An atheist was walking through the woods.

What majestic trees!
What powerful rivers!
What beautiful animals!
He said to himself.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him.

He turned to look .  . . and saw a 7-foot grizzly bear charge towards  him.

He ran as fast as he could along the path.

He looked over his shoulder & saw that the bear was closing on him....

He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer and then...... He tripped and fell.

Rolling over to pick himself up, he found the bear was right on top of him reaching towards him with its left paw and raising the right paw to strike  ... 

At  that instant the Atheist cried out, 'Oh my  God!'

Time Stopped.... 
The bear froze......
The forest was silent.....

A bright light shone upon the man, and a voice came out of the sky  ...

"You deny my existence for all these years, you teach others I don't exist and even credit creation to cosmic accident .....

Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament?"

"Am I to count you as a believer?"

The atheist looked directly into the light ...."It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask you to treat me as a Christian now  ...  but perhaps you could make the BEAR a Christian?"

... a pause  ... 

"Very well," said the voice ....

The light went out.  

The sounds of the forest resumed ...  

And the bear dropped his right arm brought both paws together bowed his head & spoke... 

"Lord, bless this food, which I am about to receive.

You are not here to do it all alone. That would be crazy! Do you know how to grow rice, spin yard or make electricity? No one does it all alone. That's why people have each other. Relying on and supporting each other is what makes the world go round. Don't be shy about asking for help.

凡事都不可虧欠人、惟有彼此相愛、要常以為虧欠．因為愛人的就完全了律法。像那不可姦淫、不可殺人、不可偷盜、不可貪婪、或有別的誡命、都包在愛人如己這一句話之內了。

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." 

Ahab Takes Naboth’s Vineyard 
1 After these things had happened, this is what followed. A man named Naboth owned a vineyard in Jezreel, near the palace of Ahab king of Israel.
2 One day Ahab said to Naboth, “Give me your vineyard. It is near my palace, and I want to make it into a vegetable garden. I will give you a better vineyard in its place, or, if you prefer, I will pay you what it is worth.”

3 Naboth answered, “May the Lord keep me from ever giving my land to you. It belongs to my family.”
4 Ahab went home angry and upset, because he did not like what Naboth from Jezreel had said. (Naboth had said, “I will not give you my family’s land.”) Ahab lay down on his bed, turned his face to the wall, and refused to eat.
5 His wife, Jezebel, came in and asked him, “Why are you so upset that you refuse to eat?”
6 Ahab answered, “I talked to Naboth, the man from Jezreel. I said, ‘Sell me your vineyard, or, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ But Naboth refused.”
7 Jezebel answered, “Is this how you rule as king over Israel? Get up, eat something, and cheer up. I will get Naboth’s vineyard for you.”

8 So Jezebel wrote some letters, signed Ahab’s name to them, and used his own seal to seal them. Then she sent them to the elders and important men who lived in Naboth’s town.
9 The letter she wrote said: “Declare a day during which the people are to fast. Call the people together, and give Naboth a place of honor among them.
10 Seat two troublemakers across from him, and have them say they heard Naboth speak against God and the king. Then take Naboth out of the city and kill him with stones.”

11 The elders and important men of Jezreel obeyed Jezebel’s command, just as she wrote in the letters.
12 They declared a special day on which the people were to fast. And they put Naboth in a place of honor before the people.
13 Two troublemakers sat across from Naboth and said in front of everybody that they had heard him speak against God and the king. So the people carried Naboth out of the city and killed him with stones.
14 Then the leaders sent a message to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been killed.”

15 When Jezebel heard that Naboth had been killed, she told Ahab, “Naboth of Jezreel is dead. Now you may go and take for yourself the vineyard he would not sell to you.”
16 When Ahab heard that Naboth of Jezreel was dead, he got up and went to the vineyard to take it for his own.

17 At this time the Lord spoke his word to the prophet Elijah the Tishbite. The Lord said,
18 “Go to Ahab king of Israel in Samaria. He is at Naboth’s vineyard, where he has gone to take it as his own.
19 Tell Ahab that I, the Lord, say to him, ‘You have murdered Naboth and taken his land. So I tell you this: In the same place the dogs licked up Naboth’s blood, they will also lick up your blood!’ “

20 When Ahab saw Elijah, he said, “So you have found me, my enemy!”
Elijah answered, “Yes, I have found you. You have always chosen to do what the Lordsays is wrong.
21 So the Lord says to you, ‘I will soon destroy you. I will kill you and every male in your family, both slave and free.
22 Your family will be like the family of King Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the family of King Baasha son of Ahijah. I will destroy you, because you have made me angry and have led the people of Israel to sin.’

23 ”And the Lord also says, ‘Dogs will eat the body of Jezebel in the city of Jezreel.’
24 ”Anyone in your family who dies in the city will be eaten by dogs, and anyone who dies in the fields will be eaten by birds.”

25 There was no one like Ahab who had chosen so often to do what the Lord said was wrong, because his wife Jezebel influenced him to do evil.
26 Ahab sinned terribly by worshiping idols, just as the Amorite people did. And the Lord had taken away their land and given it to the people of Israel.

27 After Elijah finished speaking, Ahab tore his clothes. He put on rough cloth, fasted, and even slept in the rough cloth to show how sad and upset he was.
28 The Lord spoke his word to Elijah the Tishbite:
29 ”I see that Ahab is now sorry for what he has done. So I will not cause the trouble to come to him during his life, but I will wait until his son is king. Then I will bring this trouble to Ahab’s family.”

[Ĭsh'mael] - god heareth.

1. The son of Abraham, by Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian maid. Ishmael was born when Abraham was eighty-six years of age, and was circumcised when he was thirteen years of age, along with his father and his servants. He received the divine promise that he would beget twelve princes and become a great nation. He died at the age of 137
Gen. 16:11: – ¹¹ The angel of the LORD also said to her: “You are now pregnant and you will give birth to a son. You shall name him Ishmael,for the LORD has heard of your misery.

Gen. 16:16: – ¹⁶ Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael.

Gen. 17:18: – ¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”

Gen. 17:26: – ²⁶ Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that very day.

Gen. 25:9: -⁹ His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite

Gen. 25:17: – ¹⁷ Ishmael lived a hundred and thirty-seven years. He breathed his last and died, and he was gathered to his people.

Gen. 28:9: – ⁹ so he went to Ishmael and married Mahalath, the sister of Nebaioth and daughter of Ishmael son of Abraham, in addition to the wives he already had.

Gen. 36:3: – ³ also Basemath daughter of Ishmael and sister of Nebaioth.

Ishmael was the founder of the tribal family called Ishmaelites, sometimes referred to as Midianites
Gen. 37:25: – ²⁵ As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.

Gen. 37:28: – ²⁸ So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.

The Man Who Became an Outcast
Ishmael, who was some fourteen years older than Isaac, was not his father’s heir and did not share his father’s property. Abraham was tenderly attached to Ishmael (Gen. 17:18: -¹⁸ And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!”), and the casting out of the boy and his mother by Sarah was a great grief to Abraham. Such a hard transaction was necessary to keep the inheritance unbroken for Isaac’s possession. “To thee will I give it”

Gal. 3:16: – ¹⁶ The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ.

Gel. 4:30: – ³⁰ But what does Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.”

Ishmael’s name is a monument of God’s goodness in answering prayer. “God shall hear.” What did He hear? He heard the moaning of Hagar’s broken heart. God said concerning Ishmael: “I will make him a great nation” (Gen. 21:18: -¹⁸ Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation).

The names of Ishmael’s twelve sons have been preserved but there is no record of any good they achieved
Gen. 25:13: – ¹³ These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, listed in the order of their birth: Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam,

Gen. 25:16: – ¹⁶ These were the sons of Ishmael, and these are the names of the twelve tribal rulers according to their settlements and camps.

Paul tells us that the record of Hagar and Ishmael is an allegory (Gal. 4:24: -²⁴ These things are being taken figuratively: The women represent two covenants. One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are to be slaves: This is Hagar). Hagar and Sarah represent two covenants – Jewish and Christian. Hagar represents the law, and Ishmael, because he was born of the bond woman, typifies those who are under the law. Isaac, because of his super-natural birth, represents those born anew by the Spirit of God.

The casting out of Ishmael has been productive of bitter fruit, surviving in the religion of Mohammed. The wild hearts beat on in the bosoms of those who form the Arab world. Little did Sarah know, when she persuaded Abraham to take Hagar that she was originating a rivalry which has run in the keenest strife through the ages, and which oceans of blood have not stopped.

The Moslem Arabs claim descent from Ishmael. Ishmael’s mother and wife were Egyptian, which differentiates them from pure Hebrew. Arabian tribes springing from Ishmael are scattered throughout the Arabian peninsula. When Ishmael received his name, the Lord said that he would be “a wild man,” or “a wild-ass man” as the Hebrew expresses it.

2. An ancestor of Zebadiah who was one of Jehoshaphat’s judicial officers (2 Chron. 19:11: -¹¹ “Amariah the chief priest will be over you in any matter concerning the LORD, and Zebadiah son of Ishmael, the leader of the tribe of Judah, will be over you in any matter concerning the king, and the Levites will serve as officials before you. Act with courage, and may the LORD be with those who do well.”).

3. A Son of Azer and a descendant of Saul through Jonathan
1 Chron. 8:38: – ³⁸ Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.

1 Chron. 9:44: – ⁴⁴ Azel had six sons, and these were their names: Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

4. A son of Jehohanan and one of the military officers associated with Jehoiada in the revolution to raise Joash to the throne (2 Chron. 23:1: -¹ In the seventh year Jehoiada showed his strength. He made a covenant with the commanders of units of a hundred: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zikri).

5. A son of Pashbur and one of the priests persuaded by Ezra to put away his foreign wife (Ezra 10:22: -²² From the descendants of Pashhur: Elioenai, Maaseiah, Ishmael, Nethanel, Jozabad and Elasah).

6. A son of Nethaniah, a member of the royal house of David who took part in the murder of Gedaliah. His vile conduct and character are fully described by
Jeremiah 40:8-16: – ⁸ they came to Gedaliah at Mizpah—Ishmael son of Nethaniah, Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, Seraiah son of Tanhumeth, the sons of Ephai the Netophathite, and Jaazaniah the son of the Maakathite, and their men.
⁹ Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, took an oath to reassure them and their men. “Do not be afraid to serve the Babylonians,” he said. “Settle down in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well with you.
¹⁰ I myself will stay at Mizpah to represent you before the Babylonians who come to us, but you are to harvest the wine, summer fruit and olive oil, and put them in your storage jars, and live in the towns you have taken over.”
¹¹ When all the Jews in Moab, Ammon, Edom and all the other countries heard that the king of Babylon had left a remnant in Judah and had appointed Gedaliah son of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, as governor over them,
¹² they all came back to the land of Judah, to Gedaliah at Mizpah, from all the countries where they had been scattered. And they harvested an abundance of wine and summer fruit.
¹³ Johanan son of Kareah and all the army officers still in the open country came to Gedaliah at Mizpah
¹⁴ and said to him, “Don’t you know that Baalis king of the Ammonites has sent Ishmael son of Nethaniah to take your life?” But Gedaliah son of Ahikam did not believe them.
¹⁵ Then Johanan son of Kareah said privately to Gedaliah in Mizpah, “Let me go and kill Ishmael son of Nethaniah, and no one will know it. Why should he take your life and cause all the Jews who are gathered around you to be scattered and the remnant of Judah to perish?”
¹⁶ But Gedaliah son of Ahikam said to Johanan son of Kareah, “Don’t do such a thing! What you are saying about Ishmael is not true.”

Ezra. 10:41: – ⁴¹ Azarel, Shelemiah, Shemariah.

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

What’s the price of a pet canary? Some loose change, right? And God cares what happens to it even more than you do. He pays even greater attention to you, down to the last detail–even numbering the hairs on your head! So don’t be intimidated by all this bully talk. You’re worth more than a million canaries.