Opus 2025-315: The Curse of the Blessed

One of the paradoxes that seems to come out in the Bible is the contrast between the blessing that God has given to Israel and the rejection of God that seems to permeate Israel.

God promised to Abraham that He would bless the world through his people.

(Gen 12:2 KJV)  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
(Gen 12:3 KJV)  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

This could be interpreted many ways.  God can present His standards for civilization through the law.  I think the ultimate blessing of course is the Messiah to come from the house of David.  That is certainly a blessing for the world.  I think there’s also the blessing that the Jewish people have given the world and the gifts of their genius, creativity, and productivity.  So many blessings.

But I notice, while Abraham will be blessed, there is no statement that his descendants will be blessed.  We assume that.  Maybe we should but it makes me wonder.

While they were blessing the world, they seem to be committed to a priority of defying God and going the opposite direction that He has commanded them to go.  Much of the Old Testament documents this rebellious attitude.  And Jeremiah is told to search Jerusalem to try and find one righteous person, and he cannot do it.  It is incredible.

In this there is a lesson.

Those who come loaded with gifts tend to be overcome by hubris.  That is a great word that says so much.  It speaks of being filled with your own importance.  It speaks of being aware of how gifted you are, and how other people should be grateful for your presence.  It makes you so obnoxious that no one is grateful for your presence even though you bring great benefits through your skills and contributions.  I’m talking here of our “scholars”.  I’m talking about the great scientist who have made major breakthroughs.  I’m talking about political leaders who seem to be able to get things done.  There are many people who are incredibly gifted and they know it.

Education tends to confuse people in their self-worth.  They think that had knowledge makes them better than people who have not had their opportunities or who do not have their abilities.  Well, great coordination may make you a better athlete, it does not make you a better human being.  Great ability tends to drag people down.  We see this everywhere.

There’s not much we can do for people who think too highly of themselves.  All we can really do is examine our own hearts and minds.  All we can do is submit to the authority of Almighty God, who certainly is smarter and more gifted than we are.  I guess part of the problem is that some people whether through education, or just a natural ability to inflate their egos, think of themselves as superior to God.  That is the tendency that Satan played upon when dealing with Eve in the garden.  It’s something which we have to deal with every day as he tries to get us to think we are more blessed than others.  Along with that is the thought that we deserve it.

Be a blessing.  Make sure that as you are a blessing to the world and not a curse to yourself.   As the song and scripture say,

(Jas 4:10 KJV)  Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

homo unius libri

Opus 2025-235: The Blessing

Abraham was given a promise by God.  One aspect of that was his descendants being a blessing.

(Gen 12:3 KJV)  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

Notice this is not just a blessing for his decedents but to all the earth.

How does that work?  How has it worked?  I can think of at least three levels that this was applied.  I will look at them in chronological order.

The Children of Israel were given the Law.  It was the blessing of the moral foundation for society. The law took values that we assume today and began to force them onto a totally pagan culture that knew nothing of the living God.

Don’t get confused by the way in which we always hear that Paul attacked the law.  Paul did not mean what you usually hear being laid on him.  Yes, he had a lot to say about the law.  Most of it was negative.  The problem is that most people interpret what he says in order to reinforce their own traditions rather than read and think for themselves.

Let’s look at Galatians and focus on chapter 5.  Paul mentions the law before this but this will show the contrast I am talking about.  Paul starts off this passage with a statement I am sure you have heard before,

(Gal 5:18 KJV)  But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.

We read this, hear it quoted, listen to sermons on it and never keep reading with our brains plugged in.  Notice what comes after this,(Gal 5:19 KJV)  Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,

(Gal 5:20 KJV)  Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
(Gal 5:21 KJV)  Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

I want you to take a moment and ask yourself, “How many of these behaviors that Paul says will keep us out of the Kingdom of God are found mentioned somewhere in what is called “the Law”?  I hope you see a lot of similarities.  Now think.  Paul is condemning the law and then turning around and saying that the things forbidden by the law are also forbidden by him.  This is not the only place you will find this kind of thing.  

What is Paul talking about then?  One way to find out is to read what he says and make a list of the “laws” that he is condemning.  I won’t claim to have the complete list but the only ones I have found so far are circumcision and special days such as the Sabbath and new moons.

On the other hand, what parts of the law does Paul tell you are expected?  Read over the verses above.  Consider also the words of Jesus.  When Jesus teaches behavior that is expected it involves the Ten Commandments and certain parts of the law that we would consider moral or ethical.

The problem with the law it that it becomes a mechanical formula that makes us think we can deserve salvation because we dot all the “i’s” and cross all the “t’s”.  It makes us look to our own righteousness instead of realizing that salvation is ultimately an act of God extended to us because of our faith.

Overall the law was a big step forward for culture and civilization.

The second is the blessing of an incredibly gifted group of people.  Think of Jewish contributions to culture.  Think how much shorter the list of accomplishments would be in science, music and the arts if the Jews had not made their contribution.  They are an extremely gifted group of people.  

Then there is the blessing of the Messiah, Jesus Himself.

Which of the three was God referring to in his promise? Again the answer is, “yes.

As to which one is the most important, that would have to be the Messiah.  All of the rest of it work towards that moment in time, when Jesus allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross and fulfilled the requirement of a just God in paying for the sins of the world.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-157: Great Nation

We are going through a time of great Jew hatred.  It is amazing that basically decent Americans are getting on board but we need to consider the overwhelming diet of distortion and lies about Israel and Hamas coming from academia and the media.  It used to be that Christians at least were in basic agreement about the Jews having a homeland because their default was the Bible not the talking heads.  

God started by promising what appears to be a political statement,

(Gen 12:2 KJV)  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

Much of the former Christian position was based on a promise God gave to Israel.  There was also a detail involving the other nartions,

(Gen 12:3 KJV)  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

The promise had geography involved,

(Gen 15:18 KJV)  In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:

One commentator I was listening to said this roughly corresponded to the kindom of Solomon.  I have heard others say it went beyond that.  The salient point is that God promised the land that is modern Israel to Israel.

The naive and ignorant ignore that.  There are others who say that Israel negated the covenant by their disobedience.  Others would say that political Israel is not synonymous with spiritual Israel.  The issue gets a bit clouded.  

As I was reading Genesis I noticed that God uses the exact same terminology with Moses that He used with Abraham, in regard to becoming a great nation.  In context, Israel had just formed the golden calf and worshiped it as a god.  Yahweh was a bit upset and was threatening to do to them what He had done to the neighbors of Noah, only without water.  

Exodus 32:10 (KJV) Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

He did not follow through.  He was speaking in his wrath.  So I don’t know what to make of that.   Is this an indication that He would reject Israel and cancel His covenant?  How does that fit in with your theology?  Keep in mind that the thinking in those days was that salvation was more national than personal.  I don’t know that God saw it that way but the people certainly did.

Is the modern nation of Israel the Israel of God or just a man made institution?  I would say that we need to err on the side of caution.

homo unius libri

Opus 2023-040: Starting Time

“Don’t trust anyone over thirty.”  That used to be a common sentiment.  Today I would find myself saying, “Don’t trust anyone under thirty.”  This of course speaks to the different ways that generations view things.  One of the books I read recently was Bowling Alone.  It had a lot of interesting information and a lot of boring nonsense.  One of the points the book made was that there has been a lot of parallel changes in many areas of our culture from voting to church attendance.  On the subject of voting it says,

“Very little of the net decline in voting is attributable to individual change, and virtually all of it is generational.” p. 34

There is a lot of discrimination that goes on across generations.  Some of it is warranted, some is not.  In many career paths older workers have a hard time getting a job that pays well even if they have the abilities and experience.  

I have reached the golden years of retirement.  If the government does not totally ruin our society and I don’t do something incredibly stupid, I will have enough to live on.  My health is good.  My family is awesome.  I am enjoying the time I have.  But I sometimes wonder if I should be doing more.  This hit me when I saw the following verse,

(Gen 12:4 KJV)  So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

Abram was 75 when he started out on his adventure of obedience and faith.  I can’t picture that.  I am ready to rest on my laurels, Abram was starting the nation of Israel.  

Maybe I should set my goals a bit higher.  Maybe not.

Putnam, Robert D.  Bowling Alone.  New York:  Simon and Schuster, 2000.

homo unius libri

Opus 2022-142: American Babylon

I was reading Jeremiah 51 and almost had my mind go into neutral during a description of the wrath of God coming down on Babylon.  I have read this kind of proclamation before.  Although I consider myself a realist and was recently called a cynic, I am not into doom and gloom.  I tend to read prophetic announcements and then go on to things that I think make a difference.

That is not the norm for some Christians.  We often hear about how Babylon is the Roman Catholic church and the EU is the 10 horned beast.  One consistent thing mentioned literally is the fact that Babylon destroyed Israel.  Eventually Babylon was destroyed for what they did to God’s people.

The modern left is all in to desert modern Israel.  You even have a lot of American Jews who are not willing to support it.  If the United States ever hangs Israel out to dry, will we become Babylon?  Will all of these terrible calamities descend on us?  Read these verses,

(Gen 12:1-3 KJV)  Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:  And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:  And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

It makes you wonder, doesn’t it?  

homo unius libri