Described as a short man, Zacchaeus, at Jericho, climbed up a Sycamore Tree so that he might be able to see Jesus as He passed by. When Jesus reached the spot He looked up into the branches, addressed Zacchaeus by name, and told him to come down, for He intended to visit his house. (Luke 19).
Unlike the common Fig-Tree, the Sycamore is a strong hardy evergreen tree that grows up to 14m/45ft tall, very similar to the hight of the Walnut Tree and may live for several hundred years. While its heart-shaped leaves are smaller than those of the Fig-Tree, and fragrant, and also resembling those of the Mulberry-Tree; hence it is called the Fig-Mulberry Tree, the foliage is thick. It has wide-spreading branches that provide a delightful shade.
The Sycamore Tree is easily destroyed by Frost (Psalm 78:47), and it is mentioned as one of the heaviest of Egypt's calamities that her Sycamore Trees that grew abundantly in the Shephelah were destroyed by hailstones. (1Chronicles 27). In addition to growing in the Jordan Valley (Luke 19) and around Tekoa (Amos 7), the Sycamore Trees were especially abundant in the lowlands of the Shephelah (1Kings 10; 2Chronicles 1; 9), frequently planted along the roadsides where the climate is mild. The short, stout trunk soon branches out with its lower limbs close to the ground, and this made it a convenient tree for a small man like Zacchaeus to select as the one he would climb along the roadside to get a clear view of Jesus.
This tree mentioned in the Scripture has no relation to the North American Sycamore (Acer pseudo-platanus), which is a type of maple often called a plane-tree.
The Sycamore, in Egypt and Palestine, is a tree of a very great value and importance because of its wood and of its fruit and has a very extensive use.
The wood is somewhat soft and porous and quite inferior to that of the cedar, but it was very durable and much used in building. (Isaiah 9). Mummy coffins made of Sycamore wood have been found in Egyptian tombs and are still in good condition after some three thousand years.
During the Time of the 10 Plagues, the trees were very abundant and up to today the tree continue to provide a source of food there.
The Fruit grows directly from the trunk itself on little sprigs, and in abundant clusters, like grapes, and are smaller and hard to ripe comparing to the ones of the common Fig-Tree. It is the present practice of Egyptians growers of the Sycamore (Fig-Mulberry) Trees to pierce the premature fruit 3 or 4 days before gathering with a nail or other sharp instrument in order to accelerate the ripening process. If this is not done the fruit will secrete a quantity of watery juice and will not ripen. The Sycamore Fig of Biblical times was fertilized by wasps. The prophets Amos (7) and Jeremiah (42) refers of its Fruit. This sheds light on the occupation of the prophet Amos who was, by profession, a dresser of Sycamore Figs (Amos 7). The original employment of these type of Sycamore Trees, as the prophet Amos mentions, whose fruit King David considered of sufficient value to place the Shephelah groves under the care of an administrative chief, as he did for the Olive Trees (1Chronicles 27).
Modern Sycamores Trees now produce seedless figs and grow only in cultivated form.
Saturday, 19 November 2016
Sunday, 6 November 2016
THE SYMBOLIC POSITION OF DAN IN THE FUTURE.
According to the Book of Genesis, Dan was the 5th of Jacob's 12 sons, born in Paddan-Aram, and the 1st born of the two sons of his mother Bilhah, the maidservant of her barren mistress Rachel, who substituted for her as a secondary wife to Jacob (30:6).
The name 'Dan' derives from 'Dananni', meaning 'God has acted as my judge .. so that He gave me a son', in reference to Rachel's belief that she had gained a child as the result of a judgment from God.
Bilha, Dan's mother is described as Laban's handmaid, who was given to Rachel to be her handmaid on Rachel's marriage to Jacob. Laban was Rachel and Leah's father. When Rachel failed to have children, Rachel gave Bilhah to Jacob to bear him children. Bilhah gave birth to Jacob 2 sons, who Rachel claimed as her own and named Dan and Naphtali.
By the time Jacob moved down into Egypt, taking along the whole household, Dan himself had a son named Hushim (Genesis 46, called Shusham at Numbers 26). Some 2 centuries later after coming out of slavery the Tribe numbered 62,700 men twenty years old and upward (Numbers1). It was the 2nd most populous Tribe as to 'men of battle age'. Hushim became the forefather of the Shushamites, the only tribal family enrolled for Dan.
In the wilderness Dan's Tribe, with Ahiezer as chieftain (who was with Moses when he numbered the 'assembly' of Israel), was assigned to camp on the 'North' of the 'Tabernacle' alongside the tribes of his full brother Naphtali and of Asher, the 8th son of Jacob and 2nd of two sons and full brothers (Gad) through Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, that occupied adjacent areas (Numbers 2). Asher was not prominent among the 12 sons of Jacob. However, in his father's deathbed prophecy, Asher was promised a life blessed with an abundance of rich foods, and the history of his descendands demonstrates the fulfillment of this prediction. Prior to entry into Canaan, Moses' prophetic blessing again predicted a prosperous portion for Asher.
On the move the Tribe of Dan marched in the 'highly' important position as 'rear guard', a compliment to their courage, loyalty, and dependability (Num.2; 10).
When the Promised land was divided up, the chieftain named Bukki the son of Jogli represented Dan, and as matters turned out, the Tribe got one of the smallest territories despite the fact that it was still the 2nd largest in number. Its lot, however, the 7th, fell on very desirable soil, bordering the Tribes of Judah, Ephraim and Benjamin, a land extending from the fertile Valleys of the Shephelah to the Sea Coast Plains of the Mediterranean. Initially the Danites attempted to settle 'in the South', in the vicinity of Zorah and Eshtaol (Joshua 19). This attempt failed in a region crowded with Amorites (Judges 1) and immigrant Philistines (chapters 13-16). But because of not driving out these squatter nations, as God had commanded, Dan suffered severely (Numbers 26; 34; Joshua 19; Judges 1). As a result, part of the Danites migrated during the period of the Judges to 'the extreme North'(Judges 18) of Palestine.
In the course of this event, 5 Danite spies set out, and by consulting a Levite priest in Mount Ephraim along the way, they discovered Laish, a city both rich in resources and vulnerable to attack. A war party of 600 warriors soon followed and took the city, which they renamed 'Dan' in honor of their tribal ancestor. The Danites forced the Levite priest to accompany them. Then they robbed the man named Micah of his carved image and set it up as their own god, and founded a sanctuary at Dan. Not-with-standing that members of Dan had been chosen years earlier to stand for the 'maledictions' from Mount Ebal, which included, "Cursed is the man who makes a carved image or a molten statue, a thing detestable to God"(Deuteronomy 27). Then the Danite territory was largely confined to this single urban center. Some of the Danites that remained 'in the South', made the core of which Solomon's 2nd administrative district preserved (1 King 4).
Judges 18 tells about the capture and destruction of Laish, and the rebuilt of the new city over the same foundation of the 'old city' and renamed 'Dan' and of its 'sanctuary'. A 'priesthood', which traced its 'roots' to Moses, served at the 'Danite shrine'. After the split of the monarchy, the Israelite king Jeroboam made 'the shrine of Dan' (along with Bethel) one of the 2 sanctuaries for the Northern Kingdom in his effort to divert his subjects from the Temple in Jerusalem. The prophet Amos condemned 'these shrines' (chapter 8), in which Jeroboam installed 'images of bull calves' (1Kings12; 2Kings10).
Second-millennium Mesopotamian and Egyptian records mention the 'city of Laish' or 'Leshem' meaning 'the Lion city' to its inhabitants, its real name prior its invasion by the Danites, who renamed it.
(Joshua 19; Judg.18). Four centuries earlier, in the account of Abraham's pursuit of Chedorlaomer and his allies, the extreme place that Abraham reached in the pursuing was "Dan"(Gen.14). A river has its source just below the city and its symbolic position in the narrative signal the coming of the Messiah.
The name "Dan" again appears in Deuteronomy 34, where it is included among the extremities of the territory seen by Moses in his final view of the Promised Land from his position on Mount Nebo.
In many aspects the Danites are unusual. They did not have many clans (only one is listed in Num.26), and sometimes they are referred to as a 'clan'(Judges 13;18) rather than as a 'tribe'.
The Danites were 'the only tribe' who 'failed' to hold (Judg.1; Josh.19) or receive a 'tribal allotment'. They are criticized in the Song of Deborah for conspicuously failing to give support in joining the Israelite coalition against the Canaanites (Judg.5).
In the Scripture, certain individuals of the Tribe of Dan distinguished themselves. There was Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, who was given divine wisdom to assist Bezalel; he was a man highly skilled in embroidering and weaving costly materials for the Tabernacle furnishings (Ex.31; 35; 38).
The best known Danite, Samson, the faithful servant of God, was the most uncharacteristic of the Judges (13-15). As 'judge' of Israel for 20 years proved Moses' prediction true: "Dan is a lion cub" (Deut.33; Judg.13; 15). When David became king, 28,600 Danites were numbered among his loyal troops. Later, Azarel the son of Jeroham is mentioned as the chief prince of the Tribe (1Chron.12; 27).
The mother of the "skillful man" that the king of Tyre sent to assist Solomon in building the Temple was of the tribe of Dan (2Chron.2).
Seventeen years later from the time Jacob moved down into Egypt, taking along the whole household, dying Jacob called his sons to his bedside, at this specific moment, Dan had 'full legal' status along with the other 11 as 'family heads' of the 12 tribes of Israel. In blessing him Jacob's deathbed 'words about Dan' were the following: "Dan shall judge his people 'as one' of the tribes of Israel. Let Dan prove to be a serpent by the roadside, a horned snake at the wayside, that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward. I shall indeed wait for salvation from You, O God" (Gen.49).
As a frontier post, Dan was memorilized in the common phrase "from Dan to Beersheba"(Judg.20; 1Sam 3) which marked, respectively, the Northern and Southern limits of Israel.
The name 'Dan' derives from 'Dananni', meaning 'God has acted as my judge .. so that He gave me a son', in reference to Rachel's belief that she had gained a child as the result of a judgment from God.
Bilha, Dan's mother is described as Laban's handmaid, who was given to Rachel to be her handmaid on Rachel's marriage to Jacob. Laban was Rachel and Leah's father. When Rachel failed to have children, Rachel gave Bilhah to Jacob to bear him children. Bilhah gave birth to Jacob 2 sons, who Rachel claimed as her own and named Dan and Naphtali.
By the time Jacob moved down into Egypt, taking along the whole household, Dan himself had a son named Hushim (Genesis 46, called Shusham at Numbers 26). Some 2 centuries later after coming out of slavery the Tribe numbered 62,700 men twenty years old and upward (Numbers1). It was the 2nd most populous Tribe as to 'men of battle age'. Hushim became the forefather of the Shushamites, the only tribal family enrolled for Dan.
In the wilderness Dan's Tribe, with Ahiezer as chieftain (who was with Moses when he numbered the 'assembly' of Israel), was assigned to camp on the 'North' of the 'Tabernacle' alongside the tribes of his full brother Naphtali and of Asher, the 8th son of Jacob and 2nd of two sons and full brothers (Gad) through Zilpah, Leah's maidservant, that occupied adjacent areas (Numbers 2). Asher was not prominent among the 12 sons of Jacob. However, in his father's deathbed prophecy, Asher was promised a life blessed with an abundance of rich foods, and the history of his descendands demonstrates the fulfillment of this prediction. Prior to entry into Canaan, Moses' prophetic blessing again predicted a prosperous portion for Asher.
On the move the Tribe of Dan marched in the 'highly' important position as 'rear guard', a compliment to their courage, loyalty, and dependability (Num.2; 10).
When the Promised land was divided up, the chieftain named Bukki the son of Jogli represented Dan, and as matters turned out, the Tribe got one of the smallest territories despite the fact that it was still the 2nd largest in number. Its lot, however, the 7th, fell on very desirable soil, bordering the Tribes of Judah, Ephraim and Benjamin, a land extending from the fertile Valleys of the Shephelah to the Sea Coast Plains of the Mediterranean. Initially the Danites attempted to settle 'in the South', in the vicinity of Zorah and Eshtaol (Joshua 19). This attempt failed in a region crowded with Amorites (Judges 1) and immigrant Philistines (chapters 13-16). But because of not driving out these squatter nations, as God had commanded, Dan suffered severely (Numbers 26; 34; Joshua 19; Judges 1). As a result, part of the Danites migrated during the period of the Judges to 'the extreme North'(Judges 18) of Palestine.
In the course of this event, 5 Danite spies set out, and by consulting a Levite priest in Mount Ephraim along the way, they discovered Laish, a city both rich in resources and vulnerable to attack. A war party of 600 warriors soon followed and took the city, which they renamed 'Dan' in honor of their tribal ancestor. The Danites forced the Levite priest to accompany them. Then they robbed the man named Micah of his carved image and set it up as their own god, and founded a sanctuary at Dan. Not-with-standing that members of Dan had been chosen years earlier to stand for the 'maledictions' from Mount Ebal, which included, "Cursed is the man who makes a carved image or a molten statue, a thing detestable to God"(Deuteronomy 27). Then the Danite territory was largely confined to this single urban center. Some of the Danites that remained 'in the South', made the core of which Solomon's 2nd administrative district preserved (1 King 4).
Judges 18 tells about the capture and destruction of Laish, and the rebuilt of the new city over the same foundation of the 'old city' and renamed 'Dan' and of its 'sanctuary'. A 'priesthood', which traced its 'roots' to Moses, served at the 'Danite shrine'. After the split of the monarchy, the Israelite king Jeroboam made 'the shrine of Dan' (along with Bethel) one of the 2 sanctuaries for the Northern Kingdom in his effort to divert his subjects from the Temple in Jerusalem. The prophet Amos condemned 'these shrines' (chapter 8), in which Jeroboam installed 'images of bull calves' (1Kings12; 2Kings10).
Second-millennium Mesopotamian and Egyptian records mention the 'city of Laish' or 'Leshem' meaning 'the Lion city' to its inhabitants, its real name prior its invasion by the Danites, who renamed it.
(Joshua 19; Judg.18). Four centuries earlier, in the account of Abraham's pursuit of Chedorlaomer and his allies, the extreme place that Abraham reached in the pursuing was "Dan"(Gen.14). A river has its source just below the city and its symbolic position in the narrative signal the coming of the Messiah.
The name "Dan" again appears in Deuteronomy 34, where it is included among the extremities of the territory seen by Moses in his final view of the Promised Land from his position on Mount Nebo.
In many aspects the Danites are unusual. They did not have many clans (only one is listed in Num.26), and sometimes they are referred to as a 'clan'(Judges 13;18) rather than as a 'tribe'.
The Danites were 'the only tribe' who 'failed' to hold (Judg.1; Josh.19) or receive a 'tribal allotment'. They are criticized in the Song of Deborah for conspicuously failing to give support in joining the Israelite coalition against the Canaanites (Judg.5).
In the Scripture, certain individuals of the Tribe of Dan distinguished themselves. There was Oholiab, son of Ahisamach, who was given divine wisdom to assist Bezalel; he was a man highly skilled in embroidering and weaving costly materials for the Tabernacle furnishings (Ex.31; 35; 38).
The best known Danite, Samson, the faithful servant of God, was the most uncharacteristic of the Judges (13-15). As 'judge' of Israel for 20 years proved Moses' prediction true: "Dan is a lion cub" (Deut.33; Judg.13; 15). When David became king, 28,600 Danites were numbered among his loyal troops. Later, Azarel the son of Jeroham is mentioned as the chief prince of the Tribe (1Chron.12; 27).
The mother of the "skillful man" that the king of Tyre sent to assist Solomon in building the Temple was of the tribe of Dan (2Chron.2).
Seventeen years later from the time Jacob moved down into Egypt, taking along the whole household, dying Jacob called his sons to his bedside, at this specific moment, Dan had 'full legal' status along with the other 11 as 'family heads' of the 12 tribes of Israel. In blessing him Jacob's deathbed 'words about Dan' were the following: "Dan shall judge his people 'as one' of the tribes of Israel. Let Dan prove to be a serpent by the roadside, a horned snake at the wayside, that bites the heels of the horse so that its rider falls backward. I shall indeed wait for salvation from You, O God" (Gen.49).
As a frontier post, Dan was memorilized in the common phrase "from Dan to Beersheba"(Judg.20; 1Sam 3) which marked, respectively, the Northern and Southern limits of Israel.
Saturday, 5 November 2016
THE SEVEN ABOMINATIONS OF THE HEART.
Proverbs 6:16-19 'These are 6 things which the Lord hates, 7 which are an abomination to Him: Haughty Eyes, a Lying Tongue, and Hands that shed innocent blood, a Heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that make haste to Run to evil, a False witness who breathes out lies, and a Man who Sows discord among brothers.
To better understanding which are the ones who shed innocent blood, we read the passage at Matthew 26 referring to the Church leaders' plan to kill Jesus.
26:2 "Jesus said to His disciples, 'you know that after 2 days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified'."
In the 26:3 verse we clearly see the vice 'a Heart that devises wicked plans': Then the 'chief' priests and the 'elders' of the people gathered in the 'palace of the high priest', who was called Ca'Iaphas, and took counsel together 'in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him'. But they said, 'not during the feast, lest there be a tumult among the people'.
Then we can learn, from Psalms 1:1-6, how to deal with the 'Feet that make haste to run to evil' :
"Blessed is the man who 'walks Not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the 'way of sinners', nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. The wicked are not like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, but are like chaff which the 'wind' drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the 'judgment', nor 'sinners' in the 'congregation of the righteous'; for the Lord knows the 'way of the righteous', but the 'way of the wicked' will perish."
The Haughty Eyes can be seen in Psalm 2: "Why do nations conspire, and the 'peoples plot in vain?The kings of the earth 'set themselves', and the rulers 'take counsel together', against the Lord and his anointed, saying, 'Let's rebel against them (burst their bonds asunder), Let's break free from them (cast their cords from us)."
Man who sows division is presented in this passage Matthew 26:6 "Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the 'house of Simon the leper', a woman came up to Him with 'an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment', and she poured it on His head, as He sat at the table. But when 'the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, 'Why this waste?' For 'this ointment' might have been sold for a large sum, and given to the poor." 26:10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to 'them', "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to Me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have Me. In pouring this ointment on My Body she has done it to prepare Me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever 'this Gospel' is preached in the 'whole World', what she has done will be told 'in memory of her'."26:14 Then one of the twelve who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the 'chief priests' and said, 'What will you give me if I deliver Him to you'? And 'they paid' him 30 pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought 'an opportunity' to betray Him.
Another example in the Scripture about having the 7 abominations is presented in Proverbs 6"12 "Some people are just trouble makers. They are always thinking up some crooked plan and telling lies. They use secret signals to cheat people; they wink their eyes, shuffle their feet, and point a finger. They are always planning to do something bad. But they will be punished. Disaster will strike, and they will be destroyed."
The dangers of being a False witness is explained in Proverbs 6:2 "If you are snared in the utterance of your lips, caught in the words of your mouth; then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into 'your neighbor's power' (be caught under the power of other people): you must go and free yourself. Beg them to free you from that debt. Do not wait to rest or sleep. Escape from that trap like a deer running from a hunter. Free yourself like a bird flying from a trap."
Another example presenting the vices, especially the first one that deals with Haughty eyes, are in Jeremiah 26: 2 Thus says the Lord: "Stand in the court of the Lord's House, and speak to all the cities of Judah which come to worship in the House of the Lord 'All the Words' that 'I command you' to speak to them; 'do not hold back a Word'."
26:3 "It may be they will listen, and every one turn from 'his evil way', that I may repent of the evil which I intend to do to them 'because of their evil doings'."
26:4-6 You shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord: If you 'will not listen to Me', 'to Walk in My Law' which I have set before you, and 'to heed the Words' of My servants the Prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not heeded, then I will 'make this city a curse' for all the nations of the earth"
26:7 The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these Words in the House of the Lord. 8)And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold on him, saying, "You shall die! Why have you prophesied in the Name of the Lord, saying, 'This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant?'
26:10-11 When the 'princes of Judah' heard this things, they came up from the king's house to the House of the Lord and took their seat 'in the entry of the New Gate' of the House of the Lord. Then the priests and the prophets said to the 'princes' and to all people, "This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears."
26:12-13 Then Jeremiah spoke up to 'all the princes' and 'all the people', saying, "The Lord sent me to prophesy against 'this House' and 'this city' all the Words you have heard. Now therefore 'amend your ways and your doings', and 'obey the Voice of the Lord your God', and the Lord will repent of the evil which He has pronounced against you."
26:14 "But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems 'good and right' to you. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring 'innocent blood' upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for 'in Truth' the Lord sent me to you to speak all these Words in your ears."
To better understanding which are the ones who shed innocent blood, we read the passage at Matthew 26 referring to the Church leaders' plan to kill Jesus.
26:2 "Jesus said to His disciples, 'you know that after 2 days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified'."
In the 26:3 verse we clearly see the vice 'a Heart that devises wicked plans': Then the 'chief' priests and the 'elders' of the people gathered in the 'palace of the high priest', who was called Ca'Iaphas, and took counsel together 'in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill Him'. But they said, 'not during the feast, lest there be a tumult among the people'.
Then we can learn, from Psalms 1:1-6, how to deal with the 'Feet that make haste to run to evil' :
"Blessed is the man who 'walks Not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the 'way of sinners', nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the Law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night. The wicked are not like a tree planted by streams of water, that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, but are like chaff which the 'wind' drives away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the 'judgment', nor 'sinners' in the 'congregation of the righteous'; for the Lord knows the 'way of the righteous', but the 'way of the wicked' will perish."
The Haughty Eyes can be seen in Psalm 2: "Why do nations conspire, and the 'peoples plot in vain?The kings of the earth 'set themselves', and the rulers 'take counsel together', against the Lord and his anointed, saying, 'Let's rebel against them (burst their bonds asunder), Let's break free from them (cast their cords from us)."
Man who sows division is presented in this passage Matthew 26:6 "Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the 'house of Simon the leper', a woman came up to Him with 'an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment', and she poured it on His head, as He sat at the table. But when 'the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, 'Why this waste?' For 'this ointment' might have been sold for a large sum, and given to the poor." 26:10 But Jesus, aware of this, said to 'them', "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to Me. For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have Me. In pouring this ointment on My Body she has done it to prepare Me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever 'this Gospel' is preached in the 'whole World', what she has done will be told 'in memory of her'."26:14 Then one of the twelve who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the 'chief priests' and said, 'What will you give me if I deliver Him to you'? And 'they paid' him 30 pieces of silver. And from that moment he sought 'an opportunity' to betray Him.
Another example in the Scripture about having the 7 abominations is presented in Proverbs 6"12 "Some people are just trouble makers. They are always thinking up some crooked plan and telling lies. They use secret signals to cheat people; they wink their eyes, shuffle their feet, and point a finger. They are always planning to do something bad. But they will be punished. Disaster will strike, and they will be destroyed."
The dangers of being a False witness is explained in Proverbs 6:2 "If you are snared in the utterance of your lips, caught in the words of your mouth; then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into 'your neighbor's power' (be caught under the power of other people): you must go and free yourself. Beg them to free you from that debt. Do not wait to rest or sleep. Escape from that trap like a deer running from a hunter. Free yourself like a bird flying from a trap."
Another example presenting the vices, especially the first one that deals with Haughty eyes, are in Jeremiah 26: 2 Thus says the Lord: "Stand in the court of the Lord's House, and speak to all the cities of Judah which come to worship in the House of the Lord 'All the Words' that 'I command you' to speak to them; 'do not hold back a Word'."
26:3 "It may be they will listen, and every one turn from 'his evil way', that I may repent of the evil which I intend to do to them 'because of their evil doings'."
26:4-6 You shall say to them, "Thus says the Lord: If you 'will not listen to Me', 'to Walk in My Law' which I have set before you, and 'to heed the Words' of My servants the Prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not heeded, then I will 'make this city a curse' for all the nations of the earth"
26:7 The priests and the prophets and all the people heard Jeremiah speaking these Words in the House of the Lord. 8)And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold on him, saying, "You shall die! Why have you prophesied in the Name of the Lord, saying, 'This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant?'
26:10-11 When the 'princes of Judah' heard this things, they came up from the king's house to the House of the Lord and took their seat 'in the entry of the New Gate' of the House of the Lord. Then the priests and the prophets said to the 'princes' and to all people, "This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears."
26:12-13 Then Jeremiah spoke up to 'all the princes' and 'all the people', saying, "The Lord sent me to prophesy against 'this House' and 'this city' all the Words you have heard. Now therefore 'amend your ways and your doings', and 'obey the Voice of the Lord your God', and the Lord will repent of the evil which He has pronounced against you."
26:14 "But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems 'good and right' to you. Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring 'innocent blood' upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for 'in Truth' the Lord sent me to you to speak all these Words in your ears."
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