Mario Angel

He blamed God because the Jewish people were suffering in the hands of the Midianites, they also were oppressed by the Amalekites and other eastern peoples who had invaded their country. Gideon's heart was saddened by the suffering of his people and couldn't find an answer for his questions. But he obviously didn't take in consideration all the evil that the Israelites had done in the eyes of the Lord. They went astray after other false gods, they had closed their ears towards the Lord and were paying for that. Gideon's assessment was not right due to his lack of understanding that what was happening to the Israelites was a result of their sins against God. We often blame God for the evil that come upon us and many time we forget that many of these problems were created by our own sinful nature. Many times we also forget that our life in this earth is just temporary and that we have a home awaiting for us in heaven, also many times we let the devil to deceive us shifting the blame from him unto God. The danger of attitudes like Gideons is that we don't accept our responsability in front of God for our disobediences and sins. We must try harder to no be so quick to blame God and to learn the lessons that God is trying to teach us even in the middle of our worst adversities.

The reason for their oppressed state was disobedience. They disobeyed God when He told them to not worship idols from other religions. They disobeyed the same commandments that God gave them "Thou shall have not other gods before me". They turned their backs to God and went astray after other false gods. They didn't listened God by worshiping false gods and bringing these false gods inside their tents. Today Christians many times worship other false gods (TV, cars, material things, fishing, boats, activities that take the place of our only God) sometimes we go to places that we should not visit, we hang out with people that openly have rejected our beliefs, we sometime go out with thw wrong crowd, just to be "populars" or accepted by others. We must look up to our God, because He is the only true God.

We must grow in favor with God and men because is the only way that we can fullfill the Great Commision, we can't introduce others to jesus Christ and His plan of salvation if we don't interact with others, if we don behave ourselves as truly Christian and as an example to our co-workers and neighbors we would not be able to talk to them about Jesus Christ and the necessity of repentance and acceptance of Jesus Christ as only way to be eternally together with our Creator. Also relation with other believers and other people who have not become believers yet will help us in growing in our knowledge of God and His Son Jesus Christ, we will be able to share with others our beliefs and what changes this growth has brought in our lives.

The word grace means to receive what we don't deserve. The grace of God was upon Him, we see that in His ministry when He gave sight back to those who were blind, when He resurrected those who were dead, not only spiritually but also physically. God's grace was upon Him, because He is God and He was ministering to us God's gift. healing the sick and bringing the message of the Kingdom of God, showing us that the Kingdom could be now reach through Him. It was necessary for Jesus to be able to fullfill His destiny and to show the Jewish people and the world that He was who He said He was. It is necessary for us, because without grace we couldn't receive God's gift.

I think that he was showing from the beginning of His life that He came to redeem His people, that He came to take the place of the lamb in the altar. he came as a servant. He also was teaching us to obey our parents and also as obedience for the commandments that God gave Moses. We as believers must learn to obey our God and submmit ourselves to His commands, because He knows what is better for our lives. We many times think that we know everything and how shamefully we must to come to God to ask for His forgiveness after we messed up, just because we didn't obey His orders. It is necessary for us to obey God and submmit ourselves to Him if we want to have a fruitfull live and a future eternal life with Him.

The temple was the heart of the Jewish religion at that time, was the religion center for Israel as for the gentiles, Jesus interest in the temple and the elders would be manifested later on during His ministry. The exchange of ideas between Jesus and the elders would help Him later on to improve His teachings and His own life. We as Christians must go to church and listen to those who have more experience in the knowledge of the word of God, listen to our preachers, Sunday school teachers and elders of our church to gain in wisdom and to be prepared to transfer that knowledge to the future generation of Christians.

I don't believe that Jesus intentionally incurred in any faul, He came to this world to bring His people back to the Lord and what better way to start His ministry that going to the temple and showing the elders what they were doing wrong. He knew that his earthly parent will find Him, and also I believe was another way to reassure them who He really was. I don't think that an error in judgement and sin are always the same, some errors in judgement could incurr in sin, but we have to remember that God is in control. I think that before we take any decision that could bring an error in judgement or could result in sin, we should pray and ask God for guidance.

I believe that Jesus had all the understanding and wisdom as God, but He had to endure the same situation now as a man, He had to learn from the point of view of the flesh, fight temptations, fleshly desires, learn obedience from his earthly fathers, learn to share His wisdom with people that were astray from God's love, people that were rejecting God's offer, people that have stonned God's prophets. I believe that as we saw later in Hid ministry, many times the leaders of the jewish religion rejected Him, because we was telling them the truth about their sinful ways.

I believe that Anna and Simeon were expecting precisely what Jesus fullfilled in His life. They were expecting for a person that would help Israel, a hero that wold bring peace to their hearts, a priest who would bring God back to them, a lamb that would be offer in sacrifice for their sins. jerusalem was and is the center of Israel, the home of the temple, the heart of the Jewish nation, and icon of the Jewish faith. The place where the answer of God would be received (Jesus fullfilled all this when he was brought to the temple by Joseph and Mary). Also the Messiah would bring hope for the Gentiles (we could quote what God told Abraham "In thy seed all of the nations will be blessed" and that seed is precisely Jesus Christ, he opened the door to reconciliation with God, not only for the Jewish, but also for the Gentiles). About Jesus own life we could say that in Him all of the prophecies about the Messiah were fullfilled, He became the Hero, the Savior, the High Priest, the Teacher, the Master, the Servant, the Friend, the Healer, the Judge, the Helper, the Truth, the Word of God among many other characteristics of the true Messiah. Today jesus offers the only one and true salvation, He is the way, the light and the truth, He is the narrow path that takes us home, He is the door, He is the shepperd, He is the beginning and the end, there is not other way to go to the Father, except thru Jesus.

I believe that praise and thanksgiving in Simeon's and Anna's lives had priority one in their daily lives. Their faith, hope, patience and obedience proves that. In my own life I can say that I not always have been thankfull to what Jesus has done for me, and I try every day to thank Him for saving me from eternal death. I think that we should thank Him more often and dedicate more time to spent with Him. I think that the culture in US somehow has departed from the first love, material things have replaced Christ in many families, the rush to live our lives is an example of that, fewer people stop to take time to enjoy God's creation (flowers, a beautiful sunset, the change in stations, spring, winter, birds singing, etc). Churches have been replaced by TV preachers, more and more people are spending Sundays home. For the contrary Anna and Simeon spent all day long in the temple worshipping God and waiting patiently for the answer to their prayers.

I believe that their faith was the major reason. They had faith that our God will come true for them, they were obedients servants and patiently waited for the fullfilment of God's promises. Today many believers are not faithfull enough and patient enough to listen to the Holy Spirit, many times we are so narrowminded in our little things that we miss the big picture, many times we are so concentrated in our own ministries that we don't have time to listen to God and to hear the Holy Spirit trying to help and teach us.

I believe that their lives were an example of what believers life should be, trusting the Lord and obeying, but also be patient and wait for the promisses given by the Lord. I believe that they were an example for other jewish people at that time and and example for us today. Also I believe that we as believers in our Lord Jesus Christ should act the same way they did. We need to be an example in our communities and work of place, being patient and sharing with others our beliefs and hopes.

I agree with all the answers that have been provided, I think that they were following God's commandment, and also I think that they were bringing Jesus to the temple also as a way of respecting God and acknowledging that Jesus was the Son of God and maybe they didn't know at that time that in the coming future Jesus Christ will say about Himself this temple will be destroy and rebuild in 3 days. I think that Jesus is the new true temple where all the believers should come in prayer and adoration.

Hi, my name is Mario and I live in Florida, I came to US in 1995 from Cuba, I am 39 years old, married and enjoy online studies. This is my first time here and what I have read so far has blessed my soul. Keep up the good work.