Mercy for the Dogs

As we make our way through the second book of Samuel, David is rolling. He is a military power house that is flattening enemies in his path as though they were made of straw. By the time we arrive at the eighth chapter, David has conquered and struck down tens of thousands on the warpath. As moves from city to city, he lines up whats left of his enemies and systematically (and strategically) slaughters and spares. Those who are not exterminated become either part of the army of Israel or servants in the House of David. Indeed, “The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.”

But something strange and juxtaposed seems to happen in chapter nine. In the midst of David asserting his new found power, he seeks out anyone left in the house of Saul. Seeing as how Saul was a bit of a jerk, one would assume he is looking to extinguish what is left of Saul’s legacy. But he is looking to bless any remaining family members on behalf of Jonathan. The story is short and the narrative moves back in to warrior king mode, but there is something both subtle and profound to be extracted from this tale.

The entire beauty of the entire scene can be summed up in a line that will later be echoed in Jesus’s words to the syrophoenician woman. Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul and the son of Jonathan says, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?” The kindness and loyalty of Jonathan blessed his son in a way that was more powerful than the curses of handed down by Saul. I think there are 2 major take aways for “dogs” like us.

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First, just like Mephibosheth, we have a loyal and faithful father who’s actions negate the curses of sin we should have rightfully inherited from our ancestors. Instead of the extermination we deserve, we are offered a seat at the table of Israel forever. Though we are unworthy dogs, we have been shown regard by the most high God because of the one who walked in goodness and kindness before.

Second, we must take very seriously the impact our lives have on those around us and those who will come after us. We can spend chose to spend our time living the condemned life we have inherited or fighting the curse that is being handed down by the world. When we choose to stand up to evil and walk in the light of God, we are choosing to make a path towards the one who has gone before us and negated the condemnation.

Clean Our Hands, Give us Rest

1 Chronicles 22

David was the king of all kings. He is arguably the most noted king of Israel in the Old Testament. Though he was not perfect, he became the archetype of glory. His massive shortcomings and blatant sins seem to get overlooked when the people of Israel fondly look back on the past. After all, he was the king after God’s own heart. No matter how great and favored he was in the eyes of the people, God did not overlook his iniquities. Though he had a heart of worship that longed to build a permanent earthly dwelling place for the almighty God,  he was not allowed due to the blood on his hands.

What was most interesting to me is the fact that the blood on David’s hands that kept him from being allowed to build the temple not belong to Uriah. Instead, David is being kept from this holy work due to the thousands he has killed on the battle field. The problem that arises here is that David is established in the world through his knack for battle. It never seems as though God is asking him to refrain from battle and it doesn’t look like David would have the success he did with out the Lord’s help. David is a warrior king and as we look through the Old Testament, it doesn’t look like God has a problem with mass bloodshed as long as he has approved it.

giveusrestThough there are many ways we can answer what appears to be a problem of theodicy, I would like to suggest that God is establishing an era. If we look earlier in the book, we find that God is perfectly content in a tent. He asked for no such house to be built, but out of reverence (and probably guilt as David looked from the balcony of his cedar house onto the makeshift tent) David insisted that God have a proper earthly home. I think that God’s allowance of the building of the temple comes as part of a new theme he is going to establish through the reign of Solomon.

This new era is marked by peace and rest. God is planning to take Solomon under his wing and bring him along as his own son (v.10). God is looking to specifically brand everything to do with this ear of peace with his name. David was a mighty King, but God wanted the new temple and era a rest to be completely untouched and untainted by the hands of slaughter.

I think we could all do well to open our eyes for the new eras that God is creating in our lives and in his church. As we kneel down before him may he clean our hands and give us rest.

Words That Hover

As a seminary student, I’m supposed to be learning how to talk for a living. If you know me, that makes sense. Sharks die if they stop swimming for long periods of time. I feel the same way about talking. It’s not that I always feel the need to talk, but it is something that is built into my personality.

The biggest problem with this is the undeniable fact that the more a person talks, the less likely the things that he or she says will be profound. Lets be honest, 80% of the words that fly out of our faces generally don’t need to be said. So often we desperately reach for words that have loosely been allowed to tumble from our mouths. We are a people plagued by an illness best categorized as word vomit. But Samuel was different.

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The first thing that we learn about Samuel after he answers his call in 1 Samuel 3, is that “the Lord was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.” How amazing. Can you imagine? Every word that he uttered hung in mid air like a juicy fig, dripping with prophecy, waiting to be picked and digested. Not a word was wasted on pointless banter. Not a single consonant or vowel was left laying on the cutting room floor.

Samuel was wise, but even the most brilliant thinkers are susceptible to word vomit. It is a self serving device that allows us to rest on the illusion of importance. The key difference to point out here is that “the Lord was with him.” The next verse tells us not that Samuel was famous for being a wise speaker, but rather “all Israel from Dan to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established as a prophet of the Lord.”

The Bible talks a lot about how we use our words. But quantity and quality both matter. The tongue can seem impossible to tame. But sometimes, all it really needs is to be rested.

I Swear

The Foolish Vow by SlavujacThe above painting is titled “The Foolish Vow” and is by the painter Slavujac.

Jephthah, in Judges 11, makes a rash vow, and his only child, his daughter, pays the price.  What debate prevails concerning this passage seems to be focused on the nature of the price paid by the daughter.  Was she burned as an offering to God?  Instead, was she dedicated to the LORD’s service for life?

Regarding this debate, which really is not intended to be the topic of this post, Deuteronomy 23:2 informs us that, “If a person is illegitimate by birth, neither he nor his descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the LORD.”  As Jephthah was the son of a prostitute (Judges 11:1), neither he nor his daughter were eligible to be dedicated to the LORD’s service, so that option is out of play.

The point I wish to demonstrate is that Jephthah was a monster.  He was either an ignorant LORD-worshipper who killed his daughter or a prideful self-worshipper who killed his daughter.

That Jephthah made the vow is not in question.

That Jephthah’s daughter was the unintended victim of the vow is also not in question.

What is questionable is Jephthah’s response to his daughter becoming the victim of his vow.  Deuteronomy 18:10 states explicitly, “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering.”  Either Jephthah was unaware of the law and followed through with his vow, or he was aware of the law and followed through with his vow anyway.

Even worse, Leviticus 5:4-6 allows the substitution of a female lamb or goat in the instance of making a rash vow.  Jephthah could have killed a lamb or a goat instead of his daughter and still, from a legal standpoint, been right with God.

Yet worse still, Leviticus chapter 27, which explains the majority of the laws concerning vows, allows Jephthah to redeem his daughter from the LORD for thirty shekels of silver.

In the two months between Jephthah’s realizing the tragedy of his vow and the return of his daughter from the mountains to be burned to death, he didn’t pursue an alternative to her death.  If he didn’t know the law, he was an ignorant religious leader who could have saved his daughter if he had sought out the law; however, if he knew the law and sacrificed his daughter anyway, not only did he directly disobey God, he knew the law provided for his backing out of the vow if he humbled himself and made the rash vow sacrifice or paid the redemption price.

Ergo, monster.

For a more thorough treatment of this argument, see this page.

After that, check out this follow up page that answers questions readers posted in response to the first article.

Looking Back

jg19_29aThe above image is from http://www.thebricktestament.com

The book of Judges is full of isolated stories that all fall under the common theme of the rebellion-oppression cycle:  Israel rebels, becomes oppressed, cries out to God, God raises up a deliverer to free the people, the people forget God and rebel, and on and on.

Amidst the repetition of this cycle are a few reflections of past events in the history of the people of the covenant.  As depicted in the picture above, Judges 19 details the story of a mob seeking to rape the Levite guest of a man of Gibeah, that man handing over the women in the house instead of the Levite guest, the resulting death of the Levite’s concubine, and his decision to cut her into twelve pieces to send to the tribal leaders of Israel.

This disturbing tale strongly resembles that found in Genesis 19 which is the story of Lot protecting his angel guests from the mob in Sodom.  Sodom ends up being destroyed by God through a rain of fire.  Gibeah is also destroyed by fire after Israel sans Benjamin puts the inhabitants of the city to death.

Furthermore, this unified retaliation of the sons of Israel against those who raped their kinswomen bears similarity to the response of the literal sons of Israel in Genesis 34 to the rape of their sister Dinah.

Gideon has a golden ephod forged from the golden earrings looted from the Midianites by the people of the covenant.  Not only does this reflect back upon the early chapters of Exodus and the people’s association with Midian, but more significantly, this resembles Exodus 32 and Aaron having the golden calf forged from the golden earrings looted from the Egyptians as the people of the covenant fled Egypt.

It should be no surprise, then, that the people worshiped the ephod much as their ancestors had worshiped the calf.  In fact, this account may be included specifically to communicate that the people, even now under the law, had made no progress in living out their destiny as the chosen people of God.

For more on Judges 8 and the ephod, see here.

For more on Judges 19 and the atrocities presented within, mosey on over here.

Whatever it Takes

“Do whatever it takes.” This is a familiar plea of desperation. It implies a sense of urgency that allows one’s mind to wander to the depth of depravity. When something important must be done or something big must be accomplished, you sometimes have to make sacrifices and “do whatever it takes.”

But what about the times when “what it takes” is fairly simple? Part of the human condition is the desire to over complicate things. We try to turn spirituality into an equation and community into a formula. As we look at Judges chapter 11 we find out that this is not a new concept. We read a story about Jepthah that leaves us holding our shaking head in our hands and asking “Why on God’s green earth would you say something like that?!”

There are times in our lives where God calls us to sacrifice specific things to him. Sometimes, like in the story of Isaac, God asks us to render unto him what we never would volunteer on our own. As far as the text tells us, this was not one of those times.

Israel was in a tough spot. Jepthah was an illegitimate son of a prostitute, cast out of his lineage. Needless to say he had a lot to prove and had to do “whatever it took” to do so. But the text tells us that the Spirit of the Lord was already upon him. It guided him through foreign lands and to the front yard of the Ammonites. Unlike Isaac, God didn’t ask for the sacrifice of Jepthah’s Daughter. But then again, God doesn’t stop him.

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Honest zeal for the Lord is never a bad thing. However, blind zealousness without thought or substance is detrimental. It can lead to everything from cutting off the ear of good solider doing his job, to systematically hunting down followers of Christ and murdering them in cold blood. When we look back at the history of church, we see a lot of people doing “whatever it took” in order to serve the Lord. Many times this zealousness has lead to some of the darkest stains on the story of Christ’s body and bride. May we spend time giving ourselves as sacrifices to the living God rather than using those around us as means to an end.

Miracles?

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Do we believe in miracles?

When we read Biblical accounts of strange or impossible happenings we bring into that reading our own beliefs and expectations.  Someone who is naturally a skeptic will interpret miracles through a lens of skepticism.  Likewise, a person who wants to believe will readily accept miracles at face value.  Neither position determines the reality of the miracle itself.

Events such as the burning bush, the various plagues that afflicted Egypt, the parting of the Red Sea, manna in the desert, and the fall of Jericho are significant occurrences in the history of the people of the covenant.  Skeptics find means to explain these away as usually as natural phenomena, albeit sometimes abnormal natural phenomena, while eager believers declare these spectacular events as literal fact without any examination at all.

One such event of significance is the occasion of the sun and moon remaining fixed in the sky for an extended period allowing the people of the covenant to continue to slaughter their enemies which is found in Joshua chapter ten.  Though this may appear to be one more instance in the series of miracles listed above, this particular episode stands out as unique.

Unlike the miracles that preceded it, this miracle was astronomical in scale.  Whether describing the movement of the sun and moon or the movement of the earth, this event is clearly bigger in scale than earlier miracles.

Furthermore, as an astronomical event, this happening would have been witnessed not only by Israel and the enemies they slaughtered, but by the entire world.  This means that other cultures are likely to have some record of either a long day or long night depending on where in the world they were located, and in fact, myths do exist in various cultures (at least Greek, Maori, and Culhuacan as far as I know) concerning an extended day/night.

Whether or not these texts refer to the same event is debatable.  And here is the point of this mess of a post:  the path to understanding miracles is a knife’s edge.  One may easily fall into lifeless rationalization on one side or thoughtless acceptance on the other.

The historical-critical method is a tool to be used to increase our understanding of this reality in which we find ourselves.  Equally important to remember is that the historical-critical method is not the creator or definer of truth.

When we explain away all the unexplainable phenomena we encounter, we have not miracles.  If we accept every fantastical occurrence we encounter as fact, miracles become normative and cease to be miraculous.  Miracles only remain miracles in the balance.

For a longer, better, deeper look at Joshua 10:1-15, look here and here.

For a more thorough approach to miracles and the historical-critical method, check this out.

A Better Story

Farhi Jericho

The above depiction of Jericho is from the 14th Century Farhi Bible.

In pursuing an undergraduate degree in literature, I learned a few things about storytelling.  For instance, and contrary to much of modern storytelling, plot is important.  Conflict and conflict resolution, sometimes appearing in cycles throughout a tale draw the observer forward to the ultimate resolution of the primary conflict.  Furthermore, character development is a necessary part of manipulating the observer into caring about the outcome of the conflict, forcing the observer to feel they identify with the protagonist or protagonists more than they identify with the bringers of conflict.

What happens in chapter two of the book of Joshua is a mess.  Plotwise, events progress too quickly.  The spies show up at Rahab’s house, but Jericho PD immediately know where the spies are.  Somehow Rahab knew the king would send someone to investigate, so she preemptively hid the spies on the roof.  For some reason, the messengers from the king of Jericho don’t bother to search the home of the suspected spy harborer and are easily tricked by Rahab into leaving the premises.  All of this takes place in the first seven verses.

Admittedly, conflict exists, but that conflict is shown to be minimal.  As mentioned, the spies are hidden and in danger of discovery, but the messengers of the king, having journeyed to Rahab’s house, don’t bother to search where they are, but instead spend multiple days pursuing no one in the reaches outside the city.  We see minimal conflict and unbelievable resolution.

Really the only character development that occurs for the spies is the expository information we are given in verse one that the two men are spies of Israel.  These spies don’t even receive names.  Later, in chapter six, we do see that the spies kept their promise to spare Rahab and her family.  We also learn, over the course of events, that Rahab is a prostitute, that she is a traitor to her people, and that she believes the LORD has brought and will bring success to the people of Israel.  Nevertheless, while we know some of what these characters did, we never know who they are as people.

In our reading, we easily identify the spies and Rahab as the protagonists of this story because they seem to be the focus of the material.  We are wrong.  From a literary perspective, the spies are not people at all in this story but are merely a plot device.  Rahab may receive more focus than the other characters in this tale, but she is not a protagonist in the traditional sense.  As a prostitute, a deceiver, and a traitor to her people, she functions more as an antihero than a protagonist.

If this story is viewed as the tale of the noble Rahab who aided the just Israelites in their holy quest to conquer Jericho, it’s a literary disgrace.  However, taken as a later justification for Joshua sparing and marrying Rahab (as stated in the Talmud) or more generally for the inclusion of a Canaanite group among the people of Israel (which was forbidden), this tale makes a little more sense.

For more on Rahab, look here.

For a Jewish take on Rahab, look here instead.

Greed: The Prize AND The Promise

By the seventh chapter of Joshua, Israel is well on its way to the capture of Canaan, God’s promised land.  Jericho has fallen to the soldier’s trumpets and the war machine marched on to what should have been a relatively easy victory in the land of Ai. But here we find a kink in the game plan as the lop sided battle ended up being a blood bath for Israel. A little lamenting from Joshua reveals God’s anger toward Israel over the stealing of plunder from a previous battle.

God’s anger here seems simple and straight forward. We already know how God feels about disobedience at this point. We know that the sin of an individual has an affect on the entire community. But what can be easily missed is the nature of this specific disobedience within the context of the narrative. This single act threw a wrench into the cogs of the entire nation and eventually ended in the brutal death of Achan at the hands of his own people. God said don’t “touch it.” He “touched it.” We find a lot of people in the Old and New Testaments “touching it” and they don’t fall to the same fate.

Something within the context to note is that God was in the midst of delivering the promised land to his people. They had finally left their wandering in the wilderness and were actively making their way into “the destination.” This was the complete fulfillment of God’s promise and Achan was settling for precious rocks. A nation was finally coming into their physical home and Achan was more concerned with what he could have in the moment.

Prize

Why settle?

I can relate. I think we all can. It’s easy to settle for what is easy (not as redundant as it sounds), even when we are on our way to the greater. On our way to the fulness of the promise we settle for the prize. I’m not sure that this merits being stoned and burned alive with the things we settled for, but it at least calls for examination of our priorities. The easy isn’t always evil but it does diminish or take away from the weight of our own promised land; regardless of how close or far away we are from it.

Colossians 3:1-5 correlates well:

“So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, 3 for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your[a] life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly”

It gets even more serious in light of Hebrews 10:13 “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”