Posted on 01/23/2013 7:24:58 PM PST by Morgana
Yeah, sure
There is nothing in the word of God that I would be embarrassed to read aloud or to talk about. That statement does not at all reflect my feelings.
Indeed.
While some stories in the Bible seem isolated and unrelated to the rest of the narrative, they are very important to the overall REDEMPTIVE History and intent of Scripture.
We are appalled by King David’s adultery with Bathsheba (who probably didn’t have much say in it...he was the KING, for crying out loud!), and his subsequent cover-up which included sending her husband Uriah on a Suicide Mission to get rid of him. God dealt with David immediately on this issue.
Yet, Bathsheba’s 2nd child by David was the Incredible King Solomon. And Bathsheba is one of only FOUR Women mentioned in Matthew’s Genealogy of Jesus. Here are the four:
Tamar (Sneaky seducer of her father-in-law)
Rahab (a “professional”)
Ruth (Foreign Widow. Gentile bride)
Bathsheba (Adulteress, Victim of Sexual politics, accessory to murder and subsequent cover-up)
And by the way, women were almost never mentioned in genealogies, so God must have thought that these four ladies were important to the story!
His GRACE is AMAZING! :-)
Looks like it's open season on Protestants to me.
I like best the curious part where the entire army of Judah, even with the power and will of God on their side, were unable to defeat a force of Caananite rednecks driving iron chariots.
Yee haw, Duke boys.
LOL
"Embarrasing to prudish adults" hits the nail on the head, IMO. A couple of years back, another FReeper took great umbrage over "filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6) being a reference to (to try and put it delicately) the by-product of a woman's monthly cycle. This FReeper insisted that the verse was being mistranslated. But I think we can agree with how a Catholic thread stated the matter last month:
As Isaiah noted, the best of our “good works” are viewed by God with all the contempt we would have for used menstrual rags. Thank God, Jesus is our righteousness.
Typical.
Oh for cryin' out loud. She means the first eleven chapters of Genesis are nonsense and that G-d never commanded the Israelites to exterminate the Canaanites (even though the Torah explicitly commands this). She's saying that those portions were written by "stone age savages" who only "thought" G-d commanded those things. In other words, she's rejecting the total inspiration and inerrancy of scripture.
However, the author makes a very good point. How many of us would shy away from Malachi:
Mal 2:15 Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union? And what was the one God seeking? Godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and let none of you be faithless to the wife of your youth.
Mal 2:16 "For the man who does not love his wife but divorces her, says the LORD, the God of Israel, covers his garment with violence, says the LORD of hosts. So guard yourselves in your spirit, and do not be faithless."
ZC I have a good friend who is a Protestant Minister (yea like what act of God brought that on?) Anyway he told me once the problem is people often take the Bible “literally” when there are times they should not. Yes the Bible is black and white on issues like the ten commandments but on other things they are parables such as what Jesus taught, or what Sister is talking about in the old testament.
Now with that said, do you see why they would get embarrassed?
“I get embarrassed at parts of the 10 commandments.....”
Now wait wait wait....are you embarrassed at parts of the ten commandments? Or..the parts you broke? :)
It might be instructive for everyone to learn which denomination your Protestant Minister friend is connected to, or find out which seminary/school of theology that he graduated from.
“Tamar (Sneaky seducer of her father-in-law)
Rahab (a “professional”)
Ruth (Foreign Widow. Gentile bride)
Bathsheba (Adulteress, Victim of Sexual politics, accessory to murder and subsequent cover-up
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I have an interesting friend who is Jewish but is of that Jewish sect that has accepted Jesus. She and I were discussing this Thread today. I told her what I had posted and the reaction it was getting. This woman knows the Old Testament like no other woman I have ever seen.
She was telling me some thing I knew but some things I did not....such as...
Bathsheba She got a bad rap. First of all when she was bathing she was doing with her handmaids at a time of day allowed by Jewish law for women to be doing so. The men in the town knew this and were to be away or indoors. King David knew this and broke his own law. He was in lust, went out on his balcony? And saw Bathsheba, whom may not have ever known Dave was watching. Second you must understand Dave was king. When a king calls you to his palace you go. IF he says in my bed champers you do it. She was commanded to do this. She had no choice. It was kings orders and she could have been put to death for disobeying.
Now lets talk about Handmaidens. Rachel, Leah and Sarah all had them. All three women gave their handmaids to their husbands so they could bear children. What was a handmaid? Nothing more than a slave. These Handmaids could not say “no”. That was rape by todays laws.
In fact if you recall Rubin was cursed by this father for raping his father’s wifes handmaid.
If Tamar was alive today her name would be “Monica Lewinsky”
Exactly. That is why I called her a “Victim of Sexual Politics”.
The sin was David’s.
Oh I have heard preachers try to blame Bathsheba. Saying “why didn’t she cover up?” Truth be told she did not have to nor should she have had to. That was the time allowed for women to be bathing. Dave was a peeping tom.
The only thing that makes me ashamed is for a preacher to twist the meaning of a scripture around and pretend it means something it don,t.
They do this because they see it the same way any body else would see it if it were any place except the Bible.
The parts I broke I find most embarassing.
My limited understanding is that the purpose of the law was to teach us what our sins were, and then, perhaps after that we would understand the need for grace.
( I really should write my parents more!)
Preachers are people, and most people are idiots. I would not take what they say seriously.
Just read the Bible and let God speak to you directly.
The Bible is a history of the people of God over a period of about 2000 years. in a real history, you get warts and all. In the Bible one gets a picture of mankind with a special focus on a small nation, which has committed to the worship of a God who is different from all other gods, but with whom they have a most unsteady relationship.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.