“Moses doesn’t like this.   Moses doesn’t like this one bit…“

The readings for Sunday October 12 are Exodus 32:1-14, Psalm 106 (portions), Philippians 4:1-9, and Matthew 22:1-14.  For Psalm 106, see On the Psalms up to October 12.  The full readings are at Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost Proper 23, but here are some highlights.

Exodus 32:1-14 tells  what happened with the people of Israel as Moses was on Mount Sinai – for 40 days and nights – getting the original 10 Commandments.  In brief, they really messed up:

The Israelites feared that [Moses] would not return and demanded that Aaron make them … a “molten calf…”  Aaron built an altar before the calf and proclaimed the next day to be a feast to the LORD.  So they rose up early the next day … and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play…   God told Moses what the Israelites were up to back in camp [and said He would ] destroy them and start a new people from Moses.  Moses argued and pleaded* … and God “repented of the evil which He said He would do unto His people.”

See Golden calf – Wikipedia.  (Incidentally, in the follow-up – Exodus 32:15-20 – “Moses went down from the mountain, but upon seeing the calf, he became angry and threw down the two Tablets of Stone,” as shown in the illustration above.  He then “burnt the golden calf in a fire, ground it to powder, scattered it on water, and forced the Israelites to drink it.”)

In Philippians 4:1-9, Paul followed up on last week’s reading (3:4-14), with an “appeal to rejoice in the Lord.”  He called on his followers to “stand firm in the Lord,” to let their gentleness “be known to everyone,” and to “not worry about anything.”  As the International Bible Commentary noted, this referred to “not being careless but free from the strain which turns so easily to distrust.”  Rather, the proper response is to let your requests be made known to God:

And God’s peace, which is far beyond human understanding, will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus.  

In Matthew 22:1-14, Jesus told the Parable of the Great Banquet – Wikipedia, not to be confused with the Parable of the Wedding Feast – Wikipedia, which is only in Luke’s Gospel.  As Wikipedia noted, the “Banquet” parable appears in both Matthew 22:1-14 and Luke 14:15-24.  On the other hand, Luke’s rendition of the “Feast” parable – at Luke 14:7-14 – is designed to teach at least one different lesson, as told in Luke 14:11:  “For every one who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Getting back to today’s parable in Matthew, Jesus told of a king “who gave a wedding banquet for his son,” but the invited guests not only gave lame excuses, they also seized the king’s messengers, “mistreated them, and killed them.”  The king first got his revenge, noting that “those invited were not worthy.”  He then told his messengers go out in the streets and gather “all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests,” but one guest showed up in his street clothes.   As Wikipedia noted (in “Banquet,” above):

The targets of the parable are the already religious who have no time for God; they are represented by the people who accepted an invitation, but when the food is ready, claim they are too busy to turn up…   In Matthew, the parable immediately follows the parable of the Wicked Husbandmen, to which it is linked.  This connection helps to explain the treatment of the man without wedding clothes. (E.A.)

As generally interpreted, the “wedding invitation” symbolized Jesus extending the “Good News” first to His own people, but when they refused His invitation, that invitation was “extended to anyone and everyone, total strangers, both good and bad…   The gospel message, Jesus taught, would be made available to everyone,” to the Hebrews and to the Gentiles.  See What is the meaning of the Parable of the Wedding Feast?, which added:

[I]t is not because the invited guests could not come … but that they would not come…   The matter of the wedding garment is [also] instructive.  It would be a gross insult to the king to refuse to wear the garment provided to the guests. The man who was caught wearing his old clothing learned what an offense it was as he was removed…   This was Jesus’ way of teaching the inadequacy of self-righteousness.

Which is another way of saying that not only “if it was easy anybody could do it,” but that if your spiritual pilgrimage is too easy, you’re probably not doing it right, because:

“It is to vigour rather than comfort that you are called.”

The upper image is courtesy of cinemacommentary.com/category/biblical-epics/.   See also On Moses and “illeism”, which showed another version of the image, and is where the caption came from.

Re:  “Moses argued and pleaded…”  See also On arguing with God.

The lower image is courtesy of Parable of the Great Banquet – Wikipedia, with the caption, “Jan Luyken: the man without a wedding garment, Bowyer Bible.”

Re: “It is to vigour…”  See A quick summary, above.

“A woman playing a psalterion,” an instrument used to accompany psalms…

This feature focuses on next Sunday’s psalm, and on highlights from the psalms in the Daily Office Readings (DORs) in the week leading up to that upcoming Sunday.  The general plan is to review next Sunday’s readings on the Wednesday before, and to review the psalms from the DORs for the week ending on the Tuesday just before that “prior Wednesday.”

The Lectionary Page  psalm for Sunday, October 12, is Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23.  The highlighted DOR psalms are from the readings for Wednesday October 1 up to Tuesday October 7.

Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23 will be discussed below, but here are some highlights from last week.

The DORs for Thursday, October 2 included Psalm 105 – a psalm I covered in On the readings for August 31- Part II.  That post in turn covered the so-called Curse of Ham – Wikipedia:

[I]n later centuries, the narrative was interpreted by some Jews, Christians and Muslims as a curse of, and an explanation for, black skin, as well as slavery.

But – as I also noted – a strict interpretation of the plain meaning of the Bible would mean “all those years it should have been Egyptians working in those cotton fields.”

The Daily Office Readings for Tuesday, October 7, included Psalm 127:4-6

Children are a heritage from the Lord,
    offspring a reward from him.
Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
    are children born in one’s youth.
Blessed is the man
    whose quiver is full of them.

This passage from Psalm 127 gave rise to Quiverfull, a movement among some conservative Protestant couples, promoting child-bearing and seeing “children as a blessing from God.”  Its followers eschew “all forms of birth control, including natural family planning and sterilization,” and are sometimes known simply as “QF Christians.”  See Quiverfull – Wikipedia.   That movement in turn came under the heading “of taking the Bible too literally, not to mention ‘out of context,'” in the prior post On snake-handling, Fundamentalism and suicide – Part I, which added this:

Further information on the “Quiverfull Movement” can be found at sites including Quiverfull – Wikipedia[;] What Is Quiverfull? [;] 5 Insane Lessons from My Christian Fundamentalist Childhood …;  and/or QuiverFull .com :: Psalm 127:3-5.

The DORs for Saturday, October 4 included Psalm 33:12, as shown in the image below. As to Psalm 106:1-6, 19-23, the one for this upcoming Sunday, here’s what one website said:

This Psalm begins and ends with Hallelujah – “Praise ye the Lord.”  The space between these two descriptions of praise is filled up with the mournful details of Israel’s sin, and the extraordinary patience of God…    It is, in fact, a national confession, and includes an acknowledgment of the transgressions of Israel in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in Canaan, with devout petitions for forgiveness.   

See Psalm 106: Commentary – The Treasury of David.  But as always, there is a key point to remember, in this case from verse 1:  “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever.”   Or as noted in the “Commentary” above:

While we are studying this holy Psalm, let us all along see ourselves in the Lord’s ancient people, and bemoan our own provocations of the Most High, at the same time admiring his infinite patience, and adoring him because of it.

 

The upper image is courtesy of Psaltery – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, with the full caption:   “A woman playing a psalterion.  Ancient Greek red-figured pelike from Anzi, Apulia, circa 320–310 BCE.”

The lower image is courtesy of, and/or may be seen at, www.thefellowshipsite.org/psalm-3312.html.

There’s not a whole lot more you can add to that…

One take on the “Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen,” as told by Jesus in the Gospel…

Welcome to DORScribe, a blog about reading the Bible with an open mind.

In other words, this blog is different.

It says you can learn more by reading the Bible with an open mind, and also that the Bible was written to liberate, not shackle you it into some kind of “spiritual straitjacket.”

Such ideas run contrary to some common perceptions: 1) that too many Christians are close-minded; 2) that too many are negative; or 3) that too many think The Faith is about following their rules on pain of your “going to hell”.   (See my way or the highway – Wiktionary.)

For more on such thoughts see About this Blog, which talks instead about the Three Great Promises of Jesus, to all people, and about how through those promises we can live full, rich lives of spiritual abundance and do greater miracles than Jesus, if only we open our minds…

In the meantime:

As noted in On the readings for October 5 – Part I, next Sunday’s readings are from Exodus 20, Psalm 19, Philippians 3:4b-14, and Matthew 21:33-46.   “Part I” covered the Old Testament reading, and here are some highlights from the New Testament and Gospel.  (The full readings are at Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost Proper 22. )

The New Testament reading is Philippians 3:4b-14, where Paul first gave his credentials; “a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless.”  But he added that he gave all that up “because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord…  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ.”  (See also Epistle to the Philippians – Wikipedia.)

Here’s a take on this week’s New Testament reading from Atlanta Bishop Robert Wright, using the metaphor of football teams specializing in either offense or defense:

Many sports have two components: offense and defense.  Defense means you do everything you can to prevent your opponent from scoring…  Offense is different. On offense you use your wits, experience, athleticism and skill to score…    In response to the advance of modern culture some in the church have locked into a defensive mode…  But the Bible says God is always on offense…   God dispatches truth-telling men and women; that’s offense…    God defeated death with love on the Cross…   With this insight into God’s character, [it’s] no surprise Paul said, “I press on toward the goal for the prize….”   Philippians 3:14

See Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta, Georgia (GA), under “For Faith,” for October 3, 2014.

In the Gospel reading, Matthew 21:33-46, Jesus told another parable, the Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen – Wikipedia.   This parable was about the chief priests and Pharisees, given in Jerusalem “in the Temple during the final week before the death of Jesus.”

Wikipedia noted the “description of the vineyard is from Isaiah 5” (see the notes below), while Isaac Asimov said the passage demonstrated Jesus’ quick wit and/or His Talmudic reasoning.  Asimov added that it became increasingly clear to the “powers that be” that Jesus was a threat; “Galilean backwoodsman or not, He had a quick wit and a fund of ready quotations.   Yet He had to be stopped…”  (Asimov, 865-67)   Then Wikipedia added another interesting tidbit:

There also seems to be a direct historical reference by Jesus to Sennacherib, king of Assyria, some 700 years previous.  Sennacherib conquered Babylon at the time that Hezekiah was king of Judah, and set up several rulers over the city, all of whom were overthrown.  Finally, he sent his son and heir apparent Assur-nadin-sumi to rule, but after a short time, he was also killed.  Finally, Sennacherib himself went to Babylon and destroyed the city stone by stone, and placed a curse on it that it should not be rebuilt for seventy years.

At any rate, the passage ends like this:  “When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them.  They wanted to arrest him, but they feared the crowds, because they regarded him as a prophet.”

In other words, Jesus’ time here on earth was running out…

The upper image is courtesy of Parable of the Wicked Husbandmen – Wikipedia, with the caption, “The Wicked Husbandmen from the Bowyer Bible, 19th century.”

The lower image is courtesy of Book of Isaiah – Wikipedia, which included this visual interpretation of Isaiah, by Michelangelo, circa 1508-12), at the Vatican; “Vatican City: Sistine Chapel ceiling.”

As to Isaiah Chapter 5, the New International Version (NIV), labels it “The Song of the Vineyard,” while the Expanded Bible (EXB) uses the phrase, “Israel, the Lord’s Vineyard.”   The English Standard Version calls it “The Vineyard of the Lord destroyed.”  Here’s the Living Bible (TLB) translation of Isaiah 5:1-2:  

Now I will sing a song about his vineyard to the one I love.  My Beloved has a vineyard on a very fertile hill.  He plowed it and took out all the rocks and planted his vineyard with the choicest vines.  He built a watchtower and cut a winepress in the rocks.  Then he waited for the harvest, but the grapes that grew were wild and sour and not at all the sweet ones he expected.

So whether Jesus was referring to Isaiah 5 or King Sennacherib in His parable today, He certainly knew His Scripture, or His history, or both.  See also George Santayana – Wikiquote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

For more on the “Talmudic reasoning” demonstrated by Jesus in the Gospel, see articles including see Talmudic Humor and the Establishment of Legal Principles, and/or Talmudic Reasoning: From Casuistics to Conceptualization ….

The Isaac Asimov quotes are from  Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (Two Volumes in One),  Avenel Books (1981), at pages 865-67.

Moses – also known as “Charlton Heston” – holding the original 10 Commandments...

The readings for Sunday October 5 are Exodus 20:1-4,7-9,12-20, Psalm 19, Philippians 3:4b-14, and Matthew 21:33-46.   For Psalm 19, see On the Psalms up to October 5.  The full readings are at Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost Proper 22.

Here are some highlights from the Old Testament reading.  For highlights from the New Testament and Gospel readings, see On the readings for October 5 – Part II.

Exodus 20:1-4, 7-9, 12-20 includes the first rendition of the 10 Commandments.  A second restatement came later on in Deuteronomy (from the Greek for “second law”):

Deuteronomy 5:4–20 consists of God’s re-telling of the Ten Commandments to the younger generation who were to enter the Promised Land.  The passages in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 contain more than ten imperative statements, totalling 14 or 15 in all.

(E.A.)  Incidentally, Dueteronomy is a set of sermons given by Moses to this younger generation, as a result of the older generation showing a lack of faith, 40 years earlier.

That is, not long after God gave the Hebrews the original 10 Commandments, He also gave them a chance to demonstrate their faith and enter the Promised Land quickly.  But that older generation failed that test, and the result was their having to literally wander in the wilderness, for another 40 years, until that older generation died off and a new generation took its’ place.

Moses reviewed this history in the first chapter of Deuteronomy, to instruct that new generation about to enter the Promised Land.  The review included a second version of the Ten Commandments, after Moses told of God’s pronouncement in Deuteronomy 1:34-36:

“And the LORD … was angered, and he swore, ‘Not one of these men of this evil generation shall see the good land which I swore to give to your fathers, except Caleb the son of Jephun’neh; he shall see it, and to him and to his children I will give the land upon which he has trodden, because he has wholly followed the LORD!’ 

(See also The Twelve Spies – Wikipedia, about Numbers 13, where Moses sent out 12 men to spy out the Promised Land.   Ten men said the land was too hard to conquer, while Joshua and Caleb said it would be easy, with God’s help; “the Israelites believed the majority’s conclusions.  All of the spies except Joshua and Caleb were struck down with a plague and died.”  That led to the Hebrews having to wander in the wilderness another 40 years.  So much for majority rule.)

And that’s why we have two versions of the 10 Commandments in the Bible…

Getting back to the original 10 Commandments, it is “a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and Christianity.”  See also, Ten Commandments – Wikipedia, which said they address “matters of fundamental importance in both Judaism and Christianity.”  The article then added:

The Ten Commandments are written with room for varying interpretation, reflecting their role as a summary of fundamental principles…  [T]hey provide guiding principles that apply universally, across changing circumstances.  They do not specify punishments for their violation.  Their precise import must be worked out in each separate situation.

Note those words like “varying interpretation,” and “guiding principles that apply across changing circumstances.”   Of course Fundamentalism and/or interpreting the Bible literally is much easier to do, mostly because you don’t have to think or use the brain God gave you.  (But see also On broadminded, spelled “s-i-n”.)   Anyway, here are the original Big 10:

1)  “I am the LORD your God[;] you shall have no other gods before me;”  2)  You shall not make for yourself an idol;”  3)  “You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the LORD your God;”  4)  Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy;”  5)  “Honor your father and your mother;”  6)  “You shall not murder;”  7)  “You shall not commit adultery;”  8)  “You shall not steal;”  9)  “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor;”  10)  “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house … or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”  [RSV]

As noted, for more highlights from the New Testament and Gospel readings, see On the readings for October 5 – Part II.

The upper image is courtesy of Never-before-seen slides from The Ten Commandments starring …, about a January 2014 auction of a “collection of items from Cecil B. DeMille films, including The Ten Commandments…   The highlight of the collection is 15 previously unpublished 35mm color slides from the set of the 1956 classic.”  The article added, “Charlton Heston was one of the iconic film stars of the 20th century…  His instantly recognizable features, seen in these paintings have become synonymous with his commanding performance as Moses.”

The lower image is courtesy of the Wikipedia article, The Twelve Spies – Wikipedia, with the caption, “The Grapes of Canaan by James Tissot.  Although the spies brought back a cluster of grapes so large that it took two men to carry it (Numbers 13:23), only two of the twelve brought back a good report of the land.”   Wikipedia added the following note:

When ten of the twelve spies showed little faith … they were slandering what they believed God had promised them. They did not believe that God could help them, and the people as a whole were persuaded that it was not possible to take the land.  As a result, the entire nation was made to wander in the desert for 40 years, until almost the entire generation of men had died.   Joshua and Caleb were the two spies who brought back a good report and believed that God would help them succeed.  They were the only men from their generation permitted to go into the Promised Land after the time of wandering.

Re: “My way or the highway.”  See Matthew 13:52 (ERV), where “Jesus said to the followers, ‘So every teacher of the law who has learned about God’s kingdom has some new things to teach.  He is like the owner of a house.  He has new things and old things saved in that house.   And he brings out the new with the old.” (Emphasis added.  See also On Jesus: Liberal or Fundamentalist?)

As to Deuteronomy as a restatement, see Restatements of the Law – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, regarding “a set of treatises on legal subjects that seek to inform judges and lawyers about general principles of common law.” 

Welcome to DORScribe, a blog about reading the Bible with an open mind.

In other words, this blog is different.

It says you learn more by reading the Bible with an open mind, and that the Bible was written to liberate you, not shackle you it into a “spiritual straitjacket.”

Those ideas run contrary to some common perceptions these days:  1) that too many Christians are too negative;   2) that too many Christians are close-minded; or   3) that too many Christians think The Faith is all about following their specific set of rules, on pain of going to hell.   (See my way or the highway – Wiktionary, but also Matthew 13:52, where Jesus said the key is finding the right balance, that is, combining “something new with something old.”)

For more on such thoughts see About this Blog, which also talks about the Three Great Promises of Jesus, to all people, and about how through those promises we can live full, rich lives of great spiritual abundance and do greater miracles than Jesus, if only we open our minds…

In the meantime:

This feature focuses on next Sunday’s psalm, and on highlights from the psalms in the Daily Office (DORs) in the week leading up to that upcoming Sunday.  The plan is to review the next Sunday’s readings on the Wednesday before, and to review the psalms from the DORs for the week ending on the Tuesday just before that “prior Wednesday.”

The Lectionary Page  psalm for Sunday, October 5, is Psalm 19.  The DOR psalms highlighted here are from the readings for Wednesday, September 24, up to Tuesday, September 30.

Psalm 19 will be discussed below, but first here are some highlights from last week’s DORs.

The DORs for Wednesday, September 24, included Luke 4:1-13, about the “temptations of Jesus,” one of which is illustrated above by Gustave Dore, and each of which showed Jesus resisting that temptation by citing the appropriate psalm or other verse from the Bible.   (One lesson being that it pays to know the Bible and the psalms!)

For more information, see Temptation of Christ – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The temptation of Christ is detailed in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  According to these texts, after being baptized, Jesus fasted for forty days and nights in the Judaean Desert. During this time, Satan appeared to Jesus and tried to tempt him. Jesus having refused each temptation, Satan departed and angels came and brought nourishment to Jesus.

In one temptation the Devil took Jesus to Jerusalem and “set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here; for it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,’  and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”   In doing so, the Devil cited Psalm 91:11-12:

For he will give his angels charge of you
    to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you dash your foot against a stone.

But Satan left out the words, “‘in all your ways,’ thus changing a general rule of life to one particular expediency, and that quite contrary to God’s will,” according to the International Bible Commentary (IBC).   And Matthew Henry‘s commentary noted that Satan also left out verse 9, which included the proviso, “Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your habitation…”  That is, the promises of Psalm 91:11-12 “are sure to all those who have thus made the Most High their habitation …  that is, ‘as long as thou keepest in the way of thy duty.'”

Put another way, those promises don’t apply to those who “put themselves out of God’s protection.”  (See Psalms 91 Commentary – Matthew Henry Commentary on the Whole ….)

Which is why Jesus responded, “The Scriptures also say, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to a foolish test.'”  (See Deuteronomy 6:16, “You must not provoke [God] and try His patience as you did when you complained against Him at Massah,'” with both quotes from The Living Bible.)

That leads to another lesson:  The Devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.   (See No Fear Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice: Act 1, Scene 3 ….)   And that in turn makes it doubly important – as noted above – to know the Bible and the psalms!

Psalm 91:13 goes on, “You shall tread upon the lion and the adder; you shall trample the young lion and the serpent under your feet.”  That brings up an equally dangerous practice, of taking passages “out of context.”  That topic was addressed in On snake-handling, Fundamentalism and suicide – Part I, and On snake-handling, Fundamentalism and suicide – Part II.

And just as an aside, the DORs for Friday, September 26, included this same Psalm 91, the one Jesus quoted in the DOR Gospel for Wednesday, September 24.  (Cue the Twilight Zone theme.)

Moving ahead, the DORs for Sunday, September 28 included Psalm 66:9 and 14.  Psalm 66:9 reads, “For you, O God, have proved us; you have tried us as silver is tried.”  Psalm 66:14 reads, “Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He has done for me.”

Two points.  The first is that silver is tried by fire, as noted in Proverbs 17:3; in The Living Bible, “Silver and gold are purified by fire, but God purifies hearts.”  The Revised Standard Version reads, “The crucible is for silver…”   And as Wikipedia noted, “crucibles can be made from any material that withstands temperatures high enough to melt or otherwise alter its contents.”  (E.A.  See also crucible: definition of crucible in Oxford dictionary …, which added that the term can also mean a “place or occasion of severe test or trial,” as in “the crucible of combat,” or a place or situation “in which different elements interact to produce something new.”)

Either way, the point is that a devout student of the Bible definitely should not get either self-righteous or complacent, as noted below “vis-a-vis” Psalm 19.

The second point?  I’m trying to implement Psalm 66:14 by and through this blog…

Turning to Psalm 19 – the psalm for Sunday, October 5 – it begins, “The heavens declare the glory of God,and the firmament shows his handiwork,” and ends with verse 14, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength and my redeemer.”  The International Bible Commentary (IBC) said of Psalm 19:

The writer loves and treasures God’s law, but he is far from being self-righteous or satisfied with a merely external observance of it.  He finds the study of the law both challenging and disconcerting; he feels the need of inward cleansing and of power to overcome temptation…  Acceptance by God must be an act of grace.

Emphasis added, with the emphasized passage underscoring some basic themes of this blog, the first being that if you want to get more out of the Bible, you need to go beyond a “merely external observance of it.”  (Consider two karate students.  One goes to an hour lecture each week but just sits and watches.  The other takes notes, listening carefully, then goes home to practice the suggested forms and studies even more.  Which student will make more progress?)

The second is a need to guard against “resting on your laurels.”  It’s like physical exercise; “resistance training.”  If it gets too easy you’re not making progress; you’re just marking time and likely getting complacent.  Thus the quest to delve deeper into the Bible can and should be both “challenging and disconcerting,” but eventually way more rewarding.

That digression leads to the topic, Soapbox – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Okay, I’ll shut up – for now.

The upper image is courtesy of Bible Illustrations, by G. Dore – Main Page – Creationism.org:

French artist Gustave Doré (1832-1883) produced hundreds of quality Bible story illustrations…   Many masters produced such artwork for illustrating Biblical themes, and Doré was among the most famous of them.Doré’s realistic style breathed new life into these real stories.  Centuries of mosaics, frescos, and stone reliefs … had caricaturized many Bible stories in the minds of believers.  But  [Doré’s]  persons and places look real.  [His] work (and artistic license) was criticized by some in his own day, but these illustrations stand the test of time as good physical representations of important Biblical events.

In Matthew 13:52 (ERV), “Jesus said to the followers, ‘So every teacher of the law who has learned about God’s kingdom has some new things to teach.  He is like the owner of a house.  He has new things and old things saved in that house.   And he brings out the new with the old.” (E.A.)

The lower image is courtesy of Speakers’ Corner – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, included in the article Soapbox – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The full caption reads, “Danny Shine arguing against the absurdity of society,” at the original and most noted “Speaker’s Corner,” in the northeast corner of Hyde Park in London.  The “soapbox” article adds this:

A modern form of the soapbox is a blog:  a website on which a user publishes his/her thoughts to whomever they are read by.