The Hebrew Scriptures
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The Hebrew Scriptures
Truth, scripture and revelation are three concepts that the Bible has been based on. Truth is defined as the way that things are or should be. It can relate to reality or wisdom. Truth can be communicated in a variety of ways. Literally which is facts and figures and can be shown in math and science. Figuratively which is metaphor and simile and can be shown in humanity. Symbolically in fine arts such as art, drama and music and also narratively such as stories, parables and myths. Truth can be known in the head and the heart because it communicates through reason and intuition. Meanwhile, scripture is defined as being written and taken from script. Scripture is a way for religion to permanently preserve its worth of wisdom, ways of worship and to pass traditions on intact for future generations. Finally, revelation means to reveal. It refers to the initiative of God in communicating with humans. Truth, scripture and revelation are all related because they are all forms of communication that allow us to know Gods message. They allow us to see stories and events of how people lived with God in history and set an example of how we should co-exist with God in our world today.
The Hebrew scriptures play a vital role in the revelation of God. There have been many events and stories in which God has expressed his message to people of the world. For example, there is the story of Abraham. In the city of Sodom, the people living during those times were living in very selfish and corrupt ways. God wanted them to renounce these sinful practices or else He would destroy their entire city. God ordered Abraham to find ten righteous people in order to save Sodom. In the end, Abraham failed so the city was destroyed by fire. This showed that God was serious about telling people that they needed to change. It gave them concrete proof that God would come through when He said that He demolish their city. Another example of Gods relationship with Abraham is shown when He orders Abraham to sacrifice his only son, Isaac. God wanted to test Abrahams faith in Him and how loyal Abraham truly was. Abraham did end up taking his son to a mountain to sacrifice him but at the last minute God told Abraham to stop and sacrifice a lamb instead. This event showed that God would come through for Abraham in the end because Abrahams faith in Him was so great. Abraham did not doubt God so in return God let Isaac live. God proved that if belief in Him was unmistakable, He would reward one for having trust in Him.
Another example from the Hebrew scriptures of Gods relationship with man is in the story of Moses. During the time of Moses, the Israelites were greatly oppressed by the Egyptians. They were forced to be slaves and were often abused by the Egyptians. Meanwhile, the daughter of the pharaoh raised Moses in an Egyptian home. Moses began to slowly realize that he was not truly an Egyptian but in reality he was a Hebrew. He began to tire of the Egyptians persecuting the Hebrews and even killed an Egyptian for this. He ran off into the desert and stayed there until the day that God ordered him to come back and free the Hebrews from slavery. Moses was reluctant to this at first because he could not speak very well. Yet, God gave him and his brother Aaron the power to communicate with the Egyptians. Moses gave the message that if they did not free the Hebrews, many great plagues would come upon Egypt. The Egyptians took this as a joke and thought that Moses was a fool for saying this. However, one by one the plagues came. They included blood turning into water, an attack of locusts and seven days of darkness. Finally, when the last plague of every first born Egyptian son being killed came, the pharaoh told the Hebrews to leave Egypt. Moses had succeeded in freeing the Hebrew people. The story of Moses shows that one does not completely have to be perfect to be seen in righteous way by God. Moses did indeed sin by killing another man but God looked past that and still chose Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. God shows that one can make mistakes but yet can still be chosen to achieve greatness.
A third example of an anecdote from the Hebrew Scriptures, which is of importance in the revelation of Gods message, is the story of Joseph. He was one the sons of Jacob along with his 12 other brothers. Joseph was often the envy of his other brothers because they had believed their father favored Joseph. In fact, they became so jealous of Joseph that they sold him into slavery to an Egyptian and told Jacob that Joseph had died. Meanwhile, Joseph had distinguished skill, which allowed him to see into the future. He was brought to the Pharaoh and soon became a prominent figure for his ability to predict the coming time. One day Joseph predicted that Egypt would have a great reign for seven years but then after, a massive famine would follow. He suggested to the Pharaoh that a tenth of all harvests would be saved so that the people of Egypt would not starve during the famine. The Pharaoh listened to Joseph and followed his orders. However, in Canaan, Josephs family was suffering from the famine. His brothers came to Egypt to try and fetch food for their family. Joseph soon recognized his brothers yet they did not recognize him. He wanted to put his brothers to a test to see if they had felt the least bit guilty for what they had done to him. He put them through various trials, which included landing them in jail. He listened to them carefully and he found that they had indeed felt guilty for what they had done. Later on, they began to recognize that it was Joseph and they asked if they could stay in Egypt. Joseph agreed to this and he forgave them for their actions. The message in this story is that forgiveness is a virtue that God would like to see in us. Joseph