by Witness 007 6 Replies latest watchtower bible
In Genesis Jehovah is gonna demolish the entire land of Sodom and Gomorah, due to his "scorched earth" policy. So Abraham gives the Almighty his 2 Cents worth telling him....don't do it if there is a handful of good folks there....Jehovah became "hot with anger" but he decided Abraham was correct.....now a 1,000000000000000000 year old being is taking advice from his creation!
Anyone else find this wierd!
No more wierd than Jah and the Devil getting into a pissing contest - over Job - and how 'faithful' he was.
There's lots of silliness like that in that huge storybook called the 'bible'.
Regards,
Jim TX
well sodom was such a nce city yes then men did want to drag the angels out of Lots house and rape them but hey that just playfulness ^^
As do most Christians, you are interpreting that story literally. Jews interpret the story differently.
Jews believe that the story is in the Bible to show that God's creation is allowed to speak him as a friend. The term we use to describe Abraham is "Chutzpah." He felt the Almighty was wrong and called "him" on it. We do not believe it is a sin to be angry with God, or to ask him about his business.
We also believe that the main reason for the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah was not so much homosexuality but the fact that they were very inhospitable and violent toward the guests of the cities. We believe it is a mitzvah, or commandment, to be hospitable.
I really don't have time to go into more detail since I have to be at work soon. I hope the above has given you a different way of considering the scripture. And I hope you have a fine day.
Robyn
Reeniaa.....been drinking girl?
I think most if not all Biblical stories are metaphorical (some have an obvious historical context). The thing I learn from this story and about others God dealt with that were doubters and questioners is that it's all right to question God. Not because he makes errors, but because God knows it's human nature to question and doubt. He knows our nature and does not condemn us for it. Being skeptical is a healthy human trait!
The sin of Sodom and Gomorrah was not homosexuality (although homosexual rape seems to be one of many crimes they perpetrated), but their general attitude of violence towards anyone who came into the city. In those times and in the Semitic culture, a person who did not welcome a stranger but took advantage of him, acted criminally towards him was the worst sort of person.
Apparently, these two cities had that reputation. They were basically being run by violent gangs of cutthroats who preyed unchecked upon every passing stranger.
A lot of things in the Bible seem awful to us because society was so different then. Hey, these people were two hairs from being baboons. They walked around armed to the teeth like Saturday night in Dodge City and were fighting all the time over nearly everything with some other tribe.
The Bronze Age into the Iron Age was a very violent time in human history. Life was generally short, brutal and pretty cheap. The Jewish law actually was quite a step up from the way most people were living at the time, and it's still pretty brutal compared to what we're used to living under.
The story of Abraham baffles me as well. I tried not to dwell on it, but my Ethics class asked what we thought about Abraham being asked to kill his son as a sacrifice. That led me to think about how hard that would be as a parent. I think I would throw myself on the ground and say "Take me instead!". Maybe God's dealings with Abraham in general were a little strange in general. I have NOOOO idea! Good post.
