Wednesday Bible Study: Everybody must get stoned

 

This week, you might guess I want to take up the subject of stoning.  Surprisingly, there was a lot to learn.

First, the mechanics of the punishment.  No, not how to do it, but why.  If you read Leviticus and Deuteronomy, you will note that some crimes were by word prescribed for stoning the offender- but many others just say death, without picking the method.  That lead the Jews to use what was said in other spots to identify 4 legal ways to perform Capital Punishment.

Of course there was stoning, as we've established.  There was also striking down by the sword, which seems to have been mainly for political or military matters.  A third was burning to death- they deduced this because that's what Judah was going to do to his daughter in law Tamar, before she exposed him as the father of her twins.  Presumably since this was involving one of the Patriarchs, the Jews decided that this would involve crimes against priests.

Now as the Jews studied the Law, they used a couple of principles to work out what form of punishment went with crimes calling for death but not naming the method.  They used words studies and "if this, then that" procedures to clear up most of the unknown cases.  But for the ones that they still couldn't come up with a reasonable explanation, they invented one.  Reasoning that there were rough ways to die, and easier ones, they figured that the still-blank cases needed the easiest way of killing they could think of.  So they would put  "a hard napkin inside a softer napkin" and strangle the offender.

I don't know of any examples of the strangulation or burning actually being used, but we can guess that they were used in the wrong way...

Heb 11:36  And others (of the prophets) had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings; yes, more, of bonds and imprisonments. 

Heb 11:37  They were stoned, they were sawed in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented.   

Anyhow, stoning was the main way- the Targum lists 18 crimes approved for stoning- most of them variations to the ones listed in the Bible.  Those were:

-Dedicating children to Molech, aka sacrificing them to the fire

-being a wizard, soothsayer, or medium

-blasphemy

-breaking the Sabbath

-Being a rebellious and sinful adult child

-adultery/rape

- defying a direct order from God

- serving other gods or enticing others to

To those the Jewish list added incest and bestiality.  Now there is a common theme to these, which I'll explain in this next section.

And that would be, who actually got stoned?  Well, here you have two columns- those that got stoned for God's reasons, and those who got stoned for human reasons.  To the best of my research, I found three that were stoned for the reasons prescribed.

-Achan, who disobeyed the command of God to not take loot from Jericho- he hid away some items, which caused God to remove His favor and got Israel defeated the first time they tried to take the city of Ai.

-The second case comes from Numbers 15:13.  One guy decided purposefully to break the Sabbath and gather sticks.  See, there is blasphemy of the mouth and blasphemy of action.  God shouldn't have to say, "I JUST TOLD YOU..." to us. 

- The final case came from Leviticus 24:

Lev 24:10  Now an Israelite woman's son, whose father was an Egyptian, went out among the people of Israel. And the Israelite woman's son and a man of Israel fought in the camp, 

Lev 24:11  and the Israelite woman's son blasphemed the Name, and cursed. Then they brought him to Moses. His mother's name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan. 

Interesting here is everyone is named but the offender.  More so, mom's name means "peaceable"; Grampa's name can be boiled down to "mouthy".  Guess which one the blasphemer took after?  Also, there is a right and wrong way to do things: the Jews of the Targum used human logic to deduce which punishment God desired.  Not so Moses:

Lev 24:12  And they put him in custody, till the will of the LORD should be clear to them. 

But because this was a case they had to come to God about, God laid down some rules about these punishments, that would have helped the Jews immensely had they been able to figure them out.

First, anything against God Himself- idolatry, blasphemy, disobedience, merited stoning.  Basically the first six Commandments were stoning-required, thus the rebellious child for not obeying or honoring his parents was considered the same as having blasphemed God.

Second, with mitigating circumstances, premeditated murder.  Human life was a stoning offense.

Third, if it was something that could be restored- an animal, a possession, an injury that did not cause death.  If it was something that could not be restored- like a woman's honor in the case of rape- then stoning was required.

Finally, how about cases that did NOT merit stoning?  That would include Adoram, who had been the financial guru for Solomon, when Rehoboam sent him out to collect his new, higher taxes.  Zechariah, the priest and son of the priest Jehoiada, whom Joash ordered killed when he spoke up about Joash's evil change after Jehoiada died; and Naboth, who was killed by Ahab when he wouldn't sell his vineyard to him.  Add from the New Testament Stephan, who witnessed to the Sanhedrin, calling them stubborn and stiff-necked; and Paul, who some say died and was brought back at Lystra in Acts 14.  So what do we have for reasons here?

Politics.  Greed.  Pride. Hate.

Just one last topper, and sorry for running long:  The greatest blasphemer of all- Goliath of Gath, who daily blasphemed against the Living God and His army, until an untried youth came and took him down, by God's power, with JUST ONE STONE.

Martin World News

I am going to try to lighten up the mood with a Martin World news post.  Wish me luck!

How about we start with a FoxNews "who's dumber"?

Contestant one:

ANY item that can put Kid Rock and Trump as the banner headline...

Contestant two:

Toddler kicked out of nursery school for being transphobic: 'This is totalitarian insanity'

The child was suspended from a state school in the 2022-23 academic year for 'abuse against sexual orientation and gender identity'

You know, I can only take so much before saying: This is stupidity, and if the trans community wants to be taken with a shred of seriousness, they need to stop crap like this.

BBC World

This next might be the most counter-intuitive headline I've ever seen.  I mean, I know what they were trying for, but...

Germany decides to leave history in the past and prepare for war

That past includes six major wars within 80 years- kinda sounds more like they're bringing up the past...

Moscow Times

In this same vein, but probably a bit poorer taste on my part... first, see this definition:

grap·ple

/ˈɡrap(ə)l/

verb

1.

engage in a close fight or struggle without weapons; wrestle.

"passersby grappled with the man after the knife attack"

Now, the headline:

After Losing Limbs to War, Russian Amputee Veterans Grapple With Officials’ Empty Promises

But, how do you grapple, with no... uh-oh...

Okay, okay... I'm sorry, just put the torches out...

Japan Times

Well, as long as the ice under me is already cracking...

An incident between former TV personality Masahiro Nakai and a woman was “sexual violence that took place as an extension of duties at Fuji Television Network Inc.,” a committee of outside lawyers concluded Monday.

"An extension of duties"?? Can I please see that job description?

News.com.AU (Australia)

When is a compliment not a compliment?  When someone uber-sensitive thinks it's "sexual harassment":

The independent candidate for the battleground seat of Bradfield has been banned from a local hairdresser for joking that getting her hair washed was better than sex.

Apparently the teenage hairdresser working on Nicolette Boele thought what most people would consider the highest of compliments was a come-on.

Oh, well.  I could do that good of a job on her hair, there's bound to be a less whacked sensitive salon somewhere.

Finally, The Toronto Star

I'm gonna give you all a link to the story if you want the full details, but here's the dime-store version:

Family of four, Mom, Dad, 3-year old boy, 20 month old girl.  Pay a premium to sit all together on a flight from Tampa to Toronto.  Get to the gate, told the 20-month old's ticket got 'disappeared' when the airline (Air Canada) had to switch planes in Tampa and fouled up the seating plan.  Pointing out that a baby can't be reasonably expected to stay behind, they generated little Molly a new ticket- 6 rows behind the folks, by herself.  Ticket desk, tells them, "OK. You’re gonna have to deal with it on the plane.”

So they board the plane and explain the sitch to the flight attendants- who tell them, “You’re going to have to ask people to move, we can’t legally have to do it.”  This, as it turns, is a bald-faced lie, and against Canadian law.  So Dad manages to talk the guy who was supposed to sit next to Molly to move, and he agrees- but when they get there, some other idiot was sitting in the seat by mistake, and had to be shooed out.

After months of wrangling, and finally getting the Star involved, Air Canada fessed up:

“She said they’re in the process of upgrading software (that reassigns seats) but someone is supposed to check the computer’s work and didn’t,”(The Dad) told me. “She acknowledged that multiple people dropped the ball and that someone should have called me directly when this first happened.”

To get back in the family's good graces, AC's 'fix' was to give a refund of sorts:

The airline offered each member of the McLachlan family $400 for the flight delay and refunded the return leg of Molly’s ticket, a cost of $780. Yes, I double checked that figure. That’s how much Air Canada charged to fly a child one way from Tampa to Toronto in economy.

Needless to say, the CTA is investigating AC's 'policies', their steps hotly dogged by the Air Passenger Rights group, who are rightly fuming at AC staff at the desk and on the plane. APR president Gabor Lukacs had this to say:

“There was no legal basis for the flight attendants to say it’s not their responsibility,” Lukacs said. “This is really, really troubling. There should be significant and swift consequences. This is happening because the regulator isn’t doing its job properly.”

M10 Friday special

 

So this week has been another one of those tests in life, and I didn't even get an M10 done until late last night.  So late and no bits, but here's my top ten this week:

10- We start off what will prove to be an Austin Snell sandwich with a song that came out prior to Heavy Metal, called, Pray All The Way Home...

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9- The Oldest song on the M10 shuffle, Maggie Rogers and So Sick Of Dreaming.

8- The War and Treaty move up one with Love Like Whiskey.

7- Three songs hold in place this week, the first is Amira Elfeky and Death Of Me.

6- The second hold-er is Shannon and the Clams and I'm A Fool.

5- Matt Berry's run at the top has claimed another "couldn't get past" victim.  This time it's the Vapors, dropping to #5 with Hit The Ground Running.

4- The final hold-in-place belongs to Geowulf and Can't Read Your Mind.

3- Zooming from 8 to 3, Great Van Fleet with Black Smoke Rising.

2- Dropping from that top spot, after 4 weeks there, Matt Berry and Silver Rings.

And to complete the Austin Snell Sandwich, he he is after moving from 3 to 1 with Heavy Metal...

Hopefully I'll clear a little more time between mini disasters next week!

Wednesday Bible Study: Stones, living and dead (Part 2)

 

Living stones, and dead stones.

1Pe 2:4  As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 

1Pe 2:5  you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 

You are a living stone, Peter tells us- under the caveat he mentioned just before this, 1Pe 2:3  if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.  But what does that mean?  

The first of Christ's living stones WAS Peter, and it came with confession:

Mat 16:15  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 

Mat 16:16  Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 

Mat 16:18  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

You become alive by confessing Christ as God.  What then, is the result of this?  

1Pe 2:9  But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 

1Pe 2:10  Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 

-You become a UNITY with all other believers- not black or white, slave or free, but one.

-You belong to GOD, separated unto Him.

-You have received mercy; the judgment that is yours, Christ takes on Himself.

-And you have a new PURPOSE; worship and praise of the God who gifted you with the faith to confess Him.

Here's the thing we don't get, and I will likely go more into depth on this later on-  Everywhere a holy stone is mentioned, it is or is to be "uncut by human hands".  God makes it, He calls you, He gives you faith, He shares His grace and mercy.

But there is a difference between being a living stone and a dead one.

Mat 3:7  But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 

Mat 3:8  Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. 

Mat 3:9  And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 

This sentence is heavy with meaning.  John was baptizing in the same place that the Children of Israel first crossed into the promised land.  And there were stones there:

Jos 4:9  And Joshua set up twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day. 

Jos 4:10  For the priests bearing the ark stood in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the LORD commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people passed over in haste. 

Hear me out:  Before this, he had elders from each tribe take a stone FROM the miraculously dried bed of the Jordan and set them up un the other side as a memorial; these they could see, while once the river was returned, these others they would not.  They would look on the ones they could see, and see themselves, each tribe, memorialized, and miss the point beneath the waves, that the miracle was God's provision, not their efforts.  It was the stones beneath the living water of the Jordan (the Jews called running water 'living'), submerged in the Spirit of God, that would be the Children of Abraham- not those who pointed to their own names on the dead rocks they could see.

The point was and is that they, and we, start out with that heart of stone, affected only by what we see.  And it takes plumbing the depths to realize that only God can give that stone heart flesh.  When we start out, we are driven by our idols: Money, fame, sex, whatever- and we never see the effect that has on us:

Psa 115:4  Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. 

Psa 115:5  They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. 

Psa 115:6  They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. 

Psa 115:7  They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. 

Psa 115:8  Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them. 

And we will go on not seeing, not hearing, not feeling- unless something marvelous happens:

Eze 36:25  I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 

Eze 36:26  And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 

Eze 36:27  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. 

See how it all ties together?  The living stones, submerged in the living water of the Holy Spirit, given a heart of flesh to seek Christ.  The dead stones, content to be shaped by their idols , content to not hear, not see, not feel, not really.

M10 "Midnight special"

 

I have been swamped doing stuff on typing night, so -while not exactly midnight- I'm gonna just do the facts ma'am, again this week.

Shilpa Ray drops to 10, falling 3 with Portrait of A Cat Lady.

"Just great.  Do a song about gravity winning, and you droop everywhere!"

Holding at 9, The War And Treaty and Love Like Whiskey...

"Somebody need ta tell me how ya move up this durn chart!"

And while you're at it, tell Greta Van Fleet, because Black Smoke Rising holds at 8...

"Hey, we're just happy to get in here!"

The only debut this week is my Goth girl, Amira Elfeky, coming in at 7 with Death Of Me...

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Shannon and the Clams up 4 to 6 with I'm A Fool... you suppose she's the one Leslie Gore was singing about?

"Yeah, you wanna step over here and say that?"

Maggie Rogers becomes the second song unable to push Matt Berry out of the way, dropping from 2 to 5 with So Sick Of Dreaming...

"Real funny, dude..."

Geowulf moves up 2 to #4 with Can't Read Your Mind...  

"Sure, snappy comment for everyone but me..."

Austin Snell continues to hammer his way up the chart, 2 more to #3 with Heavy Metal...

"It's one hеll of a machine, 

The way it covers some ground..."

They hit the ground running, and haven't stopped yet- the Vapors up to #2 with Hit The Ground Running...

"You think that bloke up ahead is getting tired yet?"

Which means for a 4th straight week, the #1 is Silver Rings... by Matt Berry!

"And stay tuned for my upcoming voice roll in the new The Cat In The Hat animated, coming next year!"

Pictures

 Okay, let's see what's on the ol' camera reel this week...  

We start on last Wednesday... I was on that lack of work vacation...

Bright morning... maybe TOO bright

"Nah, I'm good!"

I thought he was gonna make a good shot sitting there... but taking off is good.

Thursday was next... And we saw a few interesting things...

Like a carport that had been police-taped in was now demolished

Doggies ahead

...a single headphone...

...a pair of underwear...

And just as we were musing about how few people were on the trail on such a nice day, we were passed by two cyclists and 5 joggers

Next up, Friday...

Another bright morning, but my back was scuffling...

The elusive gray squirrel...

"What am I, chopped liver?  I even posed!"

River back to way down... momentarily

My friends at BeerAdvocate like beers with doggies.  Misty posing with my weekend's libations

One oddity for Saturday...

I tried turning that top light on when We built up the new computer set up back in December and got bupkiss.  Today, It just came on of its own.  3 months later.

And back to this last Monday...

Mow down the cattails, they'll sing from the trees...

Off to the Duck Pond!

Best part of the trip: Peace and quiet.

Misty THOUGHT she wanted to take a dip here, but I convinced her the wind-driven waves were a bit much.

Turtles got fooled by our "Pre-Spring spring"

I told you, you wouldn't like the waves!

Not surprisingly, Cricket was on

And not only was the river suddenly back to full, south canal was as full as I've seen it.

Wednesday Bible Study: Stones part I

 

I wanted to go with something a bit lighter after the house we built the last couple of months around Abraham...

...but on my own, I'm no good.  I prayed to God for inspirations, and He reminded me of my life verse:

1Sa 7:12  Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen and called its name Ebenezer; for he said, “Till now the LORD has helped us.” 

For me, this reminds me that every day, every moment, is a stone, a monument for what God has done for me.  And in my prayer, my spirit and brain said in unison, "Stones..." I had my topic.  And as I have studied, I found the rich tapestry (and AM finding) woven around the word 'stone'.  The plan I see- assuming I let the Lord drive and don't go off-roading- is an arch reaching to a summit at the cornerstone- Christ the Lord.  For me, that means building up the 2 sides to reach that top- an Old Testament side and a New Testament side.  And I found 2 characters who basically sum up the foundations of each side.  My question to you is- have you ever stopped to consider the commonalities of Moses and Peter?

First, the stones.  Moses spent 40 days and nights on the mountain, and God carved the Ten Commandments and the Law onto stone tablets...

Exo 34:1  The LORD said to Moses, “Cut for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. 

Broke?  Yes, because no more had God gave Moses the first set, than the people revolted and had Aaron make the golden calf, and Moses broke the Commandments and made the Israelites drink the calf (Exo. 32:19-20).  Still, God carved the second tablets, and they were the Law that founded the religion of the Hebrews.

How does Peter fit in here?  Remember this scene...

Mat 16:15  He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 

Mat 16:16  Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 

Mat 16:17  And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 

Mat 16:18  And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 

Mat 16:19  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” 

Now, the word "Peter" means, a PIECE of rock, whereas "this rock" is 'a MASS of rock; Christ is not going to build the Church around Peter (as the Catholics suggest), but he is going to be the first piece from that rock of revelation in building that church.  Just like with the Tablets, it is not the stone that is key, but God who reveals His Law and His grace to us.

"But, you said, Moses no more received the tablets from God, then he broke them." Yes, and what happened to Peter right after HIS revelation?

Mat 16:21  From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 

Mat 16:22  And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” 

Mat 16:23  But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” 

Peter immediately broke his piece of the rock!  And both were broken because of the inability of man to grasp the plan of God.

There are so many other parallels.  Moses brought the Israelites the dietary Laws that God gave him.  Peter brought the new Laws on this subject:

Act 10:9  The next day, as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the housetop about the sixth hour to pray. 

Act 10:10  And he became hungry and wanted something to eat, but while they were preparing it, he fell into a trance 

Act 10:11  and saw the heavens opened and something like a great sheet descending, being let down by its four corners upon the earth. 

Act 10:12  In it were all kinds of animals and reptiles and birds of the air. 

Act 10:13  And there came a voice to him: “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” 

Act 10:14  But Peter said, “By no means, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” 

Act 10:15  And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 

Act 10:16  This happened three times, and the thing was taken up at once to heaven. 

But the one that struck me most, you might think is a bit obscure, but hang with me.  As the Israelites moved towards the Promised Land, they had to battle the Amalekites.  And a curious thing happened.  While Joshua and the army fought, Moses, with Aaron and Hur, watched from a nearby mountaintop.  Moses lifted the staff which with he divided the Red Sea, and Joshua prevailed.  But when he got tired, and his arm drooped, the battle went against them.  So...

Exo 17:12  But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. 

Exo 17:13  And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. 

As Moses was supported by the stone (symbolic of God, his Rock), and helped by his faithful, the battle went well- so well in fact, that the name of Amalek was obliterated from the earth, as God said it would be.  Note that they could have took turns holding the staff, but they didn't.  The power wasn't in them, or in the staff itself, but in the faith of Moses.  As long as he stretched his hands to God, they were fine.

So where did Peter stretch HIS hands?  Observe:

Joh 21:17  He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 

Joh 21:18  Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 

As indeed he did, some 40-odd years later when Nero had him crucified,  And indeed, this leads to one last thing that the bases of our arch of faith have in common.  Consider Moses's end:

Deu 34:5  So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, 

Deu 34:6  and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. 

Is this important? Consider:

Jud 1:9  But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” 

Why would they dispute?  Because, if the people knew where Moses was buried, they would have made a shrine and worshipped Moses, just like they did the bronze serpent.  Don't believe me?  Try this.  Because God- who in His mercy let Peter stand as a martyr- DIDN'T hide the burial of Peter, we have this:

Along with relics of supposed other saints- some of them in multiple places, and one at least in every Catholic Church.

And I can't believe I almost forgot the biggest thing I share in common with both of them- shooting off the mouth at the wrong time.  For both of them, more than I so far, it cost them dearly:

Num 20:10  Then Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock, and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels: shall we bring water for you out of this rock?” 

Num 20:11  And Moses lifted up his hand and struck the rock with his staff twice, and water came out abundantly, and the congregation drank, and their livestock. 

Num 20:12  And the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe in me, to uphold me as holy in the eyes of the people of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land that I have given them.” 

Moses lost the Promised Land; Peter lost himself:

Luk 22:59  And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” 

Luk 22:60  But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. 

Luk 22:61  And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” 

Luk 22:62  And he went out and wept bitterly. 

Still, this 'name recognition' shows that they deserve the title of God's Founders.  But it also shows how their names can keep you from going far enough (Jews that stop at the Law and don't go forward to Christ), or lead you too far( to praying to Peter, the saints, and Mary like the Catholics).  If you really seek out their stories, they were only strong so far as they were led by the Lord- and so too you and I.