Posted By: Daryl
Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/19/07 09:38 PM
From the Sabbath afternoon section comes this interesting comment:
The ancient Greeks believed in fate; your destiny was decided beforehand by the gods, and that was it. This ideal was expressed in Homer's Iliad, when the great Trojan warrior Hector says to his wife (who had been begging him not to go back to battle, fearing that he would surely die), "No man will hurl me down to Death, against my fate. And fate? No man alive has escaped it, neither brave man nor coward."—Iliad, trans. Robert Fagles (New York: Penguin Books, 1990), p. 212.
That's not, however, the biblical position. We are not objects of cold fate; we have no predetermined destiny, except one: eternal life with Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:1-11). God's plan was for all of us to find salvation in Jesus: That's why Jesus' death was for the whole world, with no one left out.
That we all aren't saved shows that our fate isn't sealed beforehand. Our future is open. We have choices to make, choices that will determine our destiny.
Does everybody agree with the above comment?
Quote:
The ancient Greeks believed in fate; your destiny was decided beforehand by the gods, and that was it. This ideal was expressed in Homer's Iliad, when the great Trojan warrior Hector says to his wife (who had been begging him not to go back to battle, fearing that he would surely die), "No man will hurl me down to Death, against my fate. And fate? No man alive has escaped it, neither brave man nor coward."—Iliad, trans. Robert Fagles (New York: Penguin Books, 1990), p. 212.
That's not, however, the biblical position. We are not objects of cold fate; we have no predetermined destiny, except one: eternal life with Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:1-11). God's plan was for all of us to find salvation in Jesus: That's why Jesus' death was for the whole world, with no one left out.
That we all aren't saved shows that our fate isn't sealed beforehand. Our future is open. We have choices to make, choices that will determine our destiny.
Does everybody agree with the above comment?
Posted By: asygo
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/20/07 01:10 AM
Hmmmm.... Seems like I've seen this discussion before. 
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/20/07 01:16 AM
Yes, this has been well discussed in a couple of other topics here, which is why I found this quote most interesting.
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/20/07 01:19 AM
What message do we get from Sunday's section?
Posted By: asygo
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/20/07 01:53 AM
I haven't gone through the whole week yet, but it seems to be shaping up as another case of what we wish Solomon said, instead of what he actually said. I feel exegesis is lacking this whole quarter. But that might be inherent to Ecclesiastes.
I think we would have been better off going into Exodus after Genesis. That's how the Bible has it.
But then, I'm partial to Exodus.
I think we would have been better off going into Exodus after Genesis. That's how the Bible has it.
But then, I'm partial to Exodus.
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/20/07 03:29 AM
There are some good things, however, it isn't one of the better ones.
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/20/07 03:31 AM
Sunday's is about helping the needy, which is a basic teaching of Christ, which actually determines the sheep from the goats.
Posted By: asygo
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/20/07 03:44 AM
I see that in the lesson, but I'm not sure that's exactly what Solomon was talking about.
Anyway, there have been some good moments this quarter. But they often start after we've left the path and have gone wandering in the woods.
Anyway, there have been some good moments this quarter. But they often start after we've left the path and have gone wandering in the woods.
Posted By: asygo
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/20/07 03:45 AM
I expect to spend much time discussing helping the needy this Sabbath. Whether or not Solomon was talking about that in Ecclesiastes, it's a good topic.
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/20/07 04:03 AM
That seemed to be the focus of Sunday's section.
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/20/07 04:05 AM
Monday's section seems to be about things that are beyond our control.
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/23/07 08:37 PM
I was reviewing Monday's section and began thinking more about things that are beyond our control, such as the weird weather we have been having lately.
I have seen on the news recently the damage tornadoes have done.
How do, or can, we respond to such events?
Fortunately, we do not normally have tornadoes here, but we do have them on a very rare occasion. The same goes for hurricanes. We rarely have them, the last one being Hurricane Juan that hit Halifax, NS as well as the area where we live now.
Monday's section asks:
How do we respond? Do we just stand there and watch, allowing ourselves to be dominated by them; or do we, trusting in God and in His love for us, seek to be faithful to our tasks and obligations despite things that we cannot control?
I also ask and wonder, how do we respond to such devastating events, such as hurricanes and tornadoes?
Perhaps a better question is, how should we respond?
Bear in mind though, that how we should respond, and how we do respond, can be two different things.
I have seen on the news recently the damage tornadoes have done.
How do, or can, we respond to such events?
Fortunately, we do not normally have tornadoes here, but we do have them on a very rare occasion. The same goes for hurricanes. We rarely have them, the last one being Hurricane Juan that hit Halifax, NS as well as the area where we live now.
Monday's section asks:
Quote:
How do we respond? Do we just stand there and watch, allowing ourselves to be dominated by them; or do we, trusting in God and in His love for us, seek to be faithful to our tasks and obligations despite things that we cannot control?
I also ask and wonder, how do we respond to such devastating events, such as hurricanes and tornadoes?
Perhaps a better question is, how should we respond?
Bear in mind though, that how we should respond, and how we do respond, can be two different things.
Posted By: asygo
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/24/07 12:58 AM
Certainly we should relieve physical suffering. What I find difficult is how to lead minds to eternal interests while suffering through temporal crises.
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/24/07 03:22 AM
Painful experiences will do one of two things. It will turn you towards God, or it will turn you away from Him.
Posted By: Daryl
Re: Lesson Study #12 - The Way of the WIND - 03/24/07 03:25 AM
I like the following thought from Tuesday's section:
And though God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts, we can know at least that His thoughts to us are "thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jer. 29:11). And that expected end is eternal life in a new heaven and a new earth, a life without suffering, Satan, loss, and death. That's the expected end, the promised end, the end that Jesus had in mind for each of us when He died on the cross.
"For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 from memory)
Quote:
And though God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts, we can know at least that His thoughts to us are "thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jer. 29:11). And that expected end is eternal life in a new heaven and a new earth, a life without suffering, Satan, loss, and death. That's the expected end, the promised end, the end that Jesus had in mind for each of us when He died on the cross.
"For God so loved the world that He gave us His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him, will not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16 from memory)