My mother used to say, "We're not poor; we're just broke." It was her way of saying that poverty is a state of mind and believing that you are poor (whatever words you use to describe your state) will ensure you remain poor. It's the same for nations and freedom. A free and moral people will be free and moral regardless of their form of government, while a servile and immoral people will remain servile and immoral no matter how much liberty and prosperity you attempt to foist upon them.
HT: Vox Day
We are Absurd
Apparently, the PTB have been negotiating with an imposter they thought was a high-ranking official of the Taliban. It's pretty bad when you don't even know who the top leaders of your enemy are.
The United States government has no idea how to fight the war in Afghanistan. They have no idea how to stop people from blowing up or hijacking aircraft. They have no idea how to defend our borders against invasion or even how to define an invasion.
Or else they are doing a very good job of pretending that they don't.
In either case, we as a nation have become absurd. We deserve the ridicule of the rest of the world.
Update: I don't know whether these kinds of actions are the spasms of a pre-rigor corpse or a sign of fitful life:
The United States government has no idea how to fight the war in Afghanistan. They have no idea how to stop people from blowing up or hijacking aircraft. They have no idea how to defend our borders against invasion or even how to define an invasion.
Or else they are doing a very good job of pretending that they don't.
In either case, we as a nation have become absurd. We deserve the ridicule of the rest of the world.
Update: I don't know whether these kinds of actions are the spasms of a pre-rigor corpse or a sign of fitful life:
Several members of Congress — including Reps. John Mica, R-Fla., and Rep. Thomas Petri, R-Wis., who are set to assume leadership of aviation issues in Congress next year when Republicans take control — have demanded that the TSA restrict the use of the thorough pat-downs. Last week, state lawmakers in New Jersey announced a resolution calling the machines' scans a violation of the Fourth Amendment against unreasonable search and seizure, and members of New York's City Council said they would introduce legislation to ban use of the machines in the city.Update 11/24/2010: I agree with rienzi's comment at voxday:
We're told that this Al-Queda organization has an organized structure, plenty of funds, and thousands of jihadis who just can't wait to be martyrs. Yet, in more than nine years, they have supposedly been able to pull off only a handful of bombings.
If they really are such a threat, how come stuff isn't being blown up on almost a weekly basis? Either they're the most passive, lazy, incompetent terrorist organization that ever existed, or they've been so thoroughly infiltrated that they can't pull off the smallest job without having most of the world's security sevices know about it in advance, in which case they are no threat whatsoever.
Also puzzling, it that they never follow up on success, and seem obsessed with airplanes. Blow up subway stations and buses full of Brits. A big success, but never tried again. The country is full of soft targets that ought to be tempting as hell to any self-respecting terrorist: football stadiums, shopping malls, schools, government offices, and yet in more than nine years they haven't pulled off one successful major attack. Two guys in a van, with one rifle, freaked out the entire DC metro area, and yet, a supposedly large and well-funded terrorist organization can't do the same thing?
With every passing day, the idea that there really is no such thing as an "Al-Queda" organization out to get get us, and that its mostly just false flag/black ops with a few independent loose cannons thrown in seems to be less tin-foil hat, and more realistic.
Totalitarian Sexual Assault
Scanning
Unless every single access point to the airways scans every single person who enters every single airport, no amount of body scanning will prevent terrorism. The X-ray scanners do a good job of revealing concealed firearms (in addition to dehumanizing and desensitizing people and giving the pervs of Totalitarian Sexual Assault a thrill), but not every airport has them. Once you pass security at one small airport, you have access to "secure" areas at every airport without having to pass through security again. In fact, at many airports you don't have to pass security at all. One person outside security could give a weapon to another person inside security by dropping it off a balcony or sliding it under a rope.
Explosives
Even if it were possible (AND IT'S NOT!) to build a scanner or train a person to detect every possible combination of substances that could be made to explode, there are ways to hide things from chemical or visual snooping. If someone is intent on dying, what in the world would deter him from swallowing as much explosive material as his stomach could handle? Why stop at swallowing? There's no reason explosives couldn't be surgically implanted. The three ounce rule is as stupid and pointless as the rest, invented by bureaucrats and implemented by mentally retarded thugs. If five or six ounces of some unknown (and unknowable) liquid is explosive, then a couple of terrorists could each carry three ounces and combine it later. Twenty people could board flights from twenty different cities having connecting flights in Chicago or Denver and combine the contents of all their shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and water bottles (that's 12 oz per person) to make 240 oz or just under 2 gallons. Whatever liquid explosive this rule is supposed to guard against, I'll bet that's enough to do the job.
Hand weapons
Every object can be made a weapon. Every object. Have you ever broken a CD or DVD? Ceramic mug? A ball-point pen? Banning fingernail clippers from airplanes is moronic. If you want to threaten somebody, there are so many better choices that aren't banned at all.
Totalitarian Sexual Assault
These are all policies invented by manipulative, power-grabbing bureaucrats to placate the simple-minded and acclimate the cattle to being herded. All in the name of security.
Security from what? Sexual molestation? Oh, right! From terrorists. Because everyone knows terrorists would never dream of targeting a large crowd of people all standing closely packed together in an airport lobby. At the risk of alienating a reader or two... How stupid do you have to be to believe that any of this has anything to do with security!?
"Mr. Eloi, please step out of line so Mr. Morlock can feel you up...er...I mean pat you down."
"Well, if it makes us all safer..."
Unless every single access point to the airways scans every single person who enters every single airport, no amount of body scanning will prevent terrorism. The X-ray scanners do a good job of revealing concealed firearms (in addition to dehumanizing and desensitizing people and giving the pervs of Totalitarian Sexual Assault a thrill), but not every airport has them. Once you pass security at one small airport, you have access to "secure" areas at every airport without having to pass through security again. In fact, at many airports you don't have to pass security at all. One person outside security could give a weapon to another person inside security by dropping it off a balcony or sliding it under a rope.
Explosives
Even if it were possible (AND IT'S NOT!) to build a scanner or train a person to detect every possible combination of substances that could be made to explode, there are ways to hide things from chemical or visual snooping. If someone is intent on dying, what in the world would deter him from swallowing as much explosive material as his stomach could handle? Why stop at swallowing? There's no reason explosives couldn't be surgically implanted. The three ounce rule is as stupid and pointless as the rest, invented by bureaucrats and implemented by mentally retarded thugs. If five or six ounces of some unknown (and unknowable) liquid is explosive, then a couple of terrorists could each carry three ounces and combine it later. Twenty people could board flights from twenty different cities having connecting flights in Chicago or Denver and combine the contents of all their shampoo, conditioner, lotion, and water bottles (that's 12 oz per person) to make 240 oz or just under 2 gallons. Whatever liquid explosive this rule is supposed to guard against, I'll bet that's enough to do the job.
Hand weapons
Every object can be made a weapon. Every object. Have you ever broken a CD or DVD? Ceramic mug? A ball-point pen? Banning fingernail clippers from airplanes is moronic. If you want to threaten somebody, there are so many better choices that aren't banned at all.
Totalitarian Sexual Assault
These are all policies invented by manipulative, power-grabbing bureaucrats to placate the simple-minded and acclimate the cattle to being herded. All in the name of security.
Security from what? Sexual molestation? Oh, right! From terrorists. Because everyone knows terrorists would never dream of targeting a large crowd of people all standing closely packed together in an airport lobby. At the risk of alienating a reader or two... How stupid do you have to be to believe that any of this has anything to do with security!?
"Mr. Eloi, please step out of line so Mr. Morlock can feel you up...er...I mean pat you down."
"Well, if it makes us all safer..."
On Joyce Meyer
A while back I slammed Kathryn Kuhlman for some of her poor decisions. For a counter example, see Joyce Meyer, tpreacher, mother, and wife of Dave. I have no problem recommending her as a preacher worth hearing.
A Few Words on the Word
The Bible is the most remarkable body of literature on Earth. It includes oral tradition, court records, poetry, correspondence, history, and prophecy in a consistent and accurate whole. The reader must keep in mind the cultures, languages, and circumstances of the various authors to reach a full understanding. He can't read as if Paul's letters were written in English. He can't even completely trust that the English translation accurately conveys the author's intended meaning.
Aside from the usual difficulty involved in understanding any text absent inflection and body language, politics and religious dogma and an inevitable failure to understand the cultural milieu that would have informed a contemporary reader make a perfectly accurate understanding almost impossible. Add to this the challenges of translating extinct languages such as the Bible's original Greek and Hebrew into living and evolving tongues like English, and the obstacles to true understanding seem insurmountable.
It is nothing short of amazing that we can read the Bible in English today and, so long as the entirety of its teachings are considered and no single passage is taken in isolation, we can still have a very good idea of what God is trying to tell us through it.
I understand how some people come to elevate the Bible above God himself, treating the physical material of paper and ink or the translated text as if it is itself something to be worshiped. There is a strong temptation to be distracted by the distinctive--miraculous even--nature of the Bible's preservation through the ages. However, as we read and study it, we must keep in mind all of the cultural and personal filters through which we understand its words.
Most people aren't able to read the Bible in its original languages, and some sections of scripture no longer even exist in their original forms. We don't have access to the actual words that God spoke to Adam in the Garden, only a paraphrase that was passed down from person to person and translated from language to language.
That's not to say that the meaning of the words we do have can't be trusted--as I already pointed out, the Bible is astonishingly consistent from end to end--but that they are frequently not word-for-word transcripts. Even in those places where the text is precise, the words are not always inspired or truthful. Letters and messages from kings and generals are reproduced for history and context, not necessarily because they contain any great truths. Some passages contain advice that doesn't rise to the level of command let alone divine command.
The Bible is an amazing collection of Scriptures, but it is not all we need to understand the world or even all we need to understand God and our relationship with him. It is essential, but it is not everything.
Patriarchy Is Good for Women
Matriarchy might look good in theory, but it's about as useful as having all feet and no hands. (See 1 Corinthians 12.)
Says the Elusive Wapiti (blog no longer available):
Says the Elusive Wapiti (blog no longer available):
But what feminists didn't realize at the time they took patriarchy out back and shot it is that patriarchy, among other things, lassoed men into socially constructive behavior and dutiful service of society as a whole. And women in particular. Freed from patriarchy, men were free to throw off the yoke of duty and other-focused behavior and could pursue their own self interests full-tilt. Which quite a few dudes did, and found that a world without patriarchy--the world that women all yelled and screamed and marched and burnt bras for--suited them just fine. And they thought that this world was the one that women wanted.
The Spirit in the Torah
Numbers 27:15-21. Then Moses spoke to the LORD, saying: 16 “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, 17 who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.” 18 And the LORD said to Moses: “Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him; 19 set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and inaugurate him in their sight. 20 And you shall give some of your authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. 21 He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the LORD for him by the judgment of the Urim. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, he and all the children of Israel with him—all the congregation.”
People were filled with the Holy Spirit thousands of years before Pentecost. And people knew and kept the Torah before it was given at Mt. Sinai.
Paganism and the Doctrine of Balaam
Numbers 22:2-25:9
Micah 5:6-6:8
I Corinthians 1:20-31
There seems a discrepancy between the idea that we are created in God’s image to the extent that our words have creative force, that there is power in our prayers, and the opposing idea that a curse has no power unless it is deserved and that a prophet can speak neither blessing nor curse unless God allows it. However, there is truth on both sides if properly understood.
There's an old joke about scientists claiming to be able to create life from nothing. When God challenged the scientists, they took a handful of dirt with which to demonstrate their new technology. "Huh-uh," God said. "Get your own dirt."
We were created in God’s image, but we are not exact copies. The earthly tabernacle was a corruptible copy of the one in Heaven, the feast days are shadows of the reality that is the Messiah, and mankind is an imperfect, much scaled down replica of God. Unlike him, we cannot create something out of nothing by merely speaking. We need something on which to build. We are unable to get our own dirt, so to speak, so we have to make do with what we can find.
When Balaam tried to curse Israel, he failed because, as a prophet, he could only give what prophecies God gave him. His patron, Balak, understood the principle of Proverbs 26:2, that a curse undeserved has no effect, so he took Balaam to first one place and then another, thinking that a different perspective might give Balaam the hook he needed to make the curse stick. But he misunderstood the nature of a real prophet: true prophecy comes from God and no other.
If a prophet speaks truth, then his words are the words of God, and God can no more curse the righteous than could Balaam. Hence Balaam’s statement that “[YHWH] has not seen iniquity in Jacob, neither has He seen perverseness in Israel.” It was not that Israel had no sin at all, but that God had chosen to forgive them like a husband who chooses to overlook his wife’s flaws. From God’s point of view, Israel had no sin to which a curse could be attached.
Finding no fault in Israel, Balaam showed Balak how he might create a fault that God could not overlook by seducing Israel into idolatry. This is the “doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication.” (Revelation 2:14)
Eating “things sacrificed to idols” does not refer simply to eating meat from sacrificial animals, but to actively participating in the sacrifice. Those who teach God’s people that it is acceptable to engage in pagan rituals and abandon God’s law so long as their “hearts are in the right place” are today’s Balaam. They cause God’s people to commit sins that he cannot overlook, opening them to whatever curse the enemy might choose to throw.
Be careful when someone says to you that "God doesn't care if you do this or that if you're doing it in the right spirit." If it is something that God has commanded us not to do, then there is only one spirit in which you could possibly do it, and it isn't a "right" one.
Micah 5:6-6:8
I Corinthians 1:20-31
Proverbs 26:2 As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.
There seems a discrepancy between the idea that we are created in God’s image to the extent that our words have creative force, that there is power in our prayers, and the opposing idea that a curse has no power unless it is deserved and that a prophet can speak neither blessing nor curse unless God allows it. However, there is truth on both sides if properly understood.
There's an old joke about scientists claiming to be able to create life from nothing. When God challenged the scientists, they took a handful of dirt with which to demonstrate their new technology. "Huh-uh," God said. "Get your own dirt."
We were created in God’s image, but we are not exact copies. The earthly tabernacle was a corruptible copy of the one in Heaven, the feast days are shadows of the reality that is the Messiah, and mankind is an imperfect, much scaled down replica of God. Unlike him, we cannot create something out of nothing by merely speaking. We need something on which to build. We are unable to get our own dirt, so to speak, so we have to make do with what we can find.
When Balaam tried to curse Israel, he failed because, as a prophet, he could only give what prophecies God gave him. His patron, Balak, understood the principle of Proverbs 26:2, that a curse undeserved has no effect, so he took Balaam to first one place and then another, thinking that a different perspective might give Balaam the hook he needed to make the curse stick. But he misunderstood the nature of a real prophet: true prophecy comes from God and no other.
If a prophet speaks truth, then his words are the words of God, and God can no more curse the righteous than could Balaam. Hence Balaam’s statement that “[YHWH] has not seen iniquity in Jacob, neither has He seen perverseness in Israel.” It was not that Israel had no sin at all, but that God had chosen to forgive them like a husband who chooses to overlook his wife’s flaws. From God’s point of view, Israel had no sin to which a curse could be attached.
Finding no fault in Israel, Balaam showed Balak how he might create a fault that God could not overlook by seducing Israel into idolatry. This is the “doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling-block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit fornication.” (Revelation 2:14)
Eating “things sacrificed to idols” does not refer simply to eating meat from sacrificial animals, but to actively participating in the sacrifice. Those who teach God’s people that it is acceptable to engage in pagan rituals and abandon God’s law so long as their “hearts are in the right place” are today’s Balaam. They cause God’s people to commit sins that he cannot overlook, opening them to whatever curse the enemy might choose to throw.
Be careful when someone says to you that "God doesn't care if you do this or that if you're doing it in the right spirit." If it is something that God has commanded us not to do, then there is only one spirit in which you could possibly do it, and it isn't a "right" one.
Salvation, Sanctification, and Judgment
Numbers 19:1-22:1
Judges 11:1-33
John 3:9-21
A few thoughts on Chukat:
☼Red is the color of mortality and blood. A heifer is a cow that has never calved. The red heifer was to be completely consumed along with cedar, hyssop, and a scarlet thread. Cedar, hyssop, and scarlet appear to be a reference to the cross. The ashes of the red heifer were collected, mixed with water, and used to ritually cleanse a thing or person from contact with death. Water is typical of the Holy Spirit. In summary, something mortal and which bears no fruit is completely given over to God in association with the death of Yeshua on the cross. In combination with the baptism of the Spirit, it saves us from death. This sounds like Yeshua’s words to Nicodemus in John 3.
☼When Miriam died, there was no water to drink, and perhaps no water to mix with the ashes of the heifer to purify the people after her death. The people did not mourn her, but mourned themselves and their own discomfort. Shortly after that, they were sent back into the wilderness by the king of Edom. When Aaron died, the people mourned for thirty days and then defeated the king of Arad.
☼Bronze represents judgment. When the people rebelled again and were punished through poisonous snakes, God told Moses to erect a bronze serpent on a pole in the middle of the camp. When the people were bitten by the consequences of their sin, they could look up and see the judgment of God on a stake and be healed. Reference again the words of Yeshua in John 3.
Judges 11:1-33
John 3:9-21
A few thoughts on Chukat:
☼Red is the color of mortality and blood. A heifer is a cow that has never calved. The red heifer was to be completely consumed along with cedar, hyssop, and a scarlet thread. Cedar, hyssop, and scarlet appear to be a reference to the cross. The ashes of the red heifer were collected, mixed with water, and used to ritually cleanse a thing or person from contact with death. Water is typical of the Holy Spirit. In summary, something mortal and which bears no fruit is completely given over to God in association with the death of Yeshua on the cross. In combination with the baptism of the Spirit, it saves us from death. This sounds like Yeshua’s words to Nicodemus in John 3.
☼When Miriam died, there was no water to drink, and perhaps no water to mix with the ashes of the heifer to purify the people after her death. The people did not mourn her, but mourned themselves and their own discomfort. Shortly after that, they were sent back into the wilderness by the king of Edom. When Aaron died, the people mourned for thirty days and then defeated the king of Arad.
☼Bronze represents judgment. When the people rebelled again and were punished through poisonous snakes, God told Moses to erect a bronze serpent on a pole in the middle of the camp. When the people were bitten by the consequences of their sin, they could look up and see the judgment of God on a stake and be healed. Reference again the words of Yeshua in John 3.
Realistic Solutions for the Palestinian-Israeli Conflicts
I would be very interested in hearing some realistic solutions to the problems in Israel and in the Middle East in general. I haven't heard any good ones yet.
Can't we all just get along? Umm, no. Israel is completely surrounded by governments (and peoples) who have sworn to kill them all--men, women, and children. They can't simply forgive and forget. They can't turn their backs or relax even for a moment. And the Palestinians, whoever they were, whatever their origins, have been hopelessly ghettoized for so long that large segments of their population are no longer capable of living productively with others.
Israel should give the Palestinians their own country. The Palestinians are led by thugs who themselves are pawns for the neighboring Arab states that want nothing more than to kill all Jews. Every attempt at giving the Palestinians more autonomy has been doomed by political maneuvering and insane (literally!) violence against Israel. Even if Hamas and company could all be buried in a deep, mass grave, the Palestinians don't have a great pool of leaders waiting to take over.
The Jews should give up and go home. And where would that be if not the home of their ancestors? It would make as much sense to suggest that any Cherokee who have found their way to Georgia be sent back home to Oklahoma. Even if we ignored the continuous presence of Jews and other Israelites in the Land for more than three thousand years, at the very least, they have the same right of conquest as every other people. The Coosa were driven out by the Cherokee who were driven out by the English who might soon be driven out by someone else. It's the way the world has always worked.
The Palestinians should all move to friendlier Arab countries to be with their own kind. Again, what countries would that be? Nobody wants them. Jordan, Egypt, and Syria don't want them. In fact, they would much rather the Palestinians stay in Israel as a destabilizing force. They are pawns without a single real friend in the world, some willingly but most probably ignorantly. They have nowhere else to go. Maybe those non-Israelis who want the Palestinians to leave Israel could volunteer their suburban homes to house a family or two or three?
There are no clear good guys in that mess, and there are far too many bad guys. The only clear thing in my mind is that the land of Israel, especially that land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, is a special place to God. He entrusted it to Israel once, and although he removed them from it for a time, he promised to give it back to them. The ultimate title to the land has already been established. It is not on the negotiating table.
Can't we all just get along? Umm, no. Israel is completely surrounded by governments (and peoples) who have sworn to kill them all--men, women, and children. They can't simply forgive and forget. They can't turn their backs or relax even for a moment. And the Palestinians, whoever they were, whatever their origins, have been hopelessly ghettoized for so long that large segments of their population are no longer capable of living productively with others.
Israel should give the Palestinians their own country. The Palestinians are led by thugs who themselves are pawns for the neighboring Arab states that want nothing more than to kill all Jews. Every attempt at giving the Palestinians more autonomy has been doomed by political maneuvering and insane (literally!) violence against Israel. Even if Hamas and company could all be buried in a deep, mass grave, the Palestinians don't have a great pool of leaders waiting to take over.
The Jews should give up and go home. And where would that be if not the home of their ancestors? It would make as much sense to suggest that any Cherokee who have found their way to Georgia be sent back home to Oklahoma. Even if we ignored the continuous presence of Jews and other Israelites in the Land for more than three thousand years, at the very least, they have the same right of conquest as every other people. The Coosa were driven out by the Cherokee who were driven out by the English who might soon be driven out by someone else. It's the way the world has always worked.
The Palestinians should all move to friendlier Arab countries to be with their own kind. Again, what countries would that be? Nobody wants them. Jordan, Egypt, and Syria don't want them. In fact, they would much rather the Palestinians stay in Israel as a destabilizing force. They are pawns without a single real friend in the world, some willingly but most probably ignorantly. They have nowhere else to go. Maybe those non-Israelis who want the Palestinians to leave Israel could volunteer their suburban homes to house a family or two or three?
There are no clear good guys in that mess, and there are far too many bad guys. The only clear thing in my mind is that the land of Israel, especially that land between the Jordan and the Mediterranean, is a special place to God. He entrusted it to Israel once, and although he removed them from it for a time, he promised to give it back to them. The ultimate title to the land has already been established. It is not on the negotiating table.
Where's Our Rocket Packs?
I thought it might be fun to see how far we've come since Daniel Amos sang this song in the early 80s. I was wrong. This was a depressing exercise. We have lots of gadgets, but Taylor was right that "some things never change".
"(It's the Eighties, So Where's Our) Rocket Packs"
from the album Vox Humana
Words and Music by Terry Taylor
©1984 Twitchen Vibes Music (ASCAP)
It's the eighties
It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?
It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?
Go anywhere, we strap them on our backs
1. (It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?)
I thought by now I'd walk the moon
And ride a car without no tires
And have a robot run the vacuum
And date a girl made out of wires
No thing's don't change that much, do they?
We are still out of touch, by now we should discover
Just how to love each other, like Klattus' robot man
Your looks have killed again
2. (It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?)
I thought by now we'd live in space
And eat a pill instead of dinner
And wear a gas mask on our face
A President of female gender
Though progress marches on, (new day)
Our troubles will grow strong
And my expectancies, become my fantasies
You turn my blood to sand, the earth stands still again
My hopes are running low
things moving much too slow
No space men up above
And we're still so very far from love
3. (It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?)
I thought by now we'd build a dome
Around the world, control the weather
In every house, a picture phone; communicate a little better
But some things never change (replay!)
You are still acting strange
No way that I can see, this way we will be free
La la la la la la,la la la la la 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Lift off!
(It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?)
Repeat 1, 2, 3
(It's the eighties)
"(It's the Eighties, So Where's Our) Rocket Packs"
from the album Vox Humana
Words and Music by Terry Taylor
©1984 Twitchen Vibes Music (ASCAP)
It's the eighties
It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?
It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?
Go anywhere, we strap them on our backs
1. (It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?)
I thought by now I'd walk the moon
And ride a car without no tires
And have a robot run the vacuum
And date a girl made out of wires
No thing's don't change that much, do they?
We are still out of touch, by now we should discover
Just how to love each other, like Klattus' robot man
Your looks have killed again
2. (It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?)
I thought by now we'd live in space
And eat a pill instead of dinner
And wear a gas mask on our face
A President of female gender
Though progress marches on, (new day)
Our troubles will grow strong
And my expectancies, become my fantasies
You turn my blood to sand, the earth stands still again
My hopes are running low
things moving much too slow
No space men up above
And we're still so very far from love
3. (It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?)
I thought by now we'd build a dome
Around the world, control the weather
In every house, a picture phone; communicate a little better
But some things never change (replay!)
You are still acting strange
No way that I can see, this way we will be free
La la la la la la,la la la la la 7,6,5,4,3,2,1 Lift off!
(It's the eighties so where's our rocket packs?)
Repeat 1, 2, 3
(It's the eighties)
Judge Ministries by Their Fruit, Not Their Eccentricities
Numbers 11:25-29 And YHWH came down in a cloud and spoke to him, and took of the spirit on him and gave it to the seventy elders. And it happened when the Spirit rested upon them, they prophesied. But they never did so again. (26) But two of the men stayed in the camp; the name of the one was Eldad, and the name of the other was Medad. And the Spirit rested upon them. And they were of those who were written, but did not go out to the tabernacle. And they prophesied in the camp. (27) And a young man ran and told Moses, and said, Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp. (28) And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young men, answered and said, My lord Moses, make them cease. (29) And Moses said to him, Are you jealous for my sake? Would God that all YHWH's people were prophets, that YHWH would put His Spirit upon them!
Numbers 12:1-9 And Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had taken. For he had taken a Cushite woman. (2) And they said, Has YHWH indeed spoken only by Moses? Has He not also spoken by us? And YHWH heard. (3) (Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all the men on the face of the earth.) (4) And YHWH spoke suddenly to Moses and to Aaron and to Miriam, You three come out to the tabernacle of the congregation. And the three came out. (5) And YHWH came down in the pillar of the cloud and stood in the door of the tabernacle, and called Aaron and Miriam. And they both came forth. (6) And He said, Hear now My words. If there is a prophet among you, I YHWH will make Myself known to him in a vision, and will speak to him in a dream. (7) Not so, My servant Moses. He is faithful in all My house. (8) I will speak with him mouth to mouth, even clearly, and not in dark speeches. And he shall behold the likeness of YHWH. Why then were you not afraid to speak against My servant Moses? (9) And the anger of YHWH was kindled against them, and He moved.
Many of God's chosen ministers work long thankless hours or they work in unusual manners or circumstances. We are often tempted to take the former for granted and to shun the latter. This week's assignment: Single out someone who receives little acknowledgment for their service and give them encouragement or some other kind of support. And when you are tempted to dismiss someone or their ministry because of their unorthodox methods or presentation, look instead at their fruit. Ask yourself if they are truly doing something wrong or if you are just offended by inconsequentials. If God is on their side, who are we to take issue with that?
A Personal Sense of Well-Being
I've noticed that my sense of self-worth and happiness seem to depend
on three broad factors, which can also be thought of as spheres of
life.
Vocation, the Outer Sphere - This includes ministry and work. If my life's mission in the greater world is going well, and if I'm doing well in my business or career, then this sphere is in good shape.
Relationships, the Middle Sphere - This includes family, neighbors, friends, and romantic interests. If my family is doing well, I'm spending good quality time with my friends, and I have healthy relationships with good quality women, then all is well in the Middle Sphere.
Self, the Inner Sphere - This includes me. If who I am and what I am doing is in close alignment with who I am supposed to be, then I am at peace with myself and doing well.
None of these spheres can be healthy without God's guidance. Only he knows for certain who I am supposed to be, what relationships I need to help me grow, and what mission I am to accomplish in life. If I have heard his call then I am able to position myself in the center and coordinate change where I can, trusting God to effect change where I cannot.
Vocation, the Outer Sphere - This includes ministry and work. If my life's mission in the greater world is going well, and if I'm doing well in my business or career, then this sphere is in good shape.
Relationships, the Middle Sphere - This includes family, neighbors, friends, and romantic interests. If my family is doing well, I'm spending good quality time with my friends, and I have healthy relationships with good quality women, then all is well in the Middle Sphere.
Self, the Inner Sphere - This includes me. If who I am and what I am doing is in close alignment with who I am supposed to be, then I am at peace with myself and doing well.
None of these spheres can be healthy without God's guidance. Only he knows for certain who I am supposed to be, what relationships I need to help me grow, and what mission I am to accomplish in life. If I have heard his call then I am able to position myself in the center and coordinate change where I can, trusting God to effect change where I cannot.
Biblical Leprosy & the Evil Tongue
God knows all about disease. He knows what causes it, what
prevents it, and what heals it. Therefore, if his instructions regarding
a disease make no scientific sense to you or me, then our understanding
is deficient, not his. We misunderstand his instructions or the
disease.
This week's double Torah portion, Tazria-Metsora (Leviticus 12-15), spends a lot of ink on something called tsaraat. Although that word has been historically translated as "leprosy," Tazria and Metsora do not appear to be addressing the disease we know as Leprosy (aka Hansen's Disease) today.
The rabbinic understanding is that tsaraat is caused by lashon hara or an evil tongue. In other words, gossiping, back-biting, libel, slander, and "sharing" can all be manifested in a physical condition. In such a case, it is not so much the physical condition that requires solitary confinement, but that of the heart, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Compare two other biblical passages that involve symptoms of tzaraat:
Update April 17, 2010: Tony Robinson says that tzaraat is caused by disrespecting the authority of God's prophets and priests. I think he is on the right track, but I will go further and say that, based on Isaiah 3, it might be disrespect toward all divinely appointed authority.
This week's double Torah portion, Tazria-Metsora (Leviticus 12-15), spends a lot of ink on something called tsaraat. Although that word has been historically translated as "leprosy," Tazria and Metsora do not appear to be addressing the disease we know as Leprosy (aka Hansen's Disease) today.
Characteristics of Hansen's Disease
- Not highly contagious.
- Does not heal spontaneously.
- Causes numbness.
- Can cause the loss of fingers, toes, and sight.
- Infects only people and armadillos.
- Skin lesions and hair loss.
- Fever
Characteristics of Tsaraat
- Contagious enough to warrant solitary quarantine (no leper colonies allowed!)
- Can heal spontaneously.
- Infects people, cloth, leather, and stone.
- Skin lesions and hair loss.
- Fever
The rabbinic understanding is that tsaraat is caused by lashon hara or an evil tongue. In other words, gossiping, back-biting, libel, slander, and "sharing" can all be manifested in a physical condition. In such a case, it is not so much the physical condition that requires solitary confinement, but that of the heart, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." Compare two other biblical passages that involve symptoms of tzaraat:
Numbers 12:1,10 And Miriam and Aaron spake against Moses because of the Ethiopian woman whom he had married: for he had married an Ethiopian woman....And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous.
Isaiah 3:16-17,24 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet: (17) Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts....And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.I am not completely convinced that lashon hara specifically causes tzaraat, but it certainly seems that some spiritual condition can trigger it, perhaps lashon hara or pride. In either case, the cure is humble obedience to God's commands.
Update April 17, 2010: Tony Robinson says that tzaraat is caused by disrespecting the authority of God's prophets and priests. I think he is on the right track, but I will go further and say that, based on Isaiah 3, it might be disrespect toward all divinely appointed authority.
On Which Thought Counts
Rabbi Stephen Baars, commenting on this week’s Torah portion, says something very similar to what I said last week:
I think this is an important clarification on what I said before. Neither the thought nor the deed count if they aren’t part of the same whole. God doesn’t want our sacrifices or tithes or even our obedience if it’s forced and resentful. He wants all of those things, but with a willing heart. More than anything else, he wants our love. If he has that, the rest will follow.
Buying your wife a $1,000 pearl necklace may be a great sacrifice on your part. But it is not going to do the trick if she doesn’t like pearls. Nobody wants your sacrifices!
…The only thing we can possibly give another is a piece of ourselves by becoming closer to them. Anything else they can get on their own. They really don’t need you to buy the flowers or the wrench set. Similarly, God can sacrifice His own animals. The only thing no one can have, unless I give it, is me. That’s all I have to give.
I think this is an important clarification on what I said before. Neither the thought nor the deed count if they aren’t part of the same whole. God doesn’t want our sacrifices or tithes or even our obedience if it’s forced and resentful. He wants all of those things, but with a willing heart. More than anything else, he wants our love. If he has that, the rest will follow.
Approaching God's Presence
Exodus 35:5-7 (5) Take from among you an offering to yhwh. Whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it, an offering of YHWH: gold, and silver, and bronze, (6) and blue, and purple, and scarlet, and bleached linen, and goats' hair, (7) and rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins...
You'll forgive me, I hope, if I engage in a bit more speculative theology. I'd like to focus on the three coverings of the Tabernacle. They were each made of a different material: goats hair, red rams skin, and some other skin of uncertain translation. Examining the uses of these materials throughout scripture yields an interesting, albeit tenuous, pattern.
Goats hair
Goats are used for sin and burnt offerings. Jacob and Rebecca used a goat to deceive Isaac into giving Esau's blessing to Jacob. When David's life was threatened by Saul, his wife (and Saul's daughter) Michal made a mock-up of his body, with a goat-hair pillow as his head, to deceive Saul's assassins. Alexander the Great was portrayed in Daniel's prophecy as a goat. Finally, goats were cooked as gifts for angels and for King Saul.
Red rams skins
The word for "red" in red ram skins is the same word as Adam. It is used to describe the first man, mankind as a whole, and a common man as opposed to a man of the aristocracy. It is the color of earthiness and mortality. The word for ram is elsewhere used for posts, the upright branches of a tree, the lintel of a doorway, a mighty man, and a great oak. The juxtaposition of one word that can refer to a "commoner" and another word that can refer to a "mighty man" is curious.
Badger skin?
Badger is an uncertain translation at best. It could be the skin of manatees or of some other animal. Some commentators believe it refers to a blue ram skin, as opposed to the red ram skin in the previous layer of the tabernacle covering. Whatever this material is, it was also used to make shoes, as the first covering on the Ark and the second covering on the Table, the incense altar, the various articles for the tabernacle, and the altar for burnt offerings. It's association with the feet implies something mean and humble, and it was probably the most weatherproof of the three layers.
The tenuous pattern that I see here is a dual progression of common to uncommon. From one perspective, looking from the outside in, you will pass through the meanest element, the badger skin. Although it was probably not from a badger, other guesses are usually also unclean animals such as the manatee. This material was used to make footwear, but not much else. The next layer is ram skin dyed red. Not shani (scarlet or crimson) used elsewhere in the Tabernacle, but adam, the same word used in Isaiah 31:8 and Psalm 49:2 to describe a commoner. Shani is paired, however, with ayil (ram), which more literally refers to strength. The ram skin almost seems like a compromise between peasant and ruler, a middle class so to speak. The third layer is woven goats hair, furthest removed of the three materials from its natural state. It is associated with misdirection, sin offerings (another form of misdirection in that they cover over a sinful state), and with gifts given to those of the highest rank. It was probably decorated in some way. As the three coverings move closer to God's presence in the Holy of Holies, they each seem to represent a higher rank or authority.
Considered from the opposite perspective, however, one sees not a descending order of glory or power, but yet another progression from common to rare. Goats hair, for example, was readily obtainable. One need not kill the animal to get its wool, but only to shave it. Next is the ram skin. Although the ram must be killed to obtain its skin, it was a fairly common animal. Easy to find, but not so easy to use. The third level, however, was difficult to gather in sufficient quantities to make such a large covering. Whatever its source, it was so uncommon that the word itself is now of uncertain meaning. Even so, this does not indicate a gain in glory as one moves further from God's presence. To the contrary, God did not so much dwell in the Tabernacle as use it as a focus. It allowed him to dwell among his people, but it seems absurd to believe that God could be so small as to confine his person to a tent. The Ark of the Covenant is a symbol of his throne and not the thing itself. God's actual throne, if it can be defined as an actual object, is in heaven and not on earth at all, so that the progression from goats skin to badger skin moves from common to rare materials as it approaches God's actual throne.
The progression inward toward the Holy of Holies might correlate with authority and position, while the progression outward toward God's true abode in heaven might correlate with more inherent qualities of character.
Please note that I am not prophesying. I am speculating. It is an interesting exercise, but whether there are deeper truths to be gained from it is only another speculation. Feel free to do with this what you will.
Set Apart and Carried Away
Some Torah portions are much harder to study and teach than others. I love everything about Genesis; it's stories lend themselves very well to theological concepts. Exodus and Leviticus with their detailed descriptions of the priestly duties, the tabernacle, and the various articles of worship are not so easy to parse. On one level, it is very simple: make this object in this manner and do this with it. There's nothing complicated about that. However, God threw a very large wrench into this simplistic understanding when he said to Ezekiel,
Huh? Israel is supposed to look at God's house, note the dimensions and materials...and be ashamed? How could the ins and outs of the Tabernacle or the Temple make the people ashamed of anything? It was built by people who lived long before Ezekiel and was used almost exclusively by the priests. What does any of it have to do with Joe the Shepherd or Tina the Chef?
If you've been reading my material for any length of time, then you'll know that I don't believe anything in the Torah has only one meaning. Very little, if anything, in this universe is single dimensional. It turns out that there are so many things to talk about in these seemingly dry, technical passages, that I have difficulty focusing on any one thing! In Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20–30:10) we can learn about the character of God, the role of the Messiah, our relationship with both of those, salvation from sin and judgment, the role of a father in his family, and much more. Let me give you just one example that shows how much God loves his people.
The High Priest wears a gold crown of sorts. Engraved across the front, resting on his forehead, are the words, "Set Apart to YHWH." This Torah portion tells us that this is because he takes onto himself the "iniquities of the holy things." What a contradiction! How can holy things be sinful? These things are holy because they are set apart from other things, not because they are perfect. The Hebrew word for holy is kadosh, and it literally means "set apart." The holy offerings of Israel are like you and me. In fact, they are you and me. We aren't perfect, and we never will be. There is no way in heaven or on earth that you and I can present ourselves to God perfectly unblemished. We need a High Priest who will take our meager, pathetic offerings and take responsibility for their faults onto himself.
Through the blood of Yeshua, our Messiah, shed by the thorns dug into his forehead, our inadequacies are lifted off our own heads and placed on his. Without God's grace to accept that shift, we would be without hope. We would be condemned as forever separated from our Creator, set apart forever, but away from him and not to him. In his mercy, he provided a way for us to approach him, to offer him our broken and scarred hearts as if they were a perfect and holy living sacrifice, completely acceptable in the highest court of Heaven.
What greater love could there be?
Ezekiel 43:10-11 You, son of man, give the children of Israel an account of this house, so that they may be shamed because of their evil-doing: and let them see the vision of it and its image. (11) And they will be shamed by what they have done; so give them the knowledge of the form of the house and its structure, and the ways out of it and into it, and all its laws and its rules, writing it down for them: so that they may keep all its laws and do them.
Huh? Israel is supposed to look at God's house, note the dimensions and materials...and be ashamed? How could the ins and outs of the Tabernacle or the Temple make the people ashamed of anything? It was built by people who lived long before Ezekiel and was used almost exclusively by the priests. What does any of it have to do with Joe the Shepherd or Tina the Chef?
If you've been reading my material for any length of time, then you'll know that I don't believe anything in the Torah has only one meaning. Very little, if anything, in this universe is single dimensional. It turns out that there are so many things to talk about in these seemingly dry, technical passages, that I have difficulty focusing on any one thing! In Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20–30:10) we can learn about the character of God, the role of the Messiah, our relationship with both of those, salvation from sin and judgment, the role of a father in his family, and much more. Let me give you just one example that shows how much God loves his people.
Exodus 28:36-38 And you shall make a plate of pure gold, and carve on it, like the engravings of a signet, HOLINESS TO YHWH. (37) And you shall put a ribbon on it, and it shall be on the miter; to the front of the miter it shall be. (38) And it shall be on Aaron's forehead, so that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which will sanctify the sons of Israel in all their holy gifts. And it shall always be on his forehead, so that they may be accepted before YHWH.
Through the blood of Yeshua, our Messiah, shed by the thorns dug into his forehead, our inadequacies are lifted off our own heads and placed on his. Without God's grace to accept that shift, we would be without hope. We would be condemned as forever separated from our Creator, set apart forever, but away from him and not to him. In his mercy, he provided a way for us to approach him, to offer him our broken and scarred hearts as if they were a perfect and holy living sacrifice, completely acceptable in the highest court of Heaven.
What greater love could there be?
Love?
Leviticus 19:18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
Leviticus 19:34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
Deuteronomy 10:19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 11:1 Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.
Deuteronomy 13:3 ...for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 30:16 ...I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
Joshua 22:5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Joshua 23:11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.
Nehemiah 1:5 ...O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments...
Psalms 31:23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
Psalms 97:10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.
Proverbs 17:9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
Matthew 5:44 ...Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
Matthew 19:19 ...Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mark 12:29-31 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: (30) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. (31) And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Romans 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Ephesians 4:2-3 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; (3) Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 5:1-2 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; (2) And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
1 Thessalonians 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
1 Thessalonians 4:9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
1 Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Titus 2:4 ...teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children...
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works...
Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well...
1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
1 Peter 2:17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
1 Peter 3:8-9 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: (9) Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
1 John 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. (8) He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1 John 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
2 John 1:5-6 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. (6) And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
Love. Love. Love. Love. Love.
We are commanded over and over again to love, but do we even know what love is? The scriptures are clear to an extent: To love God is to obey his commandments. To love others is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to heal the sick. We have heard these things so many times that they have become meaningless!
What does it really mean to feed the hungry? Do we all need to go volunteer at the local Rescue Mission? Should we haul a pot of soup under the nearest bridge? What? What if there aren't any destitute nearby? What if you don't know where to find them? Should we just give some money to the Salvation Army and let them handle it? Is it enough just to be kind to those closest to you?
What does it really mean to obey God's commands? Do I love God if I wear my tzitziyot religiously? Do I love him if I read the Torah and teach it to others? What!?
It truly bothers me that I am asking these questions. I feel that I should know without any hesitation what it means to love in every circumstance. I pray for the time when God's law will be fully written on my heart, but that day isn't now. There are many things that I don't understand, many instances in which I have not shown love or even knew what love would be.
I have written a book examining the manual on marital and familial love, and I intend to write a few more, but still my understanding of love has not approached what it ought to be. This will be the focus of my Torah studies from now on because if keeping Torah doesn't teach you to love, then you are not keeping Torah. "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees you will in no case enter the kingdom of heaven." The pharisees didn't love God; they loved their traditions. If you obey all the rules and say all the right things, yet don't have love, you don't have anything.
Leviticus 19:34 But the stranger that dwelleth with you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.
Deuteronomy 6:5 And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Deuteronomy 10:12 And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
Deuteronomy 10:19 Love ye therefore the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.
Deuteronomy 11:1 Therefore thou shalt love the LORD thy God, and keep his charge, and his statutes, and his judgments, and his commandments, alway.
Deuteronomy 13:3 ...for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Deuteronomy 30:16 ...I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
Joshua 22:5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law, which Moses the servant of the LORD charged you, to love the LORD your God, and to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and to cleave unto him, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Joshua 23:11 Take good heed therefore unto yourselves, that ye love the LORD your God.
Nehemiah 1:5 ...O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments...
Psalms 31:23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.
Psalms 97:10 Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.
Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.
Proverbs 17:9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
Matthew 5:44 ...Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
Matthew 19:19 ...Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Mark 12:29-31 And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: (30) And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. (31) And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
Mark 12:33 And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.
John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 15:9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.
John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Romans 12:10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
Romans 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Ephesians 4:2-3 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; (3) Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 5:1-2 Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children; (2) And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Ephesians 5:25 Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;
1 Thessalonians 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:
1 Thessalonians 4:9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
1 Timothy 6:11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Titus 2:4 ...teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children...
Hebrews 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works...
Hebrews 13:1 Let brotherly love continue.
James 2:8 If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well...
1 Peter 1:22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.
1 Peter 2:17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
1 Peter 3:8-9 Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: (9) Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.
1 John 3:11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
1 John 3:18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. (8) He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
1 John 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
2 John 1:5-6 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. (6) And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
Love. Love. Love. Love. Love.
We are commanded over and over again to love, but do we even know what love is? The scriptures are clear to an extent: To love God is to obey his commandments. To love others is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to heal the sick. We have heard these things so many times that they have become meaningless!
What does it really mean to feed the hungry? Do we all need to go volunteer at the local Rescue Mission? Should we haul a pot of soup under the nearest bridge? What? What if there aren't any destitute nearby? What if you don't know where to find them? Should we just give some money to the Salvation Army and let them handle it? Is it enough just to be kind to those closest to you?
What does it really mean to obey God's commands? Do I love God if I wear my tzitziyot religiously? Do I love him if I read the Torah and teach it to others? What!?
It truly bothers me that I am asking these questions. I feel that I should know without any hesitation what it means to love in every circumstance. I pray for the time when God's law will be fully written on my heart, but that day isn't now. There are many things that I don't understand, many instances in which I have not shown love or even knew what love would be.
I have written a book examining the manual on marital and familial love, and I intend to write a few more, but still my understanding of love has not approached what it ought to be. This will be the focus of my Torah studies from now on because if keeping Torah doesn't teach you to love, then you are not keeping Torah. "Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and pharisees you will in no case enter the kingdom of heaven." The pharisees didn't love God; they loved their traditions. If you obey all the rules and say all the right things, yet don't have love, you don't have anything.
The Authority of a Father over an Adult Daughter
Mishpatim lists a seemingly random set of commandments, but a closer look shows that they are not really so random. The common theme is property rights.
A word about the rights of fathers over their daughters...I once wrote that a father always has the right to veto his daughter's choice of husband. I am no longer so strongly convinced.
Matot (Numbers 30-32) says that a father may annul the vows of his unmarried daughter still living in his house. I have had occasion since then to learn something of the life of an unmarried daughter who is not still living in her father's house, and it seems to me that Matot should be taken literally on that point. If she left her father's house with his consent and has lived on her own for many years, then she should probably be accorded the status of a widow or divorcee, responsible for her own finances, decisions, and vows. A situation like that would have been extremely rare in ancient Hebrew culture, so there would have been no particular reason to include it.
| Exodus 21:1 | Introduction |
| Exodus 21:2-11 | Rights of a master over a slave. |
| Exodus 21:12-36 | Rights of a person over his own life and limb |
| Exodus 22:1-15 | Rights of the owner of livestock, crops, and other property |
| Exodus 22:16-17 | Rights of a father and future husband over a daughter and future bride |
| Exodus 22:18-23:19 | God's expectations of those to whom he has delegated authority |
| Exodus 23:20-23 | God's expectations of those under delegated authority |
| Exodus 23:24-33 | Rights of God over his property |
| Exodus 24:1-18 | Closing |
A word about the rights of fathers over their daughters...I once wrote that a father always has the right to veto his daughter's choice of husband. I am no longer so strongly convinced.
Matot (Numbers 30-32) says that a father may annul the vows of his unmarried daughter still living in his house. I have had occasion since then to learn something of the life of an unmarried daughter who is not still living in her father's house, and it seems to me that Matot should be taken literally on that point. If she left her father's house with his consent and has lived on her own for many years, then she should probably be accorded the status of a widow or divorcee, responsible for her own finances, decisions, and vows. A situation like that would have been extremely rare in ancient Hebrew culture, so there would have been no particular reason to include it.
The Designer Knows His Design
From Science Daily:
…A study shows that eating these animals can have side effects that call into question the wisdom of eating this ‘delicacy.’God’s rules for what animals you should eat and what you shouldn’t are not about health. Let me say that again: Eating kosher isn’t about health. It’s about obedience. However, having said that, eating kosher is almost certainly healthier than not.
Exodus 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that healeth thee.
Only God Understands It All
I've been listening to Rabbi Bruce Cohen of Congregation Beth El of Manhattan lately. Over the last few weeks he has delivered some humbling messages about some of the things in the world that we can't expect to understand. Tell the little girl pulled from the rubble in Haiti that God is just, that everything happens for a reason. Tell the innocent man on death row that God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked. Tell the few remaining survivors of Auschwitz that all Israel will be saved. There are hard truths somewhere in these things, but in this lifetime I might never know what they are.
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio..."
"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio..."
A Rod for the Backs of Fools
In the introduction to A Commentary on Marriage in the Bible, I wrote,
My stripes have been painfully earned, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I consider each one a mile marker on a one-way road. Each one brings me one step closer to the man God wants me to be.
I realize the irony of a divorced man writing a book on marriage. My only defense is that I was once much more a fool than I am today, and change did not come easily.That statement becomes more true every day. I can’t help but look back at myself with amazement. How did I bear myself? How did God bear me? Even as I know that I am less a fool today than yesterday, the reminder is humbling. Tomorrow I will be even less the fool, which means I am still a fool today.
My stripes have been painfully earned, but I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I consider each one a mile marker on a one-way road. Each one brings me one step closer to the man God wants me to be.
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