theology

Little Known Bible Characters #2: ‘The List of Offenders’

Posted on September 16, 2023July 12, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I started an occasional series covering little known Bible characters. These are men or women who are named in the Bible, but we do not know much about apart from their names. Though, the Word of God is always worth plumbing its depths, and we can elicit from the text more than we think.

I had thought of several people named in the New Testament to focus on, but as our teaching elder concluded his series on Ezra, the last chapter listed by name, many offenders. That is what the section of text is called in my NASB Bible, “The List of Offenders”.

And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken strange wives: namely,… (Ezra 1018a).

GIll’s Exposition:

And among the sons of the priests there were found that had taken strange wives,…. So that it need not be wondered at that this evil should spread among the people, when those who understood the law, and should have instructed the people in it, set such an example: namely:
of the sons of Jeshua the son of Jozadak; who was the high priest; and perhaps for this fault of his, in not restraining his sons from such unlawful marriages, is he represented in filthy garments, Zechariah 3:3, and his brethren, Maaseiah, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Gedaliah; these were the brethren of Jeshua.

The Holy Spirit chose to name the men who had grievously sinned by marrying foreign women who brought foreign idols into the sheepfold. The offense was not marrying women of different race or ethnicity, but that they worshiped other gods.

We saw the problem when Solomon married foreign wives who worshiped other gods.

Again, it wasn’t their ethnicity. Canaanite Rahab converted and married Joshua, Moses married Zipporah a Cushite, Ruth was a Moabite.

Do not be mismatched with unbelievers; for what do righteousness and lawlessness share together, or what does light have in common with darkness? (2 Corinthians 6:14).

and you might take some of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters might prostitute themselves with their gods and cause your sons also to prostitute themselves with their gods. (Exodus 34:16)

There were only about 100 or so who intermarried, among tens of thousands of returnees from Babylon, but remember a little leaven… spreads like gangrene. Ezra was so appalled he tore his clothes, his hair, and his beard, and sat in a puddle of prayers appealing to God for mercy.

Every man who had married an unbeliever and thus brought idolatry into Israel was named. This is the “List of Offenders” at the end of Ezra 10.

Imagine…being named in the Bible. So many people were named as a congratulations for their faith. There’s Hebrews Hall of Faith in chapter 11, where men and women are expressly named and commended.

The positively named in Hebrews are, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Moses’ parents, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets.

Others from the New Testament were named for their faith and/or service also: Anna, Mary, Dorcas, Lydia, Tychicus, and many others of course. We can be sure when they arrived in God’s holy abode in heaven, Jesus was pleased to say to them, “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.'” (Matthew 25:21)

But to be named in the Bible because of your sin, enscripturated forever as an example of disobedience, what a woe and embarrassment to them! And what a warning to us.

–Sin is a corrupting influence
–Leaders should be an example to the positive, not the negative
–Sin hurts the reputation of the church and brings reproach to the name of Jesus.

Sin must be dealt with. If we don’t address it with genuine repentance, God will.

In this New Testament era, our names are written in heaven in the Book of Life. What a grace, mercy, and gift! Let us be thankful and do our best to follow the Lord’s statues in obedience as a thank you in return.

Instruct me, O Yahweh, in the way of Your statutes, That I may observe it to the end. (Psalm 119:33).

Further Resources

theology

A little nugget embedded in a longer verse

Posted on September 14, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; (2 Corinthians 5:14).

Powerful. Have you ever thought about that before? That the love of God controls us? Or as KJV says, constraineth us? The word here whether it’s control, constrain, or compel, means in the Greek,

I press together, close, (b) I press on every side, confine, (d) I urge, impel,

Picture our ever growing sanctification as entering the wide end of a funnel, and slowly being drawn down the narrow end, the sides all around being Christ’s love to us which we ever grow in reflecting back.

Or, picture the scene where Balaam’s donkey was on a path so narrow the hedges pressed him in on all sides and the animal could not even turn around.

Some commenters on the subject-

with irresistible power limits us to the one great object to the exclusion of other considerations. The Greek implies to compress forcibly the energies into one channel. Love is jealous of any rival object engrossing the soul. Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown

Love has a constraining virtue to excite ministers and private Christians in their duty. Our love to Christ will have this virtue; and Christ’s love to us, which was manifested in this great instance of his dying for us, will have this effect upon us, if it be duly considered and rightly judged of. Source- Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible.

The phrase “the love of Christ” means His love for us as seen in His sacrificial death. “We love Him, because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). He loved us when we were unlovely; in fact, He loved us when we were ungodly, sinners, and enemies (see Rom. 5:6–10). When He died on the cross, Christ proved His love for the world (John 3:16), the church (Eph. 5:25), and individual sinners (Gal. 2:20). When you consider the reasons why Christ died, you cannot help but love Him. Source, Warren Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). “Be Series.” The Bible exposition commentary.

Yes, we cannot help but love Him! Jesus is the most lovely, wondrous, majestic person in the entire universe! He created all things and upholds all things, yet condescended to incarnate into human flesh, and live among sin, sinners, and this sinful world! He died on the cross shedding His blood for us.

Let the love of Christ control you today.
Let the love of Christ constrain you today.
Let the love of Christ compel you today.

theology

Casting the first stone

Posted on September 13, 2023October 9, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

We are so used to certain phrases in the Bible that we may have lost the original sense of the meaning. For example:

The fly in the ointment is from Ecclesiastes 10:1, and a drop in the bucket is from Isaiah 40:15.

You’ve heard of “cast the first stone” right? Well, in Deuteronomy 17:7 we learn what it means. In a capital case, upon the finding of a perpetrator guilty, the witness must cast the first stone and thus begin the execution.

This is sobering. It ensures that the witness was sure about what he saw or said, else his conscience would be heavy. Also, the LORD would judge that witness guilty on judgment day.

John 8:7 a similar situation existed where Jesus said to the false witnesses of the woman caught in adultery, “When they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

No one on earth is without sin, so Jesus did not mean anyone who is sinless may cast the stone. No, as Geneva Study Bible explains, the comment was meant-

Against hypocrites who are very severe judges against other men, and flatter themselves while they are sinning.

Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says of the John 8 verse,

This was in order that the witness might feel his responsibility in giving evidence, as he was also to be the executioner. Jesus therefore put them to the test. Without pronouncing on her case, he directed them, if any of them were innocent, to perform the office of executioner. This was said, evidently, well knowing their guilt, and well knowing that no one would dare to do it.

We should have soft consciences, pricked at wrongdoing. I see so much false witnessing, people flinging accusations and bearing false witness that seems not to affect their conscience at all.

In Romans 2:14-15, the word used for conscience is Suneidesis. It is used 32 times in the New Testament. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia defines it as, “An inner witness that testifies on the rightness or wrongness of one’s actions or motives and, on the basis of them, pronounces judgment concerning the worth of the person.”

What is conscience? “The conscience is generally seen by the modern world as a defect that robs people of their self-esteem. Far from being a defect or a disorder, however, your ability to sense your own guilt is a tremendous gift from God. He designed the conscience into the very framework of the human soul. It is the automatic warning system” ~John MacArthur

It is a heavy, heavy thing to make an accusation and then have enough of a clean conscience to start the execution – the killing – of a human being. Be careful not to harden your conscience. Bearing false witness, especially on social media, seems like an easy thing for people to do. And the more they do it the easier it gets to press enter.

I recently read a book called Taming the Fingers: Heavenly Wisdom for Social Media by Jeff Johnson. It is very short, 88 pages. But it has scripture laden advice for monitoring one’s self on social media.

With wisdom from the Proverbs, Pastor Jeff Johnson offers five practical questions that can help us cultivate heavenly wisdom in our use of social media:

Am I controlled?
Am I calm?
Am I careful?
Am I compassionate?
Am I conscientious?

I have found that asking myself these questions has helped slow me down to make sure I am not impugning anyone’s reputation by insinuating wrong things or worse, making a false accusation.

Let none of us be hypocrites by casting the first stone.

discernment, theology

Beth Moore will answer to Jesus for normalizing women preaching/teaching to men

Posted on September 8, 2023October 9, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

I published this in 2018 and I updated and added to it today because of a confirmation of a tweet I saw Sharon Hodde Miller express on Twitter recently. Moore took hold of the goat and brought it into into church where it lurked in corners and tried to be inconspicuous. Now these women settle the goat onto a pew and treat the goat as a sheep. Jesus said in Revelation 2:20-23 that he is against false female preachers/teachers/prophets, especially ones who preach falsely!

But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21I gave her time to repent, and she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. 22Behold, I will throw her on a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds. 23And I will kill her children with plague, and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

This passage SHOULD strike deadly fear into these women who boast of their sin.

It was a given that for more than 2000 years women are not to be teachers or preachers of men. We women can and do teach, we minister, and we evangelize. We discuss, we help, we clarify in a private setting, but we are not to have biblical authority over men in church expository situations.

“I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” (1 Timothy 2:12)

How is a women preaching to men a sinister situation? It’s sin. As RC Sproul said, sin is cosmic treason!

Ask the metaphorical Jezebel of Revelation 2:20 who was teaching things God did not say. Jesus promised to kill her and her followers. Inserting words into God’s mouth is sin.

What God says to do or not do matters. We don’t need 50,000 verses. One is enough. Women are not allowed to teach the Bible to men.

But Beth Moore does.

She has been doing it for 35 years.

Woe to Beth Moore.

A generation is about 25 years. Therefore, it’s woe to the generation of women coming up in Christian circles who have for the entire time been seeing Moore’s preaching to men as normal, even with her former pastor’s overt blessing, or the tacit blessing of her former denomination the Southern Baptist Convention and its arm, Lifeway.

For years Moore taught Bible to a co-ed Sunday School class of 600-700 people as you read in that link above and later up to 900 people as stated in this link from her own former SBC church:

At that time, God began to do a new thing, stirring the heart of Beth to move to a new meeting place, meeting time, change the name of the class, and allow men to attend.

Is it God ‘stirring the heart’ of a woman to disobey scripture and to teach men? I think not. In Revelation 2:23 it’s noted that Jesus will strike Jezebel’s children dead. These are not Jezebel’s biological children, but the spiritual daughters she is raising up in her polluted, sinful likeness who preach and prophesy.

She describes her origins as a Bible teacher. Her Sunday School class began in 1985 and she was still teaching it in 2005. Her class almost from the beginning had a mixed audience.

Being a woman called to leadership within and simultaneously beyond those walls [of an SBC church] was complicated to say the least but I worked within the system. After all, I had no personal aspirations to preach nor was it my aim to teach men. If men showed up in my class, I did not throw them out. I taught. ~Beth Moore

Abuse of the word “called” here is especially egregious, because it intimates that God assigned her to preach, which is in effect, co-opting God into her own sin, and using Him as the excuse. God will address this abuse on the Day.

Secondly, it does not matter if you “had personal aspirations to preach” to men or not. Your opinion does not matter, only the Bible’s statutes. If you do preach, you’re sinning. If you fail to stop it, you’re sinning.

Other women elsewhere began copying Moore’s excuses and language. “I’m called to do this”. “I have no desire to preach but it happened anyway”, “I want to step into the gifts God has given me to teach [men]” and the like.

Moore eventually founded Living Proof Ministry in 1994. By 2003 her Living Proof Live conferences had gone beyond the confines of her church and beyond the Texas border. A national magazine took notice. Their opening sentence called her a minister.

“Once a victim of abuse, Beth Moore is one of America’s most popular ministers today.”
Charisma Magazine

The article went on to note that men attended her Sunday School class. It was popular, so crowded with both sexes that attendees were asked to car pool because the parking lot was so jammed.

An obedient teacher says “My love is for Christ and His word, and I asked the pastor to restrict the class to women only.” But as Beth Moore said above, “I didn’t throw them out. I taught.” She purposely sought bigger rooms to accommodate them all.

The leaders of her church allowed it, encouraged it. About this time, her pastor also asked Beth to preach the Sunday Night service, too. Woe!

She has been a usurper from the beginning. And she keeps on teaching. And the women were watching. Like hawks.

In 2010 when her fame was rising, Christianity Today did a 6-page cover story on her. The article cites the following:

Before she begins, she addresses the few men in the crowd. A Southern Baptist, Moore emphasizes that her ministry is intended for women. “The gentlemen who had such courage to come into this place tonight, into this estrogen fest if you will ever find one in your entire life: we are so blessed to have you,” Moore says. “I do not desire to have any kind of authority over you.”

It’s laughable to pronounce a blessing on the men in attendance, welcome them, preach the Bible to them, and then meekly deny any authority over them. Is her teaching from the Word authoritative over the women but not the men sitting next to them? Or do the women reject her authority to teach and they’re just coming, say, for the music? You see the illogic. If she teaches the Bible, she is teaching authoritatively, and it’s authoritative to all in the hearing of it.

As far as Moore’s coyness that she does not desire to be authoritative over them, this is false. Genesis 3:16 tells us it is IN us to want to usurp male authority. It doesn’t matter if you desire to break God’s command or not, if you DO, you’re sinning. Try telling the traffic policeman that “I did not desire to speed on the highway” and see if he lets you go.

The Christianity Today story is behind a paywall now. However, the link is here if you want to see the source.

Moore’s occasional weak protest, that men attend her classes and conferences on their own volition so it isn’t really her fault, doesn’t hold water. She taught men in her SS class for 20 years. By 2012, she was personally asked to substitute for pastor Louie Giglio preaching the Sunday Service at Louie Giglio’s Passion City Church, and she accepted. It was Holy Week, and she preached John 19 to a very, VERY large crowd of congregants. Now the “secret” was out and widely public. ‘Women, even SBC women, can preach! No one will stop us!’

Screen grabs from videos like this in 2012 harm women when they see a female on stage preaching from the Bible shoulder to shoulder with men. It’s visual egalitarianism. Photos like this are damaging. L-R, Lecrae, Moore, Chan, Giglio, Piper preaching at Passion Conference in 2012:

How Beth Moore is helping to change the face of evangelical leadership

Now the POINT: (I know, I know, this blog is like a pastor giving a 30-minute sermon intro in a 40-minute sermon session,)

Moore is personally the transition linchpin for this new future of women preachers:

Moore is one of the evangelical leaders today who represent the future of the global church, in which people outside Europe and the United States will be dominant. … Moore represents this transition, which is shaping even the most conservative corners of evangelicalism.
Washington Post

ANd I refer you to this tweet again.

There is the danger. After so many decades of preaching and teaching, with little to no pushback from her leadership in the denomination, Moore has mirrored the metaphorical Jezebel Jesus threatened death with in Revelation 2:20-23. He threatened death to her and also the women the Jezebel had raised up by her sinful example.

Imagine, within one generation a woman whose former claim to fame was the latest aerobics moves climbed steadily up to being seriously considered for president of the world’s largest denomination, a conservative one, at that. One generation, after 2000 years of holding fast to scripture on this issue. Sin is amazing in its power.

Yet the LORD our God is still on His throne and He still maintains a hard line on the roles women and men are to operate within in His church. That is a given.

For God is not a God of confusion but of peace. As in all churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church. (1Corinthians 14: 33-35).

theology

Eschatological Songs

Posted on September 7, 2023September 7, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

Music can lift the spirits, draw up emotion, or bring you down. It’s a solace after a breakup, or a lift me up during exercise. Music is great and it’s powerful on the emotions.

It is also powerful on the brain too. It can quietly instill good doctrine in us, affirm truths, or slyly draw us away with bad doctrine. Music matters.

There is a whole book of the Bible that is music: the Psalms. It’s great to sing the Psalms because they are 100% true and God-breathed. But there are many man-made songs that are also spiritual or reference doctrines from the Bible that are good to sing, as well.

speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; (Ephesians 5:19)

I enjoy singing hymns, praise songs, and spiritual songs because I like the pictures they put into my head. I like pondering the words and reviewing the metal pictures that arise. Whose heart doesn’t lift when we get to the verse in Amazing Grace,

“When we’ve been there 10,000 years…”

Just thinking about being with Jesus and singing in heaven is a mood-booster.

Eschatology is the study of Last Things. The Time of the End. The Last Days. Sadly, in these present days there is much conflict around differing interpretations of the sequence of Last Things, and often these discussions online or in real life devolve quickly into arguments.

As a result of not wanting to get into arguments, or perhaps not to be tempted to besmirch one’s witness, many people choose not to discuss it at all (or worse, not to study it). But with a wholesale eschewing of discussing the subject also comes a wholesale aversion to singing about it too.

Last things provide an assurance to the believer that this home is temporary, its woes will pass, the future with our Lord is coming, and soon. It does all that for our heart, and more.

Yet Paul expressly explained about the end time and the dead in Christ’s rising and ended with “therefore comfort one another with these words.”

The end time doctrines are supposed to comfort us. In earlier days when the subject wasn’t so contentious, many people wrote songs about the coming end.

Let’s go back to 1964 with this hit. “Sorry, I never Knew You” by Naomi Sego and the Sego Brothers was the first million-selling gospel single. Can you believe that it is based on Matthew 7:21-22, when Jesus says to the false converts and fake professors, “Depart from me you evildoer, I never knew you!”

Amazing.

Today we get happy clappy songs with endless refrains about Jesus embracing us like a boyfriend, but a song to sing the important verse about the reality of false conversion is startling. But it exists and was a hit no less. In 1964, The Sego Brothers were the first Southern Gospel Group to sell over a million records, and it was “Sorry” that vaulted them up the charts.

In this next one, Charles Johnson & The Revivers sing “I’ve Been Sealed” and the first stanza looks forward to the day Jesus raises us to be with Him.

Paul Williams and the Victory Trio sing “I’ve never been this homesick before” and really, as each day passes, I get more and more homesick for the Lord!

Alan Jackson sings “I’ll Fly Away” and truly, some glad morning I will fly upward, raised from this ole body to a glorified one to be with my Lord forever!

Someday Jesus will shout for us to rise, and here we have John Jones “At the Midnight Cry“

When the Trumpet Sounds by Triumphant Quartet reminds us of the grand place waiting for us.

I’ll See You – Charles Johnson & the Revivers sing of the joy of meeting our brethren when we are raised.

The Cloud He’s Coming Back On by The Kingsman

If The Rapture Was Yesterday, Kevin Spencer & Friends

The Jackson family, I will rise up, Bluegrass gospel

Are you in the faith? Many of these songs urge the listener to be sure. They are sobering things to think of. No matter your eschatological stance, ultimately the most important thing is to be sure you are cleansed by the blood of Christ, repented of sin, and in the faith. Life on earth will end one day. Standing on the edge of eternity, which direction will you go- up or down?

Further Resources

What are “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs”? article from G3 Ministries by Scott Aniol

In collaboration with Mark Rice and Phil Webb, Hymns of Grace and Generations of Grace present hymns featuring a brief introduction on their backgrounds and full performances. The series is called Hymnology. Here is the link to Season 1. There are 3 seasons so far.

theology

Women leading the early church?

Posted on September 6, 2023October 9, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

It’s spiritually grieving to see so much false teaching and wrong doctrine on Twitter (AKA “X”). Satan certainly does use social media to his advantage, doesn’t he.

One flavor of wrong doctrine these days has to do with women’s roles in the church. Feminism since the 1960s has crept into the church and led the way for people to disregard Godly roles and to pursue roles not ordained for us. And I’m not talking solely about women usurping men, but there are other roles that have been ignored by men, also. For example, the recently converted are not to take on leadership roles, lest they become conceited. Too many recent converts untested by time have vaulted into leadership roles, grown large platforms, and shipwrecked spectacularly.

Older women are to teach the younger and not be busybodies in everyone’s business. But many older women do not teach the younger and instead, especially after retirement, and speak of things not edifying of which to speak.

But back to women and godly roles. It is obvious from plain reading of the Bible that women are not to preach in church. We see in 1 Timothy 2:12,

But I do not allow a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet.

And then to remove any discussion of present time or culture or temporariness, some common excuses, Paul cites the creation order, For it was Adam who was first formed, and then Eve.

He did so again in 1 Corinthians 11:8-9,

For man does not originate from woman, but woman from man. For indeed man was not created for the woman’s sake, but woman for the man’s sake.

No woman was a pastor of any church in the Bible. No woman had ongoing authority over any man (except Deborah, as Israel’s only female JUDGE, not preacher, was an exception to a normative rule, and was given the role likely to shame men- Isaiah 3:12.) No woman wrote any part of the Bible. No woman was a priest.

But it is interesting to see how today’s ladies who want to rebelliously twist the Bible into saying things it doesn’t. It would be funny to see all these pretzel verses, if it wasn’t so tragic.

The pretzel logic of feminist-twisted verses.
Photo by Israel Albornoz on Unsplash

I saw on Twitter last week some women who Beth Moore whipped up and then flicked into off into fantasyland with outspoken but wrong ideas of women’s leadership in the early church. Beth does this so well, wind women up. Here is Beth’s tweet,

Notice the analytics. 63,000 people engaged with her tweet in one way or another. This is also tragic and it is why I write about her like this. She INFLUENCES negatively. A Mr. Robert Fletcher commented,

At best, @BethMooreLPM doesn’t seem to understand the difference between evangelism and teaching/having authority over men in the church. At worst, she does understand it, and she is purposefully drawing a straw man to further deceive her followers. Either way, she is eisegeting.”

The only options are Beth’s ignorance, or her deception. But women get whipped up when Moore disingenuously comments about women along these lines. One replied to Beth Moore,

Sarah went on to present verses about Chloe, Priscilla, Phoebe and ‘the elect lady’ who were allegedly “leading” the early church.

First of all, the Bible says women are not to lead. And don’t @me about Deborah. She was the clear exception to the rule, she wasn’t a king, Priest, or scribe, and she was installed to shame the men. It was about men’s weakness, not women’s strength or ability

But What About Deborah?

The word “lead” is incorrectly used. We’ll start with Chloe. Chloe didn’t lead. We know next to nothing about this women. She actually was not even specifically named! The verse in 1 Corinthians 1:11 names only that some from her household let Paul know of strife at Corinth. That’s it. That is the sum total of Chloe. Oh and her name means green herb. How someone gets from that to Chloe being “an early church leader” is insane.

Priscilla was mentioned, too. We know she was married to Aquila, and we know she took Apollos aside along with her husband in order to teach Apollos more accurately.

Priscilla was mentioned 6 times, (Acts 18:2, 18, 26; Romans 16:3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19). She is always mentioned along with her husband. They are a pair, and separating Priscilla in order to place her on an imaginary leadership pedestal would be to use a scalpel to excise Aquila from scripture. We cannot vault Priscilla to a leadership position any more than we could for Aquila.

Phoebe was also put on the list in this discussion of ‘early women leaders’ as a leader in the church. We do know from scripture she was a benefactor of the early church. Susannah was a benefactor too, but not claimed as a leader. Hmm. Phoebe was mentioned as having brought a letter to Rome, probably in a group of others since traveling alone as a female was dangerous. Phoebe was called a deaconess, meaning servant, and as such, could have been a teacher of all female inquirers of the faith, (because we know from 1 Timothy 2:12 she would not have been teaching the men). Or she could have been active in the helping the poor among the flock, since Paul called her a benefactor.

That’s it. Nothing in there to lead one to believe she was a leader of any type more than Mary and Martha, who opened their home and served those who came, and who were active in Jesus’ ministry as believers and followers.

The simple fact that some women are mentioned is far from proof they led. Dorcas/Tabitha was more than mentioned, an entire story revolves around Dorcas. She was even resurrected from the dead. Yet feminists do not call her a leader. I wonder why. Could it be because the Bible clearly limits her sphere of influence to sewing and widows, traditional female domains?

The stretch and twisting that feminist women give to these few Bible women and try to vault them into positions they clearly did not attain is startling. But when one has an agenda, one will go to lengths to prop it up.

Women’s position in society pre-Incarnation was as chattel, and invisible. They were equated with slaves as far as admissibility in testifying in court, which was a big NOPE. Public worship can take place in a synagogue only if at least ten adult Jewish males were there for a quorum. Women do not qualify as part of this quorum, which is likely why there was a group of women by the river (which included Lydia) that Paul found.

Jesus elevated the status of women by including them in his ministry. Susannah and Lydia and Phoebe were benefactors. Mary and Martha (and Lazarus) opened their home to Jesus. Philip’s daughters evangelized. Priscilla (and Aquila) taught. But their elevation into the mix of daily service does not mean they led in church. Many scriptures are clear that women are not to lead in services but to be silent participants. And to serve enthusiastically in all other places God has ordained and in the many roles we see women serving in the New Testament: financial support, evangelizing, hospitality, serving other women, teaching women, children, and grandchildren, and other background but critical service.

My greatest wish is for usurping women to finally become content with the roles Jesus has outlined for us in all spheres; church, home, and world. If they do not, Jesus will address this on the Day, which will be more uncomfortable and more embarrassing than accepting it here on earth.

theology

Little Known Bible Characters #1: Iddo

Posted on September 5, 2023July 12, 2026 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

(Cropped)Art is The neo-gothic fresco of big prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel by Leopold Bruckner from end of 19. cent. in Saint Nicholas church.

When I read the Bible and someone is named that I am not too familiar with, it makes me curious. I’ll never get tired of studying Paul or Peter or John or Stephen or Lydia…but then someone is mentioned and I go “Another person to get to know! Who was h/she?” Like, Tychicus, Eutychus (the guy who fell out the window during Paul’s long sermon), Chloe, Rufus, and so many others.

These were real people. They were fellow believers and part of the body. We will meet them in heaven. So let’s take a look in this new series, at some names of folks we don’t know much about.

While there may not be a huge amount the Bible says about these folks, studying what we do know we will learn there is more than we think.

PROPHETS

The Old Testament is divided into Law, Wisdom, History, and Prophets. Of the Prophets, there are whole books dedicated to these men and the words God used their mouths to utter. The Major Prophets, so called because their books were longer, not because they were more important than any other book, were Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel. There were the Minor Prophets, so called because their books were shorter, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.

But those were not ALL the prophets operating in the Old Testament (or the New). There were others named and many others in the School of Prophets who were not named.

Of the named Prophets who do not have a book about them or written by them, there is one called Iddo.

He is listed in a verse along with Nathan the Prophet, and Iddo is named as a seer. There are many definitions and suppositions about the seers and their differences in operation to the Prophets, which I won’t get into. Except to paste what The Lexham Bible Dictionary has to say,

Generally synonymous with the role of the prophet (e.g., 2 Sam 24:11; 1 Chr 21:9; Amos 7:12). However, at times, it is used as a distinct term from that of prophet (2 Kgs 17:13). Seer, by connotation of the Hebrew word affiliated with it being connected to the idea of receiving a vision (חֹזֶה, chozeh), may be more connected to the idea of visions than the prophetic word, although this is not necessarily the case in all usages.

An additional term used for “seer” does not necessarily evoke the connotation of one who receives a vision but does evoke the idea of seeing (רֹאֶה, ro’eh; e.g., Isa 30:10). Nonetheless, even this term is used synonymously with “prophet”; this point is explicitly made in an aside in 1 Sam 9:9: “Formerly in Israel, when a man went to inquire of God, he would say: ‘Come, let us go up to the seer.’ For the prophet of today was formerly called a seer” (compare 1 Sam 9:19). A “Chronicle of the Seers” is also mentioned in 2 Chr 33:19.

Source Barry, J. D. (2016). Seer. In The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Lexham Press.

Cleared that right up, didn’t it? Not so much.

Iddo the name means lovely, his beloved, or His love. Iddo was was contemporary to Solomon and Rehoboam. We read this specific Iddo (for there are others named Iddo in the Old Testament), three times in the OT:

Now the rest of the acts of Abijah, and his ways and his words are written in the treatise of the prophet Iddo. (2 Chronicles 13:22)

The Death of Solomon
Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, from first to last, are they not written in the chronicles of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer concerning Jeroboam the son of Nebat? (2 Chronicles 9:29)

Now the acts of Rehoboam, from first to last, are they not written in the records of Shemaiah the prophet and of Iddo the seer, according to genealogical record? Now there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days. (2 Chronicles 12:15).

Iddo prophesied against Jeroboam. He also seems to have written stories about the lives of the Kings and events in Israel and Judah, but
those stories have not been included in the canon.

Some claim these writings of Iddo were “lost,” but Yahweh never loses anything and has perfectly preserved His word through centuries. His Spirit has inspired men to include exactly what God wanted included in the canon. If it’s not in the canon, it isn’t meant for us, as God considered it unnecessary for our edification. The Bible is all-sufficient.

Iddo may also be the grandfather of the minor prophet Zechariah (see Zechariah 1:1,7) but there is much discussion as to whether this is the same Iddo.

Hard tellin’ not knowin’, as the saying goes.

And that is all I could find out about Iddo! Blessings, and thank you for reading.

Further Reading

Understanding the Prophets (including seers) from Ligonier

What was a seer in the Bible? from GotQuestions

theology

The reality of missions to a dangerous place: Adoniram Judson

Posted on September 4, 2023 by elizabethprata

Reposted from Twitter, written by Josh Buice.

I often post mission-minded posts, to remind us of the importance of evangelizing the lost not just near, but far. Here, I re-post a thread from Twitter written by Josh Buice. The letter from Judson to Ann’s father was extremely touching and reminded me once again of the danger that missionaries then and now face every day.

Here is Dr. Buice:

𝙅𝙤𝙨𝙝 𝘽𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙚, @JoshBuice
Do you know what it looks like to deny yourself and follow Christ?

In 1813, Adoniram Judson sailed to Burma from the shores of America with his wife Ann.

He was 24.

His wife Ann was 23.

They spent their lives for the glory of Christ among unreached peoples.

Before they married, Judson wrote a letter to Ann’s father asking for his blessing in marriage. This is what he wrote in the letter:

“I have now to ask whether you can consent to part with your daughter early next spring, to see her no more in this world?

Whether you can consent to see her departure to a heathen land, and her subjection to the hardships and sufferings of a missionary life?

Whether you can consent to her exposure to the dangers of the ocean; to the fatal influence of the southern climate of India; to every kind of want and distress; to degradation, insult, persecution, and perhaps a violent death?

Can you consent to all this, for the sake of perishing immortal souls; for the sake of Zion and the glory of God?

Can you consent to all this, in hope of soon meeting your daughter in the world of glory, with a crown of righteousness brightened by the acclamations of praise which shall redound to her Saviour from heathens saved, through her means, from eternal woe and despair?”

Soon after accepting Judson’s proposal of marriage and the life of a missionary, Ann wrote to a friend where she said the following:

“I feel willing, and expect, if nothing in providence prevents, to spend my days in this world in heathen lands. Yes, Lydia, I have about come to the determination to give up all my comforts and enjoyments here, sacrifice my affection to relatives and friends, and go where God, in his providence, shall see fit to place me.”

Ann became sick and died only a few years into their ministry.

Judson spent 38 years there until his death at 61.

Judson organized and published the Burmese dictionary.

Judson translated the Bible into the Burmese language.

Judson wrote gospel tracts and distributed tens of thousands in the first 6-years before seeing his first convert.

Judson preached the gospel faithfully.

Judson, along with his wife Ann, demonstrated what it was like to deny yourself, take up your cross daily, and follow Christ (Luke 9:23).

*Quotes taken from Courtney Anderson’s book: “To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson”

poetry, theology

Kay Cude Poetry: Invisible Made Visible

Posted on September 3, 2023 by elizabethprata

Kay Cude is a Texas Poet. Used with permission. Right click to open larger in new tab.

INVISIBLE MADE VISIBLE — right-click to open larger in new tab

theology

Jimmy Buffett has died: ‘A good life all the way’

Posted on September 2, 2023September 2, 2023 by elizabethprata

By Elizabeth Prata

76-year-old songster and ultimate hedonist Jimmy Buffett has passed away. No cause of death has been announced.

Jimmy Buffett’s laid-back party vibe created adoring ‘Parrotheads’ and success beyond music: “Buffett built an empire based largely on Caribbean-flavored pop that celebrated the Florida Keys, sunshine and nightlife. His name became synonymous with a laid-back subtropical party vibe, and his fans were known as Parrotheads.”

Our boat, upon which we searched for, and found, the mythical Margaritaville.

He holds a special place in my life. I loved his music. One of the earliest lyrics I wrote in little girl script on the blank side of an index card and tacked on my cork board above my desk was from 1977’s album Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, “If we couldn’t laugh we’d all go insane”.

As a thirtysomething I’d sought a different way of living after I became burned out as a teacher and melancholy over an unwanted divorce. Buffett’s ‘drop out and enjoy the beach’ brand of hedonism now spoke to me, as Maine winters with frigid temps, gray skies, and asphalt encrusted frozen snowbanks dimmed the spirit. Here, I’d clung to the lyric “I gotta go where it’s warm!”

I found it when my new husband and I boarded his yacht and sailed into the sunset. We anchored in Georgetown, The Bahamas and the lyric “One Particular Harbor” now resonated with us. We met lots of fellow ‘Parrotheads’ who had the same dream to drop out, live a life of pleasure, and enjoy the simple things like “Boat Drinks” while searching for the “Green Flash at Sunset” (which we finally saw!) I was living the dream.

But was I?

I was still melancholy, still felt I was searching for something that would salve the sadness and constant friction in my soul. I was not saved. I could listen to Buffett all day long, and agree with him on so many counts as I parroted the lyrics, but I still cried real tears in the wee night. I didn’t know why.

A few years later we “swallowed our anchor” and became employed landlubbers again. The Lord’s timing was such that He saw fit to NOW show me the truth. We don’t live for ourselves but we live to give God the glory He deserves and enjoy Him forever. As my sanctification increased I found myself leaving the Buffett songs, as I found them tinged with an underlying anger and rebellion.

Buffett’s Catholic upbringing left a deep mark on his soul. You can hear it in many of his songs, where he acknowledges sin but never seeks the remedy. Because of the lies of the Catholic Church in his 14 formative years, he ran as fast as he could from God and never looked back, except to entwine the God of truth with the false god of Catholicism and disparage Him in song.

This 2018 article from a Catholic perspective recounts Buffett’s angst and anger over it all. I think it is well-written.

The Catholic Imaginings of Jimmy Buffett

“I broke out of the grip of Catholicism…” Buffett wrote in his autobiography “A Pirate Looks at Fifty”.

The harm that false religion does to a soul is incalculable. He wrote “Vampires, Mummies, and the Holy Ghost” in 1994, and here are two stanzas,

So many dragons lurking out in the fog
So many crazy people mumblin’ monologues
It’s not the tales of Stephen King that I’ve read
I need protection from the things in my head

Vampires, mummies and the holy ghost
These are the things that terrify me the most
No aliens, psychopaths or MTV hosts
Scares me like vampires, mummies and the holy ghost

We can see that the true Holy Ghost never made an appearance to Buffett’s troubled soul and distressed mind through God’s word rightly interpreted. Only the Catholic version.

As for me, I enjoyed his music, I liked his lyrics, I tried living the Buffett philosophy of life for a while. Then the Lord above dropped the scales from my eyes and graciously gave me the faith to repent and clearly see Jesus in His glory through His word. I’m grateful for that.

Today I’ll still probably play a few Buffett songs in acknowledgement of his talent and enjoy listening to “One Particular Harbor”- but this time my harbor is Christ, not Georgetown.

Jimmy Buffett died from as yet undeclared causes, but his soul lives on. Buffett wrote in “He Went to Paris, “some of it’s magic, some of it’s tragic, but I had a good life all the way.” He did. He was admired for his music, he was an author of children’s books and adult books, he had 3 kids whom he loved, he was a millionaire, he sailed boats and flew planes to his heart’s content. He accepted the applause of millions right up until recently in his sell-out live concerts.

“Along with hit songs, Buffett wrote best-selling novels. In 2008 he was ranked by Vanity Fair as No. 97 on a list of the 100 most influential people in the world, and his fan base was broad and loyal. Even when he was in his 60s, his concert tickets fetched more than $100.” Source

His earthly life has finished. He inspired many, he charmed many, and he had a good life all the way.

Now his eternal life begins.