Yeah I'm really sorry - you'll know I'm pants at keeping things up-to-date by now!
So. Sunday.
We started off looking at the answers to some of the questions Jamie asked in his last post:
The first one was about when the Assyrians came down and took the Northern kingdom into exile, and what about the other tribes?
Well, looking at 2 Chron 11:16, "And after them out of all the tribes of Israel such as set their hearts to seek the LORD God of Israel came to Jerusalem, to sacrifice unto the LORD God of their fathers." , we find that the the tribes who were faithful to the real God, the LORD God of Israel, came down into Judah to worship at the proper place - Jerusalem, capital of Judah. We find out who those tribes were in 2 Chron 30, when Hezekiah (a good king) is calling for all the faithful tribes to come down and serve at the temple for the Passover. (v8,9 - "Now be ye not stiffnecked, as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the LORD, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever: and serve the LORD your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you. For if ye turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him.") We see then that it really is a plea for the faithful to not just come down for the Passover, but to come down for good. In v11 we find out who responded to this call - "11 Nevertheless some from Asher, Manasseh, and Zebulun humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem" along with the tribes already in Judah.
Hope that helped!
Next question Jamie'd asked was whether there were 14 tribes - different lists missed out and included different tribes...! So we looked up all the lists of the tribes we could find, and put all alongside each other in a spreadsheet. I've copied it so you can see our big list. Hm ok I haven't - copying it didnt work. I have no idea how to attach it... aha hold on: I THINK it's worked... (thanks to Kirsty for filling it all in by the way!). Yeah I'm pretty sure there aren't 14 tribes, but guys I really need your help figuring out what we're supposed to get from this! Sorry Uncle Norman, I'm um floundering here..! My excuse? I was kind of coming down with the whole bug thing that morning... and was kind of sleepy, and hadn't been there last lesson. So come one guys, help!
Ok mum's helping me =P.
Right, so Kirsty - about the nine and half tribes when it lists 12, that was because 2 and half tribes (Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh) decided not to live actually in the Promised Land - they stayed on the east side of the Jordan.
Yeah I'm sorry but I'm not sure what I'm meant to be doing - I hand over to you guys - please please help!
