Contemplative Bible Reading

Leviticus 17:7 (New Living Translation)

7 The people must no longer be unfaithful to the Lord by offering sacrifices to the goat idols. This is a permanent law for them, to be observed from generation to generation.

People used to worship goats. Goats? Yes, goats. Goats were common livestock that provided milk and meat and didn’t require as many resources as cows. If you sacrificed to the goat idol, your goats and sheep and other livestock would breed and produce more and more.

Goats? Yes, goats. Odd at what different people in different places would worship. Delve into it further and you sort of get the picture. But goats?

Of all the things to attribute supernatural power to, we have the goat. Hindsight shows those folks as pretty stupid. Not smart and scientific and logical and reasonable and … oh, like us? Oh, well, maybe on some days we are. Then we scream at a pothole for jolting our car. Let’s see, we attribute supernatural power to a hole in the ground because it “hurt” our car (a machine without feelings).

Goats are goats. Holes in the ground are holes in the ground. God is God. We ought to be able to keep that straight, but… Please God help me in my unbelief.