Sages
There was this guy that came to Hardin Simmons yesterday no Thursday and he spoke about this ancient hebrew group called the Sages. Who apparently wrote or supposedly wrote a lot of the wisdom literature in the Bible.
The only thing I've ever really heard about the Israelites as a whole isn't that they were pious but that they complained and were hypocrics. With a few exceptions of course. But never have I really heard anything positive about a group of ancient Hebrews. Until Thursday.
Dr. Predue was his name and he was speaking about what wisdom was and his entire lectures throughout the day were about the Sages. And in the last lecture he told us this amazing thing. These people believed that justice was for all of God's creation not just the Israelites. The Sages believed that God wanted every one to know him-that the Israelites weren't here for themselves but they were here for the grittiest dirtiest people to show them, who God was. These ancient Hebrews believed that the fear of God was where wisdom started. They believed that if you had ten children and barely enough food to provide for your family just for that day but you did have enough, and a beggar came up to you and asked for food-you should share what little you had, otherwise you weren't just mocking the beggar, but you were mocking God.
The Sages went out to those deemed unclean and offered teachings, and if they needed something else-they would give them food, and gifts.
This to me sounds an aweful lot like Jesus. Now, if the an ancient Hebrew group got this and lived it out, and Jesus preached this and lived this out, and then the first century church lived this also...why...I mean what happened????
This is how I want to live. This is how I believe the church should be acting. This is how I need to live.
The only thing I've ever really heard about the Israelites as a whole isn't that they were pious but that they complained and were hypocrics. With a few exceptions of course. But never have I really heard anything positive about a group of ancient Hebrews. Until Thursday.
Dr. Predue was his name and he was speaking about what wisdom was and his entire lectures throughout the day were about the Sages. And in the last lecture he told us this amazing thing. These people believed that justice was for all of God's creation not just the Israelites. The Sages believed that God wanted every one to know him-that the Israelites weren't here for themselves but they were here for the grittiest dirtiest people to show them, who God was. These ancient Hebrews believed that the fear of God was where wisdom started. They believed that if you had ten children and barely enough food to provide for your family just for that day but you did have enough, and a beggar came up to you and asked for food-you should share what little you had, otherwise you weren't just mocking the beggar, but you were mocking God.
The Sages went out to those deemed unclean and offered teachings, and if they needed something else-they would give them food, and gifts.
This to me sounds an aweful lot like Jesus. Now, if the an ancient Hebrew group got this and lived it out, and Jesus preached this and lived this out, and then the first century church lived this also...why...I mean what happened????
This is how I want to live. This is how I believe the church should be acting. This is how I need to live.