Day 93: God's Favor and Favoring God

Deuteronomy 28, 29 and Luke 7:31-50

These chapters talk about what is means to find favor with God and to lose favor with God as the people of Israel. Luke also show us what life can look like when we show our favor of, or preference for, God.

Deuteronomy 28:

The first 14 verses of this chapter speak to the promises for Israel if they choose to follow God’s commands. They will be blessed with national security, prosperity, and political power. These things are purported to be what comes naturally from living in covenant with the Lord.

Beginning with verse 15 we get a picture of the curses that await the people if they do not live in covenant faithfully. It is important to remember that these scriptures were most likely collected and edited during the time of exile in Babylon. The view of the editors at the time might very well have been that the people had let God down and therefore were suffering the listed curses because of their lack of fidelity.

Deuteronomy 29

Here Moses rehearses the history of Israel with the people of God. These words are not just for those present, but for future generations. By following the commands, or revealed things of God, they will remain in right relationship with God. Most of our liturgical acts serve a similar function- reminding us of God’s promises and calling us to be faithful to the always faithful God.

Luke 7:31-50

Jesus is still talking here to the Pharisees and disciples about John and about Jesus’ own identity. The people of “this generation” who refuse to repent are compared to children who refuse to play a game with the other kids. They said John has a demon and Jesus ate and drank too much with the wrong people. Wisdom discerns when is the time to weep and to dance as found in Ecclesiastes. Wisdom’s children are those who hear God’s word and follow.

Then we are given the account of the so called sinful woman. What an outrageous outpouring of love and thanksgiving she offers! This is nothing short of an act of worship, worship of a heart who has experienced love and forgiveness. Simon, the Pharisee, and those around cannot see this as worship because they cannot look past their own rules/regulations of pure and unclean. They are blinded to compassion.

While they sit there having uncharitable thoughts, Jesus cements his prophetic status by knowing Simon's thoughts. He takes this opportunity to remind Simon, and all others present, that the past is erased by grace. And that the response to forgiveness is thanksgiving and worship.

Day 90: Warfare against Women and Blessings vs Woes

Deuteronomy 20, 21, 22 and Luke 6:1-26

Trigger Warning: These verses depict violence, violence against women, rape, and other horrific things.

I will honestly tell you that my blood boils reading some of these passages. I may have called out to God that these passages are not only awful for the women of antiquity, but that they perpetuate some of the injustices women of today face.

Deuteronomy 20:

This text reflects the conquest era of the Israelites. The idea that God was with them helped calm the fears of those going into battle. There is an odd course of events laid out for going into battle. The priests speak an oracle declaring God’s favor. Then the officials speak and give every man any reason they can possibly think of to stay home from war. If you have built a house, but not dedicated it, stay home. If you are engaged, but not married yet, stay home. If you have planted a field but not tasted the first fruits, stay home. I guess this leaves only men who feel they have nothing to lose entering battle.

They are told to first offer peace to a city they come to attack. If peace is accepted, the people in that city will become Israel’s slaves. So basically, slavery or warfare. After they are defeated, all men are too be killed, but the women, children and livestock can be kept as spoils of war. Again, the thought of people as property is greatly disturbing to me.

Then we learn that these good terms are only for people in cities far away! The residents of Canaan are not to be given such luxury as lifelong slavery. They are told to kill everything that draws breath so that they cannot be corrupted by their influences.

But here we get this odd note to save the trees, or at least the ones that bear fruit. Ecology in the midst of mass murder. Interesting.

Deuteronomy 21

This chapter begins a list of rules for community and for specifically the male head of household. Rules regarding a rural homicide are discussed in detail. If the murderer cannot be found, the nearest city or town must kill a heifer in a non-sacrificial manner (break the neck instead of killing at the tabernacle) and wash their hands over it to remove blood guilt. Admittedly this blood guilt, blood sacrifice stuff is odd to me, but this just seems super odd.

Now we get to the really fun part of you are a woman. If a man sees a woman of a conquered people and he desires her to be his wife he can take her captive, force her to shave her head and remove all signs of her ethnicity. Then have her mourn for her mother and father one month and after that he can “come into her.” Basically this allows a man to take a woman, strip her of her cultural and personal identity, and make her cover and mourn in the way the Israelites do, and then rape her. If that’s not bad enough, if she doesn’t “please him” he can let her go. Basically discard her into t a world where she has no rights and no family to care for her. This does not seem like justice to me and an argument that it is better than being a slave will not convince me otherwise.

Deuteronomy 22

This chapter gives more rules for interaction within polite society. Don’t take things that are not yours and return lost things to your neighbors. Good rules to live by. There is a prohibition against cross-dressing which seems very odd and out of place here. Some scholars say that this would have been a characteristic of some of the cults of the time and that is why the word abhorrent is used. There was great pressure to keep the cultic practices of Israel pure and unchanged by the society around it.

There is a long section about the accused bride. I can only assume that these words were meant to protect women from being unjustly divorced and set aside, but their words and methodology are abhorrent! If you hated your wife and wanted to set her aside you could claim that she was not a virgin when you wed. If her family can prove that she was a virgin, by producing the wedding night sheet with the required blood stain, then her father is paid twice amount specified for rape and she gets to stay his husband for life. What a joy that would be! (Sarcasm font here). If they cannot prove that she was a virgin then they will take her to the entrance to her father’s house and stone her. Public execution.

Let me just say that men do not seem to have been held to the same virginity expectations as women. Not that any of us should be surprised as that carries over to our own day and age.

Then we get the rules about how to punish someone who is raped. Yes, you read that right. If an engaged woman is raped in the city she shall be stoned because she didn’t cry out loud enough for someone to hear and come to her aid. I can’t even!!!

If she, again an engaged woman, is raped in the open, where no one is living, she will not be stoned because no one was around to hear her cry out. If a single unengaged woman is raped and he is caught in the act, she is to be married to him and he has to pay her “bride price” for violating her. He cannot divorce her ever.

Once again, I cannot begin to imagine such rules and regulations being around to help women. Our own American Society has been effected by these rules, the stigma of blaming the victim is only one of the legacies.

Luke 6:1-26

Jesus and his disciples pluck grain with their hands to eat on the Sabbath, a practice allowed in Deuteronomy 23:25. However, Exodus 34:21 expressly forbids harvesting on the Sabbath. Enter the dispute about what is lawful and what is not. Jesus says life giving things are allowed, food, healing, etc. The leaders disagree.

Jesus then calls the twelve disciples. The number twelve reminds us of the twelve tribes of Israel. Jesus is reclaiming the children of Israel as God’s people.

Jesus gives his sermon on the plain. It has some similarities to Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount. Here Jesus lists blessings on those situations we normally find less that good. He then pronounces “woes” or judgement upon things that the world values. Jesus is good at turning tables.

Day 56: Sacrificial Rules and the Unclean Women

Leviticus 3, 4, 5, and Mark 5:21-43

These passages tell us about rules for sacrifice and healing of a girl and a woman. The rules presented here help to highlight the rule breaking people accused Jesus of committing.

Leviticus 3

This section begins the rules for sacrifice and offerings. Chapter three talks about sacrifices made by or for an individual. Well-being offerings, which are spoken of in Chapter 17 also, are for all meat that is eaten. This prevents the idea of mass slaughter by reminding everyone that all life has meaning. This sacrifice could be male or female.

Leviticus 4

This section of rules contains that lovely number of completion, the number 7. These are specific rules for the priests to follow as they begin sacrificing in the tent of meeting. There is to be an ash heap outside of the tent that is only to contain the remainder of the now sacred sacrifice. I also found it interesting that the sin offerings were different depending on your place in the nation of Israel.

An ordained priest must sacrifice a bull for their sin offering (an offering for sin that you did not know at the time was sin, but later were convicted of its sinfulness) If the religious leaders led the whole assembly of Israelites to sin one bull was to be sacrificed. The elders laid hands on it as a way of representing the whole of Israel. If a ruler sins they could sacrifice a male goat. If a regular everyday person sins and later learns and repents, they could sacrifice a female goat.

Leviticus 5

When you became aware of sin you have guilt and must bring an offering. This awareness is important to the nature of the offering. The writers also allowed a sliding scale for those in different economic ranges.

There is also the idea that the sacrifice or the equivalent must be given. This refers to when a sacred object has been made unclean or damaged. The person must give the amount to replace the item and give a sacrifice or extra silver that would equal the cost of a sacrifice and the priests would do a sacrifice for them.

Mark 5: 21-43

This portion of Mark contains the story of Jarius’ daughter and the hemorrhaging woman. Mark loves to tell stories by splitting one in half and inserting another story. These stories are called intercalations. I had a New Testament professor who called them sandwich stories. These two events relate to and help interpret one another.

There are many similarities in these accounts. We do not know either females names. These unnamed women both have illnesses. The woman has been hemorrhaging for 12 years while the girl is 12 years old. The woman touches Jesus’ clothing to be healed. Jesus touches the girl and heals her. The woman has been “unclean” for 12 years, exiled from community because of her illness. The girl is thought to be dead and will now be put out from the community. Her death would make her unclean.

What do you think Jesus might be saying about the designations of clean and unclean?