Wisdom, darkness and light

The book of 1 Kings was interesting for me to read in that I had heard so much about Solomon, Ahab and Jezebel even having grown up without any experience with scripture. There was a grain of familiarity throughout and it felt a little like a coming of age, like I was finding out the adult reasons why children are told the things they are told: "Be good or Santa won't bring you a toy", "if you make that face too long it will stick", "She's going to be the downfall of it all, that Jezebel". 

1 Kings starts out with The beloved King David dies and his son Adonijah assumes he will be taking the throne as he is “technically” next in line. David, however, had once sworn by God to Bathsheba that her son would follow him as King of Israel. She and Nathan remind David of his oath and, because David would never break an oath to God, Solomon is anointed King of Israel while Adonijah’s celebration feast is in full swing. There is the usual humiliation followed by the swearing of allegiance and Solomon established his reign as any other King does, with bloodshed. It’s all very “by the book” (pun intended) including the rash execution of Adonijah for a relatively harmless ordeal with a woman. Adonijah tries to take the throne and is not punished in the least. After the fact, Adonijah asks to take David’s nurse/body warmer as his wife and Solomon flies off the handle and kills him. This is reminiscent of Abner defecting from the House of Saul over accusations around one of Saul’s concubines. Egos and underlying bitterness can make a hornet’s nest out of daily life.

In 1 Kings 3, Solomon marries the Pharaoh’s daughter, peace at last between Egypt and Israel? One can only hope…

God comes to Solomon in a dream and Solomon asks Him for wisdom so that he may rule fairly and for the good of his people. God grants Solomon’s wish and much more; God is pleased with Solomon because of his wish. I love this story because it shows us in such an elegant way that God wants us to be good, to serve one another and to strive for justice in our daily lives and in our community. I imagine God rejoicing at Solomon’s humble and true request, like a boy who is pleasantly surprised to find out that his beloved new puppy already knows how to fetch. Solomon’s wish is a profound demonstration of his love and obedience for God, and of how ready Solomon is to follow God’s will for his life and for Israel.

Solomon builds The House of God and his own palace. Solomon is the wisest of the wise and the richest of the rich, or so the bible tells me. The House of God is build because God comes to Solomon in a dream; he immediately sets to work to build a temple for God out of the cedars of Lebanon (sent by Hiram), gold leaf and expensive quarried marble. No expense was spared and the temple was complete with two gloriously giant cherubims standing wing to wing heralding the presence of the Holy. It took seven years to build The House of God, where finally after years and generations in the wilderness and beyond living in a tent, God stretches out and cares for His people from a house built on a foundation of rock. This is wonderful and from the description I can imagine the awe that would rush into a worshipper’s heart upon entering such a beautiful House of the Lord; it would seem that the Holy was that much closer. Having a designated space for a communal faith to grow and take on life is important for the spiritual health of a people, sacred places have always been made and kept by human beings. The thing that strikes me as a bit funny is that Solomon also builds his own house…. that is twice the size and takes 13 years to build. I do understand that a King needs a palace, but I wonder allegorically and literally what the implications of this are. In the mindset of the Old Testament, one might say that a truly God-fearing King would offer the larger house to God and take the smaller one for his own. One might say that if Solomon were genuinely pious, he would spend 13 years on the House of God and only 7 on the house of a man. Fast forwarding and jumping back into my own shoes and my own mindset I wonder if this is a sign that regardless of what a man might think, God wants what God wants and he ought to get it just so. Perhaps God loved His 7-year half-the-size-of-a-palace house and left the human beings to their greed and thirst for prestige. Maybe God is saying that His material needs are smaller than that of man’s, and that because human beings are of the earth that they might require more earthly reassurance, He understands this and it’s ok. When the Arc of the Covenant came into the smaller of the two houses, it filled with a cloud and the Glory of God descended. God did indeed stretch Himself to fill that house, it seems to me that if He wasn’t satisfied with it, He would not have shown up so well for His own housewarming.

In 1 Kings 11, Solomon falls prey to the second most popular damnable trend (just behind disobedient Israel groaning) in the old testament: building altars to the gods of seductive women (insert ominous dun, dun, duuuuunnnnn…). Although Solomon is praised for his wisdom, he still makes the fatal error of building altars in the high places for his 300 concubines of foreign origin. This angers God and He vows to take Israel away from Solomon, but not in his lifetime because of God’s promise to King David. God is still faithful to His servant David and the promises He made even after death and the straying of his sons. It comes to pass that Israel does desert the House of David (Solomon) for Jeroboam who sanctions idolatry with golden calves and encourages sacrifices on the altars built in the high places. God sends a man from Judah to warn Jeroboam about his wrongdoing, and Jeroboam stretches out his hand to command his guards to seize and kill God’s messenger. God shrivels Jeroboam’s hand and only after His messenger prays for the hand’s restoration is Jeroboam cured. Why does God shrivel Jeroboam’s hand? Practically, this works on many levels: it stops the command to kill the messenger, the outstretched hand of a ruler commands attention and it is not something easily hidden or overcome by the owner of the hand. In the same moment I wonder if it is a comment on how we as human beings create. Jeroboam used that same hand to sign decrees to permit and encourage idolatry, perhaps his hand had set itself to make sacrifices in the high places, and with a wave of that hand he could stop it all. Did God shrivel his hand to make Jeroboam aware of his mistakes? Aware of the power of the gestures of a King?

When this messenger of God refuses Jeroboam’s hospitality (by God’s instructions) and leaves to return to Judah, he is met and convinced by a man to stay and eat and drink in Jeroboam’s land. After he has enjoyed hospitality, the messenger leaves and is immediately torn apart by a lion who proceeds to stand next to the messenger’s body and his live donkey and not eat anything. This is presumably a message for all to see that even after good service and obedient worship, direct defiance of God’s will does not go unnoticed.

Elijah, Ahab and Jezebel come into the picture in 1 Kings. Elijah is established as a great prophet as he receives messages from God about drought and rain and raises a widow’s son from the dead. Ahab and Jezebel show themselves to be enemies of the Lord when they slaughter His prophets and set Israel to worshipping Baal. The juxtaposition of the hope and light that Elijah brings with the darkness and apparent depravity of Ahab and Jezebel is interesting here. Israel is a nation in peril of losing touch completely with their God and Father through the influence of King Ahab but Elijah stays true and his power that springs directly from God seems to grow as he works to let his light shine. With the help of Obadiah and his underground prophet railroad, the faith is kept alive until Elijah and Ahab have a back-alley style prophet rumble; they set out to prove the faithfulness of their God/gods in front of all the neighbourhood kids. The God of Israel answers and Baal is absent. The perseverance of Elijah acting on his faith and his own fiercely strong connection with God, combined with the solidarity of good faithful men is rewarded, God does not falter. The thing that piques my interest is the different tone with which the slaughter of the worshippers of Baal is written and/or received. God applauds the slaughter with rain to quench the drought. Each drop a pat on the back to his faithful. I do understand that in OT times that there was ever so much killing in the name of God (it still happens today, I suppose) and that idolatry and worshipping other gods is the greatest sin. I still haven’t gotten used to the bloodshed though. Even after so many blood-soaked books of God-fearing and God-loving warriors, I still wish they could have sat down and worked it all out without the warfare. That’s just my Canadian middle-class liberal sensibilities I guess. 

The story of Jezebel is interesting, too, in that she has a presence in contemporary thought. I remember hearing the insult “Jezebel” hurled at women in old tv shows and books. I had always thought that the term had something to do with promiscuity or showing a little too much skin; but now I understand the term so differently. Jezebel was a woman not afraid to manipulate others to get what she wanted, often not even for the greater good but just because she wanted it. She had no qualms about shedding the blood of innocents and did not apologize. Now, considering that there are always two sides to the story, I am prepared to say that she was likely not all bad. Nevertheless, she was without scruples. What does this have to do with too-red lipstick and low-cut dresses? I don’t know. Maybe that the sexual liberation of women in the 60s and 70s lead to a fear of their empowerment; truly, Jezebel was an empowered woman even if it was to the wrong ends. 

May the Lord guide us to His house, no matter how it appears to us, May we let our little lights shine out into the world and may we encourage our little girls so they grow up to be women empowered to do the work of God's will. Amen.

2 Samuel in a day

I have been absent for the past 7 weeks. Life took over, the day-to-day got in the way and I let my daily (or weekly) discipline slide off the back end of the desk. But I am back! 


At any rate, I sat down yesterday and read through the entire book of 2 Samuel. It was like sliding into a warm bath. I really enjoyed following David through his adventures from the beginning of the book right through to the end. I thought it might be a bit daunting, but when I opened the pages I lost track of time and it flew by. I realize now what a profound effect the discipline of reading scripture has on me. I feel calm today, grounded and secure. I felt the umbilicus of my connection to God plump up with deep red spiritual lifeblood, I felt the flow wash my insecurities and worries out through my feet. I did not realize how much I missed this peace until it was in me again. I was quenched and did not even know I was parched! And what a companion, to have David to sing and dance me back into the embrace of God was remarkable. 


2 Samuel 1: 
An Amalekite brings Saul’s crown and armlet to “his king” David after a battle on Mt. Gilboa. The Amalekite confesses to killing Saul at Saul’s request and witnessing the death of Jonathan.  David and his men tear their clothes and mourn for the fallen King of Israel, for Jonathan David’s beloved friend and for the people of Israel who died in battle. It strikes David after he overcomes some of his grief that the Amalekite has confessed to killing God’s anointed and so puts him to death. The killing of a messenger loyal to Israel and to David for killing Saul at Saul’s own behest shows how David follows the rules of God. No matter the circumstance, no matter the intent behind it (here the Amalekite was acting out of loyalty and benevolence to Saul) should a man kill God’s anointed, he will be put to death. The literal interpretation of this seems difficult to reconcile with real-life circumstances, rarely is day to day living so clear cut. David, perhaps in his youth and folly, prefers to take his life and err on the side of obedience to God’s laws. If I pull this idea forward into my own life all that remains in my mind is the debate between literalism and liberalism. I wonder, does this change for David as he grows older, sins and repents, and strives further toward God?


David sings of his love for Jonathan and of Jonathan’s great love for him, “surpassing the love of women” in his lamentation for Saul and Jonathan. Would this kind of love between two men be circumspect if it were two young Canadian infantrymen on tour? Times of war, conflict and trial bind people to one another, but I wonder about whether this deep love comes from the saving of one another’s lives amidst chaos or if it comes through the bond that the Lord has set between them. Is this a mortal bond? Is this something of war stories shared over beer at the Legion in an attempt to overcome the turmoil of PTSD upon the return of a soldier? Or is this a holy thread that binds the hearts of these two men closer to one another than to anyone else on Earth? Is it both? 


2 Sam 3: The house of Saul grew weaker over years of warring as the house of David grew stronger and stronger. Abner defected to the house of David because Ish-bosheth accused him of taking one of Saul’s concubines. After all that Abner had gone through to faithfully serve Ish-Bosheth and the house of Saul, I find it hard to believe that one accusation like this would be enough to throw Abner into such a fit as to defect to David’s house and to bring all the rulers of all the tribes of Israel around to crown David as their King. Abner alludes to the fact that for some time all of Israel was trying to get out from under the thumb of the House of Saul, this is borne out by the quick way that the leaders of the tribes threw their loyalty and support behind David’s promised reign. I wonder if they slowly came to realize that David was, in fact, God’s true anointed over the years of war that increased David’s strength and diminished the house of Saul. Did they take this weakening as evidence of God’s will, or were they merely tired of being on the losing team? As tribal leaders they would be responsible for the welfare of the nation of Israel as a whole, for all God’s people. The tribes were suffering at the hand of Judah under David’s rule, if they aligned with the stronger tribe, there would be peace and relative prosperity. Abner came to David’s house and David accepted him, but Abner brought the bad blood of Asahel’s death with him. Joab took it upon himself to kill Abner; it was to avenge his brother, but he claimed to David that it was to protect him, that Abner was a spy. David was no fool, however, and did not succumb to politics (as evident in the killing of the Amalekite messenger). David cursed the house of Joab and placed all the blame squarely on Joab’s shoulders. 


2 Sam 3:36 “ And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as everything that the king did pleased all the people”. David mourns Abner by refusing to eat until the sun goes down on the day that he was buried despite the protests of the people of Israel. This statement shows how beloved David was by the people of Israel and how eager they were to be led by him. It seems that for the first time Israel is getting what it wants, a king that they love. All along God has been appointing people to rule over Israel, all along God has been responding to the grumblings of Israel with strong men, good men and faithful men. Israel has not always appreciated their leaders, this time, however, it may be different. I have been wondering about why David’s anointment wasn’t immediately the end of Saul’s reign. God could do that, God can do anything, we know that because we’ve seen it. Yet God chose to wait on David’s reign and to leave a fearful and jealous man to guide and rule Israel all the while trying to kill David, God’s true anointed. Perhaps God was waiting so that Israel would see that David is a good and true leader. Maybe the waiting was so that Israel would see the wisdom of God’s choice. But maybe, God waited until Israel was convinced it was their own idea to have David as their king, waited until they loved him on their own before he bade them to serve. This is another loving gesture by God showing how much he appreciates our human need to be right, secure and to come to terms with the world around us. God could have struck down Saul and made Israel love David from the start, but God is patient and so is His love. After 7 years as King of Judah, David is crowned King of Israel. He reigns for 33 more years. 


2 Sam 6:
David brings the Ark of the Covenant into the City of David, along the way Uzzah, one of the men bringing the Ark reached out and touched it to steady it because the oxen carrying it had stumbled. God killed Uzzah for touching the Ark, and the celebration of the moving Ark stopped. David was afraid of God and of the Ark and sent it to a nearby city instead, to be in Obed-edom’s house. After three months, God blessed Obed-edom and David brought the Ark into the City of David with rejoicing, music and dancing. Michal, David’s first wife from the house of Saul (for whom he paid a bride price of 1000 Philistine foreskins) had been brought back to him by Abner before she was killed. In summoning her, David broke her marriage to another man, and as she saw him dancing before the Ark celebrating it’s arrival she boiled with hate. After feasting and celebration, Michal confronts David, calling him vulgar and shameful for dancing uncovered before the people of the city. David famously replies that he was uncovered before the Lord and that he was exalting in God, celebrating and loving God and would do worse in order to praise God. David makes it plain that worship can look foolish, ugly, strange and vulgar but, if it is pure and dedicated to God, we should not be ashamed. This rings true for me every Sunday at St. Andrew’s Wesley. I love to sing and I love to dance. I find it difficult, however, to sing a lot of the hymns in our Voices United and More Voices hymnals. They are often too high in pitch and I don’t have enough musical education to understand how to read the notes. To top it off, I am usually overcome with emotion by the hymns and the voices of the singing devoted around me and so my throat constricts and I end up sounding like a wounded wild animal, off tempo and often on the wrong note. But it is my offering to God. In that moment what matters is that I sing, not that I sing well or that the people around me are impressed by my talent, but that God hears me lift my voice up in praise to Him and that I am offering something of myself in celebration and gratitude for God’s glory. “Make a joyful noise unto God” is something I live by here. This call is not for melody, or style but for noise and joy; I have both in spades.  And poor Michal is cursed to be barren for her efforts.


2 Sam 11 & 12:
A war is raging and David is in Jerusalem walking on his roof, he spots Bathsheba and has to have her. David, knowing she is married, summons her from her house and sleeps with her only to send her back to Uriah the Hittite (her husband)’s house. David plots to have Uriah killed in battle, but only after showing him hospitality in the King’s house. He instructs Joab that Uriah is to be put at the forefront of the fighting and abandoned to die at the hand of the enemy. Uriah is killed and David takes Bathsheba for his wife. She bares a son, and none is the wiser, but God. And God is disappointed. God is angry and sends Nathan to David with the story of the rich man, the poor man and the poor man’s lamb. David is enraged when he is told about the slaying of the poor man’s beloved lamb by the rich man to feed a traveler. He is indignant and orders the rich man to restore the lamb fourfold. Nathan reveals that David is the rich man, Uriah is the poor man and Bathsheba is the beloved lamb. David realizes he has sinned gravely against the Lord and the price is the life of the child that Bathsheba will bear to David. The power in this story for me, is the acknowledgement of our ability as human beings to lie to ourselves, to bend our own morals and evade our own sense of justice when we are drunk with the possibility of “more”. David, by all accounts, is a brave and just man that lives to follow God and grow closer to Him. The mere sight of beautiful Bathsheba is enough for him to abandon all that he is and all that God wants him to be so that he can take another wife. The battle of addiction comes to mind here. Knowing that what you crave will be your utter defeat and pursuing it with all of your might despite the consequences. The temptation as a child to steal candy from a friend who was not at home one sunny afternoon while knowing that stealing is wrong. Our human minds and our free will can spin us around until we are hypocrites and we are defeated by ourselves and our worldly ambition. It’s why soap operas are so popular. Is this why Jesus rebukes the Philistines who blindly follow rules? Is it the same mistake? David insults God by breaking two of the Ten Commandments out of lust and greed and pays with the life of his baby. I wonder what will keep David from re-offending; the grief over his lost child or the grief over his betrayal of God? If we are to blame, do we as humans mourn ourselves and our lost innocence more than we mourn for the loss of others in our lives? 


2 Sam 13 – 18:
The incestuous rape of David’s daughter Tamar by her half brother and one of David’s first-born sons Amnon begins a whirlwind father-son rivalry for the reign of Israel. Tamar is avenged by her full brother Absalom, Amnon is murdered and Absalom is banished for 3 years. Joab, David’s servant, persuades David to allow his son Absalom to return to Jerusalem, but David refuses to see his son even after he returns to the city. Absalom plots to take the crown from David by winning the hearts of the people of Israel and usurping the throne at Hebron. David becomes aware that fickle Israel now loves Absalom and so David flees to the Jordan. In David’s absence both Absalom and Mephisbosheth are vying for the throne. Mephisbosheth (Jonathan’s son with lame feet) claims that David’s flight is a sign from God that the Kingdom of Israel will be returned to the House of Saul through him. What has David done? He has forgiven his son and allowed him to return to Jerusalem and has restored property and title to the son of his most beloved friend Jonathan. These are both good deeds, why then has all of this been set in motion against David’s God-anointed throne? I don’t know, but more importantly, neither does David. A man named Shimei of the house of Saul comes out to see David passing on his way fleeing Jerusalem. Shimei curses David and stones him but David forbids his servants from killing Shimei. The reason that David gives is that perhaps God has told Shimei to curse and stone, maybe God has a greater plan here and will see my courage and humility in the face of trouble and take pity. These words and reasoning make David seem confused and disconnected from the God he so passionately loves. This devastating realization that it may now be God’s will that his Kingdom is taken away would definitely put David to questioning, sadness and disbelief, yet he does not strike out. He doesn’t curse God, his son or Israel. David continues to trudge toward the Jordan in tears with his head covered, putting one foot in front of the other and doing what he can to live in God’s will for the moment. This is a man, who from the midst of the wreckage of his life, still has faith that God watches what he does, notices the tears on his wet cheeks and will take into account his acceptance of God’s will. 


David prevails with God’s blessing and is returned to the throne of Israel; his son Absalom dies in the battle.


2 Sam 22: 
David’s Song of Deliverance begins with a beautiful proclamation of God’s grace and His love for His children:
“The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
my shield, and the horn of my salvation,
my stronghold and my refuge,
my saviour; you save me from violence.
I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, as I am saved from my enemies.”


I have never been to war and I hope never to go, so I don’t understand the feeling of God delivering me from the hands of enemies in battle. I do find strength in David’s song, though. We all have enemies within ourselves; jealousy, despair, craving, selfishness. I know my internal struggles to stay on the path I am on, I have fought to become who I am and I continue to wrestle with the darker elements of myself. My enemies in my struggles are fierce combatants and often are at their strongest when I am most tired and in need of rest. At times like these, God gives me strength or respite as it is needed, He protects me and holds me in the palm of his hand sheltering me from the harsh winds that I often turn upon myself. 


“In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I called. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry came to His ears.”


May we all call upon God to guide us and protect us in the challenges we face, may we be humble in our acceptance of His will for us and in our striving toward Him and may we praise Him in offering gifts of ourselves with abandon. May we go forth in this pentecost season with full knowledge that we are held close by the Lord, both to Him and to one another. Amen.

Samuel, Saul, David and Jonathan

Well, this note comes right in the middle of 1 Samuel. Lots of war and drama, quite a contrast with the happy ending story of Ruth. Samuel is born to Hannah, a woman barren for the majority of her fertile years and who was tormented by her sister wife because of it. Hannah was granted a son (Samuel) because she prayed to the Lord that he not forget her, His servant, and that she be given a son that she would dedicate him to God for all of his life; that a razor should never touch the hair on his head. Samuel (among other children) are born to Hannah, and Samuel is devoted to God.

Samuel enjoys favour in the eyes of the Lord and serves Him under the tutelage of Eli in the temple of the Lord that held the Arc of the Covenant. In Samuel 3, Samuel hears the Lord’s call. It is in the evening and he and Eli are lying down to sleep at the end of the day. Samuel hears a voice calling his name 3 times and 3 times he goes in to Eli to answer. Each time Eli explains that he did not call Samuel, and the third time Eli realizes that it is the Lord’s voice calling to Samuel. Eli instructs Samuel to respond to the next call, “Speak Lord for I am listening”, an invitation to us all to truly hear the Lord’s call in our own lives.

Israel fights the Philistines in Samuel 4 and experiences incredible loss. In the lost battle against the Philistines, Israel has lost 34 000 soldiers, the Ark of the Covenant, Hophni, Phinehas and Eli die and, after bearing her son Ichabod, Eli’s daughter-in-law. Eli was 98 at the time of his death and was the judge of Israel for 40 years. I can imagine that the nation would be thrown into desperation with the loss of the Ark of the Covenant and their Judge and his family.

The Philistines keep the Ark in the city of Ashdod; idols of their gods tumbled and broke at the feet of the Ark, and horrible plagues of panic, tumours and rats take over the city killing many of the people that lived there. The Philistines moved the Ark from one city to another until 5 cities were consumed with plagues; the five lords of the Philistines sent the Ark back to Israel with a test and guilt offerings of golden tumours and golden mice. The test was that two never-before-yolked
milk cows should pull the cart that carried the Ark and the offerings without guidance and if the cart is pulled directly to Israel’s lands this would be confirmation that the plagues were sent by the God of Israel. Two things come up for me here: the first is that the Philistines were also familiar with guilt offerings, and the second is that this story is recorded in the holy scriptures of Israel which means there must have been some friendly exchange between nations or peoples of these nations in order to get the story straight. As a freshman, I found all of the descriptions of guilt offerings, burnt offerings, sin offerings, etc. in Leviticus very extensive and they were new to me. The novelty in my eyes translated to my assumption that the Lord’s commandments to Israel about these offerings, their purposes and their methods were a completely new kind of thing. Does the familiarity of the Philistines with guilt offerings show that guilt offerings and the like were also practiced by other Hebrew and Semitic religions? Or does it mean that the Israelites had some influence on the peoples it warred with? Either way this changes the importance of God “setting apart” the Israelites from the rest of the human species. God painstakingly dictated dress, manner, ritual, custom, patterns of speaking, eating, being and acting so that His people would be known as chosen. The books of Numbers and Leviticus are dedicated to conveying the utmost importance of distinction between holy and unholy, clean and unclean, chosen and not chosen. So, if the worshippers of Dagon (the god of the Philistines) knew guilt offerings perhaps God was playing a variation on a theme; a gentle way of adapting familiar practices to bring His people closer to Him. A loving acceptance of His children’s propensity toward habit and comfort in the familiar. On the other hand, does the Philistine’s familiarity indicate that there is a blurring of the lines between clean and unclean? Is this an indication that through the generations of warring, Israel’s rituals and some of their meaning have infiltrated the practice of others? How does God feel about that? Would God be angry that the unclean were in a position to be confused with the clean? Would God be overjoyed that the gentiles were beginning to turn their faces, ever so slightly,  toward Him?

The story of the golden tumours making their way by milk cow cart to Israel struck me as funny. I am not an oncologist and so don’t know what a tumour looks like, but can imagine that it would be a little bump-like thing with an appearance somewhat like a poached egg. So, giggling, I wondered what the Philistine’s version of a tumour would look like and what on Earth did the Israelites make of them when they arrived? Did the Israelites shake their heads and think that the crazy Philistines had finally lost it? Maybe, but the fact remains that the guilt offerings of the Philistines were not thrown aside. The story continues on and focuses on the offering of the cows as burnt offerings and the falling of 70 men who laid their eyes on the Ark. This says to me that perhaps the lords of the Philistines who followed the cart at a distance did cross into the borders of Israel with their holy cargo and explained themselves and the gold poached eggies. How is it that another war didn’t immediately break out caused by a rabid mob of Israelites slaughtering the five men responsible for such heartache and defilement of their holiest of holies? Instead a stone was set up and the Philistines were “subdued”, the cities that the Philistines took were returned to Israel and Samuel became Judge. This sounds to me like Israel may have lost some of it’s blood thirst and the forgiveness that God has shown them is bleeding into their own way of being.

Israel cries out to Samuel to set a king over them. God takes this as rejection of His kingship over His people. Samuel warns them that a king will exploit them and bring them misery but they don’t listen. Saul is chosen as king from the most humble tribe of the Benjaminites to rule over the people. Saul was a good king in Israel’s eyes as he defeated the Ammonites and re-instated the kingdom of Israel at Gilgal. After the victory Samuel explained the grave sin of the Israelites to them; they abandond the Lord their God as king and asked for a human king to be set above them. He explained God’s faithfulness throughout the fickle history of Israel and reminds them that they MUST follow the Lord. Samuel calls on God and the Lord sends down a storm to destroy the wheat harvest of the people. Israel then saw that it had committed terrible sin in asking for a human king to replace God in their rule.

Saul’s reign over the people was full war with the Philistines. Saul is ready to go to war and makes an unauthorized offering to the Lord in Samuel’s absence. But his son Jonathan has faith in the Lord and goes up against the Philistines with only a few men. The Lord delivers the Philistines into Jonathan’s hand and there is a great victory. Saul then swears an oath that if anyone eats before the day is through and he has vanquished his enemies that they will be damned. Starving (and not in full knowledge of Saul’s oath) Jonathan tastes honey that is falling from the trees in the forest. He is revived and speaks out against Saul’s vow saying that it is not right to starve fighting men and that this oath has tarnished the war victory in the minds and hearts of the people. Israel saves Jonathan from judgement and death because of his faith and work in the Lord in the battle against the Philistines.

Saul went out to war against the Amalekites at God’s bidding. They were to devote every person and animal to destruction. Saul was victorious in battle and killed everyone except for King Agag of the Amalekites and killed all but the best sheep and oxen. All of the spoils of war were being brought back by Israel to be sacrificed to the Lord; but the Lord was angry with Saul for his disobedience. God called on Samuel to visit Saul with His Word. God had left Saul because of his disobedience and sent the message that although Saul may have meant well in saving the best of the spoils to sacrifice to the Lord, what God most wants is obedience of His commandments. Samuel told Saul that God had chosen another, a neighbour who was better than he; Saul was beside himself and Samuel grieved.

Samuel was then called to anoint David, the youngest son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, because God had chosen him. Saul, at this time, was being tormented by a harmful spirit of the Lord, and even after God had left him, he was still king and in a position to send for David to serve him. Saul needed someone to play the lute for him to make him well whenever the harmful spirit took him over, David was recommended to him and Saul did not know he was the chosen replacement. So God sends the newly anointed David to serve the shamed King. Is this another lesson in humility? David is often seen as the underdog and a figure that illustrates the importance of humility and loving God passionately; he was the 8th son of a shepherd who was chosen for his pure heart. This aspect of David as servant to Saul is a surprising one. Perhaps it was just logistics; getting David close enough to Saul and to battle to prove himself with the defeat of Goliath. Is there a deeper meaning? Saul was "disowned" for disobedience and for not honouring God’s word.  It seems like the minute after David is anointed by Samuel with the oil of his horn, David is called to serve a disgraced king by playing the lute. Most people would scoff at the orders, he is newly anointed by God after all. But David goes, and he serves. He follows God’s will, he does not complain or doubt his path; is this another lesson in contrast? David’s obedience and openness to serve God through service to one of His disgraced children may be the ultimate illustration of what God saw in David’s heart the day of his anointing.

Saul goes out to battle again with the Philistines and Goliath steps out to challenge Israel on the battlefield in a one-on-one combat for the win. Saul is afraid of Goliath because of his size and power. Israel cowers. David who is coming and going from tending his sheep to the battlefield is sent by his father to make sure his brothers are still alive in Saul’s army. David hears Goliath’s challenge and is outraged that an uncircumcised Philistine is challenging the living God and His army and His nation. David is brought before Saul and is determined that he will go out and win against Goliath, that the Lord God who protected him against lions and bears will allow him to defeat the giant. Saul doubts but he lets him go. David defeats goliath with humble weaponry and no armour although he was offered the king’s suit and sword. Saul begins to hate David because of his success, the love of Jonathan (Saul’s son), his talent for battle and the love of Israel for him. Saul begins to plot against him hoping his daughter Michal would become a snare for him, because Saul is beginning to realize that God is with David. This story is the comparison of a pure and open heart with a saddened and darkened heart. Does David know what pain Saul carries in his heart? Does David sense at all the twisting of Saul’s spirit with jealousy and fear? David is the underdog in the story that we all cheer for, but Saul is not so easy to pin. He was greedy, harsh in his judgements and rash in his decisions. Saul was disobedient and arrogant which led to his abandonment and shame. I can relate to succumbing to the urges of greed and taking short cuts. I can relate to the feeling of emptiness as shadow takes over where the sun once shone; I find it so hard to condemn Saul even after all of his shortcomings. He can be cast as the villain here but we should remember his humble beginnings as well and his human need for the love of God which is forever to go unsatisfied.

Saul plots to kill David and David flees for his life with the help and love of Jonathan. David and Jonathan are bound by a covenant with God that they will stand by one another and be bound to one another. Thank God for the love of friends.

May we blur the lines of "otherness" in our own communities through the sharing of our daily bread, May we seek to understand the experience of these "others" and to have this understanding season a gentle response, May we go out into the world with the love of God filling the hearts on our sleeves to liberate our communities and families from the fear of bears, lions and giants and May the Lord always lead us into the embrace of friends in times of need. Amen.

I love Ruth

My goodness! Two books in one week! I’m through Judges and Ruth. What a wonderful week. I especially enjoyed Samson, his story was profound and humourous; juicy scripture indeed. I write this email on my last night in Ecuador, it seems fitting that the last book I read was Ruth. I always find comfort in Ruth, I must admit that lonely airports are often remedied by my scouting out a chapel (or even a bookstore if need be) to read her story.

Judges 6 begins the story of Gideon and the delivering of Israel from oppression through his hands. There is a bit of David in this story and the idea of the last being first. God calls Gideon from the weakest clan of Manasseh, the tribe that is divided by the inheritance of lands on the East and West sides of the Jordan. Gideon is called as he is hiding wheat in a wine press from the Midianites, an act of fear and survival from a person trapped by a greedy nation. Here is a person vulnerable, even among his own people, who is empowered by God to deliver the nation of Israel from oppression. It is no wonder he asks the Lord for two signs of the fleece! As I write this I am in the midst of my PhD thesis research work in Ecuador; work in a new field for me, in a second language, in a culture very different from my own and often alone. I question myself so often about whether I am qualified to do what I am doing, I ask God every day to show me the way and I believe that He does. I take comfort in the fact that Gideon too needed confirmation more than once to be sure that he is on the right path and not following a wry instinct.

Judges 7 & 8 God again takes precautions against the ego of Israel. Gideon begins with an army of thousands and it is whittled down to 300 men so that Israel will have no doubt as to whether the credit of Israel’s victory should lie with God. Again God is setting the stage for miraculous deeds to kindle faith in Israel’s hearts. Gideon’s armies are victorious and Israel has 40 years of peace. Gideon dies, and with his death the people of Israel again turn to worship the gods of Baal.

Abimelek (Gideon’s son with his concubine) usurps the position of King through underhanded dealings and murder. Jotham (Gideon’s youngest) tells a fable of trees crowning their own kings: The trees first chose the olive, but the olive declined because usefulness of its oil was more important than the prestige of monarchy. The fig tree was chosen next, but it declined because the usefulness of its good, sweet fruit was more important than the prestige of monarchy. The vine was chosen next, it also declined because the usefulness of wine was more important than the prestige of monarchy. Finally the thornbush was chosen, it accepted and promised a vengeful reign in which only the people who tried to take refuge in its dangerous shade would be safe, the others would be consumed by fire. For me, this fable talks about God’s will for our lives. If we know God and seek His will for us, we will be loath to reject our chosen role for prestige, fame and fortune. If we are in true service to Him, we should not want to abandon work, lives or vocation that bring joy, security and unity to us and our families for power and popularity. The thornbush in this story is Abimelek who gained power and popularity in service to his own ego, not in service to God or because it was God’s will for his life. The people who take refuge in his shade will be forced to sit on his thorns, get caught in his brambles and live very carefully for fear of the harm and physical wounds the thorns will cause to themselves and their families. The people who don’t take refuge in his shade will be consumed by fire, a lose-lose situation under the reign of a murderous, power-hungry false king. When we allow our egos, our human cravings for power and popularity to take the place of God’s will in our lives we cause harm to ourselves and to our brethren. It may not be as blatant as murdering 70 extended family members and usurping a throne, but the subtle harms that we cause ourselves and our loved ones through ignoring the call of God and working to live in His love can run deep.

Jotham prays/prophesies that if Abimelek, whom the people know to be a murderer and false king, is accepted as their ruler they will be consumed with fire. Abimelek rules for years and finally enters into a bloody war with Gaal. In the end, after slaughtering many, Abimelek is killed by a woman crushing his head with a stone as he tries to burn down a tower that she and her people are taking refuge in.  What strikes me as funny here is that after all Abimelek has done, all of the atrocities and mortal sins he has committed, he is most concerned in his final moments about people saying he was killed by a woman, so he orders a page to run him through with his sword. This is odd on first glance, but it is so telling when it is examined at a deeper level. Pride blatantly drives his final request, and when the thread of pride is followed back to the origins of Abimelek’s campaign it serves as an explanation for his actions. Abimelek was the son of a concubine of Gideon. Illegitimacy was an issue in the days of the Old Testament and as such, Abimelek would not be eligible to inherit nor count himself formally among the family of Gideon. He is the only illegitimate son of Gideon mentioned, this doesn’t necessarily mean he was the only one, but imagine what kind of weight it would put on a child’s heart to grow up as the only son of Gideon’s 71 children to not enjoy legitimacy. I imagine ostracism, bullying and the feeling of growing up devalued and unimportant. Wounded pride from a young age can lead to the pursuit of power, influence and “glory”. Abimelek, when compared with Jephthah comes up wanting. Jephthah was also an illegitimate son; his father was Gilead and his mother a prostitute. He was ostracized and eventually rose to deliver the nation and judge it successfully.

Samson enters the picture, the Nazirite from birth. It was really fascinating for me to understand how Samson’s hair was the source of his power. There are nazirite laws in Leviticus that state that a person who has taken a nazirite vow shall not cut his hair until the vow is completed. In order to enter back into society the nazirite must shave his hair and purify himself for seven days. When Delilah cut his hair, she essentially ended his God-willed nazirite vow. I do understand that there is incredible significance in the story of Samson, not the least of which is that his strength is a direct result of him being faithful to a God’s will for his life. However, I have to admit that I laughed out loud more than a few times during his story. The first of which was that he took honey out of a week-old lion carcass and fed it to his parents without telling them where he got it. The second is that, although Samson loved Delilah, what eventually won her the knowledge about Samson’s hair was her ability to annoy him beyond his limits with her incessant questioning. I have the English Standard Version scriptures and the line that is used in this translation is that she “vexed his soul to death”. Oh the power of a nagging wife.

Judges 19 begins the story of the Levite and his concubine, it is like the horrible sequel to Sodom and Gomorrah with extra human depravity to sell more tickets at the box office. Instead of the victims in this story being saved by God’s angels, the concubine is killed by the mob and then the Levite cuts her into 12 pieces, sending one piece to each tribe to show them the depravity of the Benjaminites in Gibeah. One asks why God didn’t intervene this time? God has said that because of the idolatry, the breaking of the commandments and the repeated turning away from Him, that He would no longer deliver Israel from their enemies. Here, we see that the level of sin and depravity has reached the same heinous levels as when God righteously razed the city entirely. This is a case of “you have made your bed, now you can sleep in it”. Israel reacts with anger toward the depravity and the ensuing wars killed more than 90 000 Israelites and Benjaminites. After the carnage, the rift was mended in the nation of Israel. The final line of the book of Judges is “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” This implies that Israel needs a King and that the King should be God’s representative on Earth whose sole purpose is to govern and guide the people in the path of the Lord.

Ruth is one of my favourite books in the bible; it always conjures images of hammocks on sunny days, green grass and the excitement of connecting with scripture on an ordinary afternoon with an extraordinary person. The story of Ruth is incredible in so many ways. It tells of women’s courage in bleak situations, of a loving God that accepts and protects people who seek His love and protection and of the transformational power of love between human beings as a reflection of God’s transformational love. Boaz welcomes Ruth into his field, heart and home even though she is a Moabite. Remembering the tragedy that ensued with inter-cultural marriage in the history of Israel, this is over-the-top miraculous. The difference between Ruth and Boaz and the Midianite-Israelite couple of Phinehas’ day is that Ruth abandoned herself to Israel and to the people and God of her mother-in-law. There was no straying here of God’s chosen, no danger of it because Ruth was seeking God out of love. The redemption of Ruth and her marriage to Boaz resulted in the forefathers of Kind David; the love of a Moabite woman for her mother-in-law and the willingness to seek God because of this love lead to the conception of Israel’s celebrated King.

May we always find celebration and fulfillment in our usefulness to God, may we intentionally seek to include the “illegitimate” and marginalized in spiritual community and prevent their emotional and spiritual isolation, and may our love for each other carry us ever closer to our Lord. Amen.

Altars, the death of Joshua and women

The majority of the book of Joshua is concerned with conquest, war and triumph over the peoples who live in the Promised Land. The Lord specifically ordered the tribes of Israel to devote all the lands and people they encounter to destruction. There was to be no person left alive of the old inhabitants of the land to safeguard the fickle Israel against idolatry and the recurrence of the plague the Midianite woman and her Israelite partner caused in the wilderness of Moab. The Israelites didn’t heed their warnings and left some people alive to do hard labour and the others they “couldn’t” drive out or kill and so lived among the tribes of Israel. There is some ominous foreshadowing here I fear.

In Joshua 22, the tribes of Gad, Reuben and ½ the tribe of Manasseh return to their inherited lands on the eastern side of the Jordan. As they travel in triumphant from battle back to their lands in Moab they decided to build a giant altar to the Lord near where the tribes crossed into Canaan. There is a HUGE hullaballoo that results from this… the Lord was specific in that He does not allow Israel to build altars just any where and in any which way. The western tribes of Israel send Phinehas and 10 elders East of the Jordan to demand that they tear down the altar and to ask why the eastern tribes have sinned and abandoned God so soon after their triumph in Canaan. As it turns out, the eastern tribes were insecure with their standing in their brother’s eyes. The altar was built as a witness to their faithfulness to the Lord as a reminder to their western brothers in generations to come that the Jordan is not a barrier separating “the chosen from the unholy” and “clean from unclean” as God so often distinguishes. Gad, Reuben and the ½ tribe of Manasseh explain this to their brethren, the other 9 ½ tribes accept that the altar should stay and peacefully cross back into Canaan. This story is interesting in view of Israel’s fickle history with following God’s law, resulting plagues and the element of mistrust that has grown because of it. It seems that God is constantly trying to implement preventative measures and incentives against idolatry and the straying of Israel; but it seems that this is the first mistrust that is openly explored between tribes. The story states the events rather matter-of-factly, but I can imagine that receiving Phinehas (the man who ran through the Midianite-Israelite couple in his fury) and the elders of the other tribes would be a very tense situation. The meeting of presidents, emissaries and generals precedes modern-day war; this is what I imagine to be taking place. A minority people (the 2 ½ tribes east of the Jordan) fear that they will be marginalized and cut off from the source of all life through human prejudice, mistrust, misunderstanding and the “otherness” that pervades our nature, and they try to strike out against that with a symbol of unity under God. On one hand, this is a strategic move to prevent the fickle nature of Israel from endangering their future generations. On the other hand, this is an incredible and blatant act of faith. The Israelites put their faith completely in God, constructing a physical representation of their belief in Him and relying on this outward acknowledgement of their faith to save them. The giant altar is a gesture of both a great faith in the Lord and a deep mistrust of human nature. This resonates deeply in my own heart; giving my life and my will over to the care of God each day is a testament to my faith in Him to guide me in my thoughts, words and actions, but it is also an acknowledgement of my own flawed human nature.

And so Joshua dies, Israel loses another leader and is left in the hands of a series of Judges. Israel does not drive out all of the peoples and break their altars in their midst and an angel of the Lord comes to bring them the message that through their disobedience the Angel of the Lord will no longer drive these peoples out before Israel and that the gods of these peoples will become snares to Israel. After a generation dies, Israel falls into idolatry worshipping the gods of Baal. The fickle nation then goes through cycles of oppression and redemption, the Lord faithfully sending a deliverer to respond to their cries of oppression. A tag-team of these deliverers includes Deborah and Jael, both women; further evidence that God is a feminist! Deborah, a prophet, tells Barak that the King Sisera will be delivered into the hands of a woman. After a battle with Barak, Sisera flees into the hill country and Jael offers him shelter, milk and then drives a tent peg into his temple while he is sleeping. God’s prophecy delivered from the mouth of a woman, fulfilled by the hands of a woman. It seems to me that God’s relationship with the women of Israel is changing, that women are playing a larger part in the destiny of the chosen people. I can’t help but wonder though, whether either of them were menstruating at the time….  Would something like ovulation and menstruation dictate that Deborah and Jael be substituted for two other women?

May we all work to build “altars of witness” of our faithfulness to God in our own communities, may we keep and share the knowledge that although we at times turn away from God He will deliver us and forgive us when we seek Him anew, and may we always understand that God journeys before us in our daily battles. Amen.

Goodbye Moses, Hello Joshua

This week I finished Deuteronomy and sadly said goodbye to Moses and his storytelling, but Joseph is quite the guy as well. I am loving how scripture is giving texture to my life and there is increasing depth to the words and stories in the bible based on my carrying them into my daily living. Scripture has come alive for me in a way I never thought possible.

I have a special place in my heart for the law concerning marriage in Deuteronomy 24:5. God provides a year for a newly married couple to be at home and happy together before he can be called away for military or social service. Oh how wonderful that would be! My lovely new bride and I have spent the past nearly three months apart and will likely have to spend more months apart before our first anniversary. It would be amazing to have had the first year of our marriage together!

I am, however, completely baffled by the next law. D 24:6 “No one shall take a mill or an upper millstone in pledge, for that would be taking a life in pledge”; my best guess here is that an agrarian people in a geographic area given to sandstone and limestone is dependent on durable millstones to grind their grain into flour so that they may eat it. The life in question here pertains to the central necessity of a millstone for a family’s daily bread. So, in my baffled state I turned to the collective wisdom of Google, and it says that “taking in pledge” is analogous to “holding as collateral” as in for a loan. A moneylender can’t take a family’s ability to make bread as collateral for a loan. More laws regarding loans follow; that a moneylender may not enter a man’s house to get his collateral, nor shall he take the cloak from a poor man’s back. There is a line here “lest he cry against you to the Lord and you be guilty of sin”. This separates man’s justice from God’s justice and may serve to realign priorities in the day-to-day world. A person in contemporary Canada can put his house up for collateral for a loan, it is the most common way to own a house (via mortgage)! Having grown up in the prairies, if a person lost their home they would perish come winter. Yet the principle of the millstones is lost here as is the law against taking away a poor man’s only possession and shelter (his cloak). Imagine for a moment if the bankers and mortgage companies declared their losses in the US and let people keep their houses. I don’t know very much about economics or how the bail-out actually worked but I wonder what that would do for the nation by way of building faith, community and a sense of responsibility to love thy neighbour. Taking the collateral is expected and accepted as right and just by the laws of society today, what is right and just in the eyes of the Lord often takes a back seat to business sense and the bottom line. Giving the collateral of a poor man’s cloak back to him before sunset that he might have shelter to sleep in shifts the concern and priorities from the bottom line and “looking out for number one” to caring whether Israel is the sort of nation that would allow a poor man to lose his cloak to a moneylender and sleep exposed to the elements. These laws again speak to the kind of person that God wants His chosen people to be.

Deuteronomy 30 is a beautiful reminder that we hold the power in our minds and bodies to devote ourselves to God and the service of His will at every turn. Moses reminds the people that they don’t have to wait for another messenger from heaven to bring them the Word, nor for a messenger from far away lands; God has come to the people of Israel in pillars of cloud and fire to guide them and give them the Word. D 30:14 “But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart so that you can do it.” God has come with guidance and encouragement, all that Israel needs to do is to acknowledge that the Lord has put His word in their mouths and in their hearts. The stipulation here that the word is in their mouths and their hearts emphasizes that all of these laws and rules that God has set out are not an exercise in tyranny. These laws are the word of God, and they rest not only in the deeds and actions of the people but in their hearts and mouths. It is a living law, a living word that depends on the people of Israel to perpetuate it, and the people, in turn, depend on the life-giving guidance for their survival. The word in their mouths implies teaching the law to children, debating it with peers and reflecting on it within the cherished relationships of families, communities, tribes and the nation. The word in their hearts implies a relationship with the word itself; one that I imagine to be full of struggle, gratitude and the deep-running current of security that comes with knowing and accepting the love of God. The laws are complicated and require devotion to their cause, they require a change of heart and different ways of being. They require the people to abandon themselves to this new conception of who they ought to be, but rather gently, the Lord does not ask that they commit themselves to this new life without the benefit of carrying the burden of change with their brethren in love. With the Pentecost we take this one step further, every one of us has the word in our mouths and in our hearts but we also have the indwelling Christ. This flame burns bright within us when it is fanned by the conversation between pilgrims whether in doubt, petition, repentance, confession or gratitude.

Deuteronomy 32 and 33 are the song that Moses wrote to keep the law alive and well amongst the young of the nation, in order that they be protected from the grumbling of their parents. Before he dies at the age of 120, Moses leaves a song and a final blessing on the people of Israel. They mourn him 30 days and follow Joshua of Nun into a time of conquest, bloodshed and victory. God is careful in how He proceeds with Israel and Joshua, I think He takes great pains to ensure that Israel knows that they follow a holy leader into Canaan. Israel had a difficult time staying faithful to the laws and the word as Moses dictated to Israel and he had a face-to-face relationship with God as no one ever had. Joshua was once-removed from this kind of intimacy with God, so there was fodder for doubt and rebellion amongst a grumbling people. So Joshua was consecrated before they crossed into Canaan, the Lord parted the waters of the overflowing banks of the Jordan so Israel could pass through under their new leader, the nation was circumcised anew keeping the covenant established with Abraham, Passover was shared, and the commander of the Lord’s army appeared before Joshua on the path stopping him in his tracks and ordering him to remove his sandals for he walks on holy ground. These are all major events in the life of a people crossing a river into spiritual maturity. They are hearkenings back to their roots and to the undying faithfulness of their God demonstrated by past covenants and the realization of the conquest of the Promised Land. The Jordan and the Red Sea, the commander of the Lord’s army and the burning bush; reminders that although there is a new human face to the leadership of Israel, the true leadership of God has not changed or faltered.

There is such a sense of excitement and unapologetic jubilation as the people cross into these new lands and take up the yoke of service to the Lord in earnest. I felt overjoyed for these underdogs who second-guessed themselves and their divinely protected fate at every turn, they have arrived! They have celebrated Passover in their new home; what an incredible homecoming to share the sacred meal in celebration of God’s faithfulness at the beginning of their journey in Egypt, in place of destination of that journey. The manna ceases to fall after Passover, and how eloquent that is! They have arrived in their Promised Land of milk and honey and are able to live off the land no longer dependent on the food of exile. It feels like a coming of age. All of this comes crashing down as Joshua tears his clothes and falls on his face in desperate repentance for the sins of Israel on the sacred soil of Canaan. Israel disobeys and keeps plunder for itself; a beautiful cloak and some silver buried in the dirt floor of a warrior's tent is enough to remind us, Israel and Joshua that the Promised Land does not promise that following the Lord will be easy. It is promised only in that it was destined to be the place in which they could live peacefully and devote their lives to following God; the rest is up to them. This may be the oldest version of the dilemma of the “Sunday Christian”; a believer who goes into a place believing that just being there at a certain time on a certain day will redeem them and grant them the inner peace and closeness to God that we all crave. Of course a safe, comfortable space devoted to worship and service of God makes it far easier to tend to our relationship with our Lord, but the location alone will not suffice even if it is miraculous and beautiful. God reminds us with this story that we must be vigilant in the beautiful, peaceful places too, to work with and for God so that we will carry Him with us in our hearts and mouths, hands and feet, bodies and communities when we move about in the world. Arriving in the Promised Land, Israel is reminded that it is not a free ride to salvation, they must work and follow the word.

May we know the goodness of God through the blessings in our lives, May we work to carry the living word in our hearts and mouths and bear witness to His goodness in our families and communities, May we keep our blunders as calls back to the service of God rather than personal failures, and May we use this lenten season of feasts, ashes, tradition and sacrifice to remind us of the Lord's faithfulness to His children today as ever before. 

Remind me again, Deuteronomy

I am halfway done Deuteronomy and am finding it less stimulating than the other books. I think it is because the book is a reminder for Israel about the lessons it has learned, it is less full of the drama of the learning of the lessons! So maybe I am compensating for the absence of ups and downs in the lives of Israel by creating ups and downs in my own life... there's some food for thought (and prayer).

Moses explains the law to Israel in Moab in the 11th month of the 40th year of wandering, just before the new generation of Israel is to enter Canaan. He retells the story of their journey from Mt. Horeb to Canaan, the appointing of the judges to help Moses rule Israel with the Word and the refusal of the Israelites to enter Canaan after the scouts returned. What is the purpose of retelling the story of their journey? It seems twofold. The first reason is that it is a completely new Israel, the new generation that survived the 40 years of wandering is a new nation that is entering Canaan. Israel needs to know its history, to understand that their way of life and the traditions they have come from their dynamic relationship with God (ie. Sleeping in Booths for 8 days during the Feast of Booths is because when God freed the people from Egypt they slept in booths in their first encampments). Understanding that history and the present are cause and effect is important for the new generation of Israel that they may carry the laws and traditions forward in their truest sense, as sacred acts of praise in recognition of God’s faithfulness to His chosen. The second reason for the retelling, I think, is to warn Israel against making the same mistakes once Moses is gone. Moses has always been a generous and dedicated servant of the people and of God. Moses on many occasions pleaded with God to be forgiving and lenient with Israel, Moses was a peacemaking intermediary; perhaps he is worried that without his presence the people of Israel will slide backward under the rule of Joshua of Nun and anger the Lord. I can see how Moses would fear this, in my own mind I would be worried that the new Israelites would repeat the same mistakes on the verge of entering Canaan and be forced to wander again for another 40 years or have plagues sent down that wipe them out just when they are on the verge of realizing God’s will and returning to their Promised Land. Deuteronomy may be Moses’ way of letting go of his service to Israel after so many years; with advice, warning and suggestions.

Deuteronomy 1:31 “and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place”. Such a powerful message! This reminds me of Psalm in which God knits us together in our mothers’ wombs, that he brings us to where we are, that he knows us through and through and that he will remain with us as we walk ahead. In times of trial God is with us as a loving father, God carries us through times of joy and success also, lifting us up in our everyday lives. In the context of the journey of the Israelites, God as a loving and chastising father had brought them to the borders of Canaan through the exodus from Egypt and from the darkness they had there. They were brought to the point of realizing God’s will for their lives but balked because their faith wavered and fear won out. They then wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, balking and grumbling all along the way; learning painfully and slowly to trust God as a nation. In my own life, I have taken leaps of faith, trusting that God had a plan for my life, that the Lord carries my all the way until I reach the present moment. It is my duty as His daughter to pursue His will for me regardless of my fears, it is my responsibility to rely on Him and my faith to guide me rather than the fears that always present themselves at the brink of change. With these moments I should look to my past and trust that the Lord has guided me gently and persistently to each moment and to let that cement further my trust in Him that He will guide me on ever growing closer to Him. My question at these times of fearful doubt then changes from “Should I do this?” to “How can I do this to the best of my ability?”. In reflecting back to Numbers and the discipline shot through with love, it is a comfort and a confirmation of God’s grace to see here in the retelling that the Lord is indeed a loving father, not bloodthirsty, not unreasonable.

In Deuteronomy 3 Moses talks about his own feelings about being forbidden to cross the Jordan into Canaan. So interesting that this comes up here, in the speaking of one human being to other human beings while in the first instance there was no account of Moses' feelings (perhaps because at that time it was a human being speaking with God). He talks about pleading with God for his own life, for the opportunity to cross in to Canaan and guide the people in the Promised Land. Moses explicitly says that the Lord refused him because He was angry with Moses because of the behaviour and grumbling of the Israelites. In the first version of these events, Moses simply states the facts; it is written as receiving instructions and cause and effect. Here Moses lets the people know he was deeply saddened and affected by having to bear the consequence of their actions. Moses plead with God for his own life and was refused, and yet he continues to serve Israel until his dying day. It makes me sad thinking that Moses is so disappointed to not be able to cross into the Promised Land. I suppose he will be able to see the Israelites enjoying the land of milk and honey, but I do wish that there was a Hollywood ending for Moses on some level. That the orchestra would crescendo with trumpets and high-pitched strings as he sets his foot on the long-awaited soil of Canaan, that he is laid down on soft moss and blossoms in his very old age to die under the sky of a covenant fulfilled surrounded by the grateful and free nation of Israel. However, I guess it's good that God is far more concerned with keeping His promises and justice than with neatly packaged dramatic endings or else we may have been wiped out long ago!

Moses warns Israel against straying from God’s law. They are to add nothing, take nothing away and ensure that they are passed down from generation to generation. Moses warns that they must be vigilant or they will not be allowed to cross into Canaan nor will they be allowed to live and prosper there. Moses reiterates the importance of the Ten Commandments and the memory of a God that is so devoted to them and loves them so much that He descended Himself to a mountain shrouded in cloud and fire to deliver them to His chosen people. It is incredible that God descended HIMSELF to guide his people both on the mountain and in pillars of fire and smoke. Do any of these new Israelites remember that day? Had any of these Israelites been alive? Did they hear the story from their parents and grandparents and chalk it up to a fabulous yet abstract event? Moses is trying to make this real again for people who did not witness it. Moses is trying to convey the immensity of the Ten Commandments and how they were given to the people. We would do well today to remember the lengths to which God went to love and guide his people, but we should remember it in a real and practical way. The heat, sound and smell of the fire and smoke, the anticipation waiting for Moses to return with the sacred tablets, the texture and weight of the tablets and the texture and weight of the commandments they held. Real events that real people beheld in awe and wonder. Also, real events that some of the people failed to recognize as sacred and who suffered retribution for it; so Moses is concerned for his Israelite brothers that without bearing witness to the physical event, they again will fail to see the importance of the Commandments and suffer for it.

Deuteronomy 6 is all about the greatest commandment. Deuteronomy 6:5 – “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might”. Moses reminds the people to stay faithful to the Lord and to the commandments when they are comfortable in the Promised Land. He reminds them to fear God when they are enjoying the luxuries of ready-built and fortified cities, homes and agricultural lands; for these gifts all come from God. Moses also asks the Israelites to teach their children about the history behind all of their traditions and statutes so that they will maintain reverence throughout their generations. This is scripture telling us about our own natures, that we rely on God when we are uncomfortable, distressed or in danger and we grow complacent when we are content. God is asking us to steel against that dynamic, Moses is warning us that it is a dangerous to turn away from God once our prayers have been answered. This is echoed in Deuteronomy 11; Moses warns his people not to turn away from the Lord and not to ignore His commandments lest they perish in the land. God will send rain when rain is needed, with make the land fertile and productive and will ensure they thrive in the new land. Coming from a farming family I can see how this would be an incredible promise of security. Too much rain, too little rain, rain at the wrong time can all destroy yields and entire crops. For us in the 21st century we can go to the grocery store for food and the bank for a loan, the Israelites have no such luxury. Their livelihoods, food security and the strength of their nation (both in cohesion of the tribes and the nation and Israel’s ability to fend off attack from other nations) depends on the productivity of the land. A few bad years of weather and a prosperous nation can be destroyed. God himself gives evidence of this in the book of Exodus when He sends Jacob the dreams about how to prepare the land and people of Egypt for the seven years of famine. Without that preparation, Egypt would have perished long before the seven years were over. Moses emphasizes the importance of the commandment to love God with all your heart, soul and mind and to serve Him; this is important above all else for the nation of Israel.

Deuteronomy 12 Moses instructs Israel about the manners and places in which Israel is to worship God. God will choose a place for them to worship once they cross over the Jordan into Canaan. As Israel moves into the Promised Land they are to destroy every altar of worship there, Moses goes so far to stipulate that they must find every altar under every tree and wipe them out. At the beginning of the chapter Moses states that once Israel reaches the Promised Land they can no longer each do as they please in worship, but that they must all follow the same worship rules and worship and sacrifice in the same place. The theme of setting aside the holy as separate has been strong throughout the first five books of the Bible and these instructions about worship seem to be in line with it. However, I wonder if it has another more pressing motive. The Israelites will finally be moving into their own land where they alone will live, worship and thrive. Do they need to be set apart from others while in this new land? Probably not. What is most important now is that a nation that has been wandering and displaced for more than a generation come together to settle down in a land that will pose very different challenges to the community. Nearly all of the generation that new a stationary life before the exodus is dead, the people that remain have only known migration and war, they have only known the life of a refugee challenged by other nations and chastised often by God. It will be, I think, exceptionally challenging for these nomadic people to settle down into a calm life of harvest, prosperity and the multiplying of the nation. How will God prevent his resistant grumbling children from fighting over their inheritance? From wanting to expand the borders of the Promised Land through further wandering and war? The combination of the human tendencies of wanting more and doing what one knows best is a real and tangible threat to Israel’s success in the Promised Land. God has stipulated borders to the new land, He has stipulated who shall inherit and how much, He has stipulated laws regarding worship and conduct. If Israel falls out of God’s stipulations into it’s own human hands (as it often does), they would be turning away from Him again, putting their own desires before His. This would undo the 40 years of learning in the wilderness, this would put the nation and the Promised Land in jeopardy. Recalling from an earlier chapter Moses teaching that if Israel turned away from God in the Promised Land that they would be destroyed and enslaved by other nations, they would perish and be driven from the land where the Land would enjoy a Sabbath in their absence. Worshipping and sacrificing in the places that God stipulates is the hub of building community with reverence for the Lord and for each other. Coming together on a regular basis in praise and remembrance of their journey to the promised land, their trials along the way and the lessons they’ve learned is a far better prophylaxis against disobedience, idolatry and resistance than any fiery snake or threats of future discipline could be.

Moses also teaches that the people should all come to offer and worship in the same place, but if it is too far for them, they may choose another place. God gives them an alternative to create communal worship centers if they must. He knows that without special provisions for people who cannot make it to worship He will lose some of His chosen people. God also allows hunting of deer and gazelle and that all, clean and unclean alike, may eat of it. This is a breakthrough as well, He knows His people crave meat (recall the quail meat and the plague at the grave of craving) and that while someone is unclean the inability to eat meat after so many years of manna may cause more grumbling. He is not willing to risk losing His nation over something so small as a meat craving. People remain clean often for 7 days, women who have just given birth remain unclean for 30 or 60 days. At last these people can eat meat while they are unclean; imagine the importance of venison to a nursing mother! Again we see God loving His children in a practical way, and caring for their daily particular struggles.


May we always hold sacred the real experiences we and our brothers and sisters have with God, May we share them with one another in community through praise, worship and honest conversation, May we love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind and soul that we may serve Him in times of doubt, fear and frustration. Amen.

God is a Feminist

I have finished the book of Numbers! I can hardly believe it! It has been such an interesting exercise to walk along with the whiny Israelites in the wilderness (I think I might be whiny if I had to wander 40 years too) through their trials to the arrival at the promised land of Canaan. The themes that really stood out for me in this book were the ingratitude of humans for the love and devotion of God, the steadfast nature of God's love for us and that God is practical as well as ethereal in His love for us. The end of Numbers is so rich, the depth of scripture was immense and so I hope you prepare yourselves for this long email.

Numbers 20 opens with the death of Miriam in Zin in Kadesh. Then in Meribah, Israel grumbles against the Lord that there is no water to drink that that they and their cattle will die. They again whine that they should return to Egypt! God tell Moses to strike a rock at Meribah with his staff and water will flow for the people; he does and they have water. But because the people grumbled against Him and Aaron and Moses didn’t stand up for God as holy in front of them, God will make Aaron and Moses die before they reach Canaan. This is a bit confusing for me, the death penalty for Aaron and Moses. I do understand that to die is to be reunited with God in heaven (so that it may also seem a reward) but here it is clearly meant as retribution. This may teach us about the standards that God has for us; He is dissatisfied with one incident with Moses and Aaron after more than 40 years of faithful service. Human beings understand where they may lack the energy to fight yet again with the tiresome whining of the Israelites, but not God. God expects our best day in and day out, expects dedication and staying true to the important principles He sets out.  On the other hand taking Aaron and Moses from the people is also a punishment for them. The Lord promises to take their real, tangible, beloved and trusted servants/priests/conduits to God from them. Does God mean to teach them about the loss he feels when they turn away from Him? By killing Aaron and Moses He may teach them the loss of a beloved and how it feels to be turned away from in the relationship between God and man without actually turning away Himself. Will the loss of Aaron and Moses (or the anticipation of the loss) teach the Israelites what it feels like to be turned away from?

In Numbers 22 Balak, son of King Zippor of Moab, saw mighty Israel on the plains of Moab and fears that Israel will “lick them up as the ox licks up the grass of the field”. Moab feared victorious Israel and so Balak sent out elders of Moab and Midian to a diviner called Balaam and asked him to curse Israel. God forbids Balaam to go with Moab and Midian, and Balaam sides with Israel. Even though Balak sends money, riches and princes, Balaam stays faithful to the Lord. God then sends Balaam as an agent amidst the princes of Moab and Midian, that he may go with them but always stay faithful to the word of God. The Lord becomes angry that Balaam went out on his donkey to meet up with the princes of Moab and Midian and sends down an angel to be Balaam’s adversary. Balaam’s donkey sees the angel of the Lord in the path ahead of them twice and tries to turn away, Balaam refuses to let her. The third time she sees the angel she lies down in the road and this angers Balaam greatly as he is blind to the presence of the angel and thinks that his donkey is being disobedient. Balaam strikes the donkey with his staff to chasten her and the Lord speaks through her mouth saying “Why have you struck me? Why do you not trust me, your old servant who has been faithful to you for many years?” The Lord opens Balaam’s eyes to the angel, he is astonished and repents; the angel commands Balaam to go with the princes of Balak but only as an agent of God. Both God and the angel emphasize here that Balaam was loath to listen to the warnings of God coming to him through his trusted donkey. What lesson is there here? Perhaps that God speaks to us through our surroundings and we must always be open to hearing His voice and noticing His will around us. The word of God comes to us from the most unlikely places; God does not choose the most glorious, prestigious or glamorous route to deliver his message, He chooses the most direct route. God will use our lives to communicate His will and His love for us through the everyday things of life that He has created around us. This story also tells me that God is insistent in his messages to His children; if at first we cannot see His messengers, if we can’t hear His word and know His will, He will eventually open our eyes to His will through an undeniably powerful and present messenger. Again, this story illustrates that God first shows faithfulness to us so that we may be unwaveringly faithful to Him. Balaam shows his unwavering faith by arriving to Balak and declaring unflinchingly that he comes only with the word of God on his lips.

Numbers 25 tells the story of Israel in Shittim and how they were with Moab women and gave over to idolatry of the Moabite gods. The Lord was angry and commanded Moses to hang all of the chiefs of the people in the sun. A man of Israel (Zimri) brought a Midianite woman (Cozbi) to worship in the temple of God, Phinheas (son of Eleazer, grandson of Aaron) killed the couple to avenge the sin against God. Because of this, God gave him the covenant of peace because he turned his jealousy on Israel that God would not wipe them out. Phinheas and his sons are given the perpetual priesthood. This for me illustrates the inside-outness of the Old Testament. The progressive feminism and humanity of Leviticus, a book that is often seen as oppressive and the root of religious discrimination; the copious blood spilled in war and sacrifice by God and for God, merely drops shed in Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers compared to the elimination of everything with the flood in Genesis. Here Phinheas has spilled the blood of two sinners that the rest of the congregation be saved. This is an incredible thing; that God is watching his people for spontaneous acts of faith, for organic manifestations of God’s will, love and jealousy, that if those acts are present, they mean more to him than vengeance. This is so powerful! Pulling this forward into my own life, does this mean that if I act according to God’s love and His word in my heart, it will be enough to redeem not only my life but the lives of others around me? Will serving Christ by volunteering in a soup kitchen bring grace to people who have abandoned God as they eat? Will acts of kindness, shared prayers and blessings bleed from our community of Salt and Light into the people around us and let light into their lives as well? In my mind, the radical and revolutionary concept of “contagious grace” could do more to change the way we interact with our families, communities, nations and the whole of humanity in general than any plague or punishment. Think of how it would turn the caste system of India on it’s head, that positive grace is what can be transmitted rather than bad karma. As always, though, such a powerful concept is a double-edged sword in that it can in the same way sanction honour killings, vigilantism and “holy wars”. Phinheas murdered two people in full view of God and the nation of Israel and was rewarded the covenant of peace and perpetual priesthood. The “jihad” or “crusades” version of this beautiful and life-giving story speaks volumes to the ability of human ignorance and zeal to combine and create an incredibly powerful force for destruction in the defense of God. Oh how completely our free will can mislead us, all the while assuring us we are in full service and compliance of God’s love. Thousands of years later the gap between the two seems impossible to bridge, perhaps the lesson here is that we must always fall in alliance with God’s love rather than God’s jealousy. The Old Testament is a bloody and vengeful book on the surface, but shot through with the passionate and constant love of God for His people, we can choose to focus on the blood that was shed (and that is shed in this world) or we can choose to focus on the love that God is desperately trying to show to a people that refuse to open their eyes to Him; as Christians, I believe it is our duty to live in love rather than jealousy.

The daughters of Zelophehad come to Moses after the census and ask for an inheritance as their father died in the wilderness and he had no sons. The Lord grants inheritance to the daughters of all men who have no sons at the time of their death. If a man has no children, his inheritance will go to his brother. This is incredible! A daughter here is considered of equal (or indeed) more importance to a particular family line than her own uncle (an older man with perhaps more social standing). This underscores for me the idea that the prices for women and the rules about impurity outlined in Leviticus and Numbers are indeed emanicpatory; if God will go this far for the rights of a woman to maintain standing and hold importance in her own family, why should he have made rules in previous books to oppress his daughters? God is a feminist! Another example of God's practicality in His love for us.

In Numbers 32, the tribes of Reuben and Gad ask the Lord and Moses for land in Gilead because it is perfect for raising livestock. Moses is angered at first because it is reminiscent of their forefathers that did not want to ender Canaan (the forefathers that precipitated the 40 years of wandering in the wilderness). The tribes of Reuben and Gad promised to send soldiers into Canaan with the rest of Israel and that they would not inherit in Canaan; their inheritance of land would be in Gilead, East of the Jordan. This pleased Moses and the Lord and was granted. This is more evidence that God cares for the particular case of each of His people. The people of Reuben and Gad asked God for something that would lead to their prosperity and happiness, they promised to follow the will of God and serve Him as he required and their request was granted. Petition is a common form of prayer, asking God for things that will contribute to our prosperity and happiness, to our health and the health of our families and communities. This is a lesson for all of us, to be frank with God and ask Him for what we need. To serve Him to the full extent that we can regardless of the answer to the prayer, to have faith that if we come to Him as His children He will hear us and extend a loving hand toward us with His answer. It is also a lesson that we are allowed to pray for practical things. Many people (whether they are new to prayer or not) feel selfish or foolish praying for material or practical things; houses, cars, clothing, a new refrigerator, bus tickets, lunch. The tribes of Reuben and Gad did not petition God for enlightenment, forgiveness, increased spirituality; they asked for land and water to sustain their livestock,11 which was both livelihood and food for them. God saw this as good and granted them their request. God created us to live here on earth in service to Him, we need food, shelter and other practical things to live here; we may need a car to travel to minister to others, to work for financial sustenance or for mobility. God wants us to have what we need; although what we need is often different that what we think we need or what we want. The provision of what we need rather than what we want is re-inforced in Numbers 34, the Lord defines boundaries for the promised land. Again He is setting out rules, there are always “boundaries” with the Israelites. This is important in that God is choosing a particular destiny for His people in a particular place. He is not following the human instinct to be ruler of all, His people are to serve ordinarily in a limited place, the physical boundaries of the promised land are an earthly manifestation of the importance God places on distinguishing His chosen as separate, but also humility as a way of life.

In Numbers 35, the inheritance in Canaan is divided between the tribes and the Levites get a special division of inheritance. 48 cities will be given to the Levites, 42 regular cities and 6 cities of refuge for the “manslayer” (a man who kills another without intent). 1000 cubits of pastureland will be given to the Levites around every city. Larger tribes will give more cities and smaller tribes will give less (God loves equitable sharing!). I wonder what kind of places the cities of refuge would be? They are to be refuge for the manslayer until he can stand trial for his crime in front of the congregation. An acquitted manslayer must live within the city of refuge until the high priest dies, the he can return to his own land. If he leaves the city before that time, an avenger of his crime can kill him without penalty, but only if the revenge killing occurs outside the city walls. These cities would be populated with people dispossessed of their families and their land, who are alienated from their tribes and without a network of social and financial support. They are called cities of refuge, but it seems to me that it would be a city of refugees. How would one go about buying or owning property there? What would the living conditions be there? Many people would be there temporarily, many for a long-term but not permanent stay. Would their family be allowed to visit them there and bring them material and spiritual support? With there being only 6 cities in the entire land of Canaan, would they be able to travel there to visit them? If there was a long distance to travel to these cities of refuge, how many manslayers would actually make it there and how many would be killed by avengers en route? It makes sense here that the cities of refuge would belong to the Levites, a tribe of people who have been chosen by God and who have heard that call to minister to and serve His people. The Levites here are trusted to bring the displaced, scared, pursued and persecuted to safety and to care for them. This is reminiscent (minus the manslaughter part) of the refugee family that St. Andrew’s-Wesley is bringing to Vancouver. Jenette has been keeping me posted on the progress with that ministry (thanks Jenette!) and this passage and my own imaginings about what the conditions of a city of refuge would be like, reminds me of their journey, that they are finally able to leave their city of refuge (refugee camp) and come to a new city with a new life. St. Andrew’s-Wesley has heard the call of God to respond to and minister to God’s people, as part of the body of Christ here on Earth we are His chosen people too.

May we know the love of God in the ethereal and the practical elements of our lives, May we strive to be vessels of "contagious grace", May we as God's children come together in worship and praise of Him and seek to hear His word from the most unlikely messenger. Amen.