Role models?
985 words by Charris3
Are the Patriarch and Matriarch good role models? The Patriarch and Matriarchs are the the family of Abraham. I personally believe that the Patriarchs and Matriarchs are not good role models with the exception of Abraham. Abraham is a good role model; he follows God orders without any hesitations. For instance, when God told him to sacrifice his son, Abraham was willing and ready. With that being said, it does bring out how moral these people were. In all reality how did Abraham really know that that was God telling him to basically kill his son. I honestly think this story was to show his obedience, so I will not go off on a tangent about if it was truly God or not. When you think of a role model, its one with whom you can look up to and by following their action you would be a better person, and Abraham seem to be a key role model because he was God fearing, obedient, and wise. However, the other patriarch and Matriarchs may not be look to as role models’ they do not always do what is morally right. Not saying that any human being is perfect outside of Jesus Christ, because we all fall short and make mistakes, but some activities they took part in were not “model” material. Now his wife Sarah, came off to be an open generous person b/c she knew she couldn’t have a child, so she allowed Abraham to sleep with the maid so he could have another child; this make you wonder about Abraham because he actually agrees to it. I guess this was to show that Sarah stood behind her man. many look to Sarah as being the idle wife. i am not sure if i agree with that statement, but she is definately not a good example of a righteous woman by her actions after offering the maid to Abraham. What husband would really agree to this if they wholey love there wife? However, Sarah later becomes a little jealous and bitter towards the maid, by the way the maid name was Hagar. She began to mistreat and abuse her, it was so bad that Hagar wanted to leave and even attempted to, but an angel told her to return and she did. This bring up the question of why God wanted Hager to suffer? Why would the angel tell her to go back to that abusive realtionship? The son Hagar gave birth to was given the name Ishmael. Now, Sarah was told by angel that she would have a child, and she gave birth to Isaac. They later were BOTH put out into the wilderness to fend for themselves because Sarah didnt want Hagar’s son Ishmael playing with her son Isaac. That is horrible and definitely not setting a good example. Why would Abraham even allow his son to go through that and punish a lady who had a child for you. She went though the entire nine months of preganacy to result in mistreatment and basically exile. This is definately not a role model action, it is simply ludacris!
Sarah’s son Issac gave birth to twins, Jacob and Esau. Isaac’s son Jacob did not set good examples neither; he cons his brother out of his birthright and tricks Isaac into giving him his blessing by putting goat skin on his arm to appear and “feel” to be Esau in order to get the blessing. Jacob was also deceived again when he was not given Rachel (the woman he wanted as his wife) but given Leah. As they say, what goes around comes around, that definitely happened in this family because Jacob’s sons end up deceiving him using the SAME tactic of using a goat as he did his father. They made Jacob think his son Joseph was dead by soiling his coat of many colors (that was given to him by Jacob because he was his favorite) in goat’s blood. Furthermore, this family did many immoral things and even by Jacob showing favoritism was a bad trait!
My favorite commandment from the Decalogue is “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” This commandment should be the easiest to live by, however, many, indirectly idolize different people and objects. Some people become obsessed with famous people like singer, rappers and models; they desire their lives and want to be like the person they “idolize”. In addition, some people become materialistic, always wanting and buying thing, I know a few people who almost worship some of there possession and would go crazy if they did not have them. However, this commandment is straightforward. It is the one commandment that indirectly influences my behavior. I live by it everyday and it helps me follow all of the other commandments. By God being the one I desire to be like, my actions are heavily influenced in a positive way and therefore allowing me to obey these covenants.
The Decalogue fits into the context of ancient Near Eastern Suzerain-Vassal treaties because they are fairly similar. The Commandment are law given by the higher being God, while the ancient Near Eastern Suzerain-Vassal treaties are law given too. If you are a follower of either of these, for example, if your faith base is Christianity, you should follow these guidelines with out any issue or questions. They both can be look to as covenants or agreement, meaning that they must be obeyed and followed. It’s a give and receive relationship to some extent. We as followers obey the commandment and we are rewarded the promise land after our existence on this world.