tents

January 27, 2018

The plague on Egypt (Zech 14:18-14:19)

“If the family of Egypt

Does not go up,

If they do not

Present themselves,

Then upon them

Shall come

The plague

That Yahweh inflicts

On the nations

That do not go up

To keep the festival of booths.

This shall be the punishment

Of Egypt.

This shall be the punishment

Of all the nations

That do not go up

To keep the festival of booths.”

Egypt would suffer a plague, if they did not present themselves for the festival of booths or tents.  However, this same punishment would be inflicted on other countries that did not show up of this festival of booths.  Suddenly, this festival has become an important universal religious festival for all countries, not just the Israelites.

January 27, 2018

The survivors worship Yahweh (Zech 14:16-14:16)

“Then all who survive

Of the nations

That have come

Against Jerusalem

Shall go up,

Year after year,

To worship the king,

Yahweh of hosts.

They will keep

The festival of booths.”

This is a universal appeal to all countries to come to worship Yahweh, with a particular remark about those who had fought against Jerusalem.  Yahweh wanted them to come every year to worship him, the king, Yahweh of hosts, for the festival of Booths, Tabernacles, or Tents.  This was usually in the fall, when there was a renewal of the covenant.  There was no mention of any other Israelite religious festivals.

October 6, 2017

No more festivals (Hos 9:5-9:6)

“What will you do

On the day

Of the appointed festival?

What will you do

On the day

Of the festival

Of Yahweh?

Even if they escape

Destruction,

Egypt shall gather them.

Memphis shall bury them.

Nettles shall possess

Their precious things

Of silver.

Thorns shall be

In their tents.”

There will be no more festivals for Yahweh. Even if they are not destroyed, Egypt would take them away. They would be buried in the southern capital of Egypt, Memphis. Nettles were stinging plants that would be all over their precious metal silver objects. Their tents would have thorns in them. They would have a very unpleasant life.

May 12, 2017

Oholah (Samaria) and Oholibah (Jerusalem) (Ezek 23:4-23:4)

“The word of Yahweh
Came to me.
‘Son of man!
There were two women.
They were
The daughters
Of one mother.
They played the whore
In Egypt.
They played the whore
In their youth.
Their breasts
Were caressed there.
Their virgin bosoms
Were fondled.’”
Once again, the word of Yahweh came to Ezekiel, the son of man. This oracle was about two women, the daughters of the same mother. Both of them played the whore in Egypt when they were young. In particular, their young virgin breasts or bosoms were fondled and caressed. Ezekiel and Yahweh loved the theme of the whoring woman to get a point across. Here there was a particular emphasis on the breasts of these two young women.

February 2, 2017

Against Kedar (Jer 49:28-49:29)

“Concerning Kedar

With the kingdoms of Hazor

That King Nebuchadnezzar

Of Babylon

Defeated.

Thus says Yahweh.

‘Rise up!

Advance against Kedar!

Destroy the people of the east!

Take their tents!

Take their flocks!

Take their curtains!

Take all their goods!

Carry off their camels

For yourselves!

A cry shall go up.

‘Terror is all around!’”

Kedar was the second son of Ishmael, the step brother of Isaac. However, this biblical term was applied to a group of nomadic tribes in the northwest Arabian desert, east of the Jordan River and Ammon, in what is today Saudi Arabia. They were considered to be the people of the east, the Arabs. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon was going to defeat them. He was going to take their possessions since they had no buildings to burn. They were going to lose their tents, flocks, curtains, and most importantly their camels. They would cry out that terror was all around them. They had no fortresses to defend themselves. Both Kedar and Hazor were not restored, but left as wastelands.

January 1, 2017

The Rechabites (Jer 35:2-35:2)

“Go to the house

Of the Rechabites!

Speak with them!

Bring them

To the house of Yahweh,

Into one of the chambers!

Then offer them wine

To drink!’”

This short chapter is all about the Rechabites. They get their name from Rechab, who was mentioned in 1 Chronicles, chapter 2, listed under the descendants of Hur. They seem to be descendants of Hammath, a northern city, or Hemath, a Kenite, who was also called Hobab. The Rechabites were not descendants of Jacob, but Kenites, a people originally settled in that part of Arabia called the land of Midian. They may have been the descendants of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, who was a Kenite. Thus these Rechabites were not true Israelites, but were friendly to the Israelites. They were generally nomads in the desert, living in tents. The most prominent Rechabite may have been Jehonadab or Jonadab, the son of Rechab, in 2 Kings, chapter 10, where he joined with King Jehu of Israel (841-814 BCE) in helping wipe out the family of King Ahab of Israel (874-853 BCE). Yahweh told Jeremiah to go to their house, talk to them, and bring them back to the Temple in Jerusalem. There he was to find a chamber in the Temple and offer these Rechabites some wine. This seems like a simple task.

November 9, 2015

Yahweh is my shield (Ps 84:9-84:12)

“Behold our shield!

O God!

Look on the face of your anointed!

A day in your courts is better

Than a thousand elsewhere.

I would rather be a doorkeeper

In the house of my God

Than live in the tents of wickedness.

Yahweh God is a sun.

Yahweh God is a shield.

He bestows favor.

He bestows honor.

No good thing does Yahweh withhold

From those who walk uprightly.

Yahweh of hosts!

Happy is everyone who trusts in you!”

This psalm ends with the psalmist reminding people on how to be happy, trust in Yahweh. Yahweh is his shield and protector. The psalmist wants God to look at his anointed one. He believes that one day in the courts of the Temple was better than 1,000 days elsewhere. He was happy to be a Temple door keeper than live in the tents of the wicked. Yahweh was his sun and shield at the same time. Yahweh had bestowed favors and honors on him. Yahweh does not hold back anything from the upright. Everyone who trusts in Yahweh is happy. How to be happy, trust in Yahweh.

October 24, 2015

The curse for David’s enemies (Ps 69:22-69:29)

“Let their own table be a trap for them!

Let their own table be a snare for their allies!

Let their eyes be darkened,

So that they cannot see!

Make their loins tremble continually!

Pour out your indignation upon them!

Let our burning anger overtake them!

May their camp be desolation!

Let no one live in their tents!

They persecute those

Whom you have struck down.

They persecute those

Whom you have wounded.

They attack still more.

Add guilt to their guilt!

May they have no acquittal from you!

Let them be blotted out of the book of the living!

Let them not be enrolled among the righteous!

But I am lowly.

I am in pain.

Let your salvation!

O God!

Protect me high!”

These are a series of curses or wishes against the enemies of David. His enemies’ tables should be a trap or snare to them and their friends. He wanted them to lose their sight and to tremble all the time. God’s indignation and anger should be upon them. Their camp should be desolate so that they could not live in their tents. They had persecuted and attacked those who had been wounded. Their guilt pilled on guilt. They should not be acquitted. They should be blotted out of the book of the living. They should not be listed among the righteous. They should die. Then there is the cry of David to protect him and bring him salvation.

July 14, 2015

Job calls out his friends for lying (Job 21:27-21:34)

“O, I know your thoughts.

I know your schemes to wrong me.

For you say.

‘Where is the house of the prince?

Where is the tent in which the wicked live?’

Have you not asked those who travel the roads?

Do you not accept their testimony?

The wicked are spared in the day of calamity.

The wicked are rescued in the day of wrath.

Who declares their way to their face?

Who repays them for what they have done?

When are they carried to the grave?

A watch is kept over their tomb.

The clods of the valley are sweet to them.

Everyone will follow after.

Those who went before are innumerable.

How then will you comfort me with empty nothings?

There is nothing left of your answers but falsehood.”

Job continued to respond to his detractors. In the end he called them liars. They were trying to wrong him. Where was the house of the wicked? Where were their tents? Ask anyone you meet on the roads. The wicked will be rescued and spared from disaster on the day of wrath. Who got in their face? Who repaid them for what they did? The wicked dead ones have a grave, a tomb, and someone to watch over them. There were many examples of this. He did not want them to try to comfort him with empty sayings. They were answering falsely.

July 13, 2015

God punishes the wicked (Job 20:20-20:29)

“They know no quiet in their bellies.

In their greed,

They let nothing escape.

There was nothing left after they had eaten.

Therefore their prosperity will not endure.

In full sufficiency,

They will be in distress.

All the force of misery will come upon them.

To fill their belly to the full,

God will send his fierce anger into them.

God will rain upon them as their food.

They will flee from an iron weapon.

A bronze arrow will strike them through.

It is drawn forth.

It comes out of their body.

The glittering point comes out of their gall.

Terrors come upon them.

Utter darkness is laid up for their treasures.

A fire fanned by no one will devour them.

What is left in their tent will be consumed.

The heavens will reveal their iniquity.

The earth will rise up against them.

The possessions of their home will be carried away.

They will be carried off in the day of God’s wrath.

This is the portion of the wicked from God.

This is the heritage decreed for them by God.”

Zophar continued that God punishes the wicked and the greedy. Their stomachs are never full since they have an insatiable hunger. Their prosperity will not endure. They will be in distress and misery. Their food will be rain. They will face iron weapons, especially a bronze arrow in their gall bladder. Darkness will be their treasure. They will face a fire that no one starts. Their tents will be destroyed. Their possessions will be carried away. Heaven and earth will rise up against them. This will be the portion and heritage that God will give to the wicked. This seems to imply that Job was the wicked person who faced God’s wrath.