Wednesday Bible Study: Ephesians revisited part two

 

This one's about prejudice.  At least, that's how it came to me.

I know I heard two messages this week on prejudice, and while the details didn't all stick, I had it guide me to the topic of, there is more than one kind of prejudice.

One is race hate.  This needs no explanation, and it's not what I'm about to deal with.  The other types are a bit more common, and a bit more insidious.

One is a way of looking at another group through stereotypes: the so-and-so's are lazy, they have poor hygiene, they are just waiting for an excuse.

One has nothing to do with actual hate; it's what you take for granted.  They have my same opportunities, they shouldn't mind that joke, because it's not directed at any real person.  It's just funny, why does it bother you?  If it doesn't happen to me, it doesn't happen to you.  That sort of thing.

And one I didn't really catch until the other day.  I'm going to save that till the end.  So what's that got to do with Ephesians chapter two?  You'll see.

This chapter is lined up in such a way that even Paul couldn't (unintentionally) obfuscate it.  There are two 'therefores', two pairs of 'fors', and two 'buts'.  And each tells a story that leads back to where I started.  And each starts with our start:

Eph 2:1  And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Eph 2:2  in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--
Eph 2:3  among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

We start dead.  Dead to God, doing whatever.  That 'whatever' attitude is what leads to increasing degrees of prejudice- the joke that 'doesn't matter', the stereotype that 'usually fits', the 'hell with them'.

But note also, we have three enemies here: the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience, plus our own mind and our own body.  When you realize this, the battle becomes serious, and believe me, it's where I am.  And the "Buts" start with this- BUT God has a cure.

But #1:

Eph 2:4  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
Eph 2:5  even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ--by grace you have been saved--
Eph 2:6  and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
Eph 2:7  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

The first but has a few layers. First, God is rich in mercy, and has a great love for us- a love that put Jesus on the Cross. Then, His plan is to make us alive- and more, to give us a seat in heaven. Finally, He has a rich future in store.

But # 2:

Eph 2:13  But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

This 'but' might make a little more sense if I strung things together Paul's way, but I see a lesson in splitting this all up.  And here, the lesson is that Christ should be bringing us TOGETHER.  And being together means standing a little closer than we 'naturally' would to people who are 'different' than us.

So the 'buts' speak of our before and after conditions; the 'for's' will tell us what God has done to facilitate that:

For #1:

Eph 2:8  For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Eph 2:9  not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 

WHAT is what He did.  He saved us, of His own good will, and we had nothing to do with that. IF we are saved- and here's a PSA on that:

Rom 10:9  because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

For # 2:

Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Skipping the 'saved by works' battle that wastes all our time, the WHY is because He made us.  That's why He loves us, that's why He saves us.

For # 3:

Eph 2:14  For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility
Eph 2:15  by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace,
Eph 2:16  and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

This is the verse that every crusader, every priest that preached that the Jews "killed Jesus", missed. The hostility is to be killed, not the human being.

For # 4:

Eph 2:18  For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

And this is the NEED- our only need.  To have access to God.  And that, too, God has accomplished.

But, who is this 'both' Paul is mentioning?  Let's go to the 'therefores'...

Therefore #1:

Eph 2:11  Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called "the uncircumcision" by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands--
Eph 2:12  remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

Ah, see, here's where the prejudice started.  Israel, who was supposed to spread God's love, kept it to themselves and spread hate to others.  And I'm not saying Israel invented prejudice- but they sure injected it into faith.  And Paul had to deal with it, because it was so ingrained, so insidious.  So, why 'remember'? because the Gentile believers had to overcome prejudice at both ends.  They had to recover from the prejudice of the Jewish believers- and they had to stamp it out in themselves.  And there was lots of ground to cover- the self-righteous Corinthians, the foolish Galatians, the lazy Cretans.

Therefore #2:

Eph 2:19  Now therefore you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God,
Eph 2:20  and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone,
Eph 2:21  in whom every building having been fitly framed together, grows into a holy sanctuary in the Lord;
Eph 2:22  in whom you also are built together for a dwelling place of God through the Spirit. 

 

One building.  One purpose.  No 'save the black stones for the lower levels, put the yellow ones out back, the steeple needs to be white ones'.  Remember last time me mentioning this:

Eph 1:10  as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.

The plan was always to unify us, all one people, with all our differences.  So now, what about that last type of prejudice I mentioned?

Well, I tumbled on to that when I had an old reaction to a new story.  Recently, 81-year-old House Speaker Mitch McConnell had a fall at a hotel, and got a concussion. And I reacted...

And right then, I caught myself.  Here was prejudice- in taking joy at one of our high and mighty politicians 'getting what they deserve'.  Does it matter it was one man, or a group? Republican or Democrat? Woke or dozing? I confessed the sin, and prayed for him.  Because politicians are part of 'one people' too.  So are gang members, protesters who throw paint on artwork, sports commentators who see racism where there isn't any.  Does this mean I should throw out my Three Stooges collection?  Not necessarily- But I better check the motives of my enjoyment... remember:

1Co 4:5  Therefore, stop judging prematurely, before the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is now hidden in darkness and reveal the motives of our hearts. Then each person will receive his praise from God.

Martin World News

 

This will be a Martin World News of a different sort.  Bear with me, and we might learn something.

Story #1- BBC

...She was one of 57 confirmed victims in Greece's worst-ever rail disaster and like many of them she was a student.

This tragedy has shaken Greece. So many of the lives lost were young and it has unleashed a national outpouring of grief and outrage mostly directed against the country's ruling classes. Not for the first time, Greeks feel betrayed by their politicians.

If you haven't heard this deal, it was a freight train hitting a passenger train, apparently because of human error vastly compounded by technology that hasn't been maintained by the Greek government.

But for many Greeks this is all too little too late. According to early polling, 87% say there are other causes beyond human error, and guilt needs to be assigned. Every day new revelations about the sordid state of Greece's train network cause more horror, anger and distrust of the political class.

A class that neglected the rail system, privatised operations, spent millions on security systems only to let them rot and wasted vital EU funding. Greeks are angry that billions are spent on new fighter jets while critical infrastructure has been left underfunded and understaffed.

 

 "They don't care about us. They don't care about our lives," said a retired senior manager in my neighbourhood called Giorgos, who knew two of the young victims well: "What do I do? Who do I vote for? No one is worth it." 

 

The root cause of this? Greece is one of the PIGS (Portugal, Italy, Greece, Spain) who were forced into "austerity measures" in order to keep getting EU bailout money a few years back.  Here in the US, we complain about the UN and other international groups "infringing on our sovereignty", but we never saw it to the level that Greece had. The EU forced them to such measures that necessary items like the safety switches on the railroads had to be ignored, only politicians that went along with it could be elected, and that brings us to what we have here: An unsafe nation led by untrusted politicians.  EU, this is the Law Of Unintended Consequences, something I have found liberals to be absolutely ignorant of, and conservatives purposefully undereducated in. Next slide...

Story #2- again, BBC

As the BBC wisely points out, this is what the "Prosperity Gospel" brings you to:

Evarline Okello breaks down in tears as she tells me she is hundreds of dollars in debt, after paying a pastor to pray for her.

She lives in a tiny shack in Kibera, a vast slum in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, and can no longer provide for her four children.

Ms Okello hasn't earned anything for months, she tells me as we talk on the telephone. So when she heard about a pastor whose prayers could make life better, she wanted to see him. He asked her for $115 (£96; 15,000 Kenyan shillings).

This is known as a "seed offering": a financial contribution to a religious leader, with a specific outcome in mind.

Ms Okello borrowed the money from a friend, who took out a loan on her behalf. She had been told this pastor's prayers were so powerful that she would see a return on her money within a week.

But the miracle never came. In fact things got even worse, she says. The loan her friend took out has ballooned due to unpaid interest. She now owes more than $300, and has no idea how she'll pay it back. Her friend has stopped talking to her, and she still has no job.

 

I don't mean to poke fun at this woman.  But NEVER NEVER believe in someone who asks you to pay for anything from God.  God doesn't work on the lay-away plan, and Christ was not crucified on a cash register.  And don't blame God for this evil: These are "pastors"- and we encounter them everywhere- to whom it is just a money making job. They will tell you, "You need to have more faith, to give more." Jesus said you only need faith the size of a mustard seed, and you can get a 7 ounce bag of those for $7.49 on Amazon.  Thankfully, Evarline has learned her lesson, and hopefully gotten a better relationship with God out of the deal:

"I wouldn't say that church is bad. The church is good. It is the pastors who are doing wrong. They are the ones who are asking for money."

 

Story #3- Barron's, from AFP

This story is about a dual nationality Swedish-Iranian, who was apparently some level of dissident, and was kidnapped on a trip to Turkey, dragged back to Iran, and sentenced to death for "terrorism". Now obviously, his choice to go to another Muslim country which will nod and wink to fellow Muslim countries, when said nation don't accept the civilized concept of 'dual nationality', was not especially bright.  But, here's the thing I see, is Sweden being naive.  So you've let this man into your country, under the idea of tolerance.  You let him agitate against a foreign government, because "that's his business". You think that it is safe to let such a citizen go to a nation who laughs at your dual citizenship laws.  And then when the inevitable happens...

Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said the Swedish government and diplomats in Tehran "are working intensively to get further clarity" on Chaab's case.

"The death sentence is an inhumane and irreversible punishment and Sweden, together with the rest of the EU, condemns its use in all circumstances," Billstrom told AFP in an email.

Oh, dear, it's inhumane.  Have you not seen what Muslim extremists like those in charge of nations like Iran do, have you not watched ISIS videos, Have you EVER noticed that places like Iran, Turkey, and Afghanistan are not exactly safe places for expats to visit?  I honestly don't know why the call it "woke" because it all sounds asleep to me.

Let's do one more- and prepare to be mad at me...

Story # 4- FoxNews

Arrested for holding Christian beliefs at a Christian school? Canadian Catholic high school student Josh Alexander claims that's the story behind authorities arresting – and charging – him for trying to attend class last month.

And this is about what? Well, being Canada, trying hard to be the wokest of woke nations, this particular Catholic school had unisex bathrooms.  Josh had heard from various girls that they were uncomfortable with boys using their restrooms, and he decided to be active about it.  

Alexander said he pointed out the school's Christian identity, claiming he took a related discussion to school administrators, but they refused to hear him out.

"They removed me from the building for the remainder of the year and, when I attempted to attend class, I was arrested and charged," he continued.

His lawyer blames the nation's "much weaker" Constitution (compared to the USA) for allowing things like this to happen...

"There seems to be, culturally and legally, much less respect for individual rights and freedoms and much more interest in government having the power to do what it wants," he said, adding, "But there is legal recourse to the Ontario Human Rights Commission in this case… we think there's been religious discrimination on the basis of Josh's Christian religious beliefs, so we're going to file a complaint to the Ontario Human Rights Commission…"

 

This is ridiculous on so many levels.  How is it that any school of a Christian faith can stoop so far into woke-ism to even conceive of unisex restrooms? How is it that a student can bring a faith-based question to a faith based school, and be expelled for merely bringing it up? and how is it that Canada will arrest anyone for bring up something well within his free speech rights in an arena where the topic NEEDS to be discussed?  And finally, with all the recently ripped open scars over the way your first nations were treated in their "Canadian-izing" boarding schools, how does no one see this is the VERY SAME THING?

Like I said, not your typical Martin World News.  Somedays, the world just isn't funny.

M10 show week # 62

 

This week, I've got a special to bring you- Rolling Stones came up with their 200 greatest singers of all time- and I thought we might go through the ones I actually know and played somewhere near the Martin Era time frame, or that may have hit or sniffed the M10.  That said, I have two debuts- one is an M10 newbie, and the other a vet (though not a 'superstar'-yet).  The vet is at # 10, and it's brand new from Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit...

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Okay, so once again, this is a big list, and I thought I would mention 10 at a time until we get to the top ten (or RS pulls the article, whichever), so starting at the bottom...

194- Kelley Clarkson- Let me be serious, I know her more for her Wayfair ads than her songs.  But the only other ones I even thought of knowing to this point were Billie Ellish (whom I've never listened to yet) and the singer from that X-Ray Specs band that Morrissey mentions at the end of his song.

193- Brandy- Whom I mention only because she won Time Machine's first Beauty Contest.

189- Joan Baez- Our first actual Martin Era act.  I loved Diamonds And Rust.  But, I heard a live version of The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down, and it just didn't do it for me without the backing chorus.

187- Bonnie Raitt- Not a bad choice, considering how low we are.  But as an actual singer, I prefer smooth to gravel.

185- Alicia Keys- If it wasn't for that credit card commercial, I might not know her, either.

181- Bob Seger- There you go, a bona fide star, a great entertainer, and like Bonnie, there are different definitions of great singer. (I'd have still put him higher...)

177- Patty Loveless- In the realm of country crossover ladies, I have my doubts Patty would have crossed my mind.

176- Iggy Pop- Of course, RS would have him in here.

174- Buddy Holly- With one to go, my favorite pure singer on the list.  I'd still go to Seger's concert, though.

173- Marianne Faithful- While I have no problem with her voice, she's better known to me as bedmate to a large share of the Rolling Stones (Thanks to a former bodyguard's tell all from a couple of decades back).  She'd beat out Brandy for this week's beauty contest, though.

Okay, that's the first ten I pulled out.  This is going to take a while, but considering that there were another 16 I didn't know (plus Lana Del Ray, who I didn't mention), we're skipping about a third of their acts, so this should only take us... oh, about 17 weeks more...

Anyway, before I hit you up with our "Won't turn off the radio" song, here's that other debut- and it's the first time both the #s 1 and 2 of the alt chart are also on my top ten!  At #9 on the M10, and #2 on Radiowavemonitor, here's one of KC's faves, Fall Out Boy...

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Well, that wasn't quite what I was expecting... but tres cool, anyway!  Now as for our song I wouldn't change the station on, this week in 1987 makes it easy on me- because it's in its fifth and final week at #1....

 

...Bon Jovi's Living On A Prayer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And now for an M10 in which I almost made it a top 15 for the first time...

8- The Arcs slide 3 spots with A Man Will Do Wrong...

7- Aiden Bissett Trips up 2 with Trippin' Over Air...

6- Out of the top spot for Lauren Daigle's Look Up Child...

5- Let's just say everything from here on had a shot at the top this week, starting with Two Door Cinema Club, up 5 with Everybody's Cool....

4- And holding for Tennis and Forbidden Doors...

3- And holding for Cafune and Reconsider...

2- And holding for Linkin Park and Lost...

And the new # 1 this week...

...Imagine Dragons and Follow You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great weekend, time to eat!

Wednesday Bible Study: Ephesians revisited part one

 

When I was a young Christian, and was finally convinced that I should try to memorize something, I started (and ended) with the first couple of chapters of Ephesians.  If you try starting there, you might just find that it's a little more confusing than it looks.  Sure, everyone gets Ephesians 2:8-9, but getting there, well... the first chapter's punctuation includes 27 commas, 4 semicolons, and one full colon.  And ONE period.  Second chapter is much the same.  You have to be really good at dicing and slicing to get through them.

Or, if you have studied enough, and matured enough, just maybe God will gift you with the point that the first chapter's key is locked up in this verse:

Eph 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

This verse, and ones scattered throughout Paul's writings, tell us that, although we SEEM to be mired here on earth, we are simultaneously IN HEAVEN.  If God is eternal and beyond time, and every moment is now in His eyes, then we are already in Heaven in some part of the reality that is God.  And from that starting point, I have begun to unspool what Paul was talking about.  You see, we learn that Paul had a vision- or a trip- to heaven at one point, in 2 Corinthians 12.  In trying to translate what he saw in heaven, Paul is spinning together past, present and future into a handful of short passages.

The first cycle- and I'm going to try to do this without pasting a lot of Scripture (AKA the entire chapter), so bear with- contains past/present/future (henceforth 'PPF') this way:

Past: Choosing us before the foundation of the world (v4).  If you remember the 'single moment to Him' thing, what this means is NOT He chose you to be a good guy, me to be a bad guy.  What it means is, He knew how our lives and choices would go; and those who would choose Him, He smoothes that road for them.  Those who wouldn't choose Him, not so much.

Future: in vv 5-6, Paul talks about 'being predestined for adoption'. This is His purpose: that we accept this adoption, for which Paul lavishes praise. For Paul, this is a HUGE deal, for no man alive ever had so clear a picture of the divide between what he deserved and what he was promised.

Present: In vv 7-8, He describes how we get there- through the redemption in Christ's sacrifice. That is the now that we need- securing that redemption through faith. And, recognizing we needed to be taught that, Paul reminds us that Jesus revealed these things to us in v9.

Notice that this doesn't go p-p-f like time does, but as God views it- He set things up, designed the plan, gave us our part.  Then we go to the second cycle.

Past: And in v9 and more in v10, Paul tells us that God had a plan from the start- 'To unite all things in Him.'

Future: vv 11-12, He has set up for us an inheritance in heaven.

Present: vv13-14, we are sealed now by the Holy Spirit, which is our guarantee of that spot, " until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." So this cycle, God made the plan, set it all up, and secured our place in it.

 

Hmm, that sequence was told past-future-present as well.  Is there a significance? Stay tuned.

Then we get another cycle.

Past: Here, Paul is praying for the equipping of the saints of Ephesus, that what has gone before might be made plain to their eyes. Because he wants them to see God as HE did.

Future: Here I want to actually post the passage, so we can see the Promise held out to us:

Eph 1:18  having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19  and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might...

What we have here is what God promises to our future: the fulfillment of hope and all His promises; the riches of what's included in that promise, and His power to make it so.  Paul is praying for our transition from seeing things with human eyes to seeing with God's eyes.  Which is a hard task when we begin, consider:  God's view involves Him seeing Himself in His greatness, and by that greatness being bound to be good and faithful to His promises, but holy and not excepting the less. (I'm starting to sound like Paul, here!) His goodness is SO good, His love SO love.  It isn't easy to see through mortal eyes.  So, for the present...

Present: He has raised Christ from the dead- a physical reality. Christ has taken care of it all- the stuff we get and the stuff we don't.  This cycle, we have God allowing us to see what has been done, what will be done, and what is going on in us now.

Once we take out all the commas, straighten the timelines, and shift the perspective, we see that Paul is trying to describe to us the grandeur of the God, who is working in us, to bring us to an inheritance beyond our means to conceive.  And that explains why it went past-future-present: We had to understand what HAD been done, to set up what WILL come, to understand our part in the NOW.  And our part was/is to believe in the Christ who set it all up, and trust in the Spirit who seals us to it.

Yes, the camera still works...

 ...but I've been both lazy, uninspired, and  unlucky.  Today, though, I eliminated most of those problems.  So let me start way back... with 2 from the day after Valentine's Day...

The young couples always seem to find our "secret spots"...

Leap now ahead with me ten days, but still nine days in the past...

Here's me in the new glasses...

Now the crossing is not only a mess, but a mess filled with water...

Grey squirrel with a red underarm patch?!

Spring doesn't mean the robins return from anywhere.  They just return to worm digging.

Yesterday, the "wild boys", as Laurie called them, returned...

Todays project: remote control ramp jumping into bridges, lions, and dinosaurs

Grayson hadn't got the aiming thing down.  Frankly, neither had Isaiah or KC.

There we go!

Grayson: Proving to the world that 'sedation haircutting' would be a viable business.

Isaiah is a lot like me: His world extends out a little farther than the eye can see through 24/7 imagination.

Grayson can be the Devil incarnate for 90% of a visit.  Then he comes over and says or does something to melt your heart, and all is right with the world.

"Trying to cope"

Today, it was a nice 40-some degree Sunday morning, and after Church...

"Say Sam, great day isn't it?" "Sure is, Bill.  Who ya got in the race?"

(Singing) "Laaaa-zzzyyy Day..."

Two days ago, we had 8 hours of rain followed by 8 hours of 'return to winter'.  Thus the canal is full, and the Little Waterfall That Could was chugging away.

River's way up...

Just then, this big loggy thing goes hurtling by....

"Say Sam, you see that go by?  What was it?" "Dunno.  A big loggy thing."

And here comes another one!

Later, at the Pond...

"Hey Honey? See that big doggy thing? I'm gonna swim right towards it, see if I can scare it!" "Shirl, you kinda scare me..."

M10 show week #61

 

So this week is going to be an example of a normal week here...

Elvis: Why? whut're we gonna screw up this week?

No, I just meant, nobody died, no "look what I stumbled onto" special, Two debuts on the M10...

An' fend fer ourselves fer dinner...

And fend for ourselves on dinner.  This will be a quick knockout, so if you'll do us the inestimable honor of cranking out the first debut, I'll prepare us a little fun with the "song I wouldn't turn off" this week!

Sure...here's some guys that ain't been around here for a bit, Two Door Cinema Club at #10...

 

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That wuz fun!

I thought so, too!  And this week we go to 1988 for the song I wouldn't turn off.  There were a lot more I liked this week in '88 than what we've been having... not  any close-but-not-quites, though.  My song was on the way down at #44, but 7 weeks back it was on top of the Cashbox chart.  So that leaves 43 songs in front of it.  Out of them, I put 13 in the like pile, 9 as don't care one way or the other, 3 hates- and yes, one was a Michael Bolton... and 17 I didn't know by name.

Just curious- what else didja hate?

You know, oversharing what I hate got me in trouble with someone on Time Machine, a long time back...

  So? Free speech, ain't it? 

Yeah, it is... if you must know, they would be the #1- George Michael's Father Figure; and Whitney Houston's Where Do Broken Hearts Go at #34, for no better reason than how completely her butchery on I Will Always Love You turned me off of her.  If not for that, I might have put it in the don't care pile.

See, how c'n people 'spect ta agree with ya, when ya can't even agree with y'self?

Can I get to the song I wouldn't turn off now?

Fire away, boss!

 

 George Harrison and Got My Mind Set On You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gak!  Another Beatle!

Oh, grow up!  Our second debut is a song KC introduced me to.  You'll notice I used the "clean" version of this song here... But the riff is just so engaging, I had to bring it in!  Here's Newcomer Aiden Bissett at #9....

 

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So, whut else we got this week?

Only that there are at least 5 songs on the M10- plus one that is in the unofficial #11 spot- I'd have liked to be able to put 3 notches or so higher! Bud, you get the M10!

Geez, I kinda feel skimped this week!  Anyway, here ya go...

8- That's Wet Leg's Angelica, down 4 in week #6...

7- That's Maneskin and Tom Morello with Gossip, still stuck at the same spot...

6- There's one that actually did move- up four fer Imagine Dragons an' Follow You...

5- Down 2 fer the Arcs and A Man Will Do Wrong...

4- There's another climber, up four fer Tennis an' Forbidden Doors...

3- a 2-spot climb fer Cafune and Reconsider...

2- Brought to a screeching halt shy of the top, Linkin Park and Lost....

An' still at the top...

 

 ...Lauren Daigle an' Look Up, Child!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, see ya next week, gang!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Wednesday Bible Study: Ladies night finale

 

Our final Lady is Abigail, and her story dovetails nicely with the world's conception of how to disarm anger- but with a twist of faith.

Our story begins with a gent named (or nicknamed) Nabal.

1Sa 25:2  And there was a man in Maon whose business was in Carmel. The man was very rich; he had three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. He was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
1Sa 25:3  Now the name of the man was Nabal, and the name of his wife Abigail. The woman was discerning and beautiful, but the man was harsh and badly behaved; he was a Calebite. 

Now, the first thing to know that you don't get from just reading is that "Calebite" is kind of a mistranslation. The root translation  is closer to calling him... well, a phrase that we often soften to 'son of a gun'.  We'll see that this comes up again later, but our focus is that he didn't get where he was by being kind.

David is on the run from Saul at this point, and has been in the neighborhood for a while, offering protection for Nabal's men from outside raiders.  And they lived in peace, until David asked him a favor...

1Sa 25:4  David heard in the wilderness that Nabal was shearing his sheep.
1Sa 25:5  So David sent ten young men. And David said to the young men, "Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal and greet him in my name.
1Sa 25:6  And thus you shall greet him: 'Peace be to you, and peace be to your house, and peace be to all that you have.
1Sa 25:7  I hear that you have shearers. Now your shepherds have been with us, and we did them no harm, and they missed nothing all the time they were in Carmel.
1Sa 25:8  Ask your young men, and they will tell you. Therefore let my young men find favor in your eyes, for we come on a feast day. Please give whatever you have at hand to your servants and to your son David.'"

But rather than welcoming the opportunity to help someone who had helped him, Nabal was more worried about cutting into the stock that he could sell for a profit:

1Sa 25:9  When David's young men came, they said all this to Nabal in the name of David, and then they waited.
1Sa 25:10  And Nabal answered David's servants, "Who is David? Who is the son of Jesse? There are many servants these days who are breaking away from their masters.
1Sa 25:11  Shall I take my bread and my water and my meat that I have killed for my shearers and give it to men who come from I do not know where?"

Needless to say, David was filled with righteous anger for this rebuff, and in a colorful way (which I will also avoid quoting directly) vowed to kill Nabal and all his men.  But not all his men agreed with their boss- most were unwilling to die for Nabal's pride, and they had been here before, apparently.  So one of them did what they always had- they went to Abigail:

1Sa 25:14  But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, "Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to greet our master, and he railed at them.
1Sa 25:15  Yet the men were very good to us, and we suffered no harm, and we did not miss anything when we were in the fields, as long as we went with them.
1Sa 25:16  They were a wall to us both by night and by day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
1Sa 25:17  Now therefore know this and consider what you should do, for harm is determined against our master and against all his house, and he is such a worthless man that one cannot speak to him."

And here we have our second questionable translation, out of kindness.  The phrase, "worthless man", translates into "son of Belial", or basically, 'son of the Devil." Sound familiar?  And Abigail, far wiser than her hubby, and experienced in pulling his fat out of the fire, went to see David.

Here, I'd like to share with you a list I found on the net about how to disarm another person's anger, so we can see why Abigail did what she was about to do.

1- Listen first before speaking.  Give them opportunity to vent.

2- When the opportunity comes, 'play back' what was said to show you listened.

3- Change the focus from the offense to something else.

4- Show empathy.

5- Number the offenses being complained about, thus taking the angry one's brain from right side, emotional reactions to left brain, logical functions.

6- While explaining they aren't right, show them they aren't wrong for their feelings.

7- Be solution-oriented.

Now, let's see how, not necessarily in this order, Abigail does just this with David.

1Sa 25:18  Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.
1Sa 25:19  And she said to her young men, "Go on before me; behold, I come after you." But she did not tell her husband Nabal.

This is her being solution oriented; she prepares to give David MORE than what he had asked for.

1Sa 25:21  Now David had said, "Surely in vain have I guarded all that this fellow has in the wilderness, so that nothing was missed of all that belonged to him, and he has returned me evil for good.
1Sa 25:22  God do so to the enemies of David and more also, if by morning I leave so much as one male of all who belong to him."
1Sa 25:23  When Abigail saw David, she hurried and got down from the donkey and fell before David on her face and bowed to the ground.
1Sa 25:24  She fell at his feet and said, "On me alone, my lord, be the guilt. Please let your servant speak in your ears, and hear the words of your servant.

So David gets the chance to let out his anger, and Abigail makes him "not wrong", by taking the blame herself.

1Sa 25:25  Let not my lord regard this worthless fellow, Nabal, for as his name is, so is he. Nabal is his name, and folly is with him. But I your servant did not see the young men of my lord, whom you sent.

This verse is key to the story.  Once again, Nabal is called a son of Belial, and the explanation of his name- Nabal, translated, means "fool".  And here, she mentions she hadn't seen David's men coming- which tells us normally, she would have dealt with this.  Any good rep Nabal had came from the efforts of Abigail, often behind his back.  If she'd been diligent to see them come, we wouldn't be at this point.

1Sa 25:26  Now then, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, because the LORD has restrained you from bloodguilt and from saving with your own hand, now then let your enemies and those who seek to do evil to my lord be as Nabal.
1Sa 25:27  And now let this present that your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow my lord.

 

 Here, she makes NOT killing Nabal David's own idea (a place he hadn't gotten to yet). And, she gives David the solution- the supplies that Nabal denied him.

1Sa 25:28  Please forgive the trespass of your servant. For the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you so long as you live.
1Sa 25:29  If men rise up to pursue you and to seek your life, the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living in the care of the LORD your God. And the lives of your enemies he shall sling out as from the hollow of a sling.
1Sa 25:30  And when the LORD has done to my lord according to all the good that he has spoken concerning you and has appointed you prince over Israel,
1Sa 25:31  my lord shall have no cause of grief or pangs of conscience for having shed blood without cause or for my lord taking vengeance himself. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, then remember your servant."

And now, she changes his focus to the future, how much better it will be if he isn't regretting killing all these men who didn't harm him because Nabal is a son of a ... well, a dog.  And David finds she is right.

1Sa 25:32  And David said to Abigail, "Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you this day to meet me!
1Sa 25:33  Blessed be your discretion, and blessed be you, who have kept me this day from bloodguilt and from avenging myself with my own hand!

And so, David takes her offering and leaves, grateful for her stopping him.  And he would soon pay that back, and "remember his servant."  In the meantime, Abigail goes back home and finds...

1Sa 25:36  And Abigail came to Nabal, and behold, he was holding a feast in his house, like the feast of a king. And Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunk. So she told him nothing at all until the morning light.

But that next morning, she told him the whole story; and whether it was the shock that his mouth had almost got him killed by a man he should have been grateful to, or that his wife had went behind his back to humble him in David's eyes, his mind and pride couldn't handle it;  One commentator at least suggests that he had a stroke right then and there- and ten days later...

1Sa 25:38  And about ten days later the LORD struck Nabal, and he died.

A second stroke, and he was gone.  Was this a merciful God giving him ten days to do nothing but repent? A wrathful God giving him ten days to suffer before he REALLY met his judgment? That was up to Nabal.  Either way, we now move ahead just slightly in the future...

1Sa 25:39  When David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, "Blessed be the LORD who has avenged the insult I received at the hand of Nabal, and has kept back his servant from wrongdoing. The LORD has returned the evil of Nabal on his own head." Then David sent and spoke to Abigail, to take her as his wife.
1Sa 25:40  When the servants of David came to Abigail at Carmel, they said to her, "David has sent us to you to take you to him as his wife."
1Sa 25:41  And she rose and bowed with her face to the ground and said, "Behold, your handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord."
1Sa 25:42  And Abigail hurried and rose and mounted a donkey, and her five young women attended her. She followed the messengers of David and became his wife.

And that is the end of Abigail's story, with one postscript: to David Abigail bore one son.  His name was Chileab, which means, "his father's restraint." And thus Abigail, by restraining anger in David, blesses everyone around her, including herself.

Well, except for Nabal, because he was a son of a... well, you know.