The Rural Think Tank

Welcome to another week of “you can’t make this up”. This week we will be talking about talking donkeys and prophets for hire. The context of this passage is where the children of Israel have left Egypt for the promised land, they have been wandering in the wilderness and are about to enter the land they have been promised. They have some encounters and battles with neighboring tribes, one of them being the Midianites, that we talked about a little last week when discussing Gideon and his sons. What we are dealingwith here is one of their first encounters.

Welcome back to another week of “ You can’t make this up”. This passage from the book of Judges comes directly after The defeat of the Midianites under Gideon Theprevious chapter recounts how after he led the armies of Israel in victory, he just asked for a little of the spoils and went home, despite the people begging for him to be their king. It also tells us that Gideon had 70 sons between all his wives and a female servant. The son from the servant was named Abimelech.

Welcome back to another week of “You can’t make this up”. A few weeks ago, we looked at another passage with Elisha, and this passage precedes the floating axe head. This takes place right after Elijah is taken into heaven, and Elisha is left to be God’s prophet to His people. There were some of the men that were called “sons of the prophets” traveled to the Jordan River beginning in verse 7. As you read on, you find that Elijah instructs them to stop and stay on one side, while he and Elisha would go on across. So Elijah rolls up his cloak and strikes the water, the Jordan parts, and Elija and Elisha crosses over. Elijah asks Elisha what he would like before Elijah goes away. Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah’s spirit. Elijah points out that it is a difficult ask, but if Elisha sees Elijah as he’s going away Elisha will receive it. Elijahis taken up in a whirlwind with the chariots of fire. Elisha didn’t see him anymore. He cried out, tore his own cloak, and then Elisha receives Elijah’s cloak as it falls from the sky towards the ground. As I mentioned the other week, thispassage is where we get the phrase “taking up the mantle” from. In some older translations, mantle is used as a word substitute for cloak. Elisha takes the cloak, and hits the Jordan again on the way back with the same result, provingthat he did indeed get the double portion that he asked for.

Welcome back to another week of “ You Can’t make this up”.  This passage takes place right after Jesus and the disciples had sailed across the Sea of Galilee and dealt with a particularly nasty storm that the Jesus was trying tonap through. Instead, the concerned disciples woke Him up, and Jesus calmed the storm. This passage is also detailed in Mark 5 and Matthew 8.

Welcome back. Last week we studied the chapter previous to this and the events leading up to it that saw the Ark of the Covenant in the hands of the Philistines, as apunishment for The Israelite armies and even the priests treating God as a “good luck charm”, or that His hand could be forced by something we do. The Philistines got the Ark, placed it in their temple, and God, not once but twiceshowed his superiority over their idol Dagon.

Welcome back to another week of “You can’t make this up”. This week is the first of a few that we will spend on this passage and the following chapter, as there is a bithere to unpack. There is a little bit of context that we need to add to this before we start digging into chapter 5, verse 1. A few chapters prior to this one is where God called Samuel in the night, while he was serving under Eli thehigh priest. God revealed to Samuel and Eli his displeasure with Eli’s sons and their behavior as fellow priests. God announced his punishment to the house ofEli as a result. In chapter 4, Eli’s sons took the Ark of the covenant into the encampment of the Israelites during their battles with the Philistines.  The Philistines had already beaten them once, so they called for the Ark to come from Shiloh. There was great rejoicing at the Israelite camp, the Philistines could even hear it, but they determined tostand up, fight, and not become slaves to the Israelites. The Philistines won the battle. 30,000 Israelites were killed, including Eli’s two sons. The rest of the Israelite army fled. One of those soldiers went back to Shiloh and gavea report to Eli, letting him know that his sons had been killed and that the Ark had been captured, Eli fell out of his seat, broke his neck and died, completing God’s declared judgement on the house of Eli. The Philistines now have the ark as a trophy ofbattle. They know it is connected to the God that the Israelites served, but it was not an idol like they worshipped. So there was a little bit of confusion as to what exactly to do with the Ark

Welcome back to another week of “You can’t make this up!”, as we look at true narratives in the Bible that seem stranger than fiction. This passage was part of Paul’s last missionary journey before being arrested in Jerusalem, to ultimately wind up before Caesar at Rome with his appeal.

Welcome back to another week of “you can’t make this up” This week we are still in the Old Testament. By the time this series is over, there will be a few messages that involve Elisha or his compatriot Elijah. This passage occurs after the time that Elijah was taken up into heaven, and Elisha has taken the mantle

Welcome to week two of “You can’t make this up”. This week we are going to the Old Testament. We are going to look at a part of the Israelite history you may be familiar with, but this morning we are going to look at “the rest of the story,as Paul Harvey would say. Most of us know the story of Deborah and Barak, but this morning we are also going to look at two other people that are vital to this history – Jael and Sisera.

Today we are starting a new group of messages that look at some of the strange stories of the Bible and we will call it “You can’t make this up!”. There is more of a reason here than entertainment in looking at some of these odd occurrences in the Bible. We have to remember that culturally, most historical accounts of that time frame are there to record the victors of a war, or the rulers in charge in a positive light. The difference the Bible brings to the table is that it’s not uncommon to see the main subject of a letter or book in an unflattering situation.

1 Peter 2:13-25

1 Peter 2:1-12

1 Peter 1:20-25

Called to Be Holy

Intro to 1 Peter

The Book of Remembrance

Malachi 3: 1-15

Judah Profaned the Covenant

The Lord Rebukes the Priests

Intro to Malachi