What Happened In Verses 11-13

Yet only in Matthew does Peter have a role in the story. Upon seeing Jesus on the water, he calls out, "'Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water'"(Mt. 14.28). He almost succeeds, yet he suddenly gives in to fear and begins sinking. Jesus scolds him by saying, " 'You of little faith, why do you doubt?'"(14.31). This draws a strange picture of Peter. He no longer simply listens to Jesus, but tries to become actively involved in his teacher's lessons. This idea is again shown in Matthew 15.15. After the parable of the blind leading the blind, Peter asks, " "Explain this parable to us." Jesus replies with a rather impatient remark, but dives a little further into the meaning. He often comes to Jesus with questions throughout Matthew and these questions always ask for clear definitions of stories or truths about some spiritual detail. Many times Jesus snaps a little at him, but Peter obviously is not swayed by any impatience his teacher bestows. This seems to paint a closer relationship between the two men, where Peter is not afraid of Jesus and Jesus is not simply polite to Peter, as teachers tend to be. Jesus' obvious favoritism of Peter, shown in the transfiguration and throughout the gospel, leads one to believe that the two are indeed close friends with trust and mutual respect, which allows them to be freer with their words to one another. Friends tend to be less polite and more open with

Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek. The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield. When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did Hashem let us get defeat ? Let us bring the ark of Hasham covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us  of our enemies.”

During Hezekiah’s reign, he joined in a rebellion against king Sargon of Assyria, but the alliance suffered defeat (Wilcox, 2014). Fast forward, and king Sargon had died leaving the throne to his son Sennacherib, this transition provided the opportunity for another revolt against the Assyrians. Moreover, both the Egyptians and Babylonians requested Hezekiah’s support in the forthcoming rebellion. Meanwhile, the prophet Isiah warned against joining either kingdom in the insurgency, but Hezekiah disregarded Isiah’s counsel.

In the book, Dawn, Elisha is trying to decide if he wants to shoot Captain Dawson or not. One side of his mind is telling him to not become a murderer, yet the other side is saying that he needs to shoot because he is their enemy. Elisha starts seeing people from his past, like his mom, dad, and his youth self, yet they are dead. Elisha must chose whether to kill John Dawson or not and all the people from his past is there to watch him.

The idea of God being that “unmoved mover” is an idea that has always been in the back of my mind, but I also don’t believe that God can be explained in logical and rational ways. As humans, we are asked to trust, whether we understand or not, and that is where the faith comes in. As Kierkegaard said, “The ‘inwardness’ of the experience requires a ‘leap of faith’.”

Peter’s life as a disciple of Jesus could be characterized best by his own personal story of coming to Jesus on the Sea of Galilee. At times he would say and do things that had him “walking on water” or “sinking in the waves”. By this I mean that Peter would one minute be doing something that required profound faith and the next minute forget everything and sink in the waves of everyday life. We can look no further than the very instance of when Peter walked on water in Matthew 16:30 to see this contrast of the summation that is Peter’s life. In Matthew 16:30 we see

"Jesus sends his disciples over the Sea of Galilee in a boat while he remains behind to pray. The disciples are battling at the paddles against a solid headwind when they see Jesus strolling on the water, endeavoring to go by them. They think they are seeing a ghost and shout out, at which time Jesus quiets them and gets into the boat. The winds all of a sudden stop." (Martin 106) Matthew's rendition is substantially more intricate as in he transformed it into a greater degree of a story, only for impact. He depicts the vessel as being "battered by the storm," rather than only a solid head wind. At that point Matthew includes an altogether new story. After the disciples find that they are looking at Jesus himself, not a phantom, Peter makes a request to be permitted to come to Jesus on the water. Jesus says, "Come." But once Peter is out of the vessel, he ends up noticeably frightened and starts to sink. He cries, "Jesus, spare me!" Jesus pulls him up, however decries him, "You of little confidence, for what reason did you question?" They both get into the boat, and the winds stops." (Martin 106) Finally, Matthew closes his entry obviously and compactly with the pupils maintaining their conviction, dissimilar to Mark who left the gathering of people

However, their understanding of Jesus and his teachings wasn't very good. They understood neither the amazing powers Jesus possessed nor the wonders he could perform. Even though he "would explain everything to them", in situations such as The Calming of the Storm and when Jesus walked on water, they just didn't have the strength to believe or the depth to understand. When the boat was filling with water in the Calming of the Storm (Mark 4:35-41), the disciples awoke Jesus to say, "Teacher, don't you care that we are about to die?", Jesus said back to his disciples "Why are you frightened? Have you still no faith?"

Well known Apostle and Evangelist, Matthew of Galilee, records a parable told by Christ in Chapter 13:24-30 in the Gospel of Matthew. Christ expresses through his story that people will often bring negativity into your life to purposely cause you pain and suffering. Although the negativity can easily become a heavy burden on your life, sometimes it is best to let it stay, as God will later set you free from the weight on your shoulders. Matthew’s purpose for recording this parable is to relay the message of Christ that although there will be evil in everything around you, you shouldn’t take getting rid of it into your own hands. A lot of times, humans will turn to revenge, hate, and even torture to ease the pain caused by those around them.

The book of Obadiah has two major themes the first of judgement on Edom, and the second of Israel’s deliverance. The book begins by explaining the vision given to Obadiah about the nation of Edom. Because of their despicable treatment of Israel the kingdom of Edom was to be completely destroyed. Throughout Israel’s troubled times Edom sought to profit from their demise. When Israel’s enemies attacked and threatened to destroy them completely they begged for help from Edom. Rather than fighting with Israel, Edom decided to fight against them going so far as to wait along the roads for those running from the fight to capture them. (verse 14) Edom’s arrogance and sin could not be overlooked any longer and according to the prophecy they would

family is notorious for adhering to. When Elisha says, “What do we have to do with each other?” he is using the same expression in its original translation that is used in 2 Samuel 16:10 when King David rebukes Abishai. Considering the practices of the ancient monarchy’s power at the time, coupled with Joram’s regnal formula in verse two of “doing evil,” it would not be surprising if Joram would have assumed the right to kill Elisha for his blatant apostasy.

The Shephelah is an interesting parcel of land in regards to tactical defensibility. Moreover, the Shephelah and Judean Plateau is separated by a basin that limited access to Judah (Tullock, & McEntire, 2012). In fact, the Valleys of Sorek, Azekah, and Elah tight and steep ravines create a treacherous environment for potential threats. However, the Valley of Aijalon was the most traversed allowing Judah’ armies to concentrate on this entrance to their kingdom. The reason this provides such a tactical advantage is that when allowed to focus on less entry and exits points, greater resources are available for a singular defensible point.

Because they won’t return to Yahweh, they will return to Egypt. The people of Israel, as God’s chosen people, had previously experienced deliverance from bondage and slavery in Egypt. Yahweh made bare His mighty hand and set His people free. Hosea 11 speaks of a return to Egypt. Lumburg suggests this has a double meaning, with a portion of the Israelite people geographically shifting to the land of Egypt as a result of Assyrian conquests.

Ezekiel 38 describes an invasion from the North led by Gog upon a regathered Israel before her national conversion at the 2nd Coming of Christ.

In Acts 7:22, it is said that “Moses was educated in all the learning of the Egyptians…”. Yet, it can be pointed out that Moses did not incorporate the pagan medical practices of the Egyptians (or of any other nation) into the Pentateuch. Instead, the Israelites were a unique nation, and were light years ahead of other civilizations of that time and even many years to follow in regard to their public health and personal hygiene knowledge. Here are a few examples of their health laws: Leviticus 11:9-12 – Could only eat fish those water animals that had fins and scales. Leviticus 13:11, 31 – Quarantine for leprosy.