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TWELVE SABBATHS IN THE PURITAN PULPIT[1]
Michaelmas, the Stubble-Goose, and the Blackberries, Part 1[2]
delivered as an introduction to prayer offered to consecrate the opening of the Assembly: “With the Ringing of Our Ship’s Bell,” and prayer offered to consecrate the healing ministry of the church: “Fret Not Thyself for Those Who Look Upon the Nakedness of Thy Wife.”
Given on Michaelmas Sabbath, 27 September 2026 by the
REVEREND DR. THOMAS SOVIK
To the Conventicle of The First Puritan Assembly of Columbus OH
[ADVERT]
Good morning. Thank you for coming. I’m Pastor Tom and I love stories—
not unlike . that Jewish fellow.
*
But,
before we get to the stories and the food, and having now fired our cannon-shot across the bow of the Ship of Fools,[3]
a ship of Philistines, Pharisees, and others who would seek to dissuade the Church from making itself known and thus keep us from returning this nation to a “One Nation, Under God,”
let us begin by reaching out to the saved and the unsaved and to the lost and the struggling
by inviting them to come along on our first series—Twelve Sabbaths in the Puritan Pulpit,
a loose collection of lessons to lay the foundation for our future time together by touching upon—very generally— such various and sundry topics as
“time,”
history and its calendars,
the Church and her denominations,
Pilgrims and Puritans,
faith, discipline, obedience,
unlawful divorce and unlawful remarriage,
the Beginnings,
the End Times,
[pause]
and even the unhappy revelation to so many
that not so many are likely to spend their eternity in the place they’ve been promised by the false pulpits of the Deceiver.
*
And by no mere coincidence—
(and I argue that there is never a “mere coincidence” with . this God,
we meet today on the first . of our Particular Days of Christian Fellowship[4]—
not . “holy” days
(as celebrated by “Catholic Hallmark,”
(as the Puritans considered all days to be “holy,”
but as opportunities to remember particular events in church history
sacred and secular . alike,
Catholic and Protestant . alike,
and to sup with food related to that day’s event:
On Michaelmas (today): roast goose and blackberries.
On Creation Eve: that damned apple
(with apple appetizers, apple desserts, and with “bobbing for apples”—reminding us that man has—since his beginning—grasped for an elusive something that is
good for food, and . . . pleasant to the eyes (Genesis 3:6) ↓
yet which was something he had no right to taste,
(and which may in fact remind us of the adulteries in our marriages and of our other sins of co.ve.tous.ness.
Michaelmas and Creation Eve, then, to be shortly followed by the third fellowship in our calendar—
Reformation Sunday,
celebrated with root vegetables, cheese, black bread, and ale,
(a dinner that Martin Luther the monk would have eaten,
(being now remembered—
(“heroed” by the Protestant but despised by the Catholic
(for having launched a reform of the Catholic Church to have it, after it had gone astray, more closely conform to the Word of God.
And so on, throughout the year.
*
Now as we’re waiting for our poor . aproned of the kitchen to lay out . our . afternoon’s fare of the stubble-goose[5] and blackberry dumplings and blackberry other things
particular to this Sabbath’s Particular Day of Fellowship,
on which we remember the cosmic battle that led to Satan being cast to earth (Job 38:4-7, Isaiah 14:12-14, Ezekiel 28:12-18, Luke 10:18, Revelation 12:7-12)
(not to hell, as so many wrongly assume ↓
(no, Satan isn’t yet there,
(a mistruth that many of our anti-gap theologians would allow us to wrongly believe so that they could deny the “creation before the creation” that’s clearly written in Scripture
(and which was the prevailing view of the Christian until Charles Darwin made it unpalatable,[6]
we remember the outcome of that battle between the forces of Heaven and the forces of, well, “earth,
with a dinner that includes the last, edible blackberries of the summer season,
blackberries, sour … … after this date.
And the berries are sour after this date because
(according to Medieval church legend,
when Satan fell from Heaven,
on this date,
he landed in a berry bush and, being enraged, he piddled (as we might say in polite company) on the berries,
piddling on the berries to turn them black and to make them inedible,
(which I suppose is a bit of homespun advice to remind the farmer to pick his blackberries before the end of September else they’ll sour and won’t be fit for market.
*
The liturgical church calendar—
beginning with this battle in Heaven that predates the creation of Adam and Eve
and in which we encounter with this blackberry bush essentially begins the church year,
on a day
on Michaelmas, or on Michael’s “Mass,”[7]
that was a Holy Day of Obligation in the Catholic Church
with the requirement of attending Catholic mass
and with the penalty of hell should one willfully avoid attending mass on this day.
Sadly today, the ordinary Catholic cannot much know of what “the Church” truly believes because the Church is constantly changing the rules that determine the eternal fate of its followers,
(many examples of which we’ll encounter in this teaching.
*
Between the 5th and the 18th centuries,
if you were willfully absent from the Catholic service on Michaelmas
you were going to hell
but, after the 18th century … … “not so much,”
and, today,
(because Michaelmas is no longer on the list of “attend mass on this day else you commit a mortal sin,”
it begs the question of not only of
if attending service on Michaelmas was ever an essential, eternal-life eternal-death matter to Christ
but the question—of a more practical nature—of whether those poor souls who suffered in Catholic hell for 13 centuries now receive a bigger slice of Heaven in compensation for “time served.”
*
Well, as a loyal attendee of a church in any of the Protestant denominations, l suppose your pulpit has spoken much about these things—about the history and heresy of the Catholic Church and of the Roman Antichrist
(and if not, you needn’t fear,
(because I’m going to do it.
And yet it seems “historically” convenient that we should celebrate our Protestant church-calendar beginning
on this date of Catholic hypocrisy
by opening our Conventicle[8] with stubble-goose and blackberries
just after—
(as the Archangel Michael is traditionally associated with being the arch-enemy of Satan and guardian of God’s people,
just after we’ve fired that cannon-shot across the bow of the Ship of Fools,[9]
(just as Luther’s fired the cannon-shot of the Reformation across the bow of the Antichrist,
(as the Antichrist sought to turn believers away from Christ, now, toward Rome.[10]
*
Allow me to take this one step further, lest I be criticized for calling out the hypocrisy of only the Catholic.
When was the last time your Protestant minister—”if ever”—preached on the heresy of the Catholic Church,
or on even “why” we should . consider ourselves to be . “Protestant.”
If “never,” then I suggest that you’re not really attending a Protestant church but merely attending a church building that will serve you goose and blackberries—
feeding your stomach, but not so much your soul.
We’ll speak more of it in a latter lesson, but let us move now to the question of why we should serve goose and blackberries “today,”
on the 27th of September,
whilst Wikipedia would teach us that St. Michael’s day is on the 29th of September 30, 2026 ↓
and I answer it simply.
It is because just now there are simply more of us today than we can expect on a weekday evening
(and—being not “Catholic”—we have no strict requirement of meeting on a, “holy day” that arrives on a Tuesday,
and with many not yet being fully committed to a full Sabbath of 24 hours
(as the Lord’s day,
(much less committed to dedicating our every day to God,
(giving him . maybe . one … … but keeping the other six for ourselves,
at least I have you attention on this day, albeit for many with the roast goose and dumplings.
*
As we’re waiting for that goose to be cooked and the festivities to begin,
(and so that we might avoid any awkward silence as we’re waiting for the minister to say something of value,
(or at least something of interest,
(or at least to “get on with it,” so that we might retire to Spurgeon’s “food table,”[11]
allow me to begin . with . one . of those stories that might have been told by that Jewish fellow,
that Jewish fellow mentioned . at the . outset of our morning together.
[LEAD]
Jonathan Eaton.
An Anglican-Puritan Divine[12] newly come over to the New World in 1682 to take the pulpit at Christ Church in the town of Duxbury,
(today a mere 16-minute drive north of where the Mayflower had landed at Plymouth Rock.[13]
And . as . is . his custom and . is . still . the custom in a Puritan Assembly—
(as it is here, at “First Puritan,”
Dr. Eaton preaches . his fire and brimstone for between the usual one-and-a-half . or more hours
but he soon discovers that the souls in his new assembly aren’t . particularly . pleased with the way things are going.
Much to the disappointment of those who would leave the worship service as quickly as possible to engage in less-profitable pastimes,
Dr. Eaton’s habit is to preach everything necessary and appropriate to comprehend the day’s reading in its first reading
rather than being constrained by the Catholic, “eight-minute sermon”
and thereby to avoid a necessary division of the message for a piecemeal delivery over . successive preachings.
*
Worse than the transgression of preaching for too long, however,
Dr. Eaton is calling out the sins of those in . his . congregation.
And they don’t . like it,
(much like those in today’s Christian Left, espousing a “Progressive” Christianity or a “Woke” Christianity—
(claiming to follow Jesus ↓
(but not much wanting to hear what’s actually written in the Word of God if it should require a change in their thinking,
(and much less if it would require a change in their behavior.
But I’m afraid I’m already off on a tangent.
*
And so, week by week, the numbers dwindle.
Finally the good doctor is confronted by the Elders who explain—”too long, and, much-too-much to the point” ↓
whereupon Dr. Eaton informs them that he intends to continue in his current practice even if only one were to show up, and
even if none were to show up,
he would preach to his dog, Clement[14] ↓
who, he points out, has taken more of an interest in Christ . than many in the congregation.
(Not a way—we might observe—for the new minister to endear . himself to his church . Elders.
They’re offended of course and—for the next Sunday—the Elders hatch a conspiracy to bring home—
to their new minister,
that this . simply . cannot continue.
And so on that next Sunday
(according to “the plan,”
none of the easily swayed or the heavily pressured arrive . for that Sabbath service.
*
Dr. Eaton arrives with his four-legged acolyte trotting behind,
he rings the bell,
and then the Elders,
(hiding in the bushes
hear the good minister preaching with the very same fire and brimstone he had preached just the week prior.
[pause]
And they are absolutely beside themselves.
They don’t know what to make of it.
Perhaps some “did” come to service,
(perhaps entering through the back door, “unseen.”
*
The Elders creep up to peer through the poke-holes in the greased-paper window only to discover the pew-benches empty.
The church . is . absolutely … … deserted!
except … … for Dr. Eaton,
and Clement—
sitting in front of the pulpit at strict attention,
tail wagging,
hanging on every word,
head moving left to right,
following … … every gesture.
And so perhaps it was true that the dog had more of an interest in Christ . than . those in the congregation.
*
The plot foiled, the church returns to an overflow attendance the next Sabbath
not so much—being human—to hear the same . overly long sermon and the same uncomfortable calling out of sin
but to hear how the minister will address this . now . very awkward situation.
*
Dr. Eaton preaches on Elijah or Hosea or on some such topic
but no is one paying much attention
because they’re waiting for him to publicly address the failed strategy of the Elders.
But nothing is mentioned about the previous Sabbath,
which then leads the Elders to stew even more in the mess . that . they’ve created for themselves.
Yes, even if they could agree that the minister has gotten the best of them in a test of wills,
how . could . this . be … … with, “Clement the dog”?
*
So after service they push forward the Elder who drew the short . straw
who then sheepishly approaches the pulpit with
(as we might assume,
groveling explanations and insincere apologies
but really to ask about … … the dog.
Whereupon Dr. Eaton—who is still standing in the pulpit
and who, not being a newly ordained minister, has naturally come prepared for the question—
calmly reaches down to pull on a length of twine ↓
to which is attached an . 18-inch length of sausage,
which he then proceeds to casually dangle off the front of the pulpit,
(just as he had . on the previous Sunday,
but just . out the reach of poor Clement.
And immediately Clement—
(the dog who has already experienced this pony show,
bolts from his cushion at the back of the church to, once again,
sit before the pulpit at rigid attention,
tail wagging,
and waiting for his reward ↓
which—he understands—will come whenever the good minister
(in his own good time,
has come to the end of his lesson.
[pause]
*
Dr. Eaton has made his point:
Whether to one or to a thousand
or to a dog named for a pope who had become so ensnared in politics that he brought about the unnecessary separation of the now-Anglican “Church of England” from the Catholic church of Rome,
the closing of England’s Catholic monasteries
and the confiscation and redistribution of the massive wealth and property formerly owned by the Catholic church,
the minister is called to preach the Word of God—
preaching the Word of God precisely . as . it . is . found in the Word of God
and then leaving it to Almighty God to decide who will come and—
of those who do come,
who . will be given ears to hear (Matthew 11:15, Matthew 13:9),[15]
[pause]
to know who will come to repentance,
to know who will be saved,
[pause]
and to know which of us,
which . of . us,
(for God’s own pleasure and purpose,[16]
will . perish … … in the fire.
[pause]
*
Well on that cheery note and seeing that we’ve made it this far, and,
as it has pleased God—
on this particular morning,
to send “this” many,
let us now begin, formally, to separate the sheep . amongst us . from the goats . amongst us (Matthew 25:31-33) by beginning with prayer
(as always we should.
And by our prayer let us consecrate . not only the opening of the church with a first
but the opening of our primary external ministry with a second.
*
But what is this “prayer”? → perhaps you’ve never really thought about it.
In many churches is it simply the ritual through which the minister must pass and which his congregation must endure before getting, “to the show.”
It’s the introduction,
the overture the pit orchestra fiddles before the curtain rises to begin the opera,
something to give us bits and pieces of what we may expect to be served up during the event,
as the appetizer,
something, to whet our appetite.
But it shall not be so here, at First Puritan.
*
Prayer—prayer accompanied by faith—is our most sacred and powerful way of communicating with the Creator of our universe.
And yet surely we ought be amazed that it is made so . “available” to us—
in the manner of a child’s conversation with a Heavenly Father,
with His children told to come boldly before the very Throne of God and before the company of his Holy Angels with no more fear or trembling that would have a child
climbing into the armchair of his earthly father.
Surely the angels themselves wish for such a relationship with God (Luke 20:23, Hebrews 1:14, 1 Corinthians 6:3)—
that they would be children of the Resurrection,
recognized by God,
and called to Election by God, and
having been chosen for that Election before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).
[pause]
Such a thing never ceases to amaze me—
perhaps because I was first raised a Catholic
and was then asked to leave Catholic seminary because—as the bishop rather unceremoniously informed me—I asked “too many questions.”
And what I’ve since learned is that I can speak directly . to my Father,
as my Father,
without need of any intercessory priest or church or ritual
to get in my way
and equally amazed that I can speak to Him especially so . here this morning,
for He has promised that
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).
And here we are—a bit more than the “two or three.”
This is incredible, isn’t it?—
that Almighty God would leave the Throne of Heaven to be right . here,
siting together in the pew with lukewarm Christians,
(lukewarm Christians at our very best,
unrepentant . transgressors of every one of His Commandments,
adulterers against both God and spouse,
and selfish creatures that God understands . come most often not to worship or to thank or to have any . Lilliputian[17] thought of repentance but to ask for stuff—
“free stuff,”
“free stuff” … … that we’ve neither earned, nor “deserve.”
“Salvation” comes to mind—something that we’ve not earned and don’t “deserve” … … but which is given as a gift.
*
On this morning, assured that our Assembly has the Ear of Almighty God,
let us pray as a body public,
bringing our collective words of praise, thanksgiving, repentance, and petition to our Father
and, in our faith,
be confident not only that He will not only hear our prayers
but confident that He will answer our prayers,
being fully confident that He will bring about all that we ask should only we ask … … in . faith.
[pause]
He has done it before.
He’s not occupied in the privy like the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:27),[18]
(see the footnote on this one,
so how can we be so weak of faith to now think that He cannot do it again?
And how can we be so weak of faith when He has promised:
Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.
Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass (Psalm 37:4-5).
*
Take note, Lukewarm Christian and unbeliever who would make excuses for God not answering prayer:
There is no provision for a God who cannot lie . to not do what He has promised to do (Numbers 23:19, Hebrews 6:18, Titus 1:2).
No “escape clause.”
No ridiculous “God hears all prayers … … if He wants to.”
No ridiculous “God answers all prayers … … but sometimes He says no.”
No exception.
[pause]
*
But it is a sad truth that we don’t want to hear this nonsense of God answering our prayer
and certainly not the nonsense of our being able—through God—to cast a mountain (Mark 11:23-24) or a mulberry bush (Luke 17:6) out the sea.
And why is this?
It is because we want to blame God, for our lack of faith
without which, why should He answer?
*
Loved Ones and Ye of So Little Faith (Matthew 8:26 and many others):
By this ministry I want you to come to understand that God does not refuse our prayers.
He’s waiting to see if we will give up,
althewhile hoping that we will understand His “no” as … … “not yet.”
And may this ministry bring you to the answer—
not of the question: “is God . there?”
but of: “Is God . there, for me.”
[END]
[1] Taken from the Preface to Twelve Sabbaths in the Puritan Pulpit: Although written from a Calvinist (Particular Baptist, Presbyterian) perspective, the ordinary minister is free—for the glory of God—to copy, modify, and re-publish whatever portions of these prayers, stories, anecdotes, sermons, and footnotes for his own preaching without awarding credit to the author, and furthermore is free to conform the text to accommodate his own denomination’s perspective on my words. I have no interest in argument and I suspect that, when we’re dead, we will both learn that we had some parts of our theological understanding correct and some parts of its parts in error. In any case, my sermons are poor examples of what “could” have been preached, and it is a poor minister indeed who would not cry over the less-than-perfect preaching that came from his pulpit and who would not hope that the next minister would do better.
As these lessons are delivered on a particular day, it may be that particular examples may not be relevant. Yet the church will always be beset with troubles and trouble-makers, and it is understood that the ordinary minister would use the skeleton whilst adding the flesh of the moment.
[2] Taken from the Preface to Twelve Sabbaths in the Puritan Pulpit: This transcription is presented in PreacherPunkt, which does not follow “grammatical rule” but is rather a visual representation of the speed, continuity, pace, and nuance of the speaker; it is an amalgamation of symbols used by the Puritan Divines to better prepare the delivery of their sermons and which, as here presented, enables the reader to better “hear” the printed text—as it was preached—now being “in the hand.” A full explanation of PreacherPunkt, with a list of its symbols and oddities, is given in the Preface to this volume.
As these lessons are delivered “live,” it may be that certain texts are misspoken or even absent from the prepared notes.
[3] Reference to The Republic, Book VI (375 BC), in which the Greek Philosopher Plato likened the sailing of a ship by a dysfunctional crew to the administration of a country by a dysfunctional government. The title was made popular in Western-European society by German satirist Sebastian Brant’s Ship of Fools (1494). The “Ship of Fools” came to parody the “Ark of Salvation” of a dysfunctional Catholic Church, through which one would come to salvation just as humankind was once saved by the Ark of Noah.
[4] After the sailing of the Mayflower from England on the 6th of September, our Fellowship Calendar follows the Creation of the world until its coming rebirth: Michaelmas (“The Day of Good and Evil,” 29 September), Creation Eve (“The Day of Dirt and Apple,” 22 October), Reformation Eve (31 October), Advent Sunday (the 4th Sunday before Christmas Day), Shepherds’ Eve (with the burning of our transgressors, 24 December), Three Kings’ Day (with the chalking of doors, 6 January), the Day of Ashes (40 days before Resurrection Sunday), Wurstessen (the “Affair of the Sausages,” 9 March), Maundy Thursday and Resurrection Eve (calendar dependent), and, finally, the midsummer Bonfires’ Eve (remembering—with bonfires and baptisms according to the ancient tradition—John the Baptist, meeting on the half-year before the coming of the “Light of the World,” 23 June).
We also gather (with food and fellowship) on three Particular Days of Civil Religion: Commencement Sunday, Training Sunday, and Election Sunday—the Sundays before the New Year, Independence Day, and the day of general elections.
[5] The “harvest goose,” the end-of-season goose fattened by the stubble of the fields which was given to the Medieval landowner.
[6] The “gap” theory, by an equally correct translation of Genesis 1:2 (and which is corroborated by many passages in Scripture), posits that there was a creation of the world before the creation of Adam and Eve—an earthly world into which Satan was cast.
Such was the prevailing understanding by the majority of Christians for thousands of years and which fully explained dinosaurs, cavemen, and giants, until “science” discovered “evolution,” after which there has never been an adequate explanation of those dinosaurs, cavemen, and giants.
See “The Times of Creation and the ‘Outside’ of Time, in Twelve Sabbaths in the Puritan Pulpit, volume II.
[7] The suffix “-mas” survives from the Old English “maesse,” meaning “worship service,” or “mass.”
[8] In the time of the English Puritan, a “Conventicle” was an unlawful and secret gathering of the larger Assembly. It often met in the form of a “house church,” thought to be subversive to “order in the realm” and prohibited by an English government that sought to force everyone to worship either as a Catholic or as a Non-Separatist Anglican (depending on which group held the throne). Emphasizing prayer and the reading and unfolding of Scripture, with its application to the lives of those present, it was the “small-enough” vehicle by which the Puritan matured in Christian faith.
In short, the 17th-century “conventicle” was a church at the polar end of the impersonal mega-church or even the typical brick-and-mortar church of the 21st century—with the Conventicle meeting under the authority of Matthew 18:20 (For where two or three are gathered together in my Name, there am I in the midst of them) and gathering together either in the home of a local noble or estate holder, in a barn, at lakeside, or “under the stars.”
[9] Reference to The Republic, Book VI (375 BC), in which the Greek Philosopher Plato likened the sailing of a ship by a dysfunctional crew to the administration of a country by a dysfunctional government. The title was made popular in Western-European society by German satirist Sebastian Brant’s Ship of Fools (1494). The “Ship of Fools” came to parody the “Ark of Salvation” of a dysfunctional Catholic Church, through which one would come to salvation just as humankind was once saved by the Ark of Noah.
[10] For a welcome and much-appreciated summary of the earlier folly of the Catholic Church, of its keeping a translation of the Word of God from its followers for over 500 years, and for its own behavior that brought about a necessary Reformation, we are indebted to the (Catholic) Reverend Dr. Douglas Grandon. Should more Catholic priest and Protestant ministers be so willing to acknowledge historical fact, there would be much less division in the Body of Christ. See the television documentary “The Amish and the Reformation.”
Interesting, also, is that the documentary explores the situation parallel to the Catholic error of keeping the Bible (in this case, Old German) in a language that so few understand, with many Amish communities now facing the same types of heresies and divisions as the Catholics brought upon their own faith.
Curiously, this documentary also demonstrates that the Amish—by insisting the Bible remain in “Old German” (a language that so few understand)—have allowed folly to creep into their own religious practice.
Did Christ not direct us to take the Gospel to all nations? (Matthew 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:47, Acts 1:8, Romans 10:14-15).
How can the Word of God be brought to people of all nations if it is fed to them in a language that they do not understand?
[11] Perhaps a variation of Charles Spurgeon’s widely quoted “if you give a man the gospel, wrap it in a sandwich. And if you give a man a sandwich, wrap it in the gospel.” Source unknown.
[12] The Puritans referred to their ministers and academic theologians as “Divines.” For a history of the English Puritans, see “Shopping for a Religion that Will Accommodate My Sin,” and “Our Place in the Protestant Canoe,” both in Twelve Sabbaths in the Puritan Pulpit.
[13] In reality, the Mayflower never made it to Plymouth Rock—which in any case was not her first landing in the New World—because the bay was too shallow; per the Mayflower log, the colonists had to ferry themselves and all else to shore while the Mayflower rested about three-quarters of a mile out in the bay.
[14] The name is meant to mock Pope Clement VII for his self-serving vacillation in the matter of refusing to grant Henry VIII a divorce from Catherine of Aragon, which then led to the creation of the (Anglican) Church of England with Henry as its head.
[15] See “The Particulars of the Calvinist and the Particular Baptist,” in Setting Sail Under the Banner of Sola scriptura.
[16] Reference to the very-Biblical predestinational belief of the “Calvinist” and others, with a divine decree foreordaining souls to either salvation or damnation. See “The Particulars of the Calvinist and the Particular Baptist,” in Setting Sail Under the Banner of Sola scriptura.
[17] Reference to Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels: Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World. In Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships (1762) in which the fictional Lilliput Island is inhabited by tiny people approximately one-twelfth the height of ordinary humans.
[18] Scripture is full of language that has been made “boring” and “unfunny” by good taste. Here, in verse 27, the words “he is pursuing” is better translated from the Hebrew as “withdrawing to a private place to leave a waste product.” Translate it as you will. Consider the instances of “him that pisseth against the wall” (1 Samuel 25:22, 1 Samuel 25:34, 1 Kings 14:10, 1 Kings 16:11, 1 Kings 21:21, and 2 Kings 9:8). More to follow, to bring the Bible “alive.”