Share a Lesser-Known Biblical Gem!

[Tintin]

One of my favorite people in the bible is Joseph, though well known, it still amazes me that even after all he went through because of his brothers, he still gladly accepted them in the end.

Salmon, the man who married Rahab and then Boaz the man who married Ruth, have always been men in the bible who bless and amaze me. They are men that truly loved the Lord and followed His direction, so much so that they married women that may not have been acceptable in the eyes of those around them. Great testaments to not folding under the pressures/expectations of the world.

Nothing fishy going on there! But seriously. Yes, he's one of the lesser known, well-deserving men of the Bible. Good choice.

 

[zeroturbulence]

NEVER go camping with this woman.

Meaning Jael.

I'm assuming it's safe to take MELITA on a camping trip...

(For those who don't know, Jael drove a tent stake through the forehead of Sisera, an enemy of Israel.)

Talk about a splitting headache!

 

[Tintin]

Talk about a splitting headache!

Nailed it!

 

[zeroturbulence]

Do not fret (remain angry inside). Especially over the success of others..

Rest in the LORD and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes. Cease from anger and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.…

Psalm 37:7-8

 

[seoulsearch]

One of my favorite people in the bible is Joseph, though well known, it still amazes me that even after all he went through because of his brothers, he still gladly accepted them in the end.

Joseph always amazes me too, in that somehow, he was able to leave behind the bitterness of being wrongfully imprisoned and continuously being forgotten (by those whose dreams he interpreted).

In the past, I was able to correspond with several inmates in prison--most of them admitted to what they had been convicted of--but every single one of them was bitter over something (usually several things), and many felt someone (society, those who had wronged THEM in the past, etc.) owed them.

Somehow, Joseph did not seem to have any of this, and for that reason, he too is one of my Biblical favorites.

 

[AsifinPassing]

Hey Everyone,

Do you have a favorite Bible character, passage, or story that you really like, but it isn't one of the more well-known portions of the Bible?

During my study this morning, I found a few passages that made me smile (why don't we hear about these more often on Sunday mornings???!!):

* Proverbs 11:22 - "A beautiful woman who rejects good sense is like a gold ring in a pig's snout." (I was thinking of how this passage applies to anyone who relies on a talent or characteristic more than they rely on God.)

* Proverbs 12:23 - "A shrewd person conceals knowledge, but a foolish heart publicizes stupidity." (I won't even comment on this one, or I'd be exposing my own foolishness .)

* Proverbs 12:11 - "The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies lacks sense." (Nigerian inheritance scams, anyone?)


I have also always loved the prophet Jeremiah. I know most sermons laud the faith of more popular characters like David and Abraham (and of course, they WERE incredible examples of faith), but good old Jeremiah had the nerve to tell God how unhappy he was with his calling, even telling God, "You deceived me, Lord, and I was deceived (because ever since I spoke the words you gave me to speak, I have become a laughingstock and a mockery.") Jeremiah 20:7

I've read accounts that say psychologists who have read Jeremiah would have diagnosed him with clinical depression.

In today's world, you can't get more real than that.

Who or what are some of your lesser-known "Biblical gems"?

I'm looking forward to your answers--you might help the rest of us discover something in the Bible (or a new perspective) that we didn't even know was there!

I don't know... I guess it depends what circle, culture, etc as to how well a particular verse in known, popularized, or viewed (being a gem or not). That said, here a few that have spoken to me in recent years which you might not find memes of:
________________________________________________________________________________________________


"I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior." -Isaiah 43:11

"But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." -Matthew 6:15

""A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?" says the LORD Almighty. "It is you priests who show contempt for my name. "But you ask, 'How have we shown contempt for your name?'" -Malachi 1:6

"I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread.
They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing." -Psalm 37:25-26

"But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." -1 Samuel 16:7

"And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king." 1 Samuel 8:7

""The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" -Jeremiah 17:9

(*other things to note*) Ezekiel 16...powerful and sad chapter. A broken-hearted God lamenting over what his bride has done, and the punishment she must now face for all her crimes against Him and others.

33 The word of the Lord came to me:2 “Son of man, speak to your people and say to them: ‘When I bring the sword against a land, and the people of the land choose one of their men and make him their watchman,3 and he sees the sword coming against the land and blows the trumpet to warn the people,4 then if anyone hears the trumpet but does not heed the warning and the sword comes and takes their life, their blood will be on their own head.5 Since they heard the sound of the trumpet but did not heed the warning, their blood will be on their own head. If they had heeded the warning, they would have saved themselves.6 But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’


Also, almost everything Jesus said on the cross was a quote from Psalms, Proverbs, or one of the prophets. (since we're approaching Holy Week in this season of Lent...something to look up and ponder...especially with Psalm 119 in mind.)


PS > Of COURSE Jeremiah was depressed. No one listened to Him. God showed and told him horrible things that were going to happen, and then he saw them all come to pass. He was mistreated, sought after to kill, arrested, made a prisoner of war, watching people die and the city get destroyed...and I could keep going. Who wouldn't be depressed? And yet...

"Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, "I have put my words in your mouth." -Jeremiah 1:9

&

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." -Jeremiah 29:11

All of Jeremiah's messages (messages from God) were in hopes and acts for people to CHANGE and have the OUTCOME CHANGE... however, they didn't, sadly.

 

[Ultimatum77]

Maher-shalal-hash-baz longest name in the Bible and name of one of Prophet Isaiah's sons.....Isaiah 8:3

just an awesome name that means hurry to the spoils and was a prophetic name about the doom of samaria....

 

[Adrift]

Really like the scripture passages everyone has been posting.

I am not sure how well known these are or not, though I don't hear of them as much.

I have often wondered who this man was:

Ecclesiastes 9:14-17 "14 There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:15 Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.16 Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.17 The words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth among fools."

I love how beautifully descriptive and poetic this passage is in the law:

Deuteronomy 32:1-4 "1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:3 Because I will publish the name of the Lord: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.4 He is the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right is he."

I always have felt this was beautiful too:

Psalm 27:8 "When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek."

Another passage, Jeremiah chapter 35, I felt was a beautiful described story and family. It gives me hope and inspiration. How one person can influence their future generations so much in such a dedicated way. "18 And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:19 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever."

Another that comes to mind is Isaiah chapter 5. There is something to that chapter, that at the beginning, reminds me so much of Song of Solomon, and how it describes his people like a vineyard reminds me of many of the things that Messiah taught in the gospels.

I mostly use the KJV, but I came by this passage from a different translation Song of Solomon 2:7 and really liked it: "Stir not up, nor awake love, before its time." I can't remember what translation it was from though.

 

[coby]

Proverbs 26:15

The sluggard plunges his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.*

 

[planitsoon]

Hebrews 12:22: "you have come to Mount Zion, the holy city, the New Jerusalem!"

If they arrived 2000 years ago, we have for sure!

 

[coby]

Maher-shalal-hash-baz longest name in the Bible and name of one of Prophet Isaiah's sons.....Isaiah 8:3

just an awesome name that means hurry to the spoils and was a prophetic name about the doom of samaria....

Ah yes that was the name of the cat of Corrie ten Boom.

 

[Dino246]

Do not fret; it leads only to evildoing.…

Psalm 37:8

Well I guess I'll have to play drums instead of guitar in church!

 

[zeroturbulence]

Proverbs 26:15

The sluggard plunges his hand in the dish; he is too lazy to bring it back to his mouth.*

It's so obviously not filled with chocolate!

 

[zeroturbulence]

Well I guess I'll have to play drums instead of guitar in church!

..............

 

[Willie-T]

But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant (Deut. 15:12–17).

 

[Dino246]

But if your servant says to you, “I do not want to leave you,” because he loves you and your family and is well off with you, then take an awl and push it through his ear lobe into the door, and he will become your servant for life. Do the same for your maidservant (Deut. 15:12–17).

Willie, for all your wit and wisdom, I still find your contributions disturbing at times...

 

[pwrnJC]

Dino246....uh...the BIBLE verse that Willie-T posted should not 'disturb" you....It is actual historical fact, like it or not. BODY Piercings, until the recent generation, meant OWNERSHIP. It offered full protection. It showed that someone actually was a part of the family, whether by choice or enforcement. Once someone had an ear piercing, it was no different than identifying a brand on a cow....especially in the BIBLE. In this case, the servant, maid, slave..etc. actually did not want to leave because they were fed, protected, loved and respected their owners. Even the prodigal son, as told by JESUS..realized that his father's servants were much better off than he was at the moment and desired to go back to his house and become a servant.

 

[Willie-T]

Willie, for all your wit and wisdom, I still find your contributions disturbing at times...

Hey, I didn't write it.... any more than I wrote the passage about the fat guy in the outhouse with diarrhea who was stabbed, and the knife disappeared into the rolls of his flab.... or the guy who was commended for running a spear through his friend and his lover (both, run all the way through) while they were engaging in sex.

Stuff like that is all through the Bible.

 

[Willie-T]

What about the passage where Moses' wife threw his son's freshly cut foreskin at his feet?

Or the guys (enemies) who were suckered into getting circumcised, and the good guys ran through their camp, killing them because they were too sore to defend themselves?

 

[seoulsearch]

What about the passage where Moses' wife threw his son's freshly cut foreskin at his feet?

Yeah, we've all heard of the saying, "By the skin of our teeth."

But Moses was literally save by the skin of... er... Well.