Session 203: Tobit “17 Things To Know About Your Faith"

In this short, fictitious “religious novel”, set against the backdrop of the actual deportation of the 10 Northern Tribes (the nation of Israel) to Assyria in 722BC, the characters have much to tell us about the practice of our own faith:

God answers prayer, though not always in the way we expect!

We all have a guardian angel!

Suffering can be redemptive.

We are to:
Bury the dead (4:3-4)
Honor our mother (4:4)
Give alms (4:7-11) (special emphasis!)
Avoid sexual sin (4:12)
Marry within the faith (4:12+)
Pay just wages (4:14)
“Golden Rule (4:15)
Abstain from drunkenness (4:15)
Feed the hungry (4:16)
Clothe the naked (4:16)
Pursue  wisdom (4:18)
Pray constantly (4:19 and 6:18)
Sanctity of marriage (8:5-7)
Take care of the aged (14:13)

This book is one of seven books in the Catholic bible that are not found typically in Protestant bibles.  We will discuss the reasons why Martin Luther “kicked them out”  (we didn’t add them, they subtracted them!) when we study 2 Maccabees 12.