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RIZPAR

Rizpar was one of Saul's concubines. She stood and witnessed the gruesome murder of her two sons -  Armoni and Mephibosheth.  More disdainful to her is the fact that the two were not burried; they were left to rot contrary to the prevalent tradition of burrying the dead within the next 24hours.  With sorrow, Rizpar spent days and nights with the corpses ensuring that they were neither swamped nor dragged away by any animals. Soon enough, King David noticed her discomfort, and was moved by her attitude; David ordered for the burrying of Rizpar's sons, the remains of their father, Saul and that of Jonathan. BACKGROUND:  Joshua promised that Israel would be at peace with the Gibeonites. But Saul broke that oath, killing as many Gibeonites as he could in his time. In retallating, the Gibeonites asked David for seven of Saul's son whom they murdered in the presence of Rizpar. LESSONS:   1. Customes can be broken; protocols are skipable. If only we consistently...

THE SHUNAMITE WOMAN

  She lived in Jezreel, specifically along a road that links Jerusalem to Bethlehem. Being a generous woman, she agreed with her husband and made a resting place on the top of their building for Elisha who mostly plied that road. One day, when the shunamite saw Elisha travelling the road again with his servant she invited them over into her house and showed her kindness so much to the Prophet's satisfaction. Thus, Elisha sought through his servant, Geharzi, to reward her gesture but the woman sharply objected to it. The Prophet then asked his servant if there was any favour he could use his influence with the King of Israel to offer her but the woman would still reject that offer. So he asked Geharzi to suggest a reward for the woman. When the servant mentioned that the woman had no child, Elisha declared that they would have one a year's time from then, which the Lord also fulfilled. When this child died some years later, the woman went laid him in Elisha's room. But God r...

THE EYES OF GOD !

“The eyes of the Lord run to and from through the whole earth.” Zechariah 4:10. The Greek name for God is Theos. It comes from the Greek root which makes up the word Theisthai, and that means, ” To see”. So God is the One who sees! God’s eyes refer to the all-knowing, all-seeing limitlessness of God, and yet at the same time His personal, ever-caring nature. Now does He see like men do? The content below exposes the uniqueness of God’s eyes. Emotional. God doesn’t only speak or show visions ! He often communicates with His eyes too. God’s eyes help Him to convey His feelings. The eyes He bears on His frowning face differ from those that appear on His smiley face. Now it takes spiritual discernment to ably tell what God says through His eyes at a time. Same eyes that show His displeasure, sadness, or anger now, at a different time may reveal His satisfaction, gladness or mercy. We can tell through His eyes if there’s an impending destruction or honour. We understand from Genesis 6:8 tha...

SPIRITUAL DISTANCE

  “… They honour me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.” Isaiah 29:13 Why would a miniser’s relation be downtrodden while this same minister ably delivers others outside his family? Why would a virtual participant be positively touched while those in his physical presence are left unimpacted? Could it be that one’s faith is stronger than the other’s? If ” YES “, how possible is it that those that are rather physically far from God’s servant can have stronger faith than those present in his immediate circle? Beloved, the simple reason for all these oddies lies in ” SPIRITUAL DISTANCE “. Whereas PHYSICAL DISTANCE has to do with the space between physical bodies, SPIRITUAL DISTANCE refers to the distance between Spirits. The two do not yield same profit(s). One that is physically close but Spiritually far accesses only physical benefits from the other; the person that is spiritually close, whether physically present or not, stakeholds all things from his or her partner. ...

HERODIAS

 


NAME MEANING:

Heroic

CHARACTER:

A proud woman, she used her daughter to manipulate her husband into doing her will. She acted arrogantly, from beginning to end, in complete disregard for the laws of the land.


STORY IN BRIEF:

Herod, the great accomplished much for his subjects yet committed so much atrocities also. He build completed great projects, including building the temple. But he killed the Jews, and his own wife. Even on his day of death, he ordered for the killing of the Jewish leaders though they were finally saved after his death.

Herodias was his granddaughter. Yet she got married to another son of his, Philip Herod. Herodias lived in Rome with her husband.

But when Antipas Herod visited them, things took a different turn. Herodias got attracted to his husband's brother - Antipas, who was the governor over some states.

The two then divorced their partners and became couples. Now John, the baptist whose message of righteousness hurt Herodias, got imprisoned later by Antipas.

On his birthday, Antipas promised granting Salomey - his daughter-in-law any request, as much as half his kingdom, for he was so pleased by her dance.

When Salomey sought her mum's guidance on making a demand, Herodias suggested she asked for  John's head.

Though challenging, the king was bound by his promise. So John was killed, and his head offered.

SCRIPTURE REFERENCE:

Matthew 14:3 – 12; Mark 6:14 – 29; Luke 3:19 – 20; 

9:7 – 9

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