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DirgeAid to Bible Understanding
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rejection by Jehovah or contrasting earlier favorable circumstances with a later unhappy situation. (Jer. 7:29; Ezek. 19:1-14) A dirge would be chanted, often by women.—Ezek. 27:32; Jer. 9:20.
Some dirges were of the historical type, being composed after an event, such as the death of a cherished acquaintance. An example of this kind is the dirge David chanted in sorrow over Saul and Jonathan, who had fallen in death upon Mount Gilboa during warfare with the Philistines. (2 Sam. 1:17-27; 1 Sam. 31:8) King David also chanted over Abner after that one’s burial. (2 Sam. 3:31-34) While dirges relating to a person’s death may have been composed partly to afford some consolation to survivors, among faithful servants of God these were not for the purpose of glorifying the deceased.—Eccl. 9:5, 10.
The book of Lamentations is a dirge written by Jeremiah after the destruction of Jerusalem at Babylonian hands in 607 B.C.E. While it expresses grief over that desolation, it also reflects faith and hope in Jehovah; and the fifth chapter opens with an appeal to God to remember his people who had become “mere orphans without a father.”—Lam. 3:22-27; 5:1-3; see LAMENTATIONS, BOOK OF.
Some Biblically recorded dirges are prophetic and graphically portray coming calamity, sometimes as though it had already been accomplished. Prophetic dirges were raised up against Tyre and its king (Ezek. 26:17; 27:1, 2; 28:11-19), as well as against Pharaoh and Egypt. (Ezek. 32:2-16) The raising up of a dirge over Judah and Jerusalem is mentioned in connection with their desolation.—Jer. 9:9-11.
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Discharge, RunningAid to Bible Understanding
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DISCHARGE, RUNNING
A Biblical expression applicable to conditions of the genital organs of men and women. (Lev. 15:2, 19, 25; Num. 5:2, 3; 2 Sam. 3:29) In the case of men, it relates to an unhealthy state, in which there was a flow of matter from the genital organ, or the organ was obstructed by such matter. (Lev. 15:2, 3) No male offspring of Aaron was permitted to eat of the “holy things” while unclean due to a running discharge.—Lev. 22:4.
The expression “running discharge” sometimes applied to a woman’s regular, normal menstrual flow. (Lev. 15:19-24) Yet it was also used to designate a diseased, extended, and thus abnormal, flow of blood. (Lev. 15:25-30) In the latter sense, it applies to the chronic “flow of blood” from which one woman suffered for twelve years before Jesus Christ cured her.—Matt. 9:20-22.
According to the Law, a person having a running discharge was unclean, made articles and persons he or she touched unclean, and so forth. After a diseased discharge ceased, the individual took specified steps for purification.—Lev. chap. 15; see CLEAN, CLEANNESS.
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DiscipleAid to Bible Understanding
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DISCIPLE
[Gr., ma·the·tesʹ, a taught one, a learner].
In the Greek Scriptures we read of disciples of Jesus, of John the Baptist, of the Pharisees and of Moses. (Matt. 9:14; Luke 5:33; John 9:28) Jesus’ first disciples came from among the disciples of John. (John 1:35-42) The twelve chosen as apostles are called disciples at Matthew 10:1 and 11:1. In a wide sense the word “disciple” applied to those believing Jesus’ teaching, at least one of such being a secret disciple. (Luke 6:17; John 19:38) However, in the Gospel accounts it usually applies to the body of intimate followers of Jesus who traveled with him on his preaching tours and who were taught and instructed by him. The principal application of the term is to all those who not only believe but follow closely Christ’s teaching. They must be taught to “observe all the things” Jesus commands.—Matt. 28:19, 20.
Jesus’ purpose in teaching his disciples was to make them like himself, preachers and teachers of the good news of the Kingdom. “A pupil is not above his teacher, but everyone that is perfectly instructed will be like his teacher,” Jesus said. (Luke 6:40) The effectiveness of Christ’s teaching was proved by subsequent history, his disciples continuing in the work he had taught them and making disciples throughout the Roman Empire, in Asia, Europe and Africa, before the close of the first century. This was their principal work, in accord with Jesus Christ’s command at Matthew 28:19, 20.
That Christians to this very day are obligated to make disciples of the people of the nations is made clear by the closing words of Jesus’ command: “And, look! I am with you all the days until the conclusion of the system of things.” They are not making disciples for themselves, as those taught are really disciples of Jesus Christ, for it is the teaching, not of men, but of Christ, that they follow. For this reason the disciples were by divine providence called Christians. (Acts 11:26) Similarly, the prophet Isaiah had disciples but not for himself. Isaiah’s disciples knew Jehovah’s law, and with them the testimony of the law resided.—Isa. 8:16.
Being a disciple of Jesus is not the taking of a course of ease in life. Jesus did not please himself, but followed a path of greatest resistance by the Devil and his agents. (Rom. 15:3) He said that his disciples must love him more than their closest relatives on earth and even more than their own souls. They must love their Christian fellow disciples. They must bear spiritual fruitage. One who wants to be a disciple of Jesus has to take up his torture stake and follow the path that Christ traveled. In doing this, he will have to “say good-by to all his belongings,” but he will receive many more valuable things now, with persecutions, and with everlasting life to come.—Luke 14:26, 27, 33; John 13:35; 15:8; Mark 10:29, 30; see CHRISTIAN.
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Diseases And TreatmentAid to Bible Understanding
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DISEASES AND TREATMENT
The Scriptures frequently refer to illness, an unhealthy condition of the body or the mind, also to spiritual sickness, or the state of being figuratively diseased. While the Bible was not written primarily as a book of instruction on medical or other forms of treatment for various maladies, the information it presents on such matters is scientifically accurate. Significantly, it shows how to overcome spiritual sickness.
Disease is a concomitant of the imperfection resulting in death that was passed on to the human race by the sinner Adam. (Gen. 3:17-19; Rom. 5:12) Yet, while illness is generally the natural consequence of human sin and imperfection, Jehovah directly “touched Pharaoh and his household with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife.” (Gen. 12:17) God was responsible for the “boils with blisters” that broke out on man and beast during the sixth blow he inflicted upon ancient Egypt. (Ex. 9:8-11) He struck presumptuous Miriam with leprosy (Num. 12:9-15), dealt a blow to the illegitimate child of David and Bath-sheba so that it took sick and eventually died (2 Sam. 12:15-18), and “gave a pestilence in Israel” in David’s day. (2 Sam. 24:15) All these acts of God were in upholding his name and law, and for the protection, liberation or fatherly disciplining of his chosen people.
However, by Jehovah’s permission, Satan “struck Job with a malignant boil from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” (Job 2:6, 7) This allowed Job to stand as an example for God’s people in the matter of keeping integrity. Job was later healed by God and his life was extended 140 years for his faithfulness. (Job 42:10, 16) Demons were sometimes responsible for infirmities, as in the case of a demon-possessed blind and dumb man cured by Jesus Christ. (Matt. 12:22) But the Scriptures differentiate between normal maladies and those caused by demon possession.—Matt. 4:24; Mark 1:32-34; Acts 5:16; see DEMON POSSESSION.
Failure to obey God’s Word, as in matters involving sexual morality, can lead to illness and even death. (Prov. 7:21-27) The Israelites were warned that if
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