The adventures of Misty

 Scrappy was a dog that lent himself to adventures that made blog worthy posts, Misty not so much.  Misty has a more subtle thing going on, harder to catch on camera, especially now with it just cold enough to make my camera battery shrink and my camera continually asking me to "Use a battery made for this camera".  But let me tell you some Misty stories.

Scrappy had one way to wake me up on the weekend:  flop into the crook of my arm, lay his head down on my face with one eye right on MY eye ("the Baby Eye"), and wait for me to move.  Misty? Well...

Sometimes she starts off by licking my hand, maybe rolling on her back a bit, standing up to shake.  That's the easy way.

She has at times pushed my head off my pillows and my blanket off my body.

Today, it was on her back, butt in my face, wiggling around.  Followed by jumping off the bed, and using her front paws to drag my leg out from the covers and off the bed.

So I sleepily get down on the floor to put my pants on.  Which gets interrupted by her rubbing me like a cat to get her back scratched.  This in turn causes head to go down, butt to go up, and a twisting motion which ends with her on her back wanting her belly scratched.  Followed by getting up and barking at me because I'm taking 'too long' to get my pants on.

Next comes getting ready for a morning walk.  Misty is very vocal (read: noisy) as I get shoes, etc, around, and when I hush her (which works about 35% of the time), she gets frustrated.  So she eats.  Gets a mouthful of food, grumbling as she does so.  Sometimes throwing in a stretch with a low "ROOOO" that sounds more like a Scrappy bay than her usual.  I've almost gotten her to the point that when I get her bungee leash, she'll sit quietly while I get it put on the both of us.  From that point to the door, though...

The walk itself is like specifically designed for a man of my age and health: straight ahead, no pauses, about two paces faster than I would like.  And where Scrappy would examine pee spots, bunny trails, dead bodies, discarded food, and any hole in the ground- the longer abandoned, the better- Misty stops for only one of those- pee spots.  Two examples:  One, she is the only dog I've ever seen that will pee in the front yard, go around back long enough to poop (or look for bunnies), and stop to smell her own pee spot on the way back.  Two, there is currently a dead mouse (or small mole) right in the middle of the trail to the soccer fields.  Scrappy would have sniffed it, perhaps even peed on it.  Misty has shot over it three times in two days without a backwards glance.

Speaking of the three walks in two days, the next poop she takes almost has to contain brain matter.  8 stops to dump in 24 hours is a record even by her standards.

As we took our walk today, I thought about Scrappy's love of exploring.  We used to go down every seeming trail in the brush, up and down embankments, always looking for something new.  Misty is very content with straight ahead.  And to be honest, as Scrappy's physical ability to do all that clambering around faded, so did mine.  This is not to say that Misty COULDN'T manage it.  Let me tell you a story from last night.

There is a tongue of woods that sticks out into the soccer fields.  Beside the rotten trunk of a fallen tree, there is a trail that cuts through that, which Scrappy and I often used from the north to get to the Duck Pond.  Me and Misty, not so much, and it is pretty overgrown.  You can't see it at all from the north side, and have to know what to look for from the south.  But Misty can find it, no problem.  In fact, last night we were coming from the south, and I was waiting to see if she would take it.  I saw a place that I thought was the entrance, and she walked right past.  "You missed your trail", I told her; she looked over her shoulder with a "You think so, huh?" look on her face.  Ten feet later, she turned down the right spot.

A few days ago, we found a couple more lacrosse balls on our walk.  You should have seen the pride she had the next morning, tossing one of them around while Laurie watched.

Speaking of mornings, I called in sick last Thursday.  Normal morning procedure is me leaving for work, then Laurie taking her outside for first pee.  That morning, I was on the couch bundled up after calling in, when Laurie asked if she needed to go and got up to grab her jacket.  You could see the gears turning in Misty's head as she stood there, looked at Laurie, looked at me, looked at Laurie, looked at me, decided, "Oh, Daddy's staying home", and jumped up on my lap.

I've also noticed that, if we take a longer walk (or say two of 'em, like yesterday) she burns herself out so much she gets "confused".  About an hour after our second walk yesterday, I got down on the floor to see if she wanted to play or cuddle.  She went to her toy box and got her favorite toy, came to me and played tug, I got it and threw it over by the door.  She looked at me, looked at it.  Went to the toy box, got her second favorite toy, stopped about halfway to me, dropped it.  Looked at me for a moment, then went and got toy #1.  Tugged for a bit, let me throw it again.  Went and got it, dropped it by toy #2, jumped up on the chair and looked at me.

Finally, shower procedure.  As I go up, she follows, barking and nipping, racing to the top of the stairs.  Bugs me as I get undressed.  When I head for the bathroom, she follows, barking, demanding to be chased.  Runs down the stairs full speed, then back up, into the bedroom, flying to a slamming halt on the bed, sailing back down, down the stairs, rinse, wring, do again.  Breaks into the bathroom when I shut the door, challenging me to chase some more.  How she hasn't broke a leg, I'll never understand.  My mattress, already weakened by Scrappy's struggles before he passed, now that, she's gotten a fairly sizeable hole broken in one side.  Mind you, we are talking about a bed on a high frame, that I stupidly bought a tall box spring for and now we both need to step up on a futon that used to be my sons to even get up on the thing.  And trust me, in three steps she can go from the top step, fly over the futon, spin in the air, and land back feet first on the mattress.

Now, you go ahead and try to get that on camera.  But be careful, I might be naked...

Wednesday Bible Study: People of the Epistles part I

 

Today I will be flying by the seat of my pants, because, I had a PLAN for the next wave of posts.  I don't think it was God's plan, though, and the morning I type this I said to myself, "You've been knocking your head against this for a week now, and what are you LEARNING?"  I learned so much from the Judges series by letting it teach me.  So now I'm going on a new tack, one I think God wants me to learn from.  The idea is not to re-preach the epistles (and I think that's where my idea wanted to head) but just go through and pull out the concept of WHO the writer was talking to, so we can see WHY he was saying what he did.  And we start in Romans.

Just by doing my flyover, I can see that you really need no other book than Romans, doctrinally.  So much wisdom and power in Paul's words, it's hard not to get lost in them.  So I'm putting a tether around my conceptual waist, so not to dive too deep and miss my point.  And that is, who were the Romans he was talking to?

Well, for one, they were believers, with a good reputation...

Rom 1:7  To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 1:8  First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.

And for another, they were not a church founded by Paul...

Rom 1:11  For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you--
Rom 1:12  that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine...

Rom 1:15  So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Now, my paper Bible mentions that who they were has been a matter of contention, noting that, "Tradition says the church was founded by Peter, but this is contradictory to the evidence."  And I agree, because the evidence is- from what Paul goes through in the letter- that they have heard the word and been baptized, but NOT fully instructed.  Some say they were among the people, in Jerusalem for Passover, that heard Peter's first sermon- and some may well be, but not all.  Because this was not written to a purely Jewish audience, however the first ten chapters make it seem....

Rom 11:13  Now I am speaking to you Gentiles...

 

But what the evidence does tell us, is that Paul is not convinced they have the bedrock down.  This is not an uncommon problem in those days...

Act 18:24  Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.
Act 18:25  He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
Act 18:26  He began to speak boldly in the synagogue, but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 

And this is the first big lesson:  That knowing the Word is good, but being grounded in a church TEACHING it is better.  What was it Peter said...

2Pe 1:5  For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge...

And he really starts with the basics- why this came from the Jews, and not the Gentiles, and why the Jews did nothing with it?  Thus, we know that a) it is a church starving for knowledge, and b) it is a church of mixed Gentiles and Jews.  And by the way Paul lays it out, we know another thing about it- that the Jews find themselves superior for their Jew-ness, and the Gentiles resent them for that.  And the driver of the problem is obvious because Paul spends from chapter 2 clear into 11 trying to convince the Jews to LET GO of their Jew-ness...

Rom 2:28  For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical.
Rom 2:29  But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. 

 

But only a bit of time convincing the Gentiles not to fret it...

Rom 11:12  Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!
Rom 11:13  Now I am speaking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry
Rom 11:14  in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them.
Rom 11:15  For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead?

Having established these points, he returns to teaching them unity...

Rom 12:1  I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Rom 12:2  Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

One thing that is curious; this is a church he cautions many times about being judgmental.  Not only about the people in the church, but the way they do things...

Rom 14:4  Who are you to pass judgment on the servant of another? It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
Rom 14:5  One person esteems one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own mind.
Rom 14:6  The one who observes the day, observes it in honor of the Lord. The one who eats, eats in honor of the Lord, since he gives thanks to God, while the one who abstains, abstains in honor of the Lord and gives thanks to God.
Rom 14:7  For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself.

I see a lot of this on Catholic social media posts, fighting about the proper way to sing, to hold your hands during prayer... "this is respectful, that isn't respectful..."  And this is the problem you get when you let others do your Bible reading for you- you miss what has been clearly taught in the Word, and fight about stupid things.  This is what Paul was trying to crack down on, and apparently one of the first we fail to pay attention to.  For every Catholic post about 'hands in worship', there are a dozen evangelical post busting on the historicity of Halloween and Christmas.  None of them take into account Romans 14.

So here is the next big lesson to learn from these Romans... let me put it to you as Solomon did...

Pro 4:5  Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.
Pro 4:6  Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.
Pro 4:7  The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight.

The Better Part, week #44

 

Two weeks worth of FB posts:

The Better Part, Day #215:

 

Gen 6:14 Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. 

 

The neat thing about the Bible, you can always learn something new! The word used literally for "pitch" is also used figuratively for atonement. So just as the Ark was protected inside and out with pitch, Jesus's sacrifice- which the ark was a "type" of (think "foreshadowing")- atones for our sin- inside AND out.

 

 

The Better Part, Day #216:

 

If you doubt prayer works, then try asking God to take away the no-reason anger you had all day, and watch Satan interrupt by stuffing fabric in the gears of your machine... no reason to interrupt if no one was listening!

 

 

The Better Part, day # 217:

 

Reading my science today e-mail, I realized scientists- though they may be oblivious to the fact- have discovered yet another "goldilocks zone" that proves that God designed this one world, this earth, specifically for life. The study is trying to decipher what kinds of rocks are on other planets by analyzing the debris that fell into the atmospheres of white dwarf stars after their evolutionary expansion. Skipping the mechanics, here's a piece of what they found:

 

"While some exoplanets that once orbited polluted white dwarfs appear similar to Earth, most have rock types that are exotic to our Solar System," said Xu. "They have no direct counterparts in the Solar System."

 

"Putirka describes what these new rock types might mean for the rocky worlds they belong to. "Some of the rock types that we see from the white dwarf data would dissolve more water than rocks on Earth and might impact how oceans are developed," he explained. "Some rock types might melt at much lower temperatures and produce thicker crust than Earth rocks, and some rock types might be weaker, which might facilitate the development of plate tectonics." "

 

Our world could never have been as right for life as it is, without God being the hand that crafted it.

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #218:

 

 

In studying for my last post on Judges, I saw that the last story features 3 distinct cycles, each one beginning with "listening to someone/thing I shouldn't have". Applying to myself, I see them very clear. The first involved listening to someone out for pleasure and heedless of consequences. The second involved a lie used to get a reaction that wouldn't have necessarily come up otherwise. And the final one was using man's wisdom instead of God's to get out of an impossible situation. Do they sound familiar to you, too?

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #219:

 

 

I don't know how to explain the actual mechanics of what happened, but today The Lord showed me that He is willing to explain things to the extent we can understand, if we are willing to listen to the extent we can understand.

 

 

The Better part, Day #220:

 

 

Today David Jeremiah quoted from another pastor's message, about how waiting for heaven is like being on a camping trip, that by the fourth day, you're just ready to go home. And closed his message by noting that it's okay if we struggle a bit here on earth- "because, we're still camping."

 

 

 

The Better Part, Day #221:

 

Joh 2:6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.

Joh 2:7 Jesus said to the servants, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim.

Joh 2:8 And he said to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast." So they took it. 

 

 

Tony Evans on Focus on the Family, said, "They had to do according to their faith- they had to bring the water- before Christ could make the wine. Before He brings the miracle to your life, He asks you to do according to your faith..."

Veteran's Day 2021

 

It was 11:11 AM on November 11th, 1918.  Politicians began to congratulate themselves for a job well done, and make plans on how to divide up the world.  Almost in a dream world, an American President began the program of creating an organization that would prove that any of them learned something.

In a German military hospital, a mustard-gas blinded corporal of the Bavarian Army cursed the fates and blamed the Jews.

And the blood of 500,000 men in a patch of mud once known as Paschendale began to nourish grass and poppies.

As we "celebrate" Veteran's Day, and we salute those who have died, both in "The War To End All Wars" and every war since, the one thing that plays through my mind is that there are two things common to every war that are necessary ingredients for any war.

One is the ability to hate.  Not for reason, at least good reason.  Just because "we're over here", and "you're over there."

And the other is politicians who have spent 99.9999% of their lives behind a desk and 0.0001% in a trench in Belgium. Or in a MASH unit in Korea. Or in a psych ward back at base.

The war that spawned Armistice Day is a favorite reading spot of mine.  And every new book I read on it, I find myself shaking my head at new stupidities, caused by petty men who thought they moved the world with a wave of their hands.  And it makes me think of ALL the ways God gave them to prevent that war, to prevent the 20 million deaths, much less the 3 1/2 times that in the next war- and the sheer blindness to reason it took them all, from the British Prime Minister to the gunman in Sarajevo, from the dead Austrian Archduke to the murdered Russian mystic, to avoid those chances and let it happen.

So as I salute all vets everywhere for doing a job I couldn't begin to, my prayers, ironically, align with that naive American President- That there might be a lessening of hate, and a lessening of blind politicians.  I pray for men who will fight for it, that will cast aside my skepticism and try to lead the world a better way.

Wednesday Bible Study: Picking through Judges Part 12

 

Before we kick off the last post on Judges- "The Case of the Cut-Up Concubine"- I happened to hit this in my reading of Proverbs today:

Pro 6:16  There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him:
Pro 6:17  haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,
Pro 6:18  a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil,
Pro 6:19  a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.

And we're going to watch Israel hit all seven in this story, both personally and as a nation.  But I'm going to tell this story around three cycles, since as any pastor will tell you, this is a book of cycles.  Two of those cycles will be the same wrong way to do things; in between is the progression that they (and we) go through to actually seek God.  Here we go!

Step one: Listen to the wrong voice, AKA the lying tongue

Our story starts with yet another wayward Levite, wandering in the remote hills of Ephraim.  This guy had his concubine "play the harlot" and run off on him.  I doubt the story is as simple as that because of two things.  First, she ends up at her father's house.  If she was simply cheating on him, why would she not be found with her lover?  I'm thinking maybe she had a one-nighter, and went to daddy in fear of her hubby.  To back this up is the second point:

Jdg 19:2  And his concubine was unfaithful to him, and she went away from him to her father's house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there some four months.
Jdg 19:3  Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back...

 

Four months later- really?  I suppose it could have took him that long to find her; I think, given what happens later, it took that long for him to give a crap.  And taking that long, I wonder how much was missing her and how much was 'getting a possession back'.  This, though, is all speculation on my part.  But, moving on...

So he gets to Dad's house, and Dad is nothing if not a good host.  So after what I assume was a customary three day visit, he went to load up his girl, his servant, and his donkey, and head on back to Ephraim (heading for the hills?).  But Dad talked him into one more day of eating and drinking, and he stayed. And again the next day!  But this time, he got enough drink in him to be stubborn, and refused to stay the night.  So once again they loaded up, and despite the protests of both dear ol' Dad and his servant, off they went.  Had he not listened, he might have made it into more familiar territory.  But instead, the day got late, and refusing the safety of the big city of Jebus (later Jerusalem), because it was full of Jebusites, they pushed on to Gibeah, a city of Benjamin.  They set up in the town square, waiting for the customary invite into someone's house- but this wasn't a normal city, and the invite didn't come for some time.  Finally an old man, himself new to the city, saw him and invited him in, nervous about allowing a stranger to sleep in the open.  This should all sound eerily familiar...

Gen 19:1  The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth
Gen 19:2  and said, "My lords, please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way." They said, "No; we will spend the night in the town square."
Gen 19:3  But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

The story is telling the same way as the destruction of Sodom, and for the same reason.  The men of Gibeah- not all of them, but according to Judges 19:22, WORTHLESS men- were following the sin of Sodom- homosexual rape- and this time, there were no angels about to blind them.  This is how we get to step two...

Step Two- Bloodshed (basically unnecessary) AKA the shedding of innocent blood

 And they said to the old man, the master of the house, "Bring out the man who came into your house, that we may know him."
Jdg 19:23  And the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, "No, my brothers, do not act so wickedly; since this man has come into my house, do not do this vile thing.
Jdg 19:24  Behold, here are my virgin daughter and his concubine. Let me bring them out now. Violate them and do with them what seems good to you, but against this man do not do this outrageous thing."
Jdg 19:25  But the men would not listen to him. So the man seized his concubine and made her go out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until the morning. And as the dawn began to break, they let her go.
Jdg 19:26  And as morning appeared, the woman came and fell down at the door of the man's house where her master was, until it was light.

Remember Lot offering that?  And what would happen to Sodom?  Then you know where the story is headed.  The whole thing about this story, though, is the callousness of "our hero":

Jdg 19:27  And her master rose up in the morning, and when he opened the doors of the house and went out to go on his way, behold, there was his concubine lying at the door of the house, with her hands on the threshold.
Jdg 19:28  He said to her, "Get up, let us be going." But there was no answer. Then he put her on the donkey, and the man rose up and went away to his home.
Jdg 19:29  And when he entered his house, he took a knife, and taking hold of his concubine he divided her, limb by limb, into twelve pieces, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel.

Imagine the shape her body was in after a night of getting raped, and all he can say is, "Get up"?  So he loads her up (like a broken possession), takes her home, and turns her into a once-living message.  This has the required result- all of Israel (with the exception of Benjamin, who was feeling pushed around) gathered to find out the meaning of this.  Which brings us to step three...

Step Three:  Working dishonestly to fix the problem, AKA the false witness

Note how the Levite tells the story:

Jdg 20:2  And the chiefs of all the people, of all the tribes of Israel, presented themselves in the assembly of the people of God, 400,000 men on foot that drew the sword.
Jdg 20:3  (Now the people of Benjamin heard that the people of Israel had gone up to Mizpah.) And the people of Israel said, "Tell us, how did this evil happen?"
Jdg 20:4  And the Levite, the husband of the woman who was murdered, answered and said, "I came to Gibeah that belongs to Benjamin, I and my concubine, to spend the night.
Jdg 20:5  And the leaders of Gibeah rose against me and surrounded the house against me by night. They meant to kill me, and they violated my concubine, and she is dead.

"The LEADERS of Gibeah", instead of "certain worthless men".  And "Meant to Kill me" rather than the disgusting truth.  And, "violated my concubine", leaving out the part about throwing her out the door in self-preservation.  

Now the cycle starts over, but for all Israel rather than one lying Levite.  Step one, they listened to the lying Levite.  Step two, the bloodshed starts- and eventually they wipe out the entire tribe, save 600 men who hid out when the battle was lost.  But in between we get a three part lesson on how and how not to come to the Lord.

Jdg 20:8  And all the people arose as one man, saying, "None of us will go to his tent, and none of us will return to his house.
Jdg 20:9  But now this is what we will do to Gibeah: we will go up against it by lot,
Jdg 20:10  and we will take ten men of a hundred throughout all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred of a thousand, and a thousand of ten thousand, to bring provisions for the people, that when they come they may repay Gibeah of Benjamin, for all the outrage that they have committed in Israel."

So they made their plan first...

Jdg 20:18  The people of Israel arose and went up to Bethel and inquired of God, "Who shall go up first for us to fight against the people of Benjamin?" And the LORD said, "Judah shall go up first."

And THEN went to God for his approval.  As a result, they got their butts whupped, losing 22,000 men.  But that didn't dissuade them of their plan, however, they did put "a sprinkling of God" on it this time...

Jdg 20:22  But the people, the men of Israel, took courage, and again formed the battle line in the same place where they had formed it on the first day.
Jdg 20:23  And the people of Israel went up and wept before the LORD until the evening. And they inquired of the LORD, "Shall we again draw near to fight against our brothers, the people of Benjamin?" And the LORD said, "Go up against them."

And why did God tell them to go up again?  Because the first time didn't teach them a thing- they were still waiting on God to rubber-stamp their plan.  And, they got their butts kicked, losing another 18,000.

At this point they caught on- they had to humble themselves and let God make the plan.  You see, God wasn't against the attack on Benjamin- they had become shameful.  But it had to be done in HIS power:

Jdg 20:26  Then all the people of Israel, the whole army, went up and came to Bethel and wept. They sat there before the LORD and fasted that day until evening, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.
Jdg 20:27  And the people of Israel inquired of the LORD (for the ark of the covenant of God was there in those days,
Jdg 20:28  and Phinehas the son of Eleazar, son of Aaron, ministered before it in those days), saying, "Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?" And the LORD said, "Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand."

And so they did, routing the army of Benjamin.  But they did too much, went a little too far in the bloodshed...

Jdg 20:48  And the men of Israel turned back against the people of Benjamin and struck them with the edge of the sword, the city, men and beasts and all that they found. And all the towns that they found they set on fire. 

 

And when they got over the bloodlust, they found that ALL that was left of the tribe of Benjamin were the 600 men that hid out.  Now they had a problem...

Jdg 21:3  And they said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?"

So they decided they would have to rebuild Benjamin from those 600 men.  One big problem with that...

Jdg 21:1  Now the men of Israel had sworn at Mizpah, "No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin."

No wives, no new Benjaminites.  Now they did weep before the Lord- but nowhere does it say they asked HIM for a solution.  So they did the next best thing...

Jdg 21:5  And the people of Israel said, "Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the LORD?" For they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah, saying, "He shall surely be put to death..."
Jdg 21:8  And they said, "What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the LORD to Mizpah?" And behold, no one had come to the camp from Jabesh-gilead, to the assembly.

So, here, I now realize, as we end the second cycle of stupidity, we start a third.  Instead of asking God, someone comes up with this bright idea.  Then comes the bloodshed- they kill everyone in Jabesh-gilead except the virgin girls, and give them to the 600!  Problem solved, except... they come up 200 wives short.  So we have to come up with the dishonest way to solve the problem...

Jdg 21:19  So they said, "Behold, there is the yearly feast of the LORD at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of the highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah."
Jdg 21:20  And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, "Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards
Jdg 21:21  and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to dance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin.
Jdg 21:22  And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, 'Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.'"

"So just grab girls from the annual party at Shiloh.  This way, you get your wives, we don't break our vows, and everyone's happy."  Except for one...

Jdg 21:25  In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. 

 

And remember, that meant by implication that there was no GOD in Israel, for all practical purposes.

Two final points on this before we close the book on Judges.  First off, an ironic twist on the story in the future.  Near the beginning of Saul being King in Israel, the rebuilt Jabesh-gilead- the same place they just wiped out to get the first 400 wives- was attacked by the Ammonites, and Saul- a Benjaminite, from Gibeah, no less- did this:

1Sa 11:6  And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled.
1Sa 11:7  He took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, "Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!" Then the dread of the LORD fell upon the people, and they came out as one man.

Wow, the same story in reverse- perhaps God's way of reversing this cursed episode.  The other point to ponder is God's love.  We just saw Israel, personally and as a nation, doing things He considered an abomination.  By all rights, God would have been just to serve the whole nation as they did Benjamin.  Instead, He gave them Samuel, to bring them back to Himself.  What a merciful God!

And this week, Pictures

 Knowing I don't have a good build up of Better Part posts this week, I will instead put up a couple of Autumn walks from this week.

#1 unusual sight on the first walk.  It goes with the "long pipe" pics I posted a couple weeks ago.  They are "Lining the drainage pipes with a hot chemical".

Unusual sight #2.  As of Saturday, two of the four are now sitting in the creek below.

At this point, I don't even see the second deer.  The first one sees us, steps out to get a closer look, and returns to munching.

"So much for Wednesday night.  How about Saturday?"

Past time for a "Big Guy" picture...

Wednesday Bible Study: Picking through Judges, part 11

 

So our last four chapters of Judges might be named in the style of Earle Stanley Gardiner, "The Case of the Purloined Priest", and "The Case of the Cut-Up Concubine", but God has a better title for it, one that He sprinkles throughout the story:

"In those days, when there was no king in Israel..."

This makes us think of several key points.  First, if God was supposed to be their King, then they really didn't have God with them.  Second, this 4 chapter run is actually a lead into First Samuel- a lead in that explains how they got to a point that a man as corrupt and lazy as Eli would end up High Priest.  And third, that from the death of Samson to the calling of Samuel, God was refusing to speak to them- or, for the most part, hear them.  Instead of doing my usual, "Let's track down and see how long a period that was," let's get right to the first story and see what happens when you do God man's way (in other words, a definition of "religion").

We start out in chapter 17 being plunked right into the middle of an already sordid story:

 

 Jdg 17:1  There was a man of the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Micah.
Jdg 17:2  And he said to his mother, "The 1,100 pieces of silver that were taken from you, about which you uttered a curse, and also spoke it in my ears, behold, the silver is with me; I took it." And his mother said, "Blessed be my son by the LORD."
Jdg 17:3  And he restored the 1,100 pieces of silver to his mother. And his mother said, "I dedicate the silver to the LORD from my hand for my son, to make a carved image and a metal image. Now therefore I will restore it to you."
Jdg 17:4  So when he restored the money to his mother, his mother took 200 pieces of silver and gave it to the silversmith, who made it into a carved image and a metal image. And it was in the house of Micah.
Jdg 17:5  And the man Micah had a shrine, and he made an ephod and household gods, and ordained one of his sons, who became his priest.

Confused?  Let's break it down.  Micah stole the shekels from dear old Mom, who put a curse on "whoever did it" in Micah's hearing.  Because of the curse, he repented and brought it back.  So not only did Mom forgive him, but put the money back into his hands, excepting 200 shekels which she had made into idols, and basically told him to be the master of the family faith.  That this was far from right in God's eyes we can deduce from the fact that the first of the "no king in Israel" statements came directly after these verses.  So what did God find wrong?

-How about Mom knowing he was a thief, and letting him direct her faith anyway?  Put anyone in mind of the old days of giving money to Jim and Tammy Faye?

-How about going against the Second Commandment and making an idol, even if it was supposed to be a focus of worship for God?  We have already seen- and will see yet again- that any time people were presented with an "object" to focus faith on, they fell into idolatry; the object got between them and the God they were supposed to be worshiping.  The Bronze Serpent of Moses, the Ephod of Gideon... or, a more modern example, believing that you should go to Mary or the Saints before and between you and Jesus.

- How about naming your son a priest?  This is worship contained in one family, and bound to go wrong.

But wait, it gets worse.  Because here comes a Levite, wandering around, looking for a place to serve, because that's what Levites were supposed to do.  And this wasn't just any Levite, but (as we find out later) was a direct descendant of Moses through his son Gershom.  However, he was nothing like his ancestor- probably why we don't learn this until the end of the story.  So this Levite arrives from Bethlehem, looking for work, and Micah obliges...

Jdg 17:10  And Micah said to him, "Stay with me, and be to me a father and a priest, and I will give you ten pieces of silver a year and a suit of clothes and your living." And the Levite went in.
Jdg 17:11  And the Levite was content to dwell with the man, and the young man became to him like one of his sons.
Jdg 17:12  And Micah ordained the Levite, and the young man became his priest, and was in the house of Micah.
Jdg 17:13  Then Micah said, "Now I know that the LORD will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest."

 

Obviously, Micah's "home priesthood" wasn't working out so well, because he actually paid this guy (whose name, we find at the end, was Jonathan) to take up the job and figured that since he now was a "little closer" to doing things God's way, God would benefit him.  Jonathan, who we'll see was more interested in creature comforts than God,  was "content" to go along with it.  We soon find out that, first, "sprinkling a little God" on the situation doesn't equal acceptability by God, and second, there is a difference between "contentment" and "gladness", and in a day where man wasn't loyal to God, he wouldn't be loyal to man, either.

So next into our tale comes a band of Danites.  If you remember, Dan had struggled doing the clearing of Canaan the Lord's way...

Jdg 1:34  The Amorites pressed the people of Dan back into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the plain.

So they sent out 5 "men of valor", relatively speaking, to find them some easy pickings.  These five happened upon the house church of Micah, and noted that he had a Levite...

Jdg 18:3  When they were by the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young Levite. And they turned aside and said to him, "Who brought you here? What are you doing in this place? What is your business here?"
Jdg 18:4  And he said to them, "This is how Micah dealt with me: he has hired me, and I have become his priest."
Jdg 18:5  And they said to him, "Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether the journey on which we are setting out will succeed."
Jdg 18:6  And the priest said to them, "Go in peace. The journey on which you go is under the eye of the LORD."

Considering the circumstances, it is notable that the "journey is under the eye of the Lord", though not exactly with His approval.  Was it God's will the Levite was directing idol worship with graven images? For a time, it might seem like God is blessing us in doing what we want, just because it seems to be going smoothly- but that don't make it God's WILL.  But thus it was, they found nearby a peaceful village of Sidonian merchants, neither warlike nor under the protection of a warlord- and they said, "perfect", since they were all about doing things the easy way.  Was it God's way?  NO, they were told to drive out the Amorites, but they didn't have enough faith in God to do so!  The 5 went back to tell their people- 600 armed men and their kinfolk- that they'd just hit the jackpot.  So onward they went, but then, the five came back past Micah's place...

Jdg 18:13  And they passed on from there to the hill country of Ephraim, and came to the house of Micah.
Jdg 18:14  Then the five men who had gone to scout out the country of Laish said to their brothers, "Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, household gods, a carved image, and a metal image? Now therefore consider what you will do."

And what they would do is the same thing Micah did- say, "things go better with a Levite"...

Jdg 18:18  And when these went into Micah's house and took the carved image, the ephod, the household gods, and the metal image, the priest said to them, "What are you doing?"
Jdg 18:19  And they said to him, "Keep quiet; put your hand on your mouth and come with us and be to us a father and a priest. Is it better for you to be priest to the house of one man, or to be priest to a tribe and clan in Israel?"
Jdg 18:20  And the priest's heart was glad. He took the ephod and the household gods and the carved image and went along with the people.

Note that Jonathan goes from "content" to "glad":  Now he has more fame, more power, and is more than happy to say, the heck with Micah and his 10 shekels.  Of course, Micah isn't particularly happy...

Jdg 18:23  And they shouted to the people of Dan, who turned around and said to Micah, "What is the matter with you, that you come with such a company?"
Jdg 18:24  And he said, "You take my gods that I made and the priest, and go away, and what have I left? How then do you ask me, 'What is the matter with you?'"
Jdg 18:25  And the people of Dan said to him, "Do not let your voice be heard among us, lest angry fellows fall upon you, and you lose your life with the lives of your household."

So now Micah, who thought he would be blessed by "sprinkling a little God on his way", is out his money, his idols, his Levite, and settles back into obscurity with dear old Mom.  The Danites, however, seem blessed as they roll on over and kill the Sidonians, name Jonathan their priest with charge of their stolen idols made from stolen money, and live happily ever after, right?

Not quite.  Because, we know from the Word that this town they conquered, that they named Dan in their own image, would become one of the seats of idolatry in Israel...

1Ki 12:26  And Jeroboam said in his heart, "Now the kingdom will turn back to the house of David.
1Ki 12:27  If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the temple of the LORD at Jerusalem, then the heart of this people will turn again to their lord, to Rehoboam king of Judah, and they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah."
1Ki 12:28  So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt."
1Ki 12:29  And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
1Ki 12:30  Then this thing became a sin, for the people went as far as Dan to be before one. 

And that this idolatry would bring the curse on that money down on them...

Rev 7:4  And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
Rev 7:5  12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad,
Rev 7:6  12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh,
Rev 7:7  12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar,
Rev 7:8  12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.

Note that two tribes do not appear here:  One of them is Ephraim, the tribe of Jeroboam, where the first calf was staged; the other is Dan, where the other was placed.  Dan, who thought doing it their way, "with a sprinkling of God" was acceptable.  And in the end, just like Micah, they fade into obscurity.