Posts tagged: bema

link to presentation Hellenism During the “silent years” Hellenism was on the rise, even among several Jewish circles. Essenes Another Jewish group (like Pharisees, Herodians, etc.) with a lot of debate surrounding them. They were largely men, maybe a few women (which is confusing), that were largely driven by priests. They claim God has abandoned the system the corrupt Pharisees had come to adopt and so they went out into the desert (very sepratist) and basically just prepared for the end times. They condemned the Temple system - because of the corruption - however some Essenes continued to serve in the Temple because they felt they couldn’t abandon God’s calling on their lives Scripture # Quote 16  Thus says the Lord: “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’ The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Je 6:16). (2016). Crossway Bibles. Dead Sea Scrolls # Es…

Herodians show up twice in the Gospels, Josephus talks about them a bit as well. There is a lot of hsitorical debate that surrounds the Herodians. Like Republicans and Democracts meant one thing in American history, but those positions and words mean something different today - the same is true in history, and with Herodians. They were believed to be the political party, however formal, to be alligned with Kind Herod. We are also, presently, very hellenistic and even herodian. We are into the luxury, we like convenience, we have entertainment/theaters. There’s nothing wrong with luxury, entertainment, plumbing, wealth, etc… The Saducees misused Hellenism to their own detrement - they turned amoral Hellenism into a worldview that pushed Yahweh out of the center and put human and self into the center of the worldview Herodians toed the line between reluctantly becoming hellenistic and corrupting their worship with hellenism Warning I am (hopefully reluctantly) hellenistic as well… Embrac…

Link to presentation Sadducees Often we in the modern time totally conflate Sadducees and Pharisees but they are as Republicans and Democrats today… very much not the same Origin # Back in the Davidic kingdom they are the group that sought to restore the priesthood by way of lineage. A goal was figuring out who the High Priest was. Lots are cast and Zaddok is chosen at some point - his line becomes the Jesus-era Saducees. They are the (Hebrew pronounciation) which when somwhat anglosized becomes. Hasmonean # During Seleucids destruction of the Temple the Maccabeans revolt and expel Selecuis and Ptolemies. The Hasmonean kingdom follows this, which are priests that the Maccabeans turned the kingdom over to in an effort to be ‘people of the text’ Hasmoneans are 7 famlies that have descended from Zaddok. Over the course of 2-3 decades they become entirely Hellenistic. These ones are known in the Gospels as the which is a different group than The Chief Priests are a corrupt religious Mafia…

Hellenism For the first time in history, Greeks redefined worldfiew to be cenetered around the individual. Prior to Hellenism, worldviews centered around pleasing the gods had his own gospel (εὐαγγέλιον - euangelion: predates biblical authors. “Good news to share” as an idea is not uniquely biblical) He conqoured the world, not with a huge army but with 4 things: Education Healthcare Entertainment Athletics These 4 things pull on basically all people’s values, Andrew the Great used them to control people… Education - control what people know Healthcare - make people dependent on the state’s provision Entertainment - control what people do with their time (theater was invented in this time) Athletics - similar to entertainment - this becomes a pillar of culture Jewish History Post-Alexander the Great’s death # 4 rulers take over the Greek kingdom Synichus? Seleucis Ptolemy Ptolemy rules the Jewish region # Leadership style - very Hellenistic Some Jews dove in, others remained faithful t…

Link to presentation Judaism Modern Judaism is very different from Jesus’ Judaism which was distinct from David’s Judaism, etc… We, as modern westerners, need to be aware of the religious evolution and history of Judaism to properly understand the Scriptures. Synagogue started with groups of people at homes, not in a big building, after Exile, exploring a way to express their faith. Synagogue has 7 main elements. But note that all 7 are not found in every Synagogue building, but the 7 show up consistently Mikveh # Basically a baptistry. Synagogue was never meant to replace the Temple Prior to AD 70, the doors to a Synagogue never faced Jerusalem in order to keep in mind that Temple was distinct. However, after AD 70 doors to Synagogues were built to face Jerusalem as a means of mourning the loss of the Temple Mikveh was a ritualistic cleansing (not a conversion like baptism) basically every day, every time before you enter Synagogue. Basilica # The pillared section of the Synagogue whi…

Intro Session 1: Torah Session 2: Prophets and Writings Review Torah # Big idea: partnership Basis of partnership / meet the characters (Genesis) God chooses a partner / the partner chooses God (Exodus) God defines the partnership (Leviticus) God shapes his partner (Numbers) God asks his partner to remember (Deuteronomy) History # Big idea: Redemption cycle; God’s patience God places His people in the middle of the action for mission (Joshua) God’s people struggle to walk the path and trust the story (Judges & Ruth) God’s people struggle with identity and obedience (Samuel/Kings) God’s people struggle with empire and becoming the anti-story (Chronicles) Wisdom # Big idea: Tools If we are going to survive the cycle, we are going to need… Art and song for worship and expression (Psalms) Nuggets of conventional wisdom (Proverbs) Purpose and a reason to get up every morning (Ecclesiastes) Relationships and intimacy with others (Song of Songs) Prophets # Big idea: Warnings, woes, and hope G…