Walking Among the Dead

Yesterday, I got to see my mother for the first time in two months by making a visit to her home.  She and I have been very careful with our covid-19 isolation.  So, we decided to take the risk of a visit.  We spent the day going for car rides around the countryside, enjoying the gorgeous North Georgia spring day.

One of mother’s “jobs” is to keep nice-looking, fake floral arrangements on the family grave plot, across the old highway from my family’s home church.  Because the four she had ordered arrived, one of our stops was at the church cemetery.  We put the retiring arrangements in the trunk of her car.  See, there is a “pecking order”, of sorts.  Our immediate family gets the newest “freshest” (an incongruent descriptor....) floral creations, while the more old, tired, faded ones are handed down to the graves of more distant relatives.  Accordingly, we next visited the graveyard where other relatives are buried, appropriating two of the arrangements there.  And finally, we visited a third cemetery, where we graced the graves of mother’s great-great-grandfather and also the graves of family friends with the remaining two.

Part of the adventure was mother remembering (or not...) where so-and-so was buried.  “I think it’s beside that large tree.”  “Well, maybe it’s the next one.”  She did the directing, as I did the searching out and placement.  All looked more “inviting” - - really?! - - than they had before our visits.

When I was a child of 5 years old, my mother worked full-time as a school guidance counselor.  She worked outside the home all my years there.  The kindergarten in those days was a private option, for those who wanted to pay tuition.  Also, it was only half-day.  Mother dropped me off in the empty garage, where the classes were held, on her way to school in the mornings.  The only other child to arrive so early was Tony, who terrorized me on a regular basis.  (That’s another story.)

At the half-day mark, another mother would retrieve me and her children, depositing me at the home of my great-grandparents, who lived right beside their home church and even closer to its cemetery.  In those days, grandparents just fed their young grandchildren and, on sunny days, let them roam.  Where did I roam?  To the cemetery, of course!  Most of the names I did not know, but I sharpened my imagination looking at their tombstones, inventing stories about their lives.  Walking among the dead.

I thought of these memories yesterday as, once again, I roamed where I had a half-century ago.

You may not have spent much time in a graveyard, but we all walk among the dead.  Some of us are “the walking dead.”

The apostle Paul stated quite frankly in Ephesians 2:4 that, before Christians were met by the Holy Spirit and brought to spiritual life, we “were dead in our trespasses and sins”.  Christians who believe so strongly in predestination to the exclusion of free will claim it is impossible for something or someone dead to make a response or to make a choice for or against Christ.  I won’t plunge off that theological precipice here.  The point is, before we meet and accept Jesus Christ as Savior, the Bible rightly claims we are dead and totally incapable of gaining our own eternal life, achieving our own salvation, no matter how “good” we try to be.

This is a deadness so much more pernicious than physical death because, whereas physical death is a one-time happening, spiritual death leads to torment for all of eternity.  A story in the book of Luke (16:23-24) tells of the man who went to Hell and proclaimed “for I am in torment”.  He also begged for a drop of water to assuage his thirst.  Though not stated, an additional dimension of this torment will be for all who enter a one-way ticket to unending separation from God.  Hell is a place God will not be.  The worst experiences endured in this earthly life would not even begin to compare.

Which is it for you?  Are you one of “the walking dead”, or are you spiritually alive, yet walking among the dead as you live here day to day?  Whatever your answer, there is an urgency.  For the non-Christian, obviously, the urgency is to make a decision for Jesus Christ, before it is too late.  For the Christian, the urgency involves seeing those whose souls are perishing.  Both graveyards and the rest of this world are places of concealment.  The physically dead are concealed in tombs.  The spiritually dead appear to the eyes like everyone else, for the most part.  Satan is famous for deception....and complacency.  He works on both groups, to spiritually damn the former and to spiritually incapacitate the latter.

I pray God will open the eyes of those who are dead, blind or sleeping, while we still walk above ground, while (as the Bible describes) “it is still day...  For the night is coming, when no man can work.”  (John 9:4)

The Role of Judaism in a Christian's Bible Study

Leviticus fragment, from https://www.templealiyah.com/Torah_Scroll_Images

In a few days, here in the blog, I am going to embark on a study of the Book of Esther.  But, before we "go there", it will be instructive to first take a look at the role of what we Christians call the Old Testament through the eyes of both ancient and modern-day Jews.  (This study has been a real eye-opener for me, someone who did not previously know a "midrash" from a radish.)

When Christians are asked, "What is the Torah?", answers will generally range from blank stares to "it is some part of the Old Testament" to "the first five books of the Old Testament, the law of Moses".  Jews refer to the 22, 24 or 29 (depending on how they are divided up) books of the Old Testament as the Tanakh (law, prophets, wisdom writings).  TaNaKh is a Hebrew acronym:

Ta = Torah = Law

Na = Nevi’im = Prophets

Kh = Ketuvim = Writings

The first five books of the Tanakh (Old Testament) are referred to as the written Torah.
It is generally accepted the Moses wrote down the first five books (Genesis-Deuteronomy), based on what God revealed to him during the days he was on Mt. Sinai.

There is also something Jews refer to as "the oral Torah".  Back in the days of Jesus, the Sadducees were a Jewish sect that adhered strictly to the written Torah as the authority for Jewish practice.  The Pharisees, by contrast, revered both the written Torah and also the oral Torah.3  Accordingly, by the time of Jesus, there existed a significant body of oral law, which was used to interpret and translate into practice the written law.  When Jews use the term "Torah" today, they are generally referring to both, and they use both in their theological practice.

The question arises: "why would the Jews, who were so obsessive about their scribes copying the holy scriptures with no errors, depend on an oral transmission of their religion?"  One compelling reason this was done was to preserve the transmission of Judaism to only Jews, and to keep holy information from falling into the hands of other people groups for whom it was believed the information was "unauthorized".  A second reason was that the Jews interpret Exodus 24:12 to give permission for an oral tradition to be established.  Here's that verse (King James 2000 version).

And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give you tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that you may teach them.

The "and commandments" referred to in this verse has been interpreted to mean "oral commandments", i.e. the oral Torah.  Another name for this oral Torah is the Talmud.
A third reason is that the ancient synagogues were not only places for the transmission of theology; they were also where civil and legal disputes were settled among the Jewish people of the community.  Much of the civil law for those communities was codified in the Talmud.  And, in ancient times, the Talmud was transmitted orally, from rabbi to student.  A student could make notes of his understandings of these oral transmissions, but there was no codified written "oral law" in those days.

All of this changed with the destruction of the Second Temple.  Remember that the first Temple was built by King Solomon.  It was destroyed by the Babylonians, yet rebuilt within approximately 100 years.  This rebuilt temple was the Second Temple.  It was enhanced a few years before Jesus' birth by one of the Herods, and being called one of the "wonders of the world", was quite magnificent in its heyday, when Jesus lived on earth.  At that time, the Talmud was "alive and well", happily being passed along orally.

However, when the Second Temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., two huge problems arose with the oral tradition.  The first problem was that Jews were dispersed, which made passing along a trustworthy oral tradition challenging.  The second problem was that the practice of Judaism, as revealed in Torah, centered in large part around a physical Temple.  Accordingly, the leading rabbis of the second century A.D. published something today called the Mishnah, which is "an edited {written}record of the oral Torah"1, and includes the legal decisions of the Sanhedrin.
Today's Talmud, then, is comprised of the Mishnah and the Gemara, which comments on and interprets the Mishnah.
In dealing with the teachings of the Mishnah, the Gemara has multiple functions. It explains unclear words or phrasing. It also provides precedents or examples to assist in application of the law and offers alternative opinions from sages of the Mishnah and their contemporaries (known as Tannaim). Whereas the Mishnah barely cites biblical verses, the Gemara for nearly every law discussed introduces these connections between the biblical text and the practices and legal opinions of its time. It also extends and restricts applications of various laws, and even adds laws on issues left out of the Mishnah entirely (for example, the key observances of Hanukkah). Multiple opinions of sages are weighed against one another, often without presenting a conclusion. 2
A curious thing about the Mishnah, however, is that it's not what I'd call "uniform", "definitive" or "thou shalt".  This is because it presents differing opinions of rabbis on a variety of issues.  Hence, the old Jewish joke, "two Jews, three opinions", I guess.  But, the Mishnah's dialogues, arguments, persuasions, give us a picture of the context in which Jesus debated the sages at the Temple.

One final term you might run across is "midrash".  A midrash is both a conclusion and a commentary on the Talmud.  A midrash is a rabbinical commentary, sort of analogous to a New Testament Bible commentary.  It attempts to connect the words of the ancient texts to contemporary Jewish life.

Now, most conservative Christians are going to find these religious practices somewhat frightening.  In fact, some of my usual readers won't even finish reading this post.  As Christians there are several things pounded into us from our infancy in the Christian faith.
1.  The Old and New Testaments are divinely inspired and are free from error.   Accordingly, we can take this revealed word of God "to the bank".  "God said it, and I believe it and that settles it."
(I still believe and teach this, by the way.)
2.  "Much of the Old Testament was rendered irrelevant by the teachings of Jesus Christ, and should therefore be ignored."  Well, either the Old Testament is the Word of God, or it isn't.  I deem this position to be heretical, even though it is commonly held by many Christians. At least 33% of the New Testament is from the Old.4  Every book of the Old Testament is either quoted or alluded to in the New, except for the books of Nahum, Obadiah, Esther and Zephaniah.5  Consider Paul's admonition in Romans 15:4

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, 

that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures

might have hope.

Remember that the Old Testament scriptures, the Tanakh, were "the scriptures" referred to in the New Testament. Keep in mind, and this should go without saying, the New Testament had not yet been written, in Jesus' day!  I believe and teach that the gospel of Jesus Christ is concealed in the Old Testament and that the Old Testament is revealed in the New.

3.  All extraneous, "extra-biblical" ancient texts should be avoided as they were rejected and are therefore heretical.
Hmmm....well, in years past I never questioned this.  However, I began to look at the Old Testament deeply.  And, much of the time, I thought to myself, "Why do Christians avoid this teaching?" "I don't understand this."  Or, "What does this mean?"  The reason these questions arose was because of Jewish idioms and ancient practices, foreign to my current day, and just a general lack of understanding of ancient Jewish culture.  While I don't believe the Talmud, for example, rises to the level of the divinely inspired Word of God, I find that it can provide context and clues to understanding.

So, as we undertake a study of the book of Esther in the coming days, please keep all of this in mind.  I may make references to some of these terms.

Sources:

1    https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/mishnah/
2    https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/gemara-the-essence-of-the-talmud/
3    https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-Torah-Tanakh-Talmud-Midrash-Mishnah-and-other-similar-terms
4   http://www.biblecharts.org/newtestaament/percentageoftheoldtestamentfoundinthenewtestament.pdf
5    https://www.blueletterbible.org/study/pnt/pnt08.cfm

Enthroned Between the Cherubim

We are going to begin today's post with a brief look at the Ark of the Covenant.
As a reminder, the Ark (as I'll refer to it in this context) was established when the Israelites were at Mt. Sinai, shortly after God delivered them from Egypt.  On its lid, there were likenesses of two cherubim (Exodus 25:17-22), forming what came to be called the Kapporeth, or "Mercy Seat". 1

The Israelites carried the Ark around with them as they wandered for 40 years, brought it with them across the Jordan and kept it with them until the Philistines captured it in battle, during the judgeship of Samuel and the priestly ministry of Eli (1 Samuel 4).  It is implied in 1 Samuel 4:10-18 that the capture caused Eli to have a heart attack, fall backward out of his chair, break his neck and die.

The Ark brought death and destruction on the Philistines; as a result, they only kept it around 7 months.  They took it to a town called Kiriath-Jearim (or Baale-judah), where it remained for 20 years.   This town, in the area known as Gibeah, was about 9 miles north of Jerusalem.

Once King David moved his governmental seat from Hebron, where he reigned for 7 years, to Jerusalem, he wanted the Ark of the Covenant brought there too.  David says in 1 Chronicles 13:3 that, all during the reign of Saul, no one "inquired of the LORD"; that is, the Ark was not consulted, revered, etc.

This brings us to the central text of today's post: 1 Chronicles 13:5-14 (although the story is also recorded in 2 Samuel 6:1-11.)  Please read one or the other, as I am not going to reproduce the text here.

Saul is an object lesson for Psalm 106:15, which says:

And he gave them their request; but sent leanness into their soul.

(KJV2000)

The people of Israel had coveted their neighbors' kings, and had begged God (during the leadership of Samuel, the last judge) to give them one. Previous to this, they had been led by a succession of judges.  The catalyst to the people's request, a "hitch in the giddyup" you might say, occurred when neither of Samuel's sons was fit to succeed him, as they lacked the moral capacity to do so.
In 1 Samuel 8, God tells Samuel to warn the people that having a king was a very bad idea.  In obedience, Samuel delivered God's message quite strongly.  God told Samuel the people were not rejecting him and his family, or even the concept of leadership-by-judge, but rather that they were rejecting Him, as they had done for years.  Yet, God allowed them their king.

Saul, the first king of Israel, was a spoiled brat.  Tall and handsome, he had probably been excused and indulged, regardless of his bad behavior, his entire life to that point.  It only stands to reason he would continue to operate in a similar way as king.  In 1 Chronicles 10:13, we read that Saul was rejected by the Lord because of his unfaithfulness to him and his disobedience ("because he did not keep the LORD's word".) Instead of inquiring of the Lord, he even consulted a spiritualist, a medium, for guidance.  "Leanness" indeed.

Apostasy has consequences, many times unforeseen. 

At the time King David wanted to retrieve the Ark, it was under the care of Abinadab.  Now, there are at several schools of thought about this character.  (The name "Abinadab" occurs 12 times in the Old Testament.)
1.  Some allege he was a Levite. But, nowhere in the Hebrew Bible is he designated as such.2  Furthermore, David's comments after the Uzzah incident do not make sense if this is true.
2.  Others believe he was King David's older brother. 3  David did have an older brother by the same name, but it is unlikely he was the same person as the man whose house was entrusted with the Ark.
3.  Still others contend this was the same Abinadab as the son of King Saul. 4   However, there is nothing in the scriptures to verify this, as nowhere are sons of this particular Abinadab listed.  He was killed, along with his father Saul, in battle.  He may not have had sons at all.
4.  Finally, some believe this Abinadab was none of the above, but an obscure Gibeonite. 5 The Ark had been kept undisputedly in the area called Gibeah.  Gibeonites were not by-blood Israelites, but had made a crafty deal with Joshua many years earlier, deceiving him into not destroying that people (Joshua 9).  Accordingly, they became the bond-servants of the Israelites, and it was to them the Ark was entrusted when the Philistines rejected it. I believe this to be the most likely explanation.

The Abinadab at the center of this story had a son named Eleazer, the first son consecrated to care for the Ark, when it came to the house of Abinadab, from the Philistines.  However, the Ark was with this family, or "house", for 20 years.  At the time David sought to retrieve it, Eleazar was not mentioned.  He could have died.  Regardless, the two young men mentioned as guiding the cart with the Ark, as it progressed down the hill, were "of the house of Abinadab" and kinsmen of Eleazar.

So, the first problem in this story is that we see men who were not Levitical priests caring for the Ark.  This had gone on for many years.  God had long ago ordained the "sons of Kohath" (Numbers 4:14) to be the custodians and caretakers of this holy article.  But, because apostasy had crept in, it was no longer so.  Saul had scant regard for the Ark, and David had some ignorance about its care, at this point.

Coming down the hill, the cart tipped and, to keep the Ark from falling, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady it.  God immediately struck him dead.  God's action seems rash, until you consider He had been extremely forbearing, because the Ark had not been properly "handled" for many years.  It had been allowed to reside in the house of non-Israelites, first the Philistines and later the Gibeonites. Scripture records Uzzah's death made David angry, but that it also caused him to "fear" (have appropriate awe and reverence for) the Lord. 

In fact, he was so freaked out, he directed the Ark be carried to the house of Obed-edom.  (There is a similar controversy about exactly who this man was also, but I figure you've had enough of that sort of thing.  So, I'm not going to go into it, lol.)  During the brief 3 months the Ark remained with Obed-edom, the Lord blessed him and his house.  After 3 months, David had the Ark brought to Jerusalem - - this time doing it God's way, along with great pomp, circumstance and celebration. 

Lesson learned.

Note 1 Chronicles 15:2 - -

Then David said, “No one but the Levites may carry the ark of God, because the LORD has chosen them to carry the ark of the LORD and to minister before Him forever.”

(BSB)

And again the words of David, in  1 Chronicles 15:13 - - 

It was because you Levites were not with us the first time that the LORD our God burst forth in anger against us. For we did not consult Him about the proper order.”

(BSB)

What are the lessons we can learn from this story?  Why do you think God allowed its inclusion in two different books of the Bible?  Here are some that occur to me.  Feel free to add your own thoughts in the comments of this post.

1.  God is holy and expects His worshippers to respect His ways. Obedience, with reverence and awe.
2.  Satan has been tempting humans to question God's ways since he asked Eve in the Garden of Eden this question: "Did God really say that?"
3.  Our ways, are not God's ways, but our ways can seem oooohhhhh so appealing.
4.  There are always consequences when we ignore or conveniently make excuses to work around God's precepts.  They may not be immediately apparent, but consequences will eventually come.  And, sometimes consequences fall on those who were not the cause of the original apostasy.  David was the prime decision-maker in this story, although Uzzah ended up being the one whose life was taken.

Yes, God is Love (1 John 4:7) and Mercy.  But, he is also Light, and Holiness and Truth.  While His methods of dealing with people have varied over the centuries, His essential character has not changed.  He is changeless, immutable.  Our loving God is "the LORD who is enthroned between the cherubim"  (2 Samuel 6:2)

Sources:

1 http://www.agapebiblestudy.com/documents/The%20Ark%20of%20the%20Covenant.htm
2 https://globalchristiancenter.com/christian-living/lesser-known-bible-people/31309-the-house-of-abinadab-and-the-ark-of-god
3  https://www.bibleabookoftruth.com/KingDavidsFamily.pdf
4  https://www.biblegateway.com/resources/encyclopedia-of-the-bible/Abinadab
5  https://www.biblestudytools.com/encyclopedias/isbe/abinadab.html

From the Birds

4/2/20

House wrens are so called because they love to build their nests in eaves, porch overhangs and in other crevices of homes here in the South.  They are small, rather nondescript brown birds, with a long-ish beak.  Several live on our property.

Our house has a front porch, with a pot of ivy on a plant stand beside the front door.  The plant is very hardy; otherwise, I would have killed it by now.  Each year, a house wren burrows down into the planter to build a nest.  This year, she produced 4 eggs, pictured above.

The poor bird's nesting season has not been free from trouble.  All three of us quarantined "inmates" have enjoyed soaking up the sun on the front porch in the afternoons.  Although we have tried to be generous, we have frustrated mama bird, no doubt.  Yesterday, Hubs came inside saying she had "run him off".  When I asked how she did that, he replied that she "makes her presence known" and won't approach the nest while he is out there.

Remarkably, she has become a bit accustomed to us, allowing me to peer into the nest while she is roosting, as long as I don't get too close.  For days, I would go out and take a peek.  If she was on the nest, I would back away.  But, I got the photo one day while she was out. 
It seemed to take too long for the eggs to hatch.  I was worried we had disrupted the natural course of things so much that they would no longer be viable.  Then, there was the tornado warning the night of Easter Monday... I lamented, as Hubs re-arranged the patio furniture, that high winds might blow the planter off its perch and harm our little avian "family".  Hubs replied if that happened, we'd have much bigger problems than a nest of birds.

Still, I fretted.  Maybe they would hatch on Easter?  No.  The day after?  No.
Finally, on Tuesday after Easter, I peered in and saw four little birdie bodies, newly hatched.  Based on previous experience, in no time they will "fly the coop".

"His Eye is on the Sparrow"....

This well-known gospel song is a favorite of my cousin Robert's, who would often sing it in church when I was a child.  The song was inspired by Jesus' words in Matthew 10:29 and also 6:26.

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.

Matthew 10:29 (NKJV)

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

Matthew 6:26 (ESV)

I had already planned to blog on this topic today, because it is so relevant to the many anxieties we allow ourselves to stumble into during this Time of the 'Rona.
Then, this morning in my devotional reading, the text was Psalm 84.  Look at verses 3-4.
Isn't God good!

3Even the sparrow has found a home,

and the swallow a nest for herself,

where she places her young near Your altars,

O LORD of Hosts, my King and my God.

4How blessed are those who dwell in Your house;

they are ever praising You.

Psalm 84:3-4 (BSB)

"...she places her young near Your altars..." 
I know this is poetic language, but wow!
She does her best and then trusts God.  Oh, may I do that, concerning my "young"!

Not all birds "make it".  The Berry College Eagles lost both their eggs this season.1
Yet, no matter what, God is in control.  Trust His plan and His timing.
As many of us are "dwelling in our houses" during these 'Rona Days, may we also seek to dwell in His house, and to ever be praising Him!

Source:

1.   berry.edu/eaglecam

The Balaam Balak Backstory

I have resisted writing this post for 3 weeks.
Ever since the covid-19 quarantine began, I've been in a strange sort of paralysis, reverting to "survival mode".  It has been one of the oddest things I've ever walked through.

So, finally, Balaam?
What do you know about him?
The infamous donkey-beating incident, right?
That's the "Bible story" we hear in Sunday School: Balaam was not a nice man because he beat a donkey.  I was amazed at what I found, digging deeper.

The story takes place just before the Israelites had crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land.  On the "wilderness side" of the Jordan, God had just given them a huge military victory over Kings Og and Sihon, of the Amorites.  Word of these major wins spread to the land all the way to the Mediterranean coastline.  All peoples in the Levant became filled with dread and terror over the Israelites.  King Balak of Moab was one such king thus affected.

During this time period, the following territories east of the Jordan ran north to south, like pearls on a string:

• Amorites (Og and Sihon) - - present-day Syria
• Ammonites - not to be confused with the Amalekites (who were a Canaanite people west of the Jordan)
• Moabites - where Ruth was from
• Edomites - Esau's descendants
• Midianites - - present-day Sinai Peninsula

Balaam was a non-Israelite prophet who lived in the city of Pethor, in Mesopotamia, north and east of these aforementioned territories - - over by the Euphrates River.  (This was the general area the Wise Men of nativity fame were from.)  Balaam apparently had some fame as a prophet, because the king of Moab knew about him.  So, the king of Moab, Balak, sent a delegation with riches to entice Balaam to come to Moab and curse the Israelites.

Now, here's the curious thing:  Balaam knew who Yahweh was, and he HEARD from him!  So, Balaam was not a false prophet, as far as receiving actual, genuine prophecies from God was concerned.  God chose to reveal Himself to him.
But, he was a wicked prophet1 (and not just because he beat the donkey).

To make a long story short(er), Balaam received permission from God to go with Balak's representatives, but it was one of those "I'll give you what you want, but you will regret it" types of scenarios.  To express His displeasure, God sent an angel to block the road Balaam and the ambassadors were traveling on.  The donkey could see the angel and, quite rightly, stopped, refusing to go on.  Balaam could not see the angel, and so beat the donkey in frustration.  Here we see the odd "talking donkey" of the Bible, because God allowed the donkey spoke to Balaam in an effort to save her life.
Well, Balaam went on to Moab and tried three times to please the king by cursing Israel, but God only sent blessings to be pronounced by this wicked prophet.
The highly displeased king sent Balaam home empty-handed (no riches).  Before he left, he graced the Moabite king with four more prophecies about Israel, all of them favorable, and one of them "famous".  Did you know Balaam spoke these words?!  (I didn't.)

I see him, but not now;

I behold him, but not near.

A star will come forth from Jacob,

and a scepter will arise from Israel.

Numbers 24:17

This is a Messianic prophecy, a prophecy about the coming of Jesus Christ.  Wow, God truly can use any human, and He uses whom He wishes to accomplish His purposes and bring Himself glory! (I find it curious that, like the natal "Wise Men of the East", Balaam studied astronomy....hmmmm...)

So, you probably think Balaam went home after blessing Israel 7 times, and that was that, right?  I mean, that's what it says in Numbers 24:25!  When you move ahead into the next chapter, you find the Israelites committing idolatry by marrying Moabite women and polluting their households with the Moabite idols.  This led to the infamous Peor incident, which reached epic proportions of grossness in Numbers 25.

Ahhhh, but between chapters 24 and 25 key information is left out, information explaining how the Israelites got to that point.

Look at Numbers 31:8.  Here it is recorded that the Israelites killed Balaam with the sword.  The logical question is, "Whoa...wait a minute, WHAT?!"  The last time Balaam was mentioned chronologically in Numbers he had passed along prophecies of blessings, seven of them, on Israel.
What happened?!

To get the answer we must look at the Talmud, an ancient rabbinical book of history and theology, as well as two other key verses of Holy Scripture.  Let's start with the Scripture.

This is the Lord Jesus speaking, in the Spirit, via John, to the Church at Pergamum:

But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.

Revelation 2:14 (BSB)

They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

2 Peter 2:15 (BSB)

From these two verses,
it's reasonable to conclude that, perhaps when he was with Balak on Mt. Peor (Numbers 23:28), looking out over the "wasteland" (wilderness of Jeshimon), Balaam hatched an idea to infiltrate the Israelites from within.  Make no mistake, Balaam desired God to deliver through him a curse on the Israelites, because he wanted "the wages of wickedness" from Balak.  When God did not "come through", wicked Balaam at some point advised Balak to entice the Israelites to marry the Moabite women of the area.  Over a course of years, this occurred, leading up to the utterly vile idolatry associated with the false god (ba'al) of Peor.

Here's where the history books like the Talmud become helpful.  In Hebrew, the root of the word Peor is p'r, which means "opening".  It can either allude to the one that speaks words or the one that expels waste.  The Talmud recounts that Ba'al of Peor was a false, demonic god that required public defecation as an act of worship.  It is said that in front of a huge statue of the demon "god" on Mt. Peor was the equivalent of a huge "poop pit", to facilitate this particular form of worship.2
I ... kid you not.  Perhaps Balaam, from Mt. Peor, was looking out over a "wasteland" in more than one sense of the word....

Let's back up and look more closely at those three places Balak took Balaam, to have him curse Israel.  All three were mountain peaks, and all three were sites of pagan worship.  At each site, Balaam ordered an altar be built and sacrifices offered to the One, True God, Yahweh, the God of Israel.  Each time, a sacrifice offered, but surrounded by pagan altars.  God is a jealous God, which means He does not share His glory with false gods, nor does He like syncretism, the toleration/mixture of true and false religion.  (Our home Bible study is currently studying this phenomenon in our study of the book of Hosea, although it is rampant throughout the Bible, actually.)

Now, given what you have learned about Ba'al of Pe'or, does God's wrath toward the Israelites seem misplaced?  Or, does it appear entirely justified?  You decide, but I know what I think.  What a repulsive form of idolatry!  No wonder God's anger burned hot!

And, no wonder the Israelites later killed Balaam when given the chance.

During this coronavirus confinement I've seen our household lose money, lots of it.  And, I've been confronted with my responses to those financial blows.  They were not always godly ones.  Balaam lost everything because he was seduced by "the wages of wickedness".  Money meant more to him than it should have.  That is a sobering lesson to me.

That being said, I pray for those who are not just losing money, but that are losing their entire livelihoods as a result of this national crisis.  Not to mention those who are losing their very lives!  Story after story on the news, on Twitter, on Facebook here locally...  Please join me in praying for them too, because our idols can't get us through this.  There's only one, true God, who can.

Sources:

1  https://www.gotquestions.org/Balaam-in-the-Bible.html
2   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heresy_of_Peor

God, Be Merciful ...

Well, friends, the weirdness continues, does it not?
I've had this post on my heart for several days, but a prolonged backache has sort of incapacitated me to the point I have not felt much like doing anything except "keeping quarantine".
Regardless, this morning I felt well enough and that today finally was the time to bring it to you.

This prolonged period of relative solitude and its causal factors have been stressful, not gonna lie.  I thought I was managing it well until these physical ailments popped up.
I have been very burdened about many things.  In all of this, though, I've been searching my own heart about some things.  What does God want to teach me through this situation?  How can He use me for His glory, as most of the world fights this virus together?

God led me to Luke 18.  In this chapter two parables have really been speaking to me.
Please go read 18:1-14, and then come back.
WELCOME BACK, lol!

1.  The first story of Jesus, told in this chapter was told for the purpose of teaching us "always to pray and not lose heart" (18:1).
Now, what does that last part mean, (as the first admonition is obvious)?  To "lose heart" is variously translated as "give up" or "become discouraged".
Isn't that appropriate for us right now, when the temptation to be anxious, discouraged, and fearful is paramount?
Jesus went on to tell of a poor widow who was beseeching, begging a judge to favor her in a lawsuit.  Eventually, the judge found in her favor, exactly because she kept asking him to.
What is the lesson here?  That we, as believers in Jesus Christ, His followers, should pray earnestly to our God in all circumstances, but especially about the burdens He lays on our hearts.  And, there's no harm in praying for the same things over and over and over.
The apostle Paul echoed this in Philippians 4:6 (BSB).

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

2.  The second story of Jesus, told in this chapter was told for the purpose of teaching us to beware of self-righteousness and looking condescendingly on others.
The Pharisee was praying out loud (so others would hear about how "righteous" he was) and, worse, was telling God how righteous He was!
Now, to become a Christian, the first step is realizing exactly how UNrighteous you are, which is why you need Jesus to give you His righteousness, to become your Savior.  All true Christians recognize this and have confessed this and done this.  We realize that we are completely incapable of dealing with our own sin problem.  Well and good.  Jesus forgives us of ALL of our sins - - - past, present and future.  Hallelujah!  In the eyes of God, we are then declared righteous; this is sometimes called "positional righteousness" (thanks, Pastor George!).  The fancy theological term is "justified".
Here's the thing I've been convicted by, though.
SO many of us Christians (me included) go on to misappropriate that truth, and it gets in the way of our becoming more and more sanctified (another fancy theological term for "practical righteousness").
What does the gobbledegook of that last sentence mean?
It means that our initial justification/salvation is just the beginning of our walk with God, the rest of our life.  And, because all of our sins were forgiven at justification, we more or less tend to ignore confession in our daily walk.
"God, be merciful to me, a sinner" (18:13) applies to Christians, every day. 
Why? 
Because although all of our sins are forgiven as described above, we.still.sin.  In order to keep pride and condescension from setting up a stronghold in our life, we need to confess those sins before our Lord, at least daily.
The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I am convinced of this truth.  Ask yourself how much or how often you do this; that's what's been on my mind.
Remember 2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways...
Confession is a willful act of humbling yourself before God and admitting that daily you fall short of God's mark of holiness.  Further, true confession contains an element of repentance, which means "by the power of the Holy Spirit vowing to never do that sin again".  Repentance is the "turn from" mentioned in that verse.

Here's another good one:  1 John 1:9.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If you have read that one and filed it under the category of "justification" verses, you might just be a redneck!  Kidding.  You might just be guilty of what I've been talking about. That verse is NOT only for the non-Christian!  It is for Christians too!  When the verse says the Holy Spirit will purify us from all unrighteousness, it is referring to that ongoing work of sanctification and purification the Holy Spirit longs to do in our lives.  So, our first object for confession is directly to our Lord and Savior. One-on-one.  As often as needed.   ASAP after we sin.

Ok, other confession verses:
James 5:16 (NLT) and Proverbs 28:13 (NIV)

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results.

(James)

Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy.

(Proverbs)

Now, notice the order here.  This command is to confess your sins to one another before you pray.  He is talking to Christians, the Body of Christ.  If you are a Christian and you fellowship with other Christians, you know that this rarely happens.  The sin of pride gets in the way.  I call it the Christian Facebook Syndrome (CFS).  You know how, on Facebook, we put all the shiny posts out there?
So, BEFORE we pray for one another, or in order to get our prayers for each other right, we should confess to one another and then pray with our fellow believer over those shortcomings.
Whoa.  We all need to chew on that one for a while.

Finally, Psalm 51 and Psalm 32 - - they are very similar.  But, 51 was written after David sinned with Bathsheba and 32 focuses on the goodness of God to forgive sin.  We read in that psalm that lack of confession is bad for one's physical health! ("rots the bones" - - isn't that a pleasant thought!)

Aren't you glad for the ongoing mercy of God in your life?  I am!  I surely need it.  "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, yeah follow me, all the days of my life!"1  Ask for it!  Receive it! And, give Him the glory for it!

Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Jude 1:2

Source:

1    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hlpui7Mxrlo

What Now?

Image by jungoangwon, from Pixabay

A lot has changed in this world since my last blog post.  So many times, over the last few days, I've been hit with a feeling of disconnect and shock.  How did we get to this point?  What do we do now?  Certainly, we are living in a "new reality".

For a long time, troubled by the "way the nation is going", I've been praying for a nationwide revival.  I realize, though, that revival always starts with the Church of Jesus Christ.  So, revival starts with examining my own heart, confessing my own sins, yielding to the Holy Spirit in my darkest areas.  In my revival prayers I've said to the Lord that surely it would take something cataclysmic to get this nation to turn to the Lord Jesus.  Perhaps that cataclysmic event is here, and is now.

In our local church, we have made plans to move to Sofa Service on Sunday mornings.  That means our pastor and music team will conduct the church service from the pastor's study, and it will be broadcast via Facebook Live on the church's Facebook page.  In addition to that, our church is taking additional steps to reach out to our community in different ways, ways we would not ordinarily have "done church".  In that respect, the Holy Spirit is using this crisis as an opportunity to witness and to serve.

Currently, my husband and I are in self-quarantine due to our ages, although neither of us have underlying health conditions that would make us susceptible to the virus.  Our age category is a health risk in and of itself.  Since last Friday, we have severely limited our leaving the house.  But, we just found out that a friend of ours, who was here for several hours on Sunday, was tested for CV-19, at her doctor's insistence.  So, we are in total quarantine until the results of her test come back, hopefully in two days.

What now?

You know, in our nation's prison system, total isolation for prisoners is an extreme punishment.  I'm not fond of all these limitations on my movements, because anyone who knows me knows I love to "go to and fro".  Isolation can be very depressing to many people.  I'm glad I'm not totally alone in my isolation, and I'm also very glad to be living through this health crisis with telephones and social media.

I talked to a friend this morning, a true prayer warrior, who said that yesterday she called friends she had not spoken to in a long time, people she worked with years ago, to pray with and to encourage them through this time.  What a great idea!

Let my blog post today, if nothing else, encourage you to reach out to those you love, either as family or friends, and encourage them.

Some of you, particularly my mother I'm sure, are fixated on my earlier announcement that my husband and I may have been directly exposed to this COVID-19.  But, listen to me.  I am not afraid.

I am unafraid because I am His, and He is mine.  Nothing can change that.
Every day I live, whether in peril or not, I am in His hands.
And, if I come down with this virus and am hospitalized and even if I leave this earthly realm ...
I am His and He is mine.

When I went to Israel the first time I knew my family was concerned for my safety, going abroad.  I told my older son then: "If I don't return, you know where to find me."

Safe in the arms of Jesus.

Do you want this supernatural peace, this true peace that transcends all earthly circumstances?
You can have it too.  Jesus came, lived a perfect life, became Father's perfect sacrifice, died, was buried, and rose again on Easter, the day of the First Fruits, so that all of us can have peace, not just with our circumstances, but eternal peace with God, eternal life with Him, forever.

If you don't have this peace, and want it, I wrote about how to get it here:
https://resplendentdaughter.blogspot.com/2014/07/the-main-thing.html


For those readers who have this peace because you know Him, and because you are known by Him, don't let the enemy steal it, no matter what your circumstances.  Peace is His gift to His own beloved, to His followers, His true Church.  Don't let the enemy steal your gift.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Pray.  Read His word.  Encourage one another with His words.  Be at peace, my brothers and sisters!