Issue 23> 22 April 2002
  This site is updated weekly Sun, 28 April, 2002 11:37 PM
Sons and Daughters, and NOT Servants

Abraham was a very old man by now and extremely wealthy and he had no heir. And so he was a bit disappointed with himself because of the situation he was in and he seemed resigned to the fact that the inevitable passing of his wealth to his head servant Eliezer seemed imminent. Yet observe what the Lord God told him; Abraham was to have his own son to pass the inheritance to. Jewish culture, very similar to our own Eastern culture, dictates that a person's inheritance passes over to his children ( preferably the son(s) over the daughters ) and it is almost unheard of that the servant gets anything by way of inheritance. If at all, the portion given in the dying person's testament to the servant is often seen as a special bonus, never an entitlement on the part of the servant.....

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1." After these things the
word of the LORD came
to Abram in a vision,
saying, "Do not be afraid,
Abram, I am your shield,
your exceeding great
reward."
Gen 15:1 NKJV

17" I love those who
love me, And those who
seek me diligently
will find me."
Proverbs 8:17 NKJV
Hard Sayings of the Bible ( IVP Press)
Jeremiah 36:30: A Failed Prophecy?

King Jehoiakim had personally taken his knife and cut off the scroll with the words of the Lord from Jeremiah the prophet, section by section, as it was being read. Each piece was then tossed into the fire. For this, Jeremiah had a new oracle of doom when he rewrote the scroll: No descendant of Jehoiakim would sit on the throne of David.

Was this prediction fulfilled? As it turned out, when Jehoiakim died in 597 B.C. , his son Jehoiachin took over for a mere three months, apparently without any official coronation ceremony, for Jerusalem was under siege from the king of Babylon. Jehoiachin was not allowed to remain on the throne; instead, his uncle Zedekiah was installed by the Babylonians in his place, as Jehoiachin and his sons were carted off to exile, where he remained until he died (see 2 Kings 24:6 and 2 Chron 36:9).....


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excerpts from BibleHistory.com


How Far Was A "Sabbath Days Journey?"

Acts 1:12: "Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey."

According to the Mosaic law every Israelite was forbidden to travel on the Sabbath day.
Exodus 16:29 "See, for the Lord hath given you the Sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day."

But there is also evidence that the Israelites were permitted to go a certain distance on that special day. For example they could visit the tabernacle and temple from any distance within the encampment or city.
Over the centuries the authorities within the rabbinical circles of Judaism found ways, from examining the miniscule details of the law, to increase the distance that an Israelite may travel on the Sabbath day. In ancient times they determined that one may travel on the Sabbath from within the city boundaries and this distance was fixed at 2,000 cubits. They based this on

Joshua 3:4-5:
"And they commanded the people, saying, When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, and the priests the Levites bearing it, then ye shall remove from your place, and go after it. Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about 2,000 cubits by measure; come not near it, thay ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore."

Then after some time the rabbis interpreted "place" to mean city so that it would be acceptable to travel 2,000 cubits outside his city limits on the Sabbath day. Then again later the Pharisees doubled the distance that one might travel by yet another minute detail. They inserted a rule that if one placed food preparations at another location, then that place figuratively became his abode and he may travel to there up to 2,000 cubits and then another 2,000 cubits which made the whole journey 4,000 cubits, or about 6,000 feet or a little over a mile. A cubit was around 18 inches (from forefinger to elbow), although the measurement differed during different periods of Hebrew history.

In New Testament times and soon after, the Pharisees found another legal fiction and stretched the distance for traveling on the Sabbath a little farther. They theorized that if a person was to travel 4,000 cubits on the Sabbath day, then he would also need to return and thus they allowed 8,000 cubits as the standard.
There are some mentions in the New Testament alluding to the Sabbath day's journey such as in:

Matthew 24:20: "But pray that your flight may not be in the winter, nor on the Sabbath day"
Acts 1:12: "Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey."

Jesus continually taught that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath, and thus the authorities in Judaism were reproved by Jesus for misunderstanding the heart of the law and laying a heavy burden upon the people. He spoke with the authority of heaven when He said "The Son of man (apocolyptic redeemer of Daniel 7) is Lord of the Sabbath.
 
All references taken from RBC, Pat Robertson, Ron Rhodes, Kenneth/Gloria Copeland, Charles Slagle, Smith Wigglesworth, Selwyn Hughes, Charles Spurgeon, Manners and Customs of Bible Times, The Complete Bible Handbook, The Spirit Filled Bible(NKJV), The NIV Bible, God's Promises for your every Need, Idiot's Guide to Bible Mysteries, Hard Sayings of The Bible, Articles courtesy of Mr Andrew L W Lee.