His or Their

Deuteronomy 23-25

In general, I'm neither friend or foe of gender neutral translations of the Bible. My tendency is to interpret gender-specific terminology as gender neutral based on the context anyway, so editorial decisions have little real impact on my reading in this regard. However, there are times when the general context would seem to allow for a gender neutral translation, but upon closer examination... I'm not so sure it makes sense. Deuteronomy 23:3 is just such a verse.

The New Living Translation renders the following:

No Ammonite or Moabite or any of their descendants for ten generations may be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.

While the New International Version (1984) provides the following rendering:

 No Ammonite or Moabite or any of his descendants may enter the assembly of the LORD, even down to the tenth generation.

I do not know how the Hebrew should be translated. In general, however, I would think that a gender neutral rendering would not present any problem with a verse like this. But when I think about Ruth and her great-grandson David, it suddenly makes a big difference. If none of the descendants of male Moabites are allowed in the assembly of the Lord, there is no trespass for David, but if no descendants of any Moabites are allowed, then David, the man after God's own heart, should not have been allowed in the assembly according to a strict legal interpreatation of the law.

Do Not Be Afraid

Deuteronomy 20-22

After 40 years of close fellowship with God, Moses knew that God could be trusted and that there was no need to fear or be afraid of anything that stood in the way... as long as God's commands were followed. He tries to pass on that knowledge to the Israelites, but they don't really get it. They, like we, think that he is simply espousing a righteous way of life, but he really is telling them to trust in the Lord. It is sooooo hard to really convey to others a heartfelt belief that does not conform to the ways of the world in a way that others will truly believe. Most people march to the beat of the world's drum and are incapable of comprehending a different beat.

Thou Shalt Not Lie?

Deuteronomy 16-19

The more I read the scriptures, the more I am amazed at how the modern church has modified the word to suit their own tastes and desires. The ten commandments contain the command that "thou shalt not bear false witness," but we have modified that to refer to lying in general. But, as our reading today reveals, there is a special importance to the command not to bear false witness. It only takes two witnesses to condemn a man to death by stoning, therefore if one bears false witness, there could be a miscarriage of justice that results in a man's death. I'm not saying that lying is okay, for clearly the scriptures (e.g., Psalms, Proverbs, James, etc.) speak about the problems of a deceptive tongue, but the law spoke of something different.

Intolerance

Deuteronomy 13-15

There is much talk about tolerance these days. In general, tolerance is viewed as a "good" thing and conversely intolerance is viewed as a "bad" thing. So countries that allow complete religious freedom are viewed as tolerant and good, while countries that punish those who reach out to inhabitants on behalf of another religion are viewed as intolerant and bad. Imagine then the label placed on the Israelites by their detractors.

Suppose someone secretly entices you—even your brother, your son or daughter, your beloved wife, or your closest friend—and says, ‘Let us go worship other gods’—gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known. They might suggest that you worship the gods of peoples who live nearby or who come from the ends of the earth. But do not give in or listen. Have no pity, and do not spare or protect them. You must put them to death!

These are not the rantings of some pumped up priest, televangelist, or imam, but rather the Word of God. God commands that His people be intolerant of other religious views because he knows the Israelites will succumb to the temptations. So where does that leave us?

Stop Being Stubborn

Deuteronomy 10-12

Moses is running through a synopsis of everything that has happened over the last 40 years to the Israelites as they sit across the Jordan from the Promised Land. He explains to them that all they need to do is to fear and love God, do what he says and everything that the Lord has (and he has everything) will be theirs. That's when he says... change your hearts and stop being stubborn. I think if Moses were here today he'd say the same thing. In our stubborn pride we toss out God's priorities for our own and then make up a story about how God would want it this way. It is easy to wonder at how the Israelites could have been so stupid... the hard part is seeing ourselves in the Israelites sandals.

His Favorites

Deuteronomy 7-9

Who says God doesn't play favorites... "When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are about to enter and occupy, he will clear away many nations ahead of you: the Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. These seven nations are greater and more numerous than you. When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy."

Since the beginning of recorded history, God has definitely played favorites. He accepted Able's sacrifice, but rejected Cain's,,, he loved Jacob, but hated Esau... he has mercy on whom he has mercy and compassion on whom he choose too. This fact seems to offend some people, namely, I think, because they don't want to follow after God, but they still want his blessings (if he exists). If he doesn't exist (like they think) then I wonder who they think is being unfair? The creator has always had the creative freedom to discard one piece and keep another, without securing the permission of the pieces, why is it so surprising that God would have a similar choice? ... and he chose Israel, and then broadened the invitation to anyone who would put their faith in his son. What more could we ask for?

I Wonder...

Deuteronomy 4-6

I wonder if anything would have been different if Moses had handled the situation at Meribah differently. When Moses struck the rock at Meribah with his staff instead of just speaking the word as God had directed him, God pronounced that Moses would not be allowed to cross over into the Promised Land. That Moses wasn't satisfied with God's pronouncement showed when Moses begged God to change his mind, but God told him "Enough!". Now Moses isn't saying anything more to God about it, but he's not finished talking about it. He keeps telling the Israelites that it was their fault that he doesn't get to cross over... that God became angry because of them. But that wasn't the case. I wonder what would have happened if Moses had taken complete responsibility from the start. We don't know... and can't know, but God seldom rewards those who fail to repent.

Enough

Deuteronomy 1-3


When Moses had brought his people within sight of the Promised Land, and had led them in the defeat of Sihon King of Heshbon and Og King of Bashaam, he desired to cross over into the Promised Land with his people. He knew that God had already decreed that he was not to go into the Promised Land, but he desired it in his heart. So he pleaded with God, begging to be allowed to go into the Promised Land. Moses forgot who he was in relationship with... he forgot that God is the same yesterday and today... he thought he could convince God to let him go if he used the big puppy dog eyes. But God's response was firm.

“That is enough,” the LORD said. “Do not speak to me anymore about this matter. Go up to the top of Pisgah and look west and north and south and east. Look at the land with your own eyes, since you are not going to cross this Jordan. 28But commission Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead this people across and will cause them to inherit the land that you will see.”

In essence, God told him the same thing that Jesus was to say to Peter many years later when Peter asked what wpould happen to John. God has a plan for each of us. He wants us to follow his plan. He will not cotton to our deciding that we want to execute someone else's plan. Enough.

Good or Evil?

Numbers 33-36

Encamped just across the Jordan River from Jericho, the Israelites received their final instructions before moving into the Promised Land. Like a father sending his child off into the world, God wanted to place a little focus on an very important issue, that he thought the Israelites might think wasn't so important.

“When you cross the Jordan River into the land of Canaan, you must drive out all the people living there. You must destroy all their carved and molten images and demolish all their pagan shrines. Take possession of the land and settle in it, because I have given it to you to occupy. [...] But if you fail to drive out the people who live in the land, those who remain will be like splinters in your eyes and thorns in your sides. They will harass you in the land where you live. And I will do to you what I had planned to do to them.”

Those were pretty explicit instructions, but in their first battle at Jericho, one of the Israelite warriors decided to keep an idol he found... and then the Israelites were tricked into a peace treaty with some of the inhabitants... and God's instructions were not followed, but the consequences he foretold were. What is it about humans that make them feel they can play with fire and not get burned? How many go astray because they kept a "harmless" habit, that later destroyed them? How ironic that the "tree of knowledge of good and evil" placed us in a condition wherein we cannot recognize the difference between good and evil!

They Just Don't Get It

Numbers 29-32

Then the Lord said to Moses, “On behalf of the people of Israel, take revenge on the Midianites for leading them into idolatry. After that, you will die and join your ancestors.”

You would have thought that since this was going to be Moses' last battle that his people would be sure to do this battle right... one for the Gipper, so to speak. They fought valiantly, and were victorious (for the Lord was with them), and not a single one of their men was lost while all of the Midianite men were killed along with Balaam (for the Lord was really with them and he detested the Midianites and was sorely disappointed with Balaam). However, they completely failed at the finish line for they "captured all the women." Had they already forgotten that it was the Midianite women that had seduced them into sin, or were they remembering the Midianite women? How often do we unconsciously sin because the taste of pleasure is still in our memory? At least Moses saw the sin and called out the generals and captains for their lack of leadership with regard to the Midianite women, and then they stepped up and offered all of their share of the gold plundered (about 420 pounds of gold) out of thanksgiving to the Lord when they realized that none of their men had been killed. We need to always be on the lookout for the sin that creeps into our lives (to purge it) and the blessings in our life (to thank the great provider.)

As Zealous As God

Numbers 25-28

How awesome would it be for God to tell the leader of your people that you were as zealous as he was? What would it take for God to say that about someone? Should we emulate the one that God said that about?

When the Israelite men sinned against God by taking the Moabite women and bowed down to the Moabite god Baal or Peor, God ordered Moses to take care of the problem. So Moses told the judges to to take care of the problem. At that moment, one of the Israelite men was seen taking a Midianite woman into his tent. Phinehas saw this happen, so he jumped up and left the assembly, grabbed his spear, went into the tent and thrust his spear through the man and into the woman. It was at this point that God commended Phinehas for being as zealous as he was in ensuring the purity of the Israelites... and he stopped the plague which had killed 24,000 people.

What is today's equivalent for Phinehas' action? How would God have us be zealous for him?

Wasted Blessings?

Numbers 21-24

God blessed Balaam by granting him prophetic vision... the ability to see ahead of time whom God would bless and whom he would curse. At some point along the way; however, Balaam lost his way... he forgot that God was the one who blessed and cursed... not him. He allowed the worldly distractions of Moab to tempt him away from God and Israel. Though he was originally blessed by the Lord, he became the bad example to be used through the old and new testament of one who sold his blessings for naught.

Have we wasted blessings in a similar manner? Or more precisely, how often have we wasted the blessings that God has rained upon us, by looking elsewhere for pleasure?

Their Share

Numbers 17-20

So all of the other tribes of Israel got an inheritance carved out from the Promised Land, but what did the Levites get? What was their share of the inheritance? I used to think it was those few towns that were set aside for the Levites, but that was not really their inheritance.

And the Lord said to Aaron, “You priests will receive no allotment of land or share of property among the people of Israel. I am your share and your allotment. As for the tribe of Levi, your relatives, I will compensate them for their service in the Tabernacle. Instead of an allotment of land, I will give them the tithes from the entire land of Israel.

Having "I AM" be your share of the inheritance has to be way better than a piece of the desert... and yet these same people were the ones who several hundred years later would lead the call for the crucifixion of the Son of God. We might arrogantly assert that we would not have done that, but in a smaller way we do the same thing when we denigrate those we love the most. Familiarity breeds contempt... the Levites became close to God, and in the process held his prophetic word in contempt, and our present day actions indicate we would have done the same. Thankfully, God is full of mercy and loving kindness.

Caleb

Numbers 13-16

I never tire of reading about Caleb son of Jephunneh. Having explored the land of milk and honey, he found the land good, the inhabitants big, but God bigger. Along with Joshua, he declared that the giant descendants of Anak were helpless prey to the Israelites and their God. He didn't, but he could've said "the bigger they are, the harder they fall." Caleb was righteous and strong as the leader of the clan of Judah when he was 40, and 40 years later, after the rest of his generation has passed on, Caleb was just as tough at 80. He was ready to take on the giants because he knew even more then that his God was bigger than anything that grew in the hills of Hebron. We need more Calebs today. We need more men of God who have confidence that their God is bigger than any problem that faces them.

Second Chances

Numbers 9-12

Moving into year two, there were some Israelites that were not going to be able to participate in the Passover celebration because they were unclean due to contact with a dead person, they wanted a second chance to worship and remember and celebrate, so Moses went to the Lord for advice. The Lord told Moses that they could have a second chance the next month, but only if they had a good excuse, if they had just missed it, then they would need to be cut off from the camp. A clear distinction was drawn between those who truly desired to worship the Lord but couldn't, from those who just couldn't be bothered. Those whose commitment level was too low to care about the Passover could not be allowed to stay with the Israelite community because their attitudes would spread to others.

A similar attitude was found among some who were grumbling because they didn't have any meat. They wanted to return to Egypt for the meat. The Lord provided more than enough meat for them as he brought in quail from the sea, but the Lord's anger burned against the complainers, because their attitudes were infectious and their gluttony proved their end. For some sin their was a second chance, but other sins are too dangerous to allow to continue in the community.

Test of Marital Faithfulness

Numbers 5-8

Not saying that the Lord didn't have his reasons, but those reasons are hard for me to fathom. I know I'm wrong here, but the test of marital faithfulness set forth in Numbers 5 seems to focus on the wrong partner. It lays out the procedures wherein if a husband expects that his wife has stepped out on him, then he can test her faithfulness by offering up a sacrifice and having the high priest make her drink a special concoction. If she was faithful, nothing bad would happen, but if she was unfaithful then her womb would shrink and her abdomen would swell. Seriously!

To fully understand this, I think we have to start from the sure knowledge that God had a good reason for this apparent paradox. Perhaps too many men were accusing their wives of infidelity or were jealous of them and were unrighteously handling the situation. So the Lord created a test that required the man to pay a fee (offering) to accuse his wife of infidelity, and the test would be administered by an independent source.

I don't know if something like this was the basis for the test of marital faithfulness, but we can be sure that the Lord wasn't just trying to find yet another way to get back at the women for the apple in the Garden of Eden.

Holy Work

Numbers 1-4

The Kohathites clan of Levi was responsible for taking care of and transporting the most sacred objects of the tabernacle, including the Ark of the Covenant, bowls, pitchers, lamp stands, furniture, and even the special bread. The only problem was that they were not allowed to see or touch the objects... lest they die. Aaron and his sons would first double and triple wrap each object in a manner that God prescribed so that the Kohathites would be protected. Still, working for 20 years (from 30 to 50) doing a job where you were this close to the most sacred objects on earth, and you were responsible for them, yet you couldn't touch or see them must have been stressful. Perhaps this need for stability and maturity is why the Levites didn't begin their careers until they were 30, as opposed to the other tribes whose men were deemed ready for work (i.e., war) at the age of 20.

Jubilee

Leviticus 25-27

Conceptually, the idea of Jubilee makes a lot of sense from God's perspective, but is much harder for man to truly embrace. Christian celebrations of Jubilee have often strayed from the real intent to focus on a tiny part of the original... more of a political statement than any true attempt meet God's law. Just as the old covenant has been fulfilled in Christ, likewise, when Jesus preached in Nazareth he read from scripture:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor. He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord."

 Jesus concluded by saying that this scripture was fulfilled in their hearing and then he sat down. This, I believe, is the Jubilee that Jesus would have us celebrate now... every year.

12 Loaves

Leviticus 22-24

On a weekly basis, the Israelites were to bake 12 loaves of bread for Aaron and his descendants to be delivered on the Sabbath and laid out on the gold table. What's so special about the loaves other than the fact that they were holy onto the Lord. Never noticed it before, but each loaf was made from two tenths of an ephah of flour. Just how much flour is that? An ephah is about the same as a bushel. A bushel is about 35 liters. So these loaves were each made from about 7 liters of flour. A normal loaf today contains 3 cups of flour... so these loaves were about 10 times larger than our normal loaf of bread. Twelve of these loaves a week makes good eats.

The Scapegoat

Leviticus 16-18

When Aaron took the two goats as a sin offering for the people of Israel, he was to cast lots to see which goat would be sacrificed and which goat would be driven out into the wilderness as the scapegoat, with all of Israel's sins upon it. I wonder what happened to the scapegoats. It was sinful to the Israelites to capture the scapegoat and pretend it was yours, so what happened to them? Did they wander aimlessly for years, or did God later take them after they had served their purpose?