WOMEN IN THE BIBLE

WOMAN WITH ISSUE OF BLOOD

The Woman Who Was Healed by a Touch

Scripture Reference: Matthew 9:20-22; Mark 5:25-34; Luke 8:43-48

This sick, anonymous woman must have been emaciated after a hemorrhage lasting for twelve years, which rendered her legally unclean. She could not throw herself, therefore, at the feet of Christ and state her complaint. Her modesty, humility, uncleanness and pressure of the crowd made close contact well-nigh impossible, hence her eagerness to touch in some unnoticed way the hem of His garment. Who was this woman of faith? The primitive church, feeling she was entitled to a name, called her Veronica, who lived in Caesarea Philippi, but in the gospels she is enrolled in the list of anonymous female divines. There are several aspects of her cure worthy of note-

She Was Cured After Many Failures

What this poor woman really endured at the hands of the medical men of the time is left to the imagination. What a touch of reality is given to her story by the knowledge that she had suffered many things of many physicians and was no better but rather "grew worse." Where men failed, Christ succeeded. Down the ages men and women which no agency could reclaim have been restored by Christ. What is not possible with men is blessedly possible with God. Her disease was of long standing yet she was swiftly healed, for as soon as she touched the hem of His garment, "straight-way the fountain of her blood was dried up." If a person suffers for a while from a complaint and seeks no medical advice, but in the end goes to the doctor, he invariably says, "You should have come to me sooner." But it is the glory of Christ that He can heal those who come late to Him.

She Was Cured With the Utmost Rapidity

Mark's favorite word, "straightway," which he uses 27 times in his gospel, is in most cases related to Christ's rapid cures. How swift He was in His relief for the suffering! As at creation, so in His miracles of healing, "He spake and it was done." Spiritual parallels of His instantaneous power can be seen in the conversions of Matthew, Paul and the dying thief. Many of us, too, can testify to the fact that He can transform character in a moment of time. The term Jesus used in addressing the nameless sufferer suggests that she was still young, though wasted and faded by her malady which made her look older than she was. But the nature of her disease and the age of the one afflicted made no difference to Him in healing the sick and saving the lost. As Jesus passed by the withered fingers of the woman brushed the border of Christ's sacred dress, and all at once her thin body felt the painless health of her girlhood return. A strength she had not known for 12 years renewed her being, and she knew that Christ had made her whole.

She Acknowledged Receipt of the Benefit Bestowed

As soon as the woman touched Christ's garment, He felt that "virtue had gone out of Him," and turned about and said, "Who touched me?" The disciples mildly rebuked Jesus by saying, "Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?" Perhaps her touch had been unnoticed by the eyes of those around, and she must have been one of many who touched the Master that day as he proceeded on His errand of love, but a touch of faith could not be hidden from Him. Quickly the Physician saw the patient, and trembling with self-consciousness but too glad and grateful to falter, she confessed to her touch of His robe. "She told him all the truth." She experienced that open confession is good for the soul. What a glow of gratitude her countenance must have had, as she publicly stated that her burden for twelve years had rolled away!

She Was Commended for Her Faith

The crowd who listened to her confession also heard the Saviour's benediction, "Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace." As a true daughter of Abraham (Luke 13:16), her faith is crowned by the Master. Hers was not faith without a touch, or a touch without faith. Believing, she appropriated and was healed. "Daughter," was an endearing term for Jesus to use. Some tender insight of His own must have prompted Him to use it. As Theron Brown puts it so beautifully-

The restored sufferer would never forget the friendly benignity that assailed her with one indulgent epithet or the sympathy in that endearing term by which the Messiah of Israel recognized her as His own.... She cherished her debt to the Man of Galilee.

She Has a Place in Legend

It is said that this woman who was healed of her plague walked with Jesus as He went to His cross, and that seeing His blood and sweat, she drew out her handkerchief and wiped His brow. Later on, as she reverently caressed the piece of linen, she found the image of the blood-stained face of Jesus imprinted on it. Face cloths for the Roman catacombs alleged to hold the impress of His features were called Veronicas. About a.d. 320, Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea and a dependable historian records that when he visited Caesarea Philippi, he heard that the woman healed of her issue of blood out of gratitude for her cure had erected two brazen figures at the gate of her house, one representing a woman bending on her knee in supplication - the other, fashioned in the likeness of Jesus, holding out His hand to help her. The figure had a double cloak of brass. Eusebius adds this explicit statement as to these figures, "They were in existence even in our day and we saw them with our own eyes when we stayed in the city." The well-known Sankey gospel hymn recalls and applies the story of the nameless woman whom Jesus healed-

She only touched the hem of His garment,
As to His side she stole,
Amid the crowd that gathered around Him,
And straightway she was whole.

It is encouraging to know that His saving power this very hour can give new life to all who by faith take hold of His skirt (Zechariah 8:23).

WOMEN IN THE BIBLE

Abigail

The Woman With Beauty and Brains

Scripture Reference: 1 Samuel 25:1-42; 2 Samuel 3:3

Name Meaning: Father of Joy, or Cause of Joy

Family Connections: Scripture gives us no clue as to Abigail's parentage or genealogy. Ellicott suggests that the name given this famous Jewish beauty who became the good angel of Nabal's household was likely given her by the villagers of her husband's estate. Meaning "Whose father is joy," Abigail was "expressive of her sunny, gladness-bringing presence." Her religious witness and knowledge of Jewish history testify to an early training in a godly home, and acquaintance with the teachings of the prophets in Israel, Her plea before David also reveals her understanding of the events of her own world.

The three conspicuous characters in the story of one of the loveliest females in the Bible are Nabal, Abigail and David. Nabal is described as "the man churlish and evil in his doings" (1 Samuel 25:3), and his record proves him to be all that. Churlish means, a bear of man, harsh, rude and brutal. Destitute of the finer qualities his wife possessed, he was likewise avaricious and selfish. Rich and increased with goods and gold, he thought only of his possessions and could be classed among those of whom it has been written-

The man may breathe but never lives
Whoe'er receives but nothing gives-
Creation's blot, creation's blank,
Whom none can love and none can thank.

Nabal was also a drunken wretch, as well as being unmanageable and stubborn and ill-tempered. Doubtless he was often "very drunken." This wretch of a man was likewise an unbeliever, "a son of Belial," who bowed his knee to the god of this world and not to the God of his fathers. Further, as a follower of Saul he shared the rejected king's jealousy of David. Added to his brutal disposition and evil doings was that of stupidity, as his name suggests. Pleading for his unworthy life, Abigail asked for mercy because of his foolishness. "As his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him" (vs 25). Nabal means "a fool," and what Abigail actually meant was, "Pay no attention to my wretched husband for he's a fool by name, and a fool by nature." Truly, such a man will always provoke the profoundest perversion in all who read his story.

Abigail is as "a woman of good understanding, and of a beautiful countenance." In her, winsomeness and wisdom were wed. She had brains as well as beauty. Today, many women try to cultivate beauty and neglect their brains. A lovely face hides an empty mind. But with Abigail, loveliness and intelligence went hand in hand, with her intelligence emphasizing her physical attractiveness. A beautiful woman with a beautiful mind as she had is surely one of God's masterpieces.

Added to her charm and wisdom was that of piety. She knew God, and although she lived in such an unhappy home, she remained a saint. Her own soul, like that of David, was "bound in the bundle of life with the Lord God." Writing of Abigail as "A Woman of Tact" W. Mackintosh Mackay says that, "she possessed in harmonious combination these two qualities which are valuable to any one, but which are essential to one who has to manage men-the tact of a wise wife and the religious principle of a good woman." Eugenia Price, who writes of Abigail as, A Woman With God's Own Poise, says that, "only God can give a woman poise like Abigail possessed, and God can only do it when a woman is willing to cooperate as Abigail cooperated with Him on every point." True to the significance of her own name she experienced that in God her Father there was a source of joy enabling her to be independent of the adverse, trying circumstances of her miserable home life. She must have had implicit confidence in God to speak to David as she did about her divinely predestined future. In harmony with her many attractions was "the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is more lustrous than the diamonds that decorate the delicate fingers of our betters, shone as an ornament of gold about her head, and chains about her neck."

David is the other outstanding character in the record. He it was who fought the battles of the Lord, and evil had not been found in him all his days (25:28). He could match Abigail's beauty, for it was said of him that he was "ruddy...of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to" (1 Samuel 16:12). When Abigail and David became one they must have been a handsome pair to look upon! Then, in addition to being most musical, David was equal with Abigail in wisdom and piety for he was "prudent in matters,...and the Lord [was] with him" ( 1 Samuel 16:18).

The sacred historian tells us how these three persons were brought together in a tragic way. David was an outlaw because of Saul's hatred, and lived in the strongholds of the hills with his loyal band of 600 followers. Having often helped Nabal's herdsmen out, being in need of food for his little army, David sent a kind request to Nabal for help. In his churlish fashion, Nabal bluntly refused to give David a crumb for his hungry men, and dismissed David as a marauding hireling. Angered, David threatened to plunder Nabal's possession and kill Nabal and all those who emulated his contempt. Abigail, learning from the servants of David's request and her husband's rude refusal, unknown to Nabal, acted with thought, care and great rapidity. As Ellicott comments -

Having often acted as peace-maker between her intemperate husband and his neighbours, on hearing the story and how imprudently her husband had behaved, saw that no time must be lost, for with a clever woman's wit she saw that grave consequences would surely follow the churlish refusal and the rash words, which betrayed at once the jealous adherent of Saul and the bitter enemy of the powerful outlaw.

Gathering together a quantity of food and wine, sufficient she thought for David's immediate need, Abigail rode out on an ass and at a covert of a hill met David and his men-and what a momentous meeting it turned out to be. With discreet tact Abigail averted David's just anger over Nabal's insult to his messengers, by placing at David's feet food for his hungry men. She also revealed her wisdom in that she fell at the feet of David, as an inferior before a superior, and acquiesced with him in his condemnation of her brutal, foolish husband.

As a Hebrew woman was restricted by the customs of her time to give counsel only in an emergency and in the hour of greatest need, Abigail, who had risked the displeasure of her husband whose life was threatened, did not act impulsively in going to David to plead for mercy. She followed the dictates of her disciplined will, and speaking at the opportune moment her beautiful appeal from beautiful lips, captivated the heart of David. "As his own harp had appeased Saul, the sweet-toned voice of Abigail exorcised the demon of revenge, and woke the angel that was slumbering in David's bosom." We can never gauge the effect of our words and actions upon others. The intervention of Abigail in the nick of time teaches us that when we have wisdom to impart, faith to share, and help to offer, we must not hesitate to take any risk that may be involved.

Abigail had often to make amends for the infuriated outbursts of her husband. Neighbors and friends knew her drunken sot of a husband only too well, but patiently she would pour oil on troubled waters, and when she humbly approached with a large peace offering, her calmness soothed David's anger and gave her the position of advantage. For her peace-making mission she received the king's benediction (1 Sam. 25:33 ). Her wisdom is seen in that she did not attempt to check David's turbulent feelings by argument, but won him by wise, kind words. Possessing heavenly intelligence, self-control, common sense and vision, she exercised boundless influence over a great man, and marked herself out as a truly great woman. After Abigail's successful, persuasive entreaty for the life of her worthless husband, the rest of her story reads like a fairy tale. She returned to her wicked partner to take up her hard and bitter life again.

It is to the credit of this noble woman that she did not leave her godless husband or seek divorce from him, but remained a loyal wife and the protector of her worthless partner. She had taken him for better or for worse, and life for her was worse than the worst. Wretched though her life was, and spurned, insulted and beaten as she may have been during Nabal's drinking bouts, she clung to the man to whom she had sworn to be faithful. Abigail manifested a love stronger than death. But the hour of deliverance came ten days after her return home, when by a divine stroke, Nabal's worthless life ended. When David hearkened to the plea of Abigail and accepted her person, he rejoiced over being kept back by her counsel from taking into his own hands God's prerogative of justice (Romans 12:19).

When David said to Abigail, "Blessed be thy advice," he went on to confess with his usual frank generosity that he had been wrong in giving way to wild, ungovernable passion. If Abigail had not interceded he would have carried out his purpose and destroyed the entire household of Nabal, which massacre would have included Abigail herself. But death came as the great divorcer or arbiter, and Nabal's wonderful wife had no tears of regret, for amid much suffering and disappointment she had fulfilled her marriage vows. In that farmer's house there had been "The Beauty and the Beast." The Beast was dead, and the Beauty was legally free of her terrible bondage.

After Nabal's death, David "communed with Abigail" (1 Samuel 25:39) - a technical expression for asking one's hand in marriage (Song of Solomon 8:8) - and took her as his wife. Married to Israel's most illustrious king, Abigail entered upon a happier career. By David, she had a son named Chileab, or Daniel (compare 2 Samuel 3:3 with 1 Chronicles 3:1 ). The latter name means, "God is my Judge," and one has an inkling that the choice of such a name was Abigail's because of her experience of divine vindication. She accompanied David to Gath and Ziklag (1 Samuel 27:3; 30:5, 18). Matthew Henry's comment at this point is, "Abigail married David in faith, not questioning but that, though now he had not a house of his own, yet God's promise to him would at length be fulfilled." Abigail brought to David not only "a fortune in herself," but much wealth so useful to David in the meeting of his manifold obligations.

Among the lessons to be learned from the life of Abigail, the first is surely evident, namely, that much heartache follows when a Christian woman marries an unbeliever. Unequal yokes do not promote true and abiding happiness. The tragedy in Abigail's career began when she married Nabal, a young man of Naon. Already we have asked the question, Why did she marry such a man? Why did such a lovely girl throw herself away upon such a brute of a man? According to the custom of those times marriages were man-made, the woman having little to say about the choice of a husband. Marriage was largely a matter of family arrangement. Nabal was of wealthy parentage and rich in his own right with 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats and thus seemed a good catch for Abigail. But character should be considered before possessions.

Many a woman in the world today made her own choice of a partner. Perhaps she knew of his failures and thought that after marriage she would reform him, but found herself joined to one whose ways became more evil. Then think of those brave, unmurmuring wives who have to live with the fool of a husband whose drunken, crude ways are repellant, yet who, by the grace of God accept and live with their trial; and who, because of a deep belief in divine sufficiency retain their poise. Such living martyrs are among God's heroines. All of us know of those good women chained with the fetters of a wretched married life for whom it would be infinitely better for them -

To lie in their graves where the head, heart and breast,
From care, labour and sorrow forever should rest.
Thinking of modern Abigails the appropriate lines of noble Elizabeth Barrett Browning come to mind -
The sweetest lives are those to duty wed,
Whose deeds, both great and small, and closeknit strands
Of an unbroken thread; where love ennobles all.
The World may sound no trumpets, ring no bells:
The Book of Life the shining record tells.

WOMEN IN THE BIBLE

Puah

Scripture Reference: Exodus 1:15

Name Meaning: Child bearing or joy of parents.

Alarmed over the rapid increase of the population of Israelites in Egypt, Pharaoh ordered two Egyptian midwives to destroy all male children as soon as they were born (Exodus 1:15-20). He would never have employed Hebrew women to destroy the males of their own nation. The answer of the two named midwives, Puah and Shiprah, to Pharaoh's anger when he discovered that his cruel edict was not being carried out, implies that they were used to wait upon Egyptian women who only employed them in difficulty at childbirth (Exodus 1:19 ). Hebrew women seldom employed midwives for they were more "lively," or had far easier births than the Egyptians.

Puah and Shiprah are Egyptian names. Aben Ezra, the ancient Jewish historian, says that these two women "were chiefs over all the midwives, who were more than 500." As superintendents of such a large staff to which they had been appointed by the Egyptian government, Pharaoh ordered them to carry out his terrible command just as he would give orders to any other of his officials. As it is likely that only the chief Hebrews could afford the service of midwives, probably the order of Pharaoh only applied to them. Although Egyptians by birth, it would seem as if they had embraced the Hebrew faith, for we are told that Puah and Shiprah "feared God" ( Exodus 1:21).

Receiving the royal command to commit murder, these two loyal, vigorous, middleaged women were caught between two fires. Whom should they obey? The God of the Hebrews in whom they had come to believe, or the tyrannical king of Egypt? True to their conscience and honored calling they knew it would conflict with the divine command to kill, and so "saved the men children alive." Thus, they obeyed God rather than man, and in so doing brought upon their heads the rage of Pharaoh. Confronting his anger, Puah and Shiprah took refuge in a partial truth. They said that because Jewish women had easy deliveries, their children were born before they could reach them and assist the mothers in labor.

Cognizant as He was of the partial truth the two midwives told, God knew all about the crisis behind it, and commended Puah and Shiprah for their courage of faith. They had risked their lives for many Jewish infants. Such an act was meritorious in the eyes of the Lord, and He honorably rewarded them by building them houses. Fausset suggests that the nature of such a reward consisted in the two midwives marrying Hebrews and becoming mothers in Israel (2 Samuel 7:11, 27). Puah and Shiprah are striking witnesses against the scandalous practice of abortion, which several nations have legalized.

WOMEN IN THE BIBLE

MARY MOTHER OF JESUS

The Woman Honored Above All Women

Scripture Reference: Matthew 1; Matthew 2; Matthew 12:46; Luke 1; Luke 2; John 2:1-11; John 19:25 ; Acts 1:14

Name Meaning: No female has been honored as has Mary by millions of peoples in all the world who have named their daughters Mary. This Hebrew name has ever been popular in all countries of the Western world, and has altogether some twenty variations, the most conspicuous being Maria, Marie, Miriam and Miriamme. Mary is about the only feminine name that has pronounced masculine forms such as Mario, Marion and Maria. Elsden C. Smith says that Mary heads the list of female names in America, the estimated number some ten years ago being 3,720,000-Marie, 645,000-Marion, 440,000-Marian, 226,000. "The name of Mary has been given at least 70 different interpretations in a frantic effort to get away from the Biblical significance of bitterness." ...

The name Mary occurs 51 times in the New Testament, and its prevalence there has been attributed to the popularity of Miriamne, the last representative of the Hasmonean family, who was the second wife of Herod I. As a name Mary is related to the Old Testament Miriam, to Mara, the name Naomi used to describe her affliction (see Naomi), and to Marah, the name of the bitter water reached by the Israelites in their wilderness journeys. The original and pervading sense of these root-forms is that of "bitterness," derived from the notion of "trouble, sorrow, disobedience, rebellion." Cruden gives "their rebellion" as the name-meaning of Miriam. Mary the virgin, whom we are now considering, certainly had many "bitter" experiences, as we shall see.

Family Connections: According to the sacred record, Mary was a humble village woman who lived in a small town, a place so insignificant as to lead Nathanael to say, "Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth?" (John 1:46), but out of it, and from the womb of the peasant woman came the greatest Man the world has ever known. Mary was of the tribe of Judah, and the line of David. In the royal genealogy of Matthew and the human genealogy of Luke, Mary is only mentioned in the former, but her immediate forebears are not mentioned. She became the wife of Joseph, the son of Heli ( Luke 3:23). Apart from Jesus, called her "first-born," a term implying that other children followed after the order of natural generation (Luke 2:7). As a virgin, Mary bore Christ in a miraculous way, and Elisabeth most spontaneously and unaffectedly gave her the most honorable of titles, "Mother of the Lord" and praised her unstintedly as one, "Blessed among women." Later Mary was married to Joseph the carpenter and she bore him four sons and several daughters, the former being named - James, Joses, Judas and Simon, and the daughters unnamed ( Matthew 13:55, 56; Mark 6:3). During His ministry, none of His brothers believed in Him. In fact, they sneered at Him, and once concluded that He was mad, and wished to arrest Him and take Him away from Capernaum (Mark 3:21, 31; John 7:3-5). But as the result of His death and Resurrection, His brothers became believers, and were among the number gathered in the Upper Room before Pentecost. None of His brothers was an apostle during His lifetime ( Acts 1:13, 14).

The Roman Catholic Church ... produces two theories as to "the brethren of the Lord." First, they were sons of Joseph by a former marriage, having thus no blood relationship with Mary or Jesus. Second, they were Christ's cousins, sons of Mary, the wife of Alphaeus (Matthew 27:56; Mark 15:40). The term "brother" only implies mere kinship, just as Laban called Jacob, his sister's son, his "brother" (Genesis 29:15 ). ... Mark says, "His brothers and sisters," and [this author] believe[s] these to have been the natural children of Joseph and Mary, after the birth of Jesus by the Spirit's power. Coming to the events of Mary's life, as well as the excellencies of her character, perhaps we can group them around the following key heads -

Her Super-eminence

Mary, as the mother of Jesus, is better known than any other female character in the Bible, and has been the best-known woman in the world since those days of the manger in Bethlehem. After the centuries, the statement still stands, "Blessed art thou among women" (Luke 1:28 ). While we have no word as to her beauty or pedigree, we know that she was poor. Yet in the Bible and outside of it she came to occupy the highest place among women. Madonnas abound in which eminent artists have vied in trying to imagine what she looked like. What she did possess was beauty of character. ... Gibbons rightly says -

The word is governed more by ideals than by ideas; it is influenced more by living, concrete models than by abstract principles of virtue. The model held up to Christian women is not the Amazon, glorying in her martial deeds and prowess; it is not the Spartan women who made female perfection consist in the development of physical strength at the expense of feminine decorum and modesty; it is not the goddess of impure love, like Venus, whose votaries regards beauty of form and personal charms as the highest type of female excellence; nor is it the goddess of imperial will like Juno. No; the model held up to women from the very dawn of Christianity is the peerless Mother of our Blessed Redeemer. She is the pattern of virtue alike to maiden, wife and mother. She exhibits virginal modesty becoming the maid, the conjugal fidelity and loyalty of the spouse, and the untiring devotedness of the mother.... The influence of Mary, therefore, in the moral elevation of women can hardly be over estimated.

... we cannot fail to be impressed with her character even though we are not told more than we have in sacred history. "Highly favoured of the Lord" and having "found favour with him" (Luke 1:28, 30) surely gives her a pedestal all her own. Mary belongs to those grand majestic females inspired with the spirit of prophecy, who is capable of influencing those who become rulers of men and also the destiny of nations.

Her Selection

Among all the godly Jewish maidens of that time in Palestine why did God select such a humble peasant young woman as Mary? Her choice by God to be the mother of the Incarnate Son is as mysterious as her conception of Him within her virgin womb. When the fullness of time had come for Jesus to be manifested He did not go to a city, but to a remote and inconsiderate town - not to a palace but a poor dwelling - not to the great and learned but to lowly partisans - for a woman to bring the Saviour into a lost world. The gentle and lowly Mary of Nazareth was the Father's choice as the mother of His beloved Son, and that she herself was overwhelmed at God's condescending grace in choosing her is evident from her song of praise in which she magnified Him for regarding her lowly estate, and in exalting her.

Mary, then, was selected by divine wisdom from among the humblest and it was in such an environment that the Father prepared His Son to labor among the common people who heard Him gladly. The one of whom He was born, the place where he was born were arranged beforehand by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. Centuries before Mary became the mother of the Saviour of mankind, it was prophesied that it would be so (Isaiah 7:14-16; Isaiah 9:6, 7; Micah 5:2, 3 ). Born of a peasant maiden, and having a foster-father who eeked out a frugal living as a carpenter, Jesus was best able to sympathize with man as man, and be regarded by all men as the common property of all.

Her Sanctity

Because Mary's divine Child was to be "holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners," she herself had to be holy unto the Lord. When Gabriel announced to the virgin whose name was Mary that she was to bring forth a Son to be called Jesus, he recognized her spiritual fitness for such an honor when he said, "The Lord is with thee" (Luke 1:28 ). The woman who was to give Him birth, whose breast would be His pillow and who would nurse and care for Him in infancy, who would guide His steps through boyhood years, and surround Him with true motherly attention until His manhood, had to be a sanctified vessel and meet for the Master's use. That Mary excelled in the necessary, spiritual qualities for her sacred task is evident from the record we have of her character. Augustine says that, "Mary first conceived Christ in her heart by faith, before she conceived in the womb," and the testimony of Elisabeth expresses and stamps the whole character of the Virgin, "Blessed is she that believeth," implying that she wore the crown of faith above all others.

Mary exhibited a true and genuine piety, as well as a profound humility - the accompaniment of holiness. As we read the narrative given by Luke, to whom, as a physician, Mary could speak intimately of her profound experience, we are impressed with her quietness of spirit, meditative inwardness of disposition, admirable self-control, devout and gracious gift of sacred silence, and a mind saturated with the spirit and promises of the Old Testament. All who reverence Mary for her true and womanly character are pained by the way in which some of the early Church fathers treated her. Origen, for instance, wrote that "the sword which should pierce through her heart was unbelief." Chrysostom did not control his "golden mouth" when he accused Mary of "excessive ambition, foolish arrogance, and vainglory," during her Son's public ministry.

Advanced as she was to the highest honor that could be granted to a woman, Mary yet retained a deep sense of personal unworthiness. She would have been the last to claim perfection for herself. Born like the rest of women in sin and shaped in iniquity, she had her human faults and needed a Saviour as others did - "My spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour" - but the witness of Scripture is that in circumstances of unparalleled responsibility she was a true and godly character, and in spite of any female weaknesses she may have had, she was "the most pure and tender and faithful, the most humble and patient and loving, of all who have ever borne the honored name of Mary."

Her Submission

What amazes one about the Annunciation is the way Mary received it. She was in no way credulous or skeptical. Certainly she asked intelligent questions of Gabriel as to how she could become the mother of Jesus, seeing she was a pure virgin. Following a full explanation of how the miracle would happen, she, with a tremendous feat of faith, replied, "Be it unto me according to thy word." In these days when reason is seeking to dethrone revelation, and the Virgin Birth of Christ is rejected as a fundamental fact and treated in a mythical way, we affirm our faith in this initial miracle of Christianity. We accept by faith the Biblical statement that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit as He overshadowed the virgin. Thus, as Fausset states it -

Christ was made of the substance of the Virgin, not of the substance of the Holy Spirit, whose substance cannot be made. No more is attributed to the Spirit than what was necessary to cause the Virgin to perform the actions of a mother.

When Mary willingly yielded her body to the Lord saying, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to thy word," the Holy Spirit, by His gentle operation, took Deity and humanity and fused them together and formed the love-knot between our Lord's two natures within Mary's being. Therefore, when Jesus came forth it was as the God-Man, "God manifest in flesh," or "that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." Son of Mary - humanity! Son of God - Deity. We may not understand the mystery of what happened when Mary yielded up her body that Christ should be formed within it, but believing that with God nothing is impossible we accept what Scripture says as to the birth of Christ. Further, there is the unanswerable argument Donald Davidson reminds us of, namely, "that Jesus Christ Himself is such a miracle that it is no straining of faith to believe that His birth was also a miracle." We cannot account for His perfect holiness apart from His Virgin Birth. Born of a woman, He was yet clean.

Her Salutation

Taking the Lord at His word, Mary praised Him as if what He had declared had been fully accomplished. What a marvelous song of rejoicing the Magnificat is! It reveals poetic and prophetic genius of the highest order, and takes its place among the finest productions of the world. This extemporaneous ode expressing Mary's joy is indeed one of the choicest gems of Hebrew poetry. As given by Luke (Luke 1:46-55 ) this lyric expresses Mary's inward and deeply personal sacred and unselfish joy, and likewise her faith in Messianic fulfillment. It is also eloquent with her reverential spirit. Her worship was for her Son, for her spirit rejoiced in Him as her own Saviour.

Her "hymn" also spoke of her humility, for she was mindful of the fact that she was but a humble village maiden whose "low estate" the Lord regarded. Mary's "firstborn" Child was to say of Himself, "I am meek and lowly in heart," and such poverty of spirit is the first beatitude and the very threshold of the kingdom of heaven. By her "low estate" Mary not only had in mind the material poverty she was accustomed to, but also the sharpest of all poverty, the low estate of one of Royal birth. Mary never claimed anything for herself, but Christendom wrongly selected her as the object of worship and one entitled to a consideration above her Son.

Her Service

What must not be forgotten is the fact that Mary not only bore Jesus, but also mothered Him for the thirty years He tarried in the poor Nazareth home. Thus from childhood to manhood she did everything a devoted mother could do for the Son whom she knew was no ordinary Man. "Hers was the face that unto Christ had most resemblance." While Mary did not neglect her motherly duties to the sons and daughters she bore Joseph, because of all she knew Jesus to be she surrounded His early years with character-forming influences. From the divine side we know that as Jesus grew "he waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him," and that He "increased in stature and in favour with God and man." But from the human side Jesus was subject to the home control of Joseph and Mary.

There were some things Mary was not able to give her Son. She could not surround Him with wealth. When she presented the divine Infant in the Temple all she could offer as a gift was a pair of pigeons - the offering of the very poor. But little is much if God is in it! Then she could not introduce Jesus to the culture of the age. Being poor, and enduring an enforced exile in Egypt, she had little of the acquired education of one like Luke who recorded her story. But she gave her Saviour-Son gifts of infinitely more value than secular and material advantages. What did she give Him?

First of all, from the human angle, she gave Him life, and He became bone of her bone, flesh of her flesh, and, until He was weaned, her warm milk nourished Him.

Then, along with Joseph, she gave Jesus a home, which although it was most unpretentious, was yet the only home He knew in the days of His flesh. Because of the character of Mary, we feel that her home was permeated with mutual trust and love and sympatheic understanding.

Purity of heart was among the flowers of character Mary cultivated in the home in which Jesus - and the other children - grew up. Can it be that when Jesus left home to become a preacher, He had His pious mother in mind when He said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God"? Christ's holiness was a part of His divine nature, but it was also a part of His humanity received from His mother who thought of herself as "the handmaid of the Lord."

Another quality Jesus grew to appreciate in His mother was the sense of the presence of God. Gabriel said to Mary, "The Lord is with thee" and this divine awareness surrounded the holy Child Jesus. To Mary, God was not a being afar off, uninterested in her life or in the world. He had created but One who was so near and real. Why, because her Son was "very God of very God," Mary was ever in the divine presence, and must have realized it.

Obedience, a trait prominent in Mary's own life, was another quality in which she trained her Son. There is an old saying to the effect that a child who is not taught to obey his parents will not obey God. Mary submitted to the Father's will as the channel of the Incarnation, and her holy Child grew up not only obedient to Mary and Joseph but also to His heavenly Father whose will was His delight.

Further, the one book in that Nazareth home was the Old Testament. That Mary's mind was saturated with its promises and prophecies is evident from her song of praise. Like Timothy, Jesus, from a child, was familiar with the Holy Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:15). As His mother read to Him the records of the saints and prophets, how interested He must have been. Then there came the time when He knew that the Scripture testified of Him; that He came to be the Living Word.

Her Sorrow

When Mary brought her infant Son to be dedicated in the Temple, the aged, godly Simeon, taking the Babe in his arms and blessing Him, said to His mother, "A sword shall pierce through thy own soul also." Mary was to experience darkness, as well as delight, as her "first-born" went out to fulfill His mission in the world. She would see Him as the "sign spoken against." Manifold sword piercings were to be hers as the mother of the Lord. We cannot imagine the bitter trials of the years of her Son's sojourn on the earth, particularly His last three and a half years ending in His death. Mary had listened to those angel voices rending the air as they hailed her new-born Baby as the Saviour of mankind, and heard the shepherds as they recounted the vision they had seen. She had witnessed the worship and homage of the wise men when, guided by a star, they came to the feet of her Child; and "she kept all these in her heart." Whether she recounted these things to her growing Child we are not told. Personally, we believe that born the Son of God, Jesus had an inner awareness of who He was, from whence He came, and what His mission in the world was to be, from His earliest conscious years. During the years that Jesus was at home, Mary must have had many an inner pang, but by divine grace both then and after, she remained silently submissive, patient and trustful, knowing that the sword, piercing her heart from time to time, was in her heavenly Father's hand.

Following the records of the gospels concerning the conversations between and about Jesus and Mary, the first event we notice took place in Jerusalem where Mary and her husband, Joseph, and Jesus had gone for the annual Feast of Passover. When the ceremonies were over Joseph and Mary, with their relatives, left for home, lost in animated gossip about each other's affairs. Mary suddenly realized that Jesus, now twelve years of age, was not near her, and searching for Him among her kinsfolk and acquaintances could not find Him. Retracing her steps to the Temple she found Jesus where He had been left, and came upon Him in conversation with the fathers of the sanctuary. Remonstrating with her Son, Mary said, "Thy father and I have sought thee."

Christ's reply was like a sword piercing her heart: "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" He had no earthly father for He came as the only babe to enter the world without any earthly father. He was born of a woman, but not of a woman and a man. Young though He was, He knew of His divine parentage that separated Him from others, and He expected His mother to realize what such a gulf meant. Perhaps now, for the first time, Mary understood that her Son knew God to be, in a special sense, His only Father. There in the Temple, Nazareth faded from the mind of Jesus and earthy ties receded into the distance. He felt only one presence - the Father above in whose bosom He had dwelt from the dateless past. Mary had left her Son behind - behind with God. Her divine, "lost" Boy was to be God's only hope for a "lost" world.

The mixed feelings in the mother's heart, and her almost reproachful language as she sought to charge Jesus with having disregarded His mother's natural feelings, must have been checked by a sort of awe as she looked at Him in the Temple with rapt countenance and then heard Him say that His place was in His Father's house. Thus the narrative develops so naturally, tenderly, and in a most human way.

Being only twelve years of age, Jesus knew that every Jewish son must be subject to his parents. He indicated this in His reply to Mary, for He "went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them." For the next eighteen years He yielded to His home authority. It is felt that during this period Mary lost the protection of her husband, for if he had been alive he would have been certainly mentioned in succeeding events (Mark 3:31; John 2:1; John 19:25 ). Joseph had been a carpenter, and on his death Jesus took over the village business. In that carpenter's shop we have "the toil of divinity revealing the divinity of toil." "Is not this the Carpenter?" Then Joseph's place in the home would be filled in measure by Jesus the first-born, who would care for His mother and give her years of peace.

We now come to recorded incidents causing Mary to realize that Jesus had severed Himself once and for all from her control. There were to be further sword-thrusts as she understood that her illustrious Son was absolutely independent of her authority and of human relationships. For thirty years Mary had carried in her heart the secret of His birth and the prophecy of His Messianic mission. Now the moment of parting comes when Jesus leaves the home that has sheltered Him for so long. And the striking thing is that we do not read of Jesus ever returning to it. In the home Mary had made for her Son, God had been preparing Him (for thirty years) for a brief but dynamic ministry lasting just over three years. As Jesus began His public life, His first miracle gave Him the occasion for impressing His mother with the fact that she must no longer impose her will and wishes upon Him (John 2). There must have been a pang in Mary's heart the day Jesus left her home for good, and another heart-wound as she encountered the lack of official recognition as His mother. Whenever He met her it seemed as if He repelled her.

At the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee, at which Jesus and Mary were guests, a predicament arose when the stock of wine failed, and Mary, who failed to see that the youth had become a man, sought to order her Son to meet the crisis. His mother, conscious of the supernatural power Jesus was to manifest, approached Jesus and said suggestively, "They have no wine."

Jesus replied abruptly: "Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come." He was not disrespectful when He used the term "woman," for such was the common mode of respectful address among the Hebrews. Thus, in the original the words addressed by Jesus to His mother are free from any element of disrespect or of hardness. Mary said to the servants: "Whatsoever he saith unto you do it," and a short time later Jesus performed His first miracle. His purpose in speaking to His mother as He did was to check any undue interference on her part of His mediatorial work. As Augustine put it -

He does not acknowledge a human womb when about to work Divine works.

Although blessed among women, Mary was to learn that she must not be permitted to control the operations of the One sent of the Father. As the Son of Mary, Jesus was willingly subject to her, but now as the Son of God, Mary must endeavor to be subject to Him. The very fact that He addressed her as woman and not as mother must have had but one meaning for her, namely, that from now on the direction of His course had entered into His Father's hands. Fausset's comment is -

The Christian's allegiance is solely to Him, not to her also: a prescient forewarning of the Holy Ghost against mediaeval and modern mariolatry.

After a double circuit of Galilee during which crowds gathered around Jesus for teaching and healing, so much so that He had little time, "to eat bread," His mother and brothers came to remonstrate with Him to take care. Had not the men of Nazareth sought to throw Him over the brow of the hill (Luke 4:29)? Now, anxious for His safety and fearing He would destroy Himself by His constant work and lack of food and rest, Mary and her sons "sought to speak with him, and to lay hold on him, for they said, He is beside himself" (Mark 3:21, 31-35 ). It was natural for a mother to be concerned about her Son wearing Himself out. He might fall exhausted under His load of work and perhaps sink into an untimely grave.

Thinking, perhaps, that she might save Jesus from the effects of an imprudent enthusiasm, Mary receives another mild rebuke in which He hinted that the blessedness of Mary consisted not in being His mother, but in believing in Him and in His God-given mission, and in obedience to His words. Jesus again denies any authority of earthly relatives, or any privilege from human relationships. "My mother! Who is My mother and My brothers?" Then pointing to those sitting around Him who had believed His word and followed Him, He said, "Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother" (Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 11:28). In effect Jesus said, "I, in working out the world's redemption, can acknowledge only spiritual relationships." So the distance between Mary and her Son widens, and the piercings of the sword, which old Simeon had prophesied, were keenly felt. Although all generations were to call Mary blessed, yet privileged and highly favored beyond all members of the human family, here was a bitter cup of sorrow she was compelled to drink.

Mary's deepest sword piercing came when in agony she stood beneath that old rugged cross and witnessed the degradation, desolation and death of the One whom she had brought into the world and intensely loved. She heard the blasphemies and revilings of the priests and the people, and saw the lights go out - but her faith did not die. If Calvary was our Lord's crown of sorrow, it was likewise Mary's, yet how courageous she was. Others might sit and watch the suffering Christ, or smite their breasts and cry, but "Mary stood by the cross." Should she not have been spared the agony of seeing the Son of her womb die such a despicable death? No! It was in the divine order of things that she should be found beneath that cross to receive the parting benediction of her Son and Saviour, and His committal of her to the affectionate care of the disciple whom He loved.

At the cross her station keeping
Stood the mournful mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.
Through her heart His sorrow sharing,
All His bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword has passed.

At previous meetings with Christ, Mary expressed her feelings. Now, as He dies, she stands in silence. Those around her had no conception of her inner grief as she stood where her Son could see her. No Spartan mother ever displayed such fortitude as Mary manifested at the cross. How impressed we are with the valor of Mary, as the sword pierces her heart again "now that which she brought forth was dying"! Before He died Jesus recognized His human relationship to Mary, which He had during His ministry put in the background, that His higher relationship must stand out more prominently. Commending Mary to John, Jesus did not address her by name, or as His mother, but as "Woman." To John He said, "Thy mother" (John 19:26, 27). But even then she did not desert her Son. Some of His disciples forsook Him and fled, but her love never surrendered, even though her Son was dying as a criminal between two thieves.

To John, His much-loved disciple, Jesus left His mother as a legacy. In the last moments of His life, and in the crisis of His deepest sorrow, His thought was of the future of His brokenhearted mother whom John took to his own home. Thus, as Augustine expresses it, "He needed no helper in redeeming all; He gave human affection to His mother, but sought no help of man." The transference of the bond of motherhood from Himself to John raises the question, "Why did He not entrust Mary to one of her older sons or daughters?" Evidently she was a widow, otherwise Jesus would not have called upon His beloved disciple to perform the duties of an elder brother. But why not commit Mary to His own brother who would become the elder in that Nazareth home? Perhaps in John's home Jesus knew that Mary would find the spiritual atmosphere more suited to her thirst for God, and that in John Mary would find a soul on fire similar to His own zeal for God.

We may feel, that because of the steadfast tie of tender love and mutual understanding between Jesus and Mary, Jesus should have used a softer word and said, "Behold My mother!" and not "thy mother." Was this the final sword thrust Simeon had predicted some thirty-three years before? No! He knew that Mary would be a true mother in Israel to John, and that he, in turn, would care for the blessed among women in her declining years. Further, as Donald Davidson reminds us, "In that moment the tremendous truth must at last have dawned upon Mary, that He who hung upon the cross was not her son; that before the world was He was; that so far from being His mother, she was herself His child." On the morning of His Resurrection Jesus did not appear first to Mary His mother, but to Mary Magdalene - surely an evidence of His matchless grace.

The last glimpse we have of Mary is a heartwarming one. We find her among the group of believers gathered together in the upper chamber. She is mentioned, not first in the list, before the apostles, where the Roman Catholic Church places her, but last, as if she were of less significance than they (Acts 1:12-14 ). Her Son is alive forevermore, and life has changed for her. So she takes her place among those awaiting the coming of the Spirit to equip them for the beginning of the Christian community. Mary was present in that upper room not as an object of worship, not as the directress of the infant church, but as a humble suppliant along with the rest, including her sons, who, by this time, were believers. So the last mention of Mary is a happy one. We see her praying, along with her sons whom she had possibly led into a full-orbed faith, as well as the other disciples who had met to pray and await the gift of Pentecost.

A Comparison of the Four Major Prophets

Comparing the Four Major Prophets in the Bible

Comparison of the Four Major Prophets
	Isaiah	Jeremiah	Ezekiel	Daniel
Prophesied To:	Jews in Judea	Jews in Judea and captivity	Jews captive in Babylon	Jews captive in Babylon and Gentile kings
Concerning:	Judah and Jerusalem (Isa. 1:1; 2:1)	Judah and Nations (Jer. 1:5, 9-10; 2:1-2)	The whole house of Israel (Ezek. 2:3-6; 3:4-10, 17)	Israel and Gentile Nations (Dan. 2:36ff; 9)
During the reigns of:	Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah (kings of Judah)	Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah (kings of Judah)	Zedekiah (king of Judah); Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon)	Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, Zedekiah (kings of Judah). Nebuchadnezzar (king of Babylon
Dates:	740-680 B.C.	627-585 B.C.	592-570 B.C.	605-536 B.C.
Historical Setting:	2 Kings 15-21; 2 Chronicles 26-30	2 Kings 22-25	Daniel 1-6	Daniel 1-6

PROPHETS IN THE BIBLE - AMOS

AMOS

The Prophet Amos lived during the long reign of King Jeroboam II. Jeroboam the son of Joash (not to be confused with Jeroboam the son of Nevat, the first king of the Northern Kingdom of the Ten Tribes) reigned over the Ten Tribes of Israel for forty years (from the year 3114 till 3153 after Creation). Under his reign the Northern Kingdom of Israel enjoyed one of its most happy and prosperous periods. He recovered every piece of land which had been lost by his forerunners. He subdued the Kingdom of Moab and captured parts of Syria (Aram) which had long been like a thorn in the flesh of his people. Even Damascus, Syria's capital fell to him. Relationship with the twin kingdom, the southern Kingdom of Judah, was still strained at first. Jeroboam maintained the stern control over it which his father had exerted; he also held members of the Royal family of Judah as hostages to ensure that the southern neighbor would make no trouble. later, however, he realized that friendship and mutual help between the two Jewish kingdoms would be better for both. He helped repair the damage which his father had done to Judah, and he gave part of the land which he had taken from Syria to the king of Judah, Amatziah. Together with the good political situation came economic prosperity. Many people in the Northern Kingdom became very wealthy, and began to lead a luxurious life. Friendly relations with the Phoenicians, who were the greatest merchants and seafaring people of those days, brought things of rare beauty and luxury into the Jewish Kingdom. Unfortunately, the unusual prosperity brought a collapse of moral standards. Ignored were the great ideals and commandments of the Torah to help the poor, and to practice justice and loving kindness. The rich oppressed the poor; might was right; it was an age of corruption. Hand in hand with this degeneration of the morals of the people went increased idolatry. People built many altars on mountains to serve the Canaanite gods, the Baal and Ashtarte. The Golden Calves, which the first Jeroboam set up in the north and south of the country to turn the people away from the Beth Hamikdosh in Jerusalem, were worshipped more than before and the teachings of the Torah and the holy commandments were viewed with contempt. Again and again, God sent His messengers, the prophets, to admonish the people and to warn them that unless they mended their ways, they and the land would be doomed. Yet the admonitions were, for the most part, unheeded. The people went their own way. One of the great prophets at this time was Hosea; another one was Amos. Amos was a shepherd before the spirit of prophecy came over him. He was a herdsman from the village of Tekoa, and a dresser of sycamore trees. He began his prophecies "in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, the king of Israel, two years before the earthquake." His fearless and outspoken words came thundering and stirred the people. Characteristic are his opening words: "God will roar fronm Zion, and utter His voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither." By "the shepherds" he must have meant the leaders of Israel, who failed their "flock;" and "the top of Carmel" were likewise those sitting at the top, who will be first to be stricken down. But before admonishing the Jewish people, he had much to say about the transgressions of Damascus, Gaza, Tyrus, Edom, Ammon and Moab - all the neighbors of the two Jewish kingdoms, who would suffer the consequences of their evil ways. Then he addresses himself to Judah: "Thus with God, 'For three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not withhold My punishment: because they have despised the Torah of God, and have not kept His commandments...'" In similar words he begins his prophecy against the Northern Kingdom: Thus saith God, 'For three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not withhold My punishment: because they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of sandals...'" Fearlessly, the prophet admonishes the "Kine (beasts) of Bashan, that are in the mountains of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy." He warned the rich who had amassed their fortunes by cheating and robbery, that they would not enjoy their riches, but would lose everything when the land went down in doom. Said he: "Thus hath said God to the House of Israel: 'Seek for Me, and you shall live. Seek for the good, and not evil, in order that you may live; that God the Lord of Hosts, be with you. Hate evil and love good; and establish justice firmly in the courts. Then, perhaps, God the Lord of Hosts, will be gracious to the remnants of Joseph." By the "remnants of Joseph" the prophet meant the Kingdom of the Ten Tribes, for it was out of the Tribe of Ephraim, the son of Joseph, that Jeroboam the First came to establish the new kingdom, in opposition to the Kingdom of Judah. Amos was not afraid to appear in Bethel at the very time when crowds were gathered there to worship the Golden Calf which Jeroboam the First, had set up in a special temple. In the very midst of the celebration, Amos announced the terrible punishment that God would bring upon the sinful people of Israel. The crowd became angry, and their leader, the false priest Amaziah, incited the people to do violence to Amos. However, King Jeroboam protected the prophet, and let no harm befall him. Amaziah ridiculed the prophet, warning him to flee to Judah, where people of his kind would be more welcome, and never return to Bethel. But Amos replied that he was no professional prophet, nor a prophet's disciple, but a simple man from the land, a breeder of sheep. Amos declared boldly and fearlessly that God had sent him to Bethel to speak in His Name and warn the people of their impending doom. The prophet reminded the people of the many kindnesses which God had shown them since the beginning of their history as a people. "You only, have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will visit upon you all your sins." the prophet said, telling them that because God has chosen them as His people, He demands of them higher standards, and, like a loving father punishes his erring son just because he loves him, so God would punish them for their sins. The Book of Amos consists of nine chapters, but despite his severe admonitions in most of the book, he finishes his prophecies on a happy note, of the wonderful things that will happen to the Jewish people on "That Day," on the day of the true Redemption: "In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old... "Behold, the days come, saith God, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt. And I will bring back the captivity of My people Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them. And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith God thy God."

PROPHETS IN THE BIBLE - JONAH

		One day the Lord spoke to Jonah son of Amittai.
		He said, "Go to Nineveh, that great city, and speak out against its people are." Jonah, however, set out in the opposite direction in order to get away from the LORD.        He went to Joppa, where he found a ship about to go to Spain.  He paid his fare and went aboard with the crew to sail to Spain, where he would be away from the LORD.         But the LORD sent a strong wind on the sea, and the storm was so violent that the ship was in danger of breaking up.  The sailors were terrified and cried out for help, each one to his own god.  Then, in order to lesson the danger, they threw the cargo overboard.  Meanwhile, Jonah had gone below and was lying in the ship's hold, sound asleep.   The captain found him there and said to him, "What are you doing asleep?  Get up and pray to your god for help.  Maybe he will feel sorry for us and spare our lives."         The sailors said to each other, "Let's draw lots and find out who is to blame for getting us into this danger."  They did so, and Jonah's name was drawn.  So they said to him, "Now, then, tell us!  Who is to blame for this?  What are you doing here?  What country do you come from?  What is your nationality?"  "I am a Hebrew,"  Jonah answered.  "I worship the LORD, the God of heaven, who made land and sea. "  Jonah went on to tell them that he was running away from the LORD.         The sailors were terrified, and said to him, "That was an awful thing to do!"  The storm was getting worse all the time, so the sailors asked him,  "What should we do to you to stop the storm?"  Jonah answered, "Throw me into the sea, and it will calm down. I know it is my fault that you are caught in this violent storm."  Instead, the sailors tried to get the ship to shore, rowing with all their might.        But the storm was becoming worse and worse, and they got nowhere.  So they cried out to the LORD.  "O LORD, we pray, don't punish us with death for taking this man's life!  You, O LORD, are responsible for all this; it is your doing."         Then they picked Jonah up and threw him into the sea, and it calmed down at once.  This made the sailors so afraid of and the LORD that they offered a sacrifice and promised to serve him.  At the LORD's command a large fish swallowed Jonah, and he was inside the fish for three days and three nights.        From deep inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God:  "In my distress, O LORD, I called to you, and you answered me.  From deep in the world of the dead I cried for help, and you heard me.  You  threw me down into the depths, to the very bottom of the sea, where the waters were all around me, and all your mighty waves rolled over me. I thought I had been banished from your presence and would never see your holy Temple again.  The water came over me and choked me: the sea covered me completely, and seaweed wrapped around my head.  I went down to the very roots of the mountains, into the land whose gates lock shut forever.  But you, O LORD my God, brought me back from the depths alive.  When I felt my life slipping away, then, O LORD, I prayed to you, and in your holy Temple you heard me.  Those whose worship worthless idols have abandoned their loyalty to you.  But I will sing praises to you; I will offer you a sacrifice and do what I have promised.  Salvation comes form the LORD!" Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah up on the beach, and it did.        Once again the LORD spoke to Jonah.  He said, "Go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to the people that message I have given you."  So Jonah obeyed the LORD and went to Nineveh, a city so large that it took three days to walk through it.   Jonah started through the city, and after walking a whole day, he proclaimed, "In forty days Nineveh will be destroyed!"        The people of Nineveh believed God's message.  So they decided that everyone should fast, and all the people, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth to show that they had repented.         When the king of Nineveh heard about it, he got up from his throne, took off his robe, put on sackcloth, and sat down in ashes.  He sent out a proclamation to the people of Nineveh:  "This is an order from the king and his officials: No one is to eat anything; all persons, cattle, and sheep are forbidden to eat or drink.  All persons and animals must wear sackcloth.  Everyone must pray earnestly to God and must give up his wicked behavior and his evil actions.  Perhaps God will change his mind; perhaps he will stop being angry, and we will not die!"        God saw what they did; he saw that they had given up their wicked behavior. So he changed his mind and did not punish them as he had said he would.        Jonah was very unhappy about this and become angry.  So he prayed, "LORD, didn't I say before I left home that this is just what you would do?  That's why I did my best to run away to Spain!  I knew that you are a loving and merciful God, always patient, always kind, and always ready to change your mind and not punish.  Now then, LORD, let me die.  I am better off dead than alive."         The LORD answered, "What right do you have have to be angry?"        Jonah went out east of the city and sat down.  He made a shelter for himself and sat in its shade, waiting to see what would happen to Nineveh.  Then the LORD God made a plant grow up over Jonah to give him some shade, so that he would be more comfortable.  Jonah was extremely pleased with the plant. But at dawn the next day, at God's command, a worm attacked the plant, and it died.        After the sun had risen, God sent a hot east wind, and Jonah was about to faint form the heat of the sun beating down on his head.  So he wished he were dead.  "I am better off dead than alive, " he said.  but God said to him, "What right do you have to be angry about the plant?"  Jonah replied, "I have every right to be angry--angry enough to die!" The LORD said to him,   "This plant grew up in one night and disappeared the next; you didn't do anything for it and you didn't make it grow--yet you feel sorry for it!   How much more, then, should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city.  After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent children in it, as well as many animals!"