DANIEL CHAPTER ONE

[JLG]

- Someone said:

Job always remains faithful to God and does not fall into temptation at the hands of Satan.

- Here, we're talking about exceptional cases!

- Take Samuel!

- Why Samuel? Well, because we know his story before he was born!

- We know the story of his father and his two wives, including Samuel's mother!

- She's barren and wants a child!

- She makes a pact with Yah.weh!

- She offers her first-born to Yah.weh, meaning that he will serve her for the rest of his life!

- In exchange, she can have children!

- She really believes in Yah.weh to propose a pact!

- By doing so, she influences her son's future!

- He will have the privilege of serving Yah.weh from an early age!

- And that's before he knows Yah.weh!

- It's as if everything had been decided for him in advance!

- But it wasn't!

- Samuel finds himself at Yah.weh's house, even though Yah.weh has abandoned Israel because of their behavior!

- What's more, the high priest is old and his two sons, who are also priests, are corrupt in the extreme!

- They practice everything that is evil in Yah.weh's eyes, in front of all Israel!

- Exceptionally, Yah.weh will speak directly to Samuel!

- And this exceptional relationship will last until Samuel's death!

- Samuel will not be corrupted by the sons of the high priest!

- He chose to faithfully serve Yah.weh!

- He will devote his whole life to Yah.weh!

- On the other hand, his own sons will let themselves be corrupted despite their father's example!

- Another story of free will!

 

[JLG]

- Someone said:

We hope for God's mercy, because in this world no one can be saved.

- Yah.weh's mercy is part of the pact!

- It's up to us to do the rest!

- For Yah.weh to draw near to us, we must draw near to Him!

- Believing in Yah.weh is not enough, we must demonstrate our faith through actions!

- If we don't do something for Yah.weh, he won't do anything for us!

- We must constantly seek his approval!

 

[JLG]

- Someone said:

The book is made up of 42 chapters that describe the story of the wise Job, whose life is tested by inexplicable tribulations, with lengthy meditations contained in dialogues with his three friends on why God allows the harm to the righteous (see Theodicy). The text is written mainly in a poetic style, but the introduction (chapters 1-2) and conclusion (chapters 42, 7-17) are in prose. At the center of the book, chapter 28 differs in content from typical wisdom literature. Furthermore, there seems to be a certain theological discontinuity between the poetic text, which maintains that God is too far from man for man to understand him and judge his actions, leaving open the hope of a "redeemer » which redeems evil, and the epilogue, according to which God pays on earth for the evil suffered by the righteous. The text demonstrates a certain impregnation within Jewish thought of themes already explored by the Kassite world, very present in the oldest “Babylonian Poem of the Just Who Suffers”. As always, there are Bible lessons!

 

[JLG]

- First of all, it is about the story of the wise Job!

- To present the book of Job in this way is to completely misunderstand the Bible!

- How can we hope to learn about the Bible if we cannot understand the book of Job!

- Indeed, the book of Job deals with the question of man's faithfulness towards Yah.weh!

- This goes well beyond the little story of the man Job!

- We're at a divine tribunal hearing!

- Here, there is no question of corrupt human justice with incompetent representatives who have no shame in lying without any scruple and without any moral principle!

- Two personalities clash!

- On the one hand, Yah.weh affirms that Job has unfailing loyalty to him!

- On the other hand, the devil claims that he can turn all humans away from Yah.weh!

- If he turns Job away from Yah.weh, the one of whom Yah.weh says there is no one like him on earth, that means he can do it with any human being!

- If he is incapable of doing so, that means that he is only a pitiful liar who believes himself to be superior to Yah.weh when he is only one creature among others!

 

[JLG]

- Then, we are told about unexplained tribulations!

- It all depends on whom!

- For Job, completely!

- His only reference is Yah.weh!

- For him, only Yah.weh strikes him!

- And he doesn't know why!

- He is certain that he did nothing against Yah.weh!

- When we remember Yah.weh's words that there is no one like him on earth, we understand why!

- For the three individuals who came to torment him, certainly not!

- They consider him guilty!

- We always find ourselves with the usual human superficiality!

- And it hasn't gotten better since!

- For the reader who reads the book of Job, certainly not!

- He knows perfectly well that it is a conflict between Yah.weh and the devil!

- The Bible was written precisely, if we want to understand it we must think precisely!

 

[JLG]

- I really like it when I hear about Job’s 3 friends!

- It is not his friends but his enemies who seek to destroy him!

- For them, he is guilty!

- In the book of Job, Job has no friends!

- Everyone is against him!

- Everyone is trying to harm him!

- Job is clear about this!

- The book of Job presents us with the devil's arsenal to break Job's loyalty to Yah.weh!

- Yahweh relies on Job to save their lives!

- Yah.weh clearly says that they are guilty!

- Job must pray for them so that Yah.weh spares them!

 

[JLG]

- And the best for the end!

“Furthermore, there seems to be a certain theological discontinuity between the poetic text, which maintains that God is too far from man for man to understand him and judge his actions”

- The whole book of Job is about extreme faithfulness to Yah.weh!

- Every word from Job tells us about it!

- He can’t live without his incredible connection with Yah.weh!

- But the connection is cut!

- For people who are deeply connected to Yah.weh it is nonsense!

- It can only apply to men who have no connection with Yah.weh!

- But then it is necessary to take away all the words from Job!

- Or in other words put the book of Job in the trash!

- Sorry, not for me!

 

[JLG]

- To come back to the three individuals who are sometimes called “Job’s friends” whereas they are parts of the arsenal of weapons used by the devil against Job, we can compare them to the three astrologers who came to celebrate Jesus!

- The human tradition turned them into kings who came to Jerusalem to celebrate Jesus!

- The human tradition even gave them names and origins!

- They even celebrate them on a special day!

- The problem is that they were also parts of the arsenal of weapons used by the devil against Jesus!

- They were astrologers with Pagan origins!

- According to the following site, we are told about what the Bible says about astrology:

https://www.gotquestions.org/astrology-Bible.html

Astrology is the “interpretation” of an assumed influence the stars (and planets) exert on human destiny. According to astrology, the sign you were born under, Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, or Capricorn, impacts your destiny. This is a false belief. The royal astrologers of the Babylonian court were put to shame by God’s prophet Daniel (Daniel 1:20) and were powerless to interpret the king’s dream (Daniel 2:27). God specifies astrologers as among those who will be burned as stubble in God’s judgment (Isaiah 47:13-14). Astrology as a form of divination is expressly forbidden in Scripture (Deuteronomy 18:10-14). God forbade the children of Israel to worship or serve the “host of heaven” (Deuteronomy 4:19). Several times in their history, however, Israel fell into that very sin (2 Kings 17:16 is one example). Their worship of the stars brought God’s judgment each time.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/three-kings-magi-epiphany

Many Christmas carols make mention of the three kings, who follow a star and come to pay homage to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. In the Bible, they are not called kings, and their number is not specified—instead they are “wise men from the East.” At many courts in the east, including ancient Babylon and Persia, learned astrologers often served as priestly advisers, practiced in the art of magic. In the centuries since, the three magi have been interpreted as kings.
According to the Book of Matthew, a bright star led the magi from the east until it stopped “over the place where the child was,” and “upon entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother” (Matthew 1:24).
The magi knelt down for the baby Jesus and “offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Their gifts are possibly an allusion to Isaiah’s vision of nations rendering tribute to Jerusalem: “A multitude of camels shall cover you. they shall bring gold and frankincense, and proclaim the praise of the Lord” (Matthew 2:11, Isaiah 60:6). (Learn the difference between Arabian Camels and Bactrian Camels.)

King Herod had heard rumors of the birth of a new “king” and jealously sought out the baby. In the Book of Matthew, the magi stopped at Herod’s palace on their way to Bethlehem, and the king asked them to let him know where this newborn babe was, so that “I may also go and pay him homage.” But the magi were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and so they left for their own country by another road” and were never heard from again (Matthew 2:12).
Building a backstory
Later tellings of the story identified the magi by name and identified their lands of origin: Melchior hailed from Persia, Gaspar (also called "Caspar" or "Jaspar") from India, and Balthazar from Arabia. Their gifts had special symbolic meanings as well: gold signified Jesus' status as "King of the Jews;" frankincense represented the infant's divinity and identity as the Son of God; and myrrh touched upon Jesus' mortality. (Learn what archaeology is telling us about the real Jesus.)
Popular depictions of Christmas seem to compress the nativity story, making it appear as though the three kings’ show up in Bethlehem on Christmas, but traditional celebrations put their visit 12 days after Christmas. Called Epiphany, or Three Kings Day, it is the official commemoration of the arrival of the Magi and is one of Christianity’s oldest holidays. Roman Catholics celebrate Epiphany on January 6, and Orthodox Christian faiths celebrate on January 19.

 

[JLG]

Someone said:

There are too many religions, people are confused and Catholicism has stolen the souls of its followers and the practice of the Gospel has become impossible.

- That’s understandable!

- The world we live in belongs to the devil!

- He seeks to take advantage of his power until the last moment!

- He knows his time is limited!

- As in the case of Job, he uses all the weapons at his disposal to turn humans away from Yah.weh!

- Religions have been very effective in encouraging divisions, wars and confusing humans!

- They have gotten into the habit of having others do the work!

- Only, it never worked!

- Each individual must do their part of the work!

- We cannot depend on others to make bad choices!

- We are already experiencing the consequences of Adam and Eve's rebellion!

- Apparently everyone forgot about it!

- In fact, religions transmit the devil's message!

- From the beginning, Yah.weh warned Adam and Eve: the day you eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you will die!

- What did the devil say? But no, that's not true, you will become like God, you will know good and evil and you will not die!

- What happened?

- They started to age and eventually died!

- It was the same for their descendants!

- And before dying, there are many complications!

- What a liar!

- What do religions say today?

- No, you will not die, your soul will continue to exist!

- Life is therefore a right, it cannot be earned!

- What liars!

- They repeat their father's message as Jesus said!

- It’s the same thing with the Hebrews!

- We are the chosen people of Yah.weh!

- We will never be destroyed!

- Jerusalem and Israel were destroyed twice with unimaginable consequences for the Hebrews!

- They lost everything!

-And they perpetuate the devil's message again and again!

- When Jesus returns to destroy this corrupt human society, they will be surprised again!

- This is called free will!

- You shouldn't complain afterwards!

 

[JLG]

There is no one like him on the earth and a wealthy farmer

https://exchangeviewsonthebible.quora.com/
https://thebookofdaniel.quora.com/
https://thebookofsamuel.quora.com/

Job 12

- Righteous and blameless!
- It sounds like there is no one like him on the earth!
- Definitely an excellent example to follow!
- And don’t forget he didn’t have the Bible to help him in his relationship with Yah.weh!
- And Job was an authority!
- He was respected!
- But then people started to laugh at him!
- Don’t forget that anything can happen at any time!
- But is that a reason or an excuse to forget Yah.weh?
- Job would never do that!
- When you look at men like Job, Daniel, Samuel, you can only see faithfulness!
- And they did it by themselves!
- They had no other examples to follow!
- We have the Bible!
- We have details!
- We are told about it!
- We have no excuse!

 

[JLG]

There is no one like him on the earth and a wealthy farmer

https://exchangeviewsonthebible.quora.com/
https://thebookofdaniel.quora.com/
https://thebookofsamuel.quora.com/

Job 12

- Job sees wickedness everywhere!
- But animals, birds, the earth, the fish of the sea tell about our creator!
- God created everything!
- It was evidence for Job!
- It is not evidence for many men!
- But look at what they have done to the earth!
- Every time they have more capacity to destroy all life on the earth!
- Life vs destruction!
- Two opposite ways!
- We must make a choice!
- Like Job!
- As far as we can see, men usually choose death against life!
- Men destroy life!
- They have reached such a level that they can destroy their own lives!
- It looks like global hysteria!
- And Yah.weh gave them life!
- Why are they always looking for death and killing and violence!
- They belong to the devil!
- He is waiting for them to go to destruction with him!
- What about us?

 

[JLG]

There is no one like him on the earth and a wealthy farmer

https://exchangeviewsonthebible.quora.com/
https://thebookofdaniel.quora.com/
https://thebookofsamuel.quora.com/

Job 12

- We have ears: do we still hear?
- We have eyes: do we still see?
- We have a nose: do we still smell?
- We have hands: do we still touch?
- We have a palate: do we still taste?
- We have a mind: do we still learn?
- It is an obligation to keep learning about Yah.weh and the Bible!
- If we don‘t do it, how can we believe in Yah.weh?
- We must build up our faith!
- We must build up our relationship with Yah.weh!
- If we don’t do it, we are lazy and good to nothing!
- Remember the Hebrews, they went away from Yah.weh gradually!
- Many people say they believe but they don’t practise!
- If we don’t practise, we don’t believe!
- Remember: the next promised land will be for those who are active; for those who are ready to do their job!
- The Hebrews didn’t get into the promised land, they died in the desert!
- Their children got into it but they had to fight to get it!
- And all at once they opposed Yah.weh!
- So they kept getting into trouble!
- No peace!
- When they get into it, their destruction was written!
- This time, Jesus will be the king!
- He was with Yah.weh from the beginning!
- He will follow his Father’s orders!
- It won’t be so easy to get into the new promised land!
- And people will have to obey the New Law!
- There won’t be any game!
- Yah.weh has wisdom and mightiness and counsel and understanding: do we listen to him?
- Job kept doing it all his life and he was blessed!
- If we don’t do it now and get ready, there won’t be any promised land for us!

 

[JLG]

There is no one like him on the earth and a wealthy farmer

https://exchangeviewsonthebible.quora.com/
https://thebookofdaniel.quora.com/
https://thebookofsamuel.quora.com/

Job 12

- Nothing is impossible for Yah.weh!
- All faithful servants of Yah.weh know that!
- There is no one more powerful than him!
- All faithful servants of Yah.weh know that!
- He can teach a lesson to anyone!
- And his faithful servants keep it forever!
- like a precious gift and treasure!
- So did Job!
- Neither did the Hebrews!
- Neither did mankind!
- Only individuals!
- But it is a question of life or death!
- We have a lot to learn from Yah.weh!
- And we will have a lot more in the future!

 

[JLG]

There is no one like him on the earth and a wealthy farmer

https://exchangeviewsonthebible.quora.com/
https://thebookofdaniel.quora.com/
https://thebookofsamuel.quora.com/

Job 12

- Job has always been looking for light!
- Do we do the same?
- The world is going to its destruction!
- What about us?
- Do we act like drunken men?
- Or do we look for understanding?
- We have to choose one way like Job and walk straight away!
- The question is do we really want to know?
- or do we let others think for us?
- When we let others do the job for us, we are dead!
- Do we look for light or do we stay in darkness?