INDIVIDUALS VS THE MAJORITY

[JLG]

Judges Chapter 9

- After the death of Gideon, one of his sons Abimelech proposes to his brotheres to rule over them!

- So they give him 70 pieces of silver!

- He uses the money to hire men and kills all his brothers with one stone except Jotham his youngest brother who hides!

- Then Jotham speaks to the leaders of Shechem!

- He asks them if they acted sincerely in making Abimelech king taking into account what his father did for them!

- Because Abimelech’s mother is Gideon’s slave girl!

- Then Jotham flees!

- And Abimelech rules over Israel for 3 years!

- To avenge the killing of Gideon’s sons, God lets hostility develop between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem!

- Then they fight together and Abimelech killed all the men of Shechem and destroys the city!

- But when Abimelech attacks the city of thebez!

- There a woman throws a millstone on him and crushes his skull!

- And he asks his attendant to kill him so nobody can say a woman killed him!

- So the attendant kills him!

- Then all the men of Israel go back home!

- Finally God repays Abimelech and the men of Shechem for the evil they had done!

- Thus even if it takes time, God always repays those who do evil!

- When you go against God, he will repay each one according to what he did or not!

- Once again we have a warning!

- When time arrives for God to repay those who deserve it, it is no time to cry or weep!

- And it happens so many times till God finally rejected Israel!

- Remember Daniel’s prayer for the restoration of Jerusalem in spite of its mountain of sins against God!

- And God’s answer: THE RESTORATION OF JERUSALEM AND ITS DESTRUCTION!

- THE MESSAGE SEEMS CLEAR BUT NOT FOR EVERYBODY!

 

[JLG]

Judges Chapter 10

- And Tola judged Israel for 23 years!

- And Jair judged Israel for 22 years!

- And again Israel committed spiritual prostitution!

- And God gave them into the hands of the philistines and the Ammonites!

- For 18 years!

- And finally they called to God for help!

- But God told them GO AWAY!

- So they removed the foreign gods from their midst and served God!

- And then the Ammonites prepared to fight again against Israel!

 

[JLG]

Judges Chapter 11

- And Jephthah was the son of a prostitute!

- And he became a mighty warrior!

- And the elders of Gilead asked Jephthah to become their commander!

- Jephthah made a vow to God!

- If God was to give the Ammonites in Jephthah’s hands, the one coming out of the door of his house would become God’s!

- And Jephthah won and he took the control of 20 cities!

- When he came back home, his daughter came out to meet him!

- She was his only child!

- She would stay a virgin and served God!

- And it became a tradition on Israel, from year to year, the young women of Israel would go to give commendation to Jephthah’s daughter four days in the year!

 

[JLG]

Judges Chapter 12

- The men of Ephraim are angry because Jephthah didn’t call them to fight against the Ammonites!

- They want to burn Jephthah’s house with him in it!

- But he says he called to them for help but they did not save him from their hands!

- So he went against the Ammonites with God’s help!

- So Gilead fights against Ephraim and Gilead wins!

- And the men of Gilead pursue them!

- To know they were from Ephraim they just had to ask them to pronounce a word they were unable to pronunce correctly!

- Finally 42,000 men were killed!

- Ephraim was a son of Joseph!

- Once again you can be a good person and tries to educate correctly your children but it doesn’t mean they will keep on the right track!

- That’s free will!

- Like Adam and Eve!

- The only difference is that they were perfect!

- And Jephthah judges Israel for six years and he dies!

- Then Ibzan judges Israel for seven years!

- And Elon judges Israel for ten years!

- And Abdon judges Israel for eight years!

 

[JLG]

Judges Chapter 13

- Israel goes back to spiritual prostitution!

- And God gives them into the hands of the Philistines for 40 years!

- And God ‘s angel appeared to Manoah’s wife who was barren and childless!

- And he told her she was going to have a child!

- But she couldn’t drink alcohol or eat anything unclean!

- Because he was to become a Nazirite of God from birth!

- And he was to save Israel from the Philistines!

- And he was called SAMSON!

 

[JLG]

Judges Chapter 14

- Samson wants to marry a Philistine woman!

- In fact, God is looking for an opportunity against the Philistines who are ruling over Israel!

- On one occasion, Samson kills a lion with his bare hands thanks to God’s spirit!

- Later on when he looks at the dead body of the lion, he sees a swarm of bees and honey!

- Then he takes it and eats it!

- And he gives some to his parents!

- Then Samson has a banquet with 30 groommen!

- He asks them a riddle!

- If they get the answer he will give them 30 linen garments and 30 outfits of clothing!

- But they don’t know so they ask his philistine woman to trick her husband Samson otherwise they will burn her and her father’s house!

- So they can answer his riddle and Samson is furious because he knows they have tricked him!

- So he kills 30 Philistines and gives them their garments!

- And Samson’s wife is given to one of his groomsmen who has accompanied him!

 

[JLG]

Judges Chapter 15

- As a consequence, Samson gets 300 foxes and takes torches and turns the foxes tail to tail and puts one torch between each pair of tails and he sets fire to the torches and sends the foxes out into the fields of the Philistines!

- Then he sets on fire everything from sheaf to standing grain and the vineyards and the olive groves!

- Then the Philistines burn samson’s wife and her father!

- Then he kills many Philistines!

- So 3,000 men of Judah capture and bound Samson!

- When they give him to the Philistines, God’s spirit empowers him and he frees him and he takes a jawbone and kills 1,000 Philistines!

- And Samson judges Israel for 20 years!

 

[JLG]

Judges Chapter 16

- Samson goes to Gaza and goes with a prostitute!

- Then the Gazites are told about Samson and surround him and lay an ambush to kill him!

- But Samson gets up at midnight and grabs the doors of the city gate and the two side posts and puts everything on his shoulders!

- Later He fells in love with a woman called Delilah!

- Then the lords of the philistines tell her to trick Samson and find out the source of his power and how to take it away!

- In exchange they are ready to give her a fortune!

- But Samson doesn’t tell her the truth about his strength so when the Philistines try to capture him he can free himself!

- Then the philistines try too capture him but it still doesn’t work because he didn’t tell the truth to Delilah!

- Then a third time it happens the same!

- Finally he tells her the truth and she cuts his hair and he loses his strength!

- And the Philistines captures him and bore his eyes out!

- And they put him in prison!

- Later his hair grows again!

- And the Philistines offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon because of Samson!

- And they take Samson out of his prison to make fun of him!

- And they make him stand between the pillars of the temple!

- And Samson asks a boy to bring him to the pillars that support the temple!

- 3,000 Philistines are present!

- And Samson asks God to give him back his strength and die and kill the Philistines!

- And Samson takes away the pillars and he kills more Philistines than during his whole life!

 

[Jim B]

Judges Chapter 16

- Samson goes to Gaza and goes with a prostitute!

- Then the Gazites are told about Samson and surround him and lay an ambush to kill him!

- But Samson gets up at midnight and grabs the doors of the city gate and the two side posts and puts everything on his shoulders!

- Later He fells in love with a woman called Delilah!

- Then the lords of the philistines tell her to trick Samson and find out the source of his power and how to take it away!

- In exchange they are ready to give her a fortune!

- But Samson doesn’t tell her the truth about his strength so when the Philistines try to capture him he can free himself!

- Then the philistines try too capture him but it still doesn’t work because he didn’t tell the truth to Delilah!

- Then a third time it happens the same!

- Finally he tells her the truth and she cuts his hair and he loses his strength!

- And the Philistines captures him and bore his eyes out!

- And they put him in prison!

- Later his hair grows again!

- And the Philistines offer a great sacrifice to their god Dagon because of Samson!

- And they take Samson out of his prison to make fun of him!

- And they make him stand between the pillars of the temple!

- And Samson asks a boy to bring him to the pillars that support the temple!

- 3,000 Philistines are present!

- And Samson asks God to give him back his strength and die and kill the Philistines!

- And Samson takes away the pillars and he kills more Philistines than during his whole life!

So what? Most of us own a Bible, and it's easier to read than your - post of every line in bold font

 

[JLG]

So what? Most of us own a Bible, and it's easier to read than your - post of every line in bold font

- Good!
- So read your Bible!
- This is my personal touch!
- When people sees it, they know that's my own words compared to the rest!
- When you read the Bible, ask yourself questions and try to answer them!
- And do it again and again!

 

[JLG]

Judges Chapter 17

- There was a man called Micah!

- And he gave back to her 1,100 silver pieces!

- She took 200 silver pieces and gave it to the silversmith to make a carved image and a metal statue to put in micah’s house because he had a house of gods!

- Micah had one of his sons to serve as priests for him!

- There was no king in Israel and everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes!

- A Levite was looking for a place to live so Micah told him to stay with him and served as a father and priest to him!

- And the young man became like one of his sons!

- Then Micah knew that God would bless him!

- Does it remind you of something: AND EVERYONE WAS DOING WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES!

 

[Jim B]

- Good!
- So read your Bible!
- This is my personal touch!
- When people sees it, they know that's my own words compared to the rest!
- When you read the Bible, ask yourself questions and try to answer them!
- And do it again and again!

Your ego is getting in the way! Thankfully, the reply quoted isn't in bold font, but the annoying dashes preceding each line are still there.

 

[Jim B]

Judges Chapter 17

- There was a man called Micah!

- And he gave back to her 1,100 silver pieces!

- She took 200 silver pieces and gave it to the silversmith to make a carved image and a metal statue to put in micah’s house because he had a house of gods!

- Micah had one of his sons to serve as priests for him!

- There was no king in Israel and everyone was doing what was right in his own eyes!

- A Levite was looking for a place to live so Micah told him to stay with him and served as a father and priest to him!

- And the young man became like one of his sons!

- Then Micah knew that God would bless him!

- Does it remind you of something: AND EVERYONE WAS DOING WHAT WAS RIGHT IN HIS OWN EYES!

Here is Judges 17:1-6 in normal English...

"There was a man in the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and even spoke it in my hearing—that silver is in my possession; I took it, but now I will return it to you.”[a] And his mother said, “May my son be blessed by the Lord!” Then he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I consecrate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make an idol of cast metal.” So when he returned the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into an idol of cast metal, and it was in the house of Micah. This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim and installed one of his sons, who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes."

a) -There is no Bible
- that divides the text
- by dashes preceding
- the words
b) Which translation are you quoting? Or are you making up Scripture?

 

[JLG]

Your ego is getting in the way! Thankfully, the reply quoted isn't in bold font, but the annoying dashes preceding each line are still there.

- I don't have time for what you call ego!

- maybe you have time for your ego!

- I have only time for reading and studying and telling people about the Bible!

- If it is not in bold font, it is only because i write directly on the page!

- When it is in bold font, it is because I write on a file dedicated to the book of the Bible I speak about!

- I don't write on my threads for reading, it is for studying!

- You mix ego and time!

- i don't do that!

 

[JLG]

Here is Judges 17:1-6 in normal English...

"There was a man in the hill country of Ephraim whose name was Micah. He said to his mother, “The eleven hundred pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse and even spoke it in my hearing—that silver is in my possession; I took it, but now I will return it to you.”[a] And his mother said, “May my son be blessed by the Lord!” Then he returned the eleven hundred pieces of silver to his mother, and his mother said, “I consecrate the silver to the Lord from my hand for my son, to make an idol of cast metal.” So when he returned the money to his mother, his mother took two hundred pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into an idol of cast metal, and it was in the house of Micah. This man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and teraphim and installed one of his sons, who became his priest. In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes."

a) -There is no Bible
- that divides the text
- by dashes preceding
- the words
b) Which translation are you quoting? Or are you making up Scripture?

- You mix reading and studying!

- When people want to read the Bible, they just need to open their Bible!

- I want them to separate the ideas and concentrate on such ideas or events or whatever you may call it!

- Is it so difficult to understand my threads?

- I try to use a simple language!

- I don't think so!

- Otherwise nobody would read them!

- The figures are clear!

- Whenever necessary I am ready to discuss or explain or whatever!

 

[Jim B]

- I don't have time for what you call ego!

- maybe you have time for your ego!

- I have only time for reading and studying and telling people about the Bible!

- If it is not in bold font, it is only because i write directly on the page!

- When it is in bold font, it is because I write on a file dedicated to the book of the Bible I speak about!

- I don't write on my threads for reading, it is for studying!

- You mix ego and time!

- i don't do that!

a) Oh, I see. You want people to study your posts. That explains everything.
b) And then you claim that you don't mix ego and time!

 

[JLG]

- I don't want people to study my posts!

- it is made to study!

- I am the first one to do it again and again!

- The Bible is not made to read it only but to study it and to think about it whatever you do!

- Reading for reading leads nowhere!

 

[Jim B]

- I don't want people to study my posts!

- it is made to study!

- I am the first one to do it again and again!

- The Bible is not made to read it only but to study it and to think about it whatever you do!

- Reading for reading leads nowhere!

Would you please explain what you're writing about?

You write "I don't want people to study my posts", followed by "it is made to study" This makes no sense, nor does "I am the first one to do it again and again". Do what?

Then you write "The Bible is not made to read it only but to study it and to think about it whatever you do!" which is somewhat clearer (but not much). Do you mean that the Bible should be read carefully and that we should pattern our lives after what it says? If so, why not say that?

"Reading for reading leads nowhere" is also confusing. Do you mean that reading for enjoyment and/or knowledge is worthless?

 

[JLG]

- I am just saying that I am not forcing people to do anything!

- They are free to do whatever they want!

- If they want to look at my threads, that's great!

- When I read the Bible, I read it to study and to analyze what I read!

- I can't stay at the surface!

- I want to dig and dig and dig!

- There is always something to learn!

- That's why i keep what I write because i will read it again and again!

- Meaning studying again and again!

- Tomorrow or another day!

- it is not because you write once that it is finished!

- When you think about it again and again, you will get new ideas or something different orv opening new doors!

- It is never finished!

- You can do whatever you want with the Bible but it is made to meditate!

- Jesus would teach his disciples with all the means he had!

- He used a progressive teaching but they would understand him after his death!

- Learning is a process that c

 

[JLG]

Learning is a process that can be constantly renewed!