Originally posted by FreakyKBH What's hilarious is how hypocritical you are. Unless you attend a Unitarian or some-such type of church, it is highly doubtful that the appointing elders knew anything whatsoever about your creative view of the Bible. What a hypocrite!
How would you treat this problematic chapter of Nehemiah?
Originally posted by Nemesio How would you treat this problematic chapter of Nehemiah?
Now you're talking. One can only understand Nehemiah within the context of (at minimum) two things: Israel as a theocracy and the state of his nation's retrogression from the same.
Originally posted by FreakyKBH Now you're talking. One can only understand Nehemiah within the context of (at minimum) two things: Israel as a theocracy and the state of his nation's retrogression from the same.
Nehemiah was right to be so strict. The people who came back from the Babylonian captivity to Jerusalem should have been consecrated to God's purpose. Hadn't they learned anything in the seventy year captivity?
The majority of Jews remained scattered. A remnant of dedicated ones cared about God's land, God's city and God's house. In returning to the good land they should have been wary of the things which caused God to uproot them and send them to Babylon for seventy years.
They could have remained in Babylon and had their freedom. But in choosing to return they showed that they intended to be consecrated to God's purpose. It is not all about you and your happy marriage. It is not all about me and you.
it is not always all about how many blessings we can rack up. God has His will to secure a land, and city, a house on the earth for His expression and kingdom.
We are told in the NT to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all things will be added to us. Those return captives should have had a deep sense that it was the foreign spouses who had been instrumental in leading the people away from God.
Incidently, the first thing that they built when the returned to Jerusalem was not the wall. It was the altar. They really had their priorities straight when they first came back. The first thing was the proper worship of God.
The first put the altar in its place before they labored to build the wall for protection.
Nehemiah was instrumental in warming up the cooling off consecration of the remnant of Jews who came back from Babylon to get back on the divine track with God.
Originally posted by FreakyKBH Now you're talking. One can only understand Nehemiah within the context of (at minimum) two things: Israel as a theocracy and the state of his nation's retrogression from the same.
So the norms which God (through Nehemiah) commanded were ephemeral?
Originally posted by twhitehead I have not read Nehemiah but the original poster said:
[b]"We hear in this chapter that he wants racial/religious purity. No intermarrying. No bilingual stuff for children. And he is very adamant about building a wall to protect against outsiders. Plus he slaps around children and even pulls their hair out if they are of mixed marriages."
Was he ...[text shortened]... le must believe in the Jewish God. But I suppose you don't believe in a secular state anyway.[/b]
The mandate not to marry those outside the faith began as far back as Abraham which was long before the nation of Israel existed or even before the the race of people known as Jews existed. It is also supported in the NT when we are admonished not to be unequally yoked. Race has nothing to do with this, rather, it has to do with being spiritually unequally yoked. Also, a theocracy has nothing to do with the issue at hand. That is how I see the matter.
Originally posted by kirksey957 Teaching Sunday school can be rough sometimes. Today's lesson was from the 13 chapter of Nehemiah and the kids really didn't like him. They compared him to Hitler, KKK, etc. We hear in this chapter that he wants racial/religious purity. No intermarrying. No bilingual stuff for children. And he is very adamant about building a wall to protect against ...[text shortened]... s their hair out if they are of mixed marriages.
Should I just stick to Jesus from now on?
Oh YES, children LOVE those happy endings, you know?
Originally posted by whodey The mandate not to marry those outside the faith began as far back as Abraham which was long before the nation of Israel existed or even before the the race of people known as Jews existed.
Originally posted by whodey They married those that shared their faith and oftentimes their had family connections. Albiet distant family connections.
Just checking up...
Do you really believe all humanity came from Adam and Eve, 6k yrs ago?
How about age of the universe and species evolution?
I thought you were more the philosophical guy, chrisitian, but that knew that most of the bible MUST be interpreted and never be taken literally.
Originally posted by serigado Just checking up...
Do you really believe all humanity came from Adam and Eve, 6k yrs ago?
How about age of the universe and species evolution?
I thought you were more the philosophical guy, chrisitian, but that knew that most of the bible MUST be interpreted and never be taken literally.
Of coarse not everything is taken literally. For example, Christ is referred to as the Lamb of God, however, no one in his right mind thinks that he is an actual lamb.
Having said that, I believe the stories in the Bible to be based in truth. In fact, Biblical Archaelogists would back me regarding many stories in the Bible. As far as Genesis, I would say that perhaps the wording was not taken literally enough. That is, the original Hebrew. In fact, ancient scholars of Hebrew and Genesis came to startling conclusions that creation did not occur in a mere six days as seen plainly in the translated KJV. In fact, these conclusions were reached before the advent of modern science that suggested much the same. However, I do believe that mankind began as we know him today when God breathed life into Adam after forming him over the millennia.
22 Oct '07 21:41
Nehemiah
Back to Top