Monday, January 24, 2011
"Good" and "Bad"
Without ‘bad’ you don’t know what ‘good’ is. I made that comment this past week in Sunday school class with some disagreement from others. Some people may look at ‘good’ and ‘bad’ differently than me. I see it as points on a scale, but on the same scale. In order to rank something as ‘good’, you would be giving it a value. There is no ‘value’ without something to compare it to. That is why I believe that you must have ‘bad’ to recognize the ‘good’. Like colors on a chart, some maybe darker than others, but without one to compare to another, how could you claim one to be dark or light. -- Kevin Dill
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Choices.....
At the end of our discussion Sunday we were talking about King Zedekiah and how he tried to escape into the night when the city was surrounded by the Babylonian army. Recap: he was captured, made to witness the death of his sons and then had his eyes put out, the city was looted and burned. We were commenting that he didn't really have much of a choice.
Well, as it turns out he did.
I have come across another reference from Jeremiah (Jer 38:14-28) that tells that Zedekiah was told by Jeremiah in advance ("This is what the Lord God almighty says") that if he would only surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon that his life would be spared and the city would not be burned down and his family would be spared. He also told him what would happen if he did not surrender. Kevin may have made a point when he suggested that taking off during the night could have been seen as cowardly. Verse 19 says that Zedekiah told Jeremiah he was afraid to surrender because he may be mistreated.
The point is, he did have a choice. Sounds as if he wasn't willing to trust God and he blew it. Sort of reminds me of myself sometimes.....afraid to step out in faith, trying to handle the situation on my own.
Also, remember in class I mentioned a footnote that said Ezekiel had prophesied (Ez 12:13)
that Zedekiah would be brought to Babylon but he would not see it.
Joe does your new chronological Bible give dates for these two prophecies? I was wondering how they overlapped. Had Ezekiel already made this prophecy before Jeremiah or was it after?
Linda
Well, as it turns out he did.
I have come across another reference from Jeremiah (Jer 38:14-28) that tells that Zedekiah was told by Jeremiah in advance ("This is what the Lord God almighty says") that if he would only surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon that his life would be spared and the city would not be burned down and his family would be spared. He also told him what would happen if he did not surrender. Kevin may have made a point when he suggested that taking off during the night could have been seen as cowardly. Verse 19 says that Zedekiah told Jeremiah he was afraid to surrender because he may be mistreated.
The point is, he did have a choice. Sounds as if he wasn't willing to trust God and he blew it. Sort of reminds me of myself sometimes.....afraid to step out in faith, trying to handle the situation on my own.
Also, remember in class I mentioned a footnote that said Ezekiel had prophesied (Ez 12:13)
that Zedekiah would be brought to Babylon but he would not see it.
Joe does your new chronological Bible give dates for these two prophecies? I was wondering how they overlapped. Had Ezekiel already made this prophecy before Jeremiah or was it after?
Linda
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Politics Politics....
As we were getting ready to close on Sunday, Chellie was wondering about the name changes that were going on. I began to think about that as well as the meaning of names was very important at that time. After Josiah's death the people made Jehoahaz king, but as we discussed he was evil and he only reigned three months as Neco put him in chains. Then the Pharaoh made Eliakim who was also one of Josiah's sons king but changed his name to Jehoiakim. According to my notes, Eliakim meant "God has established" and Jehoiakim meant "Yahweh has established". One theory is that he wanted to use the name change to imply that his actions were sanctioned by Yahweh, the God of Judah which would help to subdue resistance by the people. At any rate, Pharaoh Neco's actions indicated that Jehoiakim was subject to his authority.
Also, I found a footnote that said Eliakim may have been bypassed by the people as king (remember he was older than Jehoahaz) because he favored a pro- Egyptian policy instead of an anti-Egyptian policy like his father Josiah.
So....sounds as if politics once again may have played an important part in history and events.
Linda
Also, I found a footnote that said Eliakim may have been bypassed by the people as king (remember he was older than Jehoahaz) because he favored a pro- Egyptian policy instead of an anti-Egyptian policy like his father Josiah.
So....sounds as if politics once again may have played an important part in history and events.
Linda
Sunday, January 2, 2011
Wow, my first blog post. First of all, Thanks to Linda for the suggestion and to Sara for setting this up for us. I hope everyone has been enjoying Jeremiah and II Kings as much as I have. This blog will be a place for us to continue our Sunday morning discussions on into the week. I know that we all have had the experience of having epiphanies about our SS discussions after we leave church Sunday morning, only to have them get lost amid all the noise we encounter throughout the week and not have the opportunity to share those thoughts with everyone else in the class. It can also provide a forum for those that may not be able to come to class on a regular basis, but want to either keep up or, better yet, participate. So, Welcome and let the SSCC Adult Sunday School blogging begin.
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