Saturday, December 13, 2003
Deut 16 Justice! Justice!
Deuteronomy 16:18-20 18 You shall appoint judges and officials throughout your tribes, in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, and they shall render just decisions for the people. 19 You must not distort justice you must not show partiality; and you must not accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of those who are in the right 20 Justice, and only justice,you shall pursue, so that you may live and occupy the land that the LORD your God is giving you.
Justice! justice! (Verse 20 begins: tsedeq, tsedeq). The cry for justice is embedded in this chapter between demands for the community to come together three times a year to celebrate the Passover and the feasts of weeks and booths and an equally strenuous demand not to plant sacred trees of stone pillars to worship. The feasts are for positive remembrance of God; the rejections of trees and pillars are negative denials of other gods. At the heart is the demand that we cling to the God whose essence is tsedeq. How do we honor this God? By appointing just judges who will not pervert justice for money.
War profiteering, unpunished corporate scandals, bribery of officials (whether under the table or through campaign contributions), the perversion of justice so that the poor who commit personal crimes of violence populate the death chambers of our prisons but the wealthy whose crimes are more refined though of far greater reach and impact go free -- these are the functional Asherah poles and Baal worship of our day.
Click "comments" to respond or add your thoughts.
Justice! justice! (Verse 20 begins: tsedeq, tsedeq). The cry for justice is embedded in this chapter between demands for the community to come together three times a year to celebrate the Passover and the feasts of weeks and booths and an equally strenuous demand not to plant sacred trees of stone pillars to worship. The feasts are for positive remembrance of God; the rejections of trees and pillars are negative denials of other gods. At the heart is the demand that we cling to the God whose essence is tsedeq. How do we honor this God? By appointing just judges who will not pervert justice for money.
War profiteering, unpunished corporate scandals, bribery of officials (whether under the table or through campaign contributions), the perversion of justice so that the poor who commit personal crimes of violence populate the death chambers of our prisons but the wealthy whose crimes are more refined though of far greater reach and impact go free -- these are the functional Asherah poles and Baal worship of our day.
Click "comments" to respond or add your thoughts.
Friday, December 12, 2003
Deut 15: the yeere of freedome
This law of remision of debts has got to be one of the most important teachings from Torah to Jesus, judging by how he had it on his lips at all times. It is equally remarkable for how this teaching has been neglected by the people of God, both Jewish and Christian.
Deuteronomy 15:1-2 Every seventh year you shall grant a remission [of debts.] 2 And this is the manner of the remission: every creditor shall remit the claim that is held against a neighbor, not exacting it of a neighbor who is a member of the community, because the LORD's remission has been proclaimed.
I like it that in the Geneva Bible the last phrase reads, "for the yeere of the Lords freedome is proclaimed."
Jesus inserts this teaching in the center of the prayer he taught his disciples: Luke 11:4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. (see also Matthew 6:12) And here he forces those of us who would say his prayer to assert that we are putting this law into effect!
That is not strange, when you think of it, because it was what he proclaimed that he had been annointed by the Holy Spirit to do:
Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
We have wanted to spiritualize the language of forgiveness and restrict the matter to that vague matter of forgiving people of sin. But those who knew him best actually put it into practice (they didn't know any better!)
In Acts, the two great forgivenesses (sins and debts) are tied together with the outpouring of the Spirit when
NRS Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
which resulted in the fulfillment of law of release of debts:
Acts 2:43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
When Deuteronomy 15:10 reads:
10 Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.
Jesus teaches:
Luke 6:30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.
NRS Matthew 5:42 Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.
There is more, but this is enough to convict us.
Right now it appears that the comments function isn't working, but I hope you will be able to respond or add your thoughts soon.
Deuteronomy 15:1-2 Every seventh year you shall grant a remission [of debts.] 2 And this is the manner of the remission: every creditor shall remit the claim that is held against a neighbor, not exacting it of a neighbor who is a member of the community, because the LORD's remission has been proclaimed.
I like it that in the Geneva Bible the last phrase reads, "for the yeere of the Lords freedome is proclaimed."
Jesus inserts this teaching in the center of the prayer he taught his disciples: Luke 11:4 And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us. (see also Matthew 6:12) And here he forces those of us who would say his prayer to assert that we are putting this law into effect!
That is not strange, when you think of it, because it was what he proclaimed that he had been annointed by the Holy Spirit to do:
Luke 4:18 "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free,19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
We have wanted to spiritualize the language of forgiveness and restrict the matter to that vague matter of forgiving people of sin. But those who knew him best actually put it into practice (they didn't know any better!)
In Acts, the two great forgivenesses (sins and debts) are tied together with the outpouring of the Spirit when
NRS Acts 2:38 Peter said to them, "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
which resulted in the fulfillment of law of release of debts:
Acts 2:43 Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles. 44 All who believed were together and had all things in common; 45 they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.
When Deuteronomy 15:10 reads:
10 Give liberally and be ungrudging when you do so, for on this account the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in all that you undertake.
Jesus teaches:
Luke 6:30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.
NRS Matthew 5:42 Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you.
There is more, but this is enough to convict us.
Right now it appears that the comments function isn't working, but I hope you will be able to respond or add your thoughts soon.
Thursday, December 11, 2003
Dt 14 Party time!
Here is a mind-boggling interpretation of the tithe. For any of us who have heard the tithe preached as a spiritual discipline like fasting, or for the more suspicious minded a law designed to enrich the powerful priesthood; or perverted as a way to bribe God into causing you to prosper, here is a presentation of the tithe that stands all of this on its head.
First of all, here God demands that the tithe be spent on a complete blow-out of a party. The lovely thing is that the party is to be held in the presence of the entire people, gathered at the sanctuary. So this is an enormous festival in which for several days we take a tenth of all we have, and have an enormous party. If you live too far from Jerusalem to bring your crops:
Deuteronomy 14:25 then you may turn it into money. With the money secure in hand, go to the place that the LORD your God will choose; 26 spend the money for whatever you wish -- oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your household rejoicing together.
Although I'm a Quaker and we have cautions against consumption of alcohol in our books of discipline, I'm particularly taken by the instruction that we should spend on money on whatever we wish: wine or strong drink. This God is not for prissy little pious saints who don't know how to work or how to play! But the point, in case you've missed it, is that God is asking, cajoling, demanding that we take a full ten per cent of our income and blow it on a party. Rejoice together!
Now, the next part is important, too, because God was serious about this being a community festival. And God is still the God whose defining mark of salvation is that he rescues his people from slavery. So, one third of our tithes are to be set aside for the Levites (the priests) and for the aliens, orphans and widows. That is, for the poor, and not only the poor, but the people who aren't full citizens and have no "rights". We haven't had a party until we've invited the aliens and the poor to our table as well.
This is reminiscent of a parable Jesus told -- a parable of gathering the poor from the highways and biways to come in to the banqueting table:
Luke 14;13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
It's funny how much fun God seems to be having, and how boring we've made religion.
Click "comments" to respond or add your thoughts.
First of all, here God demands that the tithe be spent on a complete blow-out of a party. The lovely thing is that the party is to be held in the presence of the entire people, gathered at the sanctuary. So this is an enormous festival in which for several days we take a tenth of all we have, and have an enormous party. If you live too far from Jerusalem to bring your crops:
Deuteronomy 14:25 then you may turn it into money. With the money secure in hand, go to the place that the LORD your God will choose; 26 spend the money for whatever you wish -- oxen, sheep, wine, strong drink, or whatever you desire. And you shall eat there in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your household rejoicing together.
Although I'm a Quaker and we have cautions against consumption of alcohol in our books of discipline, I'm particularly taken by the instruction that we should spend on money on whatever we wish: wine or strong drink. This God is not for prissy little pious saints who don't know how to work or how to play! But the point, in case you've missed it, is that God is asking, cajoling, demanding that we take a full ten per cent of our income and blow it on a party. Rejoice together!
Now, the next part is important, too, because God was serious about this being a community festival. And God is still the God whose defining mark of salvation is that he rescues his people from slavery. So, one third of our tithes are to be set aside for the Levites (the priests) and for the aliens, orphans and widows. That is, for the poor, and not only the poor, but the people who aren't full citizens and have no "rights". We haven't had a party until we've invited the aliens and the poor to our table as well.
This is reminiscent of a parable Jesus told -- a parable of gathering the poor from the highways and biways to come in to the banqueting table:
Luke 14;13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 And you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous."
It's funny how much fun God seems to be having, and how boring we've made religion.
Click "comments" to respond or add your thoughts.
Dt 11 - wealth the seducer
This is out of order, but for the record, I found this discussion about prosperity (Chapter 8) and the corresponding warning against the seduction of wealth (Chapter 11) helpful. In the midst of the Enron empire are evangelicals being seduced?
Deuteronomy 8:3 (3) He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.(1)
Here, the theme is the prosperity that Yahweh gives. What a relief after the commands of anniahilation and destruction of the previous chapter.
We are tempted to flee the experience of privation; but in this verse (a favorite of Jesus, Mt 4:4; Lk 4:4) we see that privation was the necessary teacher (verse 5) that "one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
This whole chapter is a description of the abundance of salvation (although salvation terminology isn't used). Then it closes with an extended warning that to forget that all this wealth comes as a gift of God (but rather to think that it is ours either by right or by the virtue and power of our own hands) is functional idolotry.
Deuteronomy 8:17 (17) Do not say to yourself, "My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth."
And, in the end, this is tied in with obedience to qol YHWH
the voice of God
Deuteronomy 11:14-20
he(1 )will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil; (15) and he(1 will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill. 16) Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and worshiping them, ... 18) You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem(1 )on your forehead. (19) Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. (20) Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
And what will seduce us into worshiping other gods? Here, the caution is the danger of wealth. This is what we are to teach our children and write on our doorposts The wealthy tend not to remember their dependence upon God. The wealthy tend to believe that it is their own strength or virtue that brought them into the comfort that they enjoy. How hard it is for the wealthy to enter into the kingdom of God!
Click "comments" to respond or add your thoughts.
Deuteronomy 8:3 (3) He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.(1)
Here, the theme is the prosperity that Yahweh gives. What a relief after the commands of anniahilation and destruction of the previous chapter.
We are tempted to flee the experience of privation; but in this verse (a favorite of Jesus, Mt 4:4; Lk 4:4) we see that privation was the necessary teacher (verse 5) that "one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord."
This whole chapter is a description of the abundance of salvation (although salvation terminology isn't used). Then it closes with an extended warning that to forget that all this wealth comes as a gift of God (but rather to think that it is ours either by right or by the virtue and power of our own hands) is functional idolotry.
Deuteronomy 8:17 (17) Do not say to yourself, "My power and the might of my own hand have gotten me this wealth."
And, in the end, this is tied in with obedience to qol YHWH
the voice of God
Deuteronomy 11:14-20
he(1 )will give the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the later rain, and you will gather in your grain, your wine, and your oil; (15) and he(1 will give grass in your fields for your livestock, and you will eat your fill. 16) Take care, or you will be seduced into turning away, serving other gods and worshiping them, ... 18) You shall put these words of mine in your heart and soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and fix them as an emblem(1 )on your forehead. (19) Teach them to your children, talking about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. (20) Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,
And what will seduce us into worshiping other gods? Here, the caution is the danger of wealth. This is what we are to teach our children and write on our doorposts The wealthy tend not to remember their dependence upon God. The wealthy tend to believe that it is their own strength or virtue that brought them into the comfort that they enjoy. How hard it is for the wealthy to enter into the kingdom of God!
Click "comments" to respond or add your thoughts.
Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Deut 13 continuing revelation
NRS Deuteronomy 13:1 If prophets or those who divine by dreams appear among you and promise you omens or portents, 2 and the omens or the portents declared by them take place, and they say, "Let us follow other gods" (whom you have not known) "and let us serve them," 3 you must not heed the words of those prophets or those who divine by dreams; for the LORD your God is testing you, to know whether you indeed love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul. 4 The LORD your God you shall follow, him alone you shall fear, his commandments you shall keep, his voice you shall obey, him you shall serve, and to him you shall hold fast.
Judaism and Christianity are nothing if they are not religions of "continuing revelation." The whole point is caught up in verse four: "his voice you shall obey." The qol YHWH - is the essence. It is that which is recorded in the commandments, in the teachings of Torah and later scripture, but it is the living voice of God which distinguishes the true God from idols (who cannot speak). And it is the living voice of God that distinguishes a living faith from the snares of legalism.
It is the prophets who have the unique and amazing call upon them to speak out the living word of God. But the third commandment warns us against misrepresenting the voice of God.
There are other tests about true prophets (see, for instance, Dt 18), but this here is the bottom line: the prophet must not lead you away from Yahweh.
Quakerism -- the faith of the Friends church -- is wholly involved in the idea that Jesus is the Living Lord and present Teacher of the faithful. This means that the gift of prophecy is the essential charism of the Friends church -- the ability to listen to God's continuing revelation.
This is what makes Quakerism, in my mind, the expression of Christianity that is, despite its quirkiness, the most authentic and important practice of Christian faith. For just this reason, it is of greater importance for Quakers to read and understand this chapter of Deuteronomy than for almost any other type of Chrsitan or Jew. We are not just a people "of the book." We are a people of the "voice."
And these verses warn us that it is possible for people to speak with apparent prophetic unction, even with the confirmation of "signs and wonders" (as in the King James version), and if that prophetic word would take us away from the worship of YHWH, then we must declare that prophet and that prophecy to be false. The text says:
Deuteronomy 13:5 But those prophets or those who divine by dreams shall be put to death for having spoken treason against the LORD your God -- who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery -- to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
What does that mean? In the New Covenant, the grace of God has done away with the death penalty, and we are under the commandment of forgiveness. But what this means is that we must purge ourselves from any revelation that would lead us away from the God who liberates his people from slavery. There are many "revelations" but not all of them proceed from the mouth of the true God who does justice on the earth, who is our creator and our redeemer.
Many of these false revelations will entice us. They will speak of prosperity. They will sound beautiful, and even kind. But we are warned, we must never allow even these lovely sounding revelations that are confirmed by signs and wonders to turn our hearts away from the One who is in fact our true liberation.
Click "comments" to respond or add your thoughts.
Judaism and Christianity are nothing if they are not religions of "continuing revelation." The whole point is caught up in verse four: "his voice you shall obey." The qol YHWH - is the essence. It is that which is recorded in the commandments, in the teachings of Torah and later scripture, but it is the living voice of God which distinguishes the true God from idols (who cannot speak). And it is the living voice of God that distinguishes a living faith from the snares of legalism.
It is the prophets who have the unique and amazing call upon them to speak out the living word of God. But the third commandment warns us against misrepresenting the voice of God.
There are other tests about true prophets (see, for instance, Dt 18), but this here is the bottom line: the prophet must not lead you away from Yahweh.
Quakerism -- the faith of the Friends church -- is wholly involved in the idea that Jesus is the Living Lord and present Teacher of the faithful. This means that the gift of prophecy is the essential charism of the Friends church -- the ability to listen to God's continuing revelation.
This is what makes Quakerism, in my mind, the expression of Christianity that is, despite its quirkiness, the most authentic and important practice of Christian faith. For just this reason, it is of greater importance for Quakers to read and understand this chapter of Deuteronomy than for almost any other type of Chrsitan or Jew. We are not just a people "of the book." We are a people of the "voice."
And these verses warn us that it is possible for people to speak with apparent prophetic unction, even with the confirmation of "signs and wonders" (as in the King James version), and if that prophetic word would take us away from the worship of YHWH, then we must declare that prophet and that prophecy to be false. The text says:
Deuteronomy 13:5 But those prophets or those who divine by dreams shall be put to death for having spoken treason against the LORD your God -- who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of slavery -- to turn you from the way in which the LORD your God commanded you to walk. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.
What does that mean? In the New Covenant, the grace of God has done away with the death penalty, and we are under the commandment of forgiveness. But what this means is that we must purge ourselves from any revelation that would lead us away from the God who liberates his people from slavery. There are many "revelations" but not all of them proceed from the mouth of the true God who does justice on the earth, who is our creator and our redeemer.
Many of these false revelations will entice us. They will speak of prosperity. They will sound beautiful, and even kind. But we are warned, we must never allow even these lovely sounding revelations that are confirmed by signs and wonders to turn our hearts away from the One who is in fact our true liberation.
Click "comments" to respond or add your thoughts.
