Contemplative Bible Reading

Judges 9:22-23 (New Living Translation)

22 After Abimelech had ruled over Israel for three years, 23 God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem, and they revolted.

This is part of the (hi)story of the Judges who ruled Israel before the kings. The fellow named Abimelech ruled three years—a pretty good run. Then there was a revolt. Why?

God sent a spirit that stirred up trouble between Abimelech and the leading citizens of Shechem.

Let’s see, God sent a spirit into the people of the land. Things turned out badly for Abimelech. God influenced politics and political rulers. Should God be doing things like this? I mean, let politics be left to the politicians, right? And who am I to question what God does? And who am I to say, “Well, God was in politics in that time and place, so I should be in politics here and now and start a revolt just like God.”

Uh, er, we can take this too far in many directions and cause more unrighteous trouble. Let’s be careful here folks.

Still, right here in black and white in front of us are the words, “God sent a spirit.” God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform. At some times in some places with some people, God guides political movements. We, or at least I, cannot judge when it is God acting or God allowing people to act or whatever other possibilities there are. We, especially I, can live a Christian life no matter what happens. That is my choice.

Deuteronomy 26:5 (New Living Translation)

5 “You must then say in the presence of the Lord your God, ‘My ancestor Jacob was a wandering Aramean who went to live as a foreigner in Egypt. His family arrived few in number, but in Egypt they became a large and mighty nation.

God is speaking to the people as they are about to enter the Promised Land. When they enter the land, “they must then say…”

Jacob entered Egypt with fewer than a hundred people. Later, 400 years later, they exited with a million or so people, i.e., a mighty nation.

This is the ultimate rags to riches story. Perhaps it is a rags to bigger rags story. Sure, the people who exited Egypt did so with valuables earned over the 400 years as well as riches given to them by the Egyptians (good riddance).

Did the people, however, retain the riches or just become a much bigger group of rags? Did the experience lead them to righteous living? Did the people fall into injustice and unrighteous living? History shows that it didn’t go well with the people as they turned away from God. They became a much bigger group of rags.

What was wrong with them? What is wrong with me? I am blessed far more than these descendants of Jacob were. What am I doing with the blessings? Oh, well, sure I’m a good guy and all that. Really? Am I rich in justice and righteousness? Well, on my good days, but I have too few of those and too many of the other kind (if I am being honest with myself). And thank you God for your grace, and please help me in my unbelief.

Judges 10:11-12 (New Living Translation)

11 The Lord replied, “Did I not rescue you from the Egyptians, the Amorites, the Ammonites, the Philistines, 12 the Sidonians, the Amalekites, and the Maonites? When they oppressed you, you cried out to me for help, and I rescued you.”

This is a long list of rescues. God is talking to the people and reminding them of all the times God rescued them from peoples who wanted to kill them—literally wipe them from the face of the earth.

Me? No one has tried to kill me. God has never rescued me. Well, uh, er, there was the time when I was about to do something really stupid and something stopped me just in the “nick of time.” Well, uh, er, that was my good judgement, right? And there was the time when things seemed really bad and then the next morning it was alright. Well, uh, er, that was the way of life or something, right? And there was the time when I was almost in a car accident, but my quick reflexes saved the day, and it was all my good skill, and, uh, er, well, was it?

Rescue? Has God ever rescued me? Well, uh, er, how about, “Certainly, yes.”

Yes, God has rescued me many times. Lots of bad things happen in this world. Gravity pulls things down. Mechanical things fail. Fatigues closes my eyes. Anger clouds my judgement. The list of calamities is long. The list of rescues is also long. Thanks be to God. Please God, help me in my unbelief.

Deuteronomy 24:5 (New Living Translation)

5 “A newly married man must not be drafted into the army or be given any other official responsibilities. He must be free to spend one year at home, bringing happiness to the wife he has married.”

These are the regulations to people were to follow. From time to time, the leaders would draft an army. Exempt from the army were newly married men. The newly married many was also exempt for any other official responsibilities. Wow! The Marriage Leave Act or something like that! I like the sound of that. And the newly married man was to spend the year at home bringing happiness to the wife.

Time’s up. After a year, join the responsibilities of all men of the people. Still, there would be plenty of time later for responsibilities and official duties. Plenty of time.

Have we forgotten something in our time? Would a Marriage Leave Act work in our world or our nation or our town? What if I got married, divorced, married every year? Would that all work? Would someone catch on and write exceptions to the law?

Did God know what He was doing by giving this to the people? Probably so as God seems to have always known what He was doing. So, what are we doing?

Deuteronomy 21:18-21 (New Living Translation)

18 “Suppose a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or mother, even though they discipline him. 19 In such a case, the father and mother must take the son to the elders as they hold court at the town gate. 20 The parents must say to the elders, ‘This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious and refuses to obey. He is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of his town must stone him to death. In this way, you will purge this evil from among you, and all Israel will hear about it and be afraid.

This post is a bit unusual as I am included several verses above. These verses are from THE LAW the people were to observe. This specific law is about a stubborn and rebellious son. The parents of this son are to take him to the elders at the town gate when the elders hold court. The charges against the son include “glutton and drunkard.”

Ooh. Gluttony seems to be the national pastime in America today as we over eat all the time. Okay, drunkard is pretty serious as it impairs judgement and brings dangerous drunk driving and the like.

So what do they do with a son who indulges too much on a Friday night? Surround the son and have the men throw rocks at the boy until he dies.

Whoa! Wait a minute. That’s a bit harsh, huh? Why? To purge the evil and bring fear into the community.

Whoa! Wait a minute. Sure, this was in ancient times and all that and surely we know better today, right, huh? I mean, capital punishment for too much to eat and too much alcohol? And, by the way, this regulation is not rescinded in the New Testament. Hmm. Well, it must have been negated at the Council of something-or-other in some century long ago, right? Hmm. Well, nope, it wasn’t.

Whoa! Wait a minute. Where are we? When are we? What are we to do? I am not advocating this punishment for these offenses. What should we do with such a stubborn and rebellious son or any person who is a glutton and a drunkard? I will leave suggestions to the readers. I pray for the parents of such a son. I pray for all who know any such person.

1 Samuel 16:18 (New Living Translation)

18 One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him.”

And so begins the (hi)story of Saul and David. It ended with a civil war when David became King. David from Bethlehem is recommended to King Saul because the King has a tormenting spirit. I’m not sure what we call that today, but I don’t think we use the word “tormenting.”

Note, this advice comes from trusted insiders. These folks knew what they were saying, right? Yes, they give other attributes to David from being a warrior to having good looks (and also the LORD is with David), but they begin with this harp playing stuff.

Can you imagine someone telling the President of the United States, “You need to calm your torment. I know this harp player who could do that for you.” How about telling the leader of Russia, China, North Korea, etc. something like that?

Perhaps that is what we all need to be telling everyone we know who seems to be tormented.

“Relax, listen to some live music from someone playing a harp.”

As long as the harp player also had the LORD with ’em, that might be the best advice anyone could offer. We could be on to something here.

2 Samuel 8:2 (New Living Translation)

2 David also conquered the land of Moab. He made the people lie down on the ground in a row, and he measured them off in groups with a length of rope. He measured off two groups to be executed for every one group to be spared. The Moabites who were spared became David’s subjects and paid him tribute money.

This section of 2 Samuel describes the military triumphs of King David. Here David executes two-thirds of the people of Moab. Pause here: David executes two-thirds of the people of Moab. Why? Why is David so brutal? The following verses continue to describe the death and destruction that flowed from David. At one point he cripples the horses that pull 900 chariots. That is thousands and thousands of horses crippled by David. Why does he torture animals?

Yet a few sentences later we read that David did what was just and right for all his people.

These two things cannot both be true, but they are. King David was righteous and also brutal. That characterized the times in which he lived, huh? None of this makes sense to me sitting here in a nice coffee shop with nice people on a nice day in a nice community. I don’t know if the times of David were odd or my time and place is odd. I just can’t answer the questions that I can ask.

Thank you God for my life in my time and place. Help me in my unbelief.

1 Samuel 7:10 (New Living Translation)

10 Just as Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines arrived to attack Israel. But the Lord spoke with a mighty voice of thunder from heaven that day, and the Philistines were thrown into such confusion that the Israelites defeated them.

The dreaded Philistines arrive with an army to attack Israel. The Philistine army was superior and was to win yet another battle. The Israelites defeated the superior Philistine army.

Huh? What happened? The Philistines were thrown into confusion by thunder, i.e., weather. God changed the weather, the Philistines were confused, and they were defeated.

This doesn’t make sense, but this is right in front of us in the text. God brought some unexpected thunder of a kind that threw an army into confusion to the point that they couldn’t shoot straight or whatever armies of the time were trying to do.

Does God change the weather to change all battles of human armies? I don’t know. I don’t read that in the Bible. I do read where God does change the weather for some battles for some armies at some times and the weather changes the outcome. If God changes the weather, what else does God change to affect the course of human events? Probably many things. It is for God to know and me to wonder. It is also for me to do what is right and righteous and seek God’s mercy and grace.

1 Samuel 6:5-6 (New Living Translation)

5 Make these things to show honor to the God of Israel. Perhaps then he will stop afflicting you, your gods, and your land. 6 Don’t be stubborn and rebellious as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were. By the time God was finished with them, they were eager to let Israel go.

This is part of the (hi)story of the relationship between God’s people and the Philistines. The Philistines had captured the Ark of the Covenant. The result was seven months of plague on the Philistines. The leaders of the Philistines asked their priests and diviners for advice on what to do to stop this plague. The verses above are the advice of the priests and diviners.

Notice how the advice speaks of Pharaoh and the Egyptians. Those events happened hundreds of years before. Yet, the Philistines knew the history of God’s people and how God had miraculously brought the people out of Egypt after four hundred years.

The Philistines remembered the history. Often, God’s people didn’t remember their own history. That makes no sense. The enemy knows God better than God’s people know God. What was wrong with God’s people?

It is easy to shake my head and wonder about the forgetfulness and sinfulness of God’s people way back when. Us today? Me today? Well, uh, we and I certainly wouldn’t be so stupid and sinful, huh? Well, maybe or maybe not or something. I have my bad days. I have days that are much worse than bad. I am glad the prophets aren’t recording my life for someone else to read a few thousand years from now. How would “The Life of Dwayne” read in a few thousand years? Yikes.

Please God, help me to remember and help me in my unbelief.

1 Samuel 17:46 (New Living Translation)

46 Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!

This is from the history of David and Goliath. Goliath is the “you” in these sentences. Note the order of Goliath’s demise:

• The Lord will conquer Goliath
• David will kill Goliath

David killing Goliath comes after the Lord conquering Goliath. David performed the physical act of cutting off the head of a fallen man. This occurs after God conquers the man’s spirit. Goliath was doomed because God said so. The rest was a formality. The rest could be performed by a teenager.

Perhaps this is the way many occurrences occur today: God does the miracle while I just show up and stand there. The power is God’s. Still, I have a part to play—I have to show up and stand there. God gives me that ability. I have to choose to use the God-given ability.

Why not just let God do both parts? What good is there in that? We could have seen Goliath drop dead on the battlefield without any human doing anything. What good is there in that? “God moves in mysterious ways His wonders to perform,” so says a poet. A big part of those mysterious ways is God has someone like David or me stand there and do something simple after God does the miracle.