Peter Huang

when we eat Jesus' body and drink his blood we are partaking in his sacrifice for us.We commemorate his redemptive atonement for our sins and we look forward to the Final banquet together with Him. To the disciplesJesus' invitation to eat his body and to drink his blood was a radical idea because the Jews were not supposed to drink the blood of animals. In fact many of his disciples were so offended by the idea that they left Jesus.It is also a radical idea for us modern day christians as it is a unque but memorable way for us to remember that Christ died for our sins and we are to feed on him in our hearts by faith with thanksgiving

The passover meal consisted of unleavened bread, puree, herbs wine and a yearling lamb. The Lord's supper consists of a wafer of bread and wine or grape juice. So there is a difference in the items of the meal consumed. The original passover meal was instituted to commemorate the redemption of the the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt when the angel of death passed over the households of the Israelites the frames of whose doors were smeared with the blood of freshly killed lambs. The Lord's supper which Christians celebrate today is an institution whose purpose is to commemorate the redemption of the world by the death of Jesus on the cross for our salvation

Jesus asked his disciples and us to eat his body and drink his blood in remembrance that He died for us.We are to do this this as often as we shall drink wine and feed on him in our hearts with gratitude and thanksgiving. It was a radical idea for his disciples who were forbidden by Jewish custom to drink the blood of animals and offended many of them who took it to mean literally. It should also be a radical idea for us as it is an unusual way for us to remember that Christ died for our sins

The blood of the lambs during the first passover protected the Israelites from the angel of death who passed over the homes of the Israelites which had blood of the lambs stained on the lintels of their doors. In the same way the last supper was to commemorate the blood of Jesus which was shed to atone for the sins of the whole world.

John 's statement about Jesus refers to his sacrifice because he said of Jesus as one who takes away the sins of the world. The Jewsish concept of sin was that it can be forgiven by the sacrifice of an animal so as the one who takes away the sins of the world Jesus was the sacrifice. The Jewsih concept oif sin was that it refers only to the Jewish ppeople as the people of God but the sins of the world would include the whole world of non Jewish people as well. In this wa y it was a radical concept,

Although Gideon made a mistake with the ephod, he still managed to infuence Israel in the right directions spiritually so that God continued to bless the Israelites.His life as a judge brought peace to the Israelites so that they were not troubled by the Midianites for forty years. However Gideons legacy did not survive him and this was a weakness that we could learn from-that we must not leave weaknesses in our legacies for the future generations so that they will continue to be strong and be obedient to God.

Spiritual unfaithfulness is looked on as prostitution or adultery because both in the OT and NT God's people are regarded as his bethrothed and as such any form of unfaithfulness is seen as prostitution or adultery The temptation I face is that because of the economic downturn I have become anxious about money and that isbad as it can lead me away from God. We cannot serve both God and Mammon.

A snare is a trap. Gideon's family were entrapped by the gold ephod because they became caretakers of it and unwittingly became so engrossed in this job that they forgot about giving worship to God. Sin is disobedience to God and when we sin we often do not know it thinking that it is alright but sin is sin in the sight of God. Gideon's sin was in making the gold ephod which inturn had the disastrous consequence of entrapping not only his family but the people of Israel. The people of Israel by worshipping the ephod committed idolatory:they allowed it to usurp the place of God

An ephod is a holy garment associated with the priesthood usually made of linen. In Gideon's case it was made of gold. It would probably look like a human statue and therefore could be used as a pagan object associated with idols.

Gideon asked for an earring from each soldier. The total weight of the earrings came tomore than forty pounds. Gideon was not wrong to ask for some share of the plunder as the leader of the victorious Israelites. The sin started with what he did with the gold from the earrings. He made an ephod which the Israelites started to worship as an idol. This also ensnared his family who then paid more attention to the ephod than to God. The making of the ephod resulted in spiritual adultery of both Gideon's family and the Israelites as a whole. We learn from this recounting of Gideon's life that we cannot serve mammon and God. Either we love the one and hate the other but we cannot serve both at the same time.

Gideon refused to accept the Israelites' invitation to be their King because he considers it a sacrilege for a person to be King. It would be treason because one would be usurping God's place as ruler of the people. The Israelites forefathers had made a covenant with God accepting Him as their ruler but they had forgotten it and wanted a human King whom they admire and can see. Besides they wanted to be like other nations who had kings. In fact later on when they continued to clamour for a King to rule over them God finally gave in and gave them Saul.

Gideon killed Zebah and Zalmuna to punish them for killing his brothers. According to Mosaic law his action was just as he was merely carrying out what was laid down in the Jewish tradition. However today's christians are taught not to exact vengeance but to leave it to God for he will repay. It is human nature to want to exact vengeance but we must leave it to God to carry out whatever punishment he deems fit.We are further told not to pay evil with evil but to pay it with good.

The cities of Succoth and Peniel refused to help Gideon because they were afraid of the repercussioins if Gideon did not succeed in conquering the Midianites. By not giving food to Gideon's men they were guilty of a terrible breach of hospitality. Furthermore they were also guilty of a breach of their covenant with God. Gideon was rightly angry with them but his punishment for their sins was too harsh by modern standards although it may be legitimate by the standards of their culture at the time. We christians can be guilty of the sins of Succoth and Peniel by not meeting our obligations to our fellow christians in our lives e.g. by not responding when there is a call to donate to some cause sponsored by our church.

Gideon had to vanquish the Medianite army of 15000 men to prevent them from regrouping themselves and causing further problems in the future. The danger of completing half the job is that the problem will come back and haunt you and perhaps cause more distress than it did in the first place. When God asks us to do a job we must complete it.

Gideon asked the Ephraimites to assist him in pursuing the remnants of the Midianite army to the Jordan River and as far as Beth Barah. The Ephraimites did this and even captured two of the Midianite kings, They were angry that Gideon did not ask them to join in the fight at the beginning of the battle as it deprived them of the spoils of victory. However Gideon mollified them by playing down his own part in the victory and praising their part. We should follow Gideon's humility in this difficult situation: He was fully aware that God should be given the credit for their success and so he did not claim any merit for his part.