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Destruction Coming

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Micah 1:2-16 is our reading for today. Last time we met we discussed the beginning of Micah. I don’t know that we will get through all 15 verses today, but we’ll how it goes eh?

Hear, you peoples, all of you;
pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place,
and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And the mountains will melt under him,
and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
like waters poured down a steep place.
5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
and for the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the transgression of Jacob?
Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,
a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones into the valley
and uncover her foundations.
7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
all her wages shall be burned with fire,
and all her idols I will lay waste,
for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.

8 For this I will lament and wail;
I will go stripped and naked;
I will make lamentation like the jackals,
and mourning like the ostriches.
9 For her wound is incurable,
and it has come to Judah;
it has reached to the gate of my people,
to Jerusalem.

10 Tell it not in Gath;
weep not at all;
in Beth-le-aphrah
roll yourselves in the dust.
11 Pass on your way,
inhabitants of Shaphir,
in nakedness and shame;
the inhabitants of Zaanan
do not come out;
the lamentation of Beth-ezel
shall take away from you its standing place.
12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
wait anxiously for good,
because disaster has come down from the Lord
to the gate of Jerusalem.
13 Harness the steeds to the chariots,
inhabitants of Lachish;
it was the beginning of sin
to the daughter of Zion,
for in you were found
the transgressions of Israel.
14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts
to Moresheth-gath;
the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring a conqueror to you,
inhabitants of Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
shall come to Adullam.
16 Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
for the children of your delight;
make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
for they shall go from you into exile.

Micah 1:2-16 Exile Coming

Understanding God’s Word

Hear, you peoples, all of you;
    pay attention, O earth, and all that is in it,
and let the Lord God be a witness against you,
    the Lord from his holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is coming out of his place,
    and will come down and tread upon the high places of the earth.
4 And the mountains will melt under him,
    and the valleys will split open,
like wax before the fire,
    like waters poured down a steep place.

Micah is clear.  The Lord God himself is coming, the earth needs to prepare.   We clearly see the power of the Lord. The mountains will melt, the valleys will split open… like wax.  Have you ever seen a candle melt?  What is what mountains and valleys will be like candles melting under a hot flame.

5 All this is for the transgression of Jacob
    and for the sins of the house of Israel.

Why?  Sin.. sin is what is bringing God down.  The sin of Jacob and the sins of the house of Israel.  

What is the transgression of Jacob?
    Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
    Is it not Jerusalem?

The sin?  Jacob’s is Samaria.  Judah’s is the high place of Jerusalem. 

6 Therefore I will make Samaria a heap in the open country,
    a place for planting vineyards,
and I will pour down her stones into the valley
    and uncover her foundations.
7 All her carved images shall be beaten to pieces,
    all her wages shall be burned with fire,
    and all her idols I will lay waste,
for from the fee of a prostitute she gathered them,
    and to the fee of a prostitute they shall return.

And so Samaria will be brought low.  Her carven images and her idols will be broken into pieces…. destroyed.  The image is that of something being unmade … her foundations uncovered, stones brought into the valley, left as a heap in the open country.  Makes me think of the stone piles we used to leave after cleaning the fields. 

8 For this I will lament and wail;
    I will go stripped and naked;
I will make lamentation like the jackals,
    and mourning like the ostriches.
9 For her wound is incurable,
    and it has come to Judah;
it has reached to the gate of my people,
    to Jerusalem.

Can you see it?  Micah laments at what is to happen.   How Samaria will be destroyed. I can almost hear him howling like the jackals do. 

10 Tell it not in Gath;
    weep not at all;
in Beth-le-aphrah
    roll yourselves in the dust.
11 Pass on your way,
    inhabitants of Shaphir,
    in nakedness and shame;
the inhabitants of Zaanan
    do not come out;
the lamentation of Beth-ezel
    shall take away from you its standing place.

12 For the inhabitants of Maroth
    wait anxiously for good,
because disaster has come down from the Lord
    to the gate of Jerusalem.

It’s a hard thing you know?   To see a land destroyed. Micah tells the people, don’t speak of it in Gath.  Those in Beth-le-aphrah… roll in the dust.  People of Shaphir… be ashamed.  Zaanan… stay where you are. And the sadness of the people of Beth-ezel… you won’t be able to stand in the presence of it.  The folk of Maroth wait for good. Not quietly with hope, but with anxiety.

You see… disaster has come.  The Lord has come down hard on Jerusalem.

13 Harness the steeds to the chariots,
    inhabitants of Lachish;
it was the beginning of sin
    to the daughter of Zion,
for in you were found
    the transgressions of Israel.

Sin, sin has been found.  Israel has transgressed.  Lachish… the sin started here.  Here was the beginning of Israel’s wrongdoing. 

14 Therefore you shall give parting gifts
    to Moresheth-gath;
the houses of Achzib shall be a deceitful thing
    to the kings of Israel.
15 I will again bring a conqueror to you,
    inhabitants of Mareshah;
the glory of Israel
    shall come to Adullam.
16 Make yourselves bald and cut off your hair,
    for the children of your delight;
make yourselves as bald as the eagle,
    for they shall go from you into exile.

And so we see, exile is in the works.  They need to give parting gifts to Moresheth-gath, and the house of Achzib will lie to them.  A conqueror is coming. Weep, be sad, show your shame and dismay.  Exile is coming. 

Micah 1:2-16 Exile Coming

Questions

I don’t really understand these lines:

What is the transgression of Jacob?
    Is it not Samaria?
And what is the high place of Judah?
    Is it not Jerusalem?

Answers and thoughts

Matthew Henry’s commentary addressed those lines. He talked about how Samaria and Jerusalem where the main cities. So if God is coming to discipline his wayward people, then those centres of power and influence would be where he addressed his concerns.

It’s hard right? These verses. Seeing God’s judgment is about to fall of the people. All the sorrow seen. The hardship felt. The anxiety this warning would produce. The punishment will be severe for the offence is against our holy God.

But God warned them. He didn’t have to. There’s no regulation saying before punishment the people must be warned it’s coming. In warning, heartfelt sorrow could be shown and then God could have relented. There are other occasions in the bible when God says “smart’en up” and the people do, and God relents in his anger.

So in the warning, I can see his love.

The “G’s” of Rabbits

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I didn’t know what to do for the letter G so I asked people on the homeschool review crew forum for suggestions.

They suggested: Gestation, Giant Breeds, Grooming. They also suggested other posts like “buying your first bunny and Growing bunnies” but those are posts for another day. So today I talk about the G’s of rabbits

The "g's" of Rabbits

Gestation

Most rabbits, I’d say 90% in my experience, will kindle (have babies) 31 days after mating. Gestation is very easy on rabbits and rarely do you see any sort of strain on the momma. The earliest I’ve had them come in is 28 days the latest was 38 days.

Sometimes you will see hormonal differences, momma rabbit either become more mellow or becoming more space protective.

Breeders will sometimes, between day 11-14, palpate to see if the doe is bred. I choose not to do this, figuring 30 days is nothing to wait and I normally have bunnies on a schedule and why mess with it?

Gestation of rabbits

People have this misconception that rabbits can have two pregnancies at one time. This is WRONG. Although rabbits have two tubes, they only have one pregnancy at a time. The misconception is due to the fact that rabbits can reabsorb their kits. If they start to do that, and then deliver their babies, the size difference and seemingly different developmental stage causes people to think separate pregnancies.

Grooming

Most rabbits need very little in the way of grooming. Like many animals, rabbits groom themselves quite handily. They occasionally need help, like baby bunnies as they are learning to care for themselves, or injured rabbits needing support.

The main time they need help is during their moult. Just like with dogs, rabbits sometimes need a good brush out when moulting. This is really easy to do. Just dampen your hands and run them through your bunnies coat against the grain. Rub off the gathered hair and repeat until all the loose hair is out of the coat. Sometimes you will need to actually pluck the loose hair out, especially around the tail/rear end area.

grooming rabbits

In the picture above I have Horatio sitting on a plank over my compost big. Horatio was in a very heavy moult and was miserable. I brought him out every day for about 8 days and plucked out the loose fur on his back end as well and running my hands backwards over this body. He was so much happier when we finished everyday. Took about 5 minutes daily. The hair you see sticking out is a tuff that needs to be plucked.

Giant Breeds

The most common giant breed in North America the Flemish Giant. These are a lovely breed of rabbit. Miss Wafer pictured below is the largest rabbit I have at 16 lbs. Her dad was a Flemish Giant. She’s a big girl but not nearly the biggest rabbit I’ve ever seen. They are known as the gentle giant, but mind you… they aren’t all docile or gentle. Wafer can be bossy. I’ve known others that nippy. On average they make excellent pets or breeding animals. They aren’t great as meat animals due to their large boney frames and slow maturation..

Flemish giants

Just for Fun! Guinea Pigs!!!!

Others in this Series

Letter G Link Up

Each week we will be linking up with the hosts of Blogging Through the Alphabet. Please visit some of these other blogs to get things like book lists, vegan recipes, and wonderful places to visit, just to name the topics I can think of off the top of my head.

Victory in Jesus

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I heard an old old story… this is the first line to the song Victory in Jesus. Just think about it for a moment, this old story, one told to us in the bible. This story leads to victory.

Victory in Jesus

E.M. Bartlett is the author of this hymn, it is the last one that he wrote. Missouri born, Eugene Monroe Barlett Sr. was a songwriter who spent his working life in the music field. Working for the Hartford Music Institute he expanded their reach from Arkansas into Texas and Oklahoma.

Lyrics

I heard an old, old story,
How a Savior came from glory,
How He gave His life on Calvary
To save a wretch like me;
I heard about His groaning,
Of His precious blood’s atoning,
Then I repented of my sins
And won the victory.

Chorus
O victory in Jesus,
My Savior, forever.
He sought me and bought me
With His redeeming blood;
He loved me ere I knew Him
And all my love is due Him,
He plunged me to victory,
Beneath the cleansing flood. 

I heard about His healing,
Of His cleansing pow’r revealing.
How He made the lame to walk again
And caused the blind to see;
And then I cried, “Dear Jesus,
Come and heal my broken spirit,”
And somehow Jesus came and bro’t
To me the victory.

I heard about a mansion
He has built for me in glory.
And I heard about the streets of gold
Beyond the crystal sea;
About the angels singing,
And the old redemption story,
And some sweet day I’ll sing up there
The song of victory.  

Who in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

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Do you or your children have a love of Carmen Sandiego, wondering where in the world she is? Have you watched the cartoon series on Netflix? Who in The World is Carmen Sandiego answers the question of where she came from and just who she is. An interesting read. 🙂

who in the world is carmen sandiego

From the Cover:

Based on the Netflix original series with a foreword by Gina Rodriguez. For decades, people have asked the question: Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego? But just who is this infamous and elusive globe-trotting criminal?

A skilled thief on a mysterious mission, Carmen Sandiego is endlessly pursued by ACME and Interpol. But the woman in the red fedora is always one step ahead! In this novelization, based on the Netflix animated series, Carmen shares her own backstory for the first time ever. Now, it’s time to find out. . . . Who in the world is Carmen Sandiego.

My Thoughts

Not being familiar with the Netflix series, I can’t speak to how well “Who in the World is Carmen Sandiego?” follows the it. I can tell you how much I enjoyed reading this book. I can see how this story would make a compelling series to watch.

Interesting characters interwoven into a classic good guy up against nasty guys story. On a fun note, one of the main players is a homeschooled student.

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I found there to be a good mix of characters, good and bad people of both genders.   Gray areas exist for readers to ponder as they watch Carmen work through the ideas herself. 

If you want a enjoyable story to read, with or without a knowledge of the Netflix series, this was a good book to read.  Perhaps like Carmen, young readers will want to visit the world, and figure out a way to do so.  

who in the world is carmen sandiego
Who in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Rebecca Tinker 
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
10-12 years
Hardcover, fiction, 208 pages
Carmen Sandiego, Netflix, novelization
Reviewed for Raincoast books.
disclosure

Lord, Make Me an Offering

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Miss Kate’s word this week for us is offer. Five minutes of free write on a single word. Always fun to see where it takes people. Why don’t you join in? The more the merrier!

Lord, Make Me an Offering

Lord, Make me an offering

Lord, Make Me an Offering
It’s what I am to be.
An offering of sacrifice
Of pleasing YOU not me.

Sometimes that offering,
Is making a favourite meal
To welcome home a hard-working man
It brings a smile or two.

I have to admit,
It’s often hard to look beyond myself
Self-desire and innate pride
Make it hard to give.

I have to stop and think
What model do I give
To a lad looking to see
What service HE may give.

Folding clothes,
Washing floors,
and finding chores to give
To teach a lad

It’s not a give for getting role
It’s not a receive so as to get
But an attitude of obedience
A just because it is.

How do I convey the difference
to a lad who just sorta sees
To how that obedience to HIM
Is more pleasing to me?

A hard struggle
but one worth the war
To open eyes, to soften hearts
Bringing glory to the Lord.

Dragon’s Heir

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Dragon’s Heir, The Archeologist’s Tale by Glenn Parris is um, an odd book. I love fantasy, and reading about dragon’s, or alternative paths (totally made) in how the world could have developed. FUN! Dragon’s heir was well… let’s just say I could not finish it. This is my review.

Recently I wrote a post about how you need to write simply. When the author writes “Their near spherical forms, deformable into pseudopodia, gave them the advantage of shape shifting. By virtue of these powerful dendritic appendages, they built rambling cities, bridges, and tunnel systems throughout their worlds. Collective formations of propulsive pods conveyed them between neighboring planets for centuries.” You just mentally (at least I) mentally start to shut down.

I read a book for fun. Not to stop and think WHAT? What in the world did I just read and just what do these things look like? I really haven’t a clue beyond thinking they are amoeba with teeth. (and that just makes no sense).

The premise is interesting. Dinosaurs populated the earth, left when the world was due to be bombarded. They are now looking back at earth and discovering the mammals have taken over, particularly some clever smart mammals. What to do?

I found sections interesting, honestly I did. I skipped around a bit, trying to avoid the … complicated reading sections… to see if I could just read the story. But I just kept getting lost. The story in and of itself, interesting. But someone with a more readily available large word base might find it an easier read than I did.

Dragon's Heir
disclosure

Approaching the Old Testament

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I just finished going through The Faith-Shaped Life and was looking for another book to study every week. My eye fell upon “Learning out the Old Testament” by Allan Harman. It’s a book that my hubby received while at The Banner of Truth pastor’s conference that he attended yearly. An excellent conference that churches should send their pastor’s too!

Anyways, with 19 chapters it shouldn’t take me as long to get through as the Faith-Shaped life did, hopefully we’ll learn alot together eh?

Approaching the Old Testament

Pivotal Details

Harman starts off this first chapter reminding us some pivotal details

  • The Old Testament is just not an old manuscript. It is the very word of God written down for us.
  • As such we need to approach it obediently with reverence and devotion
  • There are 39 books in the Old Testament that we should be intimately familiar with.
  • It has been translated many times since it was written in Hebrew. Different versions from the original king james serve people in a variety of languages and times.
  • We need to keep in mind the “distinction between translation and interpretation” (p.3) It is an ancient document and care needs to be taken by teachers and preachers to convey it’s message to modern audiences.
  • The Old Testament is part of a unified bible. Together with the New Testament it provides the whole written revelation of God.
  • The New Testament helps us to understand the Old. Giving the end game so to speak. Shows us what the Old Testament was leading up too.
  • The Old Testament gives depth to the New. Understanding the flow of history, helps to understand the framework of the New Testament authors.

I haven’t spoken to everything Harman wrote, after all.. you should go get it yourself. I love how he points out the the more we learn about God, the more we engage in bible study, the more we should want others to know God. Isn’t that the way it should be?

Using scripture to talk about scripture so that in the end, we just want more people to know this magnificent God who put it all together.