Christianity And Disobedience

In the Old Testament, the Israelites were seen as people who failed to listen to God’s commandments. Despite knowing beforehand that they would be punished for their disobedience, they still continued to commit sin. God tried to deter their misbehavior by promising them many blessings, but it worked to no avail. Due to the insubordination of the Israelites, He made sure that the promises He made to them would be withheld and that they would face consequences.

Note that in the commandments concerning how to conduct war, certain tribes are singled out for complete destruction. Starting in verse sixteen, God commands the Israelites to kill everything, men, women, children, and their animals. Also note that in verse eighteen, He gives one of the reasons, “That they teach you not to do after all their abominations, which they have done unto their gods.”

God abundantly showed mercy, patience, and forgiveness with His chosen people, the Israelites, under this covenant; but when His were laws were broken repeatedly and without regard God declared that surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful kingdom and it will be destroyed from the face of the earth” (Amos 9:8). God made clear He would take away good things He provided, pass judgement, and the sinful nation would be destroyed. God’s judgement was fierce and final for those nations that turned away, rebelled, or were wicked and evil (Deuteronomy 29:24-26).

Chapter three of Engaging the Christian Scriptures goes into detail over selective parts of the sections of history, writings, and prophets. Chapter three gives the reader information over several books in the Bible such as Joshua, Judges, Jeremiah, etc. The chapter dives into the text of Joshua and gives the reader useful insight over Joshua and him leading the Israel across the Jordan river to conquer the land of milk and honey, Jericho. The book of Judges purpose was to teach Israel that God is faithful and certain to punish sin therefore each person must remain loyal and devoted to the Lord. The purpose of Jeremiah was to warn of the destruction that they were about to face and to urge Judah to return and submit to God. Towards the end

In addition to the Pentateuch, the Old Testament books of the Deuteronomistic history reveal the theme of God’s faithfulness to his followers. Initial examples are found in the conquest of the Promised Land depicted in the book of Joshua. Throughout the Israelite campaign to oust natives and settle the land, God’s actions demonstrate his faithfulness. In one instance God uses Rahab to hide Israelite spies, while in several other situations he allows the Israelites to defeat its foes. From these actions, it is clear that God remained faithful to his promise with Abraham (to provide his descendents with land). In addition to Joshua, the book of Judges provides an example of God’s faithfulness. Throughout the book, Israel repeatedly is unfaithful to God and is conquered by foreign powers. In response to Israelite cries for help, God repeatedly raises up

He punished them when they were unfaithful because their faithfulness was important to the whole history of the world. Everything depended on it, he said.” In The Book of Ezekiel Question by Question by Corrine L. Carvalho, on page 25 it states “….in fact, nowhere in the book will it state that God ‘loves’ Israel.” The character of Lila, feels she deserved all the painful experiences of her past and that she was not worthy of what God had to offer her. Lila trated herself as if she was going to receive some sort of disapproval. She felt like she was able to connect with the people of Israel in the aspect that they were as lonely as she felt. On page 125 of Marilynne Robinson’s Lila, it states “She was mainly just interested in reading that the people were a desolation and a

At the beginning of time, God created mankind, creatures made in his own image, with whom He could have relationship with. Unfortunately, the original humans, Adam and Eve, shattered this relationship by turning away from God and sinning, putting themselves before Him. All of the descendants of Adam and Eve, mankind itself, have and continue to suffer from the repercussions of this Original Sin. Ever since that time, thousands of years ago, God has been working through human history in order to repair His relationship with Humanity, redeeming them from the effects of sin. His plan of salvation began with a covenant He made with a nomad named Abraham, whose descendants became the nation of Israel. This covenant established the Lord's intentions to bring about redemption for humanity through the nation of Israel. Sadly though, the ancient Israelites time and again were unfaithful to their covenant with God, and would worship the false idols of the nations around them. Because of their sin of apostasy, the nation of Israel eventually split in two, and was then wiped out by foreign invaders, sending in the Hebrew people into exile. It was during this exile that the Prophets, men who would speak on behalf of God, began to predict the coming of the Messiah, an 'anointed one' of

The theological message of Judges revolves around a faithful God and a rebellious people. God, in His faithfulness as Divine Judge, will judge His covenant people Israel after they disregard their covenant obligations and then offer them deliverance once they demonstrate repentance. In spite of her privileged position as God’s chosen people, Israel decided to

Cleverly, Gaines addresses the concerns of change, menace of ignorance and the role of religion in the South during James’s encounter with the preacher and college student in the dentist’s waiting room. Gaines introduces a college student, likewise known as “that boy with that book,” a character foreshadowing the emerging transformation in American society as more people have the opportunity to pursue education (5). Equally important is the preacher. Though his skin color remains conceal, it is infer he is a man of color seeing the office “is where most of the colored people come” (5). In contrast to the student, the preacher represents an earlier generation of Black males that affirms the social norm and exercise religion as a means of peacefully avoiding confrontation. One of the dilemmas facing society is people lack questioning of White authority. Obeying white people is an idea express for an extensive amount of time. In a way, any idea of repulsing suppression is obstruct due to the fear of a developing society. According to the student, everything should be questioned, “every stripe, every star, every words spoken” (5). The student protests against the preacher, “you believe in God because a man told you to believe in God… a white man told you to believe in God... and why… to keep you ignorant so he can keep his feet on your neck” (6). As long as the preacher continues to believe in God, he is indeed a victim to white male suppression. Moreover, the student explains to the preacher, “as long as you listen to what your heart tells

The people was destroying what Abraham was longing for. They was ruthless and didn't care were they came from.

The nation of Israel was set apart as holy to the LORD. But they When the children of Israel demanded a king, they did so to be like the other nations. The first three kings were Saul, (outwardly tall, handsome and strong—a seemingly good choice for a king, but inwardly arrogant, proud and unrepentant—not God’s choice), David (a man after God’s own heart who repented of his sins and as such was God’s choice), and Solomon (the wisest man who ever lived, but because of covenant disobedience became the catalyst for the division and ultimate exile of Israel.

The New Covenant was the hope of Israel. They would have to endure years of bondage and discipline because of their disobedience. Jeremiah wrote, “All your lovers have forgotten you, they do not seek; for I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, with the punishment of a cruel one, because your iniquity is great and your sins are numerous” (Jer. 30: 14). It was not because God wanted to punish Israel, but it was there continued disobedience, as well as their rejection of the Messiah. “The new covenant, foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, explains how God’s people Israel will enjoy the kingdom blessings. It is through a regenerated heart.”

Deuteronomy stresses the theme of obedience. After 38 years of wandering the desert, the people who disobeyed God by not going over to the promised land died. This was the time that God let the new generation cross over in the Promised Land to Canaan. This was the covenant that God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob many years before.

Throughout Israel’s history, they have been oppressed by many of the larger powers in the areas they are in. Take the Israelites interactions with the Egyptians, for example. Generations after Joseph’s death, the Egyptians forgot the reasons why the Israelites were in Egypt in the first place. They took advantage of the large population of the Israelites, oppressing them by forcing them to do manual labor for Pharaoh and implementing a blanket infanticide of their sons to keep the population from growing too large. God then delivered the Israelites from Egypt through the God-directed work of Moses, gradually drawing them closer to Him as He provided for them and showed them His love. This intimate relationship with God is the trademark of a period of prosperity for the Israelites as long as they relied on God. However, once the Israelites become distracted and wandered away spiritually, they consistently saw periods of defeat in battle and oppression by outside sources that consistently end once they return to God and His ways again. It is not until Israel rejects God as their king and puts a human in His place, when Israel sees oppression from both outside and inside sources. The outside sources come from the surrounding peoples, like the Philistines, the Moabites, the Edomites, and so on. The inside oppression, however, stems from the Israelites themselves. This is where Amos, a prophet of God, comes in. Amos is alive after the time of the unified

This chapter starts by briefly mentioning the judge Tola. Tola arose after Abimelech’s death (v. 1). Tola judged Israel for twenty-three years prior to his death (v. 2). Jair was the succeeding judge, and he judged Israel for twenty-two years (v. 3). He apparently had thirty sons who rode on thirty donkeys, and they owned thirty cities named Havoth-Jair in the land of Gilead (v. 4). Jair died, and Israel again relapsed back into idolatry (v. 5-6). God sold them into the hands of the Philistines and the Ammonites for eighteen years for their apostasy (v. 7-9).