Hebrew Bible and Christian Scriptures

Chronicles

• The name given to this material in the LXX (Septuigent), paraleipomena, means additions
• Supplementary/Secondary History of Israel

1. Deuteronomistic History (Joshua-2 Kings) is the primary historical account

• 2 Kings ends with the release of Jehoiachin, but sits in the palace of Babylon (Kind of like House arrest)

1. Optimistic because he’s released from prison, but they’re still in Babylon
2. 2 Chronicles ends with the Edict of Cyrus, where the Jews return (forced migration) to Jerusalem.

• Chronicles is more of a Utopian history (Steven Schweitzer)

1. Presents a kinder portrayal of David’s rise to power
2. Presents Israel’s history more as how they would like it to be remembered than as it truly was.

• Martin Noth (1940’s) believed that 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra, and Nehemiah were written together during the Persian period of history

1. H.G-M Williamson and Sara Japhet (1980-1990) believed that 1 and 2 Chronicles were separate from Ezra and Nehemiah and believe it to have been written later (around the 400’s B.C.)

Briefly describe you level of participation in a local church. Include any ministry experience, ordination, etc.

Currently I am not very involved in my church here in Waco. I’ve participated in a student mentoring program for elementary aged kids in the past, but can’t help out with it anymore due to my class and work schedule. I’m also looking to try a few other churches in the area and perhaps look for a position in a local church in the near future though.

What is your educational background (e.g. your undergraduate major, other degrees, etc.)?

I graduated from Baylor this past December with a degree in Religion. I began as a business major before recognizing God’s call to ministry and was still planning on continuing that degree before attending seminary until I took an intro to the ministry course at Baylor and enjoyed it far more than I had ever enjoyed any of my business classes. It was an easy decision to switch after that.

What are your career plans for after Truett?

I’m still waiting on God to show me his plans for after seminary, but I know I have at least 2 ½ more years before I graduate, so I’m not in any rush. I know I’m where I’m supposed to be at the moment and, while it would be nice to know what God wants next, I’m also satisfied with just focusing on seminary for now. One area of the ministry which has peaked my interest for some time though is military chaplaincy. However teaching or being a pastor are also areas of the ministry that I’m very interested in. Ultimately, I know that God will show me in his time and am just trying to be patient until then.

How can this course best serve you?

I’ve never spent very much time in the Old Testament so much of what we will study will be new material to me. I’ve tried studying it before, but I think I approached it from the wrong perspective and with the wrong expectations so I’m looking forward most to a fresh start with the material. I would also like to learn how to simply better study the Bible and the nuances that are unique to each book. If I can gain a better grasp of those two things, I will have considered my time in this course to be a great success.

This past week I received an e-mail from my girlfriend who is currently in West Africa doing a semester abroad. One day, while she and her friend were walking to the market and passed by the nearby river. As they passed by, a few local women asked if they were afraid. Without thinking, my girlfriend answered that she was not afraid. The ladies replied by stating that they were and that she should be as well. Later, my girlfriend remembered that the local people believe that there is a river goddess that takes lives by drowning people. They also believe that, in certain parts of the river, a person can be pulled under the river, stay there for a week, and then come back out of the river possessed by evil spirits. Therefore, people live in fear and avoid getting too close to the river, lest they get pulled under by the goddess.

When reading this, my, and most Americans', reaction is quick: There's no need to fear a river goddess. For me, my immediate response was pity for the people's foolishness in fearing such a thing. Indeed, for the Christian, the reaction to not fear should be our response. The Bible constantly tells us to live in courage. However, after reading the e-mail from my girlfriend, I realized that my reaction was not entirely the right one. I, and probably most of you, based the reason for not fearing upon the assumption that there is no such thing as a "river goddess." Such things are just the myths of uncivilized people, right? Perhaps not so.

Such a position expresses a high level of arrogance. As I talked about in my previous posts, the Christian should realize that things like spirits and angels do exist. For all we know, there could be a river "goddess" or demon or spirit. Such an entity may not exist exactly as the natives perceive it. It may not even reside "in the river." However, who's to say that the whole area is empty and void of any unseen force. The book of Revelation reveals a world in which unseen forces of both good and evil exist. There are angels of wind, fire, and water, and likewise, malevolent forces run throughout the world.

Yet, the call to "not fear" still exists. If we cannot state with complete certainty that no such "goddess" exists, then where does that courage come from? The Bible is clear on this. For those in Christ, there is no fear of powers. Christ has triumphed over all powers, and those who "put on Christ" can stand in His strength. In the end, instead of pitying people's foolishness at believing "fairy tales," when we hear stories such as my girlfriend's, we should be grieved that they live in fear without knowing the power of Christ and his Spirit. May we have a heart of prayer for others and never neglect how much Christ has done (and continues to do) for us.

Ok, here’s my first blog post…and not just for this class, but ever. If you are wondering why that is, the url of my blog should help.

Anyway, I guess I should actually do the blog post, which is supposed to be about my church/denominational experience, not my disdain for property and academic laws…..so back to work.

I grew up in two small towns – Brownwood and Goldthwaite, Texas. Both cities were incredibly similar, which I guess I should have expected considering they were only 30 miles from each other. My parents were and are Southern Baptists to the “t”. They raised my brother and I in an atmosphere where the Bible was the inerrant word of God, drinking alcohol was pseudo-evil if not deserving of the full wrath of God, and abortion/feminist issues were a non-issue (and by non-issue, I mean we didn’t talk about them).

Over the years, I began to question what I’d been taught and just couldn’t qualify what had been indoctrinated in me and where my heart was leading me. So, I began to study and learn on my own and found that there were other people who felt the same way I did. During college, I worked for a number of different churches. I worked for a Methodist church, a Episcopalian church, several Baptist churches, a non-denominational church, Baptist camps, etc. Through this process I learned a great deal about how denominational politics play out in various types of churches and came to understand more why people consider us to be in a post-denominational world (not that we are in Texas, but you get the point).

Currently, I am the Student Minister at the Fellowship of San Antonio. We are a church with strong Baptist ties; however, we have very little ties to Baptist organizations. We do this because denominational politics have forced a great number of people to abandon denominations in the area in which we minister. So, we couldn’t very well call ourselves “North Side Baptist” or something, because many of the people in our church are ex-Catholics or ex-protestants of many different denominations. At our church, I minister to teenagers and recently I’ve begun ministering to college-aged students and young, single adults. I have been in the church for almost 4 years now and I greatly enjoy it. I have a B.A. in Christian Religious Education from Howard Payne University and I am liscensed as a Youth Minister from the First Baptist Church of Goldthwaite, Texas.

After I graduate from Truett Seminary, I plan to just continue doing what I’m doing. The church I am at is currently looking at taking me full-time when I graduate (hopefully in May), and I really don’t plan on changing a thing. I love working with teens, and I plan on being a youth minister as long as I am capable of doing it or until God calls me elsewhere.

This course can best serve me by enabling me to further understand the prophets, so I can appropriately teach them to the students at my church. Oh, and giving me an “A” would also be a great way for the class to help me out.

Well, that’s pretty much it.

Per our discussion in class Thursday, there is a difference of perspective from Kings to Chronicles.  I have been wondering more and more the last few days why it is that we teach the Kings version of David, but yet have the view of David from Chronicles.  There is no doubt God used David in mighty ways, but some would elevate David to a place that scripture does not and that is obviously dangerous.  So how did we get here, why is David made out to be such a hero?  Why do we elevate him as someone we should emmulate and possibly miss that the part of the story we should take, which is God’s grace even with a scoundrel!

I Chronicles seems to present a very neat and pretty picture of King David.  For example, 11:1 & 12:38 argue that all Israel supported David.  II Samuel seems to indicate that David gained the support of the various clans and tribes over time.  Even under David, there were hints of tribal unrest. 

Also, I Chronicles does not mention of David’s affair with Bathsheba or the forced imprisonment of Saul’s descendent Mephibosheth.  David’s decision to take a census of the people (probably for the purpose of taxation and military conscription) was attributed to Satan. 

The writer of Chronicles was looking back on Israel’s history from the other side of the exile.  This is bound to lead to some level of romanticism and nostalgia as the writer describes the pinnacle of Israel.  However, these writings are a reminder that history is always written from a certain perspective.  It is also a reminder that my own view of history is slanted.

I am serving as Pastor of a small church just outside of Glen Rose, TX.  The church is Rainbow Baptist Church (yes I know all the good and bad that goes with that name), it is a small country church with some of the most rural and real people I have ever met!  I grew up in a small town so this is right up my alley.  I have worked as a youth minister, music minister, and Young Adult minister in my time in the ministry.  I was ordained on November 5th, 2005 at FBC Longview. I did my undergraduate at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.  I graduated with a BA in Religion and minor in music. After Truett, I intend to do what I am doing now.  I love the pastorate (especially preaching), and I feel like this is my lifelong calling.  I have toyed with doing doctrial work of some kind, but at this point I (and my wife) are ready to be done with schooling (being as we have a 5 year old, almost 2 year old, and are planning on adopting from Africa (possibly as early as this summer). This course can help me in the study of the latter portion of the Hebrew Bible.  I thoroughly enjoy the OT and feel like it needs to be preached as much as the NT, because it is a unified work that has relevance for all of life! Brad Reedy!

As of 8/27/2009 I have completed the reading of 1 and 2 Chronicles.

What is the last event described in II Chronicles?

It took some doing, but I have now become triumphant in creating this blog.  Now I just have to figure everything else out…