by Rodger Trimm<\/p>\n
“Now, as to the attack the zealots made upon the people, and which I esteem\u00a0the beginning of the city’s\u00a0destruction, it hath been\u00a0already explained after an\u00a0accurate manner; as also\u00a0whence it arose, and to how\u00a0great a mischief it was\u00a0increased; but for the present\u00a0sedition, one should not\u00a0mistake if he called it a\u00a0sedition begotten by another\u00a0sedition, and to be like a wild beast grown mad, which for\u00a0the want of food abroad, fell\u00a0upon eating its own flesh.” [Josephus, Wars of the Jews<\/em>,\u00a0Book V, Chapter 1].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Vespasian had conquered most of Judea before he left for Rome to be crowned emperor. He entrusted his son, Titus, to finish the campaign. Titus gathered his legions at Caesarea to prepare for the siege of Jerusalem. In this context, Josephus describes the state of the Jews in Jerusalem. They were a divided people, at war with each other at a time when they should have been united against their common enemy. They were, as Josephus saw it, eating their own flesh.<\/p>\n
We have some zealots among us, today, who seem to be intent on repeating history. I refer to our warriors of the Internet. In the past, most of our internecine conflicts were kept in the family. Now, anyone\u00a0with access to the Internet can read all the juicy details of brothers going to war against brothers. In our zeal to expose the faults (real or imagined) of some brother, we expose ourselves to the world as a divided, wrangling\u00a0sect. Why would anyone want to become a part of such a group?<\/p>\n
Brethren, use a little common sense in your disputes. First, deal with individual differences as privately as possible. Do you recall “show him his fault in private?<\/em>” (Matthew 18:15). When matters go beyond individual differences, “tell it to the church<\/em>” not the world. There are several ways to accomplish that, such as writing letters, phoning, or e-mail. Most problems should be handled individually or congregationally. What brother Soinso is saying or doing on the other side of the country is really not my business or yours. And it is certainly not the world’s business. Preachers need to be reminded, sometimes, that God did not give us a national or universal government. He gave us elders.<\/p>\n
“For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ But if you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.<\/em>” (Galatians 5:13-15, NASB)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Rodger Trimm “Now, as to the attack the zealots made upon the people, and which I esteem\u00a0the beginning of the city’s\u00a0destruction, it hath been\u00a0already explained after an\u00a0accurate manner; as also\u00a0whence it arose, and to how\u00a0great a mischief it was\u00a0increased; but for the present\u00a0sedition, one should not\u00a0mistake if he called it a\u00a0sedition begotten by another\u00a0sedition,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1200,231],"class_list":["post-33044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-disagreements","tag-strife"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16937,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-was-flavius-josephus\/","url_meta":{"origin":33044,"position":0},"title":"Who was Flavius Josephus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am wondering about something: Often I hear about a historian, named Flavius Josephus. His writings are referred to many times, but I am wondering just how reliable is his writings? Do you believe this resource to be as useful as others seem to? How can we be sure\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":70177,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-jesus-lie-about-the-sun-being-darkened-and-the-moon-not-giving-its-light\/","url_meta":{"origin":33044,"position":1},"title":"Did Jesus lie about the sun being darkened and the moon not giving its light?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 5, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello I have a question regarding a conflict that I see people bring up. People argue that Jesus is lying because Matthew 24:34 did not happen. The same thing is mentioned in Luke 21 as well, and also in\u00a0Mark 13:30. Matthew 24:29-34 says, \"Immediately after the distress of those\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":28877,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-does-until-the-times-of-the-gentiles-are-fulfilled-mean\/","url_meta":{"origin":33044,"position":2},"title":"What does “until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” mean?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Please explain \"until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled\" from Luke 21:24. Thanks. Answer: \"But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then recognize that her desolation is near. Then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains, and those who are in the midst of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":69084,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jewish-sects-zealots-and-herodians\/","url_meta":{"origin":33044,"position":3},"title":"Jewish Sects: Zealots and Herodians","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Fred A. Shewmaker via Truth Magazine, XVI: 14, pp. 6-8 February 10, 1972 Josephus referred to the Zealots as \"the fourth sect of Jewish philosophy,\" as we noticed in the first article of this series, \"Some Terms Considered.\" In that article, we classified the Zealots as a political party.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2809,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-historical-political-background-of-the-new-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":33044,"position":4},"title":"The Historical-Political Background of the New Testament","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 8, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Russell H. Dunaway Jr. via Truth Magazine Vol. XLIV: 9 p14 \u00a0May 4, 2000 Beginning in 606 B.C., Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon launched the first of three successive attacks upon the city of Jerusalem and the people of Judah. During the second attack (597 B.C.) Ezekiel, Daniel, and about 10,000\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":25115,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-the-titus-in-the-bible-the-same-as-titus-vespasianus\/","url_meta":{"origin":33044,"position":5},"title":"Was the Titus in the Bible the same as Titus Vespasianus?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Is Titus Vespasian, who was involved with Bernice, the same as the Titus who traveled with Paul? Answer: Then as now, just because a person has the same name, it doesn't mean they are the same person. There is only one Titus mentioned by name in the Bible and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}