Zechariah Essay

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.

Judaism is the religion and culture of the Jewish people. The word “Judaism” derives from the Greek Ioudaismos, a term first used in the Intertestamental Period by Greek-speaking Jews to distinguish their religion from Hellenism. The unifying principles of Judaism are an identity by covenant with God as His “chosen

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.

The book Ishmael, which was written by Daniel Quinn, is an adventure for the human mind and for society as a whole. Throughout the book Quinn explores many factual scientific principals, but the intent of the book is not to give one a lecture on science. The intentions of Quinn are to discuss and examine the beginnings and also the history of our ecologically dominating culture in which we live in. In this book, Ishmael is a telepathic, highly educated gorilla who explores with his fifth pupil the stories of the Takers and the Leavers. The Takers is a society in which man has freed himself from living day to day, through this wondering if he will be able to find food tomorrow. Takers believe that through technology they can

The Shepherd (10:11–18). “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. The hired hand is not the shepherd who owns the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. ‘I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it

Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael is the story of one man’s quest for knowledge and his desire to “save the world”. Answering a simple ad in the paper of a teacher looking for students (p4), the narrator is sent on an incredible philosophical journey. The teacher our narrator expects is not that which he finds, however, as our titular character Ishmael, so aptly named by Walter Sokolow (p18) as he sensed the gorilla’s almost divine presence, is that teacher. This teaching is made possible by Ishmael’s miraculous telepathic way of communication (p21).

On the other hand Nowrasteh defended that the E.U. problem is an issue of segregating refugees. Immigrants are unlikely to find employment and in some countries like Germany they are not even allowed to travel outside their assigned geographical area. This limitation makes it harder to find jobs. When it comes to the U.S., Nowrasteh adds, the government is incapable of enforcing sound immigration policy and the best way to deal with the issue is to encourage legal immigration. According to Nowrasteh, research has shown that the demand to come to the U.S. unlawfully decreases when the country encourages legal immigration. He concludes “politicians should have little to do with decision making in immigration if we need to resolve the issue.”

In his book God Behaving Badly David Lamb examines difficult texts in the Old Testament and tries to answer the hard questions that arise from those readings. In my own examination of Lamb’s God Behaving Badly I will look at a few of the- questions and difficult texts that I found most interesting. Specifically, I will examine Lamb’s response to God 's anger, apparent lack of concern for race and genocide, and violence in the Old Testament, and I will offer my own response.

The Holocaust of 1933-1945, was the systematic killing of millions of European Jews by the National Socialist German Worker’s Party (Nazis) (Webster, 430). This project showed the treacherous treatment towards all Jews of that era. Though many fought against this horrific genocide, the officials had already determined in their minds to exterminate the Jews. Thus, the Holocaust was a malicious movement that broke up many homes, brought immense despair, and congregated great discrimination. The Holocaust was an act of Hell on earth.

Zechariah: 1-5 the Lord will destroy the enemy of Israel. Those who are opposed to Israel are always opposed to God. Israel is considered the church, so that means God is opposed to those who are opposed to the church. God loves Israel the physical and spiritual Israel. God will always fight for her. When God stretches out His hand and shakes the nations, it is in the utmost wrath. The only time that the worldly people will serve the people of God, is when Jesus reigns as King, and His people as His subordinates. God had saved Israel from out of the fire of captivity in Babylon. Satan tries to remind God of the sins. Jesus paid

As the company of the LORD as shepherd is presented, it is then obvious that the followers of the LORD are His sheep. An exclusive attribute of sheep is that because of their structure it is almost impossible for them to be made to lie down unless the following necessities are satisfied: to be free of all types of fear, to be free of hostility with others, to be free from all nuisances, and to be free from hunger. As the end of verse one affirmed “I shall not want,” verse two shows that every obligation needed to be taken care of is met by the shepherd.

Zoroastrianism is a religion founded by a priest named Zarathustra Spitma or Zoroaster far back in the 1200BCE, with the principle belief of an almighty God or “the One” Ahura Mazda and the context of a cosmic battle between the good and evil forces.

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

I find all the prophet’s messages meaningful but, I like Zephaniah message the most. Zephaniah message is worthwhile because it talks about the day God comes back “The Great Judgment Day of God”. The “Great judgment Day of God” is also known as the “Day of the Lord” and is payday. I see it as the day you will have to pay the consequences for not listening to your father. For those who has not follow God’s commandants that day is dark and frightening. Zephaniah message consists of the Day of the Lord, Nations warned of coming judgment, and God’s people restored.

In its most basic definition, biblical hermeneutics refers to the art and science of biblical interpretation. It is considered an art because understanding, which is required for interpretation, requires a feel for the subject matter being interpreted, not just an analyzation of data. Biblical hermeneutics is also considered a science due to the fact that some aspects of the interpretation process resemble the activities of natural science. Because of this dual nature of hermeneutics, it is almost impossible for an interpreter to arrive at a neutral conclusion. Good or bad, most biblical interpreters translate scripture based upon