Hebrew Bible and Christian Scriptures

It doesn’t seem consistent with me that ELijah can kill 850 prophets of Baal and then get scared of a woman. (No offense) Barclay describes this word fear as “his eyes were open”. This seems to work in that God didn’t speak for a while and then he comes to ELijah. Elijah sees what God is doing and maybe he thought that God was going to Unite the Kingdom. I think he sees that it was not going to happen and gives up. What do you think?

How is it that David can go from following God to raising children who rape and murder?

I always find it funny that good looking women have the ability to talk men into anything. Abigail is able to persuade David not to kill Nabal. Would David had listened if she had not been good looking? Hmmmm. I find it encouraging that God uses even this to accomplish his will. Either way you look at it I see that God has his will accomplished but uses normative means in which to accomplish it. The comment that is mind-blowing to me is what Abigail says to those who David sent to get her. She says, “Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servant of my Lord.” So much humility is shown by such a selfless person.

WHen it says that the Philistines returned the ark they also returned a guilt offering. What are the five golden tumors, and why them and five mice? It seems weird to me. Can you help us understand the theological significance of this?

This week in reading we looked at God giving the Law to the people of Israel. This verse came to life in a whole new way. I was having church in my living room with a couple other guys from seminary. We were looking at Galatians and the text was dealing with the law in chapter 3, when Paul asks the question, “why then the law?” Before faith came, the law was a tutor or a guardian. This was to show us our need for faith in Christ. It forced us to go back to Exodus 19 where we see God and Moses interacting. They were in relation to each other before the law was given. Israel was given the law not to find justification, this was found through faith, e.g. Abraham. The law was to drive them to their faith, and after faith came, it was to be a means of worship.

This rocked my world. Before Saturday night, I never thanked the Lord for the law. The law had always been a dirty word in comparison to freedom in Christ. But the law for people in a faith covenant with God is still good and applicable. Not as a means of justification or even as a means for sanctification, but the intent was to show them how to worship. Why do we honor our father and mother? It is not because it gets me to heaven, and it is not because it causes me to be a better believer, it is to show me a means to worship God. If it honors God to honor my father and mother, I worship God in that way.

God, thank you for the law, for the revealing of a great avenue for worship. Amen.