a Prophet without honor – Len Bilén's blog, a blog about faith, politics and the environment.

Day 94 of reading the Holy Bible in 365 days.

Mark 6:1-13, In Mark 6 Jesus proclaimed ”A Prophet is not without honor, but in his own hometown, and among his own kin.” Jesus sent out the Twelve disciples, and they were amazed they could heal too.

Joshua 20 lists the cities of refuge, three West of Jordan and three East of Jordan.

Joshua 21 lists the 48 towns given to the Levites, they received no land. God’s promise to Israel was Finally fulfilled and the land had rest for a while.

Joshua 22. The Eastern tribes returned to their lands. On their way they built an altar by the Jordan. The Western Tribes thought by doing so they were abandoning the LORD. Not so, they were confirming “it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

Psalm 30, for the dedication of the Temple. Of David. ( An alternate translation : For the dedication of the House of David.) Punctuations are important, but are not in the Hebrew text. You decide the best interpretation. It was written at the time of the completion of building David’s palace, but Charles Spurgeon, among others, thought that it was actually written prophetically for the dedication of the Temple – for which David made the preparations, but the construction of the Temple was left to Solomon to perform.

April 4: Reading the Holy Bible in a year.

Joshua 20 lists the cities of refuge, three West of Jordan and three East of Jordan.

Joshua 21 lists the 48 towns given to the Levites, they received no land. God’s promise to Israel was Finally fulfilled and the land had rest for a while.

Psalm 30, for the dedication of the Temple. Of David. ( An alternate translation : For the dedication of the House of David.) It was written at the time of the completion of building David’s palace, but Charles Spurgeon, among others, thought that it was actually written prophetically for the dedication of the Temple – which David prepared for, but Solomon built. Commas are important, but are not in the Hebrew text. You decide the best interpretation.

April 4: Read through the Holy Bible in a year

Mark 6:1-13, In Mark 6 Jesus proclaimed ”A Prophet is not without honor, but in his own hometown, and among his own kin.” Jesus sent out the Twelve, and they were amazed they could heal too.

Joshua 20 lists the cities of refuge, three West of Jordan and three East of Jordan.

Joshua 21 lists the 48 towns given to the Levites, they received no land. God’s promise to Israel was Finally fulfilled and the land had rest for a while.

Joshua 22. The Eastern tribes returned to their lands. On their way they built an altar by the Jordan. The Western Tribes thought by doing so they were abandoning the LORD, not so, they were confirming “it shall be a witness between us that the LORD is God.”

Psalm 30, for the dedication of the Temple. Of David. ( An alternate translation : For the dedication of the House of David.) It was written at the time of the completion of building David’s palace, but Charles Spurgeon, amoung others, thought that it was actually written prophetically for the dedication of the Temple – which David prepared for, but Solomon built. You decide.

February 25: Read through the Holy Bible in a year.

Matthew 13:31-58. Jesus told many parables on the Kingdom of heaven: The mustard seed and the yeast, the hidden treasure, the pearl of great price and the fishermen and the net. Then Jesus explained what the parables meant to his disciples. The parables were well received, except in his own hometown, about which Jesus said: ” Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor”.

Numbers 6 tells of the vow of the Nazirite, how he (or she!) must separate themselves totally to the LORD, not shave the hair, not eat anything from the grape, not even the dry skin, not touch any dead bodies and so on. When the separation is over an offering must be given. Thankfully the chapter ends with the priestly blessing: “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.“

Numbers 7 has 89 verses, but the chapter only seems long since the same offerings for the dedication of the tabernacle are repeated for each of the twelve tribes.

Mark 6:1-13, a Prophet without honor, Jesus sends out the Twelve.

Mark 6, a Prophet without honor, Jesus sends out the Twelve, John the Baptist beheaded, the feeding of Five Thousand, Jesus walks on the Water.

There has always been a strange fascination about beheadings. On Feb 12, 2018 the official portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama were unveiled.

Other works by Obama’s artist Kehinde Wiley: “Judith beheading Holofernes”

This one is also from the apocryphal book of Judith

Not to be outdone, in 2007 the then speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi went to Damascus, Syria, Tuesday April 3, 2007. Question: Why does an American Woman Infidel do the sign of the cross in the great Umayyad Mosque in Damascus Syria? Answer: Nancy Pelosi does the sign of the cross to pay her utmost respect to the skull of John the Baptist. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi looks at the tomb containing the head of St. John the Baptist inside the historic Umayyad Mosque.