Sins of Idolatry, Social Injustice, and Religious Ritualism; the Prophets View

These idols are worthless and cannot compare to the power of God. God has absolute power over everything. “..The sovereignty of God bends his creatures to perform his will.” (Page 23) Youngblood explains that if it is God’s will, it will happen no matter what we think. We as Christians should be encouraged to trust in him and should not rely on our own strengths. Because if it is In God’s will, it will happen and there’s no way to avoid it. Youngblood states “God’s children are not permitted to do anything through their own strength or by means of their own resources to assist in the fulfillment of his promises.” (Page 27)

Justice and equality has always been the chief principles that people have held on to, and throughout time laws have been passed so this could be achieved. Hammurabi’s Code of Law and the Hebrew Covenant Code are two examples of peoples setting up a justice system for themselves. Moses and Hammurabi both impacted their societies, but Moses has the greatest impact for today because of his moral and equal law. The modern world is not one of tough laws and severe penalties, but one that seeks out equality and justice for all, the Hebrew Covenant Code fits perfectly into the laws of modern

This desire to be like others caused the Hebrews to stray away from God’s ideal social structure even though God’s structure was the more perfect one that promoted an efficient allocation of wealth and resources. This straying away from God becomes the main theme of the Bible as we read of many stories that involve God using various means from prophets and punishment to bring His people away from the customs of the world and back to His perfect will for the world. Halteman also stresses the need for a supporting community of faith in order to resist the ways of the secular world.

Throughout history, people have been trying to create an improved, fair, and equal system of justice, not only to better society in which one lives, but to also find a sense of meaning in what responsibilities people should hold within their civilizations in order to create this just way of living. As early as the Old Testament within the Bible, we see examples of how the Hebrews formed their own justice. This can be seen in the in text of the Ten Commandments which were written in a form of law. Laws were significant even in this basic form of context, such as the Ten Commandments, which offered the ideas of right and wrongdoings and the sin for violating others for one’s own benefit. This not only

For Part I of this assignment, you will look up the following passages in the Bible to learn about certain characteristics of God and how they shape the Christian Worldview. This is a brainstorming exercise, in which the listing of ideas is more important than writing. Consider using a bullet list or outline to discuss elements and sub elements.

Genre Report 4 (Prophecy) Name: Directions:Read chapter 21 of Grasping God’s Word. The purpose of this Genre Report is to get you familiarized with the basic elements of prophetic literature. The prophets are God’s attorneys, letting the kings and the people know that they have been unfaithful to their side of the covenant. Usually (though not always) the prophetic message contains three main points: You have broken the covenant.

Throughout the Old Testament, also known as the Hebrew bible, a reoccurring concept that constantly appears time and time again is social justice. The Old Testament initially comes from ancient Israel, where it is actually a group of sacred writings that are more than 2,200 years old (Whybray). The Old Testament writings were written specifically for groups of people during challenging times and was not written to be read as factual history. It may allude to history, but never is it written to describe actual events of the time. By discovering what the Old Testament has to say and understand why it is being said, we can then use it as a guide

God and Moses taught the Hebrews different practices around food and work that would help them live a better and more equal lifestyle. A new food economy was created that taught Hebrews to share with others so that everyone has just enough. This made it so that “no one has too much, and no one goes hungry” (McCormick). A new labor economy was commanded so that everyone knew they were working as free people, not as oppressed slaves like in the typical agrarian life. Each person was entitled to Sabbath rest and were responsible for their own public work. Gleaning was another practice that ensured everyone was being fed, including the poor and landless, by allowing them to collect leftovers and missed food. This reflects a more just society because

The concept explored in Equus with Alan crippling his god took regular idolatry further than most instances. I often associate idolatry with Timothy Keller’s definition of idolatry: “An idol is something that we look to for things that only God can give.” In Equus, Alan’s boyhood experience of Christ’s picture being replaced with the horse altered his psychological state and view of God. Alan’s altered mental state led him to try to replace Christ with Equus. However, rage consumed him when his secular religion revealed a Christian truth: God sees everything. Alan’s frustration manifested in blinding the horses shows a potential outcome of extreme idolatry. This book provided new insight for me into the nature of idolatry. I connected this

The Lord “was with the judge, and delivered them out of the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge” (Judges 2:18). The judge was God’s mouthpiece in which He spoke to His people and gave them the orders by which they could regain His helping hand and be released from the clutches of their enemies. His guidance is needed by the Israelites, and once a judge dies, they lose sight of the one and only God and return to apostasy. Their repeated use of idolatry shows humanity’s rejection of their proper vocation of being made in God’s image. They favor the works of human hands as opposed to the works of His hands, and through these actions are going against God and His image.

The main point of this article is social ethics as it pertains to the prophets, and we must understand what the author means by social justice as he mentions it several times in the section dealing with social ethics. Bratcher means that social justice is the failure to function socially in a way that defends the weak and powerless in

As flawed humans, when we read the New Testament, or any other material, we take the surface meanings of words without taking the time to dig deeper for a true understanding. As students become “increasingly familiar with the texts of the New Testament, they are often surprised at the diversity of the texts, not only in terms of content, but also in terms of the social structures and identities in which the texts are embedded” (Veamcombe, 2012). Without studying the historical period of the New Testament we would have no idea how the social classes were set up. I found it interesting how much bribery was taking place. Gundry (2012) states, “bribery of tax collectors by the rich increased the financial burden on those who were barely scraping

The prophet teachings about social injustice come from Amos. Social injustice is the ill treatment to the vulnerable citizens that God calls us to respect and care for. In Leviticus 19: 3-35, God instructs us about respecting our parents, feeding the poor, paying workers on time, upholding justice, not slandering others, respecting the elderly, and honesty in business dealings. Amos preached the coming of judgment against Israel for oppressing their people. The inequality between the rich and the poor were disgraceful to God’s commands. Amos 5: 14-15 states “Seek good, not evil, that you may live. Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you, just as you say He is. Hate evil, love good; maintain justice in the courts. Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy

When the idol worshipper is questioned as to why he or she bows down to idols created by men, the invariable reply

“Be grateful for small things, big things, and everything in between. Count your blessings, not your problems. - Mandy Hale