What Does "God's Image" Mean?

       In discussing spiritual things, to be right, no one can' go beyond the word of Scripture. The Bible tells us that God gave to man a living soul. In this sense he was in the image of his Maker in his dispositions, temperament and desires, and in his obedience to the divine will; but this condition was forfeited through sin. It could only be said thereafter of those who walked uprightly before God and were inspired of him, that they were "his offspring." (Matt. 13:38; Mark 7:10. See John 12:36; Acts 13:10; Col. 3:6.) Jesus himself drew the distinction when he told the wicked scribes and Pharisees that they were the children of the evil one, and this is the actual condition of every one living in sin, unrepentant and unforgiven. Thus while in his perfect condition man was like his Maker, in a condition of sin he is no longer so, nor has he any of the spiritual attributes and qualities that belong to the perfect condition, or even of the pardoned sinner, who has the hope through Christ of reconciliation and restoration. The Bible nowhere declares that man is of himself and inherently immortal. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die." When sin entered, then came physical decay and death; man's first condition was lost and with the continuance of sin, and unrepentant and unforgiven, he also forfeited spiritual immortality. Eternal life is the gift of God. Paul declares that Jesus, through .his Gospel, brought life and immortality to light for fallen man and showed the path to restoration through repentance, forgiveness and acceptance.

What did Jesus look like?

        Jesus had human flesh that reflected the colors of the people he lived with. He had no remarkable human appearance apart from his own relations. In other words, unless he was speaking, he could not be picked out from the crowd of those he was with. He looked Aramaic/Jewish, from the lands of the Bible. He was and still is often represented in art to look like the people who love him or who wish to use His authority to motivate someone else. The Germanic depiction of Jesus is the most common today. Although, this is due to the preferential choices of publishing companies. They hire the illustrators that they prefer. It has always been true that Western painters portray Jesus as they relate to him. For this reason it is entirely acceptable to paint him as any race that you prefer as long as it is NOT done with the intention to HARM others in any way. However, we live in a fallen society (i.e. the world) and this seems unavoidable at times.

• Read my response here after watching the YouTube video.

What is gleaning or gathering in the scriptures?

"She  went,  and  came,  and  gleaned  in  the  field  after the  reapers." Ruth 2:3

The  Israelites  were  commanded  by  their  law  to  be  merciful  to  the  poor. The  corners  of  the  fields  were  not  to  be  reaped. ''When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the LORD your God. Leviticus 19:9-10 and ''When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all the work of your hands.'' Deuteronomy 24:19 

This  grain  in  the  corners, and these odd sheaves in the field, were for the poor. The  story  of  Ruth  is  a  most  beautiful  illustration  of  this  law.  Reference  is  supposed  to  be  made  to  this  custom in  ''The poor must go about naked, without any clothing. They harvest food for others while they themselves are starving. They press out olive oil without being allowed to taste it, and they tread in the winepress as they suffer from thirst.'' Job 24:11-12

What were the weeping women of Tammuz performing for?

       The women weeping for Tammuz sat at the north gate of the Jerusalem Temple. Instead of weeping for the national sins, these women wept for the dead god Tammuz, ancient god of pasture and flocks, of the subterranean ocean, and of vegetation. 

"He brought me to the north gate of the LORD’s Temple, and some women were sitting there, weeping for the god Tammuz." Ezekiel 8:14

       This incident is listed in Ezekiel's vision of "abominations" of the people. God had declared that He would not pardon this and other idolatrous worship. 

Who were the prophetesses of the Old Testament?

1.) Deborah 2, a "judge" and prophetess, who summoned Barak to undertake the contest with Sisera. She went with the former to the field of battle.
2.) Huldah, a woman in the time of King Josiah, who prophesied.
3.) Isaiah's wife - (Isa. 8:3). In the entire period of political decline which preceded the fall of Samaria in 722 B.C. and of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. only two prophetesses appear in the record: Huldah, and Isaiah's wife, whom he speaks of as a prophetess. In the case of Isaiah's wife, she was probably called a prophetess because she was the wife of a prophet, rather than one who prophesied herself.
       Isaiah tells that he went unto her and she conceived. Their son was Maher-shalal-hash-baz, meaning "Hasten the spoil, rush on the prey." In Isaiah 7:3 another son of Isaiah is mentioned. He is Shearjashub, and his name means "A remnant returns." The names stand for two of Isaiah's prophecies concerning Jerusalem.
4.) Miriam 1, sister of Moses, who led the women of Israel in that  oldest of national anthems, "Sing Unto the Lord."
5.) Noadiah (Neh. 6:14), a false prophetess, who with Sanballat, Samaritan leader, and Tobiah, Ammonite governor, made insidious attempts to prevent Nehemiah, a Jew of the captivity, from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem in about 445 B.c.
       She and her allies used various stratagems to intimidate him. For example, they told him that during the night his enemies would kill him. They advised him to shut himself up in the house of God. He declined such advice, exclaiming, "My God, think thou upon Tobiah and Sanballat according to these their works, and on the prophetess Noadiah, and the rest of the prophets, that would have put me in
fear."
       Despite the stratagems of this false prophetess and her friends, the Jerusalem wall was finished, and those who saw it perceived that it was the work of God.
6.) women who sew pillows, The women who sew pillows to armholes (Ezek. 13:18) were the false prophetesses who made cushions to lean on, typifying the perfect tranquillity which they foretold to those consulting them. Their pretended inspiration enhanced their guilt as prophetesses.
       The translation of this phrase in the Revised Standard Version paints a slightly different picture, but the basic idea is the same. Instead of "women that sew pillows to all armholes - they are described as "women who sew magic bands upon all wrists." This refers to the amulets people bought from false prophetesses or sorceresses and wore to give them a sense of security. But the security was false.
       The men who are said to have built a wall (Ezek. 13:10), and the women who sewed pillows or made magic arm bands - both alike promised a false peace and security.

Who was Damaris in the Book of Acts?

        Damaris (Acts 17:34), a woman of Athens, who believed in the message of Paul. That one word "believe" presents a whole sermon in itself. Paul had just preached to the Athenians on Mars Hill, but many of them did not believe, for many were ignorant of God. But Damaris and a man, Dionysius, had the spiritual receptivity to receive Paul's message based on the theme, "For in him we live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28).
       Damaris must have been a woman of distinction or she would not have been singled out with Dionysius, one of the judges of the great court.
       In all probability she was one of the Hetairai, constituting a highly intellectual class of women who associated with philosophers and statesmen. This may be the reason she was in the audience when Paul delivered his address on Mars Hill.
       We learn from Acts 17:18 that he had spoken before certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers, who "took him, and brought him unto Aeropagus."
       Some commentators have suggested that Damaris was the wife of Dionysius; however, this is rather improbable for the Greek wife lived in seculsion. The Hetairai were the only free women in Athens. If Damaris had been a wife, her presence would not have been recognized in that concourse on Mars Hill. If the wife of Dionysius, she would have been, according to oriental custom, mentioned as such. Instead of "a woman named Damaris," we would have "and his wife Damaris." Or more likely still, her name would have been omitted.

Who was Cozbi in the Book of Numbers?

       Cozbi (Num. 25:15, 18), a Midianitish woman slain at Shittim by Phinehas, son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron. Phinehas was commended for the act in Psalms 106:30, 31. He thrust a javelin through Cozbi's stomach after Moses had given orders publicly to execute chiefs of the people, guilty of whoredoms in Baal-peor worship.
       Cozbi was a princess, daughter of Zur, head of a chief house in Midian. And she had influenced Zimri, son of Salu, prince of a chief house among the Simeonites. Her influence for evil was greater because of her prominence and because she had beguiled a Hebrew of prominence.
       At the same time that Phinehas slew her, he also slew Salu. Together they had entered the camp where the Israelites were worshiping and praying to Yahweh, because of a plague sent down upon them. Phinehas, zealous as he was, believed that his act of doing away  with the wicked pair would terminate a plague then raging as a judgment against the idolatries and impurities into which the Midianitish women were leading the Hebrews.
       The slaying of Cozbi and her accomplice Salu is thought to have stayed the plague of whoredom and idolatry with foreign daughters. But 23,000 died from the plague caused by this evil (I Cor. 10:8).
       Cozbi's name means deceitful. She is the only woman in the Bible of whom it is written that a javelin was thrust "through her belly" (Num. 25:8).

Who was Claudia in The Book of II Timothy?

       Claudia (II Tim. 4:21), a woman in the Christian Church at Rome, who sent her greetings through Paul to Timothy. Scholars have made several conjectures about this Claudia.
       She appears in the same passage with Pudens and Linus. Some scholars are of the opinion that she was a wife of Pudens and a mother of Linus, bishop of Rome, who was mentioned by Irenaeus, Greek Church father, and Eusebius, "father of church history." 
       Martial, Latin poet born in Spain, but a citizen of Rome from about A.D. 64 to 98, writes in an epigram of Claudia and Pudens. Some scholars conclude that they are identical with the Claudia and
Pudens mentioned in Timothy, though others question why the name of Linus comes between them.
       H. S. Jacobs, writing in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (p. 666), says that the Apostolica Constitutions (VII, 21) name Claudia as the mother of Linus. He further comments that a passage in the Agricola by Tacitus, Roman historian, and "an inscription found in Chichester, England, have been used in favor of the further statement that this Claudia was a daughter of a British King, Cogidubnus." But Lightfoot in The Apostolic Fathers argues against the theory that Claudia and Pudens were husband and wife and that Linus was their son.
       Some authorities, with little justification, have identified this Claudia with Pilate's wife, to whom tradition has given the name of Claudia.

Who was Sisera's mother?

       Sisera's mother (Judg. 5:28) represents the aged mother, watching longingly for her warrior son to return from battle. Sisera, a Canaanite chieftain of the twelfth century B.C., had already been killed by Jael, the Kenite wife, who had driven a tent peg into his head while, wearied from battle, he lay sleeping.
       After many of his men had perished in the floodwaters of the Kishon, Sisera had sought refuge in the tent of Jael and her husband Heber, the Kenite, thinking of course they were friendly to his cause (Judges. 4:17).
       Sisera's mother, we know, was a luxury-loving, materially minded woman. She does not appeal to God for her son's safe return. On the other hand, we see her sitting beside the latticed windows of her palace, and she is asking, "Why is his chariot so long in coming?" Her ladies-in-waiting comfort her by stories of the wild spoils of war. They tell her that her son, Sisera, is late because, like all sons of war, he has probably received a damsel or two. Also they picture to her the rich garments that her son will bring back, garments luxuriant in their colors and rich in their embroideries.
       The story of Sisera's mother appears in Deborah's Song.

Who was the Canaanitish mother of Shaul?

        The Canaanitish woman was the mother of Shaul. "The sons of Simeon: Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. Genesis 46:10 and "The sons of Simeon were Jemuel, Jamin, Ohad, Jakin, Zohar and Shaul the son of a Canaanite woman. These were the clans of Simeon." Exodus 6:15
       Her husband was Simeon. The Israelites had been warned not to marry the daughters of the Canaanites, who were of foreign stock and were doomed to destruction on account of their sins. "I want you to swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and the God of earth, that you will not get a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living," Genesis 24:3

Who was the wise woman of Tekoah?

        The wise woman of Tekoah (II Sam. 14:1-20) was the mother of two sons. She was a dramatic actress as well as a sagacious woman. Dressed in mourning, she came up from her home in Tekoah to Jerusalem and feigned a story about her two sons, one of whom, she said, had been killed by the other as they fought together in the field, where there was no one to part them. Now her whole family wanted to put her guilty son to death. She begged David to have mercy on her son and David declared the young man would not be harmed.
       The woman had come from the town of Tekoah, twelve miles south of Jerusalem and six miles south of Bethlehem, far enough away so that her story could not be easily investigated. She had woven it together to be as much like the story of David's own sons, Absalom and Amnon, as she could make it and still not have him recognize immediately the real purpose of her mission.
       Several years before, Absalom had murdered Amnon, in revenge for what Amnon had done to their sister Tamar. For this crime David had banished Absalom, his most beloved son, and had not seen him for three years.
       Realizing that David now needed the company of his favorite son, the discerning Joab, commander-in-chief of David's army, had instructed the woman to come from Tekoah and make this appeal. Though in his heart David still loved Absalom, he probably had not recalled him because he dreaded public opinion.
       To overcome David's scruples and help him see that mercy was reasonable in this case, the woman of Tekoah came with her story, and David soon saw that it paralleled that of his own two sons. When he asked if Joab had sent her, she revealed that he had put all these words into her mouth. Then in her argument she made it clear that Absalom had reason to complain that he was treated by his own father more sternly than her son, one of the humblest subjects in the realm.
       She let him know that the nation could now say that the king gave more attention to her humble petition than to the wishes and desires of the whole kingdom. She argued with him also that the death of her own son would be only a private loss to her family, but the termination of Absalom's banishment was to the common interest of all Israel, who now looked to Absalom as David's successor on the throne.
       This wise woman of Tekoah was successful in her mission. After she left, David sent Joab to Geshur to bring Absalom back to Jerusalem. The reconciliation came about because the woman of Tekoah had acted so well the feigned story of her two sons.
       Evidently she was a devout woman, for she stressed that "as an angel of God, so is my lord the king to discern good and bad: therefore the Lord thy God will be with thee." Earlier she had spoken of her own "inheritance of God" coming through her son. Her devotion to God was what probably won King David's heart.

Who was Micah's mother?

       Micah's mother (Judges. 17:2, 3, 4) had dedicated 1,100 shekels of silver to the making of graven images. Her son, Micah of Ephraim, stole the shekels, but when he heard his mother had cursed because of the loss, he returned them to her and confessed his guilt. She made restitution of the money to him, but took 200 shekels (probably from the original amount) and had images made at a foundry.
       There seems to be spiritual confusion in the mind of this mother, who in one breath blessed the Lord and in the next told her son that she had set aside the shekels for him and had planned that part be used for the making of graven images. She appeared to want to honor God but was ignorant as to the meaning of faith in the one God.
       Though Micah's mother does not appear in the text after this incident, we learn how her influence in idolatry carried on. Her son built a shrine or house of gods, probably a miniature copy of the temple at Shiloh, and set it up in his home. He placed there the graven images and secured a priest to stay in his home, administer the shrine, and educate his son for the priesthood.
       But the graven and molten images were stolen by migrating Danites, who also persuaded Micah's priest to leave with them. And they took to Shiloh the images which Micah's mother had given him and competed with them against the house of the Lord. The idolatry that was practiced among the Danites for many succeeding generations appears to have sprung from the idolatrous influence of this mother.

Who was Judith in the book of Genesis?

Painting of Judith from the apocryphal
 Book of Judith, who cuts the head
off of a general.

         Judith (Gen. 26:34), the daughter of Beeri and one of the Hittite wives of Esau, who grieved and vexed Isaac and Rebekah, Esau's parents. They grieved because their son had married a foreign woman and not one of their own people.
       Some authorities are of the opinion that Judith is the same as Aholibamah (Oholibamah) mentioned in Genesis 36:5, but other authorities do not agree with this. If so, she had three children by Esau "Jeush, Jaalam, and Korah" who were born in the land of Canaan.
       Esau's marriage at age forty to this woman from a land that worshiped idols is said to have been one of the reasons why Esau, though the elder son of Isaac and Rebekah, lost the blessing to his twin brother Jacob, born second and regarded as the younger. The account of the loss of the blessing of his father Isaac appears immediately after Esau's marriage to his Hittite wives. The marriage comes in Genesis 26:34, the loss of the birthright in Genesis 27:1.
       Because Judith did not worship the one God, she did not occupy as high a place in patriarchal history as did her sisters-in-law, Rachel and Leah, Jacob's wives.
       The Bible shows that Esau, though born into a godly family, turned to the more material path, and that his Hittite wives led him completely away from God.

Who was Belshazzar's mother?

       Belshazzar's mother (Dan. 5:10, ii, 12) is referred to as queen in Daniel 5:10. She was either the grandmother or, more probably, the queen-mother during the reign of Belshazzar, last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Some scholars are of the opinion that she was Nitocris, queen of Babylonia, to whom Herodotus ascribed many civic improvements.
      If so, Belshazzar's mother was regarded as the noblest and most beautiful woman of her time. History records that during the insanity of her husband, Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 4:36), Nitocris did
much to beautify Babylon. She built beautiful bridges, wharves, tiled embankments, and lakes and made improvements and enlargements to the buildings. Years after Nebuchadnezzar's death she was an
influential force in the government.
      Though in the three verses of the fifth chapter of Daniel Belshazzar's mother appears and disappears, like a face in a window, she gives us much of herself in a single speech there. It came when Belshazzar was celebrating a great feast.
      The king, crazed with drink, earlier had shouted to his butlers to bring the cups of the Lord's Temple which had been brought to Babylon as plunder from Jerusalem. These sacred vessels were filled with wine and defiled by the lips of the drunken king and his thousand lords. At the height of the celebration an apparition, in the shape of the fingers of a man's hand, wrote upon the walls the words, "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" (Dan. 5:25). None of the drunken guests could understand what they meant.
      Then it was that Belshazzar's mother, learning that her son was troubled by this astonishing occurrence, came into the banquet hall. Not knowing how to interpret the strange words, she advised the
king to call in Daniel, now an old man, who had served Nebuchadnezzar as an interpreter of dreams years before.
      Daniel appeared and read the meaning of the words, which were, "God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it; thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting; thy kingdom is divided, and
given to the Medes and Persians."
      In that same night Belshazzar was slain, and Darius seized the kingdom. The queen-mother probably never saw Belshazzar again after her brief appearance in the banquet hall.
      Her mention in the Bible came not because she had beautified Babylonia - if she was Nitocris - but because she knew the prophet Daniel, who foretold the coming of Christ.
      Of one thing we can be certain: Belshazzar's mother was a woman who believed in the greatness of God, because in her speech in the banquet hall, when she advised the king to summon Daniel, she
described him as a man "in whom is the spirit of the holy gods." And she wisely added, "And in the days of thy father light and understanding and wisdom, like the wisdom of the gods, was found in him."

Who was Jabez' Mother?

       Jabez' mother (I Chronicles. 4:9) bore her son in sorrow and called him by a name meaning "sorrow." She gave to the world a son "more honorable than his brethren." He became a prayerful and pious man, who asked that God might keep him from evil. His prayer was answered. Doubtless the sorrow of Jabez' mother had drawn her closer to God.
       It is probable that she was familiar with the story of how Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him Beth-el, and perpetuated the circumstances which marked her son's birth similarly.
       Some scholars are of the opinion that Jabez was the son of Coz (I Chronicles. 4:8) . If so, his mother also had other children.
       If she lived to know of the achievements of her godly son, she must have felt compensated for all her sorrow. Jewish writers affirm that Jabez became an eminent doctor in the law. His reputation is thought to have drawn so many scribes around him that a town, probably in the territory of Judah, was called by his name (I Chronicles 2:55).

What is the lesson taught about persistent prayer?

        'The importunate widow (Luke 18:3, 5) appears in one of Jesus' parables. When the widow went to the judge begging him to avenge her of her adversary he refused. She continued to plead with the judge to help her. Finally he yielded to her plea for he feared that "by her continual coming she weary me."
       Jesus used the parable of the importunate widow to teach his disciples the need for persistent prayer.

How did God save a widow's sons from slavery?

        The widow whose oil was multiplied (II Kings 4:1-8) appears early in the story of Elisha. It evinces the prophet's kindness for a poor widow. She had no claim to the compassion of the prophet, except that he had known her husband, who "did fear the Lord." Her husband had died with debts so heavy that his creditors had come and demanded that her two sons be given them as slaves, in payment of the debts.
       Unless she could pay her debts she would have to part with her sons. Without fear she approached the prophet Elisha, who asked, "What shall I do for thee?" And when she told him her trouble, he then asked, "Tell me, what hast thou in the house?" When she told him that she had nothing but a pot of oil, he told her, "Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbors, even empty vessels; borrow not a few. And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full."
       The woman had to possess a childlike and trusting faith to carry out such orders. But it came to pass when the vessels were full that she said to her son, "Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed." When the widow came back to Elisha and told him what had happened, he directed her, "Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest." It was enough to give the poor widow permanent relief, and Elisha had provided for her future and given her the added blessing of keeping her sons by her side.

Who were the women of Midian?

       Women of Midian (Num. 31:9), after their husbands had been slain, were taken as captives by the Israelites. With their children, their cattle, their flocks and goods, the women were taken as spoils of war to Moses and Eleazar, the priest in the camp on the plains of Moab before the congregation there.
       Moses was "wroth" that these women of Midian had been saved because they came from a people who had committed trespasses against the Lord, and a plague had followed. He ordered that the women who had been married be killed, but that the virgins be saved and given as wives to the Israelites.
       The lesson taught here is that the Israelites believed that victory in war belonged to Yahweh. Thus any booty, even women of the enemy, belonged to Him and must be divided according to His will.
       This story again lets us see how women of antiquity were regarded not as persons but as things, just like cattle and flocks and household goods.

Who was the one designated mother in the letters of Paul?

       Rufus' mother (Rom. 16:13) one of those to whom Paul sent salutations in his letter to the Romans, written from Corinth and probably carried by Phebe, a deaconess of the Church at Cenchrea near Corinth.
       "Salute Rufus chosen in the Lord," Paul wrote, "and his mother and mine." The last phrase referred, of course, to his spiritual relationship in the early Christian Church with Rufus' mother. The phrase shows us that she was a spiritually minded woman, probably one of the most faithful workers in this early church.
       In Paul's long list of salutations in this chapter, this is the only woman designated as a mother.

Did Paul's intimate family plot against him?

       Paul's sister was the mother of a son, who seems to have resided with her, probably in Jerusalem. He gave information to the chief captain of the plot to kill Paul, so that he might avoid the ambush. It may be inferred that Paul's sister was connected with some of the more prominent families. 

"But Paul’s nephew—his sister’s son—heard of their plan and went to the fortress and told Paul." Acts 23:16 NLT