Women of the Bible: the wise woman of Tekoa

2 Samuel 14:1 Now Joab the son of Zeruiah perceived that the king’s heart was toward Absalom. 2 Joab sent to Tekoa, and brought a wise woman from there, and said to her, “Please act like a mourner, and put on mourning clothing, please, and don’t anoint yourself with oil, but be as a woman who has mourned a long time for the dead. 3 Go in to the king, and speak like this to him.” So Joab put the words in her mouth. 

 4 When the woman of Tekoa spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, showed respect, and said, “Help, O king!” 5 The king said to her, “What ails you?” She answered, “Truly I am a widow, and my husband is dead. 6 Your servant had two sons, and they both fought together in the field, and there was no one to part them, but the one struck the other, and killed him. 7 Behold, the whole family has risen against your servant, and they say, ‘Deliver him who struck his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother whom he killed, and so destroy the heir also.’ Thus they would quench my coal which is left, and would leave to my husband neither name nor remainder on the surface of the earth.” 8 The king said to the woman, “Go to your house, and I will give a command concerning you.” 9 The woman of Tekoa said to the king, “My lord, O king, may the iniquity be on me, and on my father’s house; and may the king and his throne be guiltless.” 10 The king said, “Whoever says anything to you, bring him to me, and he will not bother you any more.” 11 Then she said, “Please let the king remember Yahweh your God, that the avenger of blood destroy not any more, lest they destroy my son.” He said, “As Yahweh lives, not one hair of your son shall fall to the earth.” 

12 Then the woman said, “Please let your servant speak a word to my lord the king.” He said, “Say on.” 13 The woman said, “Why then have you devised such a thing against the people of God? For in speaking this word the king is as one who is guilty, in that the king does not bring home again his banished one. 14 For we must die, and are like water spilled on the ground, which can’t be gathered up again; neither does God take away life, but devises means, that he who is banished not be an outcast from him. 15 Now therefore seeing that I have come to speak this word to my lord the king, it is because the people have made me afraid. Your servant said, ‘I will now speak to the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his servant.’ 16 For the king will hear, to deliver his servant out of the hand of the man who would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. 17 Then your servant said, ‘Please let the word of my lord the king bring rest; for as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad. May Yahweh, your God, be with you.’” 

18 Then the king answered the woman, “Please don’t hide anything from me that I ask you.” The woman said, “Let my lord the king now speak.” 19 The king said, “Is the hand of Joab with you in all this?” The woman answered, “As your soul lives, my lord the king, no one can turn to the right hand or to the left from anything that my lord the king has spoken; for your servant Joab urged me, and he put all these words in the mouth of your servant. 20 Your servant Joab has done this thing to change the face of the matter. My lord is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to know all things that are in the earth.” 21 The king said to Joab, “Behold now, I have done this thing. Go therefore, and bring the young man Absalom back.” 22 Joab fell to the ground on his face, showed respect, and blessed the king. Joab said, “Today your servant knows that I have found favor in your sight, my lord, king, in that the king has performed the request of his servant.”

Joab, and the wise woman, figured out a way to get King David to partly reconcile himself to his son, Absalom (who had killed one of his half-brothers, with some reason.)

Women of the BIble: the wise woman of Beth Maacah

2 Samuel 20 13 When he* was removed out of the highway, all the people went on after Joab, to pursue Sheba the son of Bichri. 14 He went through all the tribes of Israel to Abel, and to Beth Maacah, and all the Berites. They were gathered together, and went also after him. 15 They came and besieged him in Abel of Beth Maacah, and they cast up a mound against the city, and it stood against the rampart; and all the people who were with Joab battered the wall, to throw it down. 16 Then a wise woman cried out of the city, “Hear, hear! Please say to Joab, ‘Come near here, that I may speak with you.’” 17 He came near to her; and the woman said, “Are you Joab?”

He answered, “I am.”

Then she said to him, “Hear the words of your servant.”

He answered, “I’m listening.”

18 Then she spoke, saying, “They used to say in old times, ‘They shall surely ask counsel at Abel;’ and so they settled a matter. 19 I am among those who are peaceable and faithful in Israel. You seek to destroy a city and a mother in Israel. Why will you swallow up Yahweh’s inheritance?”

20 Joab answered, “Far be it, far be it from me, that I should swallow up or destroy. 21 The matter is not so. But a man of the hill country of Ephraim, Sheba the son of Bichri by name, has lifted up his hand against the king, even against David. Just deliver him, and I will depart from the city.”

The woman said to Joab, “Behold, his head will be thrown to you over the wall.”

22 Then the woman went to all the people in her wisdom. They cut off the head of Sheba the son of Bichri, and threw it out to Joab. He blew the trumpet, and they were dispersed from the city, every man to his tent. Then Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

*Amasa, a military leader. His was a sad and brutal story, but it's not about women, particularly.

Women of the Bible: the Queen of Sheba

2 Chronicles 9:1 When the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to prove Solomon with hard questions at Jerusalem, with a very great train, and camels that bore spices, and gold in abundance, and precious stones: and when she had come to Solomon, she talked with him of all that was in her heart. 9:2 Solomon told her all her questions; and there was not anything hidden from Solomon which he didn’t tell her. 9:3 When the queen of Sheba had seen the wisdom of Solomon, and the house that he had built, 9:4 and the food of his table, and the sitting of his servants, and the attendance of his ministers, and their clothing, his cup bearers also, and their clothing, and his ascent by which he went up to the house of Yahweh; there was no more spirit in her.

9:5 She said to the king, “It was a true report that I heard in my own land of your acts, and of your wisdom. 9:6 However I didn’t believe their words, until I came, and my eyes had seen it; and behold, the half of the greatness of your wisdom was not told me: you exceed the fame that I heard. 9:7 Happy are your men, and happy are these your servants, who stand continually before you, and hear your wisdom. 9:8 Blessed be Yahweh your God, who delighted in you, to set you on his throne, to be king for Yahweh your God: because your God loved Israel, to establish them forever, therefore made he you king over them, to do justice and righteousness.”

9:9 She gave the king one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones: neither was there any such spice as the queen of Sheba gave to king Solomon.

Note that the Queen honored Solomon's God, perhaps better than Solomon did.

 

The purpose of learning

 

The graphic above is, as you can see, based on Isaiah 50:4a The Lord Yahweh has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with words him who is weary.

No doubt you can think of some other words that God might want those of us who know a little something to use to sustain the weary, but these 12 were what came to my mind: belonging, comfort, forgiveness, freedom, grace, guidance, hope, joy, love, mercy, peace and purpose.

Two other passages about the importance of a "word" came to mind:

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 The same was in the beginning with God.

1 Corinthians 12:4 Now there are various kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. 8a For to one is given through the Spirit the word of wisdom, and to another the word of knowledge, according to the same Spirit;

The first passage refers to Christ, Himself, as the Word. The second indicates that being able to speak a word of wisdom, or a word of knowledge, are spiritual gifts.

A word (sorry!) of warning: 1 Corinthians 8:1 Now concerning things sacrificed to idols: We know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. 

Jesus indicated that He, Himself, was the answer for those who are burdened: Matthew 11:28  “Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest. 29  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart; and you will find rest for your souls. 30  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Thanks for reading! Sustain the weary. There are plenty of them. What they really need is examples of Christ-like love.

Seven themes related to Christianity and science

There’s a recent post on the BioLogos Forum, dealing with the relationship between Christianity and science. There have been lots of those, but this one is especially good. One of the things that make it good is that it considers wisdom literature, especially Job, more than Genesis 1 and 2, which have been covered so many times. Another is that the author, Tom McLeish, who is a physicist in the UK, lists seven themes, related to science, that he says are found in the Bible. This is a paraphrase (and simplification) of those themes:
1) Things change -- the future will be different from the past.
2) Humans are able to learn how nature works, and should do so.
3) Knowledge is not enough -- wisdom is important.
4) “Doing science is hard.”
5) There is both order and chaos in the world.
6) We don't know everything, but can learn by asking questions.
7) We should love nature, and other people.

Well said. Thanks for reading. Read McLeish. There’s an attempt at something similar in a post in this blog.

Appendix: Biblical background to McLeish’s themes:
1) The future will be different from the past:
Job 38:4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Declare, if you have understanding.
5 Who determined its measures, if you know?
Or who stretched the line on it?
6 Whereupon were its foundations fastened?
Or who laid its cornerstone,
7 when the morning stars sang together,
and all the sons of God shouted for joy?...”

2) Humans are able to learn how nature works and should do so: 
Job 39:1 “Do you know the time when the mountain goats give birth?
Do you watch when the doe bears fawns?
2 Can you count the months that they fulfill?
Or do you know the time when they give birth?
3 They bow themselves, they bear their young.
They end their labor pains. ...” (God speaking to Job. This implies that humans could know this, and also, of course, that we understand that young mammals develop in the womb.)
Genesis 1:28b “... Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Effective environmental stewardship requires knowledge of how the environment works.

3) Knowledge is not enough -- wisdom is important:
Job 42:2 “I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be restrained. ...” 
(Job, speaking of God. One of the most important pieces of wisdom.)
1 Kings 4:34 People of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, sent by all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom. 
 
4) “Doing science is hard:”
1 Kings 4:32 He spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs numbered one thousand five. 33 He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows out of the wall; he also spoke of animals, of birds, of creeping things, and of fish. (This feat of Solomon was considered to be a unique accomplishment, and must have taken considerable effort on his part, and, perhaps effort on the part of his servants.)
 
5) There is both order and chaos in the world:
Job 37:5 God thunders marvelously with his voice.
He does great things, which we can’t comprehend.
6 For he says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth;’
likewise to the shower of rain,
and to the showers of his mighty rain.

 6) We can learn from asking questions:
Job 42:4 You said, ‘Listen, now, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you will answer me.’ (Job, speaking to God.)

7) We should love nature, and other people:
Job 42:10a Yahweh turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends. (These supposed friends had been vigorously disagreeing with Job for more than three dozen chapters.)
Psalm 24:1 The earth is Yahweh’s, with its fullness;
the world, and those who dwell therein.

God's creativity

God is unimaginably creative.

John 1, Colossians 1, and other passages indicate that God the Son was and is the chief agent in creation, and in sustaining it.

So what did God create?

1. Substance (including energy, which is a type of substance – e = mc²).

Matter and energy are creations of God. He is outside of His created universe, and made it come to be from nothing. However, He can and does enter it, as shown in the miracles of the Old Testament, the Incarnation of God the Son, and the presence of God the Holy Spirit. Ken Schenck, in this post, points out that God created the nothing, too. It wouldn't have been there without God.

It is possible that all the types of sub-atomic particles, or even each and every such particle, all the elements, all the types of heavenly bodies, the earth itself, and the kinds of living things, were brought into being by individual creative acts. It is also possible that God’s planning was so extensive and complete that He created matter so that most or all of these things emerged, over time, as a result of the Big Bang. Either way shows God’s limitless intelligence and creativity, (See here for information on the suitability of sub-atomic particles for the existence of the universe.) and we don’t need to know which of these (or both) has been true.

Satan probably has no power to create any kind of substance, but he can make use of created things.

2. Time/Eternity
Substance has been created in time, which is another of God's creations. Since that is true, God is not in time, but outside of it, in eternity -- God can experience the past, present and future. Or, perhaps, God created eternity, too. All of the entities shown in the graphic play out in time, and in eternity. I'm not clear as to whether eternity is just time stretched out infinitely into the past and the future, or whether time somehow exists in eternity, and it doesn't matter what I think. I'll leave that question to God.

Satan apparently existed before the creation of substance, but probably not eternally into the past. Humans, and satan and other beings are going to exist eternally into the future.

3. Beauty

All beauty, imagined* or existent, of pattern, appearance, sound, and form, either:

was created by God;

is a natural emergence from what God created;

is based on what God brought forth;

or is possible because He gave humans the ability to be sub-creators.

(J. R. R. Tolkien, who was a Christian, used the word sub-creation about the fantastic worlds created by himself and others.)

*“Imagined,” because, for example, Beethoven was so deaf by the time his great Ninth Symphony was performed that he could not hear it, and had not heard it, except in his head, while he was composing it. Similar processes of imagination occur during writing, painting, and other creative arts, and also in the sciences, even in sports. Newton imagined his Law of Universal Gravitation – he didn’t develop this from experiments. That Law’s simplicity is one of many scientific phenomena that scientists sometimes say possess beauty, because of their simplicity (at least to the scientists!) and explanatory power:
F = (g x m₁ x m₂)/r²
The scientific search for patterns in elementary particles, and for broadly applicable formulas and laws (such as the so-called theory of everything, or the “God particle”) is motivated by a belief that there is an underlying pattern and beauty in the way things are. Einstein, who was not a believer in a personal God, sometimes spoke as if there was a God who had arranged things in the way that they were, understandable, describable, and relatively simple.

Richard Feynman, Nobel laureate, said: “What is it about nature that lets this happen, that it is possible to guess from one part what the rest is going to do? That is an unscientific question: I do not know how to answer it, and therefore I am going to give an unscientific answer. I think it is because nature has a simplicity and therefore a great beauty.” “Seeking New Laws,” pp. 143-167, in Richard Feynman, The Character of Physical Law, New York: Modern Library, 1994. Quote is from p. 167. I have read most of Feynman's popular writing, and seen no evidence that he believed in God at all.

Naismith imagined a game involving tossing a ball into peach baskets.

Satan probably has no power to create beauty of any kind, although he can mimic God’s good creation, and can use beauty as an evil force. (Pornography, for example.) Perhaps Satan, as an angel, had creative powers that humans don’t. We don’t know. Satan apparently can imagine events that have not happened yet, or that might never happen.

4. Relationship

The power to form relationships with other sentient, responsive beings is possible because God made it so.

A human who is incapable of establishing relationships with others, or who does not want to do so, is abnormal. Humans are constructed so that we form and maintain relationships with others, from birth to death.

God also desires relationships. The Three Persons of the Trinity apparently have a relationship with one another. God wants to have a relationship with us. This is not possible, or not nearly fully possible, unless the sin problem is fixed. God loves us so much that He took care of the sin problem for us – we couldn’t do that. In the life of Christ, in 1 Corinthians 13, and elsewhere, the proper foundation for relationships is laid out. It is unselfish, Christ-like love. (Agape love.) Humans, and, to some extent, animals, have some capacity to communicate, to empathize, to imagine how to increase the well-being of others, and to do so. These all contribute to the ability to form relationships. God wants us to use this ability to bring others to a relationship with Him.

Satan is incapable of forming a proper relationship with anyone. We aren’t, either, without accepting Christ’s sacrifice for sin, and following His Lordship and example.

5. Joy

God is responsible for joy. We can, and should, be joyful in comprehending and experiencing beauty and relationship, even substance. God made humor and laughter possible. We should joy in contemplating God’s creativity and goodness. “Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee” (based on Beethoven's Ninth Symphony) is found in many hymnals.

Satan has lost any capacity for joy that he had originally, and wants to drive joy out of the world.

6. Holiness

Holiness is the opposite of evil and sin. Evil and sin are the absence of holiness. God is holy, and good, and His creation started out that way. He wants us to be holy, and totally good, too, and will eventually transform created things so that they, too, are finally and eternally good. Because God is holy and good, He cannot abide sin. Our relationship with Him should be such that we stop sinning, or at least do it less frequently, and become more and more holy – more and more living a life for God, and others, and less and less living for ourselves.

Satan is unholiness personified. Fallen, unredeemed humans are also unholiness personified.

7. Wisdom

Wisdom is “The ability to discern or judge what is true, right, or lasting; insight.” (The Free Dictionary). In other words, to have wisdom is to act correctly on the things you know. God allows us to have knowledge, to know things, but merely knowing things is not the same thing as wisdom. Children know a lot, but they are often not wise. Presumably Satan also knows a lot, but he has unwisely rejected God’s authority.

 
Thanks for reading, and thanks to my wife for suggestions.

This is the version of November 1, 2014, somewhat modified from previous versions.

Attributes and qualities of God

Attributes and Qualities of God

About a year ago, I posted a chart, illustrating an ideal pattern for prayer: Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving and Supplication. Adoration, or praising God for who and what He is, is perhaps the most difficult of these for me to get a grip on. So I have attempted, and it is a feeble attempt, for sure, to set forth ten of God's special attributes. Some of these attributes, especially numbers 7 and 10, are shared, in a measure, by humans, and, I believe, make up part of the image of God in us.

No chart, however complex, or sophisticated, or clear, can capture who and what God is. This doesn't. But it's an attempt.

As with all my charts, you may use this freely, without restrictions, except that you are not to use it for commercial purposes. I would hope that you would credit me when you use any of my materials. Also, if you want a larger size, with better resolution, the chart, itself, is a link to the picture on my Flickr photostream

You may want to see this post, listing the the ways God reveals Himself to humans.

Thanks for reading and looking. 

December 30, 2016: On December 9, 2015, Jim Stump listed these attributes of God: mercy, forgiveness, tender affection, humility, mildness, compassion, loving-kindness, etc., which he calls gracious attributes, as opposed to glorious attributes, such as the ones in the chart above. Stump argues that God is mostly hidden so that He can be known for the gracious attributes, rather than the glorious attributes. 

Prayers in the Bible: Solomon prays for wisdom

1 Kings 3:5 In Gibeon Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.”
6 Solomon said, “You have shown to your servant David my father great loving kindness, according as he walked before you in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you. You have kept for him this great loving kindness, that you have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am but a little child. I don’t know how to go out or come in. 8 Your servant is in the midst of your people which you have chosen, a great people, that can’t be numbered nor counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this your great people?”
10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, neither have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice; 12 behold, I have done according to your word. Behold, I have given you a wise and an understanding heart; so that there has been no one like you before you, neither after you shall any arise like you. 13 I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like you, all your days. 14 If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
15 Solomon awoke; and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. (World English Bible, public domain)

Solomon's prayer for wisdom shows the great humility that this young man had, and the wisdom to ask for wisdom. This was my own prayer when I was appointed to a position at a Christian university, nearly 50 years ago now. God is good. I haven't always used the wisdom that God gave me, but He has always given it.

This is one of a series on prayers in the Bible. The previous post is here. Thanks for reading.

Prayers in the Bible: Daniel thanks God for wisdom

Daniel 2:17 Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: 18 that they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his companions should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19 Then was the secret revealed to Daniel in a vision of the night. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 Daniel answered, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever; for wisdom and might are his. 21 He changes the times and the seasons; he removes kings, and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who have understanding; 22 he reveals the deep and secret things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. 23 I thank you, and praise you, you God of my fathers, who have given me wisdom and might, and have now made known to me what we desired of you; for you have made known to us the king’s matter. (World English Bible, public domain)

The thing referred to in verse 17 was a dream that the king had. He couldn't remember it, and he demanded that the wise men of Babylon remind him of what he dreamed, and also interpret it. The wise men, except Daniel, declared that no one could be expected to do that. But Daniel, and his friends, prayed for help, and got it. Then Daniel thanked God, as he should have, and we should, too.

This is part of a series on prayers in the Bible. The previous post is here. Thanks for reading.

God's Intelligent Design

Proverbs 3:19 The Lord by wisdom founded the earth;
by understanding he established the heavens; (Quotations from the ESV)

Jeremiah 10:12 It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

Jeremiah 51:15 has exactly the same wording as Jeremiah 10:12.

These passages are not written as scientific descriptions, nor even, probably, as historical descriptions, but they are faith statements. The authors believed that God purposely brought about the way things are, and that only an infinitely wise and understanding God could have done it. In other words, these writers believed in an intelligent Designer. I do, too. (However, I have indicated, elsewhere, my problems with the Intelligent Design movement, if you care to read about them.)

Thanks for reading. Praise the Creator!

Job on the source of wisdom (Hint: it isn't in human accomplishment)

From Job 28:

9 “Man puts his hand to the flinty rock
and overturns mountains by the roots.
10 He cuts out channels in the rocks,
and his eye sees every precious thing.
11 He dams up the streams so that they do not trickle,
and the thing that is hidden he brings out to light.

12 “But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its worth,
and it is not found in the land of the living.
14 The deep says, ‘It is not in me,’
and the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
15 It cannot be bought for gold,
and silver cannot be weighed as its price.

20 “From where, then, does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?

23 “God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.

28 And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’” (ESV)