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DORCAS

  HER CHARACTER:  An inhabitant of Joppa, a town on the Mediterranean coast, thirty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem, she belonged to one of the earliest Chris tian congrega-tions. She was a disciple known for her practical works of mercy. HER SORROW:  To have suffered a grave illness. HER JOY: To serve Jesus by serving the poor. STORY IN BRIEF: Dorcas, whose Hebrew is " Tabitha" or " Gazelle", was a disciple of The Lord Jesus - Dorcas learned of The Lord, and followed Him, forsaking her world, previous jobs and lifestyle. Dorcas was a kind - hearted lady who demonstrated her belief in Jesus by her generosity - she sewed to clothe the poor and baked to feed them. One day, she fell sick to death. So Peter's attention had been drawn to this. Peter had just healed a crippled in a city close by. Peter successfully prayed for Tabitha and she was revived.  REFERENCE SCRIPTURES: ACTS 9:36-43

QUEEN JEZEBEL

HER NAME : Where is the Prince ( Baal)? JOY :  Jezebel realised her evil ambitions by killing Elijah's Prophets and initiated her subjects into idolatory. SORROW : Her arrogance and twisted heart brought her disgrace. STORY IN SHORT: Jezebel was a daughter of Ethbaal, the King of Sidon and the priest of the god, baal. She was also the wife of King Ahab. Jezebel reigned as Queen over part of Israel, 100years after David's death but 60years after the death of Solomon. Like her father, Jezebel would force all, including the Israelites into idol worship for she believed baal was the one causing the rains to pour. She did not only initiate her subjects into idolatry and witchcraft - spirits that dominated the princess herself, but also killed all of God's Prophets except Elijah. One day, Elijah summoned Jezebel's 850 false Prophets for a match to find out if baal had the supremacy over God. But Elijah won as he successfully called down fire from God to consume the sacrificia...

TAMAR

Tamar was David's daughter whom King David so protected from evil till the unexpected happened. Amnon, David's eldest son that was about inheriting the throne suddenly began to show strange demeanor every morning. Now, a cousin of His ( Amnon ) advised him to consciously lay sick under his cloth in order to lure Tamar. David, his father, who was successfully tricked by this scheme allowed Tamar to serve her eldest; Amnon forcefully slept with Tamar. When Absalom later chanced upon a crying Tamar he consoled her. Their father too heard the news yet never served Amnon any punishment; Absalom's hatred for Amnon grew more and more over the years.Two years after, Absalom killed Amnon.  SCRIPTURE REFERENCES: 2 Sam uel 13:1 – 22, 

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 remain loyal and faithful to God, our expectations will be met. 

2. God never asked David to release Saul's sons to the Gibeonites; the Bible does not record anywhere that rain finally fell because David positively affirmed the request of the Gibeonites. But like Virginia Owen indicates in her book, " Daughters of Eve" , it is clear that God takes pleasure in honourable burial so He swiftly responded to the prayers of the people following the burrying of the Suals.

BIBLICAL HISTORY ON BURIAL:

In Bible times, the dead were burried soon after they died; it never took more than twenty four hours for people to burry their dead. First, the corpse is washed and smeared with good smelling preservative ointments. Mourning which could span seven days following the burial was done, sometimes, by professionals too. The corpse was burried in a cave or a tomb. And every other relation of this person was buried in that same tomb.  

REFERENCEE SCRIPTURE:

2 Samuel 21: 8- 14, John 11: 17, 39, 44., Genesis 49:29-32, Jeremiah 9:17, Matthew 9:23, 

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