Bloodshed
1Kings 8:62 Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the LORD.1Kings 8:63 Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the LORD: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the Israelites dedicated the temple of the LORD.
It sounds like all Israel sacrificed in addition to King Solomon. The if you read 8:5 there were many more.
1Kings 8:5 and King Solomon and the entire assembly of Israel that had gathered about him were before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and cattle that they could not be recorded or counted.
If they could count "twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats," how many animals had to have been sacrificed to be uncountable?
I'm not saying I think that it is wrong, obviously it is what God demanded. I just don't understand how that many animals could be killed and I assume burned as offerings. Where would all the blood go?
The Courage to Confront a King
2Sam. 12:1 The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor.
2Sam. 12:2 The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle,
2Sam. 12:3 but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
2Sam. 12:4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
2Sam. 12:5 David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the LORD lives, the man who did this deserves to die!
2Sam. 12:6 He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
2Sam. 12:7 Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul.
2Sam. 12:8 I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more.
2Sam. 12:9 Why did you despise the word of the LORD by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites.
2Sam. 12:10 Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
2Sam. 12:11 “This is what the LORD says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity upon you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight.
2Sam. 12:12 You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’”
2Sam. 12:13 Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” Nathan replied, “The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die.
In 2 Samuel 12, God sent Nathan to confront David with his sin. It must have been really hard to tell a king as powerful as David these things. Nathan was wise in the way that he approached David. He gave him a parable that described exactly what David had done. David agreed that it was wrong.
If David had not been a man of God and recognized his sin, he could have had Nathan killed. It took much faith on Nathans part to rebuke him.
I pray that as I enter the ministry, when I am called to confront difficult situations, I can show the courage and wisdom that Nathan had.
Old Testament History
Old Testament
History
____________________
A Book Report
Presented to
Dr. T.J. Betts
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
____________________
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for BL101
____________________
by
slytle
October 22, 2008
Sailhamer, John
H., Old Testament
History. Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 1998. 96 pp.
Introduction
Old Testament
History by John H. Sailhamer is
one book in the Zondervan Quick-Reference Library. It is divided
into easy to read one-page sections in eleven chapters. Sailhamer
begins with “Primeval History” and ends with the
“Intertestamental Period”.
Summary
John H. Sailhamer
introduces his book by asking, “What is the Bible?” (9)
He gives one definitive answer, that it is a book, or series of
books that tell God’s story. He asserts that it is divinely
inspired because, if not, the authors would appear
presumptuous.
Sailhamer goes on to explain what history is and how it applies to
the Bible. He maintains that everything that happened to Israel is
not necessarily in the Bible. He also says that it is important to
study Bible history because it is “essential for
demonstrating the truthfulness of the biblical message” and
it “can also help fill in the details of many stories in the
Bible.”(13)
In the next section, Sailhamer deals with primeval history. He
discusses whether Genesis is literal or poetic. He also includes a
basic overview of the controversy of Biblical days in the Genesis
account of creation. Sailhamer describes the difference between the
views of theism (Biblical assumptions), materialism (scientific
assumptions) and naturalism (historical assumptions.) He also
explains the difference between the positions evangelicals
typically take in the conflict between science and the Bible:
creationism, progressive creationism and theistic evolution. He
ends this section with a brief one-page account of the flood and
repopulation of the earth.
The rest of the book discusses Israel’s foundation and
creation as a nation. Sailhamer begins with the patriarchs,
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He continues with the Exodus from Egypt
and the wandering in the dessert. Also covered are the judges, the
kings, the Babylonian exile, the return from exile, and finally the
period of time between the Old Testament and the New
Testament.
Critical
Evaluation
In Old Testament
History, John H. Sailhamer has
tried to cover many topics, and none of them well. One of the major
problems with the book is that Sailhamer fails to cite references
for the information that he delivers. One is left wondering if he
has sources or if he made up the data and statistics. He devotes
little over a page to the topic of creationism and evolution. This
is not nearly enough to explain the differences in opinion.
It is hard to determine what Sailhamer’s beliefs are in
regards to the creation. He gives reasons that evolution is a
problem, but presents dates of the creation in terms of billions of
years. Sailhamer gives one clue by the way he compares theistic
evolutionist and creationists, “theistic evolutionists are
similar in the approach to creationists. Both view the meaning of
the biblical account in terms of their own particular scientific
understanding of the world. The theistic evolutionists apply their
evolutionary theories to Genesis 1, and the creationists read
Genesis 1 in light of their view of the Genesis Flood. In both
cases the meaning of the Bible is ‘explained’ and shown
to be true by scientific laws and theory.” (21) One can take
from this that Sailhamer sides with the only other choice,
progressive creationism. In that, he fails to give the reader any
indication why one view might be better than the others.
In the “Patriarchal History” section, Sailhamer states,
“Recent studies of agricultural changes suggest that the
migration of Abraham may have been associated with a more general
migration of peoples throughout the Near East as a result of
widespread famine.”(30) His reasoning for this is that
“in fact, Abraham himself felt forced to travel beyond Canaan
into Egypt because of famine (Gen. 12:10).”(30) Sailhamer
ignores the fact that God called Abraham to leave his country, his
people, and his father’s household to go to the land that God
would show him. (Genesis 12:1)
In another example of statements that have no basis in theology,
Sailhamer ends the chapter on Balaam by saying that, “Though
Balaam was a pagan diviner, he apparently came across elements of
the true knowledge of Israel’s God, either through tradition
or through reports of the great things God had done for Israel in
Egypt. In that way, Balaam was drawn to identify himself with the
Lord without, however, actually becoming a prophet.” (46) The
author presents no evidence for believing this, nor does he explain
the inconsistency of believing a pagan diviner would submit himself
to the will of God without actually becoming a believer and wither
being a true prophet or giving up his pagan abilities.
There appears to be no real purpose to Old Testament
History. By the end of the
book, one is left wondering which elements in the book are true and
which are Sailhamer’s conjectures. It would have been a much
more worthwhile read had the author included documentation to back
up his statements and he had been more coherent in his statements
regarding the theology of the Old
Testament.
Conclusion
Old Testament
History is supposed to be a
quick reference guide, but it is difficult to find the exact
information that one is looking for. John H. Sailhamer has tried to
cover too much information in ninety-six pages. The book does not
have enough information to be an in depth study guide, yet it is
not well organized enough to be the reference it was intended to
be. Sailhamer has made some assertions that are dubious and some
that are just wrong. One cannot be sure of the validity of
information presented in Old Testament
History. This book can only be
recommended as a supplement to a more intensive Old Testament Bible
study and then only with a skeptical eye.
Secret Sin
I have never heard it described as Dr. Mohler did.
One thing he said, "Pornography is a slander against the goodness of God’s creation and a corruption of this good gift God has given his creatures out of his own self-giving love. To abuse this gift is to weaken, not only the institution of marriage, but the fabric of civilization itself. To choose lust over love is to debase humanity and to worship the false god Priapus in the most brazen form of modern idolatry."
I knew it was wrong, but I had never realized it was idolatry.
http://www.albertmohler.com/audio_archive.php
http://www.sbts.edu/MP3/Speakers/Mohler/20040313mohler.mp3
My son, tell the truth
Joshua 7:19-21, 25-26
19 Then Joshua said to Achan, "My son, tell the truth. Confess to the Lord, the God of Israel. Tell me what you did, and don't try to hide anything from me."
20 Achan answered, "It is true! I have sinned against the Lord, the God of Israel. This is what I did:
21 Among the things I saw was a beautiful coat from Babylonia and about five pounds of silver and more than one and one-fourth pounds of gold. I wanted these things very much for myself, so I took them. You will find them buried in the ground under my tent, with the silver underneath."
25 Joshua said, "I don't know why you caused so much trouble for us, but now the Lord will bring trouble to you." Then all the people threw stones at Achan and his family until they died. Then the people burned them.
26 They piled rocks over Achan's body, and they are still there today. That is why it is called the Valley of Trouble. After this the Lord was no longer angry.
Achan caused God to be angry at all of Israel. He had given specific instructions to not take any of the spoils of war. Achan apparently did not think this applied to himself.
How many times in today's world do we see people committing sins, publicly admitting it and then continuing on with life as if nothing had happened? I am amazed that Achen felt convicted enough to admit his wrong doing and was still stoned. What if that were to happen today? What if we stoned those in public office who admitted that they had done unspeakable things? Would there be less sin? Would people take God's commands more seriously, or would they try even harder to not have to confess?
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
[Thomas Nelson, Inc.]
References to Christ
Deuteronomy 32:21
21 They used things that are not gods to make me jealous and worthless idols to make me angry. So I will use those who are not a nation to make them jealous; I will use a nation that does not understand to make them angry.
Romans 10:14-21
14 But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them;
15 and before someone can go and tell them, that person must be sent. It is written, "How beautiful is the person who comes to bring good news."
16 But not all the Jews accepted the good news. Isaiah said, "Lord, who believed what we told them?"
17 So faith comes from hearing the Good News, and people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.
18 But I ask: Didn't people hear the Good News? Yes, they heard—as the Scripture says:
"Their message went out through all the world;
their words go everywhere on earth." — Psalm 19:4
19 Again I ask: Didn't the people of Israel understand? Yes, they did understand.
First, Moses says:
"I will use those who are not a nation to make you jealous.
I will use a nation that does not understand to make you angry." — Deuteronomy 32:21
20 Then Isaiah is bold enough to say:
"I was found by those who were not asking me for help.
I made myself known to people who were not looking for me." — Isaiah 65:1
21 But about Israel God says,
"All day long I stood ready to accept
people who disobey and are stubborn." — Isaiah 65:2
shNew Century Version (NCV)
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Following a Cloud
When I received my calling into the ministry, I felt really close to God. Now that I am into the work of preparing for that ministry, I find that I have moved away from Him a little bit. It's quite easy to do when you have so many "irons in the fire." By moving away from Him, I find myself questioning Him, His intentions, His plan.
I need to stop; realize that He hasn't changed one bit from the God who called me. I'm just so busy with "His" work that MY perspective has changed.
If He was faithful before, He is faithful now. If I was called before, I am called now.
Hebrews 12:1
We are surrounded by a great cloud of people whose lives tell us what faith means. So let us run the race that is before us and never give up. We should remove from our lives anything that would get in the way and the sin that so easily holds us back.
New Century Version (NCV)
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Complain, Complain, Complain
Numbers 14:1-4, 26-27
1 That night all the people in the camp began crying loudly.
2 All the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron, and all the people said to them, "We wish we had died in Egypt or in this desert.
3 Why is the Lord bringing us to this land to be killed with swords? Our wives and children will be taken away. We would be better off going back to Egypt."
4 They said to each other, "Let's choose a leader and go back to Egypt."
26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron,
27 "How long will these evil people complain about me? I have heard the grumbling and complaining of these Israelites."
And then He described His punishment for them.
Notice that the Israelites did not complain directly about God. They wished they had died in Egypt or in the desert. They thought they would be killed by swords in the land God had brought them to. They thought their wives and children would be taken away. They thought they would be better off going back to Egypt. God took this as an affront to Himself.
How often do we say things that offend God? How often do we complain about worship services that don't meet our taste? How often do we ask if God has called us into ministry, how we are going to pay for school?
We don't have to complain directly about God to offend Him. What if God punished us for our offenses as He punished the Israelites?
New Century Version (NCV)
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
Making Sense of the Old Testament
MAKING
SENSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT:
THREE CRUCIAL QUESTIONS
A Book Report
Presented to
The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for BL101
by
slytle
September 10, 2008
Longman III,
Tremper, Making Sense of the
Old Testament: Three Crucial Questions.Grand Rapids, MI: Baker
Books, 1998. 136 pp.
Introduction
Tremper Longman III has
written a very informative book called Making Sense of the
Old Testament: Three Crucial Questions. The book has been
divided into three logical sections. The first section describes
what the Old Testament is and how it is organized. The second
delves into a comparison between God in the Old Testament and God
in the New Testament. The final part of the book discusses the most
important question, “How is the Christian to apply the Old
Testament to life?”
Summary
Longman has three
points that he wants to make with this book. The Old Testament can
be understood, it reveals more of the character of the God of the
New Testament and it is still an important guide for living in
today’s world. He opens the book by describing how to
understand the Old Testament. He explains why one might be
attracted to it. Several reasons are given why the Old Testament is
so difficult for some to understand. At the end of the chapter, he
gives nine points in understanding the Old Testament.
Chapter two asks the question, “Is the God of the Old
Testament also the God of the New Testament?” In this
chapter, Longman meanders from topic to topic, but finally
concludes that yes, there is only one God who has not changed, but
has revealed more of Himself to mankind.
In chapter three, the author gives practical advice for using the
Bible in everyday life. He explains the difference between
dispensationalism and theonomy and how it relates to using the Old
Testament in one’s life. Longman believes that while specific
case law may not have an application in today’s world, it can
be used to better understand the general law and how to apply
it.
Critical
Evaluation
Longman first explains
what the Old Testament is. He gives five points with the most
important being background to the New Testament. Longman was
correct when he summarized it by saying, “That one cannot
really understand the New Testament without being steeped in the
Old Testament is an inescapable conclusion.” (17)
Tremper Longman then describes why it is so hard to understand the
Old Testament. Length and diversity was his first example. He said,
“a frequent obstacle to reading large portions of the Old
Testament, and the New for that matter, is the type of translation
used by many Christians.” He goes on to say, “Please
understand that I think literal versions like the New American
Standard Bible and the New International Version have an important
place in the church and in our study, as do high-style versions
like the King James and the New Revised Standard. However, we must
also acknowledge that they hinder sustained reading of large
portions of the Scripture.” (19) He asserts that these
versions may be obstacles to understanding the whole Bible, but
never makes a recommendation of a version that is reliable and easy
to understand.
The last section of chapter one includes principals for
understanding the Old Testament. Longmans general goal in this
section is that the reader should know the context of the Old
Testament in order to understand it. He also says that experience
should be interpreted in light of the scripture, not scripture in
light of experience. He cites several examples and concludes,
“The proper procedure is to read the Bible self-critically
and in community.” (51) Another good point presented is to
always seek the full counsel of Scripture. Longman contends that it
is easy to misunderstand the Old Testament by not taking into
account what other passages say about a topic. He makes a valid
point when he says, “The most important ideas in the Bible
are stated hundreds of times.” (52)
At the end of chapter one, Longman interjects an obviously personal
view. He says to be open-minded and tolerant of other
interpretation. This view, while virtuous in intentions, may lead
an overly liberal interpretation of the Bible. He lists several
ideas that can be interpreted different ways, but fails to include
any examples that could be argued under this point, but should not
be. Many feel that the Bible is not clear on homosexuality, while
it is clearly stated in the Old Testament and New that this is
abnormal behavior and is an abomination to the Lord. Using Longmans
theory of tolerance, it can be argued that it is not wrong.
Chapter two asks the question, “Is the God of the Old
Testament also the God of the New Testament?” (55) Tremper
Longman explains that undoubtedly He is. His primary arguments are
the covenant nature of God, the aspect of God as a warrior and the
idea of Christ as the Temple. Concerning the covenant nature, he
says that Christ is an extension of the covenants made with Noah,
Abraham, Moses and David. He states, “The new covenant of
Jesus Christ is certainly different from the old covenants, but it
is not as if the former replaces the latter. Rather, the covenant
king of the New Testament is the fulfillment that is anticipated in
the Old. The God of the New Testament is clearly the same as the
God of the Old Testament; the difference is that we have come to
know Him better.” (71) Longman goes on to explain the nature
of God as warrior in the Old and New Testaments as well as the end
times. With this he bridges the apparent difference in God’s
personality from Old to New Testament. The last argument that
Longman makes is to describe Jesus Christ as a replacement for the
temple. This argument is strengthened by Longmans use of the New
Testament texts of 1 Peter 2:4, Hebrews 9:11-10:18 and Revelation
21:22.
The final chapter
addresses how Christians are to apply the Old Testament to their
lives. He explains that there are two different viewpoints
regarding this topic, dispensationalism and theonomy. He describes
the difference in the two and says, “It is clear that neither
dispensationalism nor theonomy provides and adequate basis for
understanding the law of the Old Testament.” (108) Longman
argues that each genre has a specific purpose. The history gives us
lessons from the past. The poetry helps us to search our souls and
to provide models for prayer. The prophets should serve to warn us
and to give us hope if we abide in God’s covenants. The
author made these points clear when he said, “the Old
Testament can have transformative power in our lives. In
particular, they serve to shape Christian behavior by illustrating
the blessings of obedience and making concrete the observe that the
wages of sin is death.” (130)
Conclusion
Making Sense of the
Old Testament: Three Crucial Questions is a good book. It
helps one to understand how to read the Old Testament, its links to
the New Testament and how to apply it to modern life. This book is
best suited for one with a basic understanding of Christian
theology. While it had some shortcomings and unneeded personal
interjections, it can be useful for defining the Old Testament and
its purposes.
The Sins of the Father
Leviticus 26:39-42
39 Those of you who are left will waste away in the lands of their enemies because of their sins; also because of their fathers’ sins they will waste away.
40 ‘But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their fathers—their treachery against me and their hostility toward me,
41 which made me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies—then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin,
42 I will remember my covenant with Jacob and my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
We see over and over again, that the sins of the father are carried on to the next generation.
2 Kings 21:20-21
20 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his father Manasseh had done.
21 He walked in all the ways of his father; he worshiped the idols his father had worshiped, and bowed down to them.
2 Kings 23:32,37
32 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as his fathers had done.
37 And he did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as his fathers had done.
2 Kings 24:9
9 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father had done.
In some rare cases, righteous fathers were also followed:
2 Kings 15:34
34 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah had done.
Now God commanded that sons not be put to death for the acts of their fathers:
2 Chronicles 25:4
4 Yet he did not put their sons to death, but acted in accordance with what is written in the Law, in the Book of Moses, where the LORD commanded: “Fathers shall not be put to death for their children, nor children put to death for their fathers; each is to die for his own sins.”
But according to Leviticus 26:40, we owe it to God to confess our father's sins to him and repent. I do not believe that this means that by confessing our father's sins, they will be forgiven, but that we will free ourselves from a past that we had no control over. We recognize the shortcomings of our family history and acknowledge the mistakes. We try to eliminate the pride associated with our heritage in order to prevent ourselves from repeating those same mistakes and claim the promises of God's mercy on our lives.
I pray that I will have the wisdom to recognize the sins of my father's, to ask for forgiveness of them and turn from those ways, that I may be a better servant of the LORD.
New Century Version (NCV)
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
The Lord met him there and tried to kill him
Edodus 4
24 As Moses was on his way to Egypt, he stopped at a resting place for the night. The Lord met him there and tried to kill him.
25 But Zipporah took a flint knife and circumcised her son. Taking the skin, she touched Moses' feet with it and said to him, "You are a bridegroom of blood to me."
26 She said, "You are a bridegroom of blood," because she had to circumcise her son. So the Lord let Moses alone.
I noticed this for the first time today and it really surprised me.
It's pretty scary that God would want to kill one of the main characters of the Old Testament before he completed God's assignment. I guess it shows again, that God doesn't need any of us. We should constantly thank Him for His mercy and grace. We had better take seriously any covenant between ourselves and God.
References:
Exodus 4:24-26
New Century Version (NCV)
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
I will teach you...
I have always been somewhat of a computer geek. When I first felt a calling to go into ministry, I wondered if I would be a part of a "media ministry" somewhere. The funny thing is, the further I went into discerning the call, the more I realized that I feel called to preach the gospel.
I identify with Moses, because I don't feel like a talented speaker. Moses tried everything he could to get away from it.
"What if the people of Israel do not believe me or listen to me? What if they say, 'the Lord did not appear to you'?" he said.
"Please, Lord, I have never been a skilled speaker. Even now, after talking to you, I cannot speak well. I speak slowly and can't find the best words."
Then the Lord said to him,"Who made a person's mouth? And who makes someone deaf or not able to speak? Or who gives a person sight or blindness? It is I, the Lord. Now go! I will help you speak, and I will teach you what to say."
God doesn't promise him that he will instantly be a great speaker. He promises him that he will teach him what to say.
That should give us all hope that when it appears that God doesn't instantly grant us the ability to do what He has asked of us, maybe He is teaching us.
I've heard it said that God doesn't need you for your strengths. He wants you for your weaknesses, so that His glory can shine through you. I believe this now more than ever and can't wait to see what He has in store for my "weaknesses."
References:
Exodus 4:1, 10-12
New Century Version (NCV)
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O ye of little faith...
In Chapter 12, God tells Abram, "leave your country, your relatives, and your father's family and go to the land I will show you." It seemed as if Abram would do as God instructed, but he didn't. He "went down to Egypt to live because there was so little food." He then sold his wife to the king for "sheep, cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels." The Lord was looking out for him though and sent disease on the king and his people to allow Abram to escape.
God then proceeded to promise Abram that his descendants would be too many to count.
"Abram believed the Lord. And the Lord accepted Abram's faith, and that faith made him right with God."
Again, Abram lost his faith and proceeded to have sex with his wife's servant to have the first of the descendants that God promised him. Did he not believe that God would provide?
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, if your faith is as big as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. All things will be possible for you."
Abrams faith must have been the size of a mustard seed, because he was saved through it and God was true to His word and blessed Abram as Abraham. Through God's belief in him, Abram became the man of faith God claimed him to be.
References:
Genesis 12:10
Genesis 12:16
Genesis 15:6
Matthew 17:20
New Century Version (NCV)
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It's all about ME
This brings me to a thought I recently had about the New Testament. Instead of reading about the actions in terms of who they are happening to, I'm trying to read it in terms of it's impact on Jesus.
Traditionally, I have thought about Peter denying Jesus and thought about how bad Peter felt afterwards. Now I think more about the impact it had on Jesus. He was in His last days, and one of His most trusted friends denied Him. If He hadn't already told Peter about it, can you imagine the shock it would have been to Him? I'm sure it still was very hurtful to Him, and served to make Him even more human.
Another aspect that I thought about was when Jesus was on the cross, and He told John to take care of His mother. Again, being God, He knew she would be ok, but the human side of Him must had been in agony knowing that His mother was losing her first born son. I can only imagine seeing the hurt on your parents face and knowing that it must happen that way.
Reading it from God's perspective instead of a human perspective has given me new insight into what it's all about.
I know these New Testament thoughts have been off topic, but I needed to share that. After all, it's all about JESUS.
Lord, I pray that "my" ministry is truly yours. I pray that you will keep all of us humble and that we will never lose track that all glory belongs to you.