Gentile Levites and Talking Snakes
A dive into Hebrew Bible metaphors that we can apply today I am often inspired in my writings by things I heard in adult Sunday School class or in a sermon. Last Sunday the topic in Sunday School was George Friderick Handel’s Messiah. We heard the soloist sing the passage in Malachi 3:2, 3: “But who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appeareth? For He is like a refiner’s fire. And He shall purify the sons of Levi, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.” (All passages are NKJV, biblegateway.com) I love to study biblical metaphors. Refiner’s fire…a process in which the impurities of an ore are burned away, changing the nature of the ore, leaving the pure substance like gold or silver. We discussed how fire is good…it cooks our food, gives us light, and keeps us warm. It has the capacity to drastically change the substance of what it burns. It can purify metal, sterilize or cauterize a wound, or turn a house into ash. Fire has to be...