Posts Tagged 'Old Testament'

Here is a test – does the subject line above strike you as intriguing or uninteresting?  Well, believe it or not, if you identify yourself as either Jewish or Christian, you should find it interesting.  Monotheism and monolatry both have to do with how the people of the Old Testament / Hebrew Bible (and also today) viewed God.  How many gods are there?  What is his (their) nature?  How should he be worshipped?  Those are pretty big questions!

I reviewed a great book a couple of months ago called Jesus and the God of Israel, in which the author (Richard Bauckham) described the similarities, differences and relationship between monotheism (the belief in the existence of one God) and monolatry (the exclusive worship of one God).  Fascinating book.  In Bauckham’s opinion (which I agree with), the Old Testament reflects both, and somehow, the two wind their way together in both Judaism and early Christianity, and they influenced how Jesus was understood and responded to in the first century.  If you like to “think deeply” about the nature of God and Jesus, you may enjoy this book!

I am doing some research about how and when God spoke to people in the Old Testament.  It has been facinating on number of levels, but one thing that has really intrigued me is the frequency and location of either “God said …” or “the Lord said …” throughout the text (based on Hebrew, not English – you can contact me if you want to know the details).  Anyway … have a look at this graph (click to enlarge it):

Here are a few of my observations:

For those of you who are taking part in the six week class at Westwood Church called “Uncommon Faith“, here are the requirements to work through for week 6:

• Read 1 Kings 14 in your favourite translation.
• Read 1 Kings 14:14-16 in three different translations (if you want suggestions, I recommend these three for this course: NET, TNIV, ESV).
• As you read the text, answer these questions:

For those of you who are taking part in the six week class at Westwood Church called “Uncommon Faith“, here are the requirements to work through for week 5:

• Read 1 Kings 14 in your favourite translation.
• Read 1 Kings 14:6-9 in three different translations (if you want suggestions, I recommend these three for this course: NET, TNIV, ESV).
• As you read the text, answer these questions

For those of you who are taking part in the six week class at Westwood Church called “Uncommon Faith“, here are the requirements to work through for week 4:

• Read Genesis 24 in your favourite translation.
• Read Genesis 24:6-8 in three different translations (if you want suggestions, I recommend these three for this course: NET, TNIV, ESV).
• As you read the text, answer these questions

For those of you who are taking part in the six week class at Westwood Church called “Uncommon Faith“, here are the requirements to work through for week 3:

• Read Numbers 27:12-23 in three different translations (if you want suggestions, I recommend these three for this course: NET, TNIV, ESV).
  • Do you see a structure to the story?  Repeated words/ideas, progression of words/ideas, etc.
• As you read the text, answer these questions

For those of you who are taking part in the six week class at Westwood Church called “Uncommon Faith“, here are the requirements to work through for week 2:

• Read 2 Kings 22:1-23:30 in three different translations (if you want suggestions, I recommend these three for this course: NET, TNIV, ESV).
  • Do you see a structure to the story?  Repeated words/ideas, progression of words/ideas, development of main characters, etc.
• As you read the text, answer these questions:
  • Specifically, what is the narrator’s assessment of Josiah?
  • Why do you think that the narrator made that assessment?
  • What role does the Book/Torah play in the story?

Have fun with this, and I’ll see you on Sunday!

For those of you who are taking part in the six week class at Westwood Church called “Uncommon Faith“, here are the requirements to work through before week 1 (in others words, you are to complete this assignment before the first class on January 25th):

• If you would like to know some of the “why” and “how” of the course, read this excerpt from my dissertation.
• Read Deuteronomy 31-34 in your favourite translation.
• Read Deuteronomy 34:1-12 in three different translations (if you want suggestions, I recommend these three for this course: NET, TNIV, ESV).
• In Deuteronomy 34:10-12, do you see a structure to the text?  Repeated words/ideas, progression of words/ideas, an overall statement with supporting points, etc.
• Specifically, what is the narrator’s assessment of Moses?
• Why do you think that the narrator made that assessment?

If you take the time to work through the Biblical passage each week,