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<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b>TODAY’S READINGS IN CONTEXT<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b>SEPTEMBER 18, 2016<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><u>Amos 8:4-7<o:p></o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><u><o:p> </o:p></u></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">After Solomon died in 930 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split
into two parts, the North (called Israel) and the South (called Judea). The reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel
(788-747 BCE) was very prosperous and was a time of great inequality between
rich and poor. Amos was a cattle herder
and cared for fig trees in Judea, but he was called by Yahweh to prophesy (speak
for the LORD) against Israel from about 760 to 750 BCE. Amos is one of the 12 “minor”
prophets whose works are shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah,
Jeremiah and Ezekiel). In today’s
reading, Amos criticizes the unfair and fraudulent business practices of the
wealthy and their impatience for the Holy Days to pass so they can resume
bilking the poor and enslaving them.
Amos says that YHWH will remember these misdeeds and punish the
evildoers. In 722 BCE, Assyria conquered
Israel and scattered its wealthy class. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><u>1 Timothy 2:1-7</u><o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">The Letters to Timothy and Titus are called “Pastoral
Letters” because they concern the internal life, governance and behavior of the
early Christian churches and their members. Most scholars agree they were
written in the early Second Century in Paul’s name by some of his followers (Paul
died in 64 CE). Writing in someone
else’s name was a common practice in the First and Second Centuries. By this
time, the Jesus Follower Community was more institutionalized. Today’s reading
urges accommodation by the Jesus Followers to the worldly authorities for the
sake of the peace of the church. The
idea of Christ Jesus as a “ransom” (v. 6) traces back to Mark 10:45 (“For the
Son of Man came … to give his life as a ransom for many”). This idea, in turn, was primarily derived
from the Fourth Servant Poem of Isaiah (Is. 52:13 to 53:12) which portrayed
Judea as a suffering servant during the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE). <o:p></o:p></div>
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<div style="font-family:arial,helvetica;font-size:10pt;color:black">-----Original Message-----<br>
From: Joe Parrish <JoeParrish@compuserve.com><br>
To: Propertalk <Propertalk@stsams.org><br>
Cc: PROPERTALK.topic <PROPERTALK.topic@ecunet.org><br>
Sent: Tue, Sep 13, 2016 11:03 am<br>
Subject: [propertalk.topic] FW: Scripture in Context for September 18, 2016<br>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">From:</span></b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> Tom O'Brien [<a href="mailto:tgobrien@comcast.net?">mailto:tgobrien@comcast.net</a>] <br>
<b>Sent:</b> Thursday, September 08, 2016 9:27 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> Tom O'Brien <<a href="mailto:tgobrien@comcast.net">tgobrien@comcast.net</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Scripture in Context for September 18, 2016</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Dear Friends, </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"> </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Attached is Scripture in Context for September 18, 2016. I hope you find it helpful.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">If you want to see the Scripture in Context for the last few weeks, they are at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.scriptureincontext.org">www.scriptureincontext.org</a></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Blessings, </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black"> </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Tom </span></div>
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