REPLY TO Maddas:
The term Ishmaelites and Midianites refered to the same people. We do the same thing (e. g., Americans
vs. yankees). This was probably used to kept the text from being too repetitious.
MIDIANITES
-Descendants of Midian, son of Abraham by Keturah,
(Gen.25v1-2,4; 1Chr.1v32-33.)
-Called ISHMAELITES,
(Gen.37v25,28; Judg.8v24.)
-Were merchantmen,
(Gen.37v28.)
-Buy Joseph and sell him to Potiphar,
(Gen.37v28,36.)
-Defeated by the Israelites under Phineas;
-five of their kings killed;
-the women taken captive;
-cities burned;
-and much plunder taken,
(Num.31.)
-Defeated by
-Gideon,
(Judg.6-8.)
-Owned multitudes of camels, and dromedaries [speedy, one-humped camels], and large quantities of gold,
(Isa.60v6.)
-A snare [trap] to the Israelites,
(Num.25v16-18.)
The term Horeb refers to the range, Mount Sinai is the specific mountain. (e. g., Himalayas - Mt. Everest).
The Ten Commandments in Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5 are two different events. The original tables were destroyed when Moses discovered that the
Israelites were worshiping the golden calf. Exodus 34 records the events of Moses going to get the second set. If you read the two sets of
commandments, they are essentially the same. If you want to know why the minor differences, that is God's prerogative; however, it may be God
driving home to the Isrealites exactly who got them out of Egypt. ("Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you
out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.") Remember the
second set of commandments were written after the incident of the "golden calf".
Matt. 12:34, Matt. 23:33, Matt.23:17 Jesus was refering to the Pharisees, rather toned down from what He could have said, but still very appropriate
descriptions. He was making the very same point about the Pharisees that many people on this forum have made concerning certain fundamentalist
Christians:
Matthew 23
23. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices--mint, dilll and cummin. But you have neglected
the more important matters of the law--justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.
24. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
25. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed
and self-indulgence.
26. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
27. "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the
inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean.
28. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
Matthew 15:26 - the uses of the term "dogs". Damn do people love to pull terms out of context. Look at this in context.
Matthew 15
22. A Canaanite woman from that vicinity came to him, crying out, "Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is suffering terribly from
demon-possession."
23. Jesus did not answer a word. So his disciples came to him and urged him, "Send her away, for she keeps crying out after us."
24. He answered, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel."
25. The woman came and knelt before him. "Lord, help me!" she said.
26. He replied, "It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to their dogs."
27. "Yes, Lord," she said, "but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table."
28. Then Jesus answered, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." And her daughter was healed from that very hour.
The correct translation should be puppies, the diminutive word meaning 'household pets, little dogs'. The image here is the children are feed
before the household pets, the pets must wait to be feed. When this incident occurs, Jesus and his disciples have gone to Tyre so that his disciples
could get some needed rest. What Jesus is telling the woman that He must take care of His disciples first, and if meeting her need meant going
somewhere, then it was going to have to wait. However, the woman being quick witted, realized what the Jesus had implied and says something on the
order, "Well before you feed your pets, you do throw crumbs to them while your are feeding your children". Invoking the image of how people would
feed tidbits to their waiting pets during mealtimes. She was telling Jesus that she realized that He could accomplish what she needed done without
leaving his disciples, that He could heal her daughter from a distance.
www.christian-thinktank.com...
[Edited on 25-5-2003 by jagdflieger]
[Edited on 25-5-2003 by jagdflieger]
[Edited on 25-5-2003 by jagdflieger]


?