“…Without prayer we probably won’t risk great things for God.”
-Don Fields
When we look throughout the Bible we can see a consistent theme when there are things to be done: Man needs motivation. Various men rose to the occasion to motivate their brethren and in each case we see great love come forth. Love can do many things. This paper will address three things that love has done and can do. Love can build a temple, love can build a wall, and love can spread the Gospel.
For us to have a firm grasp of the first two points, we must look at the events that happened that made a need to rebuild the temple and the wall. In the year 586 B.C., the Babylonians conquered Judah. Jerusalem was reduced to ruins. The Jews were carried away into captivity. A promised few were permitted to linger behind to live in these ruins. This remnant, throughout the following decades began to intermarry with non-Jews (including some of the Assyrians who had fled the destruction of their own nation). This racial integration produced the group known as the Samaritans.
During the period of the captivity there was still spiritual hope and Godly guidance from prophets like Ezekiel and Daniel. King Nebuchadnezzar died in 562 B.C. A series of less than “quality” leaders followed him. In 549 B.C., Cyrus (who had become king of the Persians a decade before) conquered the Median king and unified the Medes and the Persians. In 539 B.C., Cyrus defeated the city of Babylon. History recounts Cyrus as a benevolent ruler who allowed captured peoples (like the Jews) to return to their native lands and restore their places of worship and re-establish their rituals. In 538 B.C., Cyrus issued forth a declaration which permiteded Jews to return to their homeland (2 ...
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...ve can build a temple
Love can build a wall
Love can spread the Gospel
Works Cited
Fields, Dan. Nehemiah: The Courage to Face Oppression. Downers Grove, IL:
InterVarsity Press, 2002
Maxey, Al. The Minor Prophets: Haggai. Available from http://www.zianet.com/maxey/Proph9.htm.
Internet; accessed 9 June 2010.
Potts, J.H.. Our Thrones and Crowns Or the Golden Way to the Highest Attainments.
Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing, 2003.
Stapleton, Robert. 66 Sermons from God's Word: Nehemiah. Bedford, Texas
The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2008. Haggai. Available from
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Haggai.html. Internet; accessed 9 June
2010.
Zerr, E.M.. Bible Commentary: Volume 2. Bowling Green, Kentucky:
Guardian of Truth Publications, 1948.
...hooses to overlook the fact that Abraham tried to rape Temple and simply honor the ties of his family. And although under sinful conditions, these bonds are not corrupt. They are true and powerful. The names Abraham and Moses are blatant allusions to the figures of the Old Testament. In the Bible, these two men plant the seeds of civilization. And in a sense, Moses and Abraham are doing the same. Every family in the novel is. The world did not end. Temple comments on this progress saying, “As long as you’re movin, it don’t matter much where you’re goin or what’s chasin you. That’s why they call it progress. It keeps goin of its own accord” (85). The fate of the world is in the hands of the people who remain. Strengthened by the resilient bonds between who is left, the American family becomes the singular hope for progress to continue amongst the surrounding chaos.
God has become angry with his people. He complains in the fifteenth century English play Everyman about humans and their obsession with material items, riches, and wealth. Men and women, he feels, have taken for granted their blessings. God wants to reprimand Everyman for his sinful life and sends Death to summon him. At the beginning of the allegorical work where figures and actions symbolize general truths, a messenger shares God’s concerns. The messenger tells the audience to watch and listen closely to the morality play so they can learn a lesson about life. Everyman fears Death, and he desires to know what one must do to earn salvation and enter heaven. The writer then implies that the way to achieve salvation is by doing good works. Through positive deeds, a man has the capability of enjoying communion with Christ (McRae 306-307). Everyman’s author wrote the play before the Protestant Reformation, so the piece of literature shares the view of Roman Catholicism during that period. Roman Catholics often rely on a spiritual leader’s interpretation of the Scriptures and some additional texts, while Protestants believe the Bible alone should studied by each individual believer. Biblical Christianity teaches something different from what Everyman does. The Bible stresses that salvation occurs through faith and belief in Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for humankind’s sins on Calvary’s cross. St. Paul in the book of Ephesians writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them” (2.8-10). When Christians...
King David secured the beginnings of a prosperous Israelite empire; he made Jerusalem its capital and brought the Ark of the Covenant there with the hopes of building the First Great Temple for his people. However, it would be his son, King Solomon who would be the one to accomplish this. The Great Temple housed the Ark of the Covenant and also had places to make offerings. Having been nomadic, this temple finally gave the Israelites a stabile place to worship. In fact, the text World Religions by Mary Pat Fisher says that the Israelites looked at this Great Temple as “a central stationary place where God would be most present to them” (Fisher 250). This Temple was a beacon of hope and a place to go where they knew that they would be closer to God.
The second temple, built by King Solomon, was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. When the Jews returned to Jerusalem from Babylonian exile, King Darius allowed the temple to be rebuilt. Instead of focusing on rebuilding the temple, however, they concentrated on rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem and as well as their own houses. Over the next four hundred years, the temple continued to decline as a result of natural decay and hostile enemy assaults.
Correspondingly, other canonical prophetic books interpret Yahweh’s will during periods of social or political crisis.4 Many minor prophets wrote during one of the three critical periods: the Assyrian Crisis, the Babylonian threat, or the postexilic readjustment.5 During the Babylonian threat of the late-seventh century, Habakkuk served as a link between God and humanity. The Assyrian kingdom, led by Shalmanasar V, forced the people of Judah into harsh conditions through a heartless deportation. In time, political drama spread throughout the region. After 612 B.C.E. when Assyria fell to Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Habakkuk wrote his prophetic book, focusing on the agony of humankind’s struggle to progress in such a wicked world. His message of faith and morality transcended the evil within society, ultimately revealing to the Israelites that justice would prevail.
scripture and use them to prove that the scripture is, in fact, inspired, not a
The kingdom of Jerusalem is one of the most important Kingdoms in the bible, thats why it was so important when it fell to the Babylonians. The beginning of the book is describing in first person from Jeremiah the prophet the destruction of Jerusalem and how sad it is of a site to see. In chapter two of the book Jeremiah is talking about the how mad the lord is at his people, and how he brought judgement to the wicked land. God is showing in chapter two how mad he is and he cut off the power of Israel, but in chapter three he Jeremiah tells us that he is faithful to us and he will restore the land. Even though he to is very sad from his city being taken and destroyed he remembers what the lord has told him. He then explains that the people of the kingdom of judah and the kingdom of Jerusalem need to fall back to the lord and get rid of those false gods. For the love and kindness of the lo...
for each other and for the people that they see as the weak in society
As I read through our assigned chapters this week, I couldn 't help but think about what could have been. What if the nation of Israel (and Judah later on) would have truly followed after God? What if they would have submitted to His divine kingship, instead of the fallacious leadings of men? What if the children of the Lord would have "inclined their hearts" to His words, and not devoted themselves to forbidden idolatry? Time and time again, the choosen nation of Israel turned from God and His words. As a result, they wound themselves up into a whole multitude of issues. In their sin, they were consistently raided, enslaved, and butchered by other nations. If only they would have devoted their hearts, souls, and strength to God, they would have had rest in a peaceful land. The Israelites can serve as a great example to us that God 's way is alsways best, not matter how things appear to us.
On January 31st I enjoyed eight hours of wilderness time. After getting up early, and completing a few chores, I retired to my room for the day. Goals for my retreat were to get closer to God and be renewed by His presence, and to hear what He might say to me. I looked forward to being alone and being quiet. Before I began, the one concern I had was that I might get distracted and start daydreaming about other things. To help avoid this and provide some structure to my day, I chose to focus on the suggested retreat detailed in Emilie Griffin's book Wilderness Time. The suggested one day retreated focused on renewing one's call; a topic which was perfect for me. I’m so grateful you had such a positive experience. Well done and well planned.
John Henry Newman begins his sermon about faith and love with a bible passage. “Though I have all Faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have no Charity, I am nothing.” This passage is the basis of Newman’s entire sermon and is the foundation of many of the ideas that Newman addresses. According to Newman Love is the greatest virtue a person can possess, and while Newman also agrees that a strong faith is significant it is nothing if love is absent. Newman uses testaments, deductive reasoning and experiences to show how the act of faith and love disclose the presence of God.
“The Sermon on the Mount” is a very interesting topic because it has a lot to do with my religion. It is talked about in church often and makes one think about their perspective on life. “The Sermon on the Mount” is a part of the bible that everyone, not just Christians should read and understand. It gives a good perspective on the world and how one should think. People today do not always have the best mind set on how to see the world. In this class we learned on how to see the world in a different way. People are not all the same, but we should all live by the same correct morals. “The Sermon on the Mount” is in the book of Mathew (Holman). This Sermon is about Jesus and what his expectations are for all of his followers (Holman) and also talks about the right ways to approach God and how to deal with people (Jesus). It is taken place in the region of Galilee (Jesus). It is taken place on a mountain top surrounded by his disciples and crowds of people (Jesus). I felt like the sermon has a lot to do with how people are today. Even though many people do not know about this sermon, many people follow the teachings of Jesus in this sermon. It is one of the most taught teachings in the bible in the church today (summery). In the class Perspectives of an Individual we have been learning many different ways we would handle ourselves in situations. We also have been learning how one’s mind is working. We have read many pieces of literature this semester that teaches us on how we should live our lives and how we should see the world. We have read many things that teach the wrong from the right, in things we should do and how we should handle ourselves. I believe that this piece of literature has taught me the most about these topics and...
Class notes. Man’s Desperate Need of Righteousness and God’s Glorious Provision of Righteousness. Faith Christian University. Orlando, Florida. August 2011.
“To love another is to see the face of God” mesmerized me when it was said in class, because it epitomizes the idea that God is love and Gods commandment to love another as one loves one’s self. This is important because, it allows us as human beings to take care of our loved ones and everyone in our community. Since marriage is tremendously interrelated with the spouses’ community and since each community seeks to integrate love, happiness and the wellbeing of the community marriage is the most effective means of achieving all of these goals. Marriage allows us to achieve these goals, because it helps us overcome self-absorption, since it requires each spouse to think of their significant other before themselves. Through marriage, which is a covenant in which two individuals promise to be with one another for the rest of their lives before the eyes of God and before the eyes of their communities. In marriage a person gives himself or herself to
‘A practical guide to biblical ethics’ was written to help Christians follow and understand God’s law, so that they may live a lifestyle that honours God. By using the expression ‘God’s law’, Smith means the moral will of God as to what is right and wrong. This is encompassed in the Ten Commandments and expanded on throughout the Bible. Kevin Gary Smith(2012:6-9) wrote the book for believers whose prayers are to live a righteous life. The book is, however, not written only for academics or full time pastors, but is aimed for all Christians to understand. The book is practical; therefore, it is structured and worded in a way that it can be applied to the reader’s life. Through reading ‘A practical guide to biblical ethics’, believers can live a way of life that brings glory to God.