Essay on The Old Testament - 1397 Words

The Old Testament clearly displays that the Israelites were the â€Å"Chosen† people of God and while there are many events that show destruction of other civilizations, conversion was certainly acceptable to Old Testament thinking. Judaism is not a conversion religion, but it is not opposed to taking in those who will obey the laws of the tradition, and worship Yahweh. The attitude of the Bible is that the Israelites had committed many sins, but would always be forgiven by God. This is evident in Isaiah 4:1 which states, â€Å" Israel needs to be comforted and she will receive more from God† (NIV Isaiah 40:1) While Judaism and the doctrines and texts had many violent moments, there were also peaceful resolutions for many of the stories, and within†¦show more content†¦For instance, an example â€Å"The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples with their detestable practices, like those of the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites,† (NIV Ezra 9). This makes it pretty clear that the Jews felt that they should not intermarry with the tribes around them, and there was harsh judgment for doing so. Yet in spite of this there were women that were not Jewish that married into the faith, and were good wives. One of these was Ruth, who was a Moabite. Ruth became a heroine in the Jewish canon and is stilled considered the exemplary female figure of a Jewish woman. Ruth was a Moabite and had married the son of a woman named Naomi. When Naomi’s sons have passed away she decides to return to Israel, and Ruth insists on going back with her mother-in-law. She states, â€Å"Your people will be mine and your God will be mine. (NIV Ruth 1:16). Ruth proceeds to return to Israel and convert to Judaism, and she remarries a man named Boaz. The story of Ruth is a famous one, and she goes on to save the Jewish peopl e in a time of crisis. While this is not an example of the Jewish faith forcing conversion, it does show that the idea of conversion was not something they were opposed to under the right conditions. The culture of Judaism is notShow MoreRelatedThe Testament Of The Old Testament1645 Words   |  7 PagesThe Old Testament is the largest part of the bible nestled behind the leather binding in the front of the book. Unlike most books, told from one-person or even two this is comprised of multiple, some stories even having two different versions in another point of view; over time it has become a large collection of ancient texts written and re-written by different authors and editors over the many years. The stories show the ancient Israelites, they show the laws, and rituals, which make up their religionRead MoreThe Testament Of The Old Testament Essay2307 Words   |  10 Pages1. The Old Testament consisted of a set of the spiritual text of documentations, which were written by dif ferent people at various times to a different audience. Most of the Old Testament contains short stories of traditional stories and those stories of distinguish ways God established mankind. These stories are often told to the people in narrative form, which are guidelines often referred to as laws, songs, genealogies, and list from these authors that composed the Old Testaments. 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