Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Bear » Ferocity of
And Hushai said, “You know your father and his men, that they are brave men, and they are enraged and fierce, like a bear deprived of her cubs in the field. Your father is a [shrewd] man of war, and will not spend the night with the people [knowing that you seek his life].
Let a man meet a [ferocious] bear robbed of her cubs
Rather than the [angry, narcissistic] fool in his folly.
Like a roaring lion and a charging bear
Is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
And the cow and the bear will graze [together],
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
We all groan and growl like bears,
And coo sadly like doves;
We hope for justice, but there is none,
For salvation, but it is far from us.
And I said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the prostitute nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you [until you have proved your faithfulness].”
Bears » Illustrative of » God in his judgments
I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open their chests;
There I will also devour them like a lioness,
As a wild beast would tear them.
Bears » Described as » Cunning
Judgments » Should lead to » Humiliation
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and [with great sorrow] they put dust on their heads.
Clothe yourselves with sackcloth
And lament (cry out in grief), O priests;
Wail, O ministers of the altar!
Come, spend the night in sackcloth [and pray without ceasing],
O ministers of my God,
For the grain offering and the drink offering
Are withheld from the house of your God.
Then the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.”
I am [Jeremiah] the man who has seen affliction under the rod of His wrath. He has led me and brought me into darkness and not light. Surely He has turned away from me; His hand is against me all the day. read more.
My flesh and my skin has He worn out and made old; He has shattered my bones. He has built up [siege mounds] against me and surrounded me with bitterness, tribulation, and anguish. He has caused me to dwell in dark places like those long dead. He walled me in so that I cannot get out; He has weighted down my chain. Even when I cry and shout for help, He shuts out my prayer. He has enclosed my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked. He is to me like a bear lying in wait, and like a lion [hiding] in secret places. He has turned me off my ways and pulled me in pieces; He has made me desolate. He has bent His bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He has caused the arrows of His quiver to enter into my heart [the seat of my affections and desires]. I have become a derision to all my people, and [the subject of] their singsong all the day. He has filled me with bitterness; He has made me drink to excess and until drunken with wormwood [bitterness]. He has also broken my teeth with gravel (stones); He has covered me with ashes. And You have bereaved my soul and cast it off far from peace; I have forgotten what good and happiness are. And I say, Perished is my strength and my expectation from the Lord. [O Lord] remember [earnestly] my affliction and my misery, my wandering and my outcast state, the wormwood and the gall. My soul has them continually in remembrance and is bowed down within me.
My flesh and my skin has He worn out and made old; He has shattered my bones. He has built up [siege mounds] against me and surrounded me with bitterness, tribulation, and anguish. He has caused me to dwell in dark places like those long dead. He walled me in so that I cannot get out; He has weighted down my chain. Even when I cry and shout for help, He shuts out my prayer. He has enclosed my ways with hewn stone; He has made my paths crooked. He is to me like a bear lying in wait, and like a lion [hiding] in secret places. He has turned me off my ways and pulled me in pieces; He has made me desolate. He has bent His bow and set me as a mark for the arrow. He has caused the arrows of His quiver to enter into my heart [the seat of my affections and desires]. I have become a derision to all my people, and [the subject of] their singsong all the day. He has filled me with bitterness; He has made me drink to excess and until drunken with wormwood [bitterness]. He has also broken my teeth with gravel (stones); He has covered me with ashes. And You have bereaved my soul and cast it off far from peace; I have forgotten what good and happiness are. And I say, Perished is my strength and my expectation from the Lord. [O Lord] remember [earnestly] my affliction and my misery, my wandering and my outcast state, the wormwood and the gall. My soul has them continually in remembrance and is bowed down within me.
So the people of Nineveh believed in God and proclaimed a fast and put on sackcloth [in penitent mourning], from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came to the king of Nineveh [of all that had happened to Jonah, and his terrifying message from God], and he arose from his throne and he laid his robe aside, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
Lions » Instincts of, in taking prey
He is like a lion eager to tear [his prey],
And like a young lion lurking in hiding places.
The lion [of Assyria] tore enough for his cubs (Assyrian citizens),
Killed [enough prey] for his lionesses,
And filled his lairs with prey
And his dens with torn flesh.
He lurks in a hiding place like a lion in his lair;
He lies in wait to catch the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his net.
Does a lion roar in the forest when he has no prey?
Does a young lion growl from his den if he has not captured something?
Lions » Illustrative » Of God in executing judgments
I will encounter them like a bear robbed of her cubs,
And I will tear open their chests;
There I will also devour them like a lioness,
As a wild beast would tear them.
For I will be like a lion to Ephraim
And like a young lion to the house of Judah.
I, even I, will tear to pieces and go on [tearing];
I will carry off [the prey] and there will be no one to rescue them.
“I lay down until morning.
Like a lion, so He breaks all my bones;
From day until night You bring me to an end.