Reality TV? Nope, it's the Bible.

Day 92: Esther 1-4

Esther. The second book in the Bible named after a woman (the first was Ruth).

The Cast of Characters:
Queen Vashti. She was the wife of King Xerxes and in chapter 1, she is dethroned because she refuses to dance naked in front of the king, nobles, and other men for whom King Xerxes was throwing a party. How dare she! The king wanted to show of her beauty (um, objectify her) to his friends. I'm proud of Vashti for standing up to her misogynist husband whose request was oppressive and demeaning. She lived in a culture in which women had few rights, yet she chose to do the right thing and not objectify herself in this way--even when it cost her security, wealth, honor, and privilege. The men didn't want other women behaving like Queen Vashti, so the king ordered a law saying that men are the heads of household and women should do everything they say (Note that this is not God saying this.).

King Xerxes. He really comes across--at least to me in this day and age--as a misogynist pig. In a queen, he only looks for someone with beauty and he holds a competition for queen. This book reads like a reality show in some places, especially when Xerxes is involved and asks the women to promenade in front of him like a Miss America pageant.

Esther. A Jew. Mordecai's beautiful cousin who participated in the Miss American pageant, um, the competition to became the next queen. She completed 12 months of beauty treatments before appearing to the king. Xerxes becomes attracted to Esther more than any of the other women (why not, right?), so she becomes queen. Esther did not tell Xerxes she was a Jew. (You can hardly blame Esther for participating in this pageant--she lived in a culture where she had few rights, and with her belief in God, this would provide quite an opportunity for her).

Mordecai. A Jew who raised his cousin Hadassah (Esther) because she didn't have parents. When Esther becomes queen, he uncovers an assassination plot against King Xerxes and saves Xerxes' life. He does not bow down to Haman and, as a result, Haman orders the annihilation of all Jews.

Hanan. He was elevated to the highest position in King Xerxes' court and because Mordecai would not bow down to him and pay him honor, he plotted to kill the Jews. King Xerxes gave his approval to kill all the Jews, even women and children.

To be continued...

Power and Purpose

Day 45: Judges 1 to 5

My father's occupation while I was growing up was a judge. Every day, he drove downtown to the courthouse where he would spend most of his day in court, hearing pleas, testimonies, and trials from people who had committed felonies. He was a judge over the worst crimes committed.

I often went down to the courthouse to see what life was like for him on the job. I was always entertained. When there wasn't a trial going on, I got to sit in the jury area and listen to the pleas. When there was a trial going on, I watched the defendant, the lawyers, and the family's of the victims react to the events. When the courtroom was empty, I even got to sit in the witness chair and give "testimony" through the microphone. I also got to sit in my dad's chair on the bench and bang the gavel like I had seen on TV but that I had never seen my dad do.

When court was in session and my dad entered the courtroom, everyone stood. The room was so quiet at this moment that you could hear the tapping of my dads boots as he walked up to the bench. The room had an aura of respect, and the judge seemed very powerful.

Now I'm not sure how the culture worked back in the Old Testament, but I'm sure judges were seen as powerful then, too. Which is why I am so impressed (astounded, even) by the fact that there was a female judge. Deborah, a prophetess, became a judge. What must God have been thinking? In a culture where women didn't seem to have roles beyond mother and wife, here you have a woman who was a judge. I couldn't tell from the text if Deborah was married or if she had kids (it does say she is the "Mother of Israel," but that doesn't necessarily mean she was a mother herself). Regardless, here God is using a woman--a person who probably wasn't very valuable in the eyes of her society--to accomplish his purpose.

God uses all sorts of people, especially those who might not be viewed as "powerful" in the society to make them powerful in other ways. Thankfully, God has used many women since Deborah to continue on the path that Deborah began.

Thoughts about the book of Joshua

Day 41: Joshua 1 to 4

Strength and courage seems to be an important characteristic to have when you're a leader and when you're preparing for battle. Four times in this short reading God gives the command to, "Be strong and courageous." Three times the Lord tells this command to Joshua, the new leader of the people, and once he gives the command to the Israelites. The Israelites are preparing to enter the promised land. War is about to ensue, and strength and courage are necessary attitudes to possess.
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Have you ever wondered why the spies went to Rahab's house, a prostitute's house? Perhaps this is another cultural thing about the Bible. Sex with prostitutes. Judah slept with a Tamar when he thought she was a prostitute. Maybe that's what's going on here, too. God uses all types of people--both the spies and Rahab to accomplish his mission.
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I didn't remember that God had dried up two waterways so the Israelites could pass through. Of course we all know about the Red Sea, but God did the same thing again when 40,000 Israelites needed to cross over the Jordan River. This time, the Ark of the Covenant was what dried up the water flow.

Deuterono...WHAT?

Day 38: Deuteronomy 21-25

Have you ever wondered why we (as Christians) believe and abide by certain passages of scripture while other passages of scripture are chalked up to being cultural and we therefore don't see them as relevant? For example, the reading for today discusses what happens when a man: marries more than one woman, hangs someone on a pole, needs to kill rebellious children, takes a woman captive, flogs someone in the presence of a judge, has to marry his sister-in-law because his brother dies, wants to find proof of a woman's virginity (I have to admit that I hate the idea of this one), and loans money to people and shouldn't charge interest to someone from the same country while he should charge it to "foreigners".

After reading this list, what do you think of these laws? Don't most of them seem outrageous to you? Outdated, even? They do to me. But why is this the case? Why do we view some laws, particularly in the Old Testament, as being outdated, ancient, and purely connected to Jewish culture, while others within these same passages are viewed as laws for us today? Hard and fast rules we need to follow?

I can only guess at the reason here (and I'm sure there are many, with one being that Jesus changed and extended many of these laws), but it seems to me that the answer has to do with our own current notions of right and wrong. That is, when we view a practice as "right"-eous today, we thus view the biblical practice as outdated and associated with the Israelite culture; however, when we view the practice as sinful today, we view the biblical practice as right (and therefore relevant, appropriate, and current).

For instance, today, I think we can all agree that we view it as wrong to flog, hang, or murder people. As a result, we view the biblical commands related to these "sins" (or practices) as something that was cultural to the Israelites and therefore not relevant to us today. However, when we view a behavior or attitude today as "sinful," we refer to the passages in the Bible (where it is also deemed sinful), and we justify our way of looking at the world through the biblical lens.

But, why isn't everything cultural? How do we decide what's cultural and what's not? I don't know, but I think it's something we should all consider as we decide what we believe and why we believe it.

And, just in case you're still wondering about the kinds of passages that have me thinking about these issues, I leave you with Deuteronomy 25:11:

"If two men are fighting and the wife of one of them comes to rescue her husband from his assailant, and she reaches out and seizes him by his private parts, you shall cut off her hand. Show her no pity."

Uh, was this a common problem? Do we need a law for everything?