The archeological record bears out the stubbornness of the children of Jacob in resisting the first of the commands given to Moses at Sinai: “I am the Lord thy God, you shall have no other gods.” Whenever archeologists have excavated ancient Israeli sites that date from their earliest antiquity until the Babylonian captivity, they invariably discover small statues and carvings of a variety of household gods as well as engravings that indicate that many Israelites accepted the proposition that their chief God, Yahweh, had a consort, an Asherah . . . in Semitic mythology, a mother goddess. This finding, though astonishing to some people, actually reinforces the Biblical narrative. From Exodus onward throughout the Old Testament it is plain that God forever has to discipline His people for their spiritual infidelity. In fact, at the very beginning before Moses could make it down to the bottom of the mount with the tablets in hand, the people who had miraculously witnessed their deliverance just weeks before, had already lost confidence and began hedging their bets with the golden calf. This, of course, was what was familiar to them for 400 years until Moses showed up and introduced them to “I Am that I AM” and asked them to forsake their vacillations between monotheism and polytheism and worship Yahweh alone. Even after 40 years of miracles God knew they would have fidelity problems and warned them about the company they keep (Joshua 23:7). Consequently, every now and then, God would visit on His people, adjustment and chastisement. This was the drill for about 700 years. After the Babylonian captivity, the archeological record confirms the narrative in Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi . . . the Hebrews needed encouragement to keep their priorities in order as they suffered from a general spiritual malaise due to corruption in the priesthood and mechanical insensitivity in their worship observances. This was often the failure that Jesus would notice in them, though they had finally managed to nail down adherence to the 1st commandment, even if it was at the expense of the other nine.
It must be difficult keeping all ten of the major commandments at the same time rather than just focusing on one at a time, particularly when one gets older and multi-tasking becomes a serious undertaking. Then again, it was never a design that could be met. (Gal. 3:24) For if you insist on being a law-abider you are obligated to obey them all . . . all the time . . . at the same time . . . and it can’t be done. Besides, there are only two commandments (Luke 10:27) and even those two are impossible to manage without the in-filling of His Spirit (Acts 1:8). So, it really begs the question, “what was God up to with laying on the Israelites a burden they could not possibly carry?” Just as the cross has two beams, the vertical one to represent our relationship with Him, and the horizontal one to illustrate our relationship with one another, I believe He was teaching us two very important lessons. First, it should not have escaped our notice (Old Testament period) that there was absolutely no one who could keep the law . . . not even close, and therefore it was His initiative, not ours, that made the vertical relationship work. Second, “attitude is everything” . . . meaning, He sees and judges the heart. When He said through Samuel “. . . to obey is better than sacrifice . . .” (1 Samuel 15:22), that’s precisely what He was trying to make known to the stubborn-headed and disobedient Saul. We could use a little reminding today as we devote much of our time on vain and selfish endeavors while nailing down that 1st commandment by making certain we meet our Sunday obligation. (Luke 16:15) I wouldn’t want future generations to discover our archeological evidence of failure. Jesus said there will be those who show up for evaluation on that great day of judgment who sincerely believe they’ve made the cut only to hear these solemn words: “I never knew you.” (Matthew 7:23)
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
It's an Axiom
The definition of “axiom” is a self-evident truth. It requires no proof because the logic is clear that the proposition needs no argument. Like Descartes’ “cogito ergo sum” (I think, therefore I am), there are things that shouldn’t require a PhD to fathom. We can and do certainly disagree on many things but axioms ought to invite unity of acceptance. Ought, but not necessarily do they. In the news of late are stories that highlight our national debt. Anecdotally attributed to Everett Dirksen is the phrase, “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money." However, weather he said it or not the topic of debt discussion today is not billions but trillions --- that’s a number with 12 zeros, a billion times 1000. There comes a time when the use of numbers loses its effective perspective. It’s like saying “the mysterious Ring Galaxy is 600 million light-years distant” from earth. Let’s see, light travels at approximately 186, 282 miles per second; 600,000 times 186,282 = . . . . good grief! It’s simply not comprehensible. I think that must be the way it is when considering our national debt. It’s simply not comprehensible. Yet, just because I cannot comprehend it doesn’t invalidate the truth of it. The Ring Galaxy is still there . . . and so is the debt. This is an axiom.
Some years ago when I was still in the Air Force I came upon what may be called “a teachable moment.” Because of some foolish spending, unforeseen financial reversals, personal setbacks and self-imposed ignorance, I found myself in serious debt. The teachable moment came when my commander called me in for counseling and made it clear that the Air Force would not tolerate personal indebtedness that interfered with my duty to meet all obligations, personal and professional. If I wanted to continue my career I would have to ensure no further letters of indebtedness made their way to my commander’s desk. So, in addition to restructuring my combined debt and organizing my payment schedule to acceptable proportions, the most important and most effective means of transforming my debt status from “high risk” to “competent and reliable” was to radically alter my spending habit – read: spend much less than my income. I had to not only cut spending so as not to incur additional debt, I was forced to cut spending radically so as to reduce the debt already incurred. I notice in the news there are those who believe we can cut spending by a couple of billion on our “trillions-of-dollars” debt. Cutting $60 billion dollars of a 14 trillion debt is a reduction of 2/5th of 1%. If that had been my decision 36 years ago, I would not only still be in debt . . . I’d be worse off by a magnitude of exponential proportions.
The question is why are people willing to visit such a burden on our children, our grandchildren and beyond? Do they not care? Can they not see? Are they not parents who love their children? For me it’s like the Ring Galaxy . . . it’s an attitude beyond my comprehension. History shows in time of severe famine people have been known to eat their young. Is this too harsh an appraisal? Are we sacrificing our children’s future out of fear of our own survival? Does this seem hyperbolic to you? Or will we wake up as a culture and see our obligation? I don’t know. A trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon we’re talking about self-destruction. That’s an axiom.
Some years ago when I was still in the Air Force I came upon what may be called “a teachable moment.” Because of some foolish spending, unforeseen financial reversals, personal setbacks and self-imposed ignorance, I found myself in serious debt. The teachable moment came when my commander called me in for counseling and made it clear that the Air Force would not tolerate personal indebtedness that interfered with my duty to meet all obligations, personal and professional. If I wanted to continue my career I would have to ensure no further letters of indebtedness made their way to my commander’s desk. So, in addition to restructuring my combined debt and organizing my payment schedule to acceptable proportions, the most important and most effective means of transforming my debt status from “high risk” to “competent and reliable” was to radically alter my spending habit – read: spend much less than my income. I had to not only cut spending so as not to incur additional debt, I was forced to cut spending radically so as to reduce the debt already incurred. I notice in the news there are those who believe we can cut spending by a couple of billion on our “trillions-of-dollars” debt. Cutting $60 billion dollars of a 14 trillion debt is a reduction of 2/5th of 1%. If that had been my decision 36 years ago, I would not only still be in debt . . . I’d be worse off by a magnitude of exponential proportions.
The question is why are people willing to visit such a burden on our children, our grandchildren and beyond? Do they not care? Can they not see? Are they not parents who love their children? For me it’s like the Ring Galaxy . . . it’s an attitude beyond my comprehension. History shows in time of severe famine people have been known to eat their young. Is this too harsh an appraisal? Are we sacrificing our children’s future out of fear of our own survival? Does this seem hyperbolic to you? Or will we wake up as a culture and see our obligation? I don’t know. A trillion here, a trillion there, pretty soon we’re talking about self-destruction. That’s an axiom.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Middle East -- An Opinion
Take a look at a map of the Middle East. You will notice that Israel sits squarely in the middle of a Muslim world. Yet, sorting through the news from network television, the major print media outlets, and popular magazines you might conclude that Israel is the Goliath and her neighbors are the little David characters in this contemporary drama. My stepson has a sober way of bringing clarity to issues at times . . . he says, “. . . do the math.” So, let’s do some figuring. The number of Jews in the world comes to about 14 million, with 5.5 million residing in Israel. The world Muslim population is approximately 1.7 billion, nearly 475 million living in Turkey, Iraq, Egypt, Iran, Jordon, Saudi Arabia, Syria Afghanistan, Pakistan and Lebanon alone. Thus, the ratio of Muslims to Jews in the Middle East (not counting Somalia, Yemen, Oman, Libya, etc.) is 86:1 and in the world about 120:1. Nevertheless, the world press would have us believe that this little sovereign state, roughly the size of New Jersey, is perpetually poking its finger in the eye of leviathan . . . because?
The popular propaganda is that Israel is some kind of “Johnny-come-lately” to the Middle East neighborhood, invading the Muslim homeland and confiscating what did not belong to them in 1948 with the help of Christian western civilization. Nevertheless, the history of the Middle East is traceable . . . from the Babylonians to the Persians, the Romans, the Islamic Caliphate, the Turks, the Crusaders, the Ottomans, the European colonials, to the present. While it’s true that Jews left their homeland in great numbers following the Roman destruction of the Herodian temple in the 1st century AD as the center of worship shifted from the temple to Rabbinic Judaism, at no time in the past 4000 years had Jews not lived in the land except for the 400 years of captivity described in Genesis. For a long time there was no Jewish nation-state. But, neither was there a Jordon or Iraq or Saudi Arabia or a Turkey. The boundaries of the modern Middle Eastern nation-states are post Ottoman Empire divisions.
Our American diplomatic objective in the Middle East is to facilitate the addition of another Middle Eastern nation-state to be carved out of the Israeli security zone --- the West Bank. To establish a “homeland” for these Palestinians in neighboring Syria or Jordon is evidently out of the question. In fact, they were expelled from Jordon in 1970 by order of King Hussein, but there are no rockets fired into Amman today as an expression of holy hostility to that country. Still, somehow, our American diplomatic philosophy rests on the belief that if we could just birth this new nation that swears eternal enmity against the Jewish people, there could be peace in the Middle East. Let me attempt to draw an analogy. The continental United States is a resident for crocodiles and alligators with the exception of the small reserve of Rhode Island which is home to the wildebeest. But now the gators and crocs think it fair to lay claim to the Providence-Pawtucket metropolitan area as well. If you think that all the reptiles really want is just 30% of the little reserve, you’re likely to find a lot of companionship in the Flat Earth Society.
The popular propaganda is that Israel is some kind of “Johnny-come-lately” to the Middle East neighborhood, invading the Muslim homeland and confiscating what did not belong to them in 1948 with the help of Christian western civilization. Nevertheless, the history of the Middle East is traceable . . . from the Babylonians to the Persians, the Romans, the Islamic Caliphate, the Turks, the Crusaders, the Ottomans, the European colonials, to the present. While it’s true that Jews left their homeland in great numbers following the Roman destruction of the Herodian temple in the 1st century AD as the center of worship shifted from the temple to Rabbinic Judaism, at no time in the past 4000 years had Jews not lived in the land except for the 400 years of captivity described in Genesis. For a long time there was no Jewish nation-state. But, neither was there a Jordon or Iraq or Saudi Arabia or a Turkey. The boundaries of the modern Middle Eastern nation-states are post Ottoman Empire divisions.
Our American diplomatic objective in the Middle East is to facilitate the addition of another Middle Eastern nation-state to be carved out of the Israeli security zone --- the West Bank. To establish a “homeland” for these Palestinians in neighboring Syria or Jordon is evidently out of the question. In fact, they were expelled from Jordon in 1970 by order of King Hussein, but there are no rockets fired into Amman today as an expression of holy hostility to that country. Still, somehow, our American diplomatic philosophy rests on the belief that if we could just birth this new nation that swears eternal enmity against the Jewish people, there could be peace in the Middle East. Let me attempt to draw an analogy. The continental United States is a resident for crocodiles and alligators with the exception of the small reserve of Rhode Island which is home to the wildebeest. But now the gators and crocs think it fair to lay claim to the Providence-Pawtucket metropolitan area as well. If you think that all the reptiles really want is just 30% of the little reserve, you’re likely to find a lot of companionship in the Flat Earth Society.
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