Thought Provoking Question -Vol.1

(I stole this one from Michael W Smith... but will have some original TPQ's later) 

If you could take any Biblical figure (other than Jesus) out to dinner 
1. Who would it be ?
2. And why that person ?

I would like to talk to Joshua.  Joshua 24:15 is the first verse in the Bible that I memorized of my own volition:  "Choose you this day, whom you will serve... As for me an my house, we will server the Lord."  I know there's more to that speech than just that abridged verse but Joshua had the courage to stand up and make a huge declaration before the entire nation of Israel.

He also got to learn from Moses and was used to take over the Promised Land.  I'd love to hear that account straight from the horse's mouth, especially the walls coming down at Jericho.

Joshua's a good one for sure.  He'd certainly have a lot of great experiences to share.

Not really "imaginative", but I'd want to chill with Paul (formerly Saul) for a while.  I think he'd be an interesting person who I could relate to in some ways.  I'd love to hear his account of the Damascus road experience first hand. How he dealt with his own struggles of legalism and the flesh. I'd want to ask him some questions about some things he wrote, just for a little better clarification. 

I'd want to hear him talk about accepting God's love and forgiving himself once he had accepted God's forgiveness.  I'm sure several other things would come up to talk about as well. But that's about all I can think of now.

Paul was the first person I thought of as well.  I'd have a ton of questions for him as clarifcation.  I, too, would love to hear about the Damascus road experience.  I would like to hear more about how he kept getting up in the face of rejection and persecution.

Someone will say that this isn't very imaginative, so I will pick a 2nd runner up if Paul's agenda were full for the day in question.  LOL  I'd pick Peter.  He walked with Jesus but at times comes off as a total hot-headed screw up.  I can relate to that.  I would want to hear more about Jesus from him, hear about how He betrayed Jesus the night the Lord was arrested, the crucifixion, and later how Peter was a man on fire for Christ after Pentecost.  I've always admired Peter as he was always passionate even when he was wrong.  He never comes off as lukewarm in the scriptures.

Peter and Paul are both good ones but I'd choose....

Onesimus. He was the slave to Philemon that inspired Paul to write the letter of the same name. In the letter, Onesimus had run away from Philemon and found Paul in prison. Paul wrote the letter about how to treat him, among other things, and I've always wondered how it went when Onesimus went back to Philemon.

The name is also mentioned in 2 Corinthians as a man who accompanied Tychius but it's not clear if this is the same person.

My close runner up is Rahab. This is the only person in the Bible who lied and it's implied that it was okay that she did it. Just a weird story there and I'd like to see how things ended with her.

Gosh, now that I'm typing I have like five other names...

I would want to talk to Job.....how did he get through all that without cracking?

Very interesting thread!

I'd like to have dinner with Thomas.  He always gets a bad rap for being a doubter.  But considering the circumstances, it's completely understandable why he didn't believe.  It'd be interesting to hear what all he has to say in regards to that.

bassdude wrote:

I would want to talk to Job.....how did he get through all that without cracking?

I sometimes think we give Job a little too much credit... He absolutely endured more than we will ever know in our comfortable lives, but we always think he handled it well.  While I have not handled my pain and problems AS well as he did his, he still cursed the day he was born and wished he hadn't been born. I see an amazingly strong person whom God knew and allowed satan to mess him up to refine him and show his commitment to God... but I also see this man who wished he was dead and though he never "cursed God" I'm sure he did his share of frustrated cussing. That observation may not be Biblical, but the fact that he wished he had never been born is Biblical - leading me to believe that he wasn't as "super human" as I once felt he must have been 
Just thinking out loud here is all....

As for this thread though, he would absolutely be an interesting figure to chat with !

I would like to talk to Jude, he has one of the most convicting epistles in the bible.  I would really love to see his stand on what it means to be "a servant of Christ" since I have been lead to believe that the word he used for "servant" is said to translate better into "slave".

I choose Isaiah..I would have many questions for him but one would be did he write about the messiah and the messiahs death and resurrection as the Christians claim or not as the Jews claim..I would also share the four NT gospels with him and see if he agreed with Christianity or stayed with Judaism..I would also ask him about other writings in the old testament...

I would like to talk to Mary.
The mother of Jesus.
To ask her how it was to be the mother of Jesus.
To raise her very special child.
How it was in that time to expect a baby while she was not married.

rockerVu2 wrote:

I would like to talk to Mary.
The mother of Jesus.
To ask her how it was to be the mother of Jesus.
To raise her very special child.
How it was in that time to expect a baby while she was not married.

Yes, I agree.  I would love to talk to Mary as well.

Ditto.

Delilah

Give me Elijah. The prophets of Baal story alone would be hours of good conversation.

ishmael81 wrote:

Peter and Paul are both good ones but I'd choose....

Onesimus. He was the slave to Philemon that inspired Paul to write the letter of the same name. In the letter, Onesimus had run away from Philemon and found Paul in prison. Paul wrote the letter about how to treat him, among other things, and I've always wondered how it went when Onesimus went back to Philemon.

The name is also mentioned in 2 Corinthians as a man who accompanied Tychius but it's not clear if this is the same person.

My close runner up is Rahab. This is the only person in the Bible who lied and it's implied that it was okay that she did it. Just a weird story there and I'd like to see how things ended with her.

Gosh, now that I'm typing I have like five other names...

Actually, Abraham lied as well.  He told people Sarah was his sister to save his hide.  One of the times it says God actually punished someone else because of Abraham's lie!

messiaen77 wrote:

ishmael81 wrote:

Peter and Paul are both good ones but I'd choose....

Onesimus. He was the slave to Philemon that inspired Paul to write the letter of the same name. In the letter, Onesimus had run away from Philemon and found Paul in prison. Paul wrote the letter about how to treat him, among other things, and I've always wondered how it went when Onesimus went back to Philemon.

The name is also mentioned in 2 Corinthians as a man who accompanied Tychius but it's not clear if this is the same person.

My close runner up is Rahab. This is the only person in the Bible who lied and it's implied that it was okay that she did it. Just a weird story there and I'd like to see how things ended with her.

Gosh, now that I'm typing I have like five other names...

Actually, Abraham lied as well.  He told people Sarah was his sister to save his hide.  One of the times it says God actually punished someone else because of Abraham's lie!

But someone was still punished for the lie. There were still bad consequences. When Rahab lied, she got into the book of Hebrews as someone of faith.

Unless I'm not remembering something correctly, which is totally possible...

Definitely NOT Jael (Judges ch. 4)

So many possible answers here.

1.  Elijah--the whole prophets of Baal on Mt. Caramel story is one of my favorites and I'd love to hear about it straight from the horse's mouth.  I'd also like to confirm that a former pastor was right when he said that one of the taunts he used was something to the effect of Baal couldn't answer them because he was on the crapper.

2.  Peter--we'd really get along well I think.

3.  Paul--so many questions about those letters...

4.  Judas--I'd love to just try to understand what was going through his head during his years with Jesus.

Samson wrote:

Delilah

I just noticed this. Is this your actual answer or a hilarious joke?

I was wondering when someone would figure it out. 

Samson wrote:

I was wondering when someone would figure it out. 

It made me laugh when I saw that.

ishmael81 wrote:

My close runner up is Rahab. This is the only person in the Bible who lied and it's implied that it was okay that she did it. Just a weird story there and I'd like to see how things ended with her.

Rahab married Salmon and they had Boaz who was the father of Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David.  I'd say ending up in the lineage of the Messiah is pretty stinkin' cool!