The Law and the Prophets (and the Kings)

1. The Law and the Prophets(and the Kings)

2. Moses • Moses leads the people out of slavery in Egypt (ten plagues, Angel of Death, doors marked with the blood of the lamb, parting of the Red Sea, etc.) • God provides the people with help in the desert (Manna from the heavens and water from rocks) • Most importantly, God give Moses the Law

3. As Americans, we tend to see freedom as the greatest good and rules as an impediment to freedom.Jews, however, believed in a God who flooded the world, destroyed Sodom and Gemorrah, wiped out pharaoh’s army, etc.So knowing what pisses God off, and how to avoid that, is a blessing.

4. The Law

5. I I am the Lord your God: do not have any other gods before me. • Do not worship other deities. • Do not put anything besides God first in your life (i.e. money, pleasure, drugs, popularity, sex, etc.). • Do not believe anything besides God has divine powers (i.e. astrology, palm readings, tarot cards, etc.)

6. II Do not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain. • God’s name is not a curse, and should not be used in place of one.

7. III Remember to keep holy the Sabbath Day. • Sunday is a day of worship, rest and prayer. • Do no UNNECESSARY work. • Give time for your relationship with God.

8. IV Honor your father and mother. • RESPECT your parents (and just authorities). • OBEY parents. • Care for them.

9. V You shall not kill. • Do not commit murder. • Do not assault/insult. • Suicide.* * Most suicides are insane. • Poverty • Hunger kills about 24,000 people EVERY DAY. (That’s one every 3 seconds, or a 9/11 every 3 hours.)

10. Don’t kill (cont’d) • War • Pacifism: Love your enemy, do good to those who persecute you, forgive 70 x 7 times, if your enemy is hungry, feed him, etc.

11. Just War Theory In order to fight, there must be: • Just cause • Comparative justice • Right intention • Probability of success • Last resort • Proportionality When fighting, you must keep in mind: • Proportionality • Noncombatant immunity

12. Environmental-related deaths • Destruction of Japan’s nuclear disaster, last year’s gulf spill, etc., can bring about large scale deaths. • We extinct about 3 species/day, have destroyed over half of the world’s rainforests. • Recent study suggests ALL cancer is manmade. • Danger of global warming could flood coastal cities, cause Katrina-like storms, destroy ecosystems, etc.

13. Abortion • Abortion kills about 1.3 million people each year in this country, 55-60 million worldwide (as many as WWII did in 6 years). • The heart begins to beat at 21 days, the earliest recorded brain waves are 40 days. • Part of personality is there from conception. • CC sees unborn as the MOST innocent, MOST defenseless, and those who lost the MOST of their lives.

14. VI You shall not commit adultery. • Be faithful to your wife/husband. • You can not fornicate.

15. VII. You shall not steal. • This includes destruction of property, plagiarism, fraud, identity theft, etc.

16. VIII. You shall not bare false witness against your neighbor. • Don’t lie, testify falsely, spread rumors, destroy someone’s reputation.

17. IX. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. X. You shall not covet your neighbor’s goods. • Coveting refers to an extreme jealousy, being willing to do anything to get him/her/it.

18. 603 other laws • Many involve ritual purity, cleanliness, Temple worship, etc., and have not been followed by Christians (or Jews in the case of Temple worship) for millenia. • Many involve basic fairness and morality: lying cheating, stealing, making restitution, etc.

19. There are also many SOCIAL JUSTICE laws, in order to maintain justice for the poor, widows, orphans, slaves, etc. • For example, USURY, lending money with interest, is outlawed. • On the Sabbath Year (7th) debts are forgiven, debt slaves freed, land goes fallow (poor can take what grows). • On the Jubilee Year (50th), debts are forgiven and land is redistributed to the family of original owner.

20. Moses is the first of many Old Testament prophets to speak for God. Major prophets Isaiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Daniel Minor prophets Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah Nahum Habakkuk Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah Malachi The Prophets

21. Amos • Called to be a prophet as a teenager. • Known as the prophet of social justice. • Great defender of the poor.

22. Hosea • Married a temple prostitute. • He loves her, she is repeatedly unfaithful. • His relationship to his wife mirrors the Jewish people’s relationship with Yahweh.

23. Isaiah • This prophet told people they should “beat their swords into plowshares.” • He predicted the Messiah would hail from Galilee, be born of a virgin, suffer, and have someone prepare the way for him

24. The Message of Prophets • Be faithful to their ONE GOD, YAHWEH. • Prophets urge kings not to rely on military strength, foreign alliances, etc. • Prophets take the side of the poor, the widow, the orphan, the oppressed, etc.

25. The Kings • God did not want them to have a king, as God was to be their king. • When the people begged, however, God gave them what they wanted, warning of taxes, enslavement, wars, etc. • The first king was Saul. • Saul lost God’s favor and David, who had killed Goliath, was the next to receive the throne. • Following David was Solomon. The rule of David and Solomon is considered Israel’s Golden Age.

26. The Temple • As God did not want them to have a king, He did not want them to have a Temple, because they should see God as being everywhere. • The people begged and God relented. The Temple was built in Jerusalem under David and Solomon.

27. God’s Promises and the Dynasty of David • God promised David that his kingdom would stay united under Solomon and that his dynasty would last forever. • After Solomon (who was from the So. and oppressed the No.), the kingdom split into two, Israel (No.) and Judah (So.) • The North was conquered in 722 BC by the Assyrians; the South in 586 BC by the Babylonians (who destroyed the Temple). • Each time, many people were exiled.

28. Ezekiel • People lost hope that Israel could ever be restored. • Ezekiel tells them that God could even restore life to “dry bones”.

33. Conquered Again and Again • After the Babylonians were overrun by the Persians (who returned those in exile), Israel had some independence for a time. • The Greeks, led by Alexander the Great, conquered Israel in 333 BC. Around 164 BC, Jews expelled their Greek rulers, celebrated each year at Hannukah.

35. Rome • About a century after the Maccabean revolt, Rome conquers Israel in 63 BC. • They killed Jesus at around 30 AD and destroyed the Second Temple around 70 AD.

37. So what about the promise of a kingship that will last forever? • Does God lie, fail to make good on his promises, or will someone restore the throne of David? • Believing the third, Jews expect a MESSIAH (Cristos in Greek) to restore the throne of David.

38. Better Days • The difference between the traditional expectation of the Messiah and what we got is the time and place of the kingdom: an eternal one in heaven. • WE GOT SO MUCH MORE THAN EXPECTED, BUT SOME REJECTED IT BECAUSE IT WAS UNEXPECTED, UNWORLDLY.