Verse and Quotes About Angels

 Think you the notes of holy song
On Milton's tuneful ear have died?
Think ye that Raphael's angel throng
Has vanished from his side?
                            -John G. Whittier.

What shall I be when days of grief are ended,

From earthly fetters set forever free;

When from the harps of saints and angels blended

I hear the burst of joyful melody?

                                                             -Langbecker.

Tune your harps anew, ye seraphs,

Join to sing the pleasing theme;

All in earth, and all in heaven,

Join to praise Emanuel's name.

                    -Rev. Jonathan Evans.

The world recedes, it disappears;

Heaven opens on my eyes; my ears

With sounds seraphie ring.

                                              -Pope.

I heard an angel singing

When the day was springing:

"Mercy, Pity and Peace

Are the world's release!"

          -William Blake.

O providence beyond compare!

O glorious vision, wondrous sight!

O miracle, transcending far

Imagination's boldest flight.

Horses and chariots of fire

About the mount keep watch and ward;

The highest seraphim aspire

To form Elisha's body-guard.

              -John Brooke Greenwood.

It has been said of William Blake that he "created the most

perfect, tremendous and dramatic types of angelhood that have

ever been given to the world, as accrurately shown as though they

had stood in Blake's little chamber while he drew." The man

himself, like Fra Angelico, believed that they did. With a firm

hand he pictured how "the morning stars sang together and all

the sons of God shouted for joy."

                                                                      -Isabel McDougal

The Lord, my Maker, forming me of clay,

By His own breath the breath of life conveyed;

O'er all the bright new world He gave me sway,

A little lower than the angels made.

                                                       -St. Theophanes.

To weary hearts, to mourning homes,

God's meekest angel gently comes:

No power has he to banish pain,

Or give us back our Lost again;

And yet in tenderest love, our dear

And Heavenly Father sends him here.

                                                 -Whittier.

For the great eye that sees us never sleeps;

It has its ministering angels wheresoe'er

Existence is beneath us, and above,

Around us, and within us, He has there His delegates.

                                                              -Lord Byron.

This was manna coming from heaven, where angels dwell.

                                                                                -Strong.

But when we shall have got to heaven, shall we hear the Word

and eat and drink with Him as the angels do now? Do the angels

need books and interpreters and readers? Surely not. They read

in seeing, for the truth itself they see, and are abundantly satisfied

from that fountain, from which we obtain so few drops.

                                                                                            -Augustine.

The obedience of the angels is absolutely perfect, and that

with perfection of both parts and degrees.

                                                                          -Bishop Hopkins.

Yet being pregnant still with powerful grace,

And fruitful love that loves to get

Things like himself, and to enlarge his race,

His second brood, though not of power so great

Yet full of beauty, next he did beget

An infinite increase of angels bright

All glistening glorious in their Maker's light.

                                               -Edmund Spenser.

Ye holy angels bright

Who stand before God's throne,

And dwell in glorious light,

Praise ye the Lord each one!

Ye there, so nigh

Are much more meet

Than we, the feet,

For things so high.

                                           -Baxter.

Angels! With regard to their essence or nature, they are all spirits,--not material beings, not clogged with flesh and blood like us; but having bodies, if any, not gross and earthly like ours, but of a finer substance, resembling fire or flame more than any of the lower elements. And is not something like this intimated by the Psalmist? As spirits, he has endowed them with understanding, will, affections, and liberty.

                                                                                                                                            -Wesley.

O God, who can doubt that You could create spirits without a body? Or is there need of a body that one might understand, love, and be happy? You who are Yourself so pure a spirit--are You not incorporeal and immaterial? Are not intelligence and love spiritual and immaterial operations which can be exercised without the need of a body? Who doubts, then, that You could create intelligencies of this kind? And You Yourself have not left us in doubt, but have revealed Yourself and the existence and nature of angels to us.

                                                                                                                                     -Bossuet.

These things the seer Isaiah did befall:

In spirit he beheld the Lord of all

On a high throne raised up in splendor bright,

His garment's border filled the choir with light.

Beside Him stood two seraphim, which had

Six wings, wherewith they both alike are clad;

With twain they hid their shining face, with twain

They hid their feet as with a flowing train,

And with the other twain they both did fly.

                                                -Martin Luther.

Round His throne archangels pour

Songs of praise forever more.

                       -Carmina Sanetorum.

If God gives them charge concerning us, how cheerfully and

trustfully we ought to enter upon the journey of the opening

year! When we need them most, they may be at hand.

                                                           -Theodore L. Cuyler, D. D.

O our angel friends above us!

Come, illume our darkened sphere,

Let us know that still you love us,

Let us feel your presence here.

                             -Submit C. Loomis.

Mighty God, while angels bless Thee,

May a mortal sing Thy Name?

Loved of men as well as angels,

Thou art every creature's theme,

For the grandeur of Thy nature--

Grand beyond a seraph's thought.

                                          -Albert Lowe.

A pillow for thee will I bring,

Stuffed with down of angel's wing.

                           -Richard Crashaw

The Angels were all singing out of tune,

And hoarse with having little else to do,

Excepting to wind up the sun and moon

Or curb a runaway young star or two.

                                                    -Lord Byron

Sleep undisturbed within this peaceful shrine,

Till angels wake thee with a note like thine.

                                                                   -Johnson.

Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth

Unseen, both when we wake and when we sleep.

                                                             -John Milton.

From yon veil of midnight darkness rending,

Came the rich mysteries to the sleeper's eye,

That saw your hosts ascending and descending

On those bright steeps between the earth and sky;

Trembling he woke, and bowed o'er glory's trace,

And worshipping awe-struck in that fearful place.

                                                              -Mrs. Hemans.

Let Thy bless'd angels while I sleep

Around my bed their virgils keep.

                                 -Bishop Ken.

Yet to pure eyes that ladder still is set,

And angel visitants come and go.

                                -William Alexander.

Angels descending, bring from above,

Echoes of mercy, whispers of love.

                                -Fanny J. Crosby

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 park pavilion glows;

It thunders--the resplendent gates unclose.

Far as the eye can glance, on height o'er height,

Rose fiery waving wings, and star--crowned brows,

Millions on millions, brighter and more bright,

Till all is lost in one supreme, unmingled light.

                                                      -Crowley.

Opens a door in heaven;

From skies of glass

A Jacob's ladder falls

On greening grass,

And o'er the mountain-walls

Young angels pass.

                 -Tennyson.

Which of the petty kings of earth

Can boast a guard like ours,

Encircled from our second birth

With all the heavenly powers?

Myriads of bright cherubie bands,

Sent by the King of Kings,

Rejoice to bear us in their hands,

And shade us with their wings.

                          -Charles Wesley.

We trust in plumed procession

For such the angels go-

Rank after Rank, with even feet-

And uniforms of Snow.

                      -Emily Dickinson.

There are silent, unseen forces

Unto truth that are allied;

And the legions of the angels

Aid us from the other side.

There are voices from the silence

Soft as sweep of seraph's wings.

                              -J.A. Edgerton.

Heavenly messengers have been represented in all ages of the

church as furnished with wings.

                                                                         -McClintock.

In guise a seraph wrapt with love aflame

And all aflame with knowledge, like the bush

That burned with God in Horeb unconsumed.

                                                -Prof. Wilkinson.

Onward -- ever onward pressing,

Yet untired as an angel's wing.

                                         -Anonymous.

Age and Oratory

 This is the description of one who had the privilege of hearing Gladstone, in the autumn of 1896, make his last great oration in Liverpool:

       See the old man with slow and dragging steps advancing from the door behind the platform to his seat before that sea of eager faces. The figure is shrunken. The eyelids droop. The cheeks are as parchment. Now that he sits, his hands lean heavily upon his staff. We think, "Ah, it is too late; the fire has flickered out; the speech will be but the dead echo of bygone glories." But lo! he rises. The color mantles to his face. He stands erect, alert. The great eyes open full upon his countrymen. Yes, the first notes are somewhat feeble, somewhat painful ; but a few minutes pass, and the noble voice falls as the solemn music of an organ on the throng. The eloquent arms seem to weave a mystic garment for his oratory. The involved sentences unfold themselves with a perfect lucidity. The whole man dilates. The soul breaks out through the marvelous lips. Age? Not so! this is eternal youth. He is pleading for mercy to an outraged people, for fidelity to a national obligation, for courage and for conscience in a tremendous crisis. And the words from the Re- vised Version of the Psalms seem to print themselves on the listener's heart: "Thou hast made him but little lower than God, and crownest him with glory and honor."

Man Godlike

 Man Godlike

Swarming across the earthly crust,
Delving deep in the yellow dust.
Raising his ant-hills here and there.
Scoring the soil for his humble fare,
Braving the sea in his tiny boat -
Tireless he struggles, this human mote.

Tempests scatter his ant-hills wide,
Vainly he braves the boiling tide.
Fire will ruin his busy mart.
Famine stilleth his throbbing heart.
Trembles the earth and prone he falls,
Crusht and tombed by his pigmy walls.

Heir of the kingdom 'neath the skies,
Often he falls, yet falls to rise.
Stumbling, bleeding, beaten back,
Holding still to the upward track;
Playing his part in creation's plan.
Godlike in image - this is man!

Lilium Candidum Symbol of The Annunciation

       Over time many flowers have been used inside the church to designate something, an event or person in scripture. Both medieval scribes, and then much later the Victorians, maintained religious floral symbolism in their liturgical traditions, illuminations and paintings. One of the most consistently used floral symbols still used today is the lily.
       ''The Lilium Candidum'' is a popular symbol of the Annunciation. In many pictures of the Annunciation it is shown, either growing in a pot, or else held in the hand of the Virgin or the Angel Gabriel. As a rule it is stamenless, and my even have a tiny flame of fire resting upon it.'' Webber 

Scriptures To Learn In Reference to The Lily Symbol:

• ''And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin'a name was Mary. And the angel come in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee:blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.'' Luke 1:26-28

The painting of the Annunciation by Leonardo Da Vinci depicts an angel giving to Mary,
mother of Jesus, a lily. This is never described in the Bible, however, it is a very old
symbol designated by Christian artists in the church to symbolize the event. 

 

Elijah rides away in a firey chariot...

Description of Illustration: chariot on fire, friends part, horses gallop toward Heaven, departure of a prophet, scripture reference 2 Kings 2:11, old manuscript

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.

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).

Miriam, "Sing Unto the Lord"

Miriam watches over baby Moses.

       Miriam is the first woman in the Bible whose interest was national and whose mission was patriotic. When she led the women of Israel in that oldest of all national anthems, "Sing Unto the Lord," four centuries of bondage in Egypt had been lifted. It was a turning point in Israel's religious development and a woman led in its recognition.
       The portrait of Miriam, brilliant, courageous sister of Moses, is drawn in a few graphically real strokes. We have the first picture of her in Exodus 2:4, 7 when she was a little girl. Here she is not named, but is referred to only as Moses' sister. Her courage at this time gives an indication of the kind of woman she was to become.
       As she stood guarding her baby brother in the ark made by their mother Jochebed, she exhibited a fearlessness and self-possession unusual in a little girl. She was then probably about seven years old. Though she was awaiting the coming of a powerful princess, the daughter of a hostile tyrant who had decreed that all male babies should be destroyed, Miriam showed poise, intelligence, and finesse. When the daughter of Pharaoh came down with her maidens to the banks of the Nile to bathe and found the little Moses lying there in his ark, Miriam approached her quietly, asking if she would like her to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby.
       Never disclosing by look or word her own relationship to the child, she brought her mother Jochebed to Pharaoh's daughter. The child Moses was safe at last behind palace walls, with his own mother as his nurse.
       Through the years that passed, while Moses was in Pharaoh's house, and during the subsequent period when he had left the scene of courtly splendor to live some forty years in Midian, the Bible gives us no record of Miriam. There is also no record of her during Moses' long pleadings with Pharaoh to release his people, so that they might return to the land of their fathers.
       Through the long oppression of the Israelites by hard taskmasters, we can be sure that Miriam was ministering to her people and that she was reverenced as the honored sister of Moses and Aaron, who were to lead the Hebrews out of bondage and form a new nation. The prophet Micah attests to this when he says, "For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam." Mic. 6:4
       The second scene in Miriam's life opens when Israel's deliverance is at hand. Wondrous miracles attesting to the mighty mission of her illustrious brothers had unfolded, and thousands of Hebrew people
were departing from Egypt.
       Miriam now occupied a unique place among the Hebrew women, that of prophetess. The Hebrew word "prophetess - means a woman who is inspired to teach the will of God. It is also used for wife of a prophet, and is sometimes applied to a singer of hymns. The first meaning must be applied to Miriam because the Bible gives no record that she was ever married. Tradition has it that she became the wife of Hur, who with Aaron held up the hands of Moses, but we have no warrant whatever in Scripture, by direct word or inference, to confirm this tradition. 
       The next scene depicts Miriam in all her triumph. A strong wind had backed up the waters of the Sea of Reeds, and Miriam led the Hebrew women across the dry sea bottom. Following hard upon them came Pharaoh's detachments of chariots and horsemen. But the sea came flooding back and they were swallowed up in the water. We can see Miriam as a commanding figure, her face radiant in this hour of her people's deliverance. She and the women following behind her moved forward on dry ground through the midst of the sea when the waters were a wall on their right hand and on their left. Miriam played on a timbrel and danced joyfully as she led the song: "Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea." Exodus 15:21
       This Song of Deliverance, sometimes referred to as the Song of Miriam and Moses, is one of the earliest songs in Hebrew literature, and one of the finest. What part Miriam had in the composition of this national anthem, the oldest on record, is not known, but in weaving it into the conscious life of her people she had an equal share with Moses and Aaron.
       Miriam is the first woman singer on record. The wonder of it is that she sang unto the Lord, using her great gift for the elevation of her people. With her they exulted over their escape from their enemies. And with freedom came a newly discovered faith and confidence in God. This was Miriam's great hour. She was the new Israel's most renowned woman, and her people held her in high regard. She had filled an important role in the founding of the Hebrew commonwealth.
       The third scene in Miriam's life offers a sharp contrast to this one, and occurs some time later. Some chronologists believe it took place only one year after the passage across the Sea of Reeds, but this period seems hardly long enough for Miriam's character to have changed so completely. Miriam has had a spiritual fall - and over what we would least expect. She has spoken against her brother Moses.
       The limitations in Miriam's character come into clear focus in this third dramatic scene in her life. No longer does she stand on the summit as she did in her triumphant hour. She is still an exalted person, but no longer a leader in exultation. This time she is a leader in jealousy and bitterness. Probably she had become rebellious because her place was secondary to that of her brother Moses.
       With Aaron, we hear her murmuring, "Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it." Numbers 12:2 In this delineation of the envious, bitter side of Miriam's character, following so soon after the courageous, inspiring scene of the woman who had sung to God so joyfully, we have one of the most perfect examples in the Bible of woman's mixed nature of good and evil.
       Another reason for Miriam's conflict with her brother Moses had arisen. He had married again. His first wife Zipporah, a Midianite, had died. His second wife was a Cushite (Ethiopian), a dark-skinned woman from the African country bordering on Egypt. Opinions vary about this woman. Some scholars think that Moses married only once.
       It is probable that Miriam, older than Moses by about seven years, had expressed herself quite freely against her brother's wife from an idolatrous country. That an Ethiopian should be raised above herself, who was a daughter of Israel, was, to one of her evidently proud spirit, unendurable. Because she had such pride in her own race, she may have told Moses that he should have chosen his wife from among his own people. Her great mistake was that she made her complaint public. It tended to break down the authority of Moses and to imperil the hope of the Israelites.
       On the other hand, she rang a warning bell to others who might follow Moses' lead. When a man's wife is opposed to the religion of his country, especially the wife of a man occupying the lofty position of Moses, his cause is in peril. And Miriam evidently feared this. She was not alone in her thinking. Aaron was a partner in the complaint, but Miriam's name was placed first. Probably it was she who brought up the matter to Aaron and influenced his thinking. There is a peculiar analogy between Miriam's sin and her punishment. The foul vice of envy had spread over her whole character, like the loathsome disease which had overtaken her. Her sharp words made more real the words James spoke many centuries later: "And the tongue is a fire, ... it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature.'' James 3:6
       Leprosy, the pale plague of Egypt regarded as providential punishment for slander, had smitten Miriam down. She had become a leper "white as snow." Numbers 12:10 "And "Moses cried unto the Lord, saying, Heal her now, O God, I beseech thee." Numbers 12:13 Though she had held a grudge against him, Moses acted toward her in a spirit of love. Probably when he saw his sister leprous, he remembered that he had once been stricken with leprosy, too. (Exodus 4:6)
       We can assume that the heart of Miriam was touched by her brother's love. Though she was shut out of camp for seven days, in accordance with the regulations of the Israelites (Num. 12:15), she was not shut out of the hearts of those she had led in their triumphant hour. Though wearied from their long wanderings and impatient at every delay in reaching the Promised Land, "the people journeyed not till Miriam was brought in again." Numbers 12:15 Doubtless the leprosy of Miriam's mind departed with the leprosy of her body.
       The fourth and final scene in Miriam's story takes place at Kadesh, probably in the Wilderness of Zin, some seventy miles south of Hebron. Tradition tells us that after her death her funeral was celebrated in the most solemn manner for thirty days. Like her brothers Aaron and Moses, Miriam did not reach the Promised Land but died in the wilderness; however, her cry of exultation, "Sing unto the Lord" which had signified freedom for the newborn Israel, could not die.

Illuminated Words, Letters & Text Index

Sample illuminated letters from the listing below.

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1. Jesus, The Cross Bearer
2. "The LORD is my Shepherd" Title
   
3. A Transparent Celtic Knot on a Letter "D"
4. "Faith At The Cross" in Liturgical Colors
5. "Our Father" Matthew 6:9
   
6. Illuminated Scriptures from Micah's First and Second Chapters
7. Worship With Gladness
8. The Seventh Trumpet
   
9. 1 Peter 5:7
10. "Better Is One Day"
11. He is the First and the Last...
    
12. An Illuminated "The"
13. Illuminated Letters and Scripture From Revelation
    
14. Save The Lost
15. Pentecost Banner
16. Rebekah gives birth to 2 nations
    
17. The Illuminated Word, "Prayer" for Webpages
18. Blue and Green Illuminated "N"
    
19. An Illuminated "My"
20. "One with Christ in Glory"
21. John 3:16 and 17 with illuminated letters
    
22. Isaiah 30:15
23. A Rainbow of Covenant People
24. Illuminated Scriptures about Prayer
    
25. Jeremiah 31:3
26. Rejoice Butterfly
27. Lamentations 3:25-26
28. Illuminated Quotes by Jesus About Knowledge
    
29. "Baptism" title
30. Multi-Colored Stained Glass Cross
31. The Root of Jesse
    
32. "A Friend In Need"
33. I AM Statements of Jesus from the New Testament
34. Quotes/Poems by Robert Louis Stevenson
35. Psalm 100: 4-5 - illuminated letter "E"
    
36. "Run The Race"
37. The Alpha and Omega - illuminated letters in stained glass 
    

Illuminating Articles:

• Include Initial Letters in Your Next Publishing Project
• Te Deum laudamus - illuminated by Esther Faithful Fleet for The Victoria Press coming soon...

Questions and Answers About Words and Terms Used In The Bible: Illuminate your thinking . . . 

1. What Is the Origin of the Name "Jew"?
2. What is meant by "Saved, Yet As by Fire"?
3. What is meant by the "Elect"?
4. In What Sense Was Man Created in The Divine Likeness?
5. What is Meant by "Strange Fire?"
6. What Is a "Generation?"
7. What Was the Forbidden Fruit? 
8. What Were the "Marks of the Lord Jesus?  
9. How was the Brazen Serpent a type?
10. What is meant by the "Beast and His Mark?"
11. What Is the Baptism of Fire?
12. What is to be understood by being "Baptized for the Dead?"
13. What is meant be the "Prince of the Power of the Air?"
14. What are we to understand by the Battle of Armageddon, referred to in Revelation?"
15. What significance has the word "Abba" as when it precedes the word "Father?" 
16. What is the Meaning of "Selah?"
17. Where did the Jews get the name "Hebrews?"
18. What is the meaning of "Mizpah?"
    

Sample Illuminated Coloring Sheets from our Color The Bible Blog:

• Coloring Page of 2 Chronicles 16:9
• Joseph's Dream Coloring Page
• Coloring page of Proverbs 22:5
• Coloring page of 2 Peter 3:18
• The Crown of Life
• Psalm 150:6 Coloring Page
• Matthew 16:16 Coloring Page 

Last updated December 28th, 2021

What Is the Baptism of Fire?

It has been variously interpreted to mean:

1. the baptism of the Holy Spirit
2. the fires of purgatory,
3. the everlasting fires of hell. 

Modern theologians take the view that the baptism of fire and that of the Holy Ghost are the same, and that it may be rendered "baptized with the Holy Ghost through the outward symbol of fire or "as with the cloven tongues of fire'' referring to the Pentecostal baptism.

Is the book if Job a real history or a dramatic allegory?

        Job is believed to have been a real personage - a type of the earliest patriarchs, a man of high intelligence and great faith. The story is cast in dramatic form. Professor S. S. Curry, of Yale and Harvard Divinity Schools, thus outlines it : the place, a hill outside the city ; a rising storm, flashing lightning, rolling thunder and a rainbow; the speakers, God, the patriarch Job, his friends, and Satan; the theme, the mystery of human suffering, and human existence. To which may be added, a sublime faith in the divine wisdom, righteousness and justice. The book of Job is regarded by the highest Bible scholarship as a spiritual allegory. The name Job is derived from an Arabic word signifying "repentance," although Job himself is held to be a real personage. 

“Son of man, if a country sins against me by being unfaithful and I stretch out my hand against it to cut off its food supply and send famine upon it and kill its people and their animals, even if these three men—Noah, Daniel and Job—were in it, they could save only themselves by their righteousness, declares the Sovereign LORD. Ezekiel 14:13-14

"Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains." James 5:2-7

Up to Heaven In A Wirlwind!

"As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a
chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the
two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a wirlwind."
 2 Kings 2:11

Description of Illustration: a vintage illustration depicting a blazing chariot ride!, clouds in the sky, lightening in a storm, horses, children's Bible illustration from Germany

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 wife of Aaron?

        Elisheba (Exod. 6:23), wife of Aaron, first head of the Hebrew priesthood. She became the ancestress of the entire Levitical priesthood.
       Elisheba was the daughter of Amminadab and sister of Naashon, prince of the tribe of Judah. She bore Aaron four sons, Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. From her latter two sons descended the long line of priests who ministered in the sanctuary and taught the people the law of God. Her other two sons, Nadab and Abihu, offered "strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not . . . and they died before the Lord." (Lev. 10:1, 2) Probably these sons disobeyed God when they drank strong wine before entering the tabernacle (Lev. 10:9).
       But Elisheba's third son Eleazar became chief of the Levites and second only to his father Aaron in authority of the priesthood. After his father's death he held his office during the remainder of Moses' life and the leadership of Joshua. Also he played a prominent part in dividing Canaan by lot among the several tribes.
       Upon Elisheba's youngest son Ithamar fell the duty of enumerating materials gathered for the tabernacle (Exod. 38:21).
       Elisheba's name means "God is an oath" a probable indication of her strong belief in God?

Lot's wife, the woman who looked back...

       Fifteen words in the Old Testament tell the story of Lot's wife. This one brief, dramatic record has placed her among the well-known women of the world. The fifteen words are, "But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." (Gen. 19:26).
       In the New Testament there are three other words about Lot's wife. Jesus held her up as an example, saying, "Remember Lot's wife,'' (Luke 17:32). This is the second shortest verse in the Bible. It's terseness probably best explains its urgency. In a previous passage Jesus had been speaking of those in the days of Lot, who "did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded,'' but "out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.'' (Luke 17:28, 29).
       The impression is conveyed that Lot's wife was a woman who ate and drank and lived for the things of the world. We do have a scriptural record that her husband was a rich and influential man (Gen. 13:10, ii). We can easily assume that Lot's wife was a worldly, selfish woman, one who spent lavishly and entertained elaborately. Max Eastman, in his movingly realistic poem Lot's Wife says, "Herself, like Sodom's towers, shone blazingly.'' Here, we imagine, was a woman who wore many jewels and dressed in the richest and most gleaming fabrics.

The Flight of Lot and His Family from Sodom by Rubens.

       Rubens, in his "Flight of Lot,'' painted in 1625 and now in the Louvre, pictures Lot's wife, followed by her daughters; to her one of the angels is speaking a solemn warning. One of the daughters leads an ass loaded with splendid vessels of gold and silver, while the second bears a basket of grapes and other fruit's on her head. The wife clasps her hands and looks beseechingly in the face of the angel who warns her of her fate if she should be disobedient. The family procession, accompanied by a spirited little dog, steps forth from the handsome gates of Sodom. Above the towers of the city wails fly frightful demons preparatory to their work of destruction. The air seems full of imps, while an evil spirit, hovering above Lot's wife, glowers at the angel who is trying to save her from destruction.
       The fate of Lot's wife has inspired other painters, among them Gozzoli and Lucas Cranach. All depict a woman who had lived under the law, knew its penalties to be swift and immutable, and yet so loved the city on which God was raining fire from heaven that she willingly gave her life for one more look at it.
       Can we not conjecture that the fifteen-word Old Testament biography of Lot's wife was written for those who love the things of the world more than the things of the spirit, those who do not possess the pioneering courage to leave a life of ease and comfort and position for a life of sacrifice, hardship, and loneliness? Does not her biography also speak a message to those who are unwilling to flee from iniquity when all efforts to redeem iniquity have failed?
       Dr. William B. Riley, in his book on Wives of the Bible, makes the apt comment that "When we have read Lot's history we have uncovered Mrs. Lot's character; and when we have studied his affluence, we have seen her influence. . . . The character and conduct of children reflect the mother. The marriage of her daughters to Sodomitish men indicated low ethical ideals and low moral standards.'' Their later relations with their father were a blot on their mother's character (Gen. 19:32-35). Lot's earlier actions toward Abraham indicated the type of wife he had. When he and his uncle Abraham had become prosperous in herds and flocks, Abraham offered Lot a choice of territory. And what did he choose? He chose the most fertile plain of the Jordan. Though we have no record of his wife in this transaction, we again can visualize her as a woman sharing in his selfishness, without dissent, and prodding her husband to greater wealth at any cost to others.
       Goethe has said, "Tell me with whom thou dost company and I will tell thee what thou art.'' Our best way of describing Lot's wife is through her husband and her children and her disobedience to the warning of angels. The latter could have saved her, but she had nothing in common with angels.
       When her husband had first come into this fertile plain of Jordan, he had pitched his tent "toward Sodom,'' a phrase which indicates that Lot was not then a part of the wicked Sodom and Gomorrah. But again, is't it easy to imagine that his wife wanted a big stone house in keeping with her husband's great wealth? Was a tent on the outskirts enough? Wasn't she hopelessly bound up with all the materialities of Sodom?
       When she had to flee, she had to look back. In this she reminds us of a woman who, after leaving her burning house, rushes back for treasured material possessions and is burned with the possessions.
       Certainly Lot's wife bears none of the qualities of greatness that we find in the noble women in history- those, for example, who left England on the Mayflower and landed on a desolate coast in the dead of winter to carve new homes in the wilderness. These women, too, had to leave all behind, but they were willing to make the sacrifice in order that they and their families might have religious freedom.
       Even though Lot's wife was well out of Sodom with her daughters and husband before the destruction came, she could not be influenced either by the warnings of the angels or by the pleadings of her husband. And as she looked back, she was turned to a pillar of salt.
       Tradition has pointed out, however, that a mountain of salt, it the southern extremity of the Dead Sea, was the spot where the event took place. The text described it as a rain of "brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven - by which the whole district was overthrown.
       Geologists explain that at the south end of the Dead Sea is a burned-out region of oil and asphalt. A great stratum of rock salt lies underneath the Mountain of Sodom on the west shore of the sea. This stratum of salt, they say, is overlaid with a stratum of marl, mingled with free sulphur in a very pure state. Something kindled the gases which accumulate with oil and asphalt, and there was an explosion. Salt and sulphur were carried up into the heavens red hot. Literally it could have rained fire and brimstone. The cities and the whole plain and everything that grew out of the ground were utterly destroyed. This may explain the incrustation of Lot's wife with salt when she turned back.
       The differences of opinion regarding the story and the literal aspect of Lot's wife do not change the great truths of the account. She still stands as a permanent symbol of the woman who looks back and refuses to move forward, the woman who, faced toward salvation, still turns to look longingly on material things she has left behind.
       One thing is certain. The story of Lot's wife has not lost its savor in all the thousands of years since Old Testament writers recorded it.

Drawing of A Pentecost Dove

Description of Clip Art: Pentecost dove, Holy Spirit, Holy Ghost, 3rd Person of The Holy Trinity, descending dove, fire within, two versions greyscale and color
 

 
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