Navigating the Worlds of Science and Religion
I created this tag to draw my attention to parts that I put in bold.
NOTE: I had a lot to say about this reading.
Judges 13: Now we get to the Israelites again doing bad things. Dang, you’d think they learn from their mistakes. Although when I said that to a friend of mine, he said it kinda reminds him of society now. I’m not going to go there today, but that’s an interesting perspective. I digress. This time the Israelites are ruled for 40 years by the Philistines.
Continue reading “10/2 Reading (Judges 13-15; 1 Corinthians 7)”
Judges 4: Again, the people did bad things once Ehud died. So, in this chapter we get the story of Deborah, Barak, and Jael, who together destroy Sisera and his army. This chapter is the prose version of this story.
Continue reading “9/28 Reading (Judges 4-6; 1 Corinthians 5)”
Joshua 22: The Eastern tribes go home here. They are accused of building an altar to a different God and confronted by the army. It pretty much ends up being a misunderstanding.
Continue reading “9/26 Reading (Joshua 22-24; 1 Corinthians 3)”
Joshua 16: Chapter focuses on the land given to the tribe of Joseph, specifically Ephraim.
Joshua 17: Chapter focuses on the land given to another part of the tribe of Joseph, specifically Manasseh. Actually, the land described here is given to the half of this group who didn’t get land on the other side of the Jordan river by Moses.
Joshua 18: Chapter begins with discussion of representatives from the seven remaining tribes to pretty much do a survey of the land that is still available and do a report for Joshua. The remaining of the chapter focuses on what was given to Benjamin.
Psalm 36: This psalm is a prayer for help from the wicked. The psalmist asks God to help them.
Psalm 37: According to the notes from the CEB study bible, this psalm is “usually identified as a wisdom psalm, and may have been what we might call today a teaching sermon” (CEB Study Bible, p. 879 OT). We learn about the importance of not getting angry or upset when wicked people appear to prosper. I find this challenging since this seems to happen all the time. We are supposed to trust in God that all will be ok in the end. This is definitely tough and something that I want to discuss further with others.
Joshua 7: Israel loses to Ai in battle all because Achan took what belonged to God. For this, Achan, his family, and all of his possessions were killed and destroyed. WOW! Such harsh punishment. The sins of one person directly impact everyone and lead to the death of an entire family.
Continue reading “9/20 Reading (Joshua 7-9; 2 Thessalonians 1)”
It’s interesting how closely the stories in Joshua mirror the actions of Moses. The spies and crossing the Jordan river in these three chapters.
Introduction to Joshua: I don’t have a lot to say, but I do want to include a pretty interesting quote from the intro to historical books section of NRSV study bible:
Continue reading “9/18 Reading (Joshua 1-3; 1 Thessalonians 4)”
Definitely a lot to say about this reading.
Deuteronomy 22: This chapter covers a wide range of topics. The first part focuses on various moral and religious responsibilities of citizenship (i.e. duties toward a neighbor, cross dressing, eating animals from two generations, what to add to a roof, how to treat your vineyard, don’t plow with two different species, don’t wear clothes made of wool and linen, and what to do with your cloak). Funny side note, this makes me think of the years we had gender bender days during homecoming week in high school. They were hilarious.
Continue reading “9/12 Reading (Deuteronomy 22-24; Acts 28)”
Two interesting sources to read along with this reading (here and here):
These above sources directly relate to Deuteronomy 20. Scientists have found what happened to the Canaanites: they weren’t destroyed. At least not completely. DNA evidence shows that “90 percent of the genetic ancestry of people in Lebanon came from the Canaanites” (Washington Post article). That’s cool. I also think it’s cool that this came out while I’m reading the Bible. I think I would’ve paid attention to this story, but it wouldn’t have meant as much to me as it does now if I weren’t doing this Bible study.
Continue reading “9/11 Reading (Deuteronomy 19-21; Acts 27)”
Deuteronomy 13: Chapter deals with the danger of false prophets and false gods. Three scenarios are given. First, a false prophet. The people are told to kill them. Second, a relative. The people are told to kill any relative that tries to lead them away from God. Third, an entire city. The people are told they have to destroy every person, animal, etc in the city as well as the city itself.
All of these seem to be pretty harsh.
Deuteronomy 14: Reminder of the dietary laws that were introduced in Leviticus 11. Also a reminder of saving a 10th of whatever your fields produce each year for God. The people are told at the end of this chapter that they need to put a 10th of their crops at the city gates every third year so the Levites, immigrants, orphans, and widows will have food.
So, is this all that they have to do for these other groups? Thankfully I read in the notes that these different groups are addressed later in Deuteronomy (24.17-22). That’s a relief.
Deuteronomy 15: Every seven years debts are cancelled and slaves released. The following passage resonated with me:
Now if there are some poor persons among you, say one of your fellow Israelites in one of your cities in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, don’t be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward your poor fellow Israelites. 8 To the contrary! Open your hand wide to them. You must generously lend them whatever they need. 9 But watch yourself! Make sure no wicked thought crosses your mind, such as, The seventh year is coming—the year of debt cancellation—so that you resent your poor fellow Israelites and don’t give them anything. If you do that, they will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin. 10 No, give generously to needy persons. Don’t resent giving to them because it is this very thing that will lead to the Lord your God’s blessing you in all you do and work at. 11 Poor persons will never disappear from the earth. That’s why I’m giving you this command: you must open your hand generously to your fellow Israelites, to the needy among you, and to the poor who live with you in your land. (CEB Study Bible p. 289 OT; Deut. 15.7-11)
I like that there is emphasis on how to treat poor people, but find it interesting that this is just for Israelites. How to treat poor non-Israelites is addressed earlier, but not much details are provided.
We then learn how they are to treat Israelite slaves every 7 years and how to treat them if they want to stay on as slaves.
Notes from the NRSV version say the following about the forgiveness of debt: “On accession to the throne, ancient Near Eastern rulers would sometimes grant one-time cancellation of debts, return land confiscated by the crown, and free indentured slaves” (p. 274). Interesting!!!!
Oldest male animals were set aside for the festivals that are addressed in the next chapter.
Acts 26: Paul’s fifth defense speech, this time in front of King Agrippa 2, his sister Bernice, Roman governor Porcius Festus, and other military and public officials in Caesarea. Paul goes into more detail here about his journey. This retelling of his story reminds me of how incredible his journey has been. Even the King agrees at the end that Paul has done nothing wrong. The King even says that if he had not appealed to Caesar, then he would have already been released.
The one thing that does stand out to me is this following statement: “At this point in Paul’s defense, Festus declared with a loud voice, ‘You’ve lost your mind, Paul! Too much learning is driving you mad!’” (CEB study bible, p. 269 NT; Acts 26.24) Hmmm…too much learning! Say what? Makes me think about experiences I’ve had in the past when some people have said to me that I’ve spent too much time learning throughout my life. Again, say what?
Deuteronomy 10: Moses retells when he had to do the ten commandments for the second time after the Golden Calf incident.