Month: December 2017

Themes of the Bible

Symbol of a Lamp

David was a man after God’s own heart and a faithful follower of the Lord. David did good in the eyes of the Lord, and even though he made mistakes God stilled loved him. God used the symbol of a lamp to show that the promised Messiah, the light of the world was to come from David’s line.The lamp would never stop burning because the promised Messiah had not yet come. God used a lamp because in Bible times a lamp was the only source of light for the people of Israel. A flashlight is another good symbol to demonstrate a light in the darkness. A good flashlight guarantees the ability to see in the darkness and is a good reminder of the light of the world shining through the dark.
What I learned from this story is that God is patient. I learned that God is patient because David’s line had some lousy kings who made some pretty dumb decisions. God couldn’t just wipe out that line of Kings because his son, the light of the world was coming through Davids line.

 

Something is rotten 

Israel had one lousy king after another. They were worshiping other gods and did evil in the eyes of the Lord. God saw the wrong in Israel and sent Elijah the prophet to try to make things straight. Baal, the god the Israelites worshiped, was the god of rain. God “took” Baal’s power and would not provide dew or rain. Elijah then asked the people who are you worshiping? How long will you waver between two gods? The people were silent. Elijah challenged the Israelite’s Baal to see which god would set fire to the altar. Elijah made sure that his altar was covered completely in water, was soaked until it had a trench of water filled around the altar itself. The Israelites tried to get their altar to start a fire but their “god” did not answer. Elijah then prayed and the lightning of the Lord cracked! The skies open and the altar lit on fire. Just like Elijah, God will put you into a different culture to make a difference. Something that reminds me of this story is the fact that right now I’m planning on going to Zeeland West. I am planning on going to west not only because it’s closer but so that I can make a difference in my community. Something I learned is that we need t remember is that when God puts you in a certain culture or situation, people are going to ignore your light and not change after seeing it.

 

Slide to destruction

Israel and Judah didn’t have good kings. Israel had one good king and Judah had two. The rest of the kings worshiped Baal. The punishment that the Israelites got was that Assyria scattered them. Judah consequence was that Babylon took them over. The Kings didn’t focus on God, instead, they focused on their own popularity and their own power. With this story, we can learn that we need to listen to the prophets in our own life whether that is a friend, music or reading the bible itself, listen and be aware because there are consequences for doing it your way and not God’s. I think that a phone is a perfect example of this. Although a phone is not asking for popularity it sure is our slide to destruction. It’s helping us fill our lives with something other than God. I learned that we need to do things God’s way and with his timing.  

Names

God gives and changes names based on their meaning. God has names of his own. His first name Elohim meaning creator demonstrates his creation and his power to make it. His second name Yahweh means relationship. God wants a relationship with us and his name shows that. A good example of names is interlocking hands. Yahweh means that God wants a relationship with us and is holding our hand every step of the way. What I’ve learned is that names show a persons character and personality.

 

Covenant

In the bible something that seems to come up a lot is covenants. Covenants are agreements between two parties. In the Bible there are many covenants, some having to do with us taking care of his creation others, following the ten commandments. There are two different kinds of covenants one is conditional and the other unconditional. A conditional Covenant is a covenant with conditions. In other words, both parties have requirements. There is also an unconditional covenant which one party has requirements or keeps there promise no matter what, just like God. If you obey and follow the covenant’s conditions you will receive blessings. If you disobey there will be consequences. Something that reminds me of a promise and something that is used in the bible is a rainbow. A rainbow came after the flood. It was Gods way of telling Noah that he will never flood the whole earth again, God’s covenant with us. I learned that there are two different types of covenants not just one type of agreement made between people.

 

Slavery/Salvation

Joseph and Moses both had some issues in there life. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brother and Moses was placed into the Nile river, his family hoping he would not be killed by Pharoah. God put them through this for a reason. God saw a good opportunity for good to come from bad. Now, look at what Joseph did for Egypt and so many other countries when he helped save food for the famine. And Moses led Israel out of Egypt and into God’s promised land. God proclaimed “I am who I am”. That means that he is demonstrating himself to his people and reveals that he is alive. In this case, he demonstrated himself to Joseph and Moses. God shows himself in many different ways, not only prayer and scripture. This time he showed himself through the difficulty and problems, by making them good. Something that helps reminds me of these stories is Josephs coat of many colors and how his brothers sold him into slavery and lied to their father. I learned that good can come from bad and that God has a special plan for you.

Topic-Salute to a King

The Israelites kept on going through a cycle of actions after they got to the promised land. First, things were going well until they signed. Then enemies attacked. Next, they cried to God and he sent a judge to set things straight. Everyone did as they saw fit. That when Isreal wanted a King so they could be like other countries. A good symbol now today would be money. Money is a good symbol because that is something that culture want and for some people measures value or success. Sure lots of money could be useful at times but does God think that measures our value? I learned that in these situations we need no ask ourselves: “Is it something that  culture thinks we need or God thinks we need?”

Topic-Call

In the bible we here of God showing himself to people asking them to follow his calling. God called Abraham and Sarah to be parents of a great nation. Although sometimes it may be hard to trust Gods call, like Abraham and Sarah, we can be sure that he has chosen you for a reason. Sometimes Abraham and Sarah tried to control the situation when they doubted God’s call. But in the end, God still kept his promise. Now, God doesn’t just appear to us in a burning bush but through scripture prayer and sometimes other people. Knowing this we need to be sure we are listening for God’s call in our life. We also need to understand that it won’t be easy. Something to help us remember that we need to listen for God’s call is a phone. A phone is reminding us of the call. Also that we need to get off of our phones if that’s what it takes to hear Gods call.