Difference between revisions of "Sermon for November 15th, 2020"
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==Job 1:1-3; 13-19== | ==Job 1:1-3; 13-19== | ||
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13 One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.” | 13 One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.” | ||
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Today we are right in the middle of a three-part sermon series called "Counting Camels," in which we examine several bible passages about this famous Middle-Eastern animal, the camel. The camel was a valuable resource in the ancient world, and serves as a metaphor for our own resources--how we gain them, account for them, use them, and (in today's scripture passage) sometimes lose them. | Today we are right in the middle of a three-part sermon series called "Counting Camels," in which we examine several bible passages about this famous Middle-Eastern animal, the camel. The camel was a valuable resource in the ancient world, and serves as a metaphor for our own resources--how we gain them, account for them, use them, and (in today's scripture passage) sometimes lose them. | ||
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| + | As I noted last week, camels are mentioned around 65 times in the Bible, usually in lists or catalogues of an important person's wealth. Abraham had at least 10 camels. His grandson Jacob had 30. The Queen of Sheba is said to have had "a very great retinue" of camels, and the King of Damascus had at least 40 camels. When the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon, the prophet Isaiah predicted that they would someday return to Jerusalem with "a multitude of camels." Years later, when this came to pass, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah both record that number as 435 camels that the children of Israel brought with them to rebuild the holy city. | ||
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| + | But no single person in the Bible has more camels than Job, the main character of the book which bears his name. | ||
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| + | Job 1, verses 1-3: 1 "There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east." | ||
Revision as of 17:19, 14 November 2020
Job 1:1-3; 13-19
13 One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, 15 and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”
Counting Camels II
One day, a curious baby camel was asking his mother a never-ending stream of questions: “Mom, why do we have such huge feet with three toes?” His mother patiently replied, “Our large feet help us walk through the desert. Our three toes stay on top of the soft sand.”
“Ah. I see. And why do we have such long eyelashes?" “To keep the sand out our eyes on our long walks in the desert.” “And Why do we have these giant humps on our backs?” “They help us store energy, so we can go several days through the desert without food.” The baby camel thinks of all this for a little while, and then says, "Mom?" "Yes, dear?" "What the heck are we doing in the San Diego Zoo?"
Today we are right in the middle of a three-part sermon series called "Counting Camels," in which we examine several bible passages about this famous Middle-Eastern animal, the camel. The camel was a valuable resource in the ancient world, and serves as a metaphor for our own resources--how we gain them, account for them, use them, and (in today's scripture passage) sometimes lose them.
As I noted last week, camels are mentioned around 65 times in the Bible, usually in lists or catalogues of an important person's wealth. Abraham had at least 10 camels. His grandson Jacob had 30. The Queen of Sheba is said to have had "a very great retinue" of camels, and the King of Damascus had at least 40 camels. When the Israelites were in captivity in Babylon, the prophet Isaiah predicted that they would someday return to Jerusalem with "a multitude of camels." Years later, when this came to pass, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah both record that number as 435 camels that the children of Israel brought with them to rebuild the holy city.
But no single person in the Bible has more camels than Job, the main character of the book which bears his name.
Job 1, verses 1-3: 1 "There was once a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job. That man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. 2 There were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 3 He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and very many servants; so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east."
