Showing posts with label curse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label curse. Show all posts

Wednesday, 28 March 2012

Jeremiah (est 626-585 B.C.)



Jeremiah son of Hilkiah was from Anathoth, and was part of the Benjamin tribe, he was a priest and first started to hear God when he became thirteen.  He is told that despite his young age that he is to tell a message of doom and destruction to Judah followed by rising and rebuilding, and he starts to see visions.  He is told to go to Jerusalem and Judah to tell the people to turn from their wicked ways, and he is also told that he will be protected as other prophets have been killed by the people there.

He sees a vision of a barren earth with no life and the mountains are shaking, all done by the God's fierce anger.  God tells Judah that he will use Babylonians to destroy Israel and Judah to punish them for their wicked ways.  God speaks to Jeremiah by experience, through rotten buried clothes, through drought, through a pottery wheel.  God tells Jeremiah that the people are now destined for starvation, war and disease so he is asked to be a prophet once more, to deliver the message and that he will be protected, he will be make strong.
God has "put a curse on those who turn from him and trust in human strength"

People try and stop Jeremiah from his words, including people who falsely accuse him or event arrest him and hold him overnight.  However some just throw insults at him, but he suffers to the point whether he questions whether he should have been born at all.  Jeremiah is on trial, and they reference Micah how he had foretold the destruction of the temple, but the King had listened and destruction was adverted, and that Jeremiah should not be killed.

Hananiah challenges Jeremiah, but then Jeremiah foretells his death and Hananiah dies within two months.  Jeremiah writes to the King after he is taken as a captive to Babylonia, and explains that they will be brought back to Jerusalem after 70 years of Babylonian rule.  One of his letters went to Shemaiah, who then wrote letters to deny him, one went to the priest Zephaniah(not the Prophet) who showed Jeremiah and so Jeremiah cursed Shemaiah.

Jeremiah declares that the Lord will make a new convenant that will be written into the hearts and minds of people, foretelling a king in the line of David.
While a prisoner in Jerusalem, Jeremiah buys a pice of land belonging to the Benjamin tribe, later, he gets Baruch to write down what he says onto a scroll and the scroll is read out to the people then brought before the king, but the king chops it up and throws it into the fire, but another scroll is written this time including a curse upon the King

First Jeremiah is imprisoned in Jonathon's house, the in the palace prison but then he is thrown down a well but later rescued, and then he was kept in the palace gaurds residence.  When Jerusalem fell after a 18month siege, Jeremiah was going to be led away but he was set free and allowed to stay behind and have a house, he went to live with Gedaliah (the new leader of Judah) in Mizpah, but Gedaliah gets killed by Ismael, who takes everyone in Mizpah captive.

But the captives are rescued and plan to flee to Egypt but they stop at Geruth Chimham near Bethlehem, fearing for backlash from the Babylonians, but Jeremiah tells them to stay in Judah.  They refuse to listen and are all led to Egypt by Johanan.  But then the Lord tells Jeremiah that the Babylonains will now attack Egypt, Gaza, Philistine, Crete, Moab, Ammon, and the Kedar tribe.








Wednesday, 29 February 2012

Elisha (est.848 - 793)



Elisha the son of Shaphat was anointed to be a prophet by Elijah to be his eventual successor; he was ploughing in a field when Elijah found him.  From there they traveled from Gilgal to Bethel, then to Jericho, then to Jordan where Elijah planned his ascension.

Elisha asks Elijah for 'double portion of thy spirit', and he is told that it will be given if he watches Elijah ascend to heaven.  After that Elisha gained new understanding, instantly able to smite and to part water, and even cursed children who mocked him, causing a bear to attack them
Elisha then traveled to Mount Carmel and then onward to Samaria.  The King came seeking his help, and so a minstrel played music and the hand of the Lord came upon Elisha to tell the king what to do.

A woman later asks for help (supposeldy the wife of a son of a prophet) and Elisha helps her, afterwards he would often pass when in the area to share bread. Elisha eventually predicts that she will have a baby (after previously being barren), later on Elisha revives the boy after he dies.

King of Syria sends Naaman to Israel to be healed by the prophet, and is told to wash in the river seven times before he gets healed, and Elisha refuses payment as a reward, but his servant Gehazi runs after Naaman and takes payment, but in doing so, incurs Elisha's curse which makes him take Naaman's leprosy.  Sons of prophets are moving to Jordan to make a new home and Elisha goes with them.  King of Syria sends an army to besiege Dothan and fetch the prophet, but Elisha made them all blind and took them to Samaria.  Elisha was able to predict the price of food, the death of various people and a seven year famine among other things.  Prophets had the power to anoint a new King, even on his death bed, sick, the King came and grieved and yet Elisha left him with a prediction that he would only defeat the Syrians three times.