1 / 47

The Cosmic conflict

The Cosmic conflict. In the Old Testament?. God. Human. Non-Human. God. Human. Non-Human. 1 st Samuel. Hannah: “…the LORD had kept her childless.” (1 Samuel 1:6 GNB)

melodie
Download Presentation

The Cosmic conflict

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. The Cosmic conflict In the Old Testament?

  2. God Human Non-Human

  3. God Human Non-Human

  4. 1st Samuel • Hannah: • “…the LORD had kept her childless.” (1 Samuel 1:6 GNB) • “The LORD kills and restores to life; he sends people to the world of the dead and brings them back again. He makes some people poor and others rich; he humbles some and makes others great.” (1 Samuel 2:6-7 GNB)

  5. 1st Samuel • “Eli was now very old. He kept hearing about everything his sons were doing to the Israelites and that they were even sleeping with the women who worked at the entrance to the Tent of the LORD's presence. So he said to them, ‘Why are you doing these things?’…But they would not listen to their father, for the LORD had decided to kill them.” (1 Samuel 2:22-25 GNB)

  6. 1st Samuel • “The LORD's spirit left Saul, and an evil spirit sent by the LORD tormented him.” (1 Samuel 16:14 GNB) • “The next day an evil spirit from God suddenly took control of Saul, and he raved in his house like a madman.” (1 Samuel 18:10-12 GNB)

  7. 1st Samuel • “One day an evil spirit from the LORD took control of Saul. He was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, and David was there, playing his harp.” (1 Samuel 19:9 GNB)

  8. 1st Samuel • “Abigail went back to Nabal, who was at home having a feast fit for a king. He was drunk and in a good mood, so she did not tell him anything until the next morning. Then, after he had sobered up, she told him everything. He suffered a stroke and was completely paralyzed. Some ten days later the LORD struck Nabal and he died.” (1 Samuel 25:36-38 GNB)

  9. 1st Samuel • “By the living LORD,’ David continued, ‘I know that the LORD himself will kill Saul, either when his time comes to die a natural death or when he dies in battle.’” (1 Samuel 26:10 GNB) • “So the LORD killed him…” (1 Chronicles 10:14)

  10. God Human Non-Human

  11. “Do not bow down to any idol or worship it, because I am the LORD your God and I tolerate no rivals. I bring punishment on those who hate me and on their descendants down to the third and fourth generation.” (Exodus 20:5)*

  12. God Human Non-Human

  13. Human Responsibility • “The LORD spoke to me and said, ‘What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel? 'The parents ate the sour grapes, But the children got the sour taste.' ‘As surely as I am the living God,’ says the Sovereign LORD, ‘you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more…The person who sins is the one who will die’” (Ezekiel 18:1-4). • “A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do. If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right’” (Ezekiel 18:19-23).

  14. Human Responsibility and Natural Consequence • “The LORD says: ‘What accusation did your ancestors bring against me? What made them turn away from me? They worshiped worthless idols and became worthless themselves.’” (Jeremiah 2:5) • “Judah, you have brought this on yourself by the way you have lived and by the things you have done. Your sin has caused this suffering; it has stabbed you through the heart.” (Jeremiah 4:18)

  15. Where is the Cosmic Conflict? • “The LORD was angry at Israel again, and he made* David think it would be a good idea to count the people in Israel and Judah.” (2 Samuel 24:1) • *incited, provoked, stirred up, caused • “…we must not say, ‘This temptation comes from God.’ For God cannot be tempted by evil, and he himself tempts no one.” (James 1:2, 13 GNB)

  16. Where is the Cosmic Conflict? “The LORD was angry at Israel again, and he made David think it would be a good idea to count the people in Israel and Judah.” (2 Samuel 24:1) “Satan wanted to bring trouble on the people of Israel, so he made David decide to take a census.” (1 Chronicles 21:1)*

  17. What happened to Satan in the OT?

  18. “The nations surrounding Israel were polytheistic, worshiping many gods. In a polytheistic culture, the good things are attributed to the good gods, bad things to the evil ones. And those evil deities could be so volatile that humans were constantly brewing up incantations and magic rituals to placate them…The great danger for Israel lay in the temptation to worship Satan as another god. So rather than just forbidding magic and incantation, God went a step further and claimed full responsibility for both good and evil.” – Alden Thompson

  19. “As a result, throughout most of its pages, the Old Testament portrays God as the active agent in all things. God is the one who causes everything. Satan simply drops from sight until the very end of the Old Testament.” – Alden Thompson • “I create both light and darkness; I bring both blessing and disaster. I, the LORD, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45:7 GNB)

  20. “Indeed, only three passages in the entire Old Testament are explicit in their reference to the “Satan” who was God’s great adversary, and all three passages were either written or canonized toward the end of the Old Testament period.” – Alden Thompson

  21. “The huge dragon was thrown out---that ancient serpent, named the Devil, or Satan, that deceived the whole world. He was thrown down to earth, and all his angels with him.” (Revelation 12:9 GNB)

  22. Job • “So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD… • “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.” (Job 1:12,16)

  23. Leviathan • “His pride is invincible; nothing can make a dent in that pride. Nothing can get through that proud skin-- impervious to weapons and weather. (Job 41:15,16) When it raises itself up the gods are afraid; at the crashing they are beside themselves.” (Job 41:25) “Nothing on earth is his equal-- a creature without fear. He looks down on all that are haughty; he is king over all that are proud.” (Job 41:33,34)

  24. “On that day the LORD will use his fierce and powerful sword to punish Leviathan, that slippery snake, Leviathan, that twisting snake. He will kill that monster which lives in the sea.” (Isaiah 27:1)

  25. King of Babylon • Isaiah 14 • “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world…you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people.” (Isaiah 14:12, 20)

  26. King of Tyre • Ezekiel 28 • “Son of man, sing this funeral song for the king of Tyre. ‘You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God…I ordained and anointed you as the mighty angelic guardian. You had access to the holy mountain of God and walked among the stones of fire. You were blameless in all you did from the day you were created until the day evil was found in you. (Ezekiel 28:2, 11-17 NLT)

  27. “And a voice from heaven said, ‘You are My dearly loved Son, and You bring Me great joy.’ The Spirit then compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness, where He was tempted by Satan for forty days. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of Him.” (Mark 1:11-13 NLT) • “The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God…” (Luke 4:3)

  28. Revelation

  29. God Human Non-Human

  30. Explanatory Power for the OT

  31. “The Israelites left Mount Hor…But on the way the people lost their patience and spoke against God and Moses. They complained, ‘Why did you bring us out of Egypt to die in this desert, where there is no food or water? We can't stand any more of this miserable food!’ Then the LORD sent poisonous snakes among the people, and many Israelites were bitten and died.” (Numbers 21:4-6 GNB)

  32. “Every day of their travels they had been kept by a miracle of divine mercy. In all the way of God’s leading they had found water…peace and safety under the shadowy cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. Angels had ministered to them…Notwithstanding the hardships they had endured, there was not a feeble one in all their ranks. Their feet had not swollen in their long journeys, neither had their clothes grown old. God had subdued before them the fierce beasts of prey and the venomous reptiles of the forest and the desert. If with all these tokens of His love the people still continued to complain, the Lord would withdraw His protection until they should be led to appreciate His merciful care, and return to Him with repentance and humiliation.”

  33. “Because they had been shielded by divine power they had not realized the countless dangers by which they were continually surrounded. In their ingratitude and unbelief they had anticipated death, and now the Lord permitted death to come upon them. The poisonous serpents that infested the wilderness were called fiery serpents, on account of the terrible effects produced by their sting, it causing violent inflammation and speedy death. As the protecting hand of God was removed from Israel, great numbers of the people were attacked by these venomous creatures.” (Patriarchs and Prophets, pages 428, 429)

  34. Prayer in the Setting of the Cosmic Conflict • “In the first year of his reign (539 BC) I was studying the sacred books and thinking about the seventy years that Jerusalem would be in ruins, according to what the LORD had told the prophet Jeremiah. And I prayed earnestly to the Lord God, pleading with him, fasting, wearing sackcloth, and sitting in ashes.” (Daniel 9:2-3)

  35. Prayer in the Setting of the Cosmic Conflict • “In the third year that Cyrus was emperor of Persia…The angel said to me, ‘Daniel, God loves you.’ Stand up and listen…Daniel, don’t be afraid. God has heard your prayers ever since the first day you decided to humble yourself in order to gain understanding. I have come in answer to your prayer.” (Daniel 10:1,11-13)

  36. Prayer in the Setting of the Cosmic Conflict • 586 BC – Fall of Jerusalem • 538 BC – Edict of Cyrus to return • 520 BC – Haggai and Zechariah Zerubbabel and Joshua • 516 BC – Dedication of the sanctuary • 480 BC – Esther • 458 BC – Ezra arrives in Jerusalem • 445 BC – Nehemiah …..Malachi

  37. Prayer in the Setting of the Cosmic Conflict • “The angel prince of the kingdom of Persia* opposed me for twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief angels, came to help me… Now I have to go back and fight the guardian angel of Persia. After that the guardian angel of Greece will appear. There is no one to help me except Michael, Israel’s guardian angel. He is responsible for helping and defending me” (Daniel 10:13,20; 11:1 – GN). • *”spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia”

  38. Prayer in the Setting of the Cosmic Conflict • “Then Satan entered into Judas” (Luke 22:3) • “Simon, Simon! Listen! Satan has received permission to test all of you, to separate the good from the bad, as a farmer separates the wheat from the chaff. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith will not fail. And when you turn back to me, you must strengthen your brothers.” (Luke 22:31, 32)

  39. The Real Issues in the Cosmic Conflict • “Even Satan can disguise himself to look like an angel of light!” (2 Corinthians 11:4)

  40. “From the beginning it has been Satan’s studied plan to cause men to forget God that he might secure them to himself. Hence he has sought to misrepresent the character of God, to lead men to cherish a false conception of Him. The Creator has been presented to their minds as clothed with the attributes of the prince of evil himself,–as arbitrary, severe, and unforgiving,–that He might be feared, shunned, and even hated by men. Satan hoped to so confuse the minds of those whom he had deceived that they would put God out of their knowledge.” EGW, Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 738

  41. “But the plan of redemption had a yet broader and deeper purpose than the salvation of man. It was not for this alone that Christ came to the earth… • It was to vindicate the character of God before the universe. To this result of his great sacrifice – its influence upon the intelligences of other worlds, as well as upon man – the Savior looked forward when just before His crucifixion He said: ‘Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all unto Me.’ John 12:31,32. The act of Christ in dying for the salvation of man would not only make heaven accessible to men, but before all the universe it would justify God and His Son in their dealing with the rebellion of Satan.” (P&P, 68,69)

More Related