The Elijah passage when he is in a cave comes to mind. 1 Kings 19:7-18: "The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he travelled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God. There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the Word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the Presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and put Your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The LORD said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu. Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.” Of course, Elijah only anointed Elisha. Elisha did the other two jobs. Is this how it was meant to be? Or was Elijah meant to do all three? Also, there are so many hidden things in the Scriptures there might be one here also. When Elijah comes back as one of the Two Witnesses will he do it then? Or is it because he didn't do it then he won't at this time either?
I've taken on a different viewpoint to the bit underlined. Normally I would take it as a questioning thing by Him. This would have been reasonable. In recent times, however, I have started reading what would be called apocryphal or extra Biblical books. The Book of Enoch is the one I'm reading at present. I'm reading other things which talk about the history of the Ten Tribes after they were banished by the Chaldeans from the Promised Land. These sort of books and manuscripts are usually referred to as highly controversial, suspect or other. All I will say is, sometimes the Holy Spirit is whispering in my ear while reading and other times He isn't. (Revelation 2:7:) "Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches." Its more than just a relationship with the prophet. A story is being told through the writing. Many times in Scripture angels appear to us. The Angel of the LORD appeared to Manoah's wife and him in Judges 13. (Notice that although he appears to the wife only Manoah's name is mentioned!) In Daniel 8:16 we hear: "And I heard a man’s voice from the Ulai calling, “Gabriel, tell this man the meaning of the vision.” Also,Revelation 1:1 "He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John." The more I read with this in mind He is there with me. The relationship is growing with it too.
Look, there's what's referred to as a gentle whisper in the above Scripture passage.In the
Amplified Bible it's: the sound of a gentle blowing;
Complete Jewish Bible: And after the fire came a quiet, subdued voice;
King James Bible: and after the fire a still small voice.
The one above (in bold) is New International Version.
All of them add a bit to the experience being portrayed.
Must commentate now on Jeremiah chapter 9 (Complete Jewish Bible.)
(Chapter 8:)23 (9:1) I wish my head were made of water and my eyes were a fountain of tears, so that I could cry day and night over the slain of the daughter of my people! 1 (2) I wish I were out in the desert, in some travellers’ lodge — then I could get away from my people and distance myself from them! “Indeed they are all adulterers, a band of traitors is what they are. 2 (3) They bend their tongues, their ‘bow’ of falsehood, and hold sway in the land, but not for truth. For they go from evil to evil, and me they do not know,” says Adonai. 3 (4) Everyone, be on guard against your neighbour, don’t trust even a brother; for every brother is out to trick you, and every neighbour goes around gossiping. 4 (5) Everyone deceives his neighbour, no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongues to lie, they wear themselves out with sinning. 5 (6) “You inhabit a world of deceit; deceitfully they refuse to know me,” says Adonai. 6 (7) “Therefore,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot, “I will refine them and test them. What else can I do with the daughter of my people? 7 (8) Their tongues are sharpened arrows; with their mouths they speak deceit — they say nice words to their neighbours, while inwardly plotting against them. 8 (9) Should I not punish them for these things?” asks Adonai. “Should I not take vengeance on such a nation?” 9 (10) I weep and wail for the mountains and lament over the desert pastures, because they have been burned up; no one passes through; they no longer hear the sound of cattle; the birds and wild animals have fled, are gone. 10 (11) “I will make Yerushalayim a heap of ruins, turn it into a lair for jackals, and make the cities of Y’hudah desolate, with no one living there.” 11 (12) Who is wise enough to understand this? To whom has the mouth of Adonai spoken, so that he can proclaim it? Why has the land perished and been laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through? 12 (13) Adonai answers: “Because they abandoned My Torah, which I set before them, and neither listened to what I said nor lived accordingly, 13 (14) but have lived by their own hearts’ stubbornness and by the ba‘alim, as their ancestors taught them — 14 (15) therefore,” says Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of Isra’el: “I will feed this people bitter wormwood and give them poisonous water to drink 15 (16) I will scatter them among nations that neither they nor their ancestors have known. I will send the sword after them until I have wiped them out.” 16 (17) Thus says Adonai-Tzva’ot: “Mark this, then summon the mourning women, so that they will come; send for those who are best [at mourning], so that they will come: 17 (18) ‘Have them hurry and wail for us, so our eyes will be wet from crying, and our eyelids gush with tears.’ 18 (19) For the sound of wailing is heard from Tziyon: ‘We are utterly ruined, we are completely ashamed, because we have left the Land, and our homes have been torn down!’” 19 (20) You women, hear the Word of Adonai! Let your ears receive the words from His mouth. Teach your daughters how to wail, have each teach her friend how to lament: 20 (21) “Death has come up through our windows, it has entered our palaces, it has cut down children in the streets and young people in the public places.” 21 (22) Say: “Here is what Adonai says: ‘The corpses of people are scattered like dung in an open field, like sheaves left behind by the reaper with no one to gather them.’” 22 (23) Here is what Adonai says: “The wise man should not boast of his wisdom, the powerful should not boast of his power, the wealthy should not boast of his wealth; 23 (24) instead, let the boaster boast about this: that he understands and knows Me — that I Am Adonai, practicing grace, justice and righteousness in the Land; for in these things I take pleasure,” says Adonai. 24 (25) “The days are coming,” says Adonai, “when I will punish all those who have been circumcised in their uncircumcision — 25 (26) Egypt, Y’hudah, Edom, the people of ‘Amon and Mo’av, and all those living in the desert who cut the edges [of their beard]: “For although all the Goyim are uncircumcised, all the house of Isra’el have uncircumcised hearts.”
Many good things to say from this passage. Picture yourself saying these things as Jesus walks along beside you. Have the relationship with Him. I've done it, as I do, in the Complete Jewish Bible which brings extra emphasis to me. The verses are included on this occasion so you can see, in the Hebrew, the first verse of this chapter is actually joined to the last verse of the previous chapter! In the Psalms they do this so it is appreciated that the writing at the head of the psalm is as important and constitutes the first verse. Do we need verses? Where did they come from? Is this a Catholic Church thing which was added when New Testament was put together? The order of the Old Testament was changed too. Buy the Complete Jewish Bible and you will see! Indeed, who put the whole Bible - Old & New Testament - together? I need to check this out and find whether the people who did it where righteous or otherwise. The Essene Humane Gospel just has titles for each new subject. No chapters or verses!
I need to find words to describe what is going on here. For instance, The Relationship! Matthew 17:19-20: "Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He replied, (thus:)
(1)“Because you have so little faith.
(2) Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move.
(3)Nothing will be impossible for you.”
Wow! One question, three answers. Have the relationship. Remember it's private. Ask questions. "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give."(Matthew 10:8 part.)
Do you come to Him in private? (Matthew 24:3.) "As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” The disciples did. With God about to bring order in this Year of Jubilee don't you want to know what He is planning? It should be about two and a half million (2,500,000) of a worldwide population of seven billion (7,000,000,000) who stand on Mount Zion and are taken to a place of safety for the first three and a half years of the Tribulation. I worked out the percentage. It is 0.00035%. That is 3 in every 10,000. With a figure like that its not surprising you don't personally know anyone else! I did one more calculation on this. My church I go to has a membership list of 600. So that is 3 in 16.667 churches of that size. It is likewise miniscule. A REMNANT!! The Jewish part of this equation is easier. With about one million (1,000,000) of a worldwide population of just over fourteen million (14,200,000) it's 0.07%. This is seven in every one hundred so many will know other people in theory. This is all because they are coming to Him personally, conducting the relationship with Father so as to be informed with Him daily and on more important matters. Even so, its a bit surprising there aren't more searching out the ways of the LORD. It's a figure very similar to the original Passover and departure into the Wilderness led by Moses (is he coming back as one of the Two Witnesses? - of course he is) as Nibiru (yes, it was there then too) wrecked havoc on the then world. Many Gentiles thus left Egypt too. Were some of these responsible for the metal calf worship? (Ephesians 2:15 part) "His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace..." And: (John 1:16.) "Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given." Amen.