A Net in Time

Curriculum and book reviews, faith, homeschooling and more!

Old Testament

God’s Covenants

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An aside before I start reading this chapter. I know that covenants are looked at different by the various branches of Protestant denominations. I find myself holding my breath wondering what approach Allan Harman will take in Learning about the Old Testament. Let’s dig in shall we? 🙂

God's Covenants

Covenant in the Old Testament, or testament in the New Testament often signify the same thing. In the Old Testament covenant refers to relationship between two people, a relationship of a formal nature. It also refers to the relationship between God and mankind. Many times these covenants made have a ceremony attached to them, where God promises something and the people also promise something in return.

A covenant, or treatise, between nations or between people was a very common one in biblical times. They had a particular formula to them and God replicated this formula quite often when he dealt with his people. When God did this, he helped his people more easily grasp the significance of their relationship with him.

In the New Testament we see a less formulated covenantal process. We see more of God stooping down to help the helpless. Of God making a promise to help people who can’t help themselves. Here we see him fulfilling old covenants and then making a new covenant (or testament).

The old points to the new

So we see how the Old Testament covenants always point their way to the new covenant made in the New Testament.

Part of me wants to spell out everything Harman writes in this chapter, but to do so gives YOU no incentive to go out and get this helpful book for yourselves. I was delighted to see how Harman connected the Old and New Testaments so well. He pointed out several situations which showed how the Old Testament covenants point to the new covenant God made. Harmon also showed how the New Testament linked the old and the new together. It is very interesting reading and pondering on.

But it’s important to understand that the Old Testament people well understood the concept of a covenant, of the promises made between a king and his people, between one nation and another, and what obligations a covenant wrought upon both parties. As we read the Old Testament we need to remember how it points to the New, and how covenants impacted the lives of the people in it.

Micah 3: Trouble for Rulers

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I’ve been thinking about how God promised destruction for the wicked since the last time we met. Today we continue our study in Micah 3.

What the Bible Says

Micah talks to the leaders of Jacob and Israel.   He speaks to them about justice.   Asking why they hate “the good” and love “the evil”.   

He then gives examples to help them see how they are doing that. 

who tear the skin from off my people
    and their flesh from off their bones,
3 who eat the flesh of my people,
    and flay their skin from off them,
and break their bones in pieces
    and chop them up like meat in a pot,
    like flesh in a cauldron.

A graphic picture indeed eh?   I could see the leadership recoil from such a picture, but Micah is showing them what their actions toward their very own people are like in the eyes of the Lord. 

Micah 3

Cry to the Lord Unanswered

I wondered here who was doing the crying for a while until I remembered that Micah was speaking to the leadership of Israel and Judah. 

4 Then they will cry to the Lord,
    but he will not answer them;
he will hide his face from them at that time,
    because they have made their deeds evil.

Why would God listen to folks who follow after ‘the evil’?   Doesn’t make sense that an all-holy God would bend his ear to people deliberately doing evil does it? 

Micah 3

Warning to False Prophets

God issues a warning to the prophets who cry “peace” for no real reason.  Happy enough when they have food in their mouths and war-like when they don’t. .   

5 Thus says the Lord concerning the prophets
    who lead my people astray,
who cry “Peace”
    when they have something to eat,
but declare war against him
    who puts nothing into their mouths.

Disgrace is coming their way.    No answers from God.  Shame and despair.  The darkness of night will fall upon them.  Nothing good will happen to these bad prophets. 
6 Therefore it shall be night to you, without vision,
    and darkness to you, without divination.
The sun shall go down on the prophets,
    and the day shall be black over them;
7 the seers shall be disgraced,
    and the diviners put to shame;
they shall all cover their lips,
    for there is no answer from God.

But Micah is different.  He is a prophet from God that is filled with power, the power of the Spirit of the Lord.   He will tell Jacob and Israel their sin. 
8 But as for me, I am filled with power,
    with the Spirit of the Lord,
    and with justice and might,
to declare to Jacob his transgression
    and to Israel his sin.

Micah 3

A Specific Warning

Micah is clear when he speaks to the leadership of Jacob and Israel.  Those who do evil, perverting justice, accepting bribes and more.  This warning comes to all those who are doing evil and yet say “The Lord is in the midst of us”. 

9 Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob
    and rulers of the house of Israel,
who detest justice
    and make crooked all that is straight,
10 who build Zion with blood
    and Jerusalem with iniquity.
11 Its heads give judgment for a bribe;
    its priests teach for a price;
    its prophets practice divination for money;
yet they lean on the Lord and say,
    “Is not the Lord in the midst of us?
    No disaster shall come upon us.”

These people are bringing down judgement on Israel.  Because of such people Zion will become like a plowed field, Jerusalem ruined, and the more.  Destruction is at hand. 
12 Therefore because of you
    Zion shall be plowed as a field;
Jerusalem shall become a heap of ruins,
    and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

Ponderings

Oh.. isn’t that an interesting way to put it?

 you who hate the good and love the evil,

When you put it that way, doesn’t it make good and evil more of a tangible thing?   THE good and THE evil.  Not just a love or hate of a generic idea of good and evil. 

This line I don’t fully understand

and the mountain of the house a wooded height.

Closing thoughts

The imagery of the plowed field makes sense to me as a farmer’s daughter. After a field lies fallow over the winter, with weeds starting to come up and the leftovers of the previous season’s crop remaining. When you plow the field it looks SO much better. It’s also the first step in preparing the field for a new crop. That imagery makes sense to me. The wanting to get rid of the wrongness so a new thing can happen.

I got to thinking about the mountain of a house a wooded height. When I look at this verse in other translations they talk about the temple (Jerusalem) being leveled and becoming like an overgrown hill.

Isn’t it fascinating how different translations word things? I’m always amazed at how looking at other translations brings clarity.

Destruction and Preservation

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Okay, I know it’s been two weeks since I started Micah… I’ve no excuse other than busyness. Today we’ll be looking at Micah 2.

Looking At Scripture – the problem

Micah starts off this chapter speaking out against those who devise wickedness, planning it while they lay abed.

Woe to those who devise wickedness  and work evil on their beds!

Then in the morning, they put their evil plans to work. 

why?  because it is in the power of their hand.

So basically these are people in positions of power

If they want a field or a house, they take it.  Oppression of others happens because they feel like it. 

Looking at scripture – the answer

 The Lord God has an answer to this problem.  He tells these oppressors that he is planning disaster for them.  A disaster they won’t be able to walk away from. 

3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
behold, against this family I am devising disaster,
    from which you cannot remove your necks,
and you shall not walk haughtily,
    for it will be a time of disaster.

If fact, the disaster God has planned for them will lead other people to mock these evil doers. They shall be utterly ruined, to the extent that “they will have none to cast the line by lots”. 
4 In that day they shall take up a taunt song against you
    and moan bitterly,
and say, “We are utterly ruined;
    he changes the portion of my people;
how he removes it from me!
    To an apostate he allots our fields.”
5 Therefore you will have none to cast the line by lot
    in the assembly of the Lord.

Looking at Scripture – arguments

I think this section has the evil folks arguing with Micah.  Don’t tell us such things, we won’t be disgraced! 

6 “Do not preach”—thus they preach—
    “one should not preach of such things;
    disgrace will not overtake us.”

Micah’s response is simple… He challenges them (or at least that’s how it reads to me and I might be wrong).  The upright have nothing to fear.  
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
    Has the Lord grown impatient?
    Are these his deeds?
Do not my words do good
    to him who walks uprightly?

BUT the people are acting like God’s enemy.  People who should be trusted are being thieves. Women driven out of their homes.  Children being removed. 
8 But lately my people have risen up as an enemy;
you strip the rich robe from those who pass by trustingly
    with no thought of war.
9 The women of my people you drive out
    from their delightful houses;
from their young children you take away
    my splendor forever.

Looking at Scripture – then go!

Micah talks to the people telling them to GO.  This is not a place for rest, there is too much uncleanness, too much evil here.   Men who lie, too many people willing to listen to those lies. 

10 Arise and go,
    for this is no place to rest,
because of uncleanness that destroys
    with a grievous destruction.
11 If a man should go about and utter wind and lies,
    saying, “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”
    he would be the preacher for this people!

Micah tells the people that God will assemble this remnant of Israel.  Just like a group of sheep is gathered into a fold is this group of noisy people.   He will go on before them.  Their Lord will lead them. 
12 I will surely assemble all of you, O Jacob;
    I will gather the remnant of Israel;
I will set them together
    like sheep in a fold,
like a flock in its pasture,
    a noisy multitude of men.
13 He who opens the breach goes up before them;
    they break through and pass the gate,
    going out by it.
Their king passes on before them,
    the Lord at their head.

Micah 2 destruction and preservation

Questions

What does it mean to say : they will have none to cast the line by lots?   Looking at alternative translations here gave me an idea about what is being said here.  They will be so ruined that no one will be left to be able to draw lots, which is a regulated by the temple. 

Ponderings

I read about God’s anger at the people’s sin, their willful planning of evil. I can understand his anger. I read about what they were doing and I feel angry. God’s wrath therefore doesn’t really surprise me.

I was, … oh, I’m not sure of the right word. surprised at the destroying them so completely that they can no longer take part in lot draws (so out of the temple). I don’t completely understand that section, but not even a remnant left of that evilness.

but oh..those last few verses eh? God so often preserves for himself a remnant, a group of people he gathers unto himself. He often calls this remnant his sheep and like a shepherd he leads them, like a king he’s the head of the group.

Background of the Old Testament

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Our next chapter in Learning about the Old Testament takes us on a search through the background of the Old Testament.

Background of the Old Testament

The Old Testament was written in the Near East. The lands of Egypt, Palestine and Israel. I was about to say and section of Greece, Crete etc…but realized that was during New Testament times! Good catch eh?

Anyways, because it took place in the Near East means that it took place among a particular cultural setting as well. Understanding the culture and place helps us to put words and situations into context.

Background of the Old Testament

Palestine strategically important

Palestine is the English version of the word ‘Philistia’. This area was situation on the Mediterranean coast in the Near East. It was a strategically good position. It covered the trade routes between Egypt and Assyria. Unlike many of the other countries around it, this was a land the bible tells us that was “flowing with milk and honey”. It had easy access to sea, ample sources of water and more.

This land was originally called Canaan. This was a land that was divided into five geographic areas.

  • rich coastal plain
  • upland area stretching from hills of Galilee south to Judean hills
  • Jordan Valley
  • Hills of Transjordania
  • Negev

Understanding the geography helps us to understand why people moved the way they did and why cities were set up where they were (strategic defense).

Archaeology Helps

Current archaeologists are helping us understand the people of Palestine better. They can’t tell us everything, they give us clues regarding people movements and lifestyle, but there are huge gaps in our understanding.

First off because archaeology can’t excavate all of Palestine! Imagine if it could eh? Everything would be dug up with no place for people to live. Or even if they tried only to dig up the important places… people still live there a lot of the time. Plus archaeology can only provide us with an educated guess. They can’t tell us with complete certainty everything we might want to know.

BUT archaeology often validates (that might not be quite the right word) what the Bible tells us. Showing us the historical accuracy contained within the pages of God’s glory. As Allan Harman tells us “The biblical faith rests on the historical basis of the bible.”

Background of the Old Testament

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.

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.

The book of Micah

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I was looking through what books of the bible I had studied recently and realized that New Testament books has been more of my focus. Ergo, I thought I would engage with one of the Old Testament books.

Background to Micah

Micah is a smaller book of the Old Testament. It is a book of prophecy written around 722 BC. Bible at a Glance tells us that it is the 33rd book in the bible, written by Micah. It prophesies the birth of Christ in Bethlehem and predicts the fall of Jerusalem.

There is some debate over who compiled the book of Micah. Whether he or a disciple wrote things down, or if a later follower compiled his writings into one manuscript.

Micah’s Time

Micah prophesied during the reigns of the Judean kings Jotham (750–735 B.C.), Ahaz (735–715), and Hezekiah (715–687).  He would have served around the same time as Isaiah and Hosea. You can find a map here that shows what the land and politics would have been like at the time.

The book of Micah opens with this verse:

The word of the Lord that came to Micah of Moresheth in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.

Micah was from Moresheth. Moresheth, also known as Moreseth-Gath, was a town of the tribe of Judah in ancient Israel. It was located in the Shephelah region. A map showing it’s location can be found here.

His prophesies concern Samaria and Jerusalem.

The book of Micah