The passage Hebrews 10:32-34 exemplifies the troubling reality of the Christian audience of Hebrews who live in a world that does not “. . . yet see everything in subjection to Christ” (Hebrews 2:8b), or find Christ in control of everything as they believed (Hebrews 2:8). Instead, they live in a world that rejects them, mistreats them, and ridicules them. They are “people of faith who were not vindicated in this life and for whom faith did not mean they escaped suffering and death” (Longman and Garland 51). Does this mean that faith in Christ sometimes fails those in the midst of suffering? Or did Christ fail the audience of Hebrews because they did not see a reality of him completely in control as the author of Hebrews claimed in Hebrews 1? By no means! Faith, as shown in The Letter to the Hebrews, provides those suffering, the endurance to continue “. . . looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. . . “(Hebrews 12:2a), that they may reach the perfection that Jesus …show more content…
deSilva, in his book, The Letter to the Hebrews in Social-Scientific Perspective, offers detailed insight into the social pressures surrounding the audience of Hebrews upon their conversion. deSilva claims the audience lived in a society driven by honor and shame where ones value derived from their acceptance and place in the society; furthermore, “these believers became the target of society’s deviancy-control techniques, most notably shaming, which aimed at coercing the believers to return to a lifestyle that demonstrated their allegiance to the society’s values and commitments” (p.46). An example is noted in Hebrews 10:33-34 when the author asks the audience to recall when they experienced “. . . being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction . . . joyfully accepting the plundering of [their] property.” Therefore, the Christian community the author addresses consists of a community that has been pushed into the margins of society, disgraced, and stripped of their
When analyzing scholar’s interpretations of significant past events, it is crucial to take into consideration the preconceived notions that they may transport into their research. It is also important to consider the time period in which the area of focus took place, in this case, the Holocaust, and the time period in which the historian is conducting his research. After analyzing the many different ways specific academics went about analyzing the roles of the Judenräte, it become extremely transparent that scholars did not agree on many aspects of the Judenräte.
1 Id-According to the Old Testament, what massacre took place shortly after Moses received the 10 Commandments and why did it take place? Briefly list the main events in Moses’ life according to the Old Testament. Do any Egyptian sources confirm the events narrated in the Old Testament?
Life associated with a strictly religious society is challenging, especially when dealing with judgmental and inequality actions shown towards others. In The Chrysalids, John Wyndham demonstrates that certain people are so attached to their religious thoughts and beliefs that they reject other’s opinions, not realizing the flaws of their theories. The society in The Chrysalids blindly resists to these changes by intolerating the abnormality, making the changes more difficult to achieve positive results in the community; thus one needs to embrace the imminent change instead of fearing it. To begin, the act of intolerance is significantly displayed in the society. More specifically,
The Hebrews are a Covenant oriented demographic. Their holy book is the Torah and as defined by God for the Torah there are six Covenants to follow these would include: Abrahamic, Mosaic, Priestly, Davidic, and the New Covenant. The main question pertains to the fact of how faithful were the Hebrews And God to these Covenants. Another thought is to how did these Covenants separate the Hebrews from their surrounding neighbors? Can these covenants be applied to daily life and resound on a personal level in 2016 as well?I firmly believe that the covenants can provide a peace of mind for those that are willing to accept the Scriptures and apply them to be a more ethical and morally sound person.
Therefore, one question remains: how does one endure suffering? How does the author of Hebrews expect a community, which has been ridiculed and rejected to the point they are tempted to abandon Christ, to endure suffering? The author claims that faith is the means by which the community will endure. The author spends the last section of the book of Hebrews (10:32-13:25) exhorting the readers to remain steadfast and faithful amidst their suffering (Thompson 200). A powerful rhetoric occurs in chapter 11 of Hebrews, as the author uses examples of faith and endurance to urge the audience towards faithfulness, beginning with the statement: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1), and thus setting the stage for an exposition depicting people, whom throughout history, remained faithful to God without seeing a world in subjection to Him. F.F. Bruce states that the people listed, in what is often referred to as the
The National Council of Jewish Women has a wide history from the 1890s all the way through 2010. In 1893, Hannah G. Solomon of Chicago was asked to organize the participation of Jewish women in the Chicago World’s Fair. Hannah and her recruits discovered that they would pouring coffee and doing other hostess duties, they decided to walk out and take matters into their own hands. At the end of the World Fair, Hannah and the accompanying delegate body of women founded the National Council of Jewish Women, changing the roles of Jewish Women and the nature of volunteerism.
This week’s reading centered on the social contract between God and the Israelites. The reader, who had grown up familiar with the Exodus, found a much deeper meaning and contextual understanding in this week’s reading. Specifically, the reader’s attention focused on two key aspects: 1) God’s control over nature as the contextual focus, and 2) how Exodus, Deuteronomy and Leviticus set forth blue prints blue prints for a society. Moreover, the reader was previously familiar with the more traditional version of the commandments in Deuteronomy, but found the unfamiliar expression in Leviticus an earthier contrast.
Israelites is located near east and the eastern mediterranean. Including the region’s Greece, Turkey, Iran, Irag, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Saudi, Arabia, and Israel. Israel is located at the eastern end of the mediterranean sea in western Asia. it is bounded to the north by Lebanon, the northeast by syria, the east by Jordan and the west bank, and to the southwest by egypt. The western side of the country is bordered by the mediterranean sea and covers about 170 miles of the countries border. This small country is home to a wide variety of plants, animals and geographic
The Pilgrim Galilee Christian Church Praise Team just finished singing the church happy now it’s time for the announcements. Curtis Bracy, the announcement clerk stepped up to the podium and begins the announcements. I was thinking to myself, I should write the announcements so I will not be clueless when another member what day is a particular event on. Curtis Bracy said the words SUNDAY SCHOOL TEACHERS NEEDED FOR ADULT CLASS, I sat up straight it was like music to my ears. I know what I can do to serve in my church I can be a Sunday School Teacher. He announced members who are interested please speak with the Sunday School Superintendent after morning worship service. I was excited I was going to be a Sunday School Teacher, how hard could it be? I was a member of Toastmaster and I spoke at different functions at different occasions. I already study faithfully and come to Sunday School on a regular basis. I love study the word of God so teaching a Sunday School should not be a problem that’s what I thought.
In the Beginning: At the beginning of the universe. God created heaven and earth in six days and rested on the seventh. During those six days God spoke to the darkness and created the world, brought forth light, created the sky, land and animals and plants to inhabit them. However, even during this creation he was contemplating the creation of a being made in his own image.
Children are a gift from God, in fact, one might say raising a child is the greatest pleasure anyone can have. However, children are often marginalized and considered lesser until they become a young adult. The disenfranchising of children occurred even back in the time of Jesus. One might question, what does God think about children. How does God’s view of children fit within society? This paper will equate the human constructs of modern American and ancient Jewish social hierarchy, specifically how children fit in, and differentiate them from God’s view of children.
Biblical wisdom emphasis is another approach in which one can investigate to see what reigns to be important. Like the wisdom approach, biblical share in the importance of seeking wise counsel. Horton (2009) states that in the biblical approach several areas are important in determining spiritual discernment. These areas consist of decision being determined by the guidelines in the Bible, common sense, individual gifts, God has a plan but do not reveal it, sovereignty of God, and free to make choices (Horton, 2009). One may object to the fact that God would want us to do something but do not give us the tools or clues to do it. God being sovereign is an area that many can agree on. Gill, (2006) states that it is through the sovereignty of God which is presented through the Holy Spirit that allows for us to understand God’s will for our life. Gill (2006) also implement the wheel of life for the coaching process whereas God is at the center. I highly believe that nothing happens without God ordaining it to happen. God is in control of all things. Roman 8:28 states that God works all things together for those who love him and who are called according to his purpose (NIV). Therefore God is in control and guiding us towards his plan or purpose for our lives.
The Old Testament consisted of a set of documentations of religious scriptures, which were written by different people at various times for a different audience. Most of the Old Testament contains short stories of traditional stories and those stories of distinguished ways God established mankind. These stories are often told to the people in narrative form, which are guidelines often referred to as laws, songs, genealogies, and a list from these authors that composed the Old Testaments. The pressing of set documentation is essential because it is the framework for the lives of God 's followers. The term “Old Testament” originated as a means to express spoken traditions and God 's creation of that particular era. It is an method of philosophical investigation was designed to answer the why questions within these spiritual text documentations. These religious documentations consisted of four parts. These four sections retrieved from the Old Testaments are the laws, history, wisdom and prophecy. The laws are a rule of behavior enforced within the community. The rules are sometimes called “Torah.” When analyzing this Torah, these rules viewed within the first five spiritual books of the Bible. For example, in the first Torah in Genesis, it explains the creation, Noah’s Flood, Abraham and Isaac, and Joseph’s coats of many colors. However, the laws in Exodus were in regards to the going out. The going out took about 40 plus years, until the people led to
I learned a lot of facts about Judaism that I had previously been ignorant to. I had no idea that we (Christians & Jews) maintained the same bible (The Old Testament) but that we interpreted certain events differently, such as Adam and Eve. “In Judaism, each and every human being is free to choose good or evil because each person stands before God in the same relationship that Adam and Eve did” (Esposito 77). I was unaware that Judaism did not believe in “original sin.” I had no knowledge of the fact that Jews did not believe that Christ was resurrected from the dead. I found it interesting how Jews have split into separate groups – Reform Jews, who believe that Judaism is a cultural inheritance and that neither the laws nor beliefs are
The Old Testament clearly displays that the Israelites were the “Chosen” people of God and while there are many events that show destruction of other civilizations, conversion was certainly acceptable to Old Testament thinking. Judaism is not a conversion religion, but it is not opposed to taking in those who will obey the laws of the tradition, and worship Yahweh. The attitude of the Bible is that the Israelites had committed many sins, but would always be forgiven by God. This is evident in Isaiah 4:1 which states, “ Israel needs to be comforted and she will receive more from God” (NIV Isaiah 40:1) While Judaism and the doctrines and texts had many violent moments, there were also peaceful resolutions for many of the stories, and within