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Monday, December 02, 2024

What is man? A question asked in the Bible

 From the Bible Gateway, World English Bible:

Job 7:17 What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,

Job 15:14 What is man, that he should be clean? What is he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous?

Psalm 8:4 what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?

Psalm 144:3 Yahweh, what is man, that you care for him? Or the son of man, that you think of him?

Hebrews 2:6 But one has somewhere testified, saying, “What is man, that you think of him? Or the son of man, that you care for him?

Thanks for reading!

Monday, November 25, 2024

Uzza, or Uzzah

2 Samuel 6:1 David again gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 2 David arose, and went with all the people who were with him, from Baale Judah, to bring up from there God’s ark, which is called by the Name, even the name of Yahweh of Armies who sits above the cherubim. 3 They set God’s ark on a new cart, and brought it out of Abinadab’s house that was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. 4 They brought it out of Abinadab’s house, which was in the hill, with God’s ark; and Ahio went before the ark. 5 David and all the house of Israel played before Yahweh with all kinds of instruments made of cypress wood, with harps, with stringed instruments, with tambourines, with castanets, and with cymbals. 6 When they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah reached for God’s ark, and took hold of it; for the cattle stumbled. 7 Yahweh’s anger burned against Uzzah; and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by God’s ark. 8 David was displeased, because Yahweh had broken out against Uzzah; and he called that place Perez Uzzah, to this day. 9 David was afraid of Yahweh that day; and he said, “How could Yahweh’s ark come to me?” 10 So David would not move Yahweh’s ark to be with him in David’s city; but David carried it aside into Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house. 11 Yahweh’s ark remained in Obed-Edom the Gittite’s house three months; and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom and all his house. 12 King David was told, “Yahweh has blessed the house of Obed-Edom, and all that belongs to him, because of God’s ark.” (World English Bible, public domain. This story is also told in 1 Chronicles 13.)

I confess that this story has always bothered me. It bothered David, too. Uzzah seems to have been  just trying to protect the Ark, and God seems to have killed him for it.

Before I go further, a side note. There are two versions of Uzzah's name -- Uzza and Uzzah. It is possible that these names tell us about two different people. It is also possible that there was more than one Uzza, or more than one Uzzah, in the Old Testament. I am assuming that there was only one Uzzah, and that, for reasons I don't know, his name is spelled in two different ways in the World English Bible, and, most likely, in other versions of the Bible. See here for more examination of the question of how many Uzzahs, or Uzzas, that there were.

1 Chronicles 8:1-7 tells us about the ancestry of Uzza, probably the same man as in the story above.

2 Kings 21:22-26 indicates that Uzzah may have been known about much later, as King Amon was buried in a tomb in "The garden of Uzza."

Ezra 2:49 lists offspring of Uzzah as some of the Temple servants, returning from captivity, and this is also true of Nehemiah 7:51.

I believe that God is just. I also believe that God directs, or allows, things that I don't understand. Perhaps God's justice was illustrated in the life of Uzzah, when it suddenly ended, but, even in death, his family was honored by being among those returning from captivity, and among those tending to the care of the holy places and ceremonies of Israel. Perhaps Uzzah is resting until the Final Kingdom, or perhaps he is even now worshipping God as we speak!

Thanks for reading.


Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Sunspots 974

 
Things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:

Gizmodo reports on Pando, perhaps the oldest and largest organism on the planet. (It's a naturally cloned tree.)

NPR reports on a well-preserved saber-tooth tiger kitten, in the permafrost of Siberia. 


You probably missed World Toilet Day. NPR didn't miss it.

Thanks for reading!

Saturday, November 16, 2024

Sunspots 973

Things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:      


Earth.com reports on amazing mental ability in a butterfly.

Gizmodo reports that DNA has been used to store and retrieve graphic information. Another means of digital storage!

LiveScience suggests that the wheel was invented about 6000 years ago, in Carpathian mines.

Joel Edmund Anderson discusses inerrancy of the Bible, and related concepts, pretty thoroughly.

Thanks for reading!

Monday, October 21, 2024

Sunspots 972

Some things that I have spotted that may be of interest to others:

Joel Duff is perhaps the most articulate anti-Young-earth creationist blogger. He understands criticism, and knows the literature. When I  previously looked his posts, they were not entirely textual, but were mostly YouTube videos. That's not true now. His work includes videos, but the content of the video is generally also presented in text form, where it can be quoted, and where users can see what Duff has to say without disturbing anyone who doesn't want to listen. A recent post concerns the realization, by many Young-Earth Creationists, that it is impossible to explain supposed effects of the Flood, over a brief time period. Here's Duff's post: (The title begins with "Divine Intervention in Geology." an intriguing subject.)

One of my readers noted that the post above had an incorrect link. I believe that it is now corrected, and thank that reader.

Scientific American has a good article on how and why many trees change color in the fall.

Thanks for looking! I hope to publish Sunspots from time to time, but have ceased publishing every week.

Saturday, August 31, 2024

God's creativity

Let us be thankful for God's wisdom, creativity and imagination. He thought of many things: information, beauty of form, sound, color, smell and taste; physical laws and constants, elementary particles and the structures that are made of them; life, diversity, and natural selection; communication, humor; faith, generosity, innocence. He let us live in a good, diverse, and well-planned world, with energy, oxygen, water, organic compounds, and other elements and compounds we need to live.

More could be said. The universe's creation involved the Father, Son and Spirit, working together.

Friday, August 30, 2024

Wednesday, August 21, 2024

Sunspots 970


Some things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:

The Guardian discusses Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and what it has symbolized. The Berlin Wall, Melania Trump, and other items are mentioned.

Science Alert reports that Antarctica is rising and discusses some of the consequences.

The Wikipedia has an article on downbursts, where, it says, the wind pattern is opposite that in a tornado. 


NPR tells us that, for the first time, a Pakistani won an Olympic gold medal. He was also given some valuable prizes, including a buffalo. The report tells why the buffalo is a valuable gift.


Monday, August 19, 2024

Sunspots 969

 Some things I have spotted, that may be of interest to others:

An article in the Wikipedia tells about small satellites that are in orbit around some larger asteroids


NPR has fact-checked Donald Trump's recent press conference at Mar-A-Lago. It isn't pretty. They found over 160 lies, or serious distortions of the truth, in less than 90 minutes of the news conference.

Scientific American, and other outlets, report that the central stone of Stonehenge was moved from hundreds of miles away. How? We aren't sure.

ScienceAlert reports that the continent of Antarctica is rising, and discusses the likely consequences.

Friday, July 19, 2024

Sunspots 968

Things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:


Project 2025 is an extensive document, proposing many changes in government. The 2025 is because it is a plan for action, if Donald Trump is returned to the presidency, for the first year of his second presidency. However, Trump is trying to distance himself from the proposals, claiming that he isn't familiar with the contents, and doesn't know who developed it. But CNN has done a deep dive, and found lots of connections between the document and the former President's advisors.

Snopes reports that Project 2025 plans to eliminate free weather information from the government.

A Conversation writer explains decaf coffee.

Thursday, July 11, 2024

Anti-pornography (and slander, and more) in the Bible

A Psalm by David.
101:1 I will sing of loving kindness and justice.
To you, Yahweh, I will sing praises.
101:2 I will be careful to live a blameless life.
When will you come to me?
I will walk within my house with a blameless heart.
101:3 I will set no vile thing before my eyes.
I hate the deeds of faithless men.
They will not cling to me.
101:4 A perverse heart will be far from me.
I will have nothing to do with evil.
101:5 I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor.
I won’t tolerate one who is haughty and conceited.
101:6 My eyes will be on the faithful of the land,
that they may dwell with me.
He who walks in a perfect way,
he will serve me.
101:7 He who practices deceit won’t dwell within my house.
He who speaks falsehood won’t be established before my eyes.
101:8 Morning by morning, I will destroy all the wicked of the land;
to cut off all the workers of iniquity from Yahweh’s city. (World English Bible, public domain)

Verse 3a has an admonition against willingly experiencing pornography. And there are some more admonitions. Verse 5a is against slander. Verse 4b covers it all, I guess: "I will have nothing to do with evil." If that doesn't cover it all, there's 2a, "I will be careful to lead a blameless life." But, in spite of the importance of the warnings, Perhaps the first verse of the Psalm, "I will sing of loving kindness and justice. To you, Yahweh, I will sing praises" is the most important command. If I spend time praising God, verbally or in other media, I won't have time to slander anyone, or to indulge in pornography, or commit other sins. 

Thanks for reading. Praise God!

**** 

Added July 12, 2024:
Pornography is a form of adultery, and slander is a form of false witness. Both of these are forbidden by the Ten Commandments.

Wednesday, July 10, 2024

Sunspots 967

 Things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:

A discussion of the perils of Christian Nationalism, in Baptist News Global

Crosswalk reports that Southern Baptists voted against Christian Nationalism recently.

Stat discusses ethical questions about the results of the Human Genome Project.

NPR reports that a man tried to smuggle 100+ live snakes, of several kinds, into China. The snakes were hidden in his pants.

Thanks for reading!

Monday, July 01, 2024

Sunspots 966

Things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:


A  discussion, in Naturalist Historia, pointing to more discussions, on how the immune system is related to origins.

Scientific American reports that leeches can jump.

Christianity Today on the question of Orthodox Jews serving in the Israeli military.

Snopes, the important fact-checking web site, supports Biden's claim that historians rank Trump as the worst President in US history. You can see how all Presidents, including Biden, are ranked by these historians, on this site.

LiveScience discusses the idea of what a species is. It's complicated.

Newsweek has compiled a long list of people who served in important positions in the Trump administration who have refused to endorse his current candidacy for President.

Thanks for reading.

Monday, June 24, 2024

Hymns and church songs with stones, rocks, or related ideas

 Rocks in songs and hymns

A previous post listed important Bible passages about stones or rocks, chosen from a few hundred occurrences in the Bible. This post lists songs and hymns that include the word stone, or the word, rock, or a related idea.

“Rock of Ages”

“The Lord’s Our Rock, in Him we hide”

“Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing” includes the phrase “Here I raise my Ebenezer.” This comes from 1 Samuel 7:12 “Then Samuel took a stone and set it between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Yahweh helped us until now.”

“My Hope is built on nothing less” has this phrase: “On Christ, the solid rock I stand …”

“Behold the Sure Foundation Stone” -- note: I am not familiar with this one, but an on-line search turned it up, so I included it.

“A Wonderful Savior is Jesus, My Lord,” includes the phrase “He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock.”

Thanks for reading, and, possibly, singing or humming.