Lee Harmon's Blog, page 66
March 10, 2013
Joshua 6:26, Joshua’s Curse and the City of Jericho
At that time Joshua pronounced this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who undertakes to rebuild this city, Jericho: At the cost of his firstborn son will he lay its foundations; at the cost of his youngest will he set up its gates.”
//Remember the battle of Jericho? Israel marched around and around its walls until the walls simply fell down, and they plundered the city. Every living thing—men, women, cattle, sheep and donkeys—was put to the sword, and the city and everything in i...
March 9, 2013
John 2:18-20, John’s Greatest Theological Contribution
Then answered the Jews and said unto him, What sign shewest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things?Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days?
//John’s Gospel reads a little different than the others here. In Mark 14:58 Jesus promises:
I will destroy this temple that is made with hands, and within three days I will build another...
March 8, 2013
Psalms 127:3, A quiver full of children
Children are a heritage from the LORD, offspring a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are children born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.
//Many of you know I’m a new granddaddy. Mason Lee Harmon was born just eleven days ago. My first grandkid! I haven’t held him yet, still 1500 miles away, but in this wonderful world of facebook, I’ve been able to share in the joy through lots of pictures.
As adorable as the little tyke is (surely, the most b...
March 7, 2013
Book review: Let The Bible Be Itself
by Ray Vincent
★★★★★
O daughter of Babylon … blessed shall he be that taketh thy children and throweth them against the stones. –Psalm 137
In my book about Revelation, I suggest that this psalm may be both the most heartrending and the most disturbing passage in the Bible. Interesting that Vincent should choose it to highlight the question of how to read the Bible. What are we supposed to do with verses like this?
Vincent reminds us that much of the Bible is a cry of pain: “This psalm is in fac...
March 6, 2013
John 5:4, An Angel Troubled the Water
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
//John chapter five tells of a lame man lying by the pool of Bethesda, where a great multitude of “impotent folk” lay waiting for the “moving of the water.”Today’s verse is a late addition to the Gospel of John, which clarifies the purpose for their gathering there.Apparently when the water “moved,” it wa...
March 5, 2013
Deuteronomy 17:18, “Dry as Deuteronomy”
When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites.
//In my book about Revelation, young Matthew complains that the cistern is as “dry as Deuteronomy.” But does this alliterative comment disrupt the book’s first-century setting? Would Jews of that era actually have referred to their code of law as Deuteronomy?
Answer: Yes. The name stems from today’s verse. When this verse was translated into Greek...
March 4, 2013
Book review: Faitheist
by Chris Stedman
★★★★★
Oh, man, do I relate. Here is an atheist that feels more at home in religious surroundings than with a secular community. While I’ve never considered myself an atheist (I’m happy with the phrase “agnostic Christian”), even if I were, I would hesitate to take the title. I don’t want to be known as someone who tears down rather than builds up. I have more in common with nonbelievers than fundamentalists, but I have never been able to swim in the waters of an online atheis...
March 3, 2013
Ruth 4:3, Who Played Who? Part II of II
Then he said to the kinsman-redeemer, “Naomi, who has come back from Moab, is selling the piece of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech.”
//Yesterday, I told how Naomi hatched a plan to get her widowed daughter-in-law re-hitched. Per Naomi’s instructions, Ruth visited Naomi’s “kinsman” while he slept off a drunk, and he invited her under the covers.
The next day, however, Boaz pulls a sneaky one of his own. Apparently, Naomi has a parcel of land for sale, and the custom is that she must...
March 2, 2013
Ruth 3:7-8, Who Played Who? Part I of II
When Boaz had finished eating and drinking and was in good spirits, he went over to lie down at the far end of the grain pile. Ruth approached quietly, uncovered his feet and lay down.In the middle of the night something startled the man, and he turned and discovered a woman lying at his feet.”Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a kinsman-redeemer.”
//Here’s a puzzle for you. Who got played in the story of Ruth a...
March 1, 2013
Book review: John’s Gospel: The Way It Happened
by Lee Harmon
★★★★★
Today is publication day! I’m celebrating for now by sharing a five-star review that blew me away. It’s by Vicki Liston, author of Europe for the Senses – A Photographic Journal. Thanks for the kind words, Vicki!
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Author and Bible scholar Lee Harmon releases his second book and sequel to his “Revelation: The Way It Happened”. This time deciphering the fourth New Testament book, “John’s Gospel: The Way It Happened” offers a fresh, enlightening, and downright surprisin...
