Judgment, wrath, anger, gloom, and doom, all are just a few of the words that come to mind when one thinks about the Old Testament. The last 12 books entitled the Minor Prophets are pages usually skipped over. Idolatry, social injustice, and religious ritualism seem to be a theme throughout the last twelve books of the Old Testament. Can these books still be relevant today? Hindson and Yates suggest they are. “The message of the minor prophets still speaks to us today. They remind us that God holds the people responsible for their behavior. Especially those who claim to belong to him.” (P. 367)
In order to belong to God, one must first believe he exists. This wasn’t the problem with the people of Israel and Judah. They believed in God,
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He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8 NIV) At the time of Amos the poor were being oppressed by the wealthy, and God used Amos to scold Israel for their lack of justice, towards the poor. “Therefore because you trample on the poor and take from them levies of grain, you have built houses of hewn stone, but you shall not live in them; you have planted pleasant vineyards, but you shall not drink their wine. “ (Amos 5:11) According to Hindson and Yates “at a social level Israel’s accumulation of wealth led to a wide disparity between the upper and lower class, and a climate of injustice prevailed as the power of the rich began to take advantage of the poor.” (p.370) Justice was something of utmost importance to God; he created all people to be treated fairly. To exploit the poor and to treat them unjustly was something God was not going to allow the wealthy and powerful to …show more content…
The people fell into religiously giving of their sacrifices. Not out of a heart of love and devotion but out of duty and obligation. God knew their heart and knew their sacrifices weren’t offered out of a contrite heart. They thought they could buy God’s forgiveness with their wealth, or they could offer sacrifices that weren’t acceptable in Gods sight. They just didn’t get it! God would rather have their love then have them pleased with themselves for following some religious rules or good deeds. God expresses through the Prophet Micah what pleases Him “What can we bring to the LORD? Should we bring him burnt offerings? Should we bow before God Most High with offerings of yearling calves? Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins? No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
It is believed that Tecumseh was born in 1768 in central Ohio. He was the second son of a Shawnee warrior who was killed at the Battle of Point Pleasant. In his dying breaths, his father commanded his eldest son Cheesuaka, to train Tecumseh as a warrior and to never make peace with the whites. Cheesuaka was good to his word and became an excellent warrior and a teacher. He grew close with his younger brother, and after their mother moved to Missouri he acted as a foster parent as well. Tecumseh was a model child, and although it is claimed that he ran in terror from his first battle, his courage never faltered from then on. Tall, muscular, intelligent, and highly charismatic, Tecumseh proved to be a master battle tactics and an excellent speaker. (Edmunds)
Mishna discusses the different sacrifices the Israelites made and the reasons they were made. The rabbis say that sacrifices were not a bad thing. Because the sacrifices were made to God and represented different things between God and the people, the sacrifices were allowed. Sacrifices were made for apologies to God, for holidays and many other purposes, but they were always animal sacrifices and they were always to God. These two aspects permitted the offerings. Because they were animal offerings, not human, the offerings were not too gore-filled. And since the offerings were made to God, it is not a person, but an all-powerful being. It makes sense to make offerings to God because God created the people and guided them.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, and to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.(Biblegateway)” Reading this passage, I have felt that this verse calls out to God’s people to be His hands and feet. In the book, “Good News About Injustice,” it states it well, “The great miracle and mystery of God is that he calls me and you to be a part of what he is doing in history. He could, of course, with no help from us proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ with lifeless stones, feed the entire world with five loaves and two fish, heal the sick with the hem of his garment, and release
For instance, Leviticus 25:35 states, “’if your brother becomes poor and cannot maintain himself with you, you shall support him as though he were a stranger and a sojourner, and he shall live with you” (ESV). As a Christian, a person is called to help those who are struggling, and speaks of giving everything a person has to help those around him or her. According to the Jacob Riis film, citizens turned a blind eye to all those suffering, without a home or food. It also states in Proverbs 22:2, “…the rich and the poor meet together; the Lord is the maker of them all” (ESV). God created everyone on the Earth, and did not create one group to feel superior over another. The last passage that represents the other half is Proverbs 28:6, “ Better is poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways” (ESV). A man can be as poor as can be, but wealth does not make you better in the eyes of God.
Showing compassion for others by serving and caring ro the poor and oppressed is in my spirit. The Lord has taught me not to pass judgement on anyone. By being one of God’s servant’s, that leaves little room for being judgmental. One can never determine what happened in a persons life that brought them to the point of being poor or oppressed. A divorce, a death in the family or a lost of a job could have been the deciding factor in keeping or losing their home. Regardless of the circumstances it sends a feeling of calmness over me when I do the works I’m called to do.
Judah in the beginning of the movie makes a speech at a special ceremony in which he reveals hat he does believe in some form of god just not his fathers god who he describe...
they did have human sacrifices, it was an offering to nature by the person being
With the Jewish people Idolatry has always been an issue. God knew this would be; therefore, He was prepared and He prepared His people. Furthermore, because of the many nations that surrounded Isreal, God gave them instructions during the time of the Exodus. He tells the people in Exodus 20: 4-6 (New International Version), that “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand
However, Monsma discusses in his article that if people are fully devoted to being a steward of economic judgement, we must strive to “provide all with access to the basic necessities for life in that society, and must provide all with opportunities for producing for their own needs in a context which gives them control over their own labor and a portion of the other resources of society.” No one in this world deserves to be left in the dust and fend for themselves if that seems to be their only option. As stewards we should strive to have “no poor among you (for the Lord will bless you in the land which the Lord your God gives you for an inheritance to possess), if only you will obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all this commandment which I command you this day” (Deut. 15:4-5). People that have been blessed with access to many resources need to trust God that by using them for the greater good, it will lead the world closer to economic
God’s plan for how human beings are to live is fully revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Jesus’s response two thousand years ago to the rich young man is still important to the shaping of our lives today. We should continue to strive to do good. If we do good, then the world will have less and less evil and corruption present. We should also follow the 10 Commandments, as they are the basic rules for living out our lives as humans. They teach us to love one another and ourselves. Everything will come naturally, if we keep God 1st in our lives. According to the Splendor of Truth, we must use our freedom maturely and we should use God’s gift of grace effectively in order to be committed to the Commandments. Jesus also advises that we give to those who have less than us. God created us to live in unity and enjoy the world. He created us fairly and in order to regain this lost equality, we should give those who don’t have food, clothing, or shelter, the necessities they need.
...treat them with respect and dignity and not force them into government dependence (Leviticus 19:15, 23:22), while at the same time calling the poor to do all that they can in helping themselves (Proverbs 10:4, 13:18, 19:15). In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul said that God instilled the government in society for the purpose of administering justice, not social welfare programs (Romans 13:1-6), and as Jesus directed, people are to pay the taxes that are due (Matthew 17:24-27; 22:15-22). Revolting against taxation and government corruption and inefficiency is not new. While man’s sinful nature, his greed, and the struggle to survive have generated illegal activities and corrupt markets, expanding government bureaucracy and social programs to care for the poor and needy are ineffective and inefficient, as they drive underground economies to flourish even more.
LaSor, W., Hubbard, D., Bush, F., & Allen, L. (1996). Old Testament survey: The message, form, and background of the Old Testament (2nd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans
It was therefore logical that they were to be offered to God. As far as the animals were concerned, those in this position that were considered to be clean would subsequently be sacrificed. Those considered unclean would however be redeemed first. However, the redemption of firstborn humans was different; they were to either substitute an animal or part with a fixed sum. People condemned to death would also find redemption through the payment of parti...
Throughout the year we see the bible be change over time by the structure and text. The bible was created many years ago; it was not created on a specific date or location. In the bible there are many stories that talks about why people suffer and some stories have answers on how it should be solved or what should be done to resolve it. In discussion of The Old Testament of the response why people suffer and what should be done about it. One controversial issue has been wheather the Old Testament has given us an answer to why people suffer in life. On the other hand, some say that the Old Testament does not give up the answer but just to guide us on how we should find the answer for ourselves. Many believe that the bible is the answer to all of humans’ problems, but in most cases people
Let us start with this statement: I believe that new preachers and new people to the Christian Faith try hard to avoid the Old Testament. If they do, they only look at one section and struggle to connect all the pieces together. One of the issues that makes people uncomfortable is the prophets. First, there is a definite volume of them, and then they are divided into “major” and “minor.” I think at the core of our hearts, we are trying to understand the difference among the different biblical prophets.