Assembly Communicator
Homeward Bound!
For the Young at Heart
September 2014
Then He arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and
there was a great calm…What manner of man is this, that
even the winds and the sea obey Him! – Matthew 8:26-27
“ Now the LORD
had prepared a
great fish to swallow up Jonah. And
Jonah was in the
belly of the fish
three days and
three nights.”
(Jonah 1:17)
In February
1891, the whaling
ship Star of the East
was in the vicinity
of the Falkland
Islands when the
lookout sighted a
large sperm whale.
Image from Google
Two boats were
lowered, and in a short time the whale was harpooned. The second boat was
upset by a lash of the whale’s tail, and the men were thrown into the sea. One
drowned and another, James Bartley, could not be found. The whale was killed,
and the crew, busy with axes and spades, removed the blubber as the whale was
tied to the side of the ship. They worked all day and part of the night.
The next day they attached some tackle to the stomach, which was hoisted on
deck. The sailors were startled by spasmodic signs of life. Inside they found
James Bartley, doubled up and unconscious. He was laid on the deck and treated
to a bath of seawater which soon revived him; but his mind was not clear and he
remained two weeks a raving lunatic. He gradually gained possession of his
senses. By the end of the third week he had entirely recovered from the shock
and resumed his duties.
During his time in the whale’s stomach Bartley's skin was exposed to the
action of gastric juices. He underwent a striking change: his face, neck, and
hands were bleached to a deadly whiteness.
Bartley affirms that he would probably have lived inside his house of flesh
until he starved, for he lost his senses through “fright and not for lack of air.”
Bartley said he was drawn along into darkness and found himself in a great place
where the heat was intense. In the dark he felt around for an exit and found only
slimy walls around him.
Where now are the critics who have declared the swallowing
of Jonah to be an impossible feat?
Excerpted from Messages of the Love of God, February 25, 1973.
33 Years of Bible Study
The learned Prince of Granada, heir to the Spanish throne, and imprisoned by the
order of the Crown for fear he should aspire to the throne, was kept in solitary
confinement in the old prison at the Place of Skulls, Madrid.
After thirty-three years in this living tomb, death came to his release.
The following remarkable researches, taken from the Bible and marked with
an old nail on the rough walls of his cell, told how his brain sought
employment through the weary years of his imprisonment.
.
In the Bible, the word “Lord” is found 1,853 times.
The word “Jehovah” 6,855 times.
The word “reverend” once, in Psalm 111:9.
The eighth verse of the ninety-seventh Psalm is the middle verse in the Bible.
The ninth verse of the eighth chapter of Esther is the longest.
The thirty-fifth verse of John 11 is the shortest.
In Psalm 107, four verses are alike, the eighth, fifteenth, twenty-first and
thirty-first.
Each verse of Psalm 136 ends alike.
No names or words with more than six syllables are found in the Bible.
The thirty-seventh chapter of Isaiah and nineteenth chapter of 2 Kings are alike.
The word “girl” occurs but once in the Bible—Joel 3, verse 3.
There are in both parts of the Bible, 3,538,483 letters; 773,693 words; 31,373
verses; 1,189 chapters and 66 books.
The twenty-sixth chapter of the Acts is the finest to read.
The most beautiful chapter is Psalm 23.
The four most inspiring promises are John 14:2; 7:37; Matthew 9:28 and Psalm
37:4.
The first verse of Isaiah 55 is the one for the new convert.
All who flatter themselves with vain boasting should read Matthew 6.
All humanity should learn the sixth chapter of St. Luke, from verse twenty to its
ending.
May we not conclude, by the references to Acts 26, Psalm 23, John 14:2 and
7:37, that the Prince not only found the Bible an interesting book during those
weary years, but his weary soul found peace in believing. How the love of Christ
would sustain his spirit, and the blessed promise of John 14:2—which he
quoted—would fix the heart upon a brighter crown than the Spanish throne
could offer, and upon a heavenly kingdom.
What is the Word of God to you?
“BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto
according to thy word” (Psalm 119:9).
“Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm
119:11).
From The Book of Books, by J. W. H. Nichols.
You Make the Count!
1. Count the number of words in the three verses from the Gospel of
John written below. Write your answers in words (example 125
words would be written as one hundred twenty five).
2. Count the number of letters and write them as above.
Note: do not count punctuation marks or verse numbers.
16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
17 For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through Him might be saved.
18 He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is
condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God.
Number of words___________________________________________
Number of letters___________________________________________
begotten
condemn
everlasting
gave
loved
saved
Son
world
In the word Search below, find and circle the above words and the number of
words and letters you counted. When you are finished, circle the unused letters
to reveal a city and its state’s 2-letter abbreviation.
One Sunday afternoon at the nursing
home, I met an elderly lady, whose
name was Mrs. Poore. I had never met
anyone with that name before, so
immediately the verse came to mind,
“For ye know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich,
yet for your sakes He became poor,
that ye through His poverty might be
rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
I asked this dear lady if she was
poor or rich. Pointing to her Bible she
exclaimed, “Isn’t it wonderful what
we have in this Book!” Then she went
on to say that she had put her trust in
the Lord Jesus Christ; so I knew then
that she was rich indeed.
It says of the Lord Jesus, “though
He was rich.” When was He rich? He
was rich there in the glory. When did
He become poor? It was when He
came to this world as a man, when our
sins were laid upon Him, and when
He died for us that we through His
poverty might be rich.
Yes, through His death on the
cross of Calvary and through His
precious blood that was shed there we
now have all the riches of His grace.
The Apostle Paul could say, “But my
God shall supply all your need
according to His riches in glory by
Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19).
From Messages of the Love of God, April 1, 1973.
Editors: Richard & Ruth Spiering É Phone & Fax: 619.501.1959 É
[email protected] Website: www.searchtheword.net