By Renée Zitzloff and co. (including some of the children of Ephesus school) On the day of his death unarmed tax payer Michael Brown and friend Dorian Johnson were walking in the street heading home. Suddenly their employee police officer Darren Wilson pulled up in his car accosting them with these words, “Get the f__k…
Category: Adults
The Day of Killing
By Renée Zitzloff When I was preparing the lesson on Ezekiel 32 I noticed again (I’m great with the obvious) the seeming redundancy of this ancient book. But reading the chapter anew, expecting to yawn profusely, I suddenly was jolted by the graphic nature of the violence being described. I was to study this with…
How to know if you are wealthy
Today, after listening to the podcast, “Are You Rich,” I came up with the following ways to know if you are wealthy. You don’t have to have them all, just one or two. Here they are in no particular order: 1. You’re in a club. 2. You have food. 3. You have shelter. 4. You…
When You Find the Teaching
I met the man when he asked me for a drink of water after I had just slurped down the last of my bottled water. “I’m sorry, I don’t have any water left,” I said ”That’s ok. How are you today? What are you up to?” he asked. “I’m fine thanks. I’m waiting for my mother to…
Inescapable light of Torah: Malachi 3-4
We have come to the final word of the Book of the XII, and the end of the Old Testament for Christians, where the Lord delivered his last plea to his people for them to remain loyal to him and follow Torah. He did not plea on his own behalf, but on behalf of the…
The people fail when the priests do not teach: Malachi 2
After the general rebuke over cultic matters in the last chapter (Malachi 1), the Lord aimed the present chapter at the priests. The priests did not teach Torah. The people rejected each other, and the priests abandoned their wives. They broke brotherhood and marriage through faithlessness. As they rejected each other as creations of the…
The Lord desires honor, not fear: Malachi 1
Zechariah described what would change about human institutions in the eschaton. All government and rule would be based on Torah. Individual human behavior would have to change, too. This is the topic of Malachi. The people’s incorrect and non-chalant attitude towards service of the Lord would need to look much different if they were going…
One people and one will manifested in Torah: The eschaton in Zechariah 13-14
The actions of Torah as the only word: Zechariah 13 The actions of Israel will declare the Lord’s teaching, the Torah, in the eschaton. First, though, he has to cut away humanity’s worst elements, and then he must purify what remains. When the Lord overturns every aspect of society, only then will people be willing…
Mercy frees the people from judgment: Zechariah 11-12
Zechariah 11 begins with unusual pessimism. In the eschaton, everything is supposed to change, but in this chapter, the Lord immediately related how he would destroy everything: the tall, proud trees and the verdant pastures (11:1-3). The powerful and prosperous would suffer. This opening sounds like a return to the harsh language of Micah 1:2-4,…
No more power to oppress: Zecharaiah 10
The eschaton will end people’s suffering as it alters the constant cycle the people find themselves in. Their suffering always came from a systematic process: 1) the people would disobey the Torah and cease to take care of one another and 2) the Lord would use the greed of another nation to oppress them. 3)…