Hannah

Booyah, our first WOG!!

Ok, so we start off with a polygamist... poor Hannah
She can't have babies... poor Hannah
(Did the Lord "shut up her womb?")
The other woman made fun of her... poor Hannah

So she cried and cried and wouldn't eat. This seems like a poor start to a woman of God, but wait. When Jonah was faced with a tough situation he ran away. When Jacob was faced with a tough situation he ran away. She actually did the right thing and went and poured out her heart to God and laid on Him her entire situation. She didn't point her finger at God and say that he did this to her, but rather she made a deal that if she did have a child then she would give it back, or return it to God.

2 questions:
1. Is making a deal with God okay?
2. Do you think that God might close up her womb to cause her to make the deal?

What is crazy to me is that she equates being drunk with being a daughter of Belial - or daughter of the one who opposes God (Satan in some translations of the word). That is a pretty clear argument against drinking right?
What does it mean that Elkanah knew Hannah his wife? (lol, jk don't answer)
In verses 21-23 does it seem like her hubby is saying that God is behind all this, and giving him credit and telling her not to fall short on her side of the deal?

Vs. 25 in my mind is where Hannah becomes one of the most faithful. All she has ever wanted was a child, she has put up with crap all throughout her marriage, she makes a deal with God and then she gives her child to God...She comes through. WOG baby!

Joshua

Joshua 6--- So what's the deal with God saying that He has given someone into Joshua's hand, and why do they have to kill them? Why can't they all just get along?

It is actually the next part that I think is really amazing. It is one thing to be told BY God that you are supposed to walk around a city, but it is quite another for Joshua to come out and convince them that they are supposed to do that. I can see Joshua now coming up to the priests and saying, "So I know I just got this job and all, but here's what i was told we should do... walk around the city once for seven days, then 7 times on the seventh day and the walls will just fall down, what do you think?" I'm not buying it.

General knowledge question:
Which way did the walls crumble, out/ in/ or straight down in both directions?
Did they kill women and children?
Did God tell them to do that?
Are you OK with that thought?

I'm fully impressed with Joshua. He's another one of those guys that you can't find anything that he did wrong, only a whole book of him following God, even to the last chapter when he says, "choose you this day whom ye will serve... but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

And We're Back, live with ...... Moses

For the most part stick with Exodus 32, but if you are feeling it, you can hit up others....
So the first thought I had was that God was over the mountain in a cloud. Whether or not Moses was dead, why weren't they scared of the guy that killed all those Egyptians? The next thing I got to thinking was that the earrings in their ears were a form of identification of slavery. I assume that there was some specific look to the earrings to identify them as slaves, and if that was carried through to Jesus time, does that mean that earrings are ok today? Especially because there is a completely different association with jewelery today. Ok, so I think it really funny that God decides that they are Moses' people because they are in the midst of apostasy in vs. 7. It is also crazy how frustrated God is, and with reason, picture this: God gets these people out of Egypt, they are grumbling the whole way, He finally gets them to settle down and have faith in Him, takes Moses up the hill and starts working on how to help them get along, and not 40 days later they have QUICKLY turned aside, made an idol, worshipped it, AND sacrificed to it. Man when those Isrealites do something, they do it wrong and fast! Wow, and then in vs. 12 Moses tells God to turn from His wrath and repent of evil, and then he does in vs. 14...any thoughts there?

I don't know why Moses all the sudden has the right to throw God's writing on the ground to make a point. He is basically doing the same thing as the others, just in Righteous anger instead of stupidity. Doesn't make it any more right. This is my new favorite Bible story, because of this next part, compare what Aaron says here with what the Bible says at the beginning of the chapter. These people are set on mischief vs. 22 they gave me their gold and I threw it in the fire vs. 24 And out popped this golden calf, crazy, I don't know how it happened, so I figured I would strip all those that stayed loyal to the real God vs. 25 and worship, sacrifice, and dance around this baby cow. It's not my fault really.

I really love how Moses draws a line in the sand, and says that it is time to choose. That is such a MOG thing to do. Your either on God's side, or your not PERIOD

Apology

Hey, I'm sorry, but I am at a Youth Bible Camp, and I begged the people to let me on here to write this. I guess we will have to postpone this until Monday, and we will begin picking it up again there. I didn't realize I would be in the middle of no where for this :-)

Joseph

Ok, so here are my thoughts on Joseph. I honestly love this guy, beside of one question that he asks in jail to the Butler, "But think on me when it shall be well with thee, and show kindness, I pray thee, unto me, and make mention of me unto Pharaoh, and bring me out of this house...For...I have done nothing that they should put me into the dungeon.", I honestly can't see a single thing he did that wasn't good, or Loyal. I am blown away with his response to Potiphar's wife, but I do wonder if it wouldn't have been better to just tell Potiphar that his wife was coming on to me. I pray daily that I never find myself in a situation like that. One Question:
Do you think Joseph was acting like a little jerk brother when he told his brothers and parents about the dreams, or do you think they were just responding incorrectly?

Abraham

So, for everyone else, Abraham covers a lot of chapters, and I just wanted to cut it down a little so that ya'll could handle it in 14 mins. So I have shrunk it to chap. 22, but some extra questions for the likes of fun people like Andrea......
1. vs. 1 says that God tempted Abraham, does that mean that God sets us up for failure, aka, He is actually the one doing all that tempting? Is it right for God to tempt at all?
2. How did Abraham know that God was talking to him?
3. Why didn't Abraham question God a little bit like in the Sodom and Gomorrah story? Seems like now is the time to actually bargain with God a little.
4. Everyone always assumes that Issac went along with this whole plan, but where does it say that? all the Bible says is that Abraham bound him.
5. Should you ever believe a Spirit if it says to kill someone else? How could you be sure that it was from God?
6. In vs. 17, what does it mean "thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies"?

Some extra for Andrea, and whoever else if anyone actually reads this:
1. What nationality was Abraham?
2. Why did Abraham stop asking God if he would destroy the city at ten's sake?
3. What does Sodom teach us about the Character of God?
4. What sense does chap. 18 vs. 18 for God's reasoning?

I won't clog up any more time with more questions

Noah

Just some questions that I thought would be fun to talk about.... (and give some evidence if you have some)
1. There is always that famous question of Gen 6: 2,4 where it says the sons of God ... took the daughters of [men]: does that mean that some other beings ("the sons of God") came in and had babies with daughters of man[kind]?
2. In vs. 3 does the Bible mean that God was giving the people 120 years to get their acts together before he would send a flood, or does this mean that God was saying that mankind would only live to be 120 years old on earth from now on (post-flood)? (this is a good one huh Andrea ;)
3. In vs. 4 if there were giants on the earth in those days, why haven't we uncovered their bones yet? Like we uncover dinosaur bones.
4. When it says God repented of making mankind, does that mean that God was sorry that he made them, or made a mistake? (vs. 5-7)
5. How old was Noah when he had his kids and when the floods came? Did he start preaching before they were born?
6. Why did God want different numbers of clean and unclean animals in chap. 7 vs. 2,3?
7. What does it mean in chap. 7 vs. 11 when it says that "fountains of the great deep [were] broken up?"

Have Fun!!

14 Names of MOG's, and WOG's!!

Alright folks, it's time to start a new series of blogs... sorry it's been so long, I was at Big Lake this summer which gave me no time. The way this works is you start at 10 mins, and then you go up by two's each day until you end up at 36 mins at the end of 14 days. Here are the 14 names:
Noah
Abraham
Joseph
Moses
Joshua
Hannah
David
Elijah
Esther
Shad,Mesha, Abed
Daniel
Mary
Stephen
Jesus

you read about these people in the alotted time, then you get on here and you comment around about what you read, hopefully we'll get some good convo going. :-)