Jezebel Killed The Prophets Of God
She was an evil woman who killed many prophets of God while feeding and caring for the prophets of two gods called Baal and Asherah . In 1 Kings 18:20-46 Ahab, Elijah and 450 prophets of Baal gather to see, Who is God? Elijah puts it simply,
How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him but if Baal, follow him. 1 Kings 18:21
What followed was a one-sided contest. The followers of Baal prepared a sacrifice but Baal never sent fire to consume the sacrifice even though the 450 prophets called to Baal all day pleading, O Baal, answer us. Then they even cut themselves with swords and lances and still Baal did not answer. Baal never responded. Finally, Elijah poured water on his sacrifice three times. After Elijah prayed, God sent fire from heaven to consume his sacrifice. Elijah killed the prophets of Baal . Therefore, Jezebel sought to kill Elijah .
Old Testament: The Single Author Theory
The Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible, narrates the history of the people of Israel over about a millennium, beginning with Gods creation of the world and humankind, and contains the stories, laws and moral lessons that form the basis of religious life for both Jews and Christians. For at least 1,000 years, both Jewish and Christian tradition held that a single author wrote the first five books of the BibleGenesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomywhich together are known as the Torah and the Pentateuch . That single author was believed to be Moses, the Hebrew prophet who led the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt and guided them across the Red Sea toward the Promised Land.
Yet nearly from the beginning, readers of the Bible observed that there were things in the so-called Five Books of Moses that Moses himself could not possibly have witnessed: His own death, for example, occurs near the end of Deuteronomy. A volume of the Talmud, the collection of Jewish laws recorded between the 3rd and 5th centuries A.D., dealt with this inconsistency by explaining that Joshua likely wrote the verses about Moses death.
Rembrandt van Rijn, painting of Moses Breaking the Tablets of the Law, 1659.
That’s one opinion among many, says Joel Baden, a professor at Yale Divinity School and author of The Composition of the Pentateuch: Renewing the Documentary Hypothesis. But they’re already asking the questionwas it possible or not possible for to have written them?
What Does The Bible Say About Enoch
From the Bible, we know that Enoch was Adams great-great-great-great grandson who lived a holy and faithful life to the Lord . He also becomes the father of Methuselah, the longest-living man . Throughout his three-plus centuries on earth, he has numerous other offspring.
After 365 years on earth, God takes away . The verb for take appears to mean snatched up or carried away. Perhaps similar to the way God had taken away Elijah the prophet.
We see Enoch later in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11, listed with the other greats such as Abraham.
Because of his great faith, he appears to escape death.
But why? The other greats in the Hebrews 11 Hall of Faith had to experience death. Why did this enigmatic figure get away from it .
First, as argued here, Enoch is an example of what will happen during the rapture. During this event, God will take believers into heaven during the End Times.
Christians differ in opinion as to where exactly the Rapture will take place during the End Times timeline , but at one point during the End Times, God will rapture believers, just as he had with Enoch.
Second, Enoch lived a few hundred years before the Flood. We see the inhabitants of the earth descend into utter moral depravity during this time period.
Third, we see a faithful man living amongst a wicked generation, like Elijah during the time of Ahab.
Elijah is the only prophet of God left , outnumbered by 450 prophets of the enemy.
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The Old Testament: Various Schools Of Authors
To explain the Bibles contradictions, repetitions and general idiosyncrasies, most scholars today agree that the stories and laws it contains were communicated orally, through prose and poetry, over centuries. Starting around the 7th century B.C., different groups, or schools, of authors wrote them down at different times, before they were at some point combined into the single, multi-layered work we know today.
Of the three major blocks of source material that scholars agree comprise the Bibles first five books, the first was believed to have been written by a group of priests, or priestly authors, whose work scholars designate as P. A second block of source material is known as Dfor Deuteronomist, meaning the author of the vast majority of the book of Deuteronomy. The two of them are not really related to each other in any significant way, Baden explains, except that they’re both giving laws and telling a story of Israel’s early history.
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Alphabetical List Of Old Testament Authors
- Amos: The book of Amos
- Daniel: The book of Daniel
- David: Psalms
- Ezekiel: The book of Ezekiel
- Ezra: The book of Ezra
- Habakkuk: The book of Habakkuk
- Haggai: The book of Haggai
- Hosea: The book of Hosea
- Isaiah: The book of Isaiah
- Jeremiah: 1st and 2nd Kings, Lamentations, the book of Jeremiah
- Joel: The book of Joel
- Jonah: The book of Jonah
- Joshua: The book of Joshua
- Malachi: The book of Malachi
- Micah: The book of Micah
- Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
- Nahum: The book of Nahum
- Nehemiah: The book of Nehemiah
- Obadiah: The book of Obadiah
- Samuel:
- Solomon: Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Song of Solomon
- Zechariah: The book of Zechariah
- Zephaniah: The book of Zephaniah
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Great Scientists Who Believed The Bible
There is a widespread, but erroneous, view today that real scientists do not accept the truth of the Bible.
There is a widespread, but erroneous, view today that real scientists do not accept the truth of the Bible. It is therefore interesting to learn that many of the founding fathers of modern science were Bible-believing Christians, as were many of the less-well-known scientists who expanded our scientific knowledge. This book tells of the life and work of some of these great scientists who were Bible-believing Christians.
Each of these scientists either publicly acknowledged the Creator, or opposed evolutionary thinking, or, in many cases, did both. These scientists found their faith in Godâs Word to be perfectly compatible with their scientific investigations. In some cases, their faith sustained them through times of physical hardship and professional difficulties. Samuel Morse, the American who invented the telegraph and Morse code, endured many frustrating years during which his ideas were rejected. Although he was penniless and frequently hungry, Morse never stopped trusting God because he believed that Godâs guiding hand was on his life.
The influence of their faith on the development of science was more direct, providing a framework of thinking which helped lead them to their discoveries.
â21 great scientists who believed the Bibleâ, Ann Lamont, Creation Science Foundation, pp. 9-12
The Authorship Of The Rest Of The Old Testament Is Unclear
The Old Testaments section on history is followed by one sections: the Prophets, sometimes divided into Major and Minor . While tradition and, in some cases, teaching hold that they were written by the men whose names they bear, history has come up with a less-straightforward explanation.
For example, consider the major prophet Isaiah: as All Thats Interesting notes, the first part of his book may very well have been written by the man himself. The second part, however, represents a stark tonal shift, and may have been compiled by later editors. The third section bears linguistic similarity to Deuteronomy and may have been written by the author of that text.
For Jeremiah, ascribing authorship is more complicated. Could have been Jeremiah himself, could have been a man he mentions as having been one of his scribes, could have been one of the authors of sections of the Pentateuch. The uncertainty persists throughout the remainder of the Old Testament. Linguistic analysis points to these books having been written or compiled by people other than whom tradition and dogma claim, perhaps having been composed by anonymous authors who contributed to the Pentateuch.
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Why Does Enoch’s Bible Story Matter
We can see parallels in Enochs story with the story of Revelation yet to come. In a wicked world, we are called to be righteous and to walk in faith with God. Although many of us will experience the pangs of death, Christians in the End Times will experience a rapture. Its also important to note that in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 both Christians who have previously died and those still alive will participate in this event together.
So, in either case, we will experience the rapture. During that time, like Enoch, Christians will be caught up in the air.
We can also see God being able to speak through even non-biblical sources . We do have to exercise discernment, to siphon what is true and what is not. But as the apostles quoted from secular philosophers and poets, we can find kernels of Gods truth in other literature as well.
The Meaning Of Theophilus
The name Theophilus is from the Greek word theophilos and means friend of God or loved by God. The most common theory is that Theophilus was of high social standing who was a friend of Luke. In his Gospel, Luke addressed Theophilus as most excellent, which is a Roman title of respect and possibly of official importance.
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Your Spiritual Birthday Gift
The Greek word used for the gifts of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament is charismata, the giving of divine gifts. The day we are born again, we receive at least one spiritual gift, a spiritual birthday gift. These gifts are to be used to build up the body of Christ and because they are gifts, we cannot boast or take credit for them.
When we fully understand this, we will not be puffed up with conceit if we have been given a strong gifting nor will we feel discouraged if we have not been given a specific gift. Instead, our focus should be on using our spiritual gifts to build up the body of Christ.
If members of the spiritual body of Christ do not use their gifts for the common good of the church, everyone suffers. Ironically, those who refuse to use their gifts suffer the greatest loss because the use of our gifts brings fulfillment, spiritual maturity, and unexpected blessings.
God has individualized gifts and an individualized expression of those gifts specifically for you. Not using your gifts is an affront to the wisdom of God, a rebuff to God’s love and grace, and it is a great loss for His church.
Ephesians 4:8 says, When he ascended on high, He led captives in his train and gave gifts to men. Our spiritual gifts are Jesus’ trophy for His victory, His reward for His death and resurrection. Our spiritual gifts are Jesus’ own possession, and yet He chooses to give us those gifts.
Some Of The Pauline Writings Were Correctly Attributed
One of the most important figures in the New Testament is the Apostle Paul. The Jewish teacher who converted to Christianity traditionally wrote 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament, all of them epistles letters to various churches throughout the Mediterranean region. The narrative of those books provides much of the basis of Christian practice and doctrine two millennia later.
Did Paul actually write those books, as tradition and dogma hold? Actually, he probably did, according to History or at least, he probably wrote seven of them, anyway, the remaining six having been assigned his name by later editors, likely followers of Paul who wanted to lend authenticity to their writings by attaching Pauls name to them. The Pauline Epistles believed to be almost certainly written by him are Romans, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians, and Philemon, while the rest are believed to have been written by others.
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Job Was Righteous And A Gentile
In the land of Uz , there lived a man whose name was Job . Job was not an Israelite. His non-Israelite status explains the absence of many key theological elements in the book, including law, covenant, temple and reference to Yahweh, according to the NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible.
Other than being from Uz, the first thing the Bible tells us about Job is that he was righteous and godly, blameless and upright, a man who feared God and shunned evil . One might assume from these first two verses that Job was a simple man of humble means because its a rare person whose heart is fixed on God and also has everything this life has to offer. But Job was a very rich and great man by the worlds standards.
Who Wrote The Bible
For over 2 billion Christians across the world, the Bible is the sacred text that serves as their source of truth, as well as comfort and inspiration, particularly the New Testament . The document is not one book, but rather, a library, representing history, poetry, law, and more. There are 66 books in the Protestant and 73 in the Catholic, written over the course of centuries by multiple different authors. Some of those books bear names Matthew, Isaiah, Jeremiah and tradition holds that those names are those of their authors. Other books are not named for a person I and II Kings, Lamentations, Acts and their authorship is a matter of speculation, sometimes based on internal and external evidence.
However, as historian Matt Baker notes in his video, Who Wrote The Bible, there are competing answers to the question when it comes down to the authorship of the books in the text. Theres the dogmatic/traditional answer, which holds that the books of the Bible that are named were actually written by the person bearing that name: Mark was written by Jesus disciple Mark, Isaiah was written by the prophet Isaiah, and so on. Similarly, this view holds that unnamed books were written by authors traditionally ascribed to them, in particular, Moses having purportedly written the first five books of the Old Testament.
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Who’s Who In The Biblebible Trivia For Youth
Who’s Who in the Bible? Do you know the answer to this Bible trivia question? Find out by testing yourself below. Or, study within other categories of Bible trivia for youth.
If you like this Bible trivia, try a related quiz:
Who was the first man created on earth?
Who was the mother of Jesus?
Who was the first woman created on earth?
Who did Jesus raise from the dead?
Are You Competitive Or Cooperative
Sanballat was very angry when he learned that we were rebuilding the wall. He flew into a rage and mocked the Jews, saying in front of his friends and the Samarian army officers, What does this bunch of poor, feeble Jews think theyre doing? Do they think they can build the wall in a single day by just offering a few sacrifices? Do they actually think they can make something of stones from a rubbish heapand charred ones at that?
Tobiah the Ammonite, who was standing beside him, remarked, That stone wall would collapse if even a fox walked along the top of it! Then I prayed, Hear us, our God, for we are being mocked. May their scoffing fall back on their own heads, and may they themselves become captives in a foreign land! Do not ignore their guilt. Do not blot out their sins, for they have provoked you to anger here in front of the builders. At last the wall was completed to half its height around the entire city, for the people had worked with enthusiasm.Nehemiah 4:1-6 NLT
When Nehemiah started rebuilding the wall, Sanballat was one of the first people to oppose him. He was an enemy of the Jews. He questioned Nehemiah, mocked him, and did everything he could to get Nehemiah and the people to give up. What we can learn from this passage is Sanballat and Nehemiah were both leaders.
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Tradition Holds That Moses Wrote The First Five Books Of The Old Testament
As is sometimes the case, historical scholarship and religious teaching dont always match up precisely, and this is true in the case of answering the question of who wrote the Bible. Centuries of scholarship have investigated and explored the question. Lets look at some of the main points.
For some Christians, and similarly for some Conservative Jews, according to Baker, the matter of who wrote the first five books of the Bible Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, also known as the Pentateuch is simple and straightforward: Moses. For centuries Christendom as well as some Jews accepted this without question.
However, Elon Gilad, writing in Haaretz, noted that this cant possibly be true. He says that in the 18th and 19th centuries, German researchers began to take a critical look at the texts, and found that they could not have been written by the same man. There were differences in style and language, for example, and differing accounts of the same event told in different ways.
Very simply put, eventually, the texts got compiled by different editors and redactors over the years, men whose names have largely been lost to history, and we ended up with the combined accounts that were eventually compiled into the Pentateuch.