About twenty years ago, there'd...
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About twenty years ago, there'd been an attack in Jerusalem by Palestinians. The nightly
news showed where a bomb exploded and also a spontaneous demonstration by some of
Jerusalem's young men. They chanted, repeating one frightening word: "Neqamah!
Neqamah!" Modern Hebrew is a revival of ancient, biblical Hebrew, thus I
understood this word, "Vengeance!"
Vengeance is a dominant theme in the Old Testament: an eye (but only one) for an eye. However, Paul the apostle reports, "in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit...." The early Christian message was different not only from its Hebrew forebear but also from the Greco-Roman world.
Modern Christianity often becomes the mere chaplain to the nation in which it resides. The chant is "Support the troops!" Instead, why doesn't the message "sound forth" (v. 8) from Christians, "Faith, love, hope"?
Vengeance is a dominant theme in the Old Testament: an eye (but only one) for an eye. However, Paul the apostle reports, "in spite of persecution you received the word with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit...." The early Christian message was different not only from its Hebrew forebear but also from the Greco-Roman world.
Modern Christianity often becomes the mere chaplain to the nation in which it resides. The chant is "Support the troops!" Instead, why doesn't the message "sound forth" (v. 8) from Christians, "Faith, love, hope"?
