The book of Hezekiah is one of the most significant books of the Old Testament. This book is often quoted in the press, cited by bloggers, and many people refer to it in daily conversation. One of the most significant passages in the book of Hezekiah is Hezekiah 3:10-16 where the author speaks about the Antichrist and the Beast. Hezekiah 3:16 reveals that the number of the Beast is 666.
Anyone who knows the Bible and reads the paragraph above will know that what is written above is a bunch of nonsense. Hezekiah does not mention the number of the Beast because there is no book of Hezekiah in the Old Testament. But it should be, and I have decided to write it.
I will write the book of Hezekiah in order to save newspaper writers and bloggers the embarrassment of mentioning that something is in the Old Testament when in reality they are referring to a passage in the New Testament. Also, people mention the Bible to justify something that sounds biblical but is not found in the Bible.
Take for example the article “666 the Mark of the Housing Bubble,” posted by Bill Bonner on December 27, 2006 in The Daily Reckoning. Bonner wrote: ‘666’ is the ‘mark of the beast’ in the Old Testament. It prefigures the coming of the Antichrist, if we remember right.
Well, he remembered right, but his citation is wrong. Anyone who knows a little bit about the New Testament will remember that the mark of the beast is found in the book of Revelation 13:18.
These days, the book of Hezekiah is needed more than ever before. I think the book of Hezekiah is also needed to save the embarrassment of people who quote from “The Good Book” when they are trying to teach moral and spiritual values. The first 9 verses of Hezekiah Chapter 3 are Hezekiah’s most famous proverbs:
Hezekiah 3:1: “Money is the root of all evil.”
Hezekiah 3:2: “God helps those who help themselves.”
Hezekiah 3:3: “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.”
Hezekiah 3:4: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.”
Hezekiah 3:5: “Cleanliness is next to godliness.”
Hezekiah 3:6: “A penny saved is a penny earned.”
Hezekiah 3:7: “God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.”
Hezekiah 3:8: “You can be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good.”
Hezekiah 3:9: “It is better to be silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.”
Without the book of Hezekiah, many people will make fools of themselves when they quote the Bible as the authority to confirm what they are saying, when in reality, what they are saying are neither in the Bible nor in the Old Testament as they claim.
There is nothing better than a non-existing book to back-up a non-existing citation.
I have already saved Chapter 2 for Hezekiah’s admonition that “a woman's hair be her covering.”
Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary
Tags: Popular Sayings, Bible, Hezekiah
12 comments:
A brilliant and compassionate idea! ;)
well done.
Dear J.
Thank you for your comment. It was my concern for the problem of biblical illiteracy that moved me to think about a book for non-existing biblical quotes.
Claude Mariottini
Jim,
I appreciate your comment.
Claude Mariottini
When I was a teenager, my sister told me that Hezekiah 3:16 said, "He who sitteth on the fence of life burneth his ass." I spent many hours hunting through my parents Bibles and then searching for a Bible with an Apocrypha before getting wise to the reality that I had been fooled. I don't know what inspired me to google Hezekiah 3:16, but I loved your post. Perhaps, once you have completed the book, there should be a campaign to have Hezekiah canonized?
I am only joking.
Andy
Not all of these are not in the Bible. Many are misquoted and cited incorrectly, but they get the general idea across.
Hezekiah 3:1: “Money is the root of all evil.” seems to be a misquote of 1 Timothy 6:10
Hezekiah 3:4: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” seems like it originated from Proverbs 13:24 or Proverbs 19:18
Hezekiah 3:9: “It is better to be silent and thought a fool than to open your mouth and prove it.” reminds me of Proverbs 17:28
Those are just some that came to mind. I think that most of the other ones are not in the Bible, but I might be wrong. I want to thank you for helping me come to the knowledge that there is no book of Hezekiah. I just saw it referenced and couldn't find it in the Bible. Thanks again -Justin
Justin,
None of these are in the Bible. The purpose of my post was to make fun of people who say that these proverbs are in the Bible. People quote these proverbs as if they were biblical when in reality that are not.
Thank you for visiting my blog.
Claude Mariottini
Hezekiah 3:9 is actually a quote from Abraham Lincoln.
Ramon,
Thank you for this information. I did not know the source of Hezekiah 3:9.
Claude Mariottini
Was directed here when my friends and I were joking about "Hezekiah".
Several of these are from good ol' Ben Franklin - "Early to bed", "A penny saved", "God helps those"... And not to contradict the earlier post, but I had heard that the "fool" quote was from Twain. I'm probably wrong.
I should have heeded the good prophet and not removed all doubt.
Poor Richard's Almanac by Benjamin Franklin is the source of some of these, and would be an excellent source to help continue your effort to fill in the book of Hezekiah.
Dear Friend,
Thank you for your suggestion. Maybe one of these days I will finishing writing the book of Hezekiah.
My blog has moved to WordPress. Visit the new site of my blog, read my post today, then subscribe to my blog and receive all my posts as they are published. My new site is Dr. Mariottini.
Today’s post deals with the moral implications of the death of Bathsheba’s child. Here is the link: Bathsheba’s Child
Claude Mariottini
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