Category Archives: Biblical Musings

Locusts And Wild Honey?

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Locust photo courtesy of Free Digital Photos.

Matthew 3:4 Now John himself was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey.

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Locusts and wild honey? I’ve always wondered about this. I wish there were more details. John The Baptist wandered around the wilderness dressed in a garment made with camel’s hair, preaching the gospel and he ate locusts and wild honey? I’m wondering if the locusts were alive when he ate them, or if he cooked them over a fire before eating? How does one eat a locust? I’m wondering how easy it was to gather the locusts and wild honey for his meals? If you have any knowledge about this, feel free to share. It just doesn’t sound like an appetizing diet to me. I’m thinking he had other things to eat, but it appears that he may have eaten the locusts and wild honey quite frequently?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

David And Goliath

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David and Goliath video.

#DavidandGoliath #HouseofDavid #ceceliadowdy #oldtestament #Sundayschool #Bible #Biblestudy

I was reading the story of David and Goliath to my five-year-old son a couple of days ago. When I was finished, I thought: something’s missing. It clicked that I was reading the children’s version. Since the Old Testament can be brutal, we must sanitize children’s Bible school stories so that we don’t traumatize our youngsters.

After my son went to bed, I got my Bible out and read the story of David and Goliath. David cuts off Goliath’s head with a sword…how sharp that sword must’ve been to sever Goliath’s head! It sounds so bloody and brutal. Plus, in the Bible I was reading it kept referring to David as being a boy…I wondered how old he was? Around fifteen or sixteen, maybe? Then, I kept thinking of David walking around holding Goliath’s severed head in his hand…

What’s the point to this blog post? I’m not sure! I know I keep thinking about this story and I have no idea why. Maybe because when people talk about it, they don’t recall the brutality of what happened. The Lord was with David and gave this youngster the power to overcome this giant whom everybody feared, but, it was so grotesque and bloody…I don’t think people recall that part of the story too much. I’m not sure when kids will be old enough to know the full story of David and Goliath…How old do you think kids should be before they hear the full story of David and Goliath?

I’ve copied and pasted a few verses from 1 Samuel chapter 17 below.

~Cecelia Dowdy~

1 Samuel 17: 48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.
And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled…. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
55 When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?”
And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”
56 So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.”
57 Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
So David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Leviathan!

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Thanks so much to Charity, a respondant from this blog post, for sharing this scripture with me. Although I recall reading the book of Job, somehow, I forgot about the Leviathan chapter. Also, the Leviathan is mentioned in the following scriptures, too:
Psalm 74
Isaiah 27:1
Job 41

Job 41 – I’m only emphasizing a few verses. You should read the entire chapter!
1 “Can you draw out Leviathan[a] with a hook,
Or snare his tongue with a line which you lower?
….
… 14 Who can open the doors of his face,
With his terrible teeth all around?
… 18 His sneezings flash forth light,
And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning.
19 Out of his mouth go burning lights;
Sparks of fire shoot out.
20 Smoke goes out of his nostrils,
As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
21 His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes out of his mouth.

It sounds like he’s a large, scaly, frightful dragon-like sea creature. My question is, did this creature really exist or is he just mentioned for symbolic reasons? Charity mentioned that this creature sounds like a dinosaur, and I have to agree with her.

The leviathan sounds more like a dinosaur than the nephilim, which another blog reader speculated about, stating that she thought nephilim were dinosaurs, but I’ve already stated that I totally disagree with that line of thought.

So, blog readers, what do you think? Did this fire/smoke breathing dragon-like sea creature really exist in the deep dark depths of the ocean?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Dinosaurs In The Bible?

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Sharon recently posted the following comment on this blog post about the Nephilim (these big people are still crossing my mind):

Hi Cecelia, I am so glad you posted this question. I have been wondering about the Nephilim myself. My pastor just jumps over it and says he doesn’t know.

But we do know for a fact that dinosaurs lived on the earth. They are not mentioned as dinosaurs in Genesis, but it is possible that the Nephilim were dinosaurs. I can imagine ancient people finding these huge bones and thinking they were giant people or even thinking they were
“gods from Mount Olympus”, thus providing the ideas that started Greek mythology.

Whether or not they were dinosaurs, it does make sense that they were not big enough for Noah’s Ark. Getting rid of giants would be a big favor to mankind, and God could have choosen the flood to get rid of these creatures.

My response?
I highly doubt that the Nephilim were dinosaurs. Why? Because if you read my post for the following day, you’ll see that I did some further research and that these giant people (Nephilim/Raphaites/etc. – they were known by various names) were actually very tall people. The giants/Nephilim pop up again later on in scripture and one of them was the last in a line of kings and the Bible describes the bed this giant slept on – I doubt a dinosaur would be crowned king. I have heard the alien theory (I believe somebody else commented about that on this post or on the next one). Also, I heard an author speak a long time ago. His name was Pat (can’t recall his last name), but he mentioned the Greek god theory during his speech, and I thought he sounded a bit ludicrous!

If anybody knows anything else about the Nephilim, feel free to post!

Also, wanted to mention that Christianbook.com has lowered the price again on my book! It’s now only $1.99! 🙂 Buy lots of copies for your friends and family members – you can use them as cheap stocking stuffers over the holidays! 🙂

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Moses Musings

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Photo courtesy of Aleksandr Kutsayev

Exodus 2:8-10
8 And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the maiden went and called the child’s mother. 9 Then Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. 10 And the child grew, and she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. So she called his name Moses, saying, “Because I drew him out of the water.”

There’s something that I’ve wondered about Moses’s upbringing. Pharoah’s daughter took in a Hebrew baby and raised him as a son. Her father, the Pharoah, was trying to kill the new-born Hebrew male children because the Hebrews were multiplying so quickly. I also gather that the Hebrews looked much different from the Egyptians?

Wouldn’t her father have objected to his daughter, raising one of his “enemies” under his own roof as her son? I’m wondering what kind of dialog went on between father and daughter? Did Pharoah finally relent and let her keep the baby just to appease her? Did Pharoah figure that keeping this one child alive could bring no harm? What do you think happened between father and daughter on this day?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

It Takes Two Men To Carry One Cluster Of Grapes?

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It Takes 2 Men to Carry One Cluster of Grapes PODCAST

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. Come checkout our Christian romance titles at BOOKS | (ceceliadowdy.com) 

Rocky Road Dreams is a Christian novel that is perfect for church and Bible study women’s groups. Rocky Road Dreams is about Kyle Baxter. Kyle is an alcoholic who has recently fallen off the wagon. Through his faith in Jesus, he tries to live a better life as he reconnects with Melanie, his childhood friend.

Melanie runs her own health food and vitamin business on the Outer Banks. As she spends time with Kyle both of them go on a long road trip as they seek answers to questions about their lives. Kyle’s mother died when he was three, and he doesn’t know very much about her. His search for answers takes him on a journey which will change his life forever.

Rocky Road Dreams is available on Amazon.com as an e-book. The book can be read via the Kindle app – which can be downloaded onto most Smart Phones. 

Now, let’s talk about those large clusters of grapes! 

Numbers 13:23-25
23 Then they came to the Valley of Eshcol, and there cut down a branch with one cluster of grapes; they carried it between two of them on a pole. They also brought some of the pomegranates and figs. 24 The place was called the Valley of Eshcol, because of the cluster which the men of Israel cut down there. 25 And they returned from spying out the land after forty days.

If you read my blog post last Wednesday, you’ll see that I was talking about the Giants/Nephilim in the Bible. A few verses before the verse that I quoted in Numbers, you’ll see that the spies that Moses sent out were to bring him samples of the food that was growing in the land of Canaan (also known as the land of milk and honey). They went to Hebron and cut down one cluster of grapes and two men had to carry this one cluster on a pole between them! Can you imagine how huge those grapes were? Plus, this is where the Giants were living, too. I’ll bet those grapes were as big or bigger than the apples that we eat today!

I did some more research about the Giant people that appear in the Old Testament. The Nephilim mentioned in Genesis were killed in the big flood that God caused to wipe out every living thing on the earth with the exception of the inhabitants of Noah’s Ark.

The people that Moses’s spies saw when gathering the grapes, the Giants/Nephilim, were descendants of a man named Anak. Anak was a Raphaite. The Anakites or Rephaim were Giants that are mentioned in the Old Testament several times. It appears that they finally died off because there is a scripture Deuteronomy 3:11 which states:
11 (Only Og king of Bashan was left of the remnant of the Rephaites. His bed was made of iron and was more than thirteen feet long and six feet wide.

As I think about it further, and as I mentioned yesterday, I’m assuming the Fallen Angels appeared again sometime after the flood and infiltrated the bloodline of Anak somehow?

If you are interested, here are all of the scripture references of the Anakites, Nephilim, and Raphaim. Look them up if you want:
Genesis 6:1-4
Genesis 14:5
Genesis 15:20
Numbers 13
Numbers 13:33
Deuteronomy 2:11
Deuteronomy 2:10-11,20
Deuteronomy 2:18-21
Deuteronomy 3:11,13
Joshua 12:4
Joshua 13:12
Joshua 15:8
Joshua 15:13
Joshua 17:15
Joshua 18:16
2 Samuel 5:11,22

2 Samuel 21:20–21
2 Samuel 23:13
1 Chronicles 11:15
1 Chronicles 14:9
1 Chronicles 20:4

Most of the scriptures just give these giant people a brief mention. I’m assuming all were evil people like the Nephilim mentioned in Genesis, especially since Moses’s spies were told to get rid of the different people living in the land of Canaan, which included these Giants! I got most of this research from Wikipedia, so, use at your own risk! I did look up all of the scriptures but this is NOT a subject matter in which I’m an expert! If I have any facts that are wrong, then feel free to correct me! I’m willing to learn!

It’s possible that the grapes were the same size as the ones that we see today, but the clusters were bigger – so big that 2 people had to carry them!

What do you think about all of this? Can you imagine living in a land with these gigantic people with gigantic clusters of grapes? Almost makes me feel like I’m not on this earth when I read about it because the concept is so foreign. I’ll bet God’s earth looked a LOT different back in those days! Leave a comment!

If you enjoyed this podcast then please share it with all of your friends and church buddies. Check out our other Biblical blog posts!

This blog post is sponsored by Divine Desserts Publishing LLC. Come checkout our Christian romance titles at BOOKS | (ceceliadowdy.com) 

Rocky Road Dreams is a Christian novel that is perfect for church and Bible study women’s groups. Rocky Road Dreams is about Kyle Baxter. Kyle is an alcoholic who has recently fallen off the wagon. Through his faith in Jesus, he tries to live a better life as he reconnects with Melanie, his childhood friend.

Melanie runs her own health food and vitamin business on the Outer Banks. As she spends time with Kyle both of them go on a long road trip as they seek answers to questions about their lives. Kyle’s mother died when he was three, and he doesn’t know very much about her. His search for answers takes him on a journey which will change his life forever.

Rocky Road Dreams is available on Amazon.com as an e-book. The book can be read via the Kindle app – which can be downloaded onto most Smart Phones. 

ROCKY ROAD DREAMS BOOK LINK

Giants On The Earth – Who Were The Nephilim?

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Genesis 6:1-4
1 Now it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them, 2 that the sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves of all whom they chose.
3 And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 4 There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.

Numbers 13:31-33 – 31 But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32 And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33 There we saw the giants[d] (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.”

Some translations use the word Nephilim instead of giant. Who were these gigantic people? Some teach that they were the offspring of fallen angels – these angels lusted after human women and they had intercourse with them and the women bore these huge, wicked children. Who knows? From the little bit of research that I was able to do, it appears that the term Sons of God is interpreted a couple of ways and that makes it debatable about the paternity of these huge creatures.

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I’ve always thought the Nephilim were the offspring from fallen angels. Why? I guess because they were so huge, much larger than regular humans, coupled with the fact that it appears they were wicked, too. I also read that the Nephilim pop up again in the book of Numbers, so I’ve provided that scripture, too. So, it’s possible that the Sons of God appeared again and did the same thing again with human women? The Nephilim mentioned in Genesis were killed during the flood, so the scriptures can’t be talking about the same group of giants?

I just try to imagine how large these people were…were they twice the size of regular humans, maybe three times larger than the average human? The ones in Numbers state that the regular people were like grasshoppers compared to these giant people! Grasshoppers?? Reminds me of Gulliver’s Travels or Jack And The Beanstalk!

I’m just sitting here, trying to imagine what they would have looked like, giants stomping upon the earth, doing all sorts of wicked things to people. Frightening thoughts I’m having, but, just makes me stop and wonder, makes me wish I had a vivid snapshot of the way the world was back then…

Do you think the Nephilim/Giants were the offspring of fallen angels? This inquiring mind wants to know!

~Cecelia Dowdy~

Old As Methuselah!

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Genesis 5:27 So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.

When you read through Genesis chapter five, you’ll notice that people lived much longer than they do nowadays. Why did people live for hundreds and hundreds of years? Had the physical imperfections of man not yet occurred, allowing people to live longer lives? Why do you think people lived for so long back then?

~Cecelia Dowdy~

What About The Clean Animals?

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I’ve been blogging and commenting on Facebook lately about the Old Testament. I blogged about Adam and Eve here, and if you’re on my Facebook Friends list, you’ll see that I placed my comment about Adam and Eve sewing fig leaves here.

Here’s the scripture I wanted to talk about:
Genesis 7:2 (New International Version)
2 Take with you seven of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate, and two of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate,

I’ve been thinking about the Old Testament lately because our five-year-old son is in kindergarten at a Christian school. They’ve been learning the Old Testament Bible stories and he was telling me about Noah’s Ark the other day. He said, “He had to take two of every animal on the ark.”

I then said, “But what about the clean ones?”

He said, “Huh?”

I went on to tell him that Noah had to take two of every unclean animal and seven of every clean animal. He looked puzzled, stating his teacher didn’t tell him that. As I thought about it, I noticed that when children are taught about Noah’s Ark, the story usually focuses on the two animals, and doesn’t mention Noah taking seven of every clean animal. I wonder why?

It makes sense to tell it like it is…I’m just sayin’….

~Cecelia Dowdy~