A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. Matt.2:18
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch
will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse.
Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will
burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour
new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved. Matthew 9:17
As John's disciples were leaving, Jesus began to speak to the crowd
about John: "What did you go out into the desert to see? A reed
swayed by the wind?
If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No,
those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces.
Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and
more than a prophet.
This is the one about whom it is written: "`I will send my messenger
ahead of you, who will prepare your way before you.'
I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone
greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is
greater than he.
From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been
forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
Matthew 11:2-15
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?Luke 12:25
...if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to
ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives
of lawless men
(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in
his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)--
if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to
hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their
punishment. 2Peter 2:6-9
Ramah, neighboring Mizpah, was one of those cities which were allotted by
Joshua to the tribe of Benjamin on
the frontier of this canton, and that of Ephraim. The word signifies an eminence.
Sometimes it is put simply for a high
place, and then signifies neither a city nor a village. Also the birthplace of Samuel.
The prophecy of
this voice of lamentation in Ramah found its initiatory accomplishment when the overthrow of
the twelve tribes was consummated by Assyria. Then captives of Judah's kingdom
were gathered together in Ramah, and with them Jeremiah the prophet, at the
disposal of Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard(Jeremiah 40:1).
Rachel, mother of Joseph and Benjamin, is the symbolic mother of the northern tribes,
who were taken away by the Assyrians as slaves. She was buried on the way to
Bethelehem(Gen. 35:19). Rachel is pictured
crying for the exiles of her sons at Ramah, which is also a staging point of deportation of people of Judah.
Being identified with new wine and new wineskins, Jesus puts it clear that the gospel by Him did
not fit into the old system of religion of Judaism with its rules and traditions. He did not come
to "patch it up". His radically new teaching cannot be squeezed into the mold of the old legalism.
It must find new forms of expression-or else the old will be destroyed and the new spoilt. Luke 5:39 is
a perceptive comment on human nature-the conservatism which mistrusts anything new.
The reason for John's question might be threefold: (1) For his own confirmation. cf. Gen 15:6,8
(2) Doubt from his own present circumstances.
Being a friend and forerunner of Jesus and the kingdom of heaven, why am I left in prison
with such a neglect from Him? (3) For his disciples' instruction and confirmation. v.6
As John's disciples were leaving(as they departed, KJV), our Lord spoke honorably of John. John
was a firm, resolute man, and not a reed swayed by the wind; you have been so in your
thoughts of him, but he was not so. Also he was a self-denying man, and mortified to this world, v.8.
Being more than a prophet and Christ's forerunner, he was great in the sight of the Lord(Luke 1:15).
No man ever fulfilled his God-given purpose better than John. He was a maximum quod sic--the
greatest of his order; yet minimum maximi est majus maximo minimi--the least of
the highest order is superior to the first of the lowest. A dwarf upon a mountain sees further
than a giant in the valley. In the same way, the least in the kingdom of heaven/glory/grace
is greater than John.
Different versions says:
And which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit? -KJV
Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life(Or single cubit to his height)? -NIV
And which of you by worrying can add a single hour(cubit) to his life's span(height)? -NASB
And which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his span of life? -RSV
And can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your span of life(Or add a cubit to your stature)? -NRSV
"Stature" in Greek is helikian (or helika in original form) means
maturity, age(Luke 2:52, Hebrew 11:11), time of life(John 9:21,23, Eph 4:13),
and height(Luke 2:52). Thus adding one
cubic(in any translation, it is the right vocabulary) to stature or age
means the corresponding things(i.e., adding height or adding life).
Is Lot a righteous(just, KJV) man? Here "righteous" stands as opposite to áthesmoi, meaning without an acceptable standard, which is laid down and established, an ordinance.
His suffering from distress and torment described here revealed
his "righteous"ness.
Lot was not sinless, but it is evident that he put his trust in
God and was spared when Sodom was destroyed Gen.19:14,19.
A question arises: is he acceptable to God (so that he may be called godly and saved)?
God does not account men just or unjust from one single act, but from their general
course of life. And here is a just man in the midst of a most corrupt and profligate
generation universally gone off from all good. He does not follow the multitude to do evil,
but in a city of injustice he walks uprightly. But
it was surely not a good decision to stay in Sodom while you
could live in a tent like Abraham away from the city Gen 18:3, seeing the tragic conclusion
of his family. They became blind by the bad influence of the city.
Ruth, a descendant of Moab, was an ancestor of Jesus, even though Moab was
born as a result of Lot's incestuous relationship with one of his daughters.
The consequence of their sin-Moab and Ammon became enemies of Isarel-was perhaps God's way
of judging them. Still Ruth's story gives hope to us that God forgives and often brings about
bright circumstances from evil.
It should be clarified that any material written here is not an official opinion of any group or of any
affiliation I belong to.
Rather it is written solely for author's benefits. If you have anything against these writings,
please let me know at seungsu@writeme.com.