(Witch of Endor by Martynov)
The three stories I found the most interesting were Esther, Bethsheba, and The Witch of Endor.
The key difference between many of these stories and the first unit is that God is not present very much. The prophesies about God and of others are there, but these stories take a more humanistic approach.
In the story of the Witch of Endor, Saul goes to the Witch after he has forbidden witchcraft. He thinks God has left him and therefore does not know what he is to do about the war he is in. He meets someone he did not think he would though, Samuel. Saul inquires Samuel, but he gave him no wisdom. Saul inquired the witch, but she gave him no wisdom either. The witch told him there are reasons God is not happy with you and she cannot fix that. So, Saul got himself in this mess. This is the first example of how these stories took a humanistic approach.
Next, King David falls in love with a woman who is married named Bethsheba. He gets in bed with her and then she gets pregnant. What does David, the guy who is in God's favor, do next? He makes Bethsheba's husband Uriah carry his handwritten death sentence to Joab the general. The order was to leave Uriah on the battlefield so that he will be killed. The story only mentions God at the end and it said He was not pleased with David's actions.
Lastly, Esther had to be the greatest of all women I have ever known. Esther knew her whole race of people were going to be killed by Haman the King's servant. Esther is the wife of the King and entering the King's quarters without approval of him is death. Esther entered and told of Haman's evil plot. The King had Haman hung on the barracks he was going to hang the Jews from. Mordecai, Esther's family, pushed her to talk to the King because she was frightened before. So, again here there is an example of humans saving one another without God interacting the whole time.
That is the most interesting thing to me about all of this. Saul got himself into his problems with the war and being far from God. King David killed a man to have a wife. Esther saved everyone because of her courage and wisdom from Mordecai. I am sure God was there for them, but no one really speaks about God in these stories at all like they did in the first unit. This is why this unit was exciting for me to read.
No comments:
Post a Comment