The Babylonians invaded Judah in 605 BC and took many young Jewish males into captivity. They took the best and brightest which included Daniel. Daniel may have been around 15 years old at the time (a teachable age). The Babylonians would then convert their captives to the ways of their culture. These young men after a three-year training were to become servants to the king. They would receive a privileged status.
That doesn’t sound too bad, right? Tempting, is it not? Continue reading “Self-Indulgence VS Self-Sacrifice”
Walter Brueggemann makes a case for God’s people to recapture the prophetic imagination of God’s prophets. He calls us to recapture it because we are encapsulated by our surrounding, dominant, and pervasive culture. Starting with Moses he demonstrates to the reader how God’s people are to be a part of an alternative community. Moses was not simply interested in social justice but he was preaching a message that ushered in God’s re-creation. The Israelites had been enslaved so long that they did not know an alternative to their way of life as slaves.