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From: "Ariaan" <thisisagenuineaddresssopleaseomittheobvioustoreplyNOOOSPAM@hotmail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.fan.uncle-davey
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Subject: Re: Is Bush a Christian or?
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Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 00:33:30 +0100
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Routerider wrote:
> "Ariaan" wrote in message...
>> Routerider wrote:
>>> "Uncle Davey" <noway@jose.com> wrote ...
>>>
>>>> I don't see what that has to do with that. My grandad was a racist
>>>> too, most people were in those days. It doesn't make me one.
>>>>
>>>> Uncle Davey
>>>
>>> The OT Bible god thought that your lineage was very important, after
>>> all, if you were not 100% Jewish you could not be apart of the
>>> congregation [Deut. 23:2]. Of course that's why I reject the OT
>>> tribal god Jehovah. You are right, your genetic background does not
>>> dictate who you are emotionally, spiritually or
>>> moralistically...only physically.
>>
>> How about Ruth, the Moabitic woman? She became the great great etc
>> grandmother of Jesus.
>> How about Rahab, the Canaanite whore; she became the great great
>> etc.grandmother of Jesus.
>>
>> Ariaan
>>
>
> It seems we have a contradiction in the Bible.
:-) Not at all.
For some reason God had chosen the decendents of Abraham to be His people.
God could do that, because He is a sovereign God, and does not have to tell
us why He does things the way He does.
So these people were His special people, through which He would bring the
Messiah into the world. The other peoples were heathens and did not worship
Him and some eventually called His wrath upon themselves. But had they
repented of their ways, that would not have been the case. Look for instance
at the history of Jonah and Nineveh; the Ninevites repented of their ways
and consequently God spared the city, much to the dismay of Jonah, who in
21st century terms had already installed himself with a sixpack and a bag of
potatoe chips in front of the television, ready to enjoy the spectacle. God
always has mercy on those who repent.
So for some reason, unknown to us, God had chosen this people to be His
special people, but everyone who worshipped Him could come into the
congregation of the Israelites and be circumcised and have part in the
covenant. Perhaps not with the same rights as the Israelites, because only
they were His people, but still members of God's congregation and thus
blessed with the same blessings that the Israelites would receive. So the
key part in this is the fact that one had to worship God to be accepted in
His congregation. And while the old covenant was especially for God's chosen
people, the new would be for the entire world. God's mercy is boundless for
those who seek Him ernestly. And that is what Rahab the whore did, and that
is what Ruth did. Both were from other peoples, but both recognised God for
who He is and His people for who they were. And they knew who to turn to,
and where they had a real future. And God rewarded them for that, by
accepting them into His congregation and even giving them a special place:
foremother of the Messiah. Not because they were so good of themselves, but
as a sign of the coming covenant, which would be extended to the gentiles as
well. That is why exactly these two remarkable women appear in the lineage
of Christ: as a sign that one day God's grace would be extended to all the
peoples of the world, as God had already promised Abraham ("In thee shall
all the the families of the earth be blessed.")
So it is not a contradiction, but a remarkable sign of God's infinite grace.
Ariaan
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