Father Time gives Baby New Year a ride...

Description of Illustration: greyscale of Father Time giving Baby New Year a piggy-back ride, top hat, bell, Sands of Time, scythe

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Announcing The New Year...

Description of Illustration: black and white, text "Happy New Year" on a banner with silhouette trumpet and paper graffiti, checkered pattern flag, frame

 

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Simple "Happy New Year" Banners

Clip Art Description: text, "Happy New Year" banners, one black and white, one silver and blue and the third in black and yellow

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

In with the new..., out with the old.

Description of Illustration: black and white, Father old year, Baby New Year, New Year's Day, "In with the new...out with the old." big clock, top hat, party theme frame

 

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Passing experience, taking on courage....

Description of Illustration: black and white, Father old year, Baby New Year, New Year's Day, the torch of Experience and the sword of Courage,

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Every Kid's Nightmare...

Description of Illustration: black and white, Child in bed thinking of what might happen to Santa if he is atacked by an enemy pilot, vision bubble, iron rail bed, old patchwork quilt, Santa under attack, hit by an enemy boomer

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Line drawing of a type setter...

Description of Illustration: black and white pen drawing, type setters, old-fashioned press, early print, early books

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Can you ever have too much vision?

Description of Photograph: Vintage photo, Marx Bros., multiple glasses, too many lenses, looking everywhere, difficulty focusing, too many points of view, sermon starter

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

"I have fought the good fight" illustration

Description of Illustration: by Harold Copping, Saint Paul, St. Paul in prison looking out of his cell into the light..., painting based upon 2 Timothy 4:7 "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Farm Banner

Description of Clip Art:  log fence, barnyard, crop, field of wheat, corn or soybean, trees, farm house, small farm, banner, black and white clip art

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

The Salvation Army Banner

Description of Clip Art:  American flags, parade, drums, symbols, trumpets, men and women, text "The Salvation Army", black and white clip art

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Tough Times Cartoon

Description of Clip Art:  modern family faces "Eviction", seeking home among the indigenous people, teepee, suitcase, pipe, baby, baby carriage, wave

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Baby contemplating the world...

Oh no! Not again!

Description of Illuminated Scripture:  baby leans on and looks at a world globe, speech bubbles, ding-bats, simple symbols, the baby thinking, 

Someone needs a good wash...

Someone call the Red Cross!

Someone should pray...

The keys to the problems...

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

The Allies Never Forget!

Description of Illuminated Scripture:  text "The Allies", fist, hand graphic, broken cities, enemies of America, purpose of NATO, European Allies, crushed in a fist...., black and white cartoon from the 1940s, still relevant today folks...

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Do unto others . . .

Description of Illuminated Scripture: "Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets." Matthew 7:12, also known as the Golden Rule, sayings of Jesus, illuminated scripture

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Portrait of The Witch of Endor

Description of Clip Art Portrait: The witch who was consulted by Saul to summon the spirit of the prophet Samuel. "Saul then said to his attendants, “Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.” “There is one in Endor,” they said. 1 Samuel 28:7

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Who was the Widow of Nain?

Portrait of the Widow of Nain.

       The widow of Nain's son (Luke 7:11-19) was the first person Jesus raised from the dead. It was after He and his disciples and a multitude following Him had left Capernaum and had entered the village of Nain, which lies on the lower slopes of the Little Hermon. When Jesus came to the gate of the city, "Behold, there was dead man carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow: and much people of the city was with her."
       Luke goes on to relate that Jesus had compassion upon her, as He always did upon women in distress. No one asked Him for help, but walking up to the widow Jesus said, "Weep not." Such words
were not a feeble effort to console her. They had a deeper meaning, as she was soon to learn.
       He came and touched the bier of her son and spoke to him, "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise." And the young man who had been dead began to speak. Though Luke does not give us a definite
picture of the mother or express how she felt when her son was raised  from the dead, the one graphic stroke is sufficient: Jesus "delivered him to his mother."
       The most amazing phase of the healing of the widow of Nain's son is that all who had witnessed this miracle "glorified God" saying a great prophet had come among them. And they recognized that Jesus was a far greater prophet than had been Elijah, who had raised from the dead the son of the widow of Zarephath. Elijah had raised her son after he had gone into a room alone and prayed for the boy. But Jesus healed the son of the widow of Nain instantaneously as a bewildered crowd looked on.

Portrait of Miriam

Description of Clip Art Portrait: Portrait of the sister of Moses, who led the women of Israel in that oldest of national anthems, "Sing Unto the Lord", She is often depicted in Western art tradition holding a tambourine

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Good Friday Illuminated Prayer

Description of Clip Art: illuminated text, "Good Friday, Almighty GOD, we beseech Thee graciously to behold this Thy family for which our Lord Jesus Christ was contented to be betrayed, and given up into the hands of wicked men, and to suffer death upon the cross, Who now liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen", liturgy, Lent, Easter, tiny crucifixion depicted on the left, lily-of-the-valley, crosses

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Portrait of Martha

Description of Clip Art Portrait: Martha, the woman to whom Jesus first declared "I am the resurrection, and the life." John 11:25 Sister to Mary and Lazarus of Bethany, Martha was known to be a hard worker for the early church.

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Who was Asenath?

The Egyptian wife of Joseph, Son of Jacob.

Asenath (Gen. 41:45, 50; 46:20), wife of Joseph and daughter of Potipherah, a priest of the great national temple of the sun at On or Heliopolis, seven miles northeast of modern Cairo.
       The three times that Asenath's name is mentioned the same phrase appears, "daughter of Potipherah priest of On"sacred city of the Sun-Worshipers. Priests of On were sages; hence the byword, "the wisdom of the Egyptians" (Acts 7:22) .
       Among the honors conferred on Joseph by King Pharaoh for interpreting a puzzling dream was the hand of Asenath. He probably thought she would be a factor in helping him forget his own people, the Israelites.
       Asenath bore Joseph two sons before the years of famine in Egypt. He gave to both of them Hebrew, not Egyptian, names. The first was Manasseh, meaning "God hath removed me from all my troubles and from my father's house." The second was Ephraim, meaning "God hath made me fruitful in the land of my affliction."
       Asenath's Egyptian sons were adopted by her father-in-law Jacob. Upon Ephraim, the elder, he conferred the family blessing.
       One tradition says that Asenath renounced her sun-gods and worshiped Jehovah.

Jacob's Pillow

JACOB'S  PILLOW

The  bed  was  earth,  the  raised  pillow  stones,
Whereon  poor  Jacob  rests  his  head,  his  bones;
Heaven  was  his  canopy;  the  shades  of  night
Were  his  drawn  curtains,  to  exclude  the  light.

Poor  state  for  Israel's  heir   it  seems  to  me
His  cattle  found  as  soft  a  bed  as  he:
Yet  God  appeared  there,  his  joy,  his  crown;
God  is  not  always  seen  in  beds  of  down.

Oh,  if  that  God  shall  please  to  make  my  bed,
I  care  not  where  I  rest  my  bones,  my  head;
With  Him,  my  wants  can  never  prove  extreme;
With  Jacob's  pillow  give  me  Jacob's  dream.

Philip  Quarles. 

Jacob's Dream

JACOB'S  DREAM

The sun  was  sinking  on  the  mountain  zone
That  guards  thy  vales  of  beauty,  Palestine !
And  lovely  from  the  desert  rose  the  moon,
Yet  lingering  on  the  horizon's  purple  line,
Like  a  pure  spirit  o'er  its  earthly  shrine.
Up  Bethel's  rocky  height  abrupt  and  bare
A  pilgrim  toiled,  and  oft  on  day's  decline
Looked  pale, then paused for eve's delicious air;
The  summit  gained,  lie  knelt,  and  breathed  his  evening  prayer.

He  spread  his  cloak,  and  slumbered;  darkness  fell
Upon  the  twilight  hills;  a  sudden  sound
Of  silver  trumpets  o'er  him  seemed  to  swell,
Clouds  heavy  with  the  tempest  gathered  round;
Yet  was  the  whirlwind  in  its  cavern  bound;
Still  deeper  rolled  the  darkness  from  on  high,
Gigantic  volume  upon  volume  wound;
Above,  a  pillar  shooting  to  the  sky;
Below,  a  mighty  sea  that  spread  incessantly.

Voices  are  heard,  a  choir  of  golden  strings,
Low  winds,  whose  breath  is  loaded  with  the  rose:
Then  chariot-wheels,  the  nearer  rush  of  wings;
Pale  lightning  round  the  dark  pavilion  glows.
It  thunders;  the  resplendent  gates  unclose;
Far  as  the  eye  can  glance,  on  height  o'er  height
Rise  fiery  waving  wings,  and  star-crowned  brows,
Millions  on  millions,  brighter  and  more  bright,
Till  all  is  lost  in  one  supreme,  unmingled  light.

But  two  beside  the  sleeping  pilgrim  stand,
Like  cherub  kings,  with  lifted,  mighty  plume,
Fixed,  sun-bright  eyes,  and  looks  of  high  command:
They  tell  the  Patriarch  of  his  glorious  doom;
Father  of  countless  myriads  that  shall  come,
Sweeping  the  land  like  billows  of  the  sea,
Bright  as  the  stars  of  heaven  from  twilight's  gloom,
Till  He  is  given  whom  angels  long  to  see,
And  Israel's  splendid  line  is  crowned  with  Deity.

Rev. George Croly. 

In Search of A Wife...

 In Search of A Wife

In the lone field he walks at eventide,
To meditate beneath the open sky,
Where born on lighter wings prayers upward fly,
And  down  from  Heaven  sweet  answers  swiftly  glide.
But  as  he  glanced  around  that  landscape  wide,
Far  off  a  train  of  camels  meets  his  eye,
And  as  they  nearer  come  he  can  descry
A  maiden  vailed, -  his  unseen,  God-sent  bride.
Thus  while  to  Heaven  thought  after  thought  was  rising,
The  fair  Rebekah  step  by  step  drew  nigh,
With  life's  chief  joy  the  prayerful  saint  surprising:
For  those  who  think  of  Him  God  still  is  thinking,
With  tender  condescension  from  on  high,
Some  comfort  ever  to  some  duty  linking.

Rev.  R. Wilton.

The Cave of Machpelah

 THE  CAVE  OF  MACHPELAH 

Calm  is  it  in  the  dim  cathedral  cloister,
Where  lie  the  dead  all  couched  in  marble  rare,
Where  the  shades  thicken,  and  the  breath  hangs  moister
Than  in  the  sunlit  air.

Where  the  chance  ray  that  makes  the  carved  stone  whiter,
Tints  with  a  crimson  or  a  violet  light
Some  pale  old  bishop  with  his  staff  and mitre,
Some  stiff  crusading  knight!

Sweet  is  it  where  the  little  graves  fling  shadows
In  the  green  churchyard,  on  the  shaven  grass,
And  a  faint  cowslip  fragrance  from  the  meadows
O'er  the  low  wall  doth  pass !

More  sweet,  more  calm  in  that  fair  valley's  bosom
The  burial-place  in  Ephron's  pasture-ground,
Where  the  oil-olive  shed  her  snowy  blossom,
And  the  red  grape  was  found;

When  the  great  pastoral  prince,  with  love  undying,
Rose  up  in  anguish  from  the  face  of  death,
And  weighed  the  silver  shekels  for  its  buying
Before  the  sons  of  Heth.

Here,  when  the  measure  of  his  days  was  numbered,  
Days  few  and  evil  in  this  vale  of  tears!
At  Sarah's  side  the  faithful  patriarch  slumbered,
An  old  man  full  of  years:

Here,  holy  Isaac,  meek  of  heart  and  gentle,
And  the  fair  maid  who  came  to  him  from  far,
And  the  sad  sire  who  knew  all  throes  parental,
And  meek-eyed  Leah,  are.

She  rests  not  here,  the  beautiful  of  feature,
For  whom  her  Jacob  wrought  his  years  twice  o'er,
And  deemed  them  but  as  one,  for  that  fair  creature,
-  So  dear  the  love  he  bore,  -

Nor  Israel's  son  beloved, who  brought  him  sleeping
With  a  long  pomp  of  woe  to  Canaan's  shade,
Till  all  the  people  wondered  at  the  weeping
By  the  Egyptians  made.

Like  roses  from  the  same  tree  gathered  yearly,
And  Hung  together  in  one  vase  to  keep,  -
Some,  but  not  all  who  loved  so  well  and  dearly,
Lie  here  in  quiet  sleep.

What  though  the  Moslem  mosque  be  in  the  valley,
Though  faithless  hands  have  sealed  the  sacred  cave,
And  the  red  Prophet's  children  shout  ''El  Allah!''
Over  the  Hebrews'  grave;

Yet  a  day  cometh  when  those  white  walls  shaking
Shall  give  again  to  light  the  living  dead,
And  Abraham,  Isaac,  Jacob,  reawaking,
Spring  from  their  rocky  bed.

Mrs.  C.  F.  Alexander.

Herodias, Killer of John The Baptist

Herodias, Killer of John The Baptist.

       The most striking example in the New Testament of how far reaching can be the evil influence of a heartless, determined woman in a high position is the story of Herodias. Not only did she occasion the beheading of John the Baptist, but it may even be that she helped to hasten the crucifixion of Christ. It was to her husband, Herod Antipas, that Jesus was sent by Pilate, and Herod might have delayed the verdict. This was the same Herod whom Jesus earlier had compared to a "fox" because of his curnning (Luke 13:32).
       Herodias herself, like her husband, was descended from a line of wicked people. Though the story in the Bible relates only one scene in her life, the beheading of John the Baptist, let us view her entire life from the pages of history in order better to understand what kind of woman she was.
       Her first marriage had been to her half-uncle Herod Philip. She entered into a second incestuous and illicit union when she divorced him to marry his half-brother Herod Antipas, who was the step-brother of her father Aristobulus. This Herod Antipas was tetrarch of Galilee and Peraea during Jesus' time and he is mentioned more frequently in the New Testament than any other Herod.
       To Herodias' first union had been born her dancing daughter, to whom Josephus gives the name of Salome, though in the New Testament she is never identified in any way except as Herodias' daughter. The daughter was born of the Herod family on both her father's and mother's side and must have been brought up in the evil atmosphere of the family. We are told she excelled in sensuous dancing.
       History shows us that evil ran all through Herodias' life. She was a granddaughter of Herod the Great, who carved out his empire with a sword and sought to destroy the child Jesus. (Matthew 2:13). The family line of Herod has become so entangled as to make it a veritable puzzle to historians. They record that he had ten wives and killed his fiirst wife Mariamne, the only human being he ever seems to have loved. Herodias' father, Aristobulus, was the son of Herod the Great by this Mariamne.
       After Herodias' first marriage to Herod Philip, history records, she lived in Rome, where her husband had been exiled and disinherited because his mother had taken part in a plot against his father, Herod the Great. There Herodias and her husband, Herod Philip, entertained as their guest her husband's half-brother, Herod Antipas. He had come to Rome to receive his investiture as tetrarch and at this time was married to the daughter of King Aretas of Arabia.
       Herod Antipas, while a guest in his half-brother's home, indulged in a guilty relationship with the brother's wife, Herodias. Desiring to be closer to the throne than she could ever be with her present husband, a more retiring man, Herodias was willing to pay any price for a regal position, regardless of principles or people involved.
       She persuaded Herod Antipas to divorce his wife, and she in turn divorced her husband and left Rome for Tiberias, the capital city of the province of Galilee, where Herod Antipas was now tetrarch. With her went her daughter, who probably was just entering her teens.
       Great artists have depicted Herodias as a beautiful woman, who wore a crown from which a thin veil fell in long, graceful folds. Beneath it was her dark hair, adorned with pearls. Her dress was of a flowing, rich, regal fabric. Richard Strauss has made more real her wickedness in his opera Salome, with its setting in Galilee, where her second husband, Herod Antipas, had great power.
       The only one who had the courage to speak against this incestuous union of a man of such power was John the Baptist, who said to Herod, "It is not lawful for thee to have her.'' (Matthew. 14:4). She was his brother's wife. Herod would have put John to death at once, but he feared the multitude (Matthew 14:5), which looked upon John the Baptist as a prophet. In Mark 6:19 we learn that it was Herodias who felt especially bitter about John and desired his death but was held back by Herod.
       Herodias, however, was not a woman who could easily forget John the Baptist's stinging rebuke of her marriage. Vindictive as well as cruel, she determined that she would get rid of this man; and so she entered upon her foul scheme.
       Her daughter danced for Herod in the palace on his birthday, as Herodias sat looking on. The daughter pleased Herod so much that he said to her, "Ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I will give it thee.'' (Mark 6:22) . The Scriptures tell us further that the daughter went forth and said to her mother, "What shall I ask?'' And the mother made her ghastly request for "the head of John the Baptist."
       The daughter became her mother's puppet as she danced to please Herod. Though he "was exceeding sorry.'' (Mark 6:26), Herodias had her way. She was the evil influence for both her daughter and her husband and the sole instigator of one of the most horrible crimes ever committed against a just and holy man.
       According to the portrayal given us in Strauss's opera Salome, the daughter danced with many veils and then flung them off one by one, as Herod looked on with lustful eyes. Then when she had concluded her dance, he sent and had John the Baptist beheaded and ordered that the head be brought on a platter and presented to Salome, who in turn gave it to her mother.
       Though her husband and daughter committed this horrible crime against John the Baptist, they were merely the tools of Herodias. She was actually more responsible than either of them for the outrage because she had planned it. As Jezebel had made a tool of Ahab to slay the prophets of Jehovah, so Herodias had made a tool of Herod Antipas to behead John the Baptist. Though the Bible follows through to the very end of Jezebel's life, when she was eaten by dogs, the Bible story of Herodias ends with the delivering to her of the head of John the Baptist.
       However, ancient history relates that after this she became so jealous of the power of her brother, Agrippa, who had been made a king, that she induced her husband to demand of the Roman emperor Caligula the title of king for himself. But Agrippa sent word to Caligula that Herod had been plotting with the emperor's enemies. When Caligula questioned Herod and Herodias in Rome, he was not satisfied with the answers of the guilty pair.
       Instead of making Herod Antipas king, Caligula took from him even the title of tetrarch and added the tetrarchy of Galilee to the kingdom of Agrippa. The emperor banished Herod to Gaul. This is all related by Josephus.
       Because of his friendship for her brother, Caligula offered Herodias her freedom, but she chose exile and disgrace with her husband. Strangely enough, this is the only time that we have any historical record of a praiseworthy action on her part.
       Legend has it that Herodias and Herod died in Spain. Did she have time to live with her guilty conscience and to realize that the beheading of the holy and just John the Baptist was a crime for which she must suffer to the end of her days? Did she come to see that one word which she might have spoken could have saved Christ? At the time of Jesus' trial Pilate, fearing to render an unpopular verdict, had sent Jesus to Herod, for Jesus was from the town of Nazareth in Herod's tetrarchy of Galilee. But Herod had "mocked‚"and sent Jesus back to Pilate (Luke 23:11).
       Did Herodias ever realize that, had she stood on the side of God and righteousness, the history of this period might have had a different ending? She had been warned by John the Baptist of her evil choice in the matter of her marriage, but she had hardened her heart to this message of God. With but one exception, her life had followed an evil pattern to the end.

Deborah, "Is not the Lord, gone out before thee?"

"Is not the Lord gone out before thee?"

       The only woman in the Bible who was placed at the height of political power by the common consent of the people was Deborah. Though she lived in the time of the "Judges," some thirteen centuries before Christ, there are few women in history who have ever attained the public dignity and supreme authority of Deborah. She was like Joan of Arc, who twenty-seven centuries later rode in front of the French and led them to victory.
       Deborah was the wife of an obscure man named Lapidoth. The rabbis say she was a keeper of the tabernacle lamps. If so, what a wonderful yet humble task for this woman who was to become so great in Israel! Later, when her faith in God became the strength of Israel, she would become the keeper of a new spiritual vision that
would light all Israel.
       In all of her roles, first that of counselor to her people, next as judge in their disputes, and finally as deliverer in time of war, Deborah exhibited womanly excellence. She was indeed "a mother in Israel.'' She arose to great leadership because she trusted God implicitly and because she could inspire in others that same trust.
       For twenty years Jabin, king of Canaan, had oppressed the children of Israel. Their vineyards had been destroyed, their women dishonored, and their children slain. Many had turned to the worship of idols.
       Deborah's story comes in the first part of the book of Judges. These men were more than judges in today's meaning of the term, for they were chieftains and heroes as well, and their influence was felt mainly in war. Long before Deborah became a leader in war, she was a homemaker. Her house was on the road between Ramah and Beth-el, in the hill country of Ephraim, where flourished olive and palm trees. It was under one of the most royal of date palms that she would sit and give counsel to the people who came to her.
       As a counselor in time of peace, Deborah became known far and near, but her greatest service came in time of war. And she led her people into war. Most of them had stood by fearfully because they were afraid of the enemy's 900 chariots of iron, when they had none. While they paled with fear, Deborah burned with indignation at the oppression of her people. A gifted and an intrepid woman, she felt a call to rise up against such fear and complacency, for she carried in her heart the great hope that God would come to her people's rescue if they would honor Him.
       Because the men of Israel had faltered in leadership, Deborah arose to denounce this lack of leadership and to affirm that deliverance from oppression was at hand. Her religious zeal and patriotic fervor armed her with new strength. She became the magnificent personification of the free spirit of the people of Israel.
       We can imagine that Deborah looked the part of a great and noble woman. She must have had fire in her eyes, determination in her step, and a positive ring to her voice. We can see her, a tall, handsome woman, wearing a dress of blue crash striped in red and yellow and a yellow turban with a long, pure-white cotton veil, lace edged, reaching to the hem of her dress. A feminine woman, who never had had the ambition to push herself forward, Deborah better personified the homemaker in Israel than a warrior. But as she counseled with her people and began to sense their common danger, she kindled in them an enthusiasm for immediate action against the enemy.
       She had the courage to summon one of Israel's most capable military men, Barak, from his home in Kedesh. Together they worked out a plan for action against the enemy. Deborah let Barak know she was not afraid of Sisera, commander of Jabin's army; neither was she afraid of his 900 chariots. She made him feel that the spirit that could animate an army was greater than either weapons or fortifications. Probably she recalled to him that God had led the Israelites through the Sea of Reeds and had broken a mighty oppressor, Pharaoh. And she made Barak realize that God, who had proved Himself to be mightier than Pharaoh, also was mightier than either Jabin or Sisera.
       "Go," spoke Deborah positively to the fainthearted Barak, "and draw toward mount Tabor, and take with thee ten thousand men of the children of Naphtali and of the children of Zebulun." (Judges. 4:6). And she convinced Barak that the Lord would deliver Sisera and his chariots and multitudes into their hands.
       Barak, sensing the spiritual insight that Deborah possessed and feeling the urgent need for her presence and spiritual counsel, answered, "If thou will go with me, then I will go: but if thou wilt not go with me, then I will not go." (Judges. 4:8) . That is one of the most unusual passages in the Bible spoken by a man to a woman. It demonstrates a general's great confidence in a woman, a homebody, too, who had risen to a high place in Israel largely because of one quality, her abiding faith in God.
       Without hesitation, the stouthearted Deborah declared triumphantly, 'I will surely go with thee; notwithstanding the journey that thou takest shall not be for thine honor; for the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman." (Judges. 4:9). In these words Deborah demonstrated more than leadership. Her people were to discover that she was also a prophet.
       In Judges 4:9 we learn that "Deborah arose, and went with Barak to Kedesh." That one word"arose" best explains her positive action. She did not sit at home and ponder the matter when the time came for action, but she arose, believing firmly that she was armed with strength from God.
       When Barak summoned his tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, he saw that none was well armed and none rode in chariots. But Deborah's faith carried the Israelites forward unafraid. When she and Barak and their ten thousand men came to the spur of the hills, near where Sisera and his charioteers were, Deborah, looking out from a lofty rock, exclaimed to Barak, "Up; for this is the day in which the Lord hath delivered Sisera into thine hand: is not the Lord gone out before thee?'' (Judges. 4:14).
       We learn directly from Josephus and indirectly from the song of Deborah that a storm of sleet and hail burst over the plain from the east, driving right into the face of Sisera and his men and charioteers. The slingers and archers were disabled by the beating rain, and the swordsmen were crippled by the biting cold.
       Deborah and Barak and their forces had the storm behind them and were not crippled by it. As they saw the storm lash the enemy, they pushed on, believing all the more in providential aid. The flood waters were now racing down the Kishon River. So violent was the rain that Sisera's heavy iron chariots sank deep in the mud, and as they did, many of the charioteers were slain. And the hoofs of the cavalry horses splashed through the mud as a small remnant made its retreat.
       Sisera, abandoning his mighty chariot, ran for his life through the blinding rain. He managed to reach the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite. Because the Kenites had been at peace with Sisera, he thought that here he would be safe, especially since Jael had come forth to offer him her hospitality. Weary from battle and comforted by the warm milk and lodging which Jael had so hospitably given to him, Sisera fell soundly asleep. And as Sisera lay sleeping Jael took a peg which her husband had used to stretch the tents on the ground and with a hammer drove it into Sisera's temples.
       Hot in pursuit of Sisera, Barak soon came to the tent of Jael. She went out to meet him and said to him, "Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest." (Judges. 4:22) . And Jael took him into the tent where lay the dead Sisera. It was just as Deborah had prophesied: "For the Lord shall sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.'' (Judges. 4:9).
       To celebrate this great victory the Ode of Deborah, one of the earliest martial songs in history, was composed. It began: "Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel.'' (Judges. 5:2). Deborah took no credit to herself. She gave all the credit to God, for she knew that only He could cause the earth to tremble, the heavens to drop torrents of water, and the mountains to melt. In the song she is called "a mother in Israel.''' for she, like a mother, had led the panicky children of Israel to victory. Their cry to her to lead them echoes in the refrain: "Awake, awake, Deborah: awake, awake, utter a song." The tribes of Israel who had stood by her in the conflict were praised.
       Tribute is paid to Jael for putting Sisera to death. In every line of the song one senses Deborah's extreme devotion to God and to the well-being of her nation. At the end of the song, which runs through thirty-one verses of Judges 5, her courageous voice sounds forth like the clear notes of a trumpet of freedom. Her people were  no longer enslaved. Now with her they could declare, "So let all thine enemies perish, O Lord; but let them that love him be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might." Such fire as Deborah possessed literally never died out of Israel.
       Her glorious victory is best recorded in these concluding but meaningful lines of her Bible biography: "And the land had rest forty years" (Judges. 5:31).

Potiphar's Wife, "Because thou art his wife..."

       An erring woman remembered only by her wickedness - that was Potiphar's wife. When she attempted infidelity with young Joseph during her husband's absence from home, she disgraced the distinction she might have borne, that of respected wife of the chief of the Egyptian king's bodyguard.
       Egyptian sculptures and paintings on the walls of ancient tombs help us to picture her as a woman wearing a dress of exceedingly fine linen, pleated into a chevron pattern in the back. Around her high waistline she wore an ornamental girdle and on her head a gold band set with jewels. Her sensual lips were heavily painted with a' purplish pigment, and her slanting eyebrows were made darker with heavy black dye. Around her ankles were gold bands, and she wore other heavy jewelry in her ears and around her neck, and on her long tapering fingers were rings with large jewels.
       We know she was a spoiled, selfish woman, probably older than Joseph and certainly more worldly. She knew nothing of Joseph's God and the high standards upheld by those who believed in Him. Her gods were the physical pleasures, and she spent her days trying to satisfy them.
       The setting in which she moved was one of elegance and splendor. Her house, similar to Egyptian royal houses of that period of about 1700 B.C., had a block of high rooms surrounding the main room and inner garden court.
       This Egyptian house kept Joseph, the young overseer, busy, for it had stables and harness rooms, shelter for small wooden chariots, servants' quarters, granary courtyards, and conical grain bins, as well as an agricultural center. Even the trees, set in brick tubs containing Nile mud, had to be watered daily. There were slaves to direct, purchases to be made in the market, and distinguished guests who demanded personal attentions.
       As supervisor of all this, Joseph, who had been purchased from the Ishmaelites in the slave market, had risen to a place of high trust, for the young Hebrew was faithful, honest, upright, and conscientious. We can be sure, too, that he was beautiful of form and face like his mother Rachel and humble and consecrated like his father Jacob.
       It was with dignity that he moved about his master's house, wearing a skirt of fine linen tucked under a colorful belt from which hung a leather tab. On his feet were simple sandals with pointed upturned toes, and his abundant black hair probably hung to his shoulders. But one would be less likely to observe the details of his dress than his quiet demeanor and the noble qualities in his smooth- shaven face.
       He was a sturdy, stalwart youth whom evil women would delight to tempt. Potiphar's wife probably was dissatisfied with her own husband. Here in her own house was this handsome young Hebrew with whom she would like to take liberties.
       Because Potiphar was one of King Pharaoh's important officials, it is quite natural to suppose he had to be away from home a great deal, and he had entrusted to Joseph not only the safekeeping of his most valuable possessions but also the protection of his family. For a man to feel safe about his family, especially his wife, he had to leave as overseer one who had not only superior ability but also a deep sense of integrity.
       Potiphar's wife, however, had no appreciation of good character. After her husband had departed, she sought to become familiar with Joseph. And one day, when no men were about the house, she said to him, ''Lie with me'' (Gen. 39:7). But he resisted, for he had disciplined himself to do what was right.
       He must have startled this evil woman when he answered her invitation by saying, ''There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?'' (Gen. 39:9).
       Potiphar's wife had not dealt with such an honorable man before. She was angered, but she was not outdone. Day by day she invited him into her private boudoir, but he always retreated from her advances, because he knew God had great purposes for him to serve, and he must uphold that which was right and good.
       Finally, when Potiphar's wife could not entice Joseph, she caught his garment in her hand and held it; but he fled, leaving it with her. This woman who had not received what she asked for determined to hurt Joseph, in order to save face herself. She screamed loudly to other men in the household, saying, ''See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice,'' (Gen. 39:14).
       She now kept Joseph's garment and showed it to her husband on his return. When Potiphar saw it, he immediately cast Joseph into prison, for his wife had lied, saying, ''The Hebrew servant, which thou hast brought unto us, came in unto me to mock me: And it came to pass, as I lifted up my voice and cried, that he left his garment with me, and fled out.'' (Gen. 39:17-18) .
       These are the last words of this despicable woman, who has become a symbol of the faithless wife. Her obscurity, except for her wickedness, is final, but the young Joseph rose to noble stature, even  within prison walls. Her own silence, in face of the youth's term in prison, is even greater admission to the bad character of Potiphar's wife, who was not only a sensualist but also a coward who could not admit her own guilt.

For those who wait in prisons...

"Bring me out of prison, that I may give
thanks to your name!..." Psalm 142:7

Description of Clip Art: man chained in jail, prisoner in black and white, bars on the window, prison with cement block walls and floors, alone in the dark, ball and chain, the burden of prosecution, scriptures for those who are in prison...

"Let the groans of the prisoners come 
before you; according to your great
power, preserve those doomed to die!: 
Psalm 79:11

"I can do all things through him who 
strengthens me." Philippians 4:13

"Continue to remember those in prison
as if you were together with them in 
prison..." Hebrews 13:3

"The Lord hears the needy and does not
despise his captive people." Psalm 69:33

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Clip art of Saint Julia

Description of Clip Art: Saint Julia of Corsica (Italian: Santa Giulia da Corsica; French: Sainte Julie; Corsican: Santa Ghjulia; Latin: Sancta Iulia), also known as Saint Julia of Carthage, and more rarely Saint Julia of Nonza, was a virgin martyr who is venerated as a Christian saint. The date of her death is most probably on or after AD 439. She and Saint Devota are the patron saints of Corsica in the Catholic Church. Saint Julia was declared a patroness of Corsica by the Church on 5 August 1809; Saint Devota, on 14 March 1820. Both were martyred in pre-Christian Corsica under Roman rule. Julia's feast day is 23 May in the Western liturgical calendar and 16 July in the East. Read more...

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Saint Genevieve Clip Art

Description of Clip Art: Genevieve (French: Sainte Geneviève; Latin: Sancta Genovefa, Genoveva; c. 419/422 AD – 502/512 AD) is the patroness saint of Paris in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions. Her feast is on 3 January. Read more...

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.

Clip art of Saint Margaret of Hungry

Description of Illustration:  Margaret of Hungary (January 27, 1242 – January 18, 1270) was a Dominican nun and the daughter of King Béla IV of Hungary and Maria Laskarina. She was the younger sister of Kinga of Poland (Kunegunda) and Yolanda of Poland and, through her father, the niece of the famed Elizabeth of Hungary. Read more...

Have a question about the illustration? Just type it in the comment box and I'll get back to you as soon as possible. I only publish content that is closely related to the subject, folks.