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Essay 2 Kings have existed throughout history since the beginning of time with Egypt having some of the first recorded monarchies beginning back in the 3rd Century with King Menes. Monarchies began because people needed a higher figure to look up to, to follow because they didn’t believe that God was the higher power or in some cases didn’t know who God was. The bible tells the story of God’s people constantly losing site of God as the center of their lives, so they thought they needed something more, they thought they needed a King.
God would rise up Prophets from among his people to interpret Gods word and share it with his people (Deuteronomy 18:15). God decided to use a young boy named Samuel to be his spokesman and to communicate
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God came to Samuel at night calling him to lead the nation of Israel back to him.
Samuel went on to judge the nation of Israel leading the people back to God. Unfortunately as he began to grow older the people once again lost faith in their God and were concerned with who was going to lead them after Samuel. They began to looks at other countries and wanted what they had, Kings, once again turning their back on their great God, which was really all the King they needed.
As had happened time and time again throughout the Bible, the people were not happy with where things were going. Instead of looking at all that God was doing right, they looked at all the ways things had been going wrong which caused their hearts to drift away from God. Unfortunately we sometimes have a hard time seeing God at work when things don’t go right in our lives. Israel had experienced a period of triumph and victory under Joshua. God was with him because of his faith in God, his life led by prayer to the Father and his courage
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Solomon faith in the Lord eventually leads to building of the Temple that his father David started preparing for during his reign. God is proud of Solomon and gives him wisdom making him the wisest man that ever lived. Unfortunately once again a man decided to follow his own heart instead of listening to God. Solomon eventually marries 700 wives from all different nations eventually turning his heart away from his God to follow after the other Gods that these women whom he had married worshiped. This eventually led to God’s displeasure and Israel lost God’s blessing under Solomon eventually leading to the division of
Gentry, Peter J., and Stephen J. Wellum. Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical Theological Understanding of the Covenants. Crossway, 2012. Google Scholar: Subject relevance
The book of 1 Samuel, a part of the Old Testament, sparks the dawn of the United Kingdom of Israel by telling of its first king, Saul. Samuel is one of the first talked about pre-literary prophets in the bible perhaps because he anointed the first king of the United Kingdom. He is a prophet by definition because he possessed the ability to converse with the almighty Yahweh. Samuel and Saul are key players to the rise of the kingdom but Saul runs into trouble and disobeys God, which leads him to his own inevitable demise.
God does not enter into any relationship without entering into a covenant. A covenant must consist of a relationship between humankind and God; and, it is eternal, which is why it is called an everlasting covenant. The everlasting covenant can only be broken if man fails to maintain an intimate and personal relationship with God or chooses separation from God through sin, as was the case with Israel. Their hearts had strayed and many sins entered their lives. It was not God who divorced Israel, but Israel’s sins broke the everlasting covenant with God that produced a temporary separation from Him. However, in His loving mercy, He had a plan of salvation that would involve not only Israel but, all of humankind with an everlasting covenant that would reconcile those who desired to be in a relationship with Him. This section will discuss the identity and significance of the everlasting covenant to show that God was faithful to keep His promise of the everlasting covenant
...e consequences would be incalculable…It had been a wise and human provision designed to keep the faithful in control even when, as had long ago become the case, they were heavily outnumbered by lesser men without the Covenant (Marion, 1969).
In “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop, the narrator attempts to understand the relationship between humans and nature and finds herself concluding that they are intertwined due to humans’ underlying need to take away from nature, whether through the act of poetic imagination or through the exploitation and contamination of nature. Bishop’s view of nature changes from one where it is an unknown, mysterious, and fearful presence that is antagonistic, to one that characterizes nature as being resilient when faced against harm and often victimized by people. Mary Oliver’s poem also titled “The Fish” offers a response to Bishop’s idea that people are harming nature, by providing another reason as to why people are harming nature, which is due to how people are unable to view nature as something that exists and goes beyond the purpose of serving human needs and offers a different interpretation of the relationship between man and nature. Oliver believes that nature serves as subsidence for humans, both physically and spiritually. Unlike Bishop who finds peace through understanding her role in nature’s plight and acceptance at the merging between the natural and human worlds, Oliver finds that through the literal act of consuming nature can she obtain a form of empowerment that allows her to become one with nature.
God’s people found themselves in captivity in Egypt after the death of Joseph and the Pharaoh that had knowledge of the good done by children of Israel (Ex. 1:8-14). God saw the oppression of His people and sent Moses and Aaron to deliver His people from slavery (Ex. 3:10, 4:14-16).
Like the book of Deuteronomy , the verses are a reaffirmation and restatement of the law and Sinai covenant. An agreement between God and his people that was given to them after the Exodus; this covenant law “gave parameters to their relationship with God”. It gave shape to how the vassal should live in grateful response to their suzerain. It is also a glimpse of what is expected in return, how the people are to promote social solidarity in Judah in the future. For this second generation of people free from slavery, many of whom have not seen what happened in Egypt and what God did, Deuteronomy acts as a reminder of who God is, and what he has
Following the creation story of the book of Genesis is the book of Exodus. In Genesis, God promised Abraham a “great nation from which all nations of the earth will be blessed (Gen 12:1-3)” and in Exodus God completes this promise through the creation of the holy nation, Israel. Exodus tells the story of the God who rescued his people out of Egypt because of the promise he had made to Abraham. God calls to Moses to complete his promise. God’s call to Moses is not only important because he liberates the Israelites but also because God reveals His name(s) along with His true Nature. God calls upon Moses and tells him that He’s back to help the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and that Moses is to lead them. God then gives him full instructions on what to tell the Pharaoh and, more importantly, the Israelites, who are promised, land “flowing with milk and honey”.
God punished the people for their lack of faith. They would never see the land flowing with milk and honey; only Joshua and Caleb would enter in. Joshua and Caleb would have to endure the punishment with the Israelites; however, they would be allowed entrance into Canaan after that generation had died out. The punishment for their disbelief in God was to wander in the wilderness for forty years. This generation would die in the wilderness and a new generation would enter into Canaan. Joshua and Caleb rebuked Israel for their lack of faith and fear that God would not be with
Surveying the Old Testament reveals the theme of God’s faithfulness to his people. In light of this understanding, the restoration of the Israelites prophesized in the Old Testament is essentially the fulfillment of every covenant with God. This perspective relates to the work of Christ and encourages any follower of God to trust in his faithfulness.
1. Throughout Judges, the recurring, downward spiral-like theme reappears with each Judge that is raised up by YHWH. While it begins with the depiction of the general people of Israel being disobedient, you begin to see that even the Judges, appointed by YHWH, were fallible. Whether it was Gideon’s lack of faith and continued distrust in YHWH, or Samson’s indiscretions and immense pride, the Judges proved that no leader was blameless in breaking the covenant with YHWH, it was not just the people, but those YHWH called Himself. So as Israel moves towards a monarch, how will these patterns continue? Will the fallibility of man, even in the ones that God calls to reign be a continued issue in the covenant with Israel? 1 Samuel uses fewer characters with a more in-depth look at each and the fallibility of man and the relationship with God.
The first theme carried forward in 1 Samuel is one that first made its appearance in the Pentateuch. The Israelites are given instructions/commands to obey, they disobey, God punishes them, the people cry out to God and then God provides protection. One instance we see of this is when the people war with the Philistines in chapter 4. They lose the battle (and the Ark of the Covenant), but it is not due to widespread idol worship as it was in Judges. This specific loss was due to the sins committed by Eli’s sons (1 Sam 2:12-17). It was during this battle that his sons were killed, according to the prophecy by the man of God (1 Sam 2:27-36). It is in this prophecy that we also see more of a generational curse specific to Eli’s family.
Studies of The Old Testament make it evident that kingship is the ruling principle of leadership for a kingdom. There were no presidents with a democracy like The United States has today or communists making everyone equal. There was simply one king, specifically a male, his subordinates, and the kingdom he governed over. Hebrew culture was no different. This is seen through the great kings of the Bible, one of the most well known of them being King YHWH also called Yahweh. Kingship played a vital role in the progression and development of the kingdom of Israel throughout history from the time they first were freed by the mercy of Yahweh. The presentation of ancient Hebrew culture from kingship in the Old Testament reveals the tradition in
First Samuel 8:5; 19-20 records Israel’s request for a king developed out their desire to be like the nations around them, thus placing them on the “broad road.” They desired a king to fight their battles, to establish a government, and to rule over them. During the time of the Judges, there was no central government, no one to fight for them, except God of course. To make matters worse the
Covenant has a central place in the Christian religion. It is a relationship between us and God created by a pledge in which part has defined responsibilities. The type of covenant we are in with God is suzerainty. This simply means that God is our master and we are his slaves. Too many there might be a bad connotation in the master-slave analogy. However, I embrace the fact that god is my master and I am His slave. He will never do anything to harm me, knows my needs, will provide for me, and He loves me unconditionally. That is way different compared to the way slaves were treated by their human masters.