Deuteronomy 20 – I do not understand a God of destruction

Deuteronomy 20:10-16 “When you approach a city to fight against it, you shall offer it terms of peace. 11 “If it agrees to make peace with you and opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall become your forced labor and shall serve you. 12 “However, if it does not make peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it. 13 “When the LORD your God gives it into your hand, you shall strike all the men in it with the edge of the sword. 14 “Only the women and the children and the animals and all that is in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as booty for yourself; and you shall use the spoil of your enemies which the LORD your God has given you. 15 “Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not of the cities of these nations nearby. 16 “Only in the cities of these peoples that the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance, you shall not leave alive anything that breathes.

I struggle with these passages. I struggle with a God who encourages and enables the massacre of cities. I struggle with a God who promotes and encourages war and destruction. I struggle with a God that is so dissimilar to the God I know and worship.

I understand the urge to say there must be two gods. I understand the desire to say that there was a vengeful God of the Old Testament and a loving God of the New Testament. I understand; but I think that’s wrong.

Somehow, the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament are one, eternal, unchanging God. The same yesterday, today, and forever.

I do not understand it yet. Maybe I never will.

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Deuteronomy 19 – Should justice be based on outcome or intent?

Deuteronomy 19:2-6 you shall set aside three cities for yourself in the midst of your land, which the LORD your God gives you to possess. 3 “You shall prepare the roads for yourself, and divide into three parts the territory of your land which the LORD your God will give you as a possession, so that any manslayer may flee there. 4 “Now this is the case of the manslayer who may flee there and live: when he kills his friend unintentionally, not hating him previously– 5 as when a man goes into the forest with his friend to cut wood, and his hand swings the axe to cut down the tree, and the iron head slips off the handle and strikes his friend so that he dies– he may flee to one of these cities and live; 6 otherwise the avenger of blood might pursue the manslayer in the heat of his anger, and overtake him, because the way is long, and take his life, though he was not deserving of death, since he had not hated him previously.

The Israelites are taking a step away from an “eye for an eye” mentality and toward a mentality of “love your neighbor”.

Is justice based upon out come or intent? In an outcome based justice system, if I accidentally kill or cause the death of another, then my life should be forfeited. In a justice system based on intent, my life is only forfeit if my intention was to kill another; there may still be consequences for unintentional action, but death is not one of those consequences.

Is your sense of justice based upon outcomes or intentions? How does this affect your view of society, politics, capital punishment, war, and discipline?

Should you work toward changing your sense of justice?

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Lochinvar by Sir Walter Scott

OH! young Lochinvar is come out of the west,
Through all the wide Border his steed was the best;
And save his good broadsword he weapons had none.
He rode all unarmed and he rode all alone.
So faithful in love and so dauntless in war,
There never was knight like the young Lochinvar.
He stayed not for brake and he stopped not for stone,
He swam the Eske river where ford there was none,
But ere he alighted at Netherby gate
The bride had consented, the gallant came late:
For a laggard in love and a dastard in war
Was to wed the fair Ellen of brave Lochinvar.
So boldly he entered the Netherby Hall,
Among bridesmen, and kinsmen, and brothers, and all:
Then spoke the bride’s father, his hand on his sword,–
For the poor craven bridegroom said never a word,–
‘Oh! come ye in peace here, or come ye in war,
Or to dance at our bridal, young Lord Lochinvar?’–
‘I long wooed your daughter, my suit you denied;
Love swells like the Solway, but ebbs like its tide–
And now am I come, with this lost love of mine,
To lead but one measure, drink one cup of wine.
There are maidens in Scotland more lovely by far,
That would gladly be bride to the young Lochinvar.’
The bride kissed the goblet; the knight took it up,
He quaffed off the wine, and he threw down the cup,
She looked down to blush, and she looked up to sigh,
With a smile on her lips and a tear in her eye.
He took her soft hand ere her mother could bar,–
‘Now tread we a measure!’ said young Lochinvar.
So stately his form, and so lovely her face,
That never a hall such a galliard did grace;
While her mother did fret, and her father did fume,
And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume;
And the bride — maidens whispered ”Twere better by far
To have matched our fair cousin with young Lochinvar.’
One touch to her hand and one word in her ear,
When they reached the hall-door, and the charger stood near;
So light to the croupe the fair lady he swung,
So light to the saddle before her he sprung!
‘She is won! we are gone, over bank, bush, and scaur;
They’ll have fleet steeds that follow,’ quoth young Lochinvar.
There was mounting ‘mong Graemes of the Netherby clan;
Fosters, Fenwicks, and Musgraves, they rode and they ran:
There was racing and chasing on Cannobie Lee,
But the lost bride of Netherby ne’er did they see.
So daring in love and so dauntless in war,
Have ye e’er heard of gallant like young Lochinvar?

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Deuteronomy 18 – Presumptuous prophets

Deuteronomy 18:18-22 ‘I will raise up a prophet from among their countrymen like you, and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 ‘It shall come about that whoever will not listen to My words which he shall speak in My name, I Myself will require it of him. 20 ‘But the prophet who speaks a word presumptuously in My name which I have not commanded him to speak, or which he speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.’ 21 “You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the LORD has not spoken?’ 22 “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him.”

There are two warnings in this passage: a warning to those who do not listen to God’s prophets, and a warning to those who pretend to be God’s prophets.

It is a dangerous thing to ignore God, even when he speaks through other people. It is an even more dangerous thing to speak for God when God has not spoken to you.

How do we tell the difference between the two types of prophets; the true prophets of God and the presumptuous usurpers? We wait to see if what they say becomes true.

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Deuteronomy 17 – Give of your best

Deuteronomy 17:1 “You shall not sacrifice to the LORD your God an ox or a sheep which has a blemish or any defect, for that is a detestable thing to the LORD your God.”

Whatever you give to the Lord, make sure it is your best. Otherwise, it’s probably better just not to give.

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Spilt Wine by Makya McBee

The glass slipped out of her hand. For a brief moment she was brought to life. She turned her head and watched the glass fall. How slowly it fell. Inside, her mind was consumed, but outside, she only thought—how slowly it fell. It seemed she could catch it if she only reached out, but somehow she could only watch it fall.

The glass slipped out of her hand. For a brief moment she was brought to life. She turned her head and watched the glass fall. How slowly it fell. Inside, her mind was consumed, but outside, she only thought—how slowly it fell. It seemed she could catch it if she only reached out, but somehow she could only watch it fall.

She hadn’t planned on coming at all. Beth had said she must. It would be just fabulous, and besides, she just didn’t get out enough. She preferred to stay at home. It was such a big house for just herself, but it never seemed lonely to her. She liked the house so much better now, still and quiet. She rather enjoyed being home alone; there were no needs to meet but her own. She would never tell anybody, but she could not imagine a single reason why she should be worse off now. She wished she had stayed home tonight. But Beth was a friend of the family (what a strange way to put it) and had a way of making her feel like she was wrong. So she had come. Come to some people she didn’t know, to some house she didn’t know, to spill wine on their carpet.

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Deuteronomy 16 – Ideas about idols

Deuteronomy 16:21-22 “You shall not plant for yourself an Asherah of any kind of tree beside the altar of the LORD your God, which you shall make for yourself. 22 “You shall not set up for yourself a sacred pillar which the LORD your God hates.”

Asherah was a Semitic mother-godess, often worshiped as a fertility god. The image of Asherah was often carved into tress or poles.

This passage was written to Israel and was part of the law established for the Jewish people. With that said, does it speak to contemporary Christians? Should we have crosses or flagpoles where we worship? Or is that taking it to far?

I come from a religious tradition (Friends/Quakers) that historically rejected all adornments to its worship space. A meeting house was just that, a plain house in which to meet. There was no decoration, no adornment, no instrument, no cross, no flag; just benches. The goal was to keep focus on the leading of God, and not set up idols for worship.

Can a statue be an idol? Can a painting be an idol? Can a guitar be an idol? Can a flag be an idol? Can a cross be an idol?

If so, what should we do about it?

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A Prayer

Christ the Priest above us
Ordained of God for all living.
Christ the Priest above us.

To-night, the night of the cross of agony,
The cross of anguish to which Christ was crucified.
Christ the Priest above us.

Noble the Gift! noble the Poor!
Noble the Man of this night.
Christ the Priest above us.

It was Bride the fair who went on her knee,
It is the King of glory who is in her lap.
Christ the Priest above us.

I hear the hills, I hear the seas,
I hear the angels heralding to earth
Christ the Priest above us.

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Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

Video of the week: I’m Not Afraid (remix)

Have a great weekend!

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Deuteronomy 15 – Care for those in need

Deuteronomy 15:9-11 “Beware that there is no base thought in your heart, saying, ‘The seventh year, the year of remission, is near,’ and your eye is hostile toward your poor brother, and you give him nothing; then he may cry to the LORD against you, and it will be a sin in you. 10 “You shall generously give to him, and your heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all your undertakings. 11 “For the poor will never cease to be in the land; therefore I command you, saying, ‘You shall freely open your hand to your brother, to your needy and poor in your land.’

The poor are with us still, and it is still our responsibility to care and provide for those in need.

Our hearts should not be filled with thoughts such as: the government will care for them so I do not have to, or if they would just make an effort they would not be poor.

These base thoughts are counter to what God has called us to do. We are to care for those in need regardless of whether we feel they deserve it or not.

We need to give and not let your hearts be grieved in the giving because what we do we do for the Lord. God will bless our work. God will bless us. It is okay if people take advantage of us, because the one they are truly taking advantage of is God. Let God worry about it.

Put all of your energy into caring for others needs, whether they deserve it or not.

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Deuteronomy 14 – Tithing teaches us to “fear” the Lord

Deuteronomy 14:22-27 “You shall surely tithe all the produce from what you sow, which comes out of the field every year. 23 “You shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God, at the place where He chooses to establish His name, the tithe of your grain, your new wine, your oil, and the firstborn of your herd and your flock, so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always. 24 “If the distance is so great for you that you are not able to bring the tithe, since the place where the LORD your God chooses to set His name is too far away from you when the LORD your God blesses you, 25 then you shall exchange it for money, and bind the money in your hand and go to the place which the LORD your God chooses. 26 “You may spend the money for whatever your heart desires: for oxen, or sheep, or wine, or strong drink, or whatever your heart desires; and there you shall eat in the presence of the LORD your God and rejoice, you and your household. 27 “Also you shall not neglect the Levite who is in your town, for he has no portion or inheritance among you.

I find it interesting that God begins by describing which animals are clean and which are unclean and then moves into a discussion of tithing.

Perhaps more interesting is the reason the Israelites are called to tithe: “so that you may learn to fear the LORD your God always.”

Fear of the Lord is not “being afraid” of the Lord. Rather, fear of the Lord is knowing your place in relationship to God and living properly with God in your life.

We tithe to show respect to God. We tithe to demonstrate that we are under God and we owe God.

A tithe may benefit the community, or the priests; but these are secondary. The primary purpose of a tithe is to work on the tither’s heart and soften it so it can be in right relationship with God.

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Count That Day Lost by George Eliot

If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,
And, counting, find
One self-denying deed, one word
That eased the heart of him who heard,
One glance most kind
That fell like sunshine where it went—
Then you may count that day well spent.

But if, through all the livelong day,
You’ve cheered no heart, by yea or nay—
If, through it all
You’ve nothing done that you can trace
That brought the sunshine to one face—
No act most small
That helped some soul and nothing cost—
Then count that day as worse than lost.

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Deuteronomy 13 – Speaking on God’s behalf

Deuteronomy 13:1-5 “If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes true, concerning which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you to find out if you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 “You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him. 5 “But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has counseled rebellion against the LORD your God who brought you from the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery, to seduce you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from among you.

False prophets are not a new thing. One of the easiest paths to power is to claim supernatural knowledge from God. I think it is fair to be suspicious of anyone claiming to speak on God’s behalf (this would include pastors). Blind acceptance can and will lead to a horrible outcome.

God does not work in secret and God does not reveal his plan to only one person. If we can learn anything from the Bible it is that God reveals himself over and over again. If someone claims to be speaking a word from God, it is not wrong to wait for God to confirm that word. A degree of cynicism can be good.

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Deuteronomy 12 – Rejecting God

Deuteronomy 12:2-9 “You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 “You shall tear down their altars and smash their sacred pillars and burn their Asherim with fire, and you shall cut down the engraved images of their gods and obliterate their name from that place. 4 “You shall not act like this toward the LORD your God. 5 “But you shall seek the LORD at the place which the LORD your God will choose from all your tribes, to establish His name there for His dwelling, and there you shall come. 6 “There you shall bring your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, the contribution of your hand, your votive offerings, your freewill offerings, and the firstborn of your herd and of your flock. 7 “There also you and your households shall eat before the LORD your God, and rejoice in all your undertakings in which the LORD your God has blessed you. 8 “You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes; 9 for you have not as yet come to the resting place and the inheritance which the LORD your God is giving you.

Idolatry is kind of a big deal for God. And this is probably one of the aspects of God which is easiest for us to understand. If you were the creator of the universe, and your creation decided to worship something else, how would you respond? If my kid’s started calling someone else “dad” there would quick and firm correction; same thing with God.

Honor god with all of your life, and give him the glory you owe as a part of God’s creation.

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The Sacred Groves by Anatole France

The kindly influence of the works of the masters inspires wise discourse, grave and familiar speech, wavering images like garlands constantly broken and constantly re-knotted, long reveries, a vague and gentle curiosity that clings to all things but would exhaust none, the memory of what was dear, the forgetfulness of ugly cares and the return to one’s own soul. When we read, then, these excellent books, these books of life, we cause them to pass into ourselves. The critic must be thoroughly penetrated by the knowledge that every book exists in as many different forms as it has readers and that a poem, like a landscape, becomes transformed for every eye that sees it, for every soul that apprehends it.

Some years ago, when I was passing fair days under the pines of Hohwald, I was astonished, during my long rambles, to come upon a bench at every point where the shade was most grateful, the view most extensive, nature most engaging. These rustic benches bore names that betrayed the sentiments of those who had placed them there. One was called Friendship’s Meetingplace, another Sophie’s Rest, a third Charlotte’s Dream.

These good Alsatians who had contrived for their friends and for the passers-by these places of rest and of meeting, taught me what kindness those may practice who have lived in the lands of the spirit and have long traveled there. I, for my part, determined to go about placing rustic seats in the sacred groves and near the fountains of the Muses. That modest and pious woodman’s task suits me marvelously. It requires neither learning nor system and asks only an exquisite astonishment before the beauty of things. Let the village sage, let the surveyor measure the roads and place the mile-stones. As for me, the kindly care of places of rest and meeting and of dreams shall busy me enough. Fit for my tastes and adjusted to my strength is that task of criticism which is lovingly to place benches in beautiful spots and to say with Anytas of Tegaeus:

“Whoever thou art, come and sit in the shade of this beautiful laurel tree that we may here sing praises to the immortal gods!”

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Deuteronomy 11 – The relationship between faith and prosperity

Deuteronomy 11:13-21 “It shall come about, if you listen obediently to my commandments which I am commanding you today, to love the LORD your God and to serve Him with all your heart and all your soul, 14 that He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil. 15 “He will give grass in your fields for your cattle, and you will eat and be satisfied. 16 “Beware that your hearts are not deceived, and that you do not turn away and serve other gods and worship them. 17 “Or the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit; and you will perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.

18 “You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 19 “You shall teach them to your sons, talking of them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road and when you lie down and when you rise up. 20 “You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, 21 so that your days and the days of your sons may be multiplied on the land which the LORD swore to your fathers to give them, as long as the heavens remain above the earth.

What is the relationship between faithfulness and blessing? Is it the case that if we follow certain rules we will be blessed by God?

That certainly seems to be the case for Israel. Prosperity was directly linked to faithfulness. However, even for Israel this did not mean that there would not be difficulties. There were still battles to fight, and natural disasters to overcome. For Israel, faithfulness to God meant that they would be ultimately successful even in the face of trials.

Christians are not Israel. We do not receive the promises made to Israel. We are not under the covenant made between God and Israel.

God promises Christians that faithfulness will be rewarded with a fully restored relationship with God. We have the opportunity to receive grace (and a restored relationship with God) through our faith in Christ.

We are not promised prosperity and anyone who tells you otherwise is preaching a gospel other than Christ. We follow a savior who suffered through trials, who was tempted, who was persecuted, and who was killed. Why should we expect any different?

The good news is that we follow a savior who conquered death and is seated next to God. We can expect the same, if we have faith.

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A Prayer

Be this soul on Thine arm, O Christ,
Thou King of the City of Heaven.
Amen.
Since Thou, O Christ, it was who bought’st this soul,
Be its peace on Thine own keeping.
Amen.
And may the strong Michael, high king of the angels,
Be preparing the path before this soul, O God.
Amen.
Oh! the strong Michael in peace with thee, soul,
And preparing for thee the way to the kingdom of the Son
of God.
Amen.

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Weekly Meanderings

Here’s some stuff I came across this week…

Have a great weekend!

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Deuteronomy 10 – A great, might, awesome, and just God

Deuteronomy 10:17-22 the LORD your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God who does not show partiality nor take a bribe. 18 “He executes justice for the orphan and the widow, and shows His love for the alien by giving him food and clothing. 19 “So show your love for the alien, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt. 20 “You shall fear the LORD your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him, and you shall swear by His name. 21 “He is your praise and He is your God, who has done these great and awesome things for you which your eyes have seen. 22 “Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the LORD your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.

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Deuteronomy 9 – A blessing is never deserved

Deuteronomy 9:4-6 “Do not say in your heart when the LORD your God has driven them out before you, ‘Because of my righteousness the LORD has brought me in to possess this land,’ but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD is dispossessing them before you. 5 “It is not for your righteousness or for the uprightness of your heart that you are going to possess their land, but it is because of the wickedness of these nations that the LORD your God is driving them out before you, in order to confirm the oath which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 6 “Know, then, it is not because of your righteousness that the LORD your God is giving you this good land to possess, for you are a stubborn people.

Do not think that we are any different. God does not bless us because we are righteous. God does not bless us because we are faithful. God does not bless us because we deserve it.

God blesses us because we have aligned ourselves with God and God is faithful to fulfill the promises he has made to those who have sought him out.

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