Blessings and Curses

Modern psychology tells us that every action is motivated by either love or fear. We go to our jobs every day out of love for the work or fear of starving. Try it; it works for everything. And we even see it in this ancient narrative. It falls to Moses to tell his people all the reasons to follow God’s orders. It falls into two categories: Fear of God and of what will befall them if they don’t, Love of God and all the cool things given to them if they do.

In this corner – the CURSES
“You will be cursed when you come in and cursed when you go out.”

Again I summarize through word choice: confusion, rebuke, ruin, forsake, plague, disease, fever, blight, dust, horror, festering sores, barren, slaughter, ridicule, scorn, hunger, thirst, nakedness, dire poverty, terror, dread. You get the picture.

“You who were as numerous as the stars in the sky will be left but few in number…Just as it pleased the Lord to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please Him to ruin and destroy you.”  Please Him.  Wow.

And in this corner – BLESSINGS

“Restore your fortunes…have compassion toward you…make you prosperous…delight in you.”

[side note: Yet, He also states that, “There will always be poor people in the land.” This, even within the scenario of all these abundant blessings.]

Now, would you believe that even with this blindingly clear-cut choice, the Lord tells Moses that after he dies (which will be soon), his people will forsake the Lord and break their covenant with Him? Why would anyone blow this offer?!

Scripture so far is written in such absolutism.  When I look at Life around me, I see blessings and curses, if that they be.  

Confession #43: Earlier in this blog, I purported that cause and effect were individual, each one’s karma, if you will. And I have NEVER understood why my fellow man continues to try to impose HIS value system, life-style, behavior code on me. Yet, I begin to understand why now. Because, if one believes that an entire tribe or community or country of people will be judged collectively, then I do pay the curse or enjoy the blessing for your behavior on this earth. Now, do I believe this is fair or even true? No. But this does result in the compulsion to control another.

Gratitude

Confession #42: I am thankful for the freedom to read, to think, to pray, to not pray, to question, to worship, to not worship, to write, to speak, to believe.

Happy Thanksgiving y’all.

Coming up: blessings and curses from Deuteronomy

In case you just joined us

O.K., this entry took awhile because I chose to get through Deuteronomy in its entirety. That’s because, at least two-thirds of its 27 pages in my edition is continuous review of the last three books’ events. In sermons by Moses in Moab, he recounts in meticulous detail (some would say tedious) all that had transpired in the last forty years of exile and advancement toward the promised land across the Jordan River. This includes the commandments re-stated and every law laid down. Some were new to this Book.

There are wonderful laws in here about never bearing false witness, about caring for your neighbor, about protecting rights of orphans, widows, and aliens. Even not taking advantage of a hired hand who is poor and needy, and not cheating in business transactions. And then, consider for yourself the following…

If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son, he (the son) should be stoned to death by the men in the town. This edict, along with many others, comes with the “You must purge the evil from among you” refrain as justification.

“A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man woman’s clothing.”

“Do not wear clothes of woolen and linen woven together.”

If a man grows to dislike his wife and accuses her of not being a virgin when they married, if they find that is true she is to be stoned to death.  Same for a man?  Don't know.

“If a man is recently married he is not to be sent to war of have any other duty laid upon him. He is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to his wife.” Oh yes!! Talk about bonding.

“If a man is found sleeping with another man’s wife,” both must die.

Build a parapet around your roof so that if someone falls from the roof, the guilt of bloodshed won’t land on your house.

Divorce seems accepted, however, a wife can’t remarry her first husband if her second doesn’t work out. Hmmm.

How about this: if a woman’s husband dies, it is her brother-in-law’s duty to take her in as his wife. If he doesn’t want to, she can go to him in front of the elders, remove one of his sandals, spit in his face and say, “That man’s line shall be known as the Family of the Unsandaled.” Well, I never!

If two men are fighting and the wife of one intervenes and grabs the privates of the assailant, she is to have her hand cut off. “Show her no pity.”

In some situations, the Israelites are instructed by God Himself to lay siege on a city, kill all the men, and keep all children, women, livestock, etc. for themselves as plunder. In other circumstances, they are told to kill “every living thing.” I can’t get over this.

“The Lord of lords shows no partiality.” That is, I guess, as long as you are in the in-crowd of Israelites.

Confession #41: I continue to wrestle with a question I cannot answer: Why must God “choose” a people in the first place? Why would not God be a god for all He has created?

Brief Reflection

Since beginning this blog about three months ago, I’ve been on quite an intellectual journey. The most interesting aspect has been in talking with others. The typical conversation runs a little like this:

“So, Valerie, how’s retirement?”
“Great.”
“What are you doing with yourself, hmmm?”
“Well, I’m learning Tai Chi with my sister, I just finished writing a short story, I get to see my mother much more often, oh, and I’m blogging!”
“Really.”
“Yes, it’s called Confessions of a Bible Virgin. I am reading the bible for the first time and re-capping it, if you will.”

This is where most heads hang, and mumbling confessions begin.
“Oh, ah, I’ve never read the bible myself. I go to church and all. But I’ve had questions myself. We had a bible at home, but…Well, hey, good luck with that. I’ll have to read your blog."  (many don't)

And I sure don’t blame them if they assume my entries are either boring or preachy. (I hope they aren’t!)

Then they start looking at me differently, like I’ve been born again, which leaves them curious and uncomfortable. “Ah, yes, Valerie’s found religion in retirement.” It’s hard to convince some that I am neither for nor against the Bible; I am just a student of it now.

But these encounters remind me that we all have unanswerable questions. Most people belong to a church they don’t go to as often as they used to.   Or they'll identify their religious affiliation as, "Well, I was raised ___."  And I’ve found only one to tell me she's read the Bible start to finish as deemed by her Mormon church. Seeing the scope of this undertaking, I am impressed!

About every other day, my personal promoter, Tom, will come home and say, “You’ve got another reader.” He reminds them that comments left by readers “are how bloggers get paid.” (not literally, in case you are wondering ☺)

So, keep your comments coming, posted or otherwise.  They are what keep me going, because it’s much more tempting to read John Updike’s new novel over numbers upon numbers in Numbers.

Confession #40:  I am truly enjoying this chronicle effort.

The Last Numbers

Up to this point, when a man died, his property would go only to sons or other males. When Zelophehad died, his five daughters petitioned Moses that his name/clan should not die out due to no inheritance because he left no sons. So Moses took the issue to the Lord, and guess what – He agreed and set new law to observe daughters as legitimate heirs.

But then, just a few pages later, it is pointed out that if they married into another Israelite tribe, their father’s clan would lose out, and heavens, that wouldn’t be fair. So the only solution was to relegate the daughters to marrying their cousins within their class to keep the property.  Any daughter who inherits land must marry within her father’s tribe. And so… Z’s five daughters all married their cousins on their father’s side. Ew.

So, should we take this as a sign to sanction inbreeding? Naw.

Confession #39: It is interesting to me that as various states consider the definition of marriage, again many of us hoist the Bible in the air as proof of our own construct. And yet, we have already seen in these first four books the divergent constructs such unions have undergone. [I’m sure we’ll return to this subject again.]

And on we move toward Jericho.

Numbers by the Numbers

Tribe of Reuben 46,500
Tribe of Simeon 59,300
Tribe of Gad 45,650
Tribe of Judah 74,600
Tribe of Issachar 54,400
Tribe of Zebulun 57,400
Tribe of Ephriam 40,500
Tribe of Manasseh 32,200
Tribe Benjamin 35,400
Tribe of Dan 62,700
Tribe of Asher 41,500
Tribe of Naphtali 53,400

One silver plate weighing one hundred and thirty shekels
One young bull, two oxen, five rams, five male goats, five male lambs
Two hundred and fifty men were offering the incense
14,700 people died from the plague
Build me seven altars
A grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah, with the ram, two-tenths
Prepare the food for seven days
On the first day of the seventh month
On the tenth day of the seventh month
With each of the thirteen bulls, prepare two rams, fourteen male lambs…
On the fifth day prepare nine bull, two rams and fourteen lambs…
On the eighth day hold an assembly
From the soldiers, set apart one out of every five hundred…
The plunder was 675,000 sheep, 72,000 cattle, 61,000 donkeys, 32,000 virgins.
[yes, I said virgins]
Eleazar presented 16,750 shekels
Two and half tribes received their inheritance

Whew! My head is whirring. So I try to look at the broader application here. When I read such specifics, (and trust me, I only quoted a fraction here from Numbers) I am impressed by the apparently incredible accuracy in record-keeping. My conflict (and you must be getting used to my being conflicted) lies in the persona of God being so absorbed with numbers Himself. You must offer to me precisely one___, two___one-half___exactly four feet ___ and not more than ____ of exactly ___. God: the ultimate micro manager! I just see God as a macro manager, a “big picture” kind of guy who need not tax himself with minutia. Maybe I am wrong.

Speaking of numbers, here’s something to chew on: Yesterday, University of Arizona anthropologists reported finding a 1.2 million year old female pelvis. Boy that screws up biblical record-keeping! That is, unless you are a former creationist colleague of mine who, when asked to explain compelling remnant evidence of evolution found in the Grand Canyon, explained it away as “God’s placing of these objects to trick the non-believers.” WHAT?! I say, WHAT?! So now we can add the attribute of conniving to this God image.

Confession #39: These numerical details add credibility to this document being some sort of valid record of EVENTS. But it does nothing for me as evidence of the Lord’s actual so-called spoken directions to Moses and company.

The Honeymoon is Over

“The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.”

I’m not seeing it.

The image of God portrayed throughout Numbers (which will require more than one entry in this blog) is one of detailed and incessant demands, constant testing, vengeance and mixed messages.  And He's getting pretty fed up with His "chosen" people.

After all the Lord has done for Moses and after all Moses has done for his people, we’ve got trouble…right here in River City, as the song goes. Dissension brews among the Israelites as they are growing weary of long vistas of nothingness in the desert with no water, food, etc. Moses freed his people, but for what? God gets REAL testy here. He is very tired of the Israelites’ “grumbling” and there is a very cool scene where He opens up the earth and swallows several men when they oppose Moses. Great drama. He leads tribes into battle over land and even out of vengeance for Himself. Moses struggles to both control and defend his people.

I find myself curious about all these other tribes and communities mentioned. Did they have recorded histories? What would theirs tell? There are occasional references to their worshipping other or false gods. Are there other gods out there? And why does God with a capital G only seem to be a deity over the Israelites? I would imagine others' recounting of events would read very differently. So, does the truth lie with whoever gets to write it down? If we have limited viewpoints upon which to base our accounting of an event, that skews our perspective, no? Think of a time when two people had drastically divergent points of view on the same situation. Both are convinced of their perspective. We are getting one here. I wonder if there any parallel companions to this testament.

Just as varying translations of a language can lead to extremely diverse meanings, so too do varying points of view. How would these other tribes have written their accounts of the Israelites’ invasion of their communities? How would they have viewed the plunder and enslavement of their citizens? Oh, but the Israelites were following God’s orders. O.K.

Confession #37: I struggle deeply with the “chosen people” concept because it seems to me all humans are God’s creation and deserve the same shot at a relationship with Him.

Confession #38: The old adage, “The pen is mightier than the sword” takes on new meaning for me as I consider that whoever tells the story has the real power to construct the Truth.

Now THAT'S Reparation

A brief aside…

What we witnessed last night in the election of Barack Obama is true reparation. Reparation: 1) compensation for a wrong, 2) restoration of something to good condition

Reparation is not doling out cash arbitrarily like graft or hush money (“Now don’t talk about it anymore.”) Reparation is to "repair", to make it right in action. And, whether you were for or ag’in’ Obama’s candidacy, there is no mistaking that rips in the pages of our American history are being repaired.

As I write this, a young lady on CNN says, “The melting pot of America has spoken.” I believe the very strength of America lies in its diversity. Let us trust in it and move on with no fear.

Peace,

May I quote you on that?

Well, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, as they say. Look out, y’all. Valerie can now enter new discussions armed with newfound knowledge. I recently felt compelled to join the larger reader community of The Arizona Republic. See my letter (click  Saturday, Nov 1).

Maybe because I’ve spent the last couple of decades teaching high school students how to cite sources, maybe because I am watching a presidential campaign that daily spews inaccuracies, maybe because I am a seeker of truth (hence my biblical study), but I simply cringe when sources are lifted out of context or misquoted or built so heavily on interpretation to promote one’s own agenda. We use this one religious document to establish public policy, invade individuals’ privacy, and “nation build” outside our own borders. Do we look to messages in the Bible to merely HELP guide our current laws or mores, or do some set out to find any Biblical phrasing to assert their pre-set viewpoints?

If the Bible is supposed to be a virtual living, breathing document for today, then we must be living, breathing members of today’s society in our interpretations of it.

On another note, again my circles intersect. On Friday, I had the pleasure of visiting with a most remarkable lady. Helen Handler is a Holocaust survivor who has generously visited my classroom in the past to share her experience in Auschwitz as part of our study of Elie Wiesel’s memoir, Night. Now that I am retired and have handed my course to another, I volunteered to chauffeur Helen to class this semester (well worth the 160 mile round trip for me). 

She is a beautiful soul who speaks to students on messages of hope and peace, never vengeance or hatred. She points out that the Jews who survived Nazi Germany put not a gun in their children’s hands, but a book. Education was the key to further their survival. She implores young people to cherish their lives, to live fully, to not waste one minute.

When I told her of my journey into the Bible, we had a spirited conversation about early Jewish history. What’s more, she generously lent me what is, according to her, the essential translation of the Bible with Hebrew and English side by side. Hebrew reads right to left. So one begins at the back of the book and moves backwards.

Helen attributes her survival of death camps to her faith in God.  At the close of each day she would ask Him for one more. Then she committed herself to not waste each one He gave her. For years she has devoted herself to the work of “good word” in bringing messages of understanding and peace to groups everywhere.

Confession #36: I waste a lot of moments in my life. I hope I reach my last day knowing I didn’t waste my life itself.