Clark

Joined August 2023

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Dedicated to sharing the profound tales of gods, passionate storyteller weaves ancient myths into modern hearts, bridging the divine and the human with each captivating word. 🌟📖🕊️

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What is the Bible? • Where It Came From & What's In It
What is the Bible? The Bible is one of the most influential books in human history. It explores the big questions of why we exist. It's inspired many people to do amazing things. And confused many others. So what is the Bible, actually? Well, the Bible is a small library of books that all emerged out of the history of the people of ancient Israel. And in one sense, they were just like any other ancient civilization, but among them were a long line of individuals called prophets, and they viewed Israel's story as anything but ordinary. They saw it as a central part of what God was doing for all humanity. And these prophets were literary geniuses. Really? Yeah. They expertly crafted the Hebrew language to write epic narratives, very sophisticated poetry. They were masters of metaphor and storytelling, and they leveraged all of this to explore life's most complicated questions about death and life and the human struggle. So there's a lot of different authors writing this book. Yeah. And these texts were produced over a thousand year period starting with Israel's origins in Egypt then leading up to their kingdom with their first temple. But eventually they were conquered by the Babylonians, who took them away into exile. Then at a crucial moment in their history, many Israelites returned to their land. They built a second temple, they reformed their identity, and this is when the Jewish Scriptures begin to be formed into the shape that we have them today. Okay. The Jewish Bible, what's in it? Well, in Hebrew it's called by an acronym: TaNaK. The T stands for Torah, sometimes called the Law. That's Israel's five-book foundation story. The N stands for Nevi'im, the Hebrew word for "prophets." And this section consists of the historical books that tell Israel's story from the prophets' point of view, then you get the poetic books of the prophets themselves. The K stands for Ketuvim, the Hebrew word for "writings." This is a diverse collection of poetic books, wisdom books, and more narrative. And the Jewish people believe that through all of these literary works God speaks to his people. Now there were other Jewish writings being produced during this Second Temple period as well. Yeah, a really diverse group of texts. And these too were highly valued in Jewish communities. And there was debate from ancient times about whether or not some of these should be considered part of their Scriptures. So this is a lot of different writings over a long period of time. Why did they put 'em all together like this? Well, together these texts tell an epic story about how God is working through these people to bring order and beauty out of the chaos of our world. And it all builds up to a hope for a new leader who would come and renew all creation. And then the TaNaK concludes and this leader never comes. So it's an expertly crafted work, but it's missing an ending? That's exactly right. Now, a few centuries later a Jewish prophet comes on to the scene named Jesus of Nazareth. He claimed he was carrying the TaNaK story forward. Yeah, so Jesus did a bunch of cool stuff, was killed, but his followers claimed he was alive from the dead. Yeah. They said that Jesus was that long-awaited leader who would restore the world. And so his earliest followers, called apostles, they composed new literary works about the story of Jesus. They called these good news or the Gospel. They formed an account called Acts about the spread of the Jesus movement outside of Israel, and then they circulated letters to different Jesus communities all around the ancient world. And they saw these writings as part of the Scripture? Yeah, the apostles wrote all of this as the fulfillment of that epic story found in the TaNaK, and they were continuing the literary genius of the Jewish tradition. They also believed that God was speaking to his people through these texts alongside the Scriptures of Israel. So that's the Old and New Testament. But what did the early Christians think of the other Second Temple literature? Well, different groups had different views about some of these books, but we know they read them and valued these texts because they passed them along with the Jewish Scriptures. Okay. So we've got the TaNaK, the Jewish Scriptures. We got these other Second Temple period works, then the writing of the apostles about Jesus. And that's a lot of literature, so what's in my Bible? So the Christian movement has taken different forms over 2,000 years. And from the beginning all Christians recognized the TaNaK and the New Testament as Scripture. And for centuries much of the Second Temple literature was read as part of the biblical tradition. The Catholic Church eventually made it official and called some of the books from this collection the deuterocanonical books. Some Orthodox churches used even more books from this Second Temple literature. And then in the 1500s during the Reformation, Protestant Christians wanted to go back to the oldest writings of the prophets and apostles so they accepted only the Old and New Testaments. Okay. I think I got it. But how does a collection of books produced over a thousand years by all these different authors tell one unified story?
By Clark2 years ago in Education
The Old Testament Summarized
In the beginning, God created the universe and a planet. Early humans were formed in God's image to continue His work, but soon humans decided they wanted to live their way, not God's. Selfishness and violence filled the world. So, God started over with just one family and made a covenant with a man named Abraham. "The land around you is now yours; your family will be my blessing to the entire world." In just a few generations, they grew into a large nation named Israel. The Egyptians became fearful and forced the Israelites to be their slaves. Through a humble leader named Moses, God led the Israelites in a great exodus back toward their promised land. Along the journey, God gave laws and commands to help the Israelites follow His ways. Finally, after 40 years of struggle and complaining in the desert, the Israelites arrived back home in the Promised Land in victory. The people worshiped God, but soon after, they turned from God and lived their own rebellious ways. This pattern continued from generation to generation. Israel's greatest judge was Samuel. He followed God's ways and spoke for God as a prophet. He told Israel that God was the only King they ever needed, but they desired to be like the corrupt nations surrounding them and insisted, "We want a human king who we can see to rule over us just like the other nations." So, Samuel found a man named Saul to be Israel's first king. His reign began well, but before long, Saul stopped following God's ways and made many bad decisions. So, Samuel told Saul, "Because you have turned your back on God, He has rejected you as king." Samuel searched for the next king, which led to a courageous young shepherd boy named David. When David grew up to be king, God blessed him and the Israelites greatly. But David was not perfect; he had an affair with a married woman and committed murder to cover it up. However, deep inside, David always loved God and would return to living in His ways. Known as the poet-warrior, he wrote music to God called Psalms – heartfelt expressions of prayer, struggle, and thankfulness. After many years as king, David gave the throne to his son Solomon. God also told David that one day, one of his descendants would rule with a kingdom that would never end. Solomon succeeded his father David, becoming the richest king in Israel's history. Full of God's wisdom, Solomon wrote books like Proverbs and built a magnificent temple as a permanent tabernacle, reminding people of God's continual presence. But Solomon strayed from God, marrying corrupt wives who led him into worshipping false gods. Civil war broke out, dividing the country into a Northern Kingdom called Israel and a southern kingdom called Judah. Soon, both of these kingdoms were led by corrupt kings who ignored God's ways. During this time, prophets were sent as messengers, calling the Israelites to return to God. They warned of the destructive consequences ahead. The prophet Elijah, a wild and rugged man, challenged false prophets by calling on God to give an awesome display of fire. The prophet Elijah followed him, bringing a boy back to life by causing him to sneeze. These prophets challenged the Israelites and their kings to return to God's better ways, but the Israelites would not listen, distracted in their own rebellion. Other nations swept in and conquered both the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. God's people were forced out of the promised land, and many were taken away to be slaves once again. The temple was destroyed, and the people lost everything. This was a time called the exile, where many of the Israelites, now called Jews, were scattered across different lands. One prophet named Daniel was sent to a city named Babylon. The law demanded that everyone pray only to the king of Babylon, but Daniel prayed to God three times a day. So, Daniel was thrown into a pit of hungry lions, but God closed the mouths of the lions, and Daniel emerged the next morning without a scratch. Though scattered, God was still watching over the Jewish people, and God gave them hope, speaking through the Prophet Jeremiah's words: "I'll make a new covenant with the people of Israel, returning them to the promised land and filling their hearts and minds with my ways." Sixty years later, this hope was realized. The Persian Empire freed the Jewish people to return to their promised land. A small number gathered back in the capital city of Jerusalem, and a new, smaller temple was built under the leadership of Ezra. Reunited, they celebrated and shouted with joy, but the elders wept in remembrance of what was lost. Prophets like Malachi and Isaiah pointed to the future and a coming king, a messiah, one who would fully restore Israel and bring a new kingdom of peace. So, the Jewish people waited and hoped, and God would not speak through the prophets again for 400 years.
By Clark2 years ago in Education
Book of Numbers Summary
The Book of Numbers. This fourth book of the Bible carries forward the story of Israel after their exodus from slavery in Egypt. God had brought them to Mount Sinai and He entered into a covenant with them there, and despite Israel's rebellion, God had graciously provided a way for Israel to live near his holy presence in the tabernacle. So the Book of Numbers begins as Israel wraps up their one-year stay at Mount Sinai and they head out into the wilderness on their way to the land that God promised to Abraham. Now the book's storyline is designed according to the stages of their journey. So the first section begins at Mount Sinai, but then they set out in travel to the wilderness of Paran. And then from there they travel to the plains of Moab, which is right across from the promised land. Now the first part opens with a census where the people are numbered. That's where the book gets its name. And then there are laws about how the tribes of Israel were to be arranged in their camp. So the tabernacle was to be at the center, and then around that the priests and the Levites, and then around them the twelve tribes neatly arranged with Judah at their head. Now this was all an elaborate symbol about how God's holy presence was at the center of their existence as a people. This is all followed by a whole series of laws that developed the purity laws from the book of Leviticus. If God's presence was going to be in their midst, every effort should be made to make the camp pure--a place that welcomes God's holiness. In chapter 10, the cloud of God's presence lifts from the tabernacle and guides Israel away from Sinai out into the wilderness and immediately things go terribly wrong. So in chapter 11 the people start complaining about their hunger and thirst and how they want to go back to Egypt. And then in chapter 12, Moses's own brother and sister began opposing and bad-mouthing him in front of all of the people. This trip is not off to a good start. The next section begins as the Israelites arrived in the desert of Paran--about halfway to the promised land. And God tells Moses to send out the twelve spies, one for each tribe, so they can scout out the Promised Land. So when the spies all return, ten of them say that there is no chance Israel can survive there because the Canaanites will destroy them. But there are two spies, Caleb and Joshua, who say that God can save them but the 10 whip up the people into a fearful rage and they start planning a mutiny! They're going to appoint a new leader and head back to Egypt. So God is understandably angry and Moses intercedes on the people's behalf. He calls God to be faithful to His promises to Abraham. And so God does, but not at the expense of his justice. He gives these Israelites what they want--to not enter the land. And God sentences this generation to wander in the wilderness for forty years until they die. Only their children will get to enter the Promised Land. Now you'd think this severe consequence would wake them up, but it gets even worse. So, in the next story there's a whole group of Levites that began a rebellion and they challenged Moses and Aaron's leadership, saying that they have gone way too far. So God deals severely with these Levites and he renews his commitment to Moses and Aaron as Israel's leaders. Now as they leave the region of Paran and hit the road, it goes downhill yet again. The Israelites start complaining again about their thirst and they ask why Moses even brought them out of Egypt in the first place. So God tells Moses to speak to a rock, to bring out water for all of the people. But Moses doesn't really do this. He oversteps his bounds. He hits the rock twice and then says, "You rebels! Do we have to bring water out of this rock?" So Moses dishonors God by putting himself in God's place as the one who brings out the water. And so Moses brings down on himself the same fate as the wilderness generation. He too will die in the desert and never get to enter the Promised Land. After this the Israelites rebel yet again and God brings a very strange judgment on them. Venomous snakes to come and bite the people. And so Moses again intercedes on behalf of the people and God tells Moses to do this: to make a bronze snake and lift it up on a pole so that whoever looks at this snake would be healed of the poisonous snake bite. It's a very strange symbol, but it speaks to the challenge that God has by being faithful to His covenant. He's right to bring justice on the Israelites' evil. But even God's justice gets transformed into a source of life for those who will look to God for healing. From here the people head into the plains of Moab. The first main part of this section focuses on the strange figure of Balaam. So the king of Moab is freaked out at this huge group of people traveling through his territory, so he hires a pagan sorcerer, Balaam, to pronounce curses on Israel. And three different times Balaam finds that he cannot curse them. He can utter only blessing upon Israel. Remember God's promise to Abraham from Genesis 12. So not only can Balaam not curse Israel, but God actually gives him a vision about a future Israelite king who will one day bring God's justice to all of the nations. This vision recalls Jacob's promise to Judah in Genesis chapter 49. Now it's worth stopping to reflect on the flow of the book so far. The rebellion stories in the wilderness, they just heap up on one another, getting worse and worse. And while God does bring partial acts of judgment on Israel, he's also kept showing mercy, providing food and water along the way. And so the Balaam story, it shows God's grace in bright colors because here's Israel-- they're down on the camp grumbling and rebelling--but up in the hills, unbeknownst to them, God is protecting and even blessing them. And it's this contrast between Israel's rebellion and God's faithfulness in the wilderness that has made these stories so important for later generations of Israel. So the wilderness stories are retold time and again by later biblical prophets and poets and even by the apostles in the New Testament. And these stories always serve as a warning that while God will remain faithful to His covenant promises, he will also allow his people to walk away in rebellion and face the consequences. After this, the rest of the book focuses on the children of the wilderness generation and they begin preparing to inherit the promised land. They take another census of the new generation, then they go on and win a number of battles with the people groups around them and then a few tribes even begin to settle in the Promised Land. So the book ends with the new generation poised to enter into the land and Moses is about to deliver his final words of wisdom and warning. But for now, that's what the book of Numbers is all about.
By Clark2 years ago in Education

Clark

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What is the Bible? • Where It Came From & What's In It

The Old Testament Summarized

Book of Numbers Summary

Stories (3)