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Bible Questions and Spiritual Discussion
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Book of Jerimiah
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Ok, this is my first time going through the Bible with DAB and were in the thick of Jerimiah. I'm not sure what to make of this book. What are we supposed to get from it today?
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Jon Grabbe 10/19/2011 23:49 |
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susanst53
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10/20/2011 01:12 |
Jeremiah is tough. Takes a few 'refreshing' listening. What I get from Jeremiah is the lineage from David to Christ and the promise of God's convenanting with us. I see this book of the Bible as a 'bridge' from old to new testament - kind of tying the past and presenting the future. Real clues of the coming of Christ. David Wayne Lackey does the devotional forums here - if he doesn't comment, I recommend you message him and get his take on this. AND, btw, Welcome to your first year with the DAB! I remember mine - You are in the right place, I am glad you were led here. I've been listening since 2008 - march 29th to be exact. It will be a journey of discovery. Welcome to the family Jon!
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Ray
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10/20/2011 10:35 |
I've been reading this book recently about the things that bother people about the faith:
http://www.amazon.com/What-Bothers-about-Christianity-ebook/dp/B002AKPEKY
I don't think it is a great book, but there have been expressions in it that I like very much. I started reading it in my studies to prepare for outreach, which is exactly the point of the book. Christianity bugs many people, and part of that is the fault of the behavior of those who use the name. I don't have the book with me, so I can't quote it, but the particular bug I think of here is the difference between the "big, bad, punishing" God and the "God is love" character in the NT. It's not an easy topic, but I think the author takes the approach that he does not have all the answers, but proposes some ideas to consider. One of the things he points out is that Jesus changed things here on earth, but the character of God has not changed at all. He loved all people, even in the midst of the destruction that He allows. Jer 33:8 "I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me." It doesn't seem to be anything different from most of the events of the OT. Our nastiness continues to a tipping point and God does not allow it beyond that point before he cleans house (Noah/flood Egypt/plagues, on and on). His love saves us from ourselves. "7 I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before."
I love the freedom reference. "You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom to your own people. So I now proclaim ‘freedom’ for you, declares the LORD—‘freedom’ to fall by the sword, plague and famine." I love it because of the character of God in the NT. Gal 5:1. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."
What Gungor states about the cut over is that in the OT, the cleansing needed to be physical. Jesus changed it all and the cleansing is in our hearts. Sometimes that's harder to do and is not what we want to do. We want to blow the evil up physically. Turns out the physical plays a part, too, but the battle is won via love. Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Bell's "Love Wins" took a big hit wrt the question on the outcome of judgement, but the more I think about the book is really not about that. It's more about your question here (I assume you are asking about the OT/NT God disconnect). How is it that the OT bully and the NT lover are one in the same? Bell asks about that, too, and proposes that the love that has been shown us is the only thing that matters and we must move from that place no matter what. What we do matters in the war effort.
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