CONCERNED WITH GOD'S ATTENTION (45 OF 52)
Scripture: 1 Kings 17:12-23
This content is part of a series.
Concerned with God's Attention (45 of 52)
Series: Discipleship Part Two
Christopher B. Harbin
1 Kings 17:12-23
Some people are starved for attention. Others could do without it. At some point, however, we care more about whose attention we gain. There are people whose attention matters to us more than others'. There are some people whose attention we don't want at all. In some instances, we both crave and fear gaining the attention of some persons. We might want their attention, but we share a fear that their attention could be our undoing. The same issues apply to God. Do we really want God's attention? Do we trust that gaining God's attention would not place us in jeopardy?
Religion in the Ancient Near East was very concerned with gaining divine attention. The flip side of that was the concept that divine attention could also be dangerous. There were complex systems of sacrifices, rituals, and rites designed to minimize the risk of divine contact while also gaining the desired results of divine attention. Most of these practices at their core are what we would consider magic. They were set in place to control the gods for purposes of human, animal, and crop fertility that was so central to daily survival. The people were afraid, however, that the gods might act in ways that inflicted harm upon those who sought their attention. Gaining the attention of the gods was a double-edged sword. One might manipulate a deity to perform some beneficial function. One might also read the wrath of the same deity as a consequence of inspiring that deity's wrath, instead.
Ritual and sacrifice were developed to maintain some semblance of protection from the gods while also seeking assistance with the sending of rain, keeping storms at bay, and causing seed to germinate, crops to grow, and herds to be fertile. It was always a danger, however, which was why they so depended upon a class of professional priests to keep the gods happy and see them benevolently. In the ca ...
Series: Discipleship Part Two
Christopher B. Harbin
1 Kings 17:12-23
Some people are starved for attention. Others could do without it. At some point, however, we care more about whose attention we gain. There are people whose attention matters to us more than others'. There are some people whose attention we don't want at all. In some instances, we both crave and fear gaining the attention of some persons. We might want their attention, but we share a fear that their attention could be our undoing. The same issues apply to God. Do we really want God's attention? Do we trust that gaining God's attention would not place us in jeopardy?
Religion in the Ancient Near East was very concerned with gaining divine attention. The flip side of that was the concept that divine attention could also be dangerous. There were complex systems of sacrifices, rituals, and rites designed to minimize the risk of divine contact while also gaining the desired results of divine attention. Most of these practices at their core are what we would consider magic. They were set in place to control the gods for purposes of human, animal, and crop fertility that was so central to daily survival. The people were afraid, however, that the gods might act in ways that inflicted harm upon those who sought their attention. Gaining the attention of the gods was a double-edged sword. One might manipulate a deity to perform some beneficial function. One might also read the wrath of the same deity as a consequence of inspiring that deity's wrath, instead.
Ritual and sacrifice were developed to maintain some semblance of protection from the gods while also seeking assistance with the sending of rain, keeping storms at bay, and causing seed to germinate, crops to grow, and herds to be fertile. It was always a danger, however, which was why they so depended upon a class of professional priests to keep the gods happy and see them benevolently. In the ca ...
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