 27-28
Early in the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, Adonai gave Jeremiah another message. [Fasten a yoke to your neck with leather straps,] Adonai said. [Then give My message to the kings of Edom, Moab, Ammon, Tyre, and Sidon through their representatives here in Jerusalem. This is the message you must send to them: With great power I have made the earth by My outstretched arm. I have made all men and animals of the earth; I give what is Mine to anyone I choose. Now, at this time, I choose to give your lands and peoples to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, My servant. I will give him even the cattle of your fields. All nations shall serve him and his son, as well as his grandson, until I choose to end their reign. Then other nations and kings shall make him their slave. Whoever refuses to become Nebuchadnezzar’s slave now, putting their necks under his yoke, will be punished. I will bring war, famine, and disease upon that nation until the king destroys it with his hand. Your false prophets, diviners, dreamers, soothsayers, and sorcerers will advise you not to serve the king of Babylon, telling you falsely that he will not conquer you. These are all lies, and if you listen to them, I will drive you out of your land to a place far away, and there you will die. But whoever submits to the king of Babylon will remain in the land to farm it in peace.] I, Jeremiah, told these prophecies to King Zedekiah of Judah. [Surrender to the king of Babylon and serve him if you want to live,] I told him. [Adonai has warned you that you and your people will die by the sword, by famine, and by plague if you do not, so why won’t you listen to Him? Ignore those false prophets who tell you not to serve the king of Babylon, for they prophesy lies to you. Adonai says that they are not His prophets, even though they speak in His name. If you listen to them, Adonai will drive you and your false prophets from this land.] I also warned the priests and the people often. [Adonai tells you not to listen to those false prophets who say the golden vessels from the temple will soon be returned from Babylon. Ignore them! They are lying. Submit to the king of Babylon, and you will live. Rebel against him, and the city of Jerusalem will be completely destroyed. If they are true prophets, let them pray to Adonai that the golden vessels which are still in the temple and those in the king’s palace will not be taken away to Babylon. Adonai says that more treasures will be taken away to Babylon -- the great bronze pillars at the entrance to the temple, the bronze basin in the temple courtyard, the pedestals, and all the other temple vessels which were left behind when Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judah and took Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim and all the other nobles of Judah to Babylon. Those vessels will remain in Babylon until Adonai permits them to return to Jerusalem.] During the fifth month of that same year, the month of July, Hananiah the son of Azzur spoke to me in the temple while all the priests and people listened. It was the fourth year of King Zedekiah’s reign. Hananiah was a false prophet from Gibeon. [Here is a message from Adonai of hosts, the YHVH of Israel,] Hananiah said. [Adonai says He has broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years He will bring back to Jerusalem all the temple vessels which Nebuchadnezzar took with him to Babylon. He will also bring back Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, and all the nobles from Judah who were exiled to Babylon. Adonai assures us that He will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.] Then Jeremiah answered Hananiah the prophet in the presence of the priests and people standing there in the temple. [Amen! We certainly hope your prophecies all come true,] said Jeremiah. [May Adonai bring back all the exiles from Babylon and all the temple vessels. But listen to me. The prophets who preceded us spoke of war, famine, and plagues. But when a prophet arises, such as you, who foretells nothing but peace, he must prove that he is a prophet by showing that his prophecies come true.] Then Hananiah removed the yoke from Jeremiah’s neck and broke it. [Adonai says that within two years He will break the yoke of bondage of King Nebuchadnezzar and release those nations which he has captured,] he said. When Hananiah said that, Jeremiah walked away. Not long after that Adonai gave another message to Jeremiah. [Tell Hananiah that he has broken a wooden yoke, but I will place yokes of iron on the necks of the people, making them slaves of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon. The people will become his servants, and even the beasts of the field will be his. Jeremiah also said to Hananiah, [Listen to me, Hananiah; Adonai has never made you, His prophet. You are causing the people to trust in a lie, so Adonai says that He will remove you from the face of the earth. Because you have rebelled against Adonai and deceived the people into believing your lies, you will die this very year. That same year, about two months later, in the seventh month, Hananiah died.
COMMENTARY
PROPHETS AND KINGS
A man became king in ancient Israel because his father was one before him. But people became prophets only when YHVH called them to speak for Him. Because the kings believed in this divine power in the prophets’ lives, they turned to prophets for advice in times of crisis. They wanted help, hope and consolation; they welcomed messages that held promise and comfort. But even when their visions seemed foolish or harsh, the prophets reported them. They did not hesitate to rebuke kings and to offer YHVH and His reasons as explanations for both disasters and victories. David was the first king to bring prophets into the royal court of Israel. He relied for support on Samuel, Nathan and Gad. His predecessor, Saul, had refused to listen to the words of the prophet Samuel, and died as a result. Through prophets like Samuel, YHVH often determined who would rule and who would lose his throne. When the kingdom of Israel split in two, the northern kings despised the prophets who preached the judgment to come. In the south, prophets were somewhat more welcome. But false prophets had their influence on both kingdoms. Out of greed, the desire for power, or fear, these men predicted whatever the king and his people wanted to hear.
I'm no historian, but my impression from reading those who are is that nobody really knows the precise origin of the modern tallit. I suspect that it evolved from an inherited badge of office, like Elijah's mantle. In turn, the mantle probably evolved from tribal and clan standards as in #numbers 1:52, or the other way around.
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