Judges 10-19: in those days…

Judges is not a pretty book. It describes the vicious cycle that the people of Israel tend to get stuck in. The cycle goes something like this:

1) The people of Israel worship idols and do other generally unfaithful things.

2) God raises up a great leader.

3) The people of Israel follow the great leader, thus following God.

4) The great leader dies.

5) Return to #1 and repeat the cycle.

That is the book of Judges in a nutshell. There is an iconic phrase repeated a few times throughout the book of Judges; it describes and laments this state of affairs: “In those days there was no king in Israel; all the people did what was right in their own eyes.” –Judg 17.6 NRSV

This phrase encompasses much of the tension in the book of Judges. First, it acknowledges that the people of Israel have some serious issues. Despite their efforts to live faithfully, they keep turning away from the LORD. Time and time again, they find themselves doing what they want instead of what God commands.

Second, it blames this vicious cycle on the fact there there is no king in Israel (17.6). Here, we begin to hear the cries of the people of Israel for an earthly king—an earthly authority to carry out the ultimate authority of the LORD. In 1 Samuel, we see this request granted…but that’s for another entry and another day!

On one hand, I find Judges to be an incredibly frustrating book. The lives of God’s chosen people are not only imperfect, but completely appalling (i.e. Judg 19). As Israel returns to God and runs from God over and over again, I just want to scream, “Decide what you want, already!”

But on the other hand, Judges is a hopeful book; we have all been the people of Israel. We have all been faithful to God, and unfaithful, and faithful again…and the story goes on. The cycle continues, even in our lives today.

And as the cycle continues, there is God—raising up a leader, reaching out just one more time.

And another time.

Every time.
               

Numbers 14-Judges 9

I’m back! My week in Atlanta visiting Candler was fantastic, but I didn’t have my laptop with me, so blogging unfortunately didn’t happen. Reading, however, did happen—so that is good news! And I am home this week, so I should be able to blog more regularly again.

So, Numbers 14-Judges 9. It is basically impossible to cover all that ground in one blog, so I won’t even pretend to try. But since this is a Shema Summer, it seems wrong to reflect on anything but this:

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God, the LORD alone. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” –Deut 6.4-9 NRSV

This is one of my favorite passages in the entire Bible. For some time, this has been a formational passage for me—it reminds me of who I am and what I am called to do. As a person of faith, these words of Scripture speak to me—I am commanded to love the LORD alone. My life is to be shaped by the words of Torah, by God’s commandments, by Scripture. I am to remember these words always, in the midst of my everyday life.

A hunger to do just that led me to major in Bible, which has proven to be an incredible opportunity to engage and remember God’s truth. But the kind of remembering described by Deut 6.4-9 is much deeper than reading, writing, or thinking—this kind of remembering is a form of living.

We can read the Old Testament this summer. We can write insightful blogs about God’s truth. We can ponder the deep questions of life and faith. But if it doesn’t shape the way we live, we haven’t truly remembered.

Bind God’s truth on your hand. Fix it as an emblem on your forehead. Write it on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Remember God’s truth with every step you take.
               

Numbers 4-13: spying on the promised land

Numbers 13 tells the story of Moses sending spies into Canaan to scope out the promised land. God commands him to send a leader from each tribe to “spy out the land of Canaan” (13.2 NRSV). So Moses picks his team of spies, and they head off to Canaan only to find big, scary people. Today’s reading ends with the spies reporting their findings to the people of Israel, with every spy but Caleb giving hopeless reports.

But all this talk about spying on the promised land got me thinking about my own life, and how in some ways, it reflects this story. This week I am heading down to Atlanta to visit Candler School of Theology—a place that could be my promised land, my next step after I complete this chapter of my journey at Bluffton. And later on this summer, I will be setting out on a seminary road trip, visiting six other seminary options. It is going to be an exciting summer of discovery and discernment!

Now, I am not going undercover, nor do I expect to find any Nephilim along the way, but in some ways, I am spying on my promised land. Just like the Israelite spies, God is leading me on this journey and is with me as I scope out my next step, my promised land. And just like the Israelite spies realize that the promised land is not the perfect place, I know that no seminary is perfect, either!

This week, this summer, and beyond, my prayer is not that I find the perfect seminary…my prayer is that I find the right one.

Leviticus 21-27; Numbers 1-3

“And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and you shall proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; you shall return, every one of you, to your property and every one of you to your family. That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; you shall not sow, or reap the aftergrowth, or harvest the unpruned vines. For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you: you shall eat only what the field itself produces.” –Lev 25.10-12 NRSV

HAPPY JUBILEE!

Leviticus 25 sets forth a fascinating economic vision for God’s people: every 50 years, all property returned to its original owner. All debt forgiven. A blank slate. Wealth redistributed. Equality restored.

Not your typical campaign promise, right?

But that is the economic policy to which God calls the people of Israel. While we clearly live in a vastly different economic reality, I think this gives a glimpse into Kingdom economics; Jubilee law sets forth a prophetic economic vision in which needs are met, freedom abounds, and equality is restored. And best of all, Jubilee is a tangible reminder that God is the true owner of land and all other resources.

“…the land is mine; with me you are but aliens and tenants.” –Lev 23b NRSV

Aliens and tenants. Well, that changes everything.

You see, Jubilee means that nothing is ours forever. Not even for the duration of our stay as aliens and tenants wandering around this land that doesn’t belong to us.

But Jubilee means that everything is God’s.

And most of all, Jubilee means that there is enough to go around.

We just have to let go of what we think is ours, remembering that it is truly God’s—as are we.

Leviticus 11-20

“If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood, and will cut that person off from the people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar; for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement.” –Lev 17.10-11 NRSV

Blood is a pretty big deal in Leviticus. It’s easy to read a passage like this, be turned off by the fact that it mentions blood four times in the space of two verses, and label Leviticus disgusting and irrelevant. But I would argue that it is neither disgusting nor irrelevant. In fact, this passage has a whole lot more to do with the value of life than eating blood; when blood is mentioned in Leviticus, the issue at hand is life. Leviticus 17.10-11 is a reminder to the people of Israel that blood—life—is sacred and belongs only to God.

Blood= life.

Life= God’s.

Not so gross after all.
   

Leviticus 1-10: ritual & ethics

“You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statues that the LORD has spoken to them through Moses.” –Lev 10.10-11 NRSV

In the introduction to Leviticus in The HarperCollins Study Bible, biblical scholar Jacob Milgrom describes the role of the priest as a pedagogic one; the priest is called not only to carry out the rituals commanded by God, but to teach the people of Israel how to live as God’s holy and chosen people.

This teaching happens not in addition to, but through the ritual acts of the priests; Milgrom points out the connection between ritual and ethics, saying that “the ethical element fuses with and even informs the ritual, so that one may seek a moral basis behind each ritual act” (150). What this means is that there are no simply ritual acts—ritual acts are inherently connected to and informed by ethical acts.

In a very real way, by carrying out the rituals commanded by God, the priests are teaching the people of Israel an ethical lesson, a lesson in how to live. Central to this lesson is the holiness and distinction of the people of God. The rituals described throughout Leviticus distinguish between “the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean” (10.10)—these rituals represent and embody the ways in which the people of Israel are a chosen and holy people, set apart as the people of God. Once again, ritual is inseparable from ethics.

With all this in mind, I have a few questions (and no answers). I invite reflection and dialogue!

1. What are our rituals?

2. (What) do our rituals teach?

3. (In what ways) are ritual & ethics connected in today’s church?
         

Exodus 31-40: rest for all seasons

“Six days you shall work, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even in plowing time and in harvest time you shall rest.” –Exod 34.21 NRSV

Here, God commands the people of Israel to rest in God and with God even in the midst of life’s busiest seasons. God says, “I know the work is piling up, and I know you think your life depends on that work—but your life really depends on me. Rest in me and rest with me in the midst of chaos.”

You see, this sabbath thing is not just a friendly suggestion; Exodus 31.15 states that “whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death.” Sabbath is a good idea, but it is more than that—it is a commandment on which the Israelites’ lives depend. And why is this a matter of life and death? Because the sabbath is “holy to the LORD” (31.15), part of what sets the people of Israel apart as God’s chosen people.

All this talk about sabbath got me thinking about rest and how terrible I am at real, holy to the LORD, sabbath rest. Part of this, I think, goes back to growing up (and still living in) a parsonage; for all of my life, Sunday has meant game on—Sunday school, church, youth group, committee meetings, church gatherings—all wonderful things, but not rest. So the idea of the holy day of my faith tradition being a restful one has simply never been my reality.

However, I think sabbath is less about one restful day a week and more about a balanced life marked by regular and intentional rest. I am no better at this. College has been an incredible journey, but one thing it has not been is a season in life marked be regular or intentional rest. But here in Exodus 34, God speaks to me right where I am, reminding me that I am called to rest in God and with God in every season of life, even in college!

Perhaps if Exodus 34.21 were written for college students, it might read like this: “For every six pages you write, take a break and rest in and with Me. Even in the chaos of finals week, take the time to be with Me. I am better than coffee.”

Here’s to rest. Here’s to sabbath. Here’s to the coffee of our souls.