Disobedience In The Odyssey

In the Bible and in Greek stories, the price of disobeying a god is either severe punishment or death. In the second source of chapter three, God orders the Pharaoh several times to let the Israelites go free from Egypt. And each time, the Pharaoh does not listen causing increasingly harsh punishments to fall on Egypt. The punishment that makes Pharaoh finally change his mind, is the one that “strikes down every first-born in the land of Egypt, both man and beast” (34). The Pharaoh, finally realizing that he should obey God before any more people (or animals) die, lets the Israelite people go. In the book of the Bible called Jeremiah, God’s wrath is again placed upon those who do not obey. The people of Jerusalem are worshipping other deities,

If the Children of Israel remembered God's promise, it could easily be imagined that they would feel a sense of excitement at its fulfillment. They would jump for joy and look forward to living in the land they had been promised. The Abrahamic Covenant should have affirmed the belief of the Israelites in God. With the promise before them, they should be able to move forward without fear. Instead, the Apostle Paul reminds us in chapter ten of I Corinthians that it was the complete opposite. Specifically in verses six through eleven we see Paul's warning to not behave as they did.

The word freedom is often associated with the idea of an unfettered liberty to select from a range of alternatives coupled with a sense that our actions will not affect our natural state.

Disobedience, Deliverance, Destruction. After the death of Joshua, the men of Judah and Joseph conquered their territory and drove out the Canaanites, being obedient, but all the other tribes did not. This signified a lack of trust in the Lord to fight their battles and was disobedient. Destroying idols was a part of the covenant and most of Israel did not do this and God cursed them. Because they had not destroyed the Canaanites, they would forever be in tension with them. The Israelites repented of their sins, but the curse still was in place. One generation after the death of Joshua did not know the Lord and was disobedient. This also shows that the previous “faithful” generation did not properly teach their children and therefore failed

Since the Israelites did not follow God, they were oppressed by the Midianites for several years, and when the Israelites call out to God because of the Midian, God sent them a prophet, who said, “I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. I snatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors. I drove them from before you, I am the Lord your God; do not worship, or some version says fear, the gods of Amorites, in whose land you live; but you have not listened to me.”

to mature, and, on Odysseus' return, he fulfills his duties, as the son of a hero

God chose to use nations who sinned, had weaknesses, and were flawed to accomplish His purpose. He chose Israel among all the nations of the world to work with. God chose Israel to be a kingdom of priest and a holy nation. In Exodus 19:5-6 God proclaimed to Moses to tell the Israelites: “Now therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.

This was the kind of frustration that Moses and his Aaron have to face in his final days. Moses knew exactly where God wanted them to be, and he makes sure they were doing exactly what God had told them to do. God said, “You wait out here in the desert for a few days while the spies go in and look the land over, and then I am going to lead you in there.”

Through the scripture we can also see the grace of God on the Israelites’ as they repeatedly disobeyed God’s laws, and refused to turn from their sinful behaviors and disobedience, violating their covenant with God. Christ shows great mercy and grace to Israel and it’s only through God’s grace and unconditional love, that He offers reconciliation and restoration. As I continue to understand the importance of unconditional love and God’s

Exod 23:6) and to care for them in order to be blessed (Deut. 24:19). Instead, Israel does the opposite. In 5:1, Yahweh tells Jeremiah to see if he can find one person who is actually doing mishpat, giving the implication that there is not one. As mentioned above, neither the common people nor the leaders know the just requirements of God (5:4-5). They do not plead the case of the fatherless or seek justice for the poor (5:28). Yet, according to Deuteronomy 27:19 a person who withheld justice from them was cursed. Moving into Jeremiah 7, Yahweh declares that if they would only treat each other with mishpat and stop mistreating the alien, orphan, and widow and shedding innocent blood, he would allow them to stay in the land (7:5-6). Sadly this was not to be.

The Israelites were taken from Jerusalem by Egyptian powers, used as slaves and suffered a great deal of pain and injustices, which in turn caused them to break away from their older ideas and adapted a monotheistic view. The Israelites struggled to make sense of their relationship with God considering their lengthy exile and the cruel ways in which they were being handled. Faith is ultimately tested in times of great suffering in the masses. In Deuteronomy, when the Israelites are freed and listening to the words of Moses via God, their history and connection with God as the “chosen ones” reveal the conditions regarding the covenant. “See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse: the blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am commanding you today; and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn away from the way that I am commanding you today, to follow the gods that you have not known.” Deuteronomy gives us a scheme for realizing why they suffered so greatly for they were not actually facing evil but rather punishment – making sure that all are on the same path. This proves how the idea of having explanations for suffering and dealing with them accordingly whilst maintaining faith dates back as far as The Old

God promised the Israelites that he would see them through the Jericho Wall, and finally arrived to the Land of Cannon, with the guidance of Joshua (Joshua 5:13-12:24). Joshua was obedient to the will of God, and being a faithful leader to the Israelites. The Israelites had much faith in God for God lead them through many battles and conquered all the towns they traveled through. Joshua dies at the age of 110, leaving the Israelites without a leader (Judges 2:8). The Israelites asked God “which tribe will go into Cannon and attack the men”, for God answered to them “the tribe of Judah” (Judges 1:1,2). The Israelites generation grew older and younger generation came to be to the point they were totally disobedient to God. The younger generation

I don’t believe that God allowed his announcement of deliverance to bring out the worse life for his people. I believe that it was God’s plan to free the Israelites from Egypt. However, everything is a process. God is God and the God. He knows everything. However, since he gave us our “free will”. We humans also choose if we are going with good or evil. When Moses demands that people be allowed to leave and as result the Israelites were punished even more. It has nothing to Moses doing or God allowing, is humanity who chooses evil over good. God was there to guide Moses so he could guide his people. So, in other words, the real fight is between God and Satan, who wants to take over humanity ever since Adam and Eve open the door to Satan

Throughout the Old Testament God carried out his plan to bring His people back to Him. Often the people of Israel would fall away from their relationship with God by worshipping false Idols such as Baal or by disobeying His commands in general. One of the main ways God got his message of redemption to His people was via prophets, spiritually gifted individuals that God lifted up to communicate His will to the people of Israel. The prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah often were used to call Israel out on their wickedness, and to warn then of God’s coming judgement that would teach them a lesson. It is clear from what the prophets wrote, that God very much intended to wipe the sins of the nation’s away, one way or another. This is a message that still very much applies today, Isaiah and Jeremiah were meant to steer God’s people back to Him and their messages with Christians today are supposed to do the same.

God is slow to anger and He requires holiness to be in His presence; therefore, throughout the Old Testament He wants Israel to value and respect their covenantal relationship with Him. However, it seems like the first chance they get to disobey God they do without hesitation. David T. Lamb writes in his book, God Behaving Badly in Chapter two, ‘Angry or Loving?’, David writes this statement: “ The Exodus pattern seems to generally fit the entire Old Testament: Yahweh delivers them (Israel). They complain. He is patient. They promise to obey. The first opportunity they get, they disobey. Yahweh eventually becomes angry and punishes them”. This is a cyclical pattern between God and his people, Israel. The constant back and forth. Stemming all the way back to even when Lucifer had become jealous and envious of God.