Hebrew Bible and Christian Scriptures

It has taken me a LONG TIME to read the Psalms. This is not due to the length of each psalm, or even the ability to read for 5 or 10 minutes at a time and easily pick up where I left off. The hardest part for me is putting them all together in a “mental hymnal,” in order that I may more clearly understand the laments, joyful times, thanksgiving, and all of the emotions in between. And there is one part that I completely underestimated about the Psalms…there is so much personal history embedded in them. Not just the daydreams I would have as a child of David playing on his harp and singing his lungs out for the Lord, but the quiet, still times. Those times when it was read from a Bible storybook right before a child’s bedtime, the long years that is has lived in the heart of my grandmother who can recite many psalms from childhood memory, the tearful reading of a famous psalm at a funeral, and even the reciting of a joyful psalm at a wedding or celebration. The psalms remind me of home and comfort, for some of these (besides John 3:16 and Amazing Grace) are oftentimes a person’s only link to a personal God. I hope this isn’t the case, but I am so grateful for this hymnal that brings people together, in sad and glad times, and can be heard and read and understood and spoken off the lips because it was hidden in one’s heart as a conversation with God, the most personal and most profound relationship we can ever have, the one with our Maker.

One last thought…I recently visited with an ill woman who only wanted to hear Psalm 91. Her eyes were weak and, in one of my wiser moments (a rarity) having brought a Bible when I visited her, we bonded over Psalm 91 together. I read, she recited. That was a very powerful moment, reading about the Lord’s faithfulness in mighty battles and storms. This particular psalm is from a third party, talking about the Lord’s great might–a testimony in the greatest of storytelling form. She and I relished in the mighty words of this psalm together, we fully let ourselves free of distraction and interconnected into the psalmist and the Lord we were praising. It was such a powerful moment that I’ll never forget. Not only was I reminded of the deep meaningfulness psalms have in people’s lives as they converse with their Lord, I learned of the great power that comes from these words in the psalms. This was a great lesson.

Reading through some of these passages, I am reminded of objections that come from many non-believers. I have heard many non-Christians claim that the Bible and Christianity portrays a vengeful, blood-thirsty God.

Certainly, these people must have read up on at least some of their Old Testament. Its when reading passages like Leviticus 20 and 24 that I can understand their objections. These chapters mandate death for sinful acts such as adultery, wizardry and blaspheme. In Leviticus 10, God causes Aaron’s sons to die in a fire because they offered “unauthorized fire before the Lord” (10:1). Furthermore, a quick search of my concordance in Leviticus shows about 20 different references to stoning and the phrase “put to death” in this book alone.

I know all the Sunday School answers regarding this issue, but my question is how can we address this issue in a way that makes sense to modern minds?

After Job loses his kids, his wealth, and his health, he spends several chapters arguing with his friends.  He also directly challenges God.  Towards the end of the book, God speaks and puts Job in his place.  Yet, at the end of the story, we learn that Job is blessed with twice as much stuff as he had before.  What is the reason for this blessing?  Has Job earned blessing by refusing to curse God?  Is more of the Deuteronomic notion that piety produces prosperity?

I wonder if Job is blessed because he had no hope of an afterlife.  Job 16:22 is but one example that indicates that Job did not believe in the possibility of an afterlife.  If this book had been written in the 1st century AD, the book could end without any tangible reward here on earth because there is a promise of a future reward.  However, since there is no afterlife in Job, for the sake of justice, he must be rewarded in this life.

This may not be correct, but it seems plausible to me.

The book of Job provides an interesting case study for ministers: specifically the relationship between Job and his friends.  In the story, Job has lost just about everything: possessions, children, health.  Yet, he has three friends that come to his aid.  As is clear from the passage, the friends apply practical wisdom of the day to Job’s unfortunate situation.  To them, it seems perfectly plausible that bad things are happening to Job because Job has sinned.  This was their worldview and they applied this understanding without shame.  However, at the end of the account, we find out that the friend’s worldview is incorrect. 

Occasionally, ministers are guilty of jumping in and trying to help someone in need without first gaining a better understanding of the situation.  Often, we apply our understanding of Scripture to another person’s life without allowing the person’s situation to critique our worldview.  This passage reminds us that there are numerous tensions in Scripture.  With this in mind, we should be careful in how we apply Scripture to our own lives, as well as the lives of others.

I used to read passages in Leviticus and wonder why God would ever make such a huge list of arbitrary rules for the Israelites. I mean, was He trying to make it as hard as possible for them to obey Him? Is this like a game of “Simon Says” where the chief aim of the leader is to trick the followers into messing up?

After reading some of these passages again and reflecting upon them, I am beginning to wonder if these are not arbitrary rules at all. Rather, they are rules set up for the Israelites benefit; Maybe these rules exist to protect the Israelites, not trick them into messing up.

A good example of this is the rules regarding leprosy in Leviticus 13. Verses 45 and 46 say this:

“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp.”

A modern day reader, such as myself, reads this and wonders why God would inflict such a humiliating punishment upon somebody for contracting a disease, when they had no fault in doing so. Upon reflection though, it becomes clear. Leprosy is a contagious disease and this law is put in place in order to avoid putting the entire camp at risk of contracting one person’s disease. It is for this same reason that when an Israelite contracted a sore, God require the Priest to “shut the diseased person up for seven days.” The person must be kept out of contact with others until they were sure of his/her diagnosis, in order to protect the entire camp.

If you think about it, this is not all too different from modern day medical practices.  If one shows up at a hospital with a highly contagious disease, you will either be held in the quarantine wing for awhile, or you will be told to go home and not come out until you have gotten better.  School children are sent home immediately when they have a fever, and they are told not to come back until the fever has subsided for at least 24 hours; this is done to protect the entire school from acquiring an illness from one person. It is not  done for the sake of humiliating, exiling, or outcasting the sick child, but for the sake of protecting the hundreds of other children

Similarly in Chapter 11, God gives numerous instructions about what animals the Israelites can and can not eat.  He instructs them against eating several things such as bats, eagles, vultures, lizards, winged insects, rats, etc.  Many of these are animals that we still do not eat today, either because they are poisonous, inedible, or just down right nasty.

This reminds me that even today, God does not command against certain things like adultery, drunkeness, greed, etc. because He is a big party pooper in the sky, who wishes only to spoil my good time.  Rather He does it because He loves me, wants what is best for me, and wants to protect me.

So maybe the levitical laws are just arbitrary–maybe they are God’s version of Simon Says– or maybe they’re ahead of their time.

Three (3)

Two (2)

In Deut. 6, Moses says, “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” In verses 7-9, Moses tells the people to remember and teach this to their children and celebrate what the Lord has done.   What does this mean for us today?  What does this mean for the Israelites?  What do it mean for us today?  Where is the disconnect between the two situations?