Awesome! It's very difficult to read through the Bible if you are not a Christian. I first was saved, then I read through. Even then it is difficult to accept God telling the Israelites to totally wipe out (kill every living thing!) non-Jewish towns, but when you realize God is Holy, and we are just specks in the universe, it is easier to come to terms with His plan for man. Humans trying to figure out God is like an amoeba trying to figure out humans.
Perhaps if one takes everything in the Bible as literal. I don’t necessarily take the stories literally (especially the old testament). I didn’t view the story you mentioned as literal. I understood this story as an extreme example of how important it is to follow God, as there can be dire consequences if we don’t pay attention to exactly what he says (Saul was punished for not following every word).
The OT to me portrays mankind at a lower level of consciuosness, like children who require an adult to constantly instruct. A very judicial and transactive society. The New Testament portrays an elevation of consciuosness (through Jesus). The fulfillment of the old law with a better and higher law. Justice still exists, but is now accompanied by mercy. Jesus makes tithes and offerings obsolete to obey God and show devotion. He pronounces that the Kingdom of God is within each of us, signifying our direct relationship with the Father and not requiring third parties (a major reason why the Pharisees hated Jesus). The highest law is charity as this is the only way we can prove our love and devotion to God.
I’ve always struggled with trying to rationalize how God in the Old Testament would directly intervene with the lives of people, but would let children starve and be abused like we’re seeing today. This is why I look at those stories as stories with deeper meaning. We (as society) are responsible for these atrocities, just like the ancient Hebrews were responsible back then. They were punished (Jerusalem destroyed) because they stopped caring for the children/widows, stopped upholding truth, became apathetic and wicked. And, when society becomes like this, there is only one outcome unless there’s repentance. God manifests himself through us. THIS is why we matter. We choose to be his disciples/representatives or not. We choose to perpetuate evil and pain, or follow the higher law (which requires an elevated consciuosness) to promote love, peace, and prosperity. This is the only way to combat Satan and the evils of this world. The choice is ours. God bless.
This is the same interpretation I've come to regarding my understanding of the Bible as it relates to the religious, societal and conscious evolution of humans since the early ages.
I also believe that there are many things mentioned in the bible that describe the technology and methods we have today but in terms limited by the authors' understanding given the times in which they lived. This results in all kinds of wild and magical sounding tales that aren't that far-fetched when one looks at the "magic" we're all capable of doing on a daily basis.
Not to discount the actual efficacy of miraculous acts; I have faith that this sort of power exists and we catch glimpses of it even in these depraved times, but I also understand how we are not worthy of wielding such power and likely have never been. Fortunately, we've been provided a savior by the Most High who was determined to be the only human worthy of such things—who then was persecuted and killed by the same unworthy heathens with whom we share blood.
I digress: much of our humanity, to me, boils down to making the conscious choice of doing good in the world instead of evil, and that choice seems to follow the same binary nature (balance) as the rest of the unknown universe (life/death, matter/antimatter, good/evil, G_d/Satan) and we've been given the name of the side of good. The choice is then up to us, hence our free will to choose.
I believe that this, through Jesus' sacrifice, is our atonement for the original sin; we've been given the knowledge of good and evil after partaking from the fruit from the tree and must now make our choice.
Sorry for the rant, I just love nerding out over biblical interpretation, it seems!
I enjoyed all the thoughtful interpretations brought about in this thread. I haven't read much of the Bible since I was very young, but have had similar thoughts with the passages I have read. Look forward to reading more soon (trying to find an heirloom Bible in storage first).
Awesome! It's very difficult to read through the Bible if you are not a Christian. I first was saved, then I read through. Even then it is difficult to accept God telling the Israelites to totally wipe out (kill every living thing!) non-Jewish towns, but when you realize God is Holy, and we are just specks in the universe, it is easier to come to terms with His plan for man. Humans trying to figure out God is like an amoeba trying to figure out humans.
Perhaps if one takes everything in the Bible as literal. I don’t necessarily take the stories literally (especially the old testament). I didn’t view the story you mentioned as literal. I understood this story as an extreme example of how important it is to follow God, as there can be dire consequences if we don’t pay attention to exactly what he says (Saul was punished for not following every word).
The OT to me portrays mankind at a lower level of consciuosness, like children who require an adult to constantly instruct. A very judicial and transactive society. The New Testament portrays an elevation of consciuosness (through Jesus). The fulfillment of the old law with a better and higher law. Justice still exists, but is now accompanied by mercy. Jesus makes tithes and offerings obsolete to obey God and show devotion. He pronounces that the Kingdom of God is within each of us, signifying our direct relationship with the Father and not requiring third parties (a major reason why the Pharisees hated Jesus). The highest law is charity as this is the only way we can prove our love and devotion to God.
I’ve always struggled with trying to rationalize how God in the Old Testament would directly intervene with the lives of people, but would let children starve and be abused like we’re seeing today. This is why I look at those stories as stories with deeper meaning. We (as society) are responsible for these atrocities, just like the ancient Hebrews were responsible back then. They were punished (Jerusalem destroyed) because they stopped caring for the children/widows, stopped upholding truth, became apathetic and wicked. And, when society becomes like this, there is only one outcome unless there’s repentance. God manifests himself through us. THIS is why we matter. We choose to be his disciples/representatives or not. We choose to perpetuate evil and pain, or follow the higher law (which requires an elevated consciuosness) to promote love, peace, and prosperity. This is the only way to combat Satan and the evils of this world. The choice is ours. God bless.
This is the same interpretation I've come to regarding my understanding of the Bible as it relates to the religious, societal and conscious evolution of humans since the early ages.
I also believe that there are many things mentioned in the bible that describe the technology and methods we have today but in terms limited by the authors' understanding given the times in which they lived. This results in all kinds of wild and magical sounding tales that aren't that far-fetched when one looks at the "magic" we're all capable of doing on a daily basis.
Not to discount the actual efficacy of miraculous acts; I have faith that this sort of power exists and we catch glimpses of it even in these depraved times, but I also understand how we are not worthy of wielding such power and likely have never been. Fortunately, we've been provided a savior by the Most High who was determined to be the only human worthy of such things—who then was persecuted and killed by the same unworthy heathens with whom we share blood.
I digress: much of our humanity, to me, boils down to making the conscious choice of doing good in the world instead of evil, and that choice seems to follow the same binary nature (balance) as the rest of the unknown universe (life/death, matter/antimatter, good/evil, G_d/Satan) and we've been given the name of the side of good. The choice is then up to us, hence our free will to choose.
I believe that this, through Jesus' sacrifice, is our atonement for the original sin; we've been given the knowledge of good and evil after partaking from the fruit from the tree and must now make our choice.
Sorry for the rant, I just love nerding out over biblical interpretation, it seems!
I enjoyed all the thoughtful interpretations brought about in this thread. I haven't read much of the Bible since I was very young, but have had similar thoughts with the passages I have read. Look forward to reading more soon (trying to find an heirloom Bible in storage first).
Thanks for nerding out.