Sewn Pillows to Armholes

This is what Matthew Henry's commentary says (Thanks Dusti for pointing it out!)

As God has promised that when he pours out his Spirit upon his people both their sons and their daughters shall prophesy, so the devil, when he acts as a spirit of lies and falsehood, is so in the mouth not only of false prophets, but of false prophetesses too, and those are the deceivers whom the prophet is here directed to prophesy against; for they are not such despicable enemies to God’s truths as deserve not to be taken notice of, nor yet will either the weakness of their sex excuse their sin or the tenderness and respect that are owing to it exempt them from the reproaches and threatenings of the word of God. No: Son of man, set they face against the daughters of thy people, v. 17. God takes no pleasure in owning them for his people. They are thy people, as Ex. 32:7. The women pretend to a spirit of prophecy, and are in the same song with the men, as Ahab’s prophets were: Go on, and prosper. They prophesy out of their own heart too; they say what comes uppermost and what they know nothing of. Therefore prophesy against them from God’s own mouth. The prophet must set his face against them, and try if they can look him in the face and stand to what they say. Note, When sinners grow very impudent it is time for reprovers to be very bold. Now observe,

I. How the sin of these false prophetesses is described, and what are the particulars of it. 1. They told deliberate lies to those who consulted them, and came to them to be advised, and to be told their fortune: "You do mischief by your lying to my people that hear your lies (v. 19); they come to be told the truth, but you tell them lies; and, because you humour them in their sins, they are willing to hear you.’’ Note, It is ill with those people who can better hear pleasing lies than unpleasing truths; and it is a temptation to those who lie in wait to deceive to tell lies when they find people willing to hear them and to excuse themselves with this, Si populus vult decipi, decipiatur—If the people will be deceived, let them. 2. They profaned the name of God by pretending to have received those lies from him (v. 19): "You pollute my name among my people, and make use of that for the patronising of your lies and the gaining of credit to them.’’ Note, Those greatly pollute God’s holy name that make use of it to give countenance to falsehood and wickedness. Yet this they did for handfuls of barley and pieces of bread. They did it for gain; they cared not what dishonour they did to God’s name by their lying, so they could but make a hand of it for themselves. There is nothing so sacred which men of mercenary spirits, in whom the love of this world reigns, will not profane and prostitute, if they can but get money by the bargain. But they did it for poor gain; if they could get no more for it, rather than break they would sell you a false prophecy that should please you to a nicety for the beggar’s dole, a piece of bread or a handful of barley; and yet that was more than it was worth. Had they asked it as an alms, for God’s sake, surely they might have had it, and God would have been honoured; but, taking it as a fee for a false prophecy, God’s name if polluted, and the smallness of the reward heightens the offence. For a piece of bread that man will transgress, Prov. 28:21. Had their poverty been their temptation to steal, and so to take the name of the Lord in vain, it would not have been nearly so bad as when it tempted them to prophesy lies in his name and so to profane it. 3. They kept people in awe, and terrified them with their pretensions: "You hunt the souls of my people (v. 18), hunt them to make them flee (v. 20), hunt them into gardens (so the margin reads it); you use all the arts you have to court or compel them into those places where you deliver your pretended predictions, or you have got such an influence upon them that you make them do just as you would have them to do, and tyrannise over them.’’ It was indeed the people’s fault that they did regard them, but it was their fault by lies and falsehoods to command that regard; they pretended to save the souls alive that came to them, v. 18. If they would but be hearers of them, and contributors to them, they might be sure of salvation; thus they beguiled unstable souls that had a concern about salvation as their end but did not rightly understand the way, and therefore hearkened to those who were most confident in promising it to them. "But will you pretend to save souls, or secure salvation to your party?’’ Those are justly suspected that make such pretensions. 4. They discouraged those that were honest and good, and encouraged those that were wicked and profane: You slay the souls that should not die, and save those alive that should not live, v. 19. This is explained (v. 22): You have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; because they would not, they durst not, countenance your pretensions, you thundered out the judgments of God against them, to their great grief and trouble; you put them under invidious characters, to make them either despicable or odious to the people, and pretended to do it in God’s name, which made them go many a time with a sad heart; whereas it was the will of God that they should be comforted, and by having respect put upon them should have encouragement given them. But on the other side, and which is still worse, you have strengthened the hands of the wicked and emboldened them to go on in their wicked ways and not to return from them, which was the thing the true prophets with earnestness called them to. "You have promised sinners life in their sinful ways, have told them that they shall have peace though they go on, by which their hands have been strengthened and their hearts hardened.’’ Some think this refers to the severe censures they passed upon those who had already gone into captivity (who were humbled under their affliction, by which their hearts were made sad), and the commendations they gave to those who rebelled against the king of Babylon, who were hardened in their impieties, by which their hands were strengthened; or by their polluting the name of God they saddened the hearts of good people who have a value and veneration for the word of God, and confirmed atheists and infidels in their contempt of divine revelation and furnished them with arguments against it. Note, Those have a great deal to answer for who grieve the spirits, and weaken the hands, of good people, and who gratify the lusts of sinners, and animate them in their opposition to God and religion. Nor can any thing strengthen the hands of sinners more than to tell them that they may be saved in their sins without repentance, or that there may be repentance though they do not return from their wicked ways. 5. They mimicked the true prophets, by giving signs for the illustrating of their false predictions (as Hananiah did, Jer. 28:10), and they were signs agreeable to their sex; they sewed little pillows to the people’s arm-holes, to signify that they might be easy and repose themselves, and needed not be disquieted with the apprehensions of trouble approaching. And they made kerchiefs upon the head of every stature, of persons of every age, young and old, distinguishable by their stature, v. 18. These kerchiefs were badges of liberty or triumph, intimating that they should not only be delivered from the Chaldeans, but be victorious over them. Some think these were some superstitious rites which they used with those to whom they delivered their divinations, preparing them for the reception of them by putting enchanted pillows under their arms and handkerchiefs on their heads, to raise their fancies and their expectations of something great. Or perhaps the expressions are figurative: they did all they could to make people secure, which is signified by laying them easy, and to make people proud, which is signified by dressing them fine with handkerchiefs, perhaps laid or embroidered on their heads.

II. How the wrath of God against them is expressed. Here is a woe to them (v. 18), and God declares himself against the methods they took to delude and deceive, v. 20. But what course will God take with them? 1. They shall be confounded in their attempts, and shall proceed no further; for (v. 23) you shall see no more vanity nor divine revelations; not that they shall themselves lay down their pretensions in a way of repentance, but when the event gives them the lie they shall be silent for shame; or their fancies and imaginations shall not be disposed to receive impressions which assist them in their divinations as they have been; or they themselves shall be cut off. 2. God’s people shall be delivered out of their hands. When they see themselves deluded by them into a false peace and a fool’s paradise, and that though they would not leave their sin their sin has left them, and they see no more vanity nor divine divinations, they shall turn their back upon them, shall slight their predictions. The righteous shall be no more saddened by them, no, nor the wicked strengthened: The pillows shall be torn from their arms, and the kerchiefs from their heads; the fallacies shall be discovered, their frauds detected, and the people of God shall no more be in their hand, to be hunted as they had been. Note, It is a great mercy to be delivered from a servile regard to, and fear of, those who, under colour of a divine authority, impose upon and tyrannise over the consciences of men, and say to their souls, Bow down, that we may go over. But it is a sore grief to those who delight in such usurpations to have their power broken and the prey delivered; such was the reformation to the church of Rome. And, when God does this, he makes it to appear that he is the Lord, that it is his prerogative to give law to souls.

Ezekiel 13:17 - 23 Question

V. 17 "Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them.

v.18 "And say, Thus saith the Lord God; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all the armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?"

V. 19 "And will ye pollute me among my peopole for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?"

V. 20 "Wherefore thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly."

V. 21 "Your kerchiefs also will I tear and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the Lord."

V. 22 "Because with lies ye have made the heart of the righteous sad, whom I have not made sad; and strengthened the hands of the wicked, that he should not return from his wicked way, by promising him life:"

V. 23 "Therefore ye shall see no more vanity, nor divine divinations: for I will deliver my people out of your hand: andye shall know that I am the Lord."

Okay, I get the gist of this passage. It is a warning to false prophetesses. What I don't get at all is this sewing pillows to armholes. I'm sure I'm not picturing it right, and need to figure out what that custom is. Also the hunting souls to make them fly.. it sounds something like witchcraft to me.

So, I am putting this question out there... What is with the pillows sewn to armholes, and what does it have to do with the souls being hunted and being made to fly? I'm sure it had nothing to do with trying to look like Popeye.

A Fruitful Day!

Yup... more blueberries. Today we picked 41.4 lbs! I promised the kids I'd make blueberrie smoothies tonight with supper. The rest will go in the freezer.

Another little blessing was that the proprietor was impressed by our childrens' picking and offered them to help pick for wages! Dh and I will talk/pray it over. If we do, it will just be the older three. Whether or not we allow them, it was a nice compliment.

Mommy Monday

Do you ever have those days when all you do is be "mommy". I mean the fire putter outter, referee, crack the whip, discipline, all day type of mommy. Not the fun parts of being mommy.

That is what today was like for the most part here. It started first thing, when I made the call for breakfast. The meal was ready and on the table, and where was everyone? I had to call 3 or four times! You'd think they would be hungry. This has been going on a lot lately. They complain of being hungry, then when a meal is ready I have to practically drag them to the table, even though they enjoy the foods prepared. What is up with that?

After breakfast I set everyone to chores... some making muffins, some mixing up bread, some tidying up bedrooms, and one to wash dishes. I did laundry, worked on this week's menu, and took care of Jerusha.

First problem.. no hot water. Okay.. I clamored down the cellar steps and hit the reset on the heater. Lately it has been tripping off a lot. Then after I hung up a load of laundry I went down to the basement to work on some clothes sorting. I wasn't down there two minutes when I heard chaos up where I left order, and more importantly, ORDERS. Up the steps to straighten them all out. Check the laundry. Noticed the washer isn't washing as fast as it normally does. Probably the screen in back for the water hose needs cleaning out. Oh well... I'll ask Dale to do that. He has the big muscles to move the washer. For now, I decided to just put up with a sluggish filling each time.

Back down the stairs, and THUMP BUMP BANG etc from over my head. Back up the stairs. Discipline meted out, instructions given... this was repeated until I gave up on working in the basement. Which means, I left a huge mess from the sorting process.

Meanwhile, I have to say, the girls got their chores done, their room picked up, and played with Jerusha. The dishwasher was STILL washing dishes, and the muffin maker found out we didn't have near enough muffin cups so I told him to make loaves of sweet bread with the remainder batter. He did, and it got baking, and smelled good. OH yeah, I discovered that when the whole wheat bread was ready to be made into loaves, the pans still had hot banana bread in them. Ugh! Several loads of laundry later and several "encouragements" to the slackers, I realized it is lunchtime and I have accomplished NOTHING yet.

Nothing but being a Mommy.

Yes, sometimes our job isn't very glamorous, is it? Sometimes just being engaged in hot and heavy child training can wear us out, can't it?

This afternoon was a little better. The girls showed themselves faithful. I gave them each a portion in the garden to weed. They were done, and able to play in the water. The boys... well, they pouted, dillydallied, found every reason to stop for "just a moment", i.e. bathroom breaks, drink of water, oh I need a garden rake, etc. They never did get to play in the water. They did finally finish up though, a little while before Dale got home and were able to help him unload from shopping. As if the dragging of the feet weren't enough, there was bickering, sniping, tattletaling, you name it. I eyeballed the roll of duct tape with malevolent intentions.

Instead of doing something that wouldn't exactly warm the heart of Mother Goose, I stayed inside with the littles and sewed. I got the top to a crib quilt done, and decided to start another one with the fabric I had leftover. Once I get them quilted I'll post pics.

Anyway, this was a glimpse of real life in the Beehive today! Right now all the buzzing is ceased, and it is quiet and peaceful. Thank the Lord!

Excellent new crock pot recipe!

This dish was called "Crockpot King Ranch Chicken". It was delicious! It is very decidedly Tex-mex style, but not too much. I got the recipe from www.anniesrecipes.com.

Here is what it looked like in the crock pot:



Here it is dished up with some green beans picked fresh from our garden:


The recipe is simple.

3-4C. cooked, diced chicken
1 pkg. (10 - 12) flour tortillas
1 med. onion, chopped
2 (10 oz) cream of chicken soup
1 can (1 C.) tomatoes & chilies
4 TBSP. quick acting tapioca
4 C. grated cheddar cheese

Instructions:
In a large bowl mix chicken, soup, tomatoes, chilies and tapioca. Rip 2-3 tortillas into pieces and line the bottom of a 5 quart crockpot. Add 1/3 of the chicken mixture; top with 1/3 of onion and cheese. Repeat layers or tortillas, chicken mixture, onion and cheese two more times. Cover; cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 3 hours. For a smaller 3 quart crockpot, make half the recipe. This a good take in dish or potluck.

Pregnancy update

Yesterday afternoon I had an appointment with my MW. She ended up coming here for a home visit since she was doing one practically down the road from us! That was fun.

Long story short, everything seems fine, which I'm thankful for. I am about 18 weeks now. I *think* I may have even felt some movement yesterday morning, but it was so brief an vague that I'm really not sure. LOL. You'd think after 7 babies I would be better at this!

She did say that I seemed a little small, (which I could have kissed her for LOL)and asked if I thought I was gaining weight (My scale is broken so we didn't do a weight check). I assured her I was. I can tell by the way my clothes are starting to not fit the way they did. My appetite has been coming back this week, so I am sure by our next visit she'll be able to see a big difference. I usually "pop" out between the 4th and 5th month.

We never got a reading on the baby's heart rate, though we heard it. My dh called it "drive by beatings". The scenario went something like this: MW goo's me up and slaps the Doppler on. Hunts for a few seconds. Then we hear the baby's heartbeat just long enough to recognize it is strong and about as fast as it should be. Before we can get a count the baby kicks (yes, we heard the kicking) against the Doppler and dives. MW goo's me up some more, goes after the baby. We hear the heart rate just long enough to recognize it is strong and and at the rate it should be. Before we can get a count, baby kicks and moves. This went on for about 15 minutes. I heard enough of "drive by beating" and kicking by that time to be reassured, and so was the MW. This sort of hide and seek from baby is NOT unusual for us at all at this stage. My babies like to play, I guess. :)

So, after my appointment with the midwife we went out on our date. We dropped a van load of stuff off at Salvation Army. I can't believe how much we got rid of and it doesn't even look like I made a dent in the basement! Where DID all the junk come from, anyway? I some of it is people just dropping off their junk thinking "Oh the pastor has a big family, he can probably use this stuff." I actually had one of our neighbors once say to us "I'm cleaning out my garage so I can pass a bunch of stuff over to you." The proper etiquette is to say "Thank you" then try to give it away as quickly as possible after we get it. Of course, part of the problem with cleaning and organizing the basement is that to clean up a mess like that you end up making a bigger mess. At first. The next thing I plan on tackling is the extra bedding and clothes. That is going to take a while!

After Salvation Army we went to Friendly's for dinner. We were both starving. Did I mention my appetite was coming back? I got the clam boat basket, and dh got the fishamijig platter. Yes, it is really called that. We split a sundae for dessert. We ordered it with one of their new flavor, Mud Crash Pie. It is coffee ice cream with expresso flavored chip, and chocolate chips. We had three toppings on it, whipped cream and two maraschino cherries. It was very good, and very naughty, and we enjoyed every bite.

After eating we went to Walmarts and got some stuff for VBS, and supplies for starting up school. I wasn't planning on the school stuff, but they were having a big sale and we took full advantage of it. Oh, I am pleased to say, I also started a little bit of Christmas shopping. Not much, but enough so I can say I started. LOL. I hate leaving all until the last minute. And it is easier to pay for things over time than all at once. A good way to avoid debt at Christmas, by the way.

Today, our garden gets priority. I sent my oldest ds out on a recognizance (or however you spell it) mission. The green beans are ready to be picked, so that is the chore today, and then freezing them. I am also washing bedding, and Lord willing, working on that baby quilt for a bit. That will be my reward for getting beans in the freezer!

Girls' Nightgowns

Isn't that a boring title to this post? I am just too tired to come up with anything creative tonight. The last couple days I have been dragging tired. I work in the morning, then lay down for naptime, and read in the afternoon, get supper ready, read and snuggle with dh, then that is it for me. I am able to drink water with chlorophyll in it now, so I should perk up soon.

Here are the twins:



And here is Jerusha posing so prettily:



Tomorrow is a busy day here for us. Possibly a play date in the morning, then in the afternoon a pastor's wife friend of mine is coming over with her children. I will start teaching them piano (3 of them.. whew!) and she is tutoring Esther and then babysitting while I go to my midwife appoint, and dh and I eat out and run some errands. One of our stops is the Salvation Army where we are dropping off quite a load of stuff from starting to clean in the basement this week. Also, we are going to pick up some craft stuff for our VBS which starts August 8th. I am sure I will be exhausted by bedtime!

Meanwhile, my next sewing project is a baby quilt. I ordered my new free motion quilting foot today, so I am hoping to get the top pieced, and the quilt sandwiched and basted so when the foot comes in I can start quilting it on the machine right away. After that I am messing around with a pattern to make a maternity/nursing modest swim suit. I priced a maternity one and it was $85!!!!! I thought, "I can do better than that." I got the material on ebay, and I am adapting an Elizabeth Lee slip pattern of all things. Will post a pic if it comes out satisfactorily. Also on my list is finishing a couple of UFO's. All that on top of more blueberry picking next week, and getting ready for school to start on the 11th, and more cleaning in the basement, and some special guests coming over the next two weekends.

Too bad there is nothing to do around here. ;)