How many wives did King David have?

       King David had seven recorded wives in the Bible; six of these are listed in II Samuel: Abital, Ahinoam, Abigail, Maach, Haggith, and Eglah. Bath-sheba, David's seventh and last official wife had a particularly infamous beginning that most people know about. All seven of his wives were alive during King David's marriages to each of them because at that time, many Israelites practiced polygamy. Many people believe that King David had eight wives because Michal was called by two names. Her nickname given to her by David when she was still a child was in fact, Eglah.

1. Michal - was daughter of King Saul, David's first wife and one of two daughters belonging to King Saul. Her nickname was Eglah which is an affectionate term for "calf." She had no children of her own, but raised the five sons of her sister, Merab, after her sister's death in childbirth.
   
2. Abital - was wife to David, mother of Shephatiah, who was born in Hebron.
   
3. Ahinoam - a Jezreelitess, who was David's second wife and mother to Amnon.
   
4. Abigail - was the widow of the drunkard Nabal. She has Chileab (also called Daniel) with King David.
   
5. Maach - was the mother of Tamar and Absalom, wife to David. Also known as Maachah.
   
6. Haggith - mother to Adonijah. More about Haggith.
   
7. Bath-sheba - was the mother to future king, Solomon.

       King David also had many concubines and one of those that was given to him in his old age was called Abishag. Edith Deen says that sometimes she is listed as a wife to King David. However, the confusion about the number of King David's wives is primarily based upon the fact that Michal is called by two different names in I and II Samuel, not because this former concubine was considered a wife to David.

Who was Abiah mentioned in 1 Chronicles 2:24?

       Abiah (I Chron. 2:24), wife of Hezron, who was a grandson of Judah and Tamar and founder of the family of Hezronites. She also was the mother of Ashur and the grandmother of Tekoa, neither of whom bore any special distinction. Probably Abiah's name is mentioned (I Chron. 2:24) largely because of the importance of the Judah-Tamar line, from which Christ is descended.

Zipporah, Wife of Moses, the Great Lawgiver

Zipporah, wife of Moses.

       Though her husband Moses is one of the greatest leaders of all time, Zipporah herself is an example of one of the Bible's undistinguished wives. In only three passages is she called by name, and these are brief. The seven words spoken by her lead us to believe she was a woman of violent temper who had little sympathy with the religious convictions of her distinguished husband.
       Though her name means "bird" not even that gives us any indication of her character. She came from a Midian background (Exod. 2:16). Her father Jethro was a priest. What god Jethro worshiped we can only conjecture. We have reason to believe that he later became a believer in Moses' Jehovah, for Jethro later professed to Moses, "Now I know that the Lord is greater than all gods." Exodus 18:11 We have no such expression of faith from his daughter Zipporah.
       She was one of seven daughters and met Moses in the land of Midian soon after he fled there because he had slain an Egyptian who was smiting a Hebrew, one of his own brethren (Exod. 2:11). Zipporah and her sisters, who had been tending their father's sheep, had come with their flocks to draw water at the well. Other shepherds drove the flocks of the seven sisters away, but Moses was a courteous shepherd. He gave water to the sisters' sheep.
       And they went and told their father, who offered Moses the hospitality of his house. Zipporah's marriage to Moses after that is recorded briefly in seven words (Exod. 2:21). The romantic element found in the wooing of both Isaac and Jacob is not there. Soon afterward we find Moses engrossed in the woes of his people. His wife does not seem to play a part in either his lofty plans or his tremendous hardships.
       From Zipporah's brief record, we know that she had two sons, Gershom and Eliezer. And when Moses started back from Midian to the Land of Egypt, his wife and his sons set forth with him, they on an ass and Moses walking, his rod in his hand, A picture this is of a humble family, whose head was destined to become Israel's great prophet, lawgiver, and leader.
       When they halted at an inn for the night, Moses became very ill. The narrative here is obscure, but something was troubling him. He became so ill that his life was in danger. Though records do not furnish actual historical details, again we can only conjecture that he was troubled because his wife, a Midianite, had refused to allow the circumcision of their sons, a symbol of the covenant between God and His people. And Moses, now called by God to the leadership of his people, was troubled because he had neglected the sacred duty of circumcision, which was not practiced by his wife's people.
       We can assume that the delay in circumcision was due to Zipporah's prejudices. When she saw her husband so violently ill, she doubtless believed God was angered with him because he had not circumcised his son. She then seized a piece of flint and circumcised  her son herself. Which son that was and how old he was, there is no record. Jewish tradition says it was the second son Eliezer.
       Though there are difficulties with this primitive story in its present form, one point seems quite clear. Moses and Zipporah were not congenial companions. No doubt their disagreement was due to the fact that she was a Midianite and he a Hebrew, and they had different views.
       After the circumcision incident Zipporah becomes a nonentity. What part she played in Moses' life, again, we cannot be sure. She had so little in common with her husband that at the most trying and noble period of his life, on his mission to Pharaoh, he probably had to send her back home. However, it may be that she and her sons did accompany Moses to Egypt and remain with him there, and after the Exodus, when Moses' people were slowly approaching Mount Sinai, Zipporah and her sons may have been sent ahead to visit Jethro and tell of all that God had done for Moses and the Israelites.
       Zipporah is mentioned for the last time when she and her sons and father Jethro have joined Moses at Mount Horeb (Exod. 18:5). Jethro acts as spokesman for the entire family. Most of the text centers around him, while Zipporah is only among those present.
       Later we find Miriam and Aaron taking issue with their brother Moses because of his Cushite wife. The text of Numbers 12:1 would lead us to believe Zipporah had died and Moses had married a second time. Some scholars, however, believe that Zipporah and the Cushite were the same person. A phrase in Habakkuk 3:7 indicates that this could be true.
       Though interpretations regarding incidents of Zipporah's life vary, there is one conclusion we may quite confidently draw from all of them. Zipporah seems to have been a woman who was prejudiced and rebellious. To neither her husband nor her sons did she leave a legacy of spiritual riches.

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.

Jephthah's Daughter, Example of Noble Submission

Jephthah's daughter dedicated to
the temple as celibate servant.

       Scarcely a century had elapsed since Deborah's great victory. The people freed by her were now plunged into idolatry and threatened by foreign domination again. In the darkness of this era the figures of a father and daughter, his only child, emerge as the providential agents of restoration.
       The daughter had such a sublime reverence for a promise made to God that she was even willing to lay down her life for it. The father, Jephthah, described as "a mighty man of valor" (Judges 11:1 was the son of a distinguished Hebrew named Gilead, who lived in a territory of that name. His mother was a stranger to the tribe, an inferior woman described as a harlot (Judges 11:1, 2). Despite his mother's foreign blood and the heathen qualities of many of his tribesmen, Jephthah became a great commander and a believer in the one God.
       In the early part of his life, because of his illegitimacy, he had been banished from his father's house and had taken up his residence in Tob, not far from Gilead. Here he became head of a warring tribe of freebooters who went raiding with him. When war broke out between the Ammonites and the Gileadites, the latter sought Jephthah as their commander. He consented only after a solemn covenant, ratified on both sides at Mizpeh, a strongly fortified frontier town of Gilead.
       Here he established his residence temporarily and brought his daughter. After a fruitless appeal for peace to their leaders and for aid to the adjacent tribe of Ephraim, Jephthah, urged by the "spirit of the Lord" sped through the territories of Manasseh and his own Gilead, summoning the Israelites to arms.
       It seems that his army represented a small minority compared to that of the enemy. In his perplexity to give fresh courage to his troops and to sustain his own confidence against such fearful odds, he made a vow publicly to the Lord. In that reckless vow he exhibited a rude and unenlightened piety typical of the wild mountaineer fighter that he was when he declared, "If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands, then shall it be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering" Judges 11:30-31.
       What a contrast between Jephthah's vow and that of Hannah who had pledged to lend her child to God as long as he lived. What a contrast, also, to the simple and sublime trust of Deborah, who went against a fearful enemy strongly armed with faith in God. Not so strongly armed, Jephthah was willing to make any kind of promise to insure victory.
       Jephthah routed the Ammonites, and twenty of their cities fell before him. Elated with his unexpected success, he hurried to Mizpeh, where he had left his daughter. The women and maidens had assembled to greet this victorious warrior with songs and dances. Who should be the first to come out from Jephthah's own doorway but his beloved daughter! Probably he had thought a servant or hound dog would precede her. Or maybe not until this moment had he stopped to realize how rash and cruel had been his vow. But now his shock was great and his distress poignant as he looked and saw his beautiful daughter standing there in front of his own doorway.
       Let us visualize her in all the freshness of youth, with her luxuriant hair falling loosely over her shoulders, and with the wind blowing her hair and at the same time swaying her full-skirted and brightlycolored dress. Her red lips were probably parted in a radiant smile and her eyes were filled with joy as she beat a timbrel and sang. Her country was free again. The enemy had been annihilated, and her own father had been in command. Now he would be first in Israel.
       She ran to embrace him. Had he not been all in ail to her? Born in exile, reared amid the wild scenes of desert life, she had known no other protection but her father's tent, no greater love than his. And we can be sure that, mighty warrior though he was, whose name had spread panic throughout all neighboring lands, he had been to his beloved daughter the tenderest kind of parent.
       While the whole land echoed the triumphant shouts of freedom, all the glory died out for Jephthah as he embraced his daughter, only to cry loudly, "Alas, my daughter! thou has brought me very low, and thou art one of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot go back." Judgea 11:35
       With heroic courage Jephthah's daughter gave the answer that has become a classic: "My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth unto the Lord, do to me according to that which hath proceeded out of thy mouth; forasmuch as the Lord hath taken vengeance for thee of thine enemies, even of the children of Ammon." Judges 11:36. His daughter's noble submission to his vow now made the consequence of it even harder for Jephthah to bear.
       Pure of heart and unmindful of tragedy, Jephthah's daughter probably did not at first grasp her father's distressing predicament. Then she began to know that the life she had envisioned as a wife and mother, the hope of every woman in Israel, was gone. Let us imagine she needed spiritual strength to face such a crisis and so she asked her father for two months, so that she might go to the mountains with young friends and "bewail her virginity." Judges 11:38
       Then it was she returned calmly and obediently to her father, who, the Scriptures say, "did with her according to his vow." Judges  11:39 A great many Bible commentators take this story literally, saying Jephthah did go forth and offer his daughter for a burnt offering. There is little argument for a different interpretation except in that earlier phrase, "shall surely be the Lord's." Judges 11:31, indicating he could have meant to offer her to the service of the sanctuary.
       Some commentators make the point that while Jephthah's daughter was in the mountains for two months her father had time to weigh with himself the rashness of his promise. And, despite the turbulent times, there were in Israel many noble, God-fearing men and women who intelligently understood and practiced the wise and merciful system of Moses, that of not offering human beings as burnt sacrifices. If so, Jephthah's daughter gave her life to service in the tabernacle. The phrase "she knew no man." Judges 11:39 conveys the thought that she became a celibate. It has been suggested that what the daughters of Israel bewailed was not her death but her celibacy.
       We are positive that she did not marry and bear children, and for an only child of a mighty warrior to die unmarried and leave a name in Israel extinguished was indeed a heavy judgment. But despite the seeming tragedy of this daughter of Israel, she lives on, even now, almost thirty-one centuries later, as the embodiment of a courageous young woman who was both meek in spirit and patient in suffering.

What Becomes of Those Who Die in Ignorance of the True God and His Word?

        God has his witnesses in every land and every nation. There is no race, as far as known, which has not a definite idea of a Supreme Being and of right and wrong. The Jews held that the heathen were lost, but Christianity has always held that they will be judged under God's natural law and may be accepted as being a law unto themselves (see Rom. 2: 14, 26, 27). No one can set limit to the divine grace and forgiveness, and no church or creed can dogmatize concerning those who, not having the Gospel, have yet lived according to their lights. If Christ's atonement was made for all mankind, it is logical to believe that it includes the virtuous and upright in pre-Gospel days as well as those who come afterward.

Ecclesiastes Clip Art Index

Sample clip art from the listing below.

All graphics/illustrations/clip art on this web journal are free to download and use for personal art projects, church related hard copy or webpages. Images are not to be redistributed in any other collections of clip art online. Please include a link back to this web journal if you use the materials for web articles. Link back to http://christianclipartreview.blogspot.com

Sometimes multiple scripture using the same image are uploaded onto the same page. Keep looking on the post and you will find that there is a scripture from the Book of The Bible it is listed under here.

1. Remember your Creator...
2. New Life Scriptures + Butterfly
3. Wisdom for those who are foolish...
4. The LORD's Compassions Never Fail
5. Valencia, Calamondin or Tangerine Trees Potted
6. Ecclesiastes 12:7
7. Ecclesiastes 8:6
8. Ecclesiastes 7:12
9. Ecclesiastes 10:12

Introduction to the Book of Ecclesiastes by The Bible Project.

Post last updated December 30, 2021

Will Every One Be Saved?

        The statement (I Tim. 2:6) that Christ gave himself a ransom for all, and other statements of like import might be taken to imply that all will eventually be saved in the next world if not in this, but it would be very rash to depend on such an interpretation. It would be an awful thing for a person who did so to find that it was wrong. If a king were to offer amnesty to all rebels who laid down their arms within a given time, the offer would be made to all, but only those who complied with the conditions would be benefited. Salvation is offered to all who accept Christ and there is no limit. If the whole world would accept him, his sacrifice would avail for all. Thus it is universal. But what is to be said of those who neglect it or reject it? There is no further sacrifice. It is not for us to limit God's mercy, but he gives us in his Word no ground for hope that another opportunity of accepting Christ will be afforded after death.

Is the desire for immortality a universal one, or must we regard it as one that appeals only to the enlightened or spiritualized heart?

       The belief in immortality and the desire of it are worldwide. Yet when we look around us and see the vast majority of the human race with their affections strongly concentrated on material things, we may well doubt whether the problem of a future life is receiving the supreme attention it merits. There are three classes.

1. Those who really desire immortality and who try, with divine help, to mold their lives accordingly. 
2. Those who shrink back from the great question...
3. Those who apparently never think of it. 

This last is a very large class. What they hear on the subject seems to make no impression. Christ came to bring life and immortality to light, but there is no outward evidence that these darkened minds have ever heard and understood the message. The pursuit of riches, of pleasure, of luxury, of sinful indulgence, and of the prizes the world offers is fatal to spiritual development. Yet even such persons, once thoroughly awakened, often become the most zealous of Christians and the world's allurements seem to them a very little thing in comparison with the life to come.

Will a Christian who has studied and cultivated his mind here on Earth be any further advanced in heaven than if he had not?

       All that has been revealed to us concerning the other life justifies the conviction that it is a state of vastly enlarged activities and uninterrupted progress. There the spiritual life, which has been kindled in the soul while here, will find amplest room for expansion, and all those noble qualities of heart and mind that go to the formation of the best type of character here below, and which are elementary forms of the perfect manhood, will doubtless survive after our spiritual enlargement, since they have a close affinity to the spiritual life. To efface all intellectual culture in the next life is as great an improbability as would be the effacement of individuality. Consequently, one who while on earth has cultivated the nobler faculties will probably begin the heavenly life with that advantage.

Is there scriptural authority for the claim that Christ will rule on Earth?

        The passage in Revelations 11: 15 has its parallel in Daniel 2: 44. It is the visible setting up of heaven's sovereignty over the earth - that sovereignty which was rejected before by the world's rulers. This done, the distinction of the worldly and the spiritual shall cease. The whole earth, with all of its affairs, will at once be worldly and Christian, but worldly in the transformed sense, all being ordered in accordance with the divine will and in perfect recognition of and obedience to God's laws. But it should not be forgotten that the kingdom has its first beginnings in the hearts of God's true children here and now. This is repeatedly emphasized by Jesus in his talks with his disciples. These beginnings, though only a faint foreshadowing of the ultimate development of the kingdom, are nevertheless real and their earnest cultivation is a duty laid upon all believers. Christ ushered in the kingdom; his followers, like a little faithful flock, maintain it perseveringly and we look forward to the day, in the fullness of time, when it shall be proclaimed in divine majesty and power over the whole earth.

Does memory of the Earthly state continue after death?

        In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:27, 28) it is clearly shown that memory of the earthly state continues after death. This is so because the soul being freed from earthly obstacles sees clearly through space. Death is only a veil and transparent to those on the other side are the things here. In two distinct passages (I Cor. 13 : 12 and II Cor. 3 : 18) Paul employs a figure of speech to convey the idea that our mortality is an obstacle to spiritual vision - a veil. Death is the shedding of the garment of mortal flesh. As the believer nears the close of life, his hold on material things becomes feebler and his spiritual perception grows clearer. The soul is preparing to loosen its material environment; it is ripening for release - the putting off of the tabernacle of this flesh (II Pet. 1: 13, 14 ; II Cor. 5:1). As the end of the journey comes into view, the spiritual vision is enabled to perceive and understand many things it could not do before. With regard to the knowledge of those on the ''other side" of what is going on here, we have scriptural evidence in support of it. Hebrews 12:1 tells us that we are encompassed with "a cloud of witnesses.'' All heaven is looking on and watching our struggles here, although our own eyes are still holden. There are other texts in Scripture which go to show that those who have passed "beyond the veil" are not indifferent to us who are left behind (see Luke 16: 19-25).

Will the final judgment be of two kinds?

       All that we read about the final judgment indicates that it will be of two kinds. There will be the great separation of the sheep from the goats (Matt. 25:32) and there will also be another and more joyful judgment, in which rewards are distributed among the children of God in proportion to the work each has done for Christ (Luke 19:22-26). These rewards will not be given according to the prominence Christians have attained in the world, nor according to the quantity or conspicuity of the work done; but on Christ's principles of fidelity to him and his spirit. The apostle teaches that many a servant of Christ will miss a reward, because his work has not been done in the right spirit and motive. He will be saved if he is in Christ, but his work will not be accepted (see I Cor. 3: 13, 14). To cite examples: Can you conceive of a Christian man doing good works from an impure motive? Suppose a clergyman has lost the high ideal he had when he entered the ministry, and now his aim in preaching is to increase his popularity, or to get more money. Suppose a man gives a public library to the city, or pensions a widow, and his real motive, if he would honestly analyze it, is to get a reputation for charity and beneficence, or to promote his election to Congress. The clergyman's preaching may be earnest and effective and the other man's gifts may be well applied, but God, who reads the heart, knows that he has had his reward in getting the applause, or the money, or the position which was sought. Having had it he deserves no other, and he gets none. He suffers the loss of the reward God would have given him for work done for his sake.

There being no marriage in heaven, will spouces recognize eachother in heaven?

       Recognition does not imply a resumption of the old relations. Christ's words were a reply to a question which assumed that there might be a dispute between husbands of the same woman as to the right of one of them to treat her as his wife. He reminded them that in heaven people would not have their fleshly bodies. After the resurrection they will have spiritual bodies (see I Cor. 15:44). The husband may and doubtless will recognize his wife and the wife the husband, and it will be a loving recognition; but they will be so absorbed in the spiritual delights of the new condition that the old relations will be gross and coarse in their eyes.

Did the Jews Believe in the Immortality of the Soul?

        While the belief is nowhere directly stated in the early Jewish writings there are many passages which appear to indicate that it was general. The laws in the Pentateuch against holding communication with the dead imply a prevalent belief that the soul lived on after the death of the body. Saul's application to the witch of Endor (I Sam. 28) shows that he believed in the continued existence of the soul. In Heb. 11: 16 the statement is made that the patriarchs expected to enter a heavenly country. Christ also referred to the belief as existing in the days of Moses (see Luke 20:37).

Will There Be a Resurrection of the Wicked?

       In the earlier stages the resurrection doctrine was evidently taught as a hope which applied to righteous Israelites, and it was afterward extended by degrees to others, including the Gentiles. In Luke 14: 14 a distinction seems to be made between the resurrection of the righteous and that of the wicked, and in Luke 20: 35, 36, those who are accounted worthy to attain the resurrection from the dead are spoken of as "the sons of God" - the inference drawn by some commentators on this point being that the resurrection of the righteous is to be separate from that of the wicked (see John 5 : 29 and Acts 24: 15 ; also I Thess. 4: 16; I Cor. 15 : 23, 24) . Compare also John 6:40, in which the resurrection of the righteous is represented as an act of grace, as also in John 5: 21; and in John 6: 44, 54 Jesus says: "And I will raise him up at the last day." Paul also, in Rom. 8:11, teaches a resurrection of the righteous. With regard to the second resurrection, whether it will be simultaneous with the first, or after an interval, commentators differ. Rev. 20: 4-6 has been held to imply an interval of a thousand years, but this is merely conjecture. There has been a great deal of discussion concerning the two resurrections, and many books have been written on the subject. 

Is Sanctification Complete at Death, or Does It Continue in Heaven?

        We cannot dogmatize about the state of the believer in heaven. So little is revealed to us about that state, that absolute knowledge is impossible. Judging by what we do know, we infer that there must be a vast increase in knowledge of God and divine things which must have its effect on the character. Then, too, to be in the presence of God, and associated with pure and holy beings and liberated from the gross influence of the flesh would, we should imagine, tend to elevate and ennoble and develop the spiritual nature. Perhaps it would be more accurate to describe the progress we expect as growth and development rather than sanctification.

Will the Future State Be One of Material or Spiritual Glory?

        The future state will be one in which our personal identity will be preserved. We will have what may be called resurrection bodies, not greatly unlike that of our Savior after his resurrection. The book of Revelation being prophetic and highly figurative, is to be interpreted accordingly. As the resurrection body will be spiritual, so will the abode of these bodies be spiritual - a state of indefinite development of our highest powers, chiefly the moral, intellectual and spiritual. It will not be a disembodied state. The qualities seen in the spiritual bodies of those who have reappeared on earth (such as Moses, Elijah and Jesus himself) are, very likely, but properties superior to those we now possess. Read and compare Job 19 : 25- 27 ; Ps. 17 : 15 ; I Cor. 13 : 12 ; I Cor. 15 : 44, and entire chapter, and I Thess. 4: 17, etc. Many believe that the earth will be refitted, for the abode of the righteous in this exalted state. To others, it appears that then all the universe will form the theater of that existence, as we shall have powers of locomotion commensurate with all our other conditions.

What is Meant by "As many as were ordained to eternal life believed"?

        This passage in Acts 13: 48 has been much discussed. Those Gentiles did not all become believers, but only those in whom the preaching of the apostles had awakened faith and who, being taken into the congregation, had striven earnestly to "make their calling and election sure." It forcibly reminds us that salvation is the gift of God and not in any sense something we can obtain by our own merit or acts; but at the same time, in order to attain this gift (which is divinely ordained to all those who comply with certain conditions), we must put ourselves in the attitude of faith and belief. Further, throughout the whole Scriptures, there is a pervading sense of the fact that many are specially called to be saints and to perform a certain work, who are obedient to the summons and yet who were not in such attitude before. The case of Paul is an illustration in point. He was called right out of the midst of his sinful life of persecution. Some commentators hold that in the case of these Gentiles, God had chosen for himself certain men to become witness-bearers and to be set apart for a special work. Still other translators make the passage read ''As many as disposed themselves to eternal life believed," referring to I Cor. 16:15. We may add, by way of further explanation, that while the call to salvation is a universal one, the call to special service is one that comes only to the few.

Did the Baptist Doubt Jesus' Messiahship?

       John's message, asking through his disciples whom he sent to Jesus, "Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?" Matt. 11:3, was the result of impatience, almost of desperation. It must have seemed hard to him that his Master should let him lie so long in prison, after having been honored to announce and introduce him at the beginning of his mission. He tried to get Jesus to speak out his mind, or at least to set his own mind at rest. The conclusion of the incident, however, shows that his transient doubts were set at rest by the message he received.

What is Meant by "Buy the Truth and Sell It Not?

       The passage in Prov. 23:23 - "buy the truth and sell it not" is not to be interpreted as meaning that both the buying and selling must be wrong. On the contrary, the meaning is that we should get the truth, whatever it may cost us, and that we should not part with it for any consideration, money, pleasure, fame, etc., for it is more precious than all of these. (See Prov. 4:5-7.) The inspired teacher urges us to get the principal thing, the truth, wisdom, understanding; the world's motto is: "Get riches and with all thy getting get more."

What is the parallel between Christ and Adam?

        "As by the offense of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life" Romans. 5:18. In this passage, Paul is comparing the influence of Adam and Christ. His argument begins with verse 12: "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin." (Dr. Denny says: "By Adam the race was launched upon a course of sin.") Paul goes on to state that sin was in the world before the written law was given, but declares that sin is not counted as sin where there is no law. God does not condemn a man for breaking a law of which he is ignorant. But even where sin was not imputed, death reigned, because death had come into the world as the result of Adam's sin, and became a universal experience, affecting even those who broke no specific and plainly stated command, as Adam did. But the grace that comes from Christ is even greater than the doom that came through Adam. One man sinned, and many were condemned; grace, through Christ, pardons many sins. Death reigned because of one man; now abundance of life and grace reign by one, Jesus Christ (verse 17). Verse 18 (quoted above) sums up what has gone before. Adam's disobedience made many men sinners; Christ's obedience shall make many righteous (verse 19). The law was given so that sin might be revealed. Sin was in the human heart, but men did not realize what it was till the law came. The law showed them that they were disobeying God. "But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound;" there was sin for everybody, there is grace for everybody - and more grace than sin. The reign of sin brings death; the reign of grace brings eternal life.

What is meant by the passage "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found"?

        It is a wholesome warning that a probable contingency may arise when the seeker, who postpones his search, may lose his power or disposition to seek. There are many instances of men who have put off seeking until they have made a fortune, or done something else, and then the time they set, having arrived, discover that business habits and long-time associations absorb them. They are out of touch with God. Even in church their thoughts are running on worldly concerns. It is very rare for an old man who has been
indifferent, or careless, or wicked, to turn to God. Not that God is unwilling to be found, but the man has become incapable of seeking him. None who really seek ever fail to find. (Isaiah 55:6)

In what sense is it true that "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away?'

        When we use the customary phrase that God takes away any of our friends from this world, it is simply a familiar form of acknowledging submission to his will as the Disposer of all things. Life and death are in his hands. There is nothing irreverent about such an expression. All our blessings come from him and if trial and discipline also come we should accept them in the proper spirit. We should learn to bow to his will, even though it may sometimes try our hearts sorely to do so. (Job 1:21)

Are any by nature "Children of God"?

        There is a large and true sense in which all mankind are children of God. Paul could say to the idolaters at Athens, "We are also his offspring." But there is a higher, closer, nearer sense in which regenerated men only are God's children. John says: "To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." Speaking pointedly to believers, he says, "Beloved, now are we the sons of  God." So there is no discrepancy between Paul and John. The one is speaking of God's children in the large human sense, while the other speaks of them in the restricted, adopted sense. We have, in fact, to recognize four grades of sonship. In the lowest grade there is the whole human family. In the next higher grade we have the regenerated children, who are really children in the spirit. Then in the next grade, we have the angels, who in the Book of Job are specially designated the "Sons of God" (38:7). Then, highest of all, in a sense absolute, unapproachable, divine, we have Jesus Christ, preeminently God's own Son. There is no need, therefore, to stumble at the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God; only we need to distinguish between what is implied in the more outward and the more inward relationship.

What is conveyed in the statement that "God is no respecter of persons?"

       It may seem peculiar for Peter to have made this statement (Acts 10:34, 35) as to the vast majority of reverent minds it goes without saying. But to Peter, brought up as he had been among Pharisees and Sadducees and other religionists of the Old Dispensation, whose central belief was that God was a respecter of persons, the discovery of the great truth that God cares for all alike, came as a great awakening. The Pharisee who loved the uppermost seats in the synagogues and greetings in the market-places; who deliberately shunned contact with a publican, a woman or a Gentile, represented that self-righteous and exclusive Judaism in which no one else counted, but in which he was a favorite of the Most High. This exclusive Judaism Peter annihilated with the one sentence of the text, and thereby established the belief in that great, universal Fatherhood which, while it is all to all, is especially kind to the lowly and the meek; which watches even a sparrow and numbers even the hair of our heads. And because of this universal Fatherhood, everyone in every nation "that feareth him and doeth righteousness" is acceptable to him. He makes no distinctions of creeds, of theologies, of usages and customs, of observances and differences of opinions.

1rst and 2nd Kings Clip Art Index

Samples from the 1rst and 2nd Books of Kings.

 

All graphics/illustrations/clip art on this web journal are free to download and use for personal art projects, church related hard copy or webpages. Images are not to be redistributed in any other collections of clip art online. Please include a link back to this web journal if you use the materials for web articles. Link back to http://christianclipartreview.blogspot.com

Sometimes multiple scripture using the same image are uploaded onto the same page. Keep looking on the post and you will find that there is a scripture from the Book of The Bible it is listed under here.

1. The Temple of Solomon
2. In His Ressurection There Is Hope! - 1 Kings 19:3
3. The Prophet Elijah
4. Up to Heaven In A Wirlwind!
5. A bench inside the cemetery... 
6. Empires mapped from the Book of Kings 
7. Scriptures About Lepers 
8. Elijah rides away in a firey chariot
9. Finding The Good Book - 2 Kings 22:8 
   

Questions and Answers About the Books of Kings:

• Who Were the Kings of Judah in Succession?
• Who was the daughter of Zechariah?
• How did God save a widow's sons from slavery?
• Who was the 5th wife of King David?
• Who was the daughter of Jeremiah of Libanh?
• What two Bible chapters are alike?
• Huldah, "Thus Saith the Lord" 
• Tahpenes' sister was Hadad's wife... - who was queen consort to Pharoah?
• Who was Jeroboam's wife?
• Naaman's wife and her little Israelite maid... - Who believed in Elisha's power?

 The books of 1rst and 2nd Kings by The Bible Project.

 

Post last updated December 5th, 2023

1rst and 2nd Samuel Clip Art Index

Sample clip art from the books of Samuel listed below.

 

All graphics/illustrations/clip art on this web journal are free to download and use for personal art projects, church related hard copy or webpages. Images are not to be redistributed in any other collections of clip art online. Please include a link back to this web journal if you use the materials for web articles. Link back to http://christianclipartreview.blogspot.com

Sometimes multiple scripture using the same image are uploaded onto the same page. Keep looking on the post and you will find that there is a scripture from the Book of The Bible it is listed under here.

1rt Samuel Clip Art:

1. When Samuel Was Young - 1 Samuel 1:22 and 2:26
2. Samuel Hears God's Call - 1 Samuel 3:8
3. King Saul's Dark Night at Endor - 1 Samuel 28
   
4. David destroys the enemy of Israel - 1 Samuel 17:49

2nd Samuel Clip Art:

1. David establishes his kingdom... - 2 Samuel 5:1-7
2. Rizpah Protecting the Dead - 2 Samuel 21:10,11,12
3. Statue of David  
4. Nathan and David talking together
   

Questions About The First and Second Books of Samuel:

1. Who Was David's Mother?
2. Who was the 5th wife of King David?
3. Who was Peninnah from the book of first Samuel?
4. What became of King Saul's oldest daughter?  
5. Abigail, A Woman of Good Understanding
   

Book of Samuel, Part 1 by The Bible Project

The Book of Samuel, Part 2

 

This post last updated May 15th, 2024

What Was Manna?

        It is supposed that the manna of the Israelites was a saccharine exudation of a species of tamarisk, the
sap of which was set flowing by an insect. Several trees yield manna, as the flowering ash of Sicily and
the eucalyptus of Australia. In India a sweet exudation comes from the bamboo, and a similar substance
is obtained from the sugar-pine and common reed of our own country.

What became of Moses' rod?

        There is nothing to show what became of Moses' rod. Aaron's rod, however, is said to have been preserved in the sacred Ark of the Jews along with the tables of the law and the pot of manna.

"Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant." Hebrews 9:3-4