¶ … Legal interpretation and influence of God's interactions
With his people in the book of Exodus
As Moses led the children of Israel across the desert into the Promised Land, he had earned the position of leader, and head law giver for the entire nation. Moses had stood before pharaoh, and with God's help, delivered millions of people from slavery into freedom. Now, as they left Sinai with a list of commandments, as well as traditions and customs, handed down to them from god himself, the children if Israel faced a long transformation. They had to build a new collective identity. The Israelites needed to become a people with a sense of self-governance, after spending 400 years in Egypt as slaves during which their every move was dictated for them.
The transformation required an entirely new mindset, and the process would not be easy. (Lewin, 1951) Rather than looking for an authority over them to direct their actions, choices, and establish their personal purpose, they were saddled with the task of developing these identities, and an organizational culture all their own. The process was bound to create turmoil in the camp, and as their leader Moses faced one of the most subtle yet powerful personal transitions which would affect the next 40 years of his leadership career.
Moses, the lawgiver, judge and leader had to become Moses, the delegator, administrator, and leader. Sometimes when God appears to his people, he does so from a fiery mountain. Sometimes he comes in the power of plagues. Yet, at other times, God deals with his people in the form of wise counsel and guidance from a trusted friend. In this case of Moses and Israel's cultural transformation, God choose to use the latter method. The story is recorded in Exodus 18. Moses had finished giving the law to the people, and was engaged in training them to follow the law, while still maintaining his...
This again stresses that God's love has nothing to do with Israel's attractiveness and everything to do with God's grace. "Kept the oath" (v. 8). God's love is faithful. We should not be surprised that God chose Israel in its weakness. This is exactly what God did in Genesis 12:1-3. The promise of children and a land made to an old, childless couple seemed impossible. Yet they conceived, and the
These Gods subjugated humans in a way that never happened in other primitive river-valley cultures yet seemed to follow a political will as the concept evolved. This finally culminates in the marriage between the God of Above, Nergal, lord of Summer, Growth and Heat; and the Goodness of the Below, Ereshkigal, queen of the underworld, Winter, the Cold, and of Death. We now have opposites, attracted, and yet polarized
Life and Death: The Life Support Dilemma by Kenneth E. Schemmer M.D Kenneth Schemmer in his thorough, thought provoking book brings to life the controversial subject of the life support issue. For years, many all over the country have pondered, "What if a person were in some kind of an accident and the physicians told them that they were not going to make it?" And all that he or she
The first five books were separated from the whole about 400 B.C. As the Pentateuch. Jean Astruc in the eighteenth century noted that the Pentateuch is based on even earlier sources. The two chief sources have since been identified in Genesis on the basis of their respective uses of Yahweh or Elohim in referring to the deity. They are called J. For the Jehovistic or Yahwistic source and E.
The divisions were as such: 1. The highest class amongst the slave was of the slave minister; he was responsible for most of the slave transactions or trades and was also allowed to have posts on the government offices locally and on the provincial level. 2. This was followed by the class of temple slaves; this class of slaves was normally employed in the religious organizations usually as janitors and caretakers
She answered that no one had condemned her. Jesus then said to her, "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin" (John 8:11). Because the woman was not stoned in the end, many interpret it to mean that Jesus changed Mosaic law and then this argument is extended to capital punishment in general. However, Jesus still left the opportunity for her to
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