[Bible Tales] Thursday newsletter - Jeremiah, Anathoth and Walking

Published: Thu, 08/04/16

Hi ,

I hope you enjoyed the first micro-story about Achish which came with the newsletter last week.  A new story will be included every two weeks, so next week will include another - this time about the eunuch from Ethiopia mentioned in the book of Acts.

However, this week we have a supporting article about Jeremiah, intended to help with understanding the background of the novel Terror on Every Side! which is now being distributed to subscribers as a weekly serial.  This week, we look at the distance of Anathoth from Jerusalem and discuss walking distances - and Sabbaths.

If you have any questions or want to make any comments, feel free to reply to this email.  I would love to hear from you.

Special Offers
God is in control of his world and my life, so all of my plans for the future will only take place if he is willing.

Terror on Every Side! Volume 1 - Early Days is soon to be released as a weekly audio serial over 16 weeks.  If you missed out on the text serial, you can now listen to the audio version and walk with Jeremiah as he travels to Jerusalem to deliver God's word.

Chris Morgan is a reader with an easy-to-listen-to voice and clear annunciation, and his expressive reading will help to bring the book to life. The price will be $8 for the 16 chapters.  This offer will close at 9:00am on Monday 29 August when the first chapter will be sent by email to registered subscribers.  Sign up early - make sure you don't forget!

Two other special offers for Terror on Every Side! Volume 1 - Early Days will also be appearing on www.BibleTales.online on Monday 8 August.

Pre-orders for printed books

Once the weekly serialisation of Early Days is complete, the book will be available for purchase as a printed book.  Anyone who places an early order makes the publishing process much easier and so we want to reward them with a significant price reduction.  Anyone placing an order before 9:00am on Sunday 18 September 2016 will only have to pay $6.99 (AUD) for each copy (plus postage and packaging).  Even better, you won't have to pay until just before the book is released, and if you find that you need to cancel the order at any time, you can.  However, we don't think you will want to.

If you want to pre-order, please reply to this email and let me know how many copies you would like, or wait until the offer is available on the website.  Due to the significant price reduction being offered, these are only for personal use or as gifts - they are not for resale, please.

Remember, the price goes up on 18 September, so why not get in early?

Pre-orders for eBooks

eBooks will also be available once the weekly serialisation of Early Days is complete.  Kindle (MOBI), EPUB and PDF formats are planned.  Pre-order to get significant savings.  Anyone placing an order before 9:00am on Monday 24 October 2016.will only have to pay $6.50 (AUD) for each copy.  Even better, you won't have to pay until just before the book is released and if you find that you need to cancel the order at any time, you can.

If you want to pre-order, please reply to this email and let me know how many copies you would like - or just wait until the offer is available on the website.  If you know what format you would require, please include that information also.  Due to the significant price reduction being offered, these are only for personal use or as gifts - they are not for resale, please.

Note for serial subscribers: you will already be receiving a copy of the complete eBook when the serial concludes.

From Anathoth to Jerusalem - Walking
At the start of Jeremiah we read that he comes from Anathoth (Jeremiah 1:1).  In Terror on Every Side! It is common for Jeremiah to walk to Jerusalem in the morning and walk back home in the afternoon.

So how realistic is this?

The distance from the temple in Jerusalem to the top of the hill at Anathoth is about 5-6 kilometres.  This would take about one to one and a quarter hours.  If Jeremiah was to walk both directions in a day, that would total 10-12km and he would spend two or two and a half hours walking.

It is believed that a day’s travel at that time, for those who had to walk (which was most people), was about 32-40km - further than many of us would ever walk in a day in our entire lives!

God made us able to walk long distances - much further than we do now that we have cars.  It would have been quite reasonable for Jeremiah to walk to Jerusalem every day.  So if you read or hear of Jeremiah walking to Jerusalem in Terror on Every Side! try thinking how you would go with such a walk every day.

Now what about on a Sabbath day?  A Sabbath day’s journey in New Testament times could take you from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:12), a distance of about one kilometre.

When God originally gave the people of Israel the law of the Sabbath (Exodus 16:23), some of the people went out to collect manna, despite God’s statement that there would not be any on the Sabbath.  At that time, God told all the people to stay in their place on the seventh day (Exodus 16:29).

We must also remember that Jeremiah was from a family of priests.  Sabbath days were fairly ordinary days of work for priests - as they were for Jesus, who is now our high priest.  The work of God was still to be done on a Sabbath (John 5:16-17), as was the work of doing good (Matthew 12:11-12). On a Saturday, priests had to offer the daily sacrifices in the morning and evening (Numbers 28:3-4) as well as special sacrifices for the Sabbath (Numbers 28:9-10).

Was there a limit to how far people would travel on a Sabbath day in the time of Jeremiah?  We simply don’t know.
Have you ever thought...?
Babies don’t pay much attention to the Sabbath.  When babies were born on a Saturday, their mothers had to work hard despite the Sabbath; and boys born on Fridays had to be circumcised on the eighth day, which would be a Sabbath.  When conflicts between laws occurred, different laws had different priorities.  Circumcision was very important, and labour could not be planned.  Neither could be delayed by a Sabbath.


Until next week then,

Happy reading - and happy walking!

Mark