Some Resolutions Not

Deut 17:14 When you are come to the land

which Yhwh your G-d gives you, and shall

possess it, and shall dwell therein, and

shall say, I will set a king over me,

like all the nations that are round

about me;

15 you shall surely set him king over

you, whom Yhwh your G-d shall choose:

one from among your brothers shall you

set king over you; you may not put a

foreigner over you, who is not your

brother.

16 Only he shall not multiply horses to

himself, nor cause the people to return

to Egypt, to the end that he may

multiply horses; because Yhwh has said

to you, You shall henceforth return no

more that way.

17 Neither shall he multiply wives to

himself, that his heart not turn away:

neither shall he greatly multiply to

himself silver and gold.

18 It shall be, when he sits on the

throne of his kingdom, that he shall

write him a copy of this law in a book,

out of [that which is] before the

priests the Levites:

19 and it shall be with him, and he

shall read therein all the days of his

life; that he may learn to fear Yhwh his

G-d, to keep all the words of this law

and these statutes, to do them;

20 that his heart not be lifted up above

his brothers, and that he not turn aside

from the commandment, to the right hand,

or to the left: to the end that he may

prolong his days in his kingdom, he and

his children, in the midst of Israel.


This passage is taken from the general
instructions given to the Hebrews by
Moses after they had left the captivity
of Egypt and before they had begun the
conquest of Canaan. There is no record
of the rules they had to follow while
living under the Pharoah. The only
thing that scripture records is that
they were required to produce a quota of
'bricks' and that there was a law that
they were to kill their baby boys as
soon as they were born.


Given what is recorded of the conditions
living in slavery, the law they were
given by Moses had to be a relief. But
they were not ready for that kind of
freedom. It has alot to say about our
disposition to be creatures of habit.
Even bad habits, the worst you can
imagine, are sources of security to
people who have been under that
influence. Has anything changed about
human nature in over 3000 years of
recorded history? The particular habits
are different, but human nature is still
as misguided as ever.


As I read the passage above, I begin to
think about the reign of King Solomon.
It wasn't that many years from Moses to
Solomon, and by the time Solomon rose
to the throne, the nation was well
established. Under the rule of Solomon
the nation of Israel enjoyed the most
prosperous time in all of recorded
history. Look at it. They collected
tribute from the entire known world at
the time. You have to wonder how they
managed that. My attention goes
directly to Solomon's Temple and the
establishment of the rule of law.
Remember that the worship of Yhwh was to
live by his law.


When people live in a society where they
have the assurance that they will be
treated fairly under all circumstances
and there is no advantage given to those
at the front of the line, they have the
calm to direct their energy toward
productive purposes. It wasn't just
that Solomon was a uniquely gifted ruler
it was that he had a uniquely beneficial
rule of law. It was the law of G-d. I
don't know how you can miss it. The
rule of law, and the law of G-d.


In the here and now, this is what is
supposed to be represented by the
'church'. The Christian community is
supposed to represent the rule of law,
as it is described in the law of G-d.
As I look around, I have a hard time
seeing how this is getting done. I can
point out all the problems. That won't
help much. But pointing out the
solution doesn't get a warm reception
either. We just don't like the idea.
Modern culture has decided that there
really is no need for law. Look around.
But mind your own business.


That's why I like to take up the
creation versus evolution story. As I
see it, the authority of scripture has
to be recognized in order to maintain a
rule of law. And at the center of the
creation/evolution story is the issue
of where authority lies. Are we here
because of an accident of nature or are
we here because we are a product of
creation? At the heart of it, it has
always been and always will be a
theological question. And it can never
be proven one way or the other. Neither
side is more 'scientific' than the
other, because it cannot be answered by
science. If you still believe that, you
don't understand the issue or you don't
understand science. And you don't see
that the doctrine of origins has always
been based on a profession of faith.
Well, maybe you see it, but you don't
want to admit it.


Instead of making resolutions for the
year, listing things that I ought to do,
I want a list of things that
I DON'T want to do. I have heard
folks complain that religion is
only interested in a list of
thou shalt nots. I don't think
so. By pointing out the things
that are going to have really
bad consequences, we get
warning. No swimming in rip
tides, no driving over the speed
limit, don't eat too many french
fries. Once you have a short list of
those really dangerous things that you
ought to avoid in the days ahead,
especially those things that have a
strong appeal, then you are free to
focus on what needs to get done. Don't
say, I want a healthy diet. Just say,
I won't eat french fries more than once
a week this year. That doesn't mean to
eat seven orders at one time either.


One if the things that I don't
want to do is end up drifting
into other topics on this blog.
There are many, many blogs for
other topics. There are sports
blogs, finance blogs, politics
blogs, on and on. One reason I
don't want to drift into politics
which seems a very popular topic
on the WWW in general, is that I
really don't understand politics
at all. It just never made any
sense to me. So I just don't want to
get into that rut. Besides, there's a
whole lot of Jesus Bus topics to write
about each day. Can't imagine running
out of material.


Here's the sad part about King Solomon.
After all of the warnings given in the
passage above, the king still violated
most, if not all of them. As soon as
he was dead, his kingdom split in two.
There could have been a happy ending to
this story.


Things are not much different today.
Look around at the different christian
ministers and ministries that are not
what they used to be, or what they ought
to be. There could have been a happy
ending in the 20th century too.


Not that I'm losing any sleep over any
of this. I know how the story ends. On
the Jesus Bus, the destination is...


Rev 21:1 I saw a new heaven and a new

earth: for the first heaven and the

first earth have passed away, and the

sea is no more.

2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,

coming down out of heaven from G-d, made

ready as a bride adorned for her

husband.

3 I heard a loud voice out of heaven

saying, "Behold, G-d`s tent is with men,

and he will dwell with them, and they

will be his people, and G-d himself will

be with them as their G-d.

4 He will wipe away every tear from

their eyes. Death will be no more;

neither will there be mourning, nor

crying, nor pain, any more. The first

things have passed away.


I'll let the others drone on about all
that other stuff. I'll try to keep an
eye on the road ahead. We have a bright
future, and it's getting closer every
day. Believe it.