On the Hevel Level - A Blog About Nothing

      Romans 9–11: “Paul, Moses, and the Fate of  All  Israel” Some Artistry, Some Meaning The story of Israel in Egypt begins with a groan. As an enslaved people, they cry out, and their lament rises to God. What follows is deliverance, failure, and intercession—Moses even offering himself in place of the people. But the story doesn’t end there. When Paul turns to Israel in Romans 9–11, he picks up the intercession seeing Israel’s continued need for deliverance from failure. Paul structures these chapters as a lament about the nation of Israel. It artistically looks back to Israel’s post-Exodus formation as a nation and looks forward to the salvation of all Israel. In this “What about Israel?” lament, he opens with a groan, telling about the “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart” (9:2). But, as laments do, he works through it to a conclusion of praise. Chapter 11 concludes with, “Oh, the depths of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God… To him ...

  “But the meek will inherit the land”   Psalm 37:11 “Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth ”   Matt 5:5, Sermon on the Mount The Greek version of both of these verses has the same word translated differently; ‘land’ (Psalms) and ‘earth’ (Matthew), yet in English we get two different words.  Is there a difference in meaning between inheriting the land or inheriting the earth?  Or, more important, how would those listening to Jesus’ words have understood it? Jesus’ sermon on the mount was spoken to Jews who descended from Abraham.  God had promised a plot of land to Abraham and his descendants, marked out by specific boundaries (see Gen 15:18 or Num 34:1-10).  This land would eventually be called Israel - named after Abraham’s grandson. Jesus was giving the Sermon on the Mount to his fellow Israelites whose forefathers had returned from exile to live in their promised land.  Although they were physically living in the land they were ...

  When discussing biblical authority, it’s important to ask some questions. If the Bible is authoritative, how does that work? How is it that books in the Bible like Joshua, Ruth or Song of Solomon can be authoritative in life? What does that look like for a story to be authoritative? Before answering these questions, there’s some even more basic questions to ask. First, does anyone want another authority in their life? Second, when the claim is made that scripture is authoritative do people hear that as good news or bad news? Perhaps the answer depends on an individual’s experience with authority figures in their life. Without a doubt all people have had mixed experiences at best. As a parent, I can a ffi rm I’m not a perfect parent...and I know I’m not alone. Parents are the first experience of authority in a person’s life and the very best parents are flawed. After parents most of us have teachers, coaches, police o ffi cers, politicians and pastors to name a few. These roles c...

  King James Bible and the Unicorn A  Tidbit from our Tour of Stirling Castle The unicorn is Scotland’s official national animal.  During our Scotland visit we had been seeing it in the iconography all over the churches, buildings and monuments.  Stirling Castle had unicorns all over it as well.  The Queen’s Inner Hall even had the Passion Narrative expressed through pictures on each wall….with a Unicorn in each painting as Jesus As we continued to hear the history of James the IV, V and VI, the last of which was the one who commissioned the King James Bible something clicked for me.  I was aware that the King James Bible idiosyncratically uses ‘unicorn’ in a number of places for the Hebrew word ‘ reym’ ( normally ‘ox’) .    One example is Psalm 92:10, “But my horn shalt thou exalt like the horn of an  unicorn : I shall be anointed with fresh oil.”  Another is Numbers 23:22, “God brought them out of Egypt; he hat...

History does not have much kind to say about the Caesars who ruled from Rome.  The emperors were unscrupulous in their quest to maintain power.  They could spend lavishly to gain the favor of the masses and then turn around and rob through taxation, extortion or murderous plunder of faithful subjects.  The powerful did as they pleased and the rest of the world paid for it in every sense.     Those who lived in close proximity to Caesar were frequently reminded that it was at his pleasure they were allowed to stay alive.  Caligula often remind his wife, or other women he was intimate with, that they had beautiful necks, but he could have those pretty throats slit at any moment. Those who displeased Caesar, with significant reasons or not, were often tortured or killed.  This was true for rivals, but also true for ‘friends’.   Living far away did not save you from the long shadow of Rome.  Joseph, Mary and the baby...

The first two Psalms are reflections on the Garden of Eden.     At the center of the Garden of Eden there were two trees representing humanity’s choice.     The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil represents life on our own terms, while the Tree of Life is a picture of never-ending nourishment and sustained flourishing.     When we read Psalm 1 & 2 we are invited to listen to the echoes from The Garden of Eden.   Psalm 1 is about the blessed person who  meditates  ( yegeh 1 :2) on God’s way of life.  This person flourishes like a tree planted next to life giving waters.  They live without fear of drought because of the infinite water source that sustains them. This person is flourishing in an Edenic existence where the heart can freely delight in always increasing goodness.     Psalm 2 has a contrasting meditation. This psalm asks "Why do the nations conspire and the peoples meditate ( yegeh...

I’ve been watching the footage from Afghanistan and I feel powerless.  Where will justice, liberation and rescue come from? The outcry is great and as tragic as that is, it’s also important.  Why?  Because scripture gives witness to God who responds to outcry.  The Lord told Moses that he certainly heard the outcry (tsa-aq) of Israel during their oppression in Egypt (Ex 2:23, 3:7, 3:9).  Pharaoh is given the chance to let Israel go, but his refusal ends in a reversal of fortune.  It would be the great outcry (tsa-aq) of Pharaoh and his officials that pierced the night and led to release of the captives (Ex 12:30) A variety of Psalms containing outcry are referred to as laments.  The typical form of a lament begins in complaint, details the suffering, but concludes in praise as it anticipates God’s deliverance (e.g. Psalm 13, 22, 77).  The exodus narrative is structure as a “lived lament”.  It opens in the cry of the oppressed and ends with li...

  The Old Testament has an interesting feature.  It tells Israel’s history twice.  The first version starts at creation in Genesis and ends in 2 Kings with Israel’s southern kingdom in exile.  When you turn the page from 2 Kings’ conclusion to 1 Chronicles, the story starts over with Adam and goes through the end of exile. The question is, “why two versions?”     The Kings’ history tells the “How did we get ourselves into the mess of exile” version, while Chronicles comes at the end of exile and answers the question “How do we live and tell our story now?   Comparing the two histories helps us to see the different purpose for each narrative.  In this short survey, looking at David and his immediate family in each version will provide one place for comparison.  The second comparison is on the macro level, contrasting how the whole nation of Israel is handled between the two accounts.   David is a key figure in Israel’s history....

  As a Christian, we often struggle to understand what we should do with “all those oppressive Old Testament laws” that we supposedly don’t have to live under because of Jesus.     I say “supposedly” because in practice you won’t find many Christians who say “Because of Jesus, I’m free to kill, steal, commit adultery, lie in court, all on my way to pagan worship of other gods.”     But if as a Christian I do say, “I’m no longer under the law” isn’t it consistent with saying I can live however I want? As many have pointed out, “Law” is an unfortunate translation of  torah.   Using ‘teaching’ or ‘instruction’ better prepares us for the material we meet in the first five books of the Bible.  After all, you read about 70 chapters of ‘story’ before you get material that you could call “law”.  It is true that 58 chapters of the 189 in the Torah do contain laws, but a majority of what we call “The Law” is a story. A better way to unde...