Please see Day 167 OT for meaning of highlighted and italicized nomenclature.
This is the story of a son, guided by an Angel, that goes out on a journey to recover a debt owed to his blind, righteous father. In so doing he finds a wife and the magic portion to cure his father’s blindness. Both the blindness and the miracle cure are a testimony to having faith, perseverance, and trust in God.
This may well be part of the answer of why bad things happen to good people. In this case it brought Glory to God and had a happy ending. So many times in life the ending is not so happy, at least the ending we perceive and see.
In faith and in serving the law as inspired, we all have access to the ultimate miracle of life: eternal life through our faith in Jesus Christ, The Holy Spirit, and God! Al-le-lu-ia!
The story as extracted from Scriptures:
Sara’s father Raguel: The holy angel of the Lord be with you in your journey, and bring you through safe, and that you may find all things well about your parents, and my eyes may see your children before I die.
And the parents taking their daughter kissed her, and let her go, admonishing her to honor her father and mother in law, to love her husband, to take care of the family, to govern the house, and to behave herself irreprehensibly.
And when they adored God, and given him thanks, they sat down together. Then Tobias taking of the gall of the fish, anointed his father’s eyes. And he stayed about half an hour: and a white skin began to come out of his eyes, like the skin of an egg. And Tobias took hold of it, and drew it from his eyes, and immediately he recovered his sight. And they glorified God, both he and his wife and all that knew him. And Tobias said: I bless thee, O Lord God of Israel, because thou hast chastised me, and thou hast saved me; and behold I see Tobias my son.
Peace be to you, fear not. For when I was with you, I was there by the will of God; bless ye him, and sing praises to him. I seemed indeed to eat and to drink with you: but I use an invisible meat and drink, which cannot be seen by men. It is time therefore that I return to him that sent me: but bless ye God, and publish all his wonderful works. And when he had said these things, he was taken from their sight, and they could see him no more.
And it came to pass that after the death of his mother… returned to his father and mother in law… And he found them in health in a good old age: and he took care of them, and he closed their eyes: and all the inheritance of Raguel’s house came to him: and he saw his children’s children to the fifth generation. And after he had lived ninety-nine years in the fear of the Lord, with joy they buried him. And all his kindred, and all his generation continued in good life, and in holy conversation, so that they were acceptable both to God, and to men, and to all that dwelt in the land.
Day 169: Reading The Bible with a TROML Perspective; Faith, Perseverance, & Trust in God Will Set Us Free!
Read and inspired by the Old Testament, The Book of Tobias, Chapters 9-14 (END)
Bible Notes:
This book tells of the elder Tobias, a pious Jew, who was blinded while helping his fellow exiles. Yet he patiently bore his affliction and resultant poverty. The Angel Raphael was sent to help him and his son, the younger Tobias. The book closes with the saintly deaths of both the elder and the younger Tobias.
Tobias Chapter 9: Tobias sends Raphael to Gabelus; Raphael collects the loan from Gabelus; Gabelus blesses Tobias.
Then Tobias called the angel to him, whom he took to be a man, and said to him: Brother Azarias… go to Gabelus… restore to him his note of hand, and receive of him the money, and desire him to come to my wedding. For thou knowest that my father numbereth the days; and if I stay one day more, his soul will be afflicted.
…finding Gabelus, gave him his note of hand, and received of him all the money… and made him come with him to the wedding.
Gabelus blesses Tobias: The God of Israel bless thee, because thou art the son of a very good and just man, and that feareth God, and doth almsdeeds. And may a blessing come upon thy wife and upon your parents. And may you see your children, and your children’s children, unto the third and fourth generation: and may your seed be blessed by the God of Israel, who reigneth for ever and ever. And when all had said, Amen, they went to the feast: but the marriage feast they celebrated also with the fear of the Lord.
Tobias Chapter 10: Absence of Tobias mourned by his parents; Tobias starts home with Sara.
…why did we send thee to go to a strange country, the light of our eyes, the staff of our old age, the comfort of our life, the hope of our posterity… Tobias to wife Anna: Hold thy peace, and be not troubled, our son is safe: that man with whom we sent him is very trusty.
I know that my father and mother now count the days, and their spirit is grievously afflicted within them…
Sara’s father Raguel: The holy angel of the Lord be with you in your journey, and bring you through safe, and that you may find all things well about your parents, and my eyes may see your children before I die.
And the parents taking their daughter kissed her, and let her go, admonishing her to honor her father and mother in law, to love her husband, to take care of the family, to govern the house, and to behave herself irreprehensibly.
Tobias Chapter 11: Anna sees her son returning; Young Tobias restores his father’s sight; Sara arrives at her father-in-law’s home.
Raphael to Tobias: Take with thee of the gall of the fish, for it will be necessary…
Sara to Elder Tobias: Behold thy son cometh.
And when they adored God, and given him thanks, they sat down together. Then Tobias taking of the gall of the fish, anointed his father’s eyes. And he stayed about half an hour: and a white skin began to come out of his eyes, like the skin of an egg. And Tobias took hold of it, and drew it from his eyes, and immediately he recovered his sight. And they glorified God, both he and his wife and all that knew him. And Tobias said: I bless thee, O Lord God of Israel, because thou hast chastised me, and thou hast saved me; and behold I see Tobias my son.
And after seven days Sara his son’s wife, and all the family arrived safe… And he told his parents all the benefits of God, which he had done to him by the man that conducted him… And for seven days they feasted and rejoiced all with great joy.
Tobias Chapter 12: Tobias offers gifts to Raphael; Raphael reveals his identity; Raphael returns to God.
What can we give to this holy man, that is come with thee?
…he caused me to have my wife, and he chased from her the evil spirit… myself he delivered from being devoured by the fish, thee also he hath made to see the light of heaven, and we are filled with all good things through him… began to desire him that he would vouchsafe to accept of half of all things that they had brought.
Then Raphael said to them secretly: Bless ye the God of heaven, give glory to him in the sight of all that live, because he hath shown his mercy to you. For it is good to hide the secret of a king: but honorable to reveal and confess the works of God. Prayer is good with fasting and alms: more than to lay up treasures of gold; for alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting. But they that commit sin and iniquity, are enemies in their own soul. I discover then the truth unto you, and I will not hide the secret from you. When thou didst pray with tears, and didst bury the dead, and didst leave thy dinner, and hide the dead by day in thy house, and bury them at night, I offered my prayer to the Lord. And because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptations should prove thee. And now the Lord hath sent me to heal thee, and to deliver Sara thy son’s wife from the devil. For I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord.
Peace be to you, fear not. For when I was with you, I was there by the will of God; bless ye him, and sing praises to him. I seemed indeed to eat and to drink with you: but I use an invisible meat and drink, which cannot be seen by men. It is time therefore that I return to him that sent me: but bless ye God, and publish all his wonderful works. And when he had said these things, he was taken from their sight, and they could see him no more.
Tobias Chapter 13: Canticle of the elder Tobias; Thanksgiving to God; Prophecy of Jerusalem’s future glory.
And Tobias the elder opening his mouth, blessed the Lord, and said:
Thou art great, O Lord, for ever, and thy kingdom is unto all ages. For thou scourgest, and thou savest: thou leadest down to hell, and bringest up again: and there is none that can escape thy hand.
Give glory to the Lord, ye children of Israel, and praise him in the sight of the Gentiles. Because he hath therefore scattered you among the Gentiles, who know not him, that you may declare his wonderful works, and nake them know that there is no other almighty God besides him. He hath chastised us for our iniquities; and he will save us for his own mercy. See then what he hath done with us, and with fear and trembling give ye glory to him: and extol the eternal King of worlds in your works.
As for me, I will praise him in the land of my captivity: because he hath shown his majesty toward a sinful nation. Be converted therefore, ye sinners, and do justice before God, believing that he will show his mercy to you. And I and my soul will rejoice in him. Bless ye the Lord, all his elect, keep days of joy, and give glory to him.
Prophecy of Jerusalem’s future glory:
Jerusalem, city of God, the Lord hath chastised thee for the works of thy hands. Give glory to the Lord for thy good things, and bless the God eternal, that he may rebuild his tabernacle in thee, and may call back all the captives to thee, and thou mayest rejoice for ever and ever.
Thou shall shine with a glorious light: and all the ends of the earth shall worship thee. Nations from afar shall come to thee: and shall bring gifts, and shall adore the Lord in thee, and shall esteem thy land as holy. For they shall call upon the great name in thee.
They shall be cursed that shall despise thee; and they shall be condemned that shall blaspheme thee: and blessed shall they be that shall build thee up. But thou shalt rejoice in thy children, because they shall all be blessed, and shall be gathered together to the Lord. Blessed are all they that love thee, and that rejoice in thy peace.
My soul, bless thou the Lord, because the Lord our God hath delivered Jerusalem his city from all her troubles. Happy shall I be if there shall remain of my seed, to see the glory of Jerusalem. The gates of Jerusalem shall be built of sapphire, and of emerald, and all the walls thereof round about of precious stones. All its streets shall be paved with white and clean stones: and Alleluia shall be sung in its streets.
Blessed be the Lord, who hath exalted it, and may he reign over it for ever and ever, Amen.
Tobias Chapter 14: Death of the elder Tobias; The last words of the elder Tobias; Later life and death of young Tobias.
And after Tobias was restored to his sight, he lived two and forty years, and saw the children of his grandchildren… For he was six and fifty years old when he lost the sight of his eyes, and sixty when he recovered it again. And the rest of his life was in joy, and with great increase of the fear of God he departed in peace.
And at the hour of his death… the elder Tobias said: The destruction of Ninive is at hand: for the word of the Lord must be fulfilled: and our brethren, that are scattered abroad from the land of Israel, shall return to it. And all the land thereof that is desert shall be filled with people, and the house of God which is burnt in it, shall again be rebuilt: and all that fear God shall return thither. And the Gentiles shall leave their idols, and shall come into Jerusalem, and shall dwell in it. And all the kings of the earth shall rejoice in it, adoring the King of Israel. Hearken therefore, my children, to your father: serve the Lord in truth, and seek to do the things that please him, and command your children that they do justice and almsdeeds, and that they be mindful of God, and bless him at all times in truth, and with all their power. And now, children, hear me, and do not stay here: but as soon as you shall bury your mother by me in one sepulcher, without delay direct your steps to depart hence, for I see that its iniquity will bring it to destruction.
And it came to pass that after the death of his mother… returned to his father and mother in law… And he found them in health in a good old age: and he took care of them, and he closed their eyes: and all the inheritance of Raguel’s house came to him: and he saw his children’s children to the fifth generation. And after he had lived ninety-nine years in the fear of the Lord, with joy they buried him. And all his kindred, and all his generation continued in good life, and in holy conversation, so that they were acceptable both to God, and to men, and to all that dwelt in the land.
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