True worship is a dangerous thing because in it we are required to bring our personal failings face-to-face with a holy, righteous, and just God.
God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the Garden of Eden. He didn’t expect them to stray but when the serpent convinced them, sin entered the world. This is the point where human weakness and iniquities started. It is therefore hard for human beings to expect a smooth ride in a religious journey. We acknowledge God as a sinless creator, but since human beings are spiritually weak they are expected to face God with humility but we are faced with many hurdles. To begin with, we are surrounded by neighbors and events that always want us to fit into their actions, once we are in church the society expects us to live up to a perfect standard, so human beings fear to be fully committed to God. We can submit to God but due to our weaknesses we regularly stray due to the society which is evil. Secondly, we are not certain that God will forgive us. If Satan managed to convince Eve, who are we not to be convinced! (Mathew chapter 3)John the Baptist showed the act of humility when it comes to the matters of worship. He condemns the Pharisees and Sadducees as hypocrites. They thought that they understood the scriptures better but john instead told them to repent and be baptized.
David though presented as the greatest king of Israel sinned by killing Uriah and committing adultery. This shows that even God’s chosen can be tempted to sin.
Anderson, B. (2009).The books of the bilble: the Old Testament.Michigan: university of
Michigan Press.
The English Standard Version Bible, (2009). Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. Oxford: Oxford UP.
How is Job’s vulnerability important to the story and do we often misunderstand the ways people feel vulnerable to life’s stresses?
Job is one of the servants of God who passed through many tests but he ends up a winner against Satan. His life motivates us that, though it’s hard to overcome the challenges that Satan often multiply on us, a true Christian can indeed stand his ground. For instant, his wife tells him to insult God and die, his children perish, he succumbs to sickness, his friends disappear but he keeps hope alive. This shows the character of a true believer. (Job chapter 42) shows that despite the fact that Job lost his family, flock and wealth, God multiplied them. He gave him beautiful daughters and he lived enough to see his children and grand children for four generations.
Many people will not endure the challenges Job passed through, they will instead give up on the way and bow to the devil. Our faith is slim and sometimes we fail to see that God allows Satan to tempt us in order to identify those He can well work with.
Human beings think that suffering is brought by sins or being bewitched, but the life of job shows how God instill suffering in His people to pick those who are righteous. He can also allow Satan to challenge you to see your faith.
Barth, C., and Bromiley, G. (1991) .God with us: a theological introduction to the Old
Testament. New York: Wm.B.Eardmans Publishing.
The English Standard Version Bible, (2009). Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. Oxford: Oxford UP.
Identify and evaluate the role of a prophet Discuss the role of the prophet in the Old Testament. What was his or her motivation, authority, and purpose. Give examples and references of styles and emphases?
Prophets in the Old Testament played a vital role. To begin with, God used them as a link between him and his people. Various prophets such as Elijah, Amos and Jeremiah delivered the message God intended to pass to His people. Prophets used to oversee and predict the future. In addtition, they guided people in following the word of God. We see prophet Nehemiah warning people from turning against God.
Prophet Elijah exercised his authority when the Israelites started worshipping idols, by prophesying three and half year’s drought (II kings chapter 7). This was meant to show that God was powerful compared to the gods being worshipped by the Israelites during the time of Ahab and Queen Jezebel. God also used Elijah to show that there is an everlasting life. He didn’t die but after completing his prophetic mission on earth he went to heaven (II kings chapter 11)
Also God used prophet Hosea to show Israelites how they had forsaken Him. God instructed him to marry a prostitute and warned him against divorcing her (Hosea chapter 2). This showed how God loved the Israelites despite their evil ways.
God used prophet Jeremiah to show that a leader can come from any age group (Jeremiah chapter 7). It further shows that even if one does not have confidence, God will always give him words to speak and courage to face the crowd (Jeremiah chapter 8)
During the time of Nehemiah, people were worshipping idols. God used him to build the Jerusalem wall to separate the wicked from the righteous. Nehemiah could build the wall during the day but the wicked could come at night and destroy but he persevered (Nehemiah chapter 4)
God used prophet Amos to show that He can speak to His people through visions. Amos saw five visions, a time when the Israelites had stopped worshipping idols(Amos chapter7).These included a plumbline,locust swarms, a branch of almond tree, a basket of summer fruit(Amos chapter 8)
Loken, P. (2010).The Old Testament prophetic books: an introduction.Canada: Press.
The English Standard Version Bible, (2009). Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. Oxford: Oxford UP.
Truths about worship
God expects a person to be righteous, which is why He requires people to constantly seek his guidance. More often people stray from His teachings which prompts us to humbly submit to God for protection and forgiveness. During worship people should pray, fast with humility. We are naked before God; He therefore needs us to surrender ourselves without hiding anything. As a true worshipper you must rebuke and condemn the devil without fear because that is the only way one can defeat the devil.
Amos chapter 9 shows that God is the only true Lord and He is the only one to be worshipped. It further says that whoever worships another god will be punished.
The book of Jeremiah chapter 1 says that God was going to pass judgment to the people of the northern kingdom of Israel because they had stopped worshipping Him. God used Jeremiah to pass this message.
Hosea chapter 3 says that though people’s sins are compared to a harlot god is merciful enough to forgive us. God used Gomer the wife of Hosea to signify the character of human beings.
Hosea’s example teaches us about perseverance. That though the sins of others are too much we should accept them and teach them the right ways. As a sinner I am encouraged to always seek god because He is merciful. The book of Jeremiah also gives us hope, because in it we find the idea that Goad knew us even before we were conceived and even if we are not sure about our mission he will give us words to speak and guide us whenever we need Him. The book of Isaiah chapter 2 teaches us that God is the only one to be worshipped. As a sinner I have known the values of a true Christian. I have also learnt that there is judgment for all regardless of the degree of sins. I must always be close to God because He is the only one to be worshipped.
Vang, P. (2006).Telling God`s story: the biblical narrative from beginning to end.Chicago: B
and H Publishing Group.
The English Standard Version Bible, (2009). Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. Oxford: Oxford UP.
Prophet
Evaluate prophecy as drama Identify and describe the unique ways God used Hosea as a prophet to make His message clear to the people of Israel. How would you react to such a message?
Prophecy is viewed as fiction than facts. In all the incidences of prophecy in the Bible people don’t take the prophets’ message seriously. They knew this people as ordinary. Take example of John the Baptist who prophesied about the coming of the Messiah. People knew him as a humble person who wore animal skin and ate locusts but never realized that his message was true.Hosea chapter 1 shows that Hosea was instructed by God to take Gomer who bore him three children whose names carried messages about the people of Israel. It was hard for Hosea to Accept Gomer back after she committed adultery but God forced him to take her back. This scenario reflects the life of Israelite. Despite their evil ways God was willing to accept them back. This was during the reign of king Hezekiah, Ahaz, Jotham and Uzziah.During this time idolatry had taken root inJudah.God used Hosea to Pass a message to the people of Israel that He loves them despite their wickedness.
Given that I am an ordinary person with ordinary mind I might fail to interpret the meaning of God’s actions. It is hard to accept a harlot as a wife. When I Imagine the number of men an harlot sleeps with I lose my mind. It is unimaginable that God whom we expect not to tolerate any sin could one day dream to force us to accept sinners in our lives. I will be much disturbed to live with someone who has betrayed me, not once, not twice but several times.
Walton, J., Hill, A. (2010).A survey of the Old Testament.USA: Zondervan.
The English Standard Version Bible, (2009). Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. Oxford: Oxford UP.
Prophet’s ministry
Analyze a prophet’s ministry. Analyze the ministry of Amos: his call, audience, methodology, and message.
A prophet is a servant of god chosen by God to deliver a certain message to His people. Prophets are drawn from the ordinary people and in most cases familiar to the crowd God intends to pass the message to. They are hated in their homes because in most cases God uses them to denounce and condemn their evil deeds. It is a challenge to be a prophet because one should pass through many temptations which include persecution, rejection from the people and temptations from Satan.
Amos was one of the prophets God used to deliver His message to the people of Israel. His call came during the reign of king Uzziah of Judah and Jeroboam who was the son of Joash.During this time Amos was a sheep breeder of Tekoa. (Amos chapter 1).God told Amos that He had seen transgression in Israel and if they will not repent he will turn against him. He was called to prophesy to the people of Israel about the judgment which God was going to pass to them.
God send him a message through visions. (Amos chapter 7) he saw a swarm of locust which could destroy the crops to leave the Israelites with absolutely nothing to eat. Amos also saw fire which could consume the whole territory. Fire simplified the form of punishment God would execute to the Israelites. He saw a plumb line to measure the righteousness of Israelites. Amos chapter 8) he saw a basket of summer fruits which simplified the end of Israelites. It showed that God had run out of patient and their sins were ripe like the ripe fruits.
Barth, C., and Bromiley, G. (1991) .God with us: a theological introduction to the Old
Testament. New York: Wm.B.Eardmans Publishing.
The English Standard Version Bible, (2009). Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. Oxford: Oxford UP.
