Strange and Interesting Bible Facts

1) Have you ever wondered what God’s spirit is like?  Isaiah 11:2 gives us a great description of God’s Spirit. This verse says, And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him (Jesus) The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. So what is God’s Spirit like? It is full of wisdom, understanding, counsel, strength, and the knowledge and fear of the Lord. Wow! Lord, I pray you pour your Spirit out upon us!

2) Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet and the book of Jeremiah makes it clear why he has this title. It is a depressing book filled with the details of a difficult time in Israel’s history. But it ends with a glimmer of hope that is often missed. In the last 4 verses of the book, Judah’s exiled king, Jehoiachin is released from prison and lives the rest of his days in peace. This no doubt brought hope to the exiled Jews because Jehoiachin was of the line of David from whom they believed a messiah would come. And in fact, we find Jeconiah (another name for Jehoiachin) in Matthew 1:12 listed in the genealogy of Christ. – Even amidst great adversity, God is faithful!

3) The wicked prophets living during Micah’s time did not want Micah to speak truth about the calamity to come. Micah talks about this in Micah 2:6 where he complains that the people tell him not to speak out. But Micah bravely spoke out anyway, unpopular as it was. And consequently, Jerusalem (the Southern Kingdom) was spared because King Hezekiah listened to Micah’s warnings but Samaria (the Northern Kingdom) did not listen and was destroyed.

4) The book of Matthew tells of numerous mountains:The mountain where Jesus was tempted (Matt 4:1-11), the mountain where He gave the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:1-16), the mountain where He worked the miracle of the feeding the multitudes with five loaves and two fish (Matt 15:29-39), the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt 17:1-9), the Mount of Olives where He told of His second coming sometimes called the Olivet Discourse (Matt 24:1-31). And in the very last verses of Matthew from a mountain, Jesus claims all authority in heaven and earth as He sends His disciples into the whole world in a passage known as the Great Commission (Matt 28:16-20).

Strange and Interesting Bible Facts

Hebrews is the “Better Than” Book. This New Testament book points the way to a better life. In it you will find references to things that are better many, many times. It tells us that Christ is: better than angels (1:4), worthy of more glory than Moses (3:3), the builder of the house (the creator) and as such has more honor than the creation (3:4), a great High Priest (4:4), better than men’s high priests (5:1-2) Men swear by things that are better than themselves, but God swears by Himself (because He is better. 6:13-16) Hebrews also tells of: a better covenant enacted on better promises (8:6), a greater more perfect tabernacle (9:11), a better possession (10:34), a kingdom which cannot be shaken (a better kingdom) (12:28), and a better city (11:10 & 13:14) What could be better than that?

Micah Trivia: Micah is written by the prophet with the same name. His name means, “Who is like Jehovah” and this is the very question he asks in Micah 7:18-19. These verses by the way, are some of the most beautiful in the Bible: “Who is a God like Thee, who pardons iniquity and passes over the rebellious acts of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us: He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, Thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (NAS)

Revelation Trivia: There is no book that has less quotes of the Old Testament than the book of Revelation but there is no book that uses the Old Testament more than than the book of Revelation.” This is a quote by Dr. Peter Gentry, a Septuagint scholar and professor at Southern Seminary and my Sunday School teacher. Dr. Gentry explained that rather than quoting the Old Testament directly, Revelation alludes to it. For instance in Rev 1:12-14 the Old Testament is alluded to at least 4 times; golden lampstands - Ex. 25:37 & 37:23, Zech 4:2; Son of man – Ezekiel 1:26 & Dan 7:13, Robe with golden girdle – Dan10:5; hair white like wool - Dan 7:9…and that is only two verses!

Plant your Garden: It will soon be spring time–time to think about planting a garden. Here’s a prescription for planting: “Sow with a view to righteousness; Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes and rains righteousness on you.” Hosea 10:12

The Two Edged Sword

"Tell it not in Gath"

 “Tell it not in Gath; weep not at all…” (Micah 1:10) 

What in the world does this verse mean?! As I studied the book of Micah, what I learned about this verse struck me as particularly poignant. The prophet Micah predicts an upcoming calamity upon the divided kingdom of Israel. Israel’s enemies lived in Gath. When Micah wrote, “Tell it not in Gath”, he meant, “Don’t let our enemies know of our impending calamity.” And why didn’t Micah want Israel’s enemies to know?  Micah knew they would rejoice in Israel’s troubles. This is sad to me. Micah was called by God to make a prophecy that he wished he did not have to make. Like every Israeli at the time, he especially didn’t want his enemies to know…Tell it not in Gath!

 Have you ever felt like this? Have you ever faced a really tough or even embarrassing set of circumstances which you wish no one else knew about. But at least your family and friends will love you and support you through it. If only you could keep those who might rejoice in your problems from ever knowing!

              Fortunately this is not Micah’s last word on the topic. He later revisits this question, sounding more hopeful. In Micah 7: 8-9 he writes,

“Do not rejoice over me O my enemy. Though I fall, yet I will rise; though I dwell in darkness, the Lord is a light for me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against Him until He pleads my case and executes justice for me. He will bring me out to the light, and I will see His righteousness.”

             Praise be to God, because of Him we too can tell our enemies, “Do not rejoice over me; though I fall, by God’s help, yet I will rise! God will someday bring me out into the light once again!”