How God treated his own prophets (page 2)

glenster

Eze.4 refers to seige conditions. Feces burns like peat.
http://www.thechristadelphians.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15149

Isaiah's nakedness was to show the humiliation which would happen to the
rebellious people. Three years was the time granted to the Egyptians and Ethio-
pians.

Multiple choice of interpretations regarding how naked Isaiah was:
http://www.preachinghelps.com/isaiah/thenakedpreacher.html
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/calvin/cc14/cc14008.htm
http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message1538084/pg1

God kills Ezekial's's wife
Regard for the God concept, like for life, has to include that He/it presides
over everything, including that everyone that gets life dies--all ages, innocent
or guilty, and more in the last year than in all the OT stories rolled into one.

Ezekial's wife--one rendering:
The bottom line here is that God wanted Ezekiel to be a living example of a
spiritual reality. The point is profound and painful: God’s temple is as
precious to him and to the Israelites as Ezekiel’s wife was to Ezekiel. Still,
God was willing to destroy his own temple to eventually redeem his people.
http://stephenbarkley.com/2006/05/18/ezekiel-2415-27-dont-mourn/

others
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070830190642AArRFX2
http://www.berenddeboer.net/sab/ezek/24.html

Dismissing servant

That's my point. A lot of these men must have been outright psychotic.

mP

and murdering violent barstards. Its almost a guarantee that every hero in the BIble would be a criminal today of the worst kind. None of them ever do anything kind or good. Sure they worship Jehovah most of the time, but they are not even faithful at all. I really dont understand why anybody says David or Abraham were good.

tec

I just wonder if this made the poor chaps credability among his peoble higher?

Or maybe such things were needed to get the attention of the people and make them think about how truly disgusting their actions had become, to warrant such action on behalf of the prophet.

Not everything might have happened exactly as they were later written down as having happened either.

Besides, prophets love God... and those God loves (hopefully; other than Jonah in one instance, who did not seem to love the ninevites he was sent to warn to repent)... and so they are willing to endure hardship and even death for the sake of the people God loves, because they love God. This is a generalization, perhaps, but in my experience/understanding, this is what happens. (it certainly did with Christ)

Ha, ha....look what he did to himself/his son....

The mocking, ridicule, charges, beating, torture, execution... was done to Christ by people.

See above for the rest.

Peace,

tammy

transhuman68

Not everything might have happened exactly as they were later written down as having happened either.

True. The Bible is a carefully crafted work, written almost without regard for reality. The prophets seem crazier to us than they would have at the time they were alive, as the literary genres they wrote in are almost unknown to us. But the prophets who had apocalyptic vision- like Ezekiel- probably had some sort of undiagnosed psychiatric disorder.

mP

Trans:

But why boast about being so crazy and fanatical ? Today the fanaticals talk the talk but they dont ever do the dirty work, they let dumb losers do that. It woulld appear that Ezekiel is boasting that he too is a nutter. I guess given poor communication back then its very easy to lie.

Cold Steel

Ezekiel and Isaiah were not crazy, unhinged, demented or whako. The Lord uses similes to teach and symbols to instruct. Most people assume prophets didn't exist in the New Testament, but in the book of Acts, we read: “ And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. .. . ” (Acts 11) Also, in Acts 21: “ And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, ‘Thus says the Holy Spirit, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’”

Apostles tend not to use similes, metaphors or analogies. They’re more forthright, even though they see visions, entertain angels and prophesy. But in the Old Testament, most of the time things that appear disgusting, like the instructions to Ezekiel, make more sense in the culture and the context of the times (read all of Ezekiel 4, not just a few verses). Everything he did was symbolic. What he ate was nutritious, and dung was frequently used for fires (though not human dung). Since he was doing God’s will, one must assume that anything he ate would not hurt him. And lying on his side for 390 days does not mean that he lay in one spot all day long. At any rate, when Ezekiel respectfully protested the dung command, the Lord said, “See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste, and you shall prepare your bread over it.”

As for Isaiah, he didn’t walk around buck naked, wearing sandals only. The word “naked” meant “ without an upper garment, like a slave or exile.” Had the people of Jerusalem heeded his words and gone with Babylon over Egypt, they would have avoided the captivity. At any rate, Isaiah was one of the greatest prophets of the Old Testament, and Jesus said, “Great are the words of Isaiah.”

transhuman68

But why boast about being so crazy and fanatical ? It would appear that Ezekiel is boasting that he too is a nutter.

LOL, I don't know... The prophets were like any writers and performing artists throughout history- they needed to attract attention to themselves, and appearing crazy and clever at the same time probably was the best way of doing that. That's my guess, lol.

mP

ColdSteel:

Most people assume prophets didn't exist in the New Testament, but in the book of Acts, we read: “ And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch.

MP:

But what is prophecying ? Lets read about Samuel.. one of the true greats.

http://bible.cc/1_samuel/19-24.htm

New International Version (©2011)
He stripped off his garments, and he too prophesied in Samuel's presence. He lay naked all that day and all that night. This is why people say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

New Living Translation (©2007)
He tore off his clothes and lay naked on the ground all day and all night, prophesying in the presence of Samuel. The people who were watching exclaimed, "What? Is even Saul a prophet?"

English Standard Version (©2001)
And he too stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay naked all that day and all that night. Thus it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
He also stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, "Is Saul also among the prophets?"

mP

ColdSteel:

Apostles tend not to use similes, metaphors or analogies. They’re more forthright, even though they see visions, entertain angels and prophesy. But in the Old Testament, most of the time things that appear disgusting, like the instructions to Ezekiel, make more sense in the culture and the context of the times (read all of Ezekiel 4, not just a few verses). Everything he did was symbolic. What he ate was nutritious, and dung was frequently used for fires (though not human dung). Since he was doing God’s will, one must assume that anything he ate would not hurt him. And lying on his side for 390 days does not mean that he lay in one spot all day long. At any rate, when Ezekiel respectfully protested the dung command, the Lord said, “See, I am giving you cow dung instead of human waste, and you shall prepare your bread over it.”

mP:

What point was he making when he looked like a complete idiot eating dung ?

How God treated his own prophets

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