Have you ever wondered what it means the prophecy of Isaiah
which reads “they shall beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears
into pruning hooks? Well, it simply means that a situation of war will be
turned into a situation of peace. But why swords and ploughshares? The sword in
the bible was an instrument of war. But not just war. It was a symbol of
violence. The first story of violence in the Bible was that of Cain and Abel
(Gen 4), when an elder brother killed his own younger brother. The ploughshare
was a farming implement. The first farmer was Adam, the father of Cain and Abel,
whom YHWH commanded to till the garden of Eden and care for it (Gen 2:15). The prophecy
of Isaiah is thus a vision of a return from violence to what God originally
intended – the peace of Eden. This is what God intends for us this week. May God
banish from your heart every violence and return you to the peace in which you were created.
The fourth commandment enjoins us to honour our parents and it even adds a promise; that we might live long in the land (Ex. 20:12). But the real problem is, what exactly is the content of this honour? What is a person supposed to do? My understanding is that there are three dimensions that constitute the idea of honour. The first content of honour has to do with the things one does to or for them. In Ex. 21:15 the Law reads: 15 "he who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death”. The passage introduces a certain type of comportment that is expected of children with respect to their parents. This is expressed in varied ways. For instance in Lev. 19:32 it reads: "You shall rise up before the grayheaded, and honor the aged. This has to do with consideration of the elderly. It is this same idea which Sirach expands upon in Sir. 3:12-14. He mentions help, kindness and forbearance among the ways one should act towards parents. The second content of hono...

Amen
ReplyDeleteVery insightful
DeleteVery impressive
ReplyDeleteAmen...
ReplyDeleteI guess the country Ghana and Africa at large needs this peace of Eden too... may God banish any form of violence, especially in the coming year of elections, and return us into the peace in which He created us. Amen...
For Ghana and Africa we pray, in Jesus name. Amen.
Thank you Father...