spoke directly

February 21, 2019

The possessed man (Lk 8:29-8:29)

Jesus had commanded

The unclean spirit

To come out

Of the man.

Many times,

It had seized him.

He was bound

With chains.

He was kept

In shackles.

But he would break

The bonds.

He was driven

By the demon

Into the wild desert.”

 

παρήγγελλεν γὰρ τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ ἐξελθεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου. πολλοῖς γὰρ χρόνοις συνηρπάκει αὐτόν, καὶ ἐδεσμεύετο ἁλύσεσιν καὶ πέδαις φυλασσόμενος, καὶ διαρήσσων τὰ δεσμὰ ἠλαύνετο ἀπὸ τοῦ δαιμονίου εἰς τὰς ἐρήμους.

 

Luke said that Jesus had commanded (παρήγγελλεν) the unclean spirit (γὰρ τῷ πνεύματι τῷ ἀκαθάρτῳ) to come out of this man (ἐξελθεῖν ἀπὸ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου).  Many times (πολλοῖς γὰρ χρόνοις), it had seized him (συνηρπάκει αὐτόν).  Thus, he was bound with chains (καὶ ἐδεσμεύετο ἁλύσεσιν) and kept in foot shackles (καὶ πέδαις φυλασσόμενος).  However, he would break the chains or bonds (καὶ διαρήσσων τὰ δεσμὰ).  He was driven (ἠλαύνετο) by a demon (ἀπὸ τοῦ δαιμονίου) into the wild desert (εἰς τὰς ἐρήμους).  Here in Luke, Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the demoniac.  Mark, chapter 5:8, also indicated that Jesus said to the demoniac that this unclean spirit should come out of this man.  Thus, Jesus spoke directly to the unclean spirit here also.  While Matthew, chapter 8:28, just said that these possessed men were wild people, Mark, chapter 5:4-5, had an elaborate description much like this in Luke.  Mark said that this demoniac had often been bound or restrained with foot shackles and chains.  However, he tore up these chains and shattered his foot shackles into pieces.  No one had the strength to subdue him.  Constantly, all night and day, he was howling or crying among the tombs and on the hills or in the mountains.  He was cutting or bruising himself with stones.  This was not a pretty sight or a happy guy.  Have you ever met a crazy possessed person?

September 4, 2018

Jesus wants the unclean spirit out (Mk 5:8-5:8)

“Jesus had said

To the demoniac.

‘Come out of the man!

You!

Unclean spirit!’”

 

ἔλεγεν γὰρ αὐτῷ Ἔξελθε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἀκάθαρτον ἐκ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου.

 

This is similar to Luke, chapter 8:29.  However, in Luke, Jesus commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the demoniac.  Here, Mark indicated that Jesus said to the demoniac (ἔλεγεν γὰρ αὐτῷ) that this unclean spirit should come out (Ἔξελθε τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἀκάθαρτον) of that man (ἐκ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου).  Thus, Jesus also spoke directly to the unclean spirit here also.

December 27, 2017

The earth patrol (Zech 1:9-1:11)

“Then I said.

‘What are these?

My lord!’

The angel who talked with me

Said to me.

`I will show you

What they are.’

Then the man

Who was standing

Among the myrtle trees

Answered.

‘They are those

Whom Yahweh has sent

To patrol the earth.’

Then they spoke

To the angel of Yahweh,

Who was standing

Among the myrtle trees.

‘We have patrolled

the earth.

Look!

The whole earth

Remains at peace.’”

Zechariah had the same question, what was this all about?  The angel of Yahweh told Zechariah that he would explain what was going on.  Actually, the man standing among the myrtle trees did most of the talking.  He said that these horses with their riders were patrolling the earth, like a worldwide police force that Yahweh had sent out.  Then this man from the myrtle tree area spoke directly to the angel of Yahweh.  He reported that they had patrolled the whole earth and there was peace everywhere.  Apparently, during the early reign of the Persian King Darius I, there were very few disturbances.

November 29, 2017

Yahweh’s controversy (Mic 6:1-6:2)

“Hear what Yahweh says!

‘Rise!

Plead your case

Before the mountains!

Let the hills hear

Your voice.

Hear

The controversy of Yahweh!

You mountains!

You enduring foundations

Of the earth!

Yahweh has a controversy

With his people.

He will contend with Israel.”

Yahweh wanted them to rise up and plead their case.  He wanted them to do this before the mountains.  All the great communications between Yahweh and his people took place on the mountains or the hills, the closest that humans could get to heaven.  Yahweh then spoke directly to the mountains, called them ‘you’.  Yahweh had a controversy with his people, the Israelites.  This controversy was that they had forgotten how to walk with Yahweh.  They had forgotten the sayings and actions of their ancestors.  He was going to contend with them.

September 26, 2017

The daughter was called Lo-ruhamah (Hos 1:6-1:6)

“Gomer conceived again.

She bore a daughter.

Then Yahweh said to Hosea.

‘Name her Lo-ruhamah!

I will no longer

Have pity

On the house

Of Israel!

I will no longer

Forgive them.’”

Gomer once again became pregnant. This time she bore a daughter. Yahweh spoke directly with Hosea. This daughter was to be named Lo-ruhamah, another symbolic name that means not pitied or not loved anymore. Then Yahweh explained that he was not going to have pity on the house of Israel any more. He was not going to forgive them for what they had done.

September 26, 2017

The son of Hosea is called Jezreel (Hos 1:3-1:5)

“Gomer conceived.

She bore him a son.

Yahweh said to him,

‘Name him Jezreel!

In a little while,

I will punish

The house of Jehu

For the blood of Jezreel.

I will put an end

To the kingdom

Of the house of Israel.

On that day,

I will break

The bow of Israel

In the valley of Jezreel.’”

Gomer then conceived and bore a son. Yahweh, spoke directly to Hosea. He told him to name his son, Jezreel, meaning that God sows. All the children of this union between Hosea and Gomer will have symbolic prophetic names. In a little while, Yahweh was going to punish the house of Jehu, who had been king nearly a century earlier in 841-814 BCE. The current king of Israel, King Jeroboam II (783-743 BCE) was a descendant of King Jehu. Jezreel was also the name of the royal palace where King Jehu had killed the descendants of King Omri (885-874 BCE). The dynasty of King Jehu actually ended with the son of King Jeroboam II, King Zachariah in 743 BCE, after the death of King Jeroboam. Yahweh also said that the house of Israel would come to an end, which it did in 724 BCE. Thus, Yahweh was going to break the bow of Israel in Jezreel, the northern royal palace. Jezreel was also the name of the valley of Megiddo. The so-called history of the northern Israelite kings, especially King Jehu, can be found in 2 Kings, chapters 9-10.

March 31, 2017

The great judgment of Yahweh (Ezek 5:7-5:9)

“Therefore thus says

Yahweh God!

‘You are more turbulent

Than the nations

That are all around you.

You have not followed

My statutes.

You have not kept

My ordinances.

But you have acted

According to the ordinances

Of the nations

That are all around you.’

Therefore thus says

Yahweh God!

‘I,

I myself,

Am coming against you.

I will execute judgments

Among you

In the sight of the nations.

Because of all your abominations,

I will do to you

What I have never yet done,

The like of which

I will never do again.’”

Yahweh now spoke directly to Jerusalem, as if Ezekiel was not even there.  The God Yahweh proclaimed his judgment against Jerusalem. The people of Jerusalem were more turbulent than all the other nations around them. They have not followed Yahweh’s statutes. They have not kept his ordinances, but acted according to the ordinances of their surrounding nations. Thus Yahweh said that he himself was coming against them. He was going to execute his judgments on the people of Jerusalem in the sight of all the other countries. Because of their abominations, he was going to do what he had never done before or would ever do again.

October 13, 2016

The lurking disaster in the north (Jer 1:14-1:16)

“Then Yahweh said to me.

‘Out of the north,

Disaster shall break out

Upon all the inhabitants of the land.

For now,

I am calling

All the tribes of the kingdoms of the north.’

Says Yahweh.

‘They shall come.

All of them shall set their thrones

At the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem,

Against all its surrounding walls,

Against all the cities of Judah.

I will utter my judgments against them.

All their wickedness is in forsaking me.

They have burned incense

To other gods.

They have worshiped

The works of their own hands.’”

Once again Jeremiah presents how Yahweh spoke directly to him. Disaster was going to happen in the north, however, it had already happened a century earlier in the 8th century BCE, not the 7th century BCE of Jeremiah. All the kings of the north would leave their thrones at the gates or the walls of Jerusalem. They would leave some in the cities of Judah. They suffered this judgment because they had become wicked in forsaking Yahweh. They had sacrificed with incense to false gods that they had made with their own hands.