God listens to Tobit and Sarah's prayer

Tobit 3 
In the previous chapter, Tobit became blind and his wife was earning a living for the family. Here we see Tobit in a desperate situation and calling God to end his life on earth so that his despair and suffering would end. It is a serious prayer showing a man who really believed in the Almighty God, yet lost believe in any blessings that would come in this life.

As Tobit was praying, another woman was also in desperate prayer. Being accused of causing the demise of her seven husbands and perhaps seeing the hopelessness of her life, she too prayed a similar prayer as Tobit. Again her prayers of giving praise and honour to God first showed that she was a  believing woman, but too desperate and broken about her life situation.

In the final paragraph, we see these two individuals, Tobit and Sarah, were brought together by God's divine plan. The angel Raphael was send to heal Tobit's blindness, and arranged for Sarah to marry the son of Tobit. God not only hears prayers, but he had planned before the prayers were made. The Holy Spirit motivates people to pray, for what God has already ordained, so that when the plan is completed, God is glorified more.

Another point this passage reveals is that there are some bad things which are caused by opposing supernatural forces at work against mankind that leads to various suffering.







Tobit’s Prayer
3 Then in my grief I wept, and I prayed in anguish, saying, 2 “Righteous art thou, O Lord; all thy deeds and all thy ways are mercy and truth, and thou dost render true and righteous judgment for ever. 3 Remember me and look favorably upon me; do not punish me for my sins and for my unwitting offenses and those which my fathers committed before thee. 4 For they disobeyed thy commandments, and thou gavest us over to plunder, captivity, and death; thou madest us a byword of reproach in all the nations among which we have been dispersed. 5 And now thy many judgments are true in exacting penalty from me for my sins and those of my fathers, because we did not keep thy commandments. For we did not walk in truth before thee. 6 And now deal with me according to thy pleasure; command my spirit to be taken up, that I may depart and become dust. For it is better for me to die than to live, because I have heard false reproaches, and great is the sorrow within me. Command that I now be released from my distress to go to the eternal abode; do not turn thy face away from me.”

Sarah Falsely Accused
7 On the same day, at Ecbat′ana in Media, it also happened that Sarah, the daughter of Rag′uel, was reproached by her father’s maids, 8 because she had been given to seven husbands, and the evil demon Asmode′us had slain each of them before he had been with her as his wife. So the maids[a] said to her, “Do you not know that you strangle your husbands? You already have had seven and have had no benefit from[b] any of them. 9 Why do you beat us? If they are dead, go with them! May we never see a son or daughter of yours!”

Sarah’s Prayer for Death
10 When she heard these things she was deeply grieved, even to the thought of hanging herself. But she said, “I am the only child of my father; if I do this, it will be a disgrace to him, and I shall bring his old age down in sorrow to the grave.”[c] 11 So she prayed by her window and said, “Blessed art thou, O Lord my God, and blessed is thy holy and honored name for ever. May all thy works praise thee for ever. 12 And now, O Lord, I have turned my eyes and my face toward thee. 13 Command that I be released from the earth and that I hear reproach no more. 14 Thou knowest, O Lord, that I am innocent of any sin with man, 15 and that I did not stain my name or the name of my father in the land of my captivity. I am my father’s only child, and he has no child to be his heir, no near kinsman or kinsman’s[d] son for whom I should keep myself as wife. Already seven husbands of mine are dead. Why should I live? But if it be not pleasing to thee to take my life, command that respect be shown to me and pity be taken upon me, and that I hear reproach no more.”

An Answer to Prayer
16 The prayer of both was heard in the presence of the glory of the great God. 17 And Raphael[e] was sent to heal the two of them: to scale away the white films from Tobit’s eyes; to give Sarah the daughter of Rag′uel in marriage to Tobi′as the son of Tobit, and to bind Asmode′us the evil demon, because Tobi′as was entitled to possess her. At that very moment Tobit returned and entered his house and Sarah the daughter of Rag′uel came down from her upper room.

Then I remembered the prophecy of Amos

Tobit had reunited with his family during the significant feast of Pentecost. However, on that night, he had to bury someone. Keeping with the tradition of being uncleaned after handling bodies, he slept outside but was blinded by bird droppings. His  wife had to work to earn for the family. There was an incident in which Tobit did not believe his wife who brought home a gift from her employers.




Tobit 2 
2 When I arrived home and my wife Anna and my son Tobi′as were restored to me, at the feast of Pentecost, which is the sacred festival of the seven weeks, a good dinner was prepared for me and I sat down to eat. 2 Upon seeing the abundance of food I said to my son, “Go and bring whatever poor man of our brethren you may find who is mindful of the Lord, and I will wait for you.” 3 But he came back and said, “Father, one of our people has been strangled and thrown into the market place.” 4 So before I tasted anything I sprang up and removed the body[a] to a place of shelter until sunset. 5 And when I returned I washed myself and ate my food in sorrow. 6 Then I remembered the prophecy of Amos, how he said,

“Your feasts shall be turned into mourning,
    and all your festivities into lamentation.”
And I wept.

Tobit Becomes Blind
7 When the sun had set I went and dug a grave and buried the body.[b] 8 And my neighbors laughed at me and said, “He is no longer afraid that he will be put to death for doing this; he once ran away, and here he is burying the dead again!” 9 On the same night I returned from burying him, and because I was defiled I slept by the wall of the courtyard, and my face was uncovered. 10 I did not know that there were sparrows on the wall and their fresh droppings fell into my open eyes and white films formed on my eyes. I went to physicians, but they did not help me. Ahi′kar, however, took care of me until he[c] went to Elyma′is.[d]

Tobit’s Wife Earns Their Livelihood
11 Then my wife Anna earned money at women’s work. 12 She used to send the product to the owners. Once when they paid her wages, they also gave her a kid; 13 and when she returned to me it began to bleat. So I said to her, “Where did you get the kid? It is not stolen, is it? Return it to the owners; for it is not right to eat what is stolen.” 14 And she said, “It was given to me as a gift in addition to my wages.” But I did not believe her, and told her to return it to the owners; and I blushed for her. Then she replied to me, “Where are your charities and your righteous deeds? You seem to know everything!”

All the tribes that joined in apostasy used to sacrifice to the calf

This is a story of a man named Tobit who seems to be a faithful follower of God. He recounts before his tribe Napthali was taken away into captivity by the Assyrians: he understands the true worship is in Jerusalem, but all the 10 tribes that have broken away were worshipping the idol calf - Ba'al. However, he would travel to Jerusalem to worship as was intended by God.

During the captivity, he recognized the favour of God, in giving him a good role by the Assyrian king Shalmane′ser. He used his role to help his fellow captives. He also recounted his tithings at Jerusalem and other charity work.

When the new king Sennach′erib took over, many of his countrymen were killed and left outside the city. Tobit would secretly bury them until someone reported about him. He went into hiding since the new king wanted to kill him then. However, the Sennach′erib king was soon assisinated by his sons. The next king appointed the nephew of Tobit to be the second in command in the kingdom. So the nephew interceded for Tobit, and he returned to Nineveh.


Tobit 1 Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

1 The book of the acts[a] of Tobit the son of To′biel, son of Anan′iel, son of Ad′uel, son of Gab′ael, of the descendants of As′iel and the tribe of Naph′tali, 2 who in the days of Shalmane′ser,[b] king of the Assyrians, was taken into captivity from Thisbe, which is to the south of Kedesh Naph′tali in Galilee above Asher.

Tobit’s Youth and Virtuous Life
3 I, Tobit, walked in the ways of truth and righteousness all the days of my life, and I performed many acts of charity to my brethren and countrymen who went with me into the land of the Assyrians, to Nin′eveh. 4 Now when I was in my own country, in the land of Israel, while I was still a young man, the whole tribe of Naph′tali my forefather deserted the house of Jerusalem. This was the place which had been chosen from among all the tribes of Israel, where all the tribes should sacrifice and where the temple of the dwelling of the Most High was consecrated and established for all generations for ever.

5 All the tribes that joined in apostasy used to sacrifice to the calf[c] Ba′al, and so did the house of Naph′tali my forefather. 6 But I alone went often to Jerusalem for the feasts, as it is ordained for all Israel by an everlasting decree. Taking the first fruits and the tithes of my produce and the first shearings, I would give these to the priests, the sons of Aaron, at the altar. 7 Of all my produce I would give a tenth to the sons of Levi who ministered at Jerusalem; a second tenth I would sell, and I would go and spend the proceeds each year at Jerusalem; 8 the third tenth I would give to those to whom it was my duty, as Deb′orah my father’s mother had commanded me, for I was left an orphan by my father. 9 When I became a man I married Anna, a member of our family, and by her I became the father of Tobi′as.

Taken Captive to Nineveh
10 Now when I was carried away captive to Nin′eveh, all my brethren and my relatives ate the food of the Gentiles; 11 but I kept myself from eating it, 12 because I remembered God with all my heart. 13 Then the Most High gave me favor and good appearance in the sight of Shalmane′ser,[d] and I was his buyer of provisions. 14 So I used to go into Media, and once at Rages in Media I left ten talents of silver in trust with Gab′ael, the brother of Gabri′as. 15 But when Shalmane′ser[e] died, Sennach′erib his son reigned in his place; and under him the highways were unsafe, so that I could no longer go into Media.

Courage in Burying the Dead
16 In the days of Shalmane′ser[f] I performed many acts of charity to my brethren. 17 I would give my bread to the hungry and my clothing to the naked; and if I saw any one of my people dead and thrown out behind the wall of Nin′eveh, I would bury him. 18 And if Sennach′erib the king put to death any who came fleeing from Judea, I buried them secretly. For in his anger he put many to death. When the bodies were sought by the king, they were not found. 19 Then one of the men of Nin′eveh went and informed the king about me, that I was burying them; so I hid myself. When I learned that I was being searched for, to be put to death, I left home in fear. 20 Then all my property was confiscated and nothing was left to me except my wife Anna and my son Tobi′as.

21 But not fifty[g] days passed before two of Sennach′erib’s[h] sons killed him, and they fled to the mountains of Ar′arat. Then Esarhad′don,[i] his son, reigned in his place; and he appointed Ahi′kar, the son of my brother An′ael, over all the accounts of his kingdom and over the entire administration. 22 Ahi′kar interceded for me, and I returned to Nin′eveh. Now Ahi′kar was cupbearer, keeper of the signet, and in charge of administration of the accounts, for Esarhad′don[j] had appointed him second to himself.[k] He was my nephew

Discretion will preserve you

Sometimes, in the presence of a hostile crowd, or even among casual friends who are non-believers,  we might not speak up so much about our Lord. We may feel guilty for not standing up for the Lord, because of our fear of being ridiculed. Then perhaps there is a verse which we can take comfort from, though this is by no means an exemption for us to suppress the gospel.

The verse "Discretion will preserve you", is all the more important when those around us make actually cause some harm after hearing about the gospel. In that case, their is a valid cause for discretion. Looking at the context of the passage, it appears that the situation is where one is surrounded by those who are evil and perverse in thinking and in deeds.


Proverbs 10
10 When wisdom enters your heart,
And knowledge is pleasant to your soul,
11 Discretion will preserve you;
Understanding will keep you,
12 To deliver you from the way of evil,
From the man who speaks perverse things,
13 From those who leave the paths of uprightness
To walk in the ways of darkness;
14 Who rejoice in doing evil,
And delight in the perversity of the wicked;
15 Whose ways are crooked,
And who are devious in their paths;

You shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God

Deuteronomy 8:6-9
“Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the Lord your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. 7 For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; 8 a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and honey; 9 a land in which you will eat bread without scarcity, in which you will lack nothing; a land whose stones are iron and out of whose hills you can dig copper.

A wonderful reminder of a sermon today. The topic was that God's commandments are to be followed out of joy, because His commandments are essentially blessings because they will be leading to blessings. There are many things that God has revealed to us through the Bible and there is no excuse to say we don't know God's will. One of the things I remembered are:
- Control our tongue. Use it for blessings instead of cursing.
- Keep control of our fleshly, lustful nature, and let the Holy Spirit dominate over our natural man as God intended.
- The Golden Rule - Do unto others what we would have others do unto us.

Is Messiah, the Son of God, also is God Himself?

Psalm 2 - talks about the Messiah. The Psalm is mostly written by David, King of Israel and other contributors. However, there are verses, like the one below, that is written as if God Himself is talking and here it is talking about His Son Yshua.

7 “I will declare the decree:
The Lord has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
8 Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break[a] them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’”

But why do we say His Son, Yshua, is also God. To call anyone else God, apart from the Almighty God is blasphemy - God made this clear in "Thou shalt worship no other gods". This also means we cannot worship anyone else except God. But then verses like the ones below shows God Himself declaring that the Son has all authority (lest He be angry) and deserving of our worship (Kiss the Son). God does not share His worship with anyone else, hence the conclusion is the Yshua, the Son, is also God.

11 Serve the Lord with fear,
And rejoice with trembling.
12  Kiss the Son,[b] lest [c] He be angry,
And you perish in the way,

And the God of Israel will be your rear guard

Isaiah 52:12
For you shall not go out with haste,
Nor go by flight;
For the Lord will go before you,
And the God of Israel will be your rear guard.


The Lord has and will prepare us before we go out on His Mission. Our past will always be with us, but He knows all about us and have forgiven us when we accept Him. That is why He gives us the assurance, but that only works when we have faith in Him, including that we are truly forgiven by Him. Then as we go out in His timing, and according to His will and direction, as guided by the Holy Spirit. He will be our "rear guard". Is there anything more comforting than knowing that God is watching our back? That is the best assurance that anyone can ever have.