Tag Archives: Violence

Chapter-a-Day

Paths and Footsteps

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Paths and Footsteps (CaD Ezk 8) – Wayfarer

He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the people of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger?
Ezekiel 8:17 (NIV)

Over the past week or two, Wendy and sat down to re-watch the first three seasons of The Chosen before we dug into the fourth season. We’re halfway through the fourth season, and we’re thoroughly enjoying it. It has done a great job of contrasting Jesus’ teaching and example with the fundamentalist religious legalism that God’s people had turned God’s law into. It will prove to be lethal.

As I read today’s chapter, it is obvious that Ezekiel is dealing with an entirely different problem than Jesus, and I find the comparison fascinating. Today’s chapter is the beginning of a vision that will take us through chapter 11. It has five major sections and begins with God taking Zeke to Jerusalem to show him the extent of the idolatry being practiced inside Solomon’s Temple.

What’s not immediately clear to modern readers is that the “tour” of idol worship inside the temple includes Canaanite, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian deities. The final act of idolatry mentioned refers to the men of Jerusalem turning their back on the altar of God and bowing down to worship the sun. It’s interesting to note that the date of this vision at the beginning of the chapter places the timing of this vision with the autumnal equinox when the rising sun would shine directly through the doors to the Temple. All of the cultures that surrounded ancient Israel worshiped a form of sun-god worship. Many scholars interpret this act of sun worship as the people adopting a mixture of sun-god worship into their worship of Yahweh.

As the chapter draws to a close, God says something very interesting to Zeke. It’s not just the idolatry being practiced that has stirred God to wrath: “Must they also fill the land with violence and continually arouse my anger?“

When God established the Hebrews as a nation in Exodus He gave them laws and a system of worship that was about living clean and ordered lives in which people loved God and loved others through gratitude, respect, honor, and respect. As the people forgot God’s laws and adopted the forms of pagan worship from the people groups around them, they also adopted the acts and behaviors that went along with them. Often this included behaviors that were completely contradictory to God’s ways. It wasn’t just the idolatry, it included adultery, sexual immorality, and the cursing of others. It also led to violence and a disregard for others and for life itself.

The history of Kings and the words of multiple prophets describe King Mannaseh of Judah, who was largely responsible for turning Solomon’s Temple into a carnival of idol worship. They all speak of his violence and the “innocent blood” he spilled.

One of the things that I’ve observed throughout the Great Story is the fact that human beings repeatedly fail to find the heart of what God, what Jesus, is asking of us. In Ezekiel’s day, God’s people chased after lustful appetites that the paganism of their day catered to, which led to many of the acts of the flesh Paul describes in Galatians:

sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; drunkenness, orgies, and the like…

By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, the pendulum had swung to the other side. God’s people had turned God’s rules into a fundamentalist system of legalistic and religious rule-keeping. This produces the other acts of the flesh that Paul lists:

hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy

In both cases, the people were missing the heart of God’s intent. To love God and love others in such a way that our lives increasingly produce love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When that happens, our lives, our families, and our communities become places of peace, generosity, and order.

In the quiet this morning, I look back on my life journey. There are stretches of my journey in which I ran headlong down the path toward the world and the things of this world. The consequences were disastrous for me and the people I love. I also have had stretches of my journey when I followed a path into legalistic, religious rule-keeping. The consequences were equally disastrous but in a completely different way.

The further I get in my journey, the harder I find myself ignoring paths and simply following Jesus’ footsteps. As I walk in His footsteps, follow His example, and obey His teaching (His actual words, not the religious rule books and religious hoops that people turn His teaching into), I find life much more spiritually fruitful in all the good ways.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Clamoring

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Clamoring (CaD Ezk 5) – Wayfarer

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even conformed to the standards of the nations around you.”
Ezekiel 5:7 (NIV)

One of the more interesting things that I have observed in my lifetime is the increasing extent to which individuals and groups are given and driven to sow anarchy and chaos. It seems that wherever and whenever protesting crowds descend into rioting, violence, looting, and burning, there is always an element participating that cares nothing about whatever cause started with the protests. This element is there to encourage the crowd’s descent into chaos.

Fascinating.

In today’s chapter, God continues to describe to the young prophet Ezekiel his first prophetic assignment. What started out as strange just gets seemingly more strange as God tells Ezekiel that when the 430 days of his metaphorical siege on his little model city of Jerusalem is over, he is to cut off his hair and beard. A third of it is for burning the model city of Jerusalem, a third for striking with a sword around the model of Jerusalem, and a third for scattering a third of it to the wind.

For the people of Ezekiel’s day, the metaphors were much more clear than they are for modern readers. Hair in Mesopotamian cultures was often considered part of a person’s essence, and for this reason, hair was often used in religious rituals and divination practices. The prophet’s hair was God’s metaphorical essence that was in His people. The end of the siege of Jerusalem would end up with God’s people being burned inside the city, slaughtered if they tried to flee, and scattered in exile.

As God explains the judgment against His people, He states that they have been more “unruly” than the nations around them. The Hebrew word hāman has an expansive meaning that includes descriptors such as turbulence, rage, and clamor. This is where it gets really interesting.

Remember that Ezekiel is among the exiles in Babylon. In ancient Babylonian literature, a similar word translated as “clamor” is repeatedly used to describe the increasing and never-ending wickedness that draws the wrath and judgment of their gods. This includes the Babylonian version of the Great Flood story. The Hebrews would know well these words from Genesis 6 that led to the flood:

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

Through Ezekiel, God is telling the Hebrews living in Babylon that their unruly “clamor” is like the same “clamor” that caused God to bring the Great Flood (according to both the Hebrew and Babylonian versions of the story) is what will bring the destruction of Jerusalem if they refuse to repent. Not only that, but their “clamor” was greater than “the nations around them” which included their Babylonian captors.

In mixing metaphors from both Hebrew and Babylonian traditions, Ezekiel is telling his people: “Even our evil Babylonian captors get it better than we do!” This was a stinging rebuke, a desperate warning, and an urgent plea to His people to repent.

In the quiet this morning, my head and heart go back to how I see this “clamoring spirit” alive and well in today’s world. As I meditated on it in the quiet this morning, I came to the conclusion that it is always present in this fallen world. The only thing that changes is the amount and intensity which has ebbed and flowed throughout history. What a contrast to the fruit of the Spirit that Jesus asked His followers to sow in this fallen world to bring redemption, reconciliation, righteousness, and peace which will lead towards increasing order.

I find this a simple litmus test for my life and the human systems which I influence. If my life repeatedly results in me amidst chaos and disorder, then I need to take a long introspective look in the mirror. As a disciple of Jesus, I should find myself with a growing and increasing sense of peace in any and all circumstances. If not, then I’ve missed something important along the way.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Serving the Lie

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Serving the Lie (CaD 1 Thess 2) – Wayfarer

The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders that serve the lie.
2 Thessalonians 2:9 (NIV)

On the way home from the lake on Saturday, Wendy and I listened to a podcast interview with a Palestinian man from a small village in the West Bank who is living in fear for his life. He has been largely disowned by his own people, and many want him dead because he dared to send six tweets on October 7th questioning the unspeakable violence and terror that had been unleashed by Hamas. His first tweet simply stated, “What sad and horrible news to wake up to and out of words and unable to digest what’s going on right now. I’m Palestinian and firmly stand against this terror. I pray for the safety of my friends, colleagues, their loved ones, and everyone else affected.”

I found his entire story amazing, and it’s worth a listen no matter where you stand politically on the spectrum. As I listened, I thought to myself that he represents the kind of courage displayed in the iconic photo of the man in Tiananmen Square standing alone in front of a tank. The courage to risk everything to stand against what is evil.

When asked about October 7, he said, “Hamas’s ultimate goal was to incite hatred, create division, and make peace seem impossible.” I couldn’t help but think that this is an apt description of the Evil One’s playbook since he slithered his way through the Garden of Eden.

Today’s chapter is fascinating as Paul tells his Thessalonian disciples that Jesus will not return until “The Man of Lawlessness” is revealed. The fascinating part is that this is the only place in the Great Story where this “Man of Lawlessness” is mentioned, at least by that name. Those who go down the rabbit hole of end times prophesy have all sorts of theories. Have at it.

I don’t have a stake in identifying who this prophetic character is, but I think it’s important to think about what he represents. Like the Evil One, the Man of Lawlessness stands in opposition to God and anything God promotes:

God is love, he sows hatred.
God is life, he sows death.
God is peace, he sows chaos.
God is truth, he “serves the lie.”

As I listened to this humble man’s story, it became clear to me that he is on an incredible spiritual journey. What he knows for sure is that he can no longer stay silent about the hatred, violence, death, and chaos that he’s being told he should embrace and celebrate. Despite a life of incredible struggle in which he has repeatedly experienced discrimination, hatred, and rejection, he chooses to remain hopeful and pursue a personal path of love and peace with others.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking about the current state of our world. There are so many people calling for violence, protests, riots, and chaos. Hatred is not only justified but celebrated and encouraged. Discrimination is deemed acceptable and even encouraged. I personally can’t help but believe that it is the same spirit as the Man of Lawlessness. It all serves the lie.

At the time of Jesus’ ministry, the popular belief among His people was that the Messiah would come and lead an army in a war against Rome. Even after three years following Jesus, His own inner circle of disciples was having trouble letting go of this popular belief that had been drilled into them since they were born. They still couldn’t see that Jesus was establishing a very different kind of Kingdom on earth. His Kingdom is not about using power, violence, and conquest to subject others to His will. Rather it’s about individuals surrendering themselves and using love, kindness, and gracious generosity to make a difference in another life, one person at a time.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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Words that Bite

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Words that Bite (CaD Am 4) – Wayfarer

Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,
    you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy
    and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”
Amos 4:1 (NIV)

As we began this chapter-a-day trek through Amos, I likened the working man’s prophet with Oliver Anthony, an Appalachian singer-songwriter who recently went from anonymity to having the most popular song on the planet overnight. His song, Rich Men North of Richmond is classic protest song in the spirit of Woody Guthrie, the likes of which we have not heard since Bob Dylan’s Masters of War in the early 1960s. Both of these songs stand out, not just because they are well-crafted songs, but because the are the raw cries of broken and angry souls. (For any who aren’t familiar with one, or both, I will post links to both at the bottom of this post and I encourage you to search for the lyrics online and take a few minutes to listen.)

Rich Men North of Richmond is a fascinating song to have resonated so deeply with so many at this moment in time. It is a scathing rebuke of American government (Washington D.C. is roughly 100 miles north of Richmond, Virginia) and policies that has left people feeling that our leaders have marginalized the many in pandering to the few. The lyrics don’t mince words. They bite. They bite hard amidst a culture that throws around terms such as micro-aggressions, trigger warnings, and the violence of words in order to duck-and-cover under the desks of their victim status.

This is why I come back to this song after meditating on today’s chapter. Amos’ prophecy stands up along side these modern songs of angry, soul-aching protest. Amos begins by calling the elite, wealthy women of Israel “cows of Bashan,” which in that day were prime exclusive, pampered livestock that would have been the choice meats enjoyed by the lucky few of their day.

Amos immediately moves from this image to that of conquered peoples being led by a hook through the nose. This was a common practice in ancient times. A ring or hook through the nose, attached to a rope, was how victors humiliated their defeated foes as they led them off into slavery. Of course, metaphors are layered with meaning. A ring through the nose is also how cattle and livestock were controlled and led. The elitist, wealthy, pampered women of Israel, the “cows of Bashan,” will become humiliated, human livestock.

Amos then immediately pivots to dripping sarcasm telling his elitist audience to “go to Bethel and Gilgal” to make sacrifices, offerings, and tithes. Lost on modern readers, these two worship centers were set up as a nod to Yaweh and the God of their ancestors, but they mixed their people’s religion with those of other pagan gods. The northern Kingdom of Israel gave their people an “alternative” to going to Jerusalem and worshipping Yahweh at Solomon’s temple. Thus, the worship of God was not the worship of God at all, but a watered-down, pagan version of it that the elites of Israel practiced religiously. A system of regular sacrifices, offerings, and tithes. The worship of Bethel and Gilgal were a shadow of the real worship God designed for His people.

What did God demand of his people in the Law of Moses? He demanded that the choicest of meat be used for sacrifice. What was the choicest beef in Israel? The pampered cows of Bashan. In just a few verses, Amos has called the rich, elitist women of Israel cows, intimated that they will humiliated like common livestock, and further insinuated that in profaning the true worship of the Holy God, they have made themselves the sacrifice of choice to a foreign power who will come with judgement.

These are words that bite.

In the quiet this morning, I ponder the culture I see around me. I think back to the first time I listened to Bob Dylan’s Masters of War in the 1970s on my Walkman as I walked home from school. I was young, but still remember the anger over the Vietnam war and over Watergate. I grew up being taught that freedom of speech means that we have the right to speak words that bite, that we sometimes have to hear words that bite (even if we don’t want to hear them), and that sometimes we need words that bite. We need words that bite to wake us from the fog of our complacency, to reveal our need of personal, moral, political, and cultural change, and to drive us to our knees in repentance. That’s why God raised up prophets like Amos. That’s why we still need modern-day prophets like Bob Dylan and Oliver Anthony.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Painful Truths

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Painful Truths (CaD Jer 26) – Wayfarer

But as soon as Jeremiah finished telling all the people everything the Lord had commanded him to say, the priests, the prophets and all the people seized him and said, “You must die!”
Jeremiah 26:8 (NIV)

When I was a child, there was a popular English nursery rhyme that every child knew:

“Sticks and stones may break my bones,
but words will never hurt me.”

Of course, we know that words can have a negative effect on others, but the rhyme was a great reminder during childhood not to take childish words on the playground too seriously. It built resilience in me.

Freedom of speech is a hot topic in these days of the cancel culture in which we’re currently living. I hear it argued that disagreement with another person’s beliefs and opinions is an act of violence.

Today’s chapter got me thinking about this. God sends Jeremiah to Solomon’s Temple to proclaim a version of the same prophetic message he’s always given. Basically, he tells the public crowd that they need to repent of their idolatrous ways or the Temple and the city of Jerusalem will be destroyed.

In the culture of Jeremiah’s day, prophetic words were taken seriously. And there were many prophets. Every deity, shrine, and idol had their prophets. That culture believed that prophetic words didn’t just point to a future event, but the prophet’s spoken message was actively instigating those events. In publicly proclaiming the potential destruction of the temple and the city, they believed that Jeremiah was launching the event. So, they took him by force and attempted to have him sentenced to death.

As I contemplated this in the quiet this morning, it struck me that most prophets of that day must have confined their messages to predictions of peace and prosperity. They would have been careful to say what was generally acceptable. In fact, throughout Jeremiah’s messages are complaints about those whom God deemed “false prophets” because they did just that. No one would want to face the consequences that Jeremiah did in today’s chapter.

But here’s the thing I’ve learned and observed along my life journey: The truth sometimes hurts, and not all pain is bad.

When a culture begins to value what is socially and politically acceptable above that which is rationally true, that culture is headed in the wrong direction. This was at the heart of Jeremiah’s overarching message. What he was saying wasn’t popular, but it turned out to be true. The mob of priests and prophets were calling for Jeremiah’s head because they didn’t like what he was saying will soon be living in Babylon or lying in the rubble of Jerusalem.

What I found interesting is that this mob was so crazed by the potential doom that Jeremiah described that they appear to not have even considered the part of Jeremiah’s message in which they could avoid this disaster by simply repenting of their idolatry and return to follow the God of Abraham, Moses, and David alone.

Jeremiah escaped the death sentence in today’s chapter as the king and elders remembered that there was a precedent. Similar prophetic messages of doom were preached by the prophet Micah just a hundred or so years before when the Assyrian Empire came knocking on the gates of Jerusalem. Then King Hezekiah listened, repented, sought the Lord, and the city was miraculously delivered. This is enough to prompt the king and elders to let Jeremiah go, but they appear unwilling to follow Hezekiah’s example. Fascinating.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself praying for our nation and our culture. I believe strongly in free speech and the fact that it is foundational to a free and healthy society, even when other say things that I don’t agree with. Sometimes I need to listen to words and messages that hurt in order to hear that which is true.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

How the World Works

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Then Pul king of Assyria invaded the land, and Menahem gave him a thousand talents of silver to gain his support and strengthen his own hold on the kingdom. Menahem exacted this money from Israel. Every wealthy person had to contribute fifty shekels of silver to be given to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria withdrew and stayed in the land no longer.
2 Kings 15:19-20 (NIV)

When I was just out of high school, I took a manual labor job that I knew would only last four months until I went to college. I chose not to join the union, as was my right because I knew it was just four months. I was bullied, coerced, and threatened until I quit. When I complained I received a shrug of the shoulders. “This is how the world works.”

Another job I had as a young man was for a private company working in a government building. By federal law, there was no smoking anywhere in the building, yet two ladies sat at their desks every day smoking like chimneys as I passed by. When I asked about it, my boss told me that they were legacy employees protected by the local political machine that had been in power for decades. They could do whatever they wanted. They were untouchable. “This is how the world works.”

In another department within that same building was another legacy employee who refused to help me when I came in with a records request. I was a bit confused when she told me, “I’m not working today. Go to another window.” When I told my boss and co-workers what had happened I got the same familiar shrug. “This is how the world works.”

I worked for several different churches in different denominations when I was a young man. I learned very quickly that there were the official boards and consistories that were set up to govern the church, and then there were individuals (typically wealthy, prominent, legacy, and generational members) who really called the shots. By this time, I should have learned: “This is how the world works.”

Today’s chapter contains an overview of five successive kings of the northern Kingdom of Israel. Four of them were assassinated by the person who then claimed the throne. One of them, Shallum, assassinated his predecessor and sat on the throne for one month before he, himself, was assassinated in the same manner by a man named Menahem. Whoever has the guts to assassinate the king gets the throne. “This is how the world works.”

Menahem happened to be on the throne when the army of Assyria came raiding. Menahem was a big fish in a small pond compared to the ascendant Assyrian Empire. Menahem didn’t have the army to withstand a takeover, so he had one choice. He extracted money from his wealthy citizens and paid the King of Assyria. It was really no different than the mafia or a local gang extracting money from neighborhood businesses for “protection.” It was just done on a larger scale. “This is how the world works.”

In the quiet this morning I’m reminded that the more things change, the more they stay the same. With the dawn of the technological age, my generation has arguably experienced greater change than any other generation in history. And yet, what has not changed is the human condition. The culture wars being waged online are simply a reboot of tribal warfare. Throughout COVID lockdowns there were endless examples of those in power (on both sides of the political aisle) who made rules for constituents, then flagrantly violated those same rules.

“This is how the world works.”

Into this world, Jesus came to exemplify and prescribe an alternative. Before beginning His ministry Jesus was approached by the Evil One whom Jesus referred to as “The Prince of this World.” The Prince of this World offered Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world” if only Jesus would bow to him. It was quite an offer. Jesus could then change the world as He wished in a top-down power grab. It would surprise no one. That’s how the world works.

Jesus declined the offer.

Instead, Jesus asked me and all of His other followers to live, think, act, speak, and relate to others “not as the world works” but as the Kingdom of God works. It’s one of the things that drew me to Jesus and continues to draw me in.

I learned how the world works.

I don’t want to live that way.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Cardiac Self-Examination

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Cardiac Self-Examination (CaD 2 Ki 10) – Wayfarer

Yet Jehu was not careful to keep the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart.
2 Kings 10:31a (NIV)

Much of human history is a violent, bloody affair. Pull back from the minutiae and look at it from a distance and the vast majority of it is the story of tribes and empires violently competing for power, wealth, and dominance, then clinging to that power against the next tribe or empire seeking to ascend to power in humanity’s never-ending game of King of the Mountain.

The story of Jehu the usurper in yesterday’s and today’s chapters is a microcosm of this violent game of tribes and empires. He’s a fascinating character because he was “The Son of Nobody” who was at the right place at the right time to seize a rare opportunity to ascend the political system of his tribe and to become King of the Mountain.

Being a military officer, Jehu had a front-row seat to witness and participate in the violent oppression with which Ahab and Jezebel had ruled the nation. Who knows how many atrocities Jehu had committed or overseen himself at their behest. Jehu had been told by the prophet to “destroy the house of Ahab” which certainly meant ensuring there were no male heirs left to claim the throne. Jehu, however, goes even further. He kills the King of Judah, who was Ahab and Jezebel’s son-in-law. He kills their friends, their cronies, their officials, and their known associates. He kills off all of the prophets and priests of Ahab and Jezebel’s patron pagan god, Baal, and turns the temple of Baal into a community latrine. The story is a perfect example of Jesus’ warning to Peter and His followers that violence begets violence. Ahab and Jezebel violently lived and ruled by the sword, and they violently died by it.

Jehu’s vengeance against the house of Ahab and Jezebel was beyond complete. Jehu’s devotion to God wasn’t. Jehu destroyed the worship of Ahab and Jezebel’s patron god out of vengeance against Ahab and Jezebel, not out of devotion to the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. His heart wasn’t devoted to God, it was devoted to vengeance and seizing the opportunity to grab power for himself and his family. As I meditate on the story of Jehu, I consider him to be an example of one who does the right thing (ridding the nation of an evil regime) for the wrong reasons (personal gain).

So, in the quiet, that leaves me ending this week in introspection. Is there a disconnect between my heart and my actions? Do I, like Jehu, do the right things for self-centered reasons? Jehu and David were both soldiers and warriors. They were both violent men who spilled a lot of blood. God used both of them in the grand scheme of the Great Story. The difference between the two lies in their hearts. David was called “a man after God’s own heart” while Jehu’s heart seems to have been after Jehu’s own self-interest. How much of my heart is truly about God’s desires and how much is just Tom’s self-interest?

As I contemplated these questions, the Spirit reminded me of Proverbs 21:2:

A person may think their own ways are right, but the Lord weighs the heart.

I head into this weekend with a cardiac self-examination.

I want to be a David, not a Jehu (or a Yahoo).

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Habakkuk’s Cry

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Habakkuk's Cry (CaD Hab 1) – Wayfarer

Why do you make me look at injustice?
    Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
    there is strife, and conflict abounds.
Therefore the law is paralyzed,
    and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
    so that justice is perverted.
Habakkuk 1:3-4 (NIV)

I have known many fellow followers of Jesus over the years who would confess to never willingly cracking open the Old Testament unless under the social pressure of being asked to do so during a Sunday worship service. Even if they said they “occasionally” read from the Old Testament on their own, I’m sure that reading would be confined to the books of Psalms and Proverbs. Okay, maybe a few chapters of Genesis or one of the short stories like Ruth or Esther. If I were to ask them, “When was the last time you read the prophet Habakkuk?” they would probably just laugh at me. I’d wager that hearing a pastor say, “Let’s all open to the book of Habakkuk!” is maybe a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

We live in a world in which things “trend” on social media for minutes before being buried by another “trend.” Current events likewise dominate media and social media for a day or two tops before media and social media is on to the next hot topic in search of clicks and likes.

So what could an ancient Hebrew prophet have to say in 600 B.C. that is in any way relevant to my world today?

Let me walk through the verses I pasted at the top of this post:

“Why [God] do you make me look at injustice?
    Why [God] do you tolerate wrongdoing?“

Like mules leaving almost 50 dead immigrants rotting in the back of a tractor trailer?

Like drug cartels flooding the streets with opioids killing people in record numbers and never being held accountable?

“Destruction and violence are before me;“

Like mass shooters opening fire in schools, churches, and malls?

Like demonstrations that torch entire neighborhoods of minority-owned businesses and end with dead bodies lying in the street?

“there is strife, and conflict abounds“

Like individuals breaking off relationships with friends and family because they disagree on issues?

Like name calling, insults, and threats calling for death, murder, and assassination on social media?

Like political division between factions who refuse to compromise?

“Therefore the law is paralyzed,“

Like 400 law enforcement personnel who stood outside a classroom as children were being shot?

Like the headline I just read in this morning’s Wall Street Journal: “Who Would Want to Be a Police Officer in Seattle?”

“and justice never prevails“

Like the fact that not one of Jeffery Epstein’s high-profile customers has been named or indicted for raping underage girls?

Like political corruption that gets ignored and swept under the rug for the “greater good” of keeping a political party of choice in power?

The prophet Habakkuk lived in a period of political corruption, crime, violence, war, and social upheaval under a corrupt king and a nefarious ruling class. He pens his poetic dialogue with the Almighty and opens with a line that aptly described the questions of my own soul as I daily read the headlines:

How long, Lord, must I call for help,
    but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
    but you do not save?

It felt pretty relevant to me in the quiet as I read the chapter this morning. Habakkuk is giving voice to questions and sentiments that are echoed throughout history and will always resonate in a fallen world that is the domain of the “Prince of this World,” in which evil is present, and worldly kingdoms and institutions hold sway.

It is easy to feel as if God is both silent and absent.

Habakkuk’s short, poetic dialogue with God has a simple outline:

Question one: Why are you silent and will not act against injustice?

God’s answer: Just wait. I’m going to raise up the Babylonians to bring about the justice that I’ve been announcing through you and other prophets like your peer Jeremiah for some time now. I’ve been patiently listening for people to listen and repent. That’s not happening, so get ready.

Question two: Serious?!? Why would you use the evil Babylonians?!?

Tomorrow’s chapter is God’s answer to this second question.

In the quiet this morning, I found myself identifying with Habakkuk’s questions. In the middle of writing this post, I went downstairs to have breakfast with Wendy and we perused the headlines. Habakkuk’s lines kept resonating in my head and heart as I read.

God’s response also echoed. Within the Great Story, faith is defined as “the assurance of what we hope for, the evidence of that which we can’t see.” That includes the reality that God appears to be silent, and it seems like God is not doing anything, but I have limited, finite human senses and knowledge. So, my heart cries out like Habakkuk.

Having just finished the book of Revelations, I know that God has promised to bring divine justice to the earth one day and deal with evil and the fruits of evil once-and-for-all. Until then, my prayerful cries of “How long, oh Lord?” rise as incense in heaven’s Throne Room along with your cries, and everyone else’s cries.

When will God make good on His promised judgment?

I don’t know.

I have faith that He will.

Until then, I’ll keep crying out along with brother Habakkuk.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Prophetic Pondering

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Prophetic Pondering (CaD Rev 11) – Wayfarer

The inhabitants of the earth will gloat over [the two dead prophets] and will celebrate by sending each other gifts, because these two prophets had tormented those who live on the earth.
Revelation 11:10 (NIV)

I have been a follower of Jesus for just over 40 years, a period of time which is used in the Great Story as the number of years in a generation. So, I have spent time over the past couple of years pondering the changes I’ve observed in our society and our culture in one generation. In some ways, the changes seem startling to me.

A generation ago, I watched as Christian fundamentalists with groups like the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition sought to force their religious doctrines on society through political power. What I observed in those days was that a judeo-christian world view was foundational in society around me. Virtually ever kid I knew grew up going to church of some kind. It was just what you did.

A generation later, I find it ironic to observe what I would consider woke fundamentalists who are seeking to force their doctrinal world-view on society through political power. Major institutions of media, business, and academia are offering full support. Meanwhile, my own local gathering of Jesus’ disciples has grown in the last couple of decades, not because new followers are joining the ranks but because so many other churches are dying and closing their doors. Churches are being burned and attacked, social media posts call for violence against Christians.

These are things that I would have never have believed would happen in one generation, just 40 years ago.

In today’s chapter, the interlude between the sixth and seventh “trumpet judgments” continues. Two prophets, or “witnesses” are raised up. They echo the ancient prophet Elijah whose prayers shut-off the rains and brought fire down from the heavens.

It’s important to remember that the picture John’s visions create is an Earth in which there are a mere 144,000 followers of God who are sealed and protected through this time of tribulation. Where are all the followers of Jesus? John’s Revelation does not seem to address this, though the letters of the apostles speak of a “rapture” of God’s people in which they are suddenly and unexpectedly snatched up to heaven in the twinkling of an eye. This leaves the rest of the Earth’s inhabitants who are described as unrepentantly anti-God. Therefore, when the two prophets are killed, the world celebrates their deaths and gloats over their bodies. People throw parties to feast the end of God’s messengers.

In the quiet this morning, I once again find myself pondering the changes I’ve observed in one generation. I could not fathom the anger, hatred, and calls for violence that I witness on both ends of the socio-political spectrum. Though, given the gross failings of institutional churches that I touched on in yesterday’s post, I can certainly empathize with those who were victimized and are crying out in anger.

There are mornings on this chapter-a-day journey when I feel as if I am left with more questions than answers; Mornings when I am more perplexed than inspired. I’ve come to believe that this is not a bad thing. The Twelve who followed Jesus in the flesh for three years were still confused and scratching their heads the night before He was crucified and the day He rose from the dead. Why should I be any different? Along my journey I’ve found that it is often the long stretches of pondering good questions that ultimately lead to new depths of spiritual understanding.

So, two thoughts I continue to ponder as I enter my day today:

First, it would be easy for me to over-dramatize the changes I’ve witnessed in a generation and conclude that the end-times are near. I don’t know that. The pendulum of socio-political thought swings back and forth sending individuals on either side of the spectrum into doomsday thoughts and predictions. What I have observed in the last forty years helps me to appreciate how the events and anti-God attitudes in John’s vision could, indeed, be possible, but that doesn’t equate to thinking they are probable in the near turn.

Second, the pendulum of social, cultural, political and religious thought does often swing back and forth. Some would argue that it is currently doing so. The social and political upheaval of the 60s ushered in a period of rebellion, violence, sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll. The 70s then experienced a “Jesus People” movement when many people found themselves aimless and empty, searching for spiritual answers. I consider it possible that a generation of young children who are being asked to question fundamental biological truths about themselves (when they don’t even have the vocabulary or cognitive ability to process it) may very well find themselves confused about their identity and longing for a strong spiritual foothold to help them make sense out of life. This might even lead to a spiritual revival.

I’m posting this much later than norma this morning because I’ve been pondering how best to conclude. I’m still not sure, so I’m just going to leave it here, continuing to ponder.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Series of Unfortunate Events

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Series of Unfortunate Events (CaD Jud 21) – Wayfarer

The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: “Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite.”
Judges 21:1 (NIV)

There was a period of time in our daughter’s childhood when her favorite series of youth fiction was Lemony Snicket which always carried the tag line: A series of unfortunate events.

That tagline “a series of unfortunate events” popped into my mind as I sat in the quiet this morning pondering not only the tumultuous events that are unpacked by the author of Judges in his three-chapter epilogue but also the tumultuous events that we’ve been living through in the past two years. Looking at the headlines and the horizon, I would say that we’re not out of the woods

Today’s chapter is the final chapter of the book of Judges and the third and final chapter in a saga that began with a single Levite traveler traveling home with his wife and servant. One rather isolated local incident blows up into a national tragedy. Emotions boil over and reason gives way. The people become a mob and violence ensues. Tribal instincts perpetuate the violence. The human desire for justice turns into a cycle of vengeance.

As the teacher of Ecclesiastes famously observed, “There is nothing new under the sun.”

For the ancient Hebrews, the series of unfortunate events are intertwined with a hodge-podge of cultural decisions that only fueled the perpetuation of the unfortunate events. The Hebrew tribes had mingled their worship of Yahweh as prescribed in the Law of Moses with the religious customs of local gods and cultural mores of the region. High on the bloodlust of vengeance, eleven tribes swear an oath not to give any of their daughters into marriage with the tribe of Benjamin.

As often happens with mob violence, it is in the tragic aftermath that “cooler heads prevail” and corporate regret rises. The eleven tribes, however, have placed themselves square in the middle of a cultural dilemma. They can’t give their daughters in marriage to the men of Benjamin without breaking their oath which was an unforgivable act in the culture of that day. Yet, if they don’t find a way for the leftover men of Benjamin to find wives and procreate, the tribe will be wiped out. So, they devise a scheme to help the remnant of men from Benjamin to kidnap Canaanite virgins who were taking part in an annual religious festival. This exemplifies an ancient Near East tradition that holds sway in international relationships to this day:

Me against my brother.
My brother and I against our neighbor.
My neighbor and I against a stranger.

It is quite common for modern readers to balk at the violence and vengeance in this ancient story, but that’s exactly what the author of the book of Judges wanted his readers to feel. In his context, he wanted his contemporary readers to say: “This is awful. Isn’t it so much better to have a king who will provide justice and stability?”

This brings me back to our modern-day series of unfortunate events and a parallel desire for justice and stability. As a follower of Jesus, I am led to a very important and salient contradiction.

Human instinct is for strong human leadership to ensure justice, stability, and safety with top-down authoritarian power.

Jesus taught His followers to change the world with a grass-roots movement in which individual believers transform other individuals with interpersonal Love that changes lives from the bottom up.

Every example from history in which these two paradigms have been confused has ended in its own form of tragic failure.

And so, I enter another day, and another work week, resolved to stick to the plan Jesus gave His followers.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.