Manners & Customs

God's Winepress of Judgment

The winepress as a figure of divine judgment. Isaiah describes the nations as being put in GOD's winepress where He treads upon them until His garments are sprinkled with their lifeblood (Isaiah 63:3-6). There is a graphic picture of the destruction of the army of Antichrist in the Book of Revelation. The coming Redeemer is described as being "clot...

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Scapegoat and Goat Sacrifices

Use of goats for sacrifices. The Levitical Code often allowed the Hebrews a choice of a sheep or of a goat for the offering. "If his offering be of the flocks, namely, of the sheep, or of the goats, for a burnt sacrifice" (Leviticus 1:10). On the Day of Atonement, it was required that a goat be sacrificed by the high priest, and that another goat s...

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Ploughing

PREPARING THE SOIL FOR THE CROP Ploughing. The ploughing of the ground in Oriental fashion is quite primitive. The plough, which at best is a slight implement, can be carried if necessary two miles to the farmer's place of work. Of course by comparison with modern ploughs, it could be said merely to scratch the surface at the soil. The ploughman h...

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Fire

Fire. Fire is another enemy of the grain farmer. In Israel, the Arabs let the wheat become dead ripe, and therefore as dry as tinder, before they cut it. Thorns usually grow all around the wheat fields and intermingle with the grain, and thus it would be easy for a fire starting with the thorns to spread to the wheat, and it would be difficult to k...

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Transporting the Grain

Transportation of grain to the threshing floor. The usual method of transporting the grain to the threshing floor is as follows: two large bundles of the grain are made secure by a network of rope and then placed a few feet apart. Then a camel is made to kneel in the space between them, and then the bundles are fastened to the animal's packsaddle. ...

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Planting Grapevines

PLANTING OF THE GRAPEVINES The vineyard of Isaiah's song was planted, "with the choicest vine" (Isaiah 5:2). Although the slips are usually planted Closer together, they are sometimes set about twelve feet apart in order to give plenty of space for the branches to run. As a rule the young vine is trimmed back and does not bear grapes until followi...

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Growing and Harvesting Grain

THE NUMEROUS REFERENCES to the growth of grain, which are found in the law of Moses, indicate that it was expected that the Israelites would become an agricultural people after entering the land of Canaan, and that the cultivation of grain would become one of their chief industries. It is a remarkable fact that the methods used by them in growing a...

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Biblical Description of a Vineyard

Care of Vineyards THE DESCRIPTION OF A VINEYARD BY ISAIAH AND BY JESUS IN ISAIAH'S PARABLE of the Vineyard, and in CHRIST's Parable of the Wicked Husbandman, taken together, we get an accurate picture of an Oriental vineyard. Isaiah wrote: "My well beloved had a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: and he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereo...

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Renting Vineyards

THE RENTING OF A VINEYARD Vineyards that are large are often rented out to one or more families. When this is done, the peasant who rents the vineyard agrees to give half or more of the products of the grapes. When harvest-time comes, the owner will send his servant to secure his share of the grapes, raisins, wine, or dibs. This illustrates CHRIST...

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Goats

GOATS Care of goats - leadership ability. There are many goats being cared for by Bible land shepherds. A shepherd looks after them much as he would care for a flock of sheep. Sometimes the goats belong to one flock along with the sheep, and in this case: It is usually a he-goat that is the special leader of the whole (Jeremiah 50:8; Proverbs 30:...

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