Sunday, July 19, 2009

Take time to help your neighbor Dt 22:1-4

"You shall not see your countryman's ox or his sheep straying away, and pay no attention to them; you shall certainly bring them back to your countryman. If your countryman is not near you, or if you do not know him, then you shall bring it home to your house, and it shall remain with you until your countryman looks for it; then you shall restore it to him. Thus you shall do with his donkey, and you shall do the same with his garment, and you shall do likewise with anything lost by your countryman, which he has lost and you have found. You are not allowed to neglect them. You shall not see your countryman's donkey or his ox fallen down on the way, and pay no attention to them; you shall certainly help him to raise them up." (Deuteronomy 22:1-4)
Cain asked this question of God, "am I my brother's keeper?" (Genesis 4:9) While it is not our jobs to keep track of our brothers and sisters, and their whereabouts, we still have a responsibility to each other as fellow human beings who have been created in the image of God. God intends us to care for one another and to look after the interests of each other.

There are two important points that this scripture brings out. First, the the phrase "pay no attention" is translated in other versions as, do not "hide yourself from them" (Deuteronomy 22:1 NKJV). We all lead busy lives and it is easy to purposely blind our eyes to the needs and concerns of others. When confronted with a need, it is all too easy to turn away and justify our selfish interests. I remember how God taught me this lesson. We were living in Las Vegas and I had to run out to the grocery store late at night. I was in a hurry and anxious to get back home. As I was leaving the store, I saw a couple struggling to start their car. Being in a hurry I prayed and asked the Lord that they might not notice me or ask me for a "jump" so that I could get right home and not have to spend time helping them. However, as I got into my car and went to start it, it wouldn't start! I got out and looked under the hood (not that I would have known what to look for or what to do). Then I tried again; nothing! By this time the other couple had left and I couldn't even ask them for a "jump". I realized the lesson God was trying to teach me. We are never too busy to help one another. Fortunately, the problem was minor and I was soon on my way, but I had learned a valuable lesson. John put it this way, "But whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?" (1 John 3:17)

Secondly, the phrase "you shall certainly" is also translated as "thou shalt in any case". (Deuteronomy 22:1 Darby) This term implies a turning back or to return. The idea is of one going along his way and seeing his neighbor's cow has gotten loose. He then gets the cow and "turns back" to return the cow to his neighbor. He temporarily puts on hold his journey to take care and return of his neighbor's cow. Sometimes we have to put on hold, or temporarily suspend, what we are doing to care for one another. OK, so we might be a few minutes late to church, but isn't it better to help a neighbor in need than to just speed past them on our way to church. Sometimes we are so absorbed in our own lives and with our own needs that we fail to see the needs of other around us. We need to allow our focus to be turned by the needs of others; we need to let our conscience expand beyond its present limits to include the lives of others. Paul put it this way, "But God has so composed the body, giving more abundant honor to that member which lacked, so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." (1 Corinthians 12:24-26) The word "care" used here means to have "anxiety for" or to "be distracted" by the things around us. God intends that we should be distracted by the needs of others around us; to be distracted from our own needs and interest to those of others. It is not enough to "care" in feelings but we mist be willing to be "distracted", and even interrupted, in our actions and the course of our everyday life.

David Robison

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Saturday, July 18, 2009

Can't we just stone them? Dt 21:18-21

"If any man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey his father or his mother, and when they chastise him, he will not even listen to them, then his father and mother shall seize him, and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gateway of his hometown. They shall say to the elders of his city, 'This son of ours is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey us, he is a glutton and a drunkard.' Then all the men of his city shall stone him to death; so you shall remove the evil from your midst, and all Israel will hear of it and fear." (Deuteronomy 21:18-21)
One day my little brother asked my dad, "Dad, why do you spank us?" and immediately my dad replied, "Because I cannot bring myself to stone you!"

Parenting is not always deterministic. In other words, just because you do the right things does not always mean you will end up with the right outcome. Sometimes bad kids come from good parents and good kids from bad. Even with the best of parents, free will still rests within the child and they make their own choices, good or bad.

One scripture that offers great hope for parents is found in Proverbs. "Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he will not depart from it." (Proverbs 22:6) However it must be remembered that this is a proverbial saying and not an immutable law. If this were an absolute law then there would be no need for faith in parenting, no need for the intervention of Christ, and no hope for our children, all of whom come from imperfect parents.

As parents, we do our best and leave God the rest. "For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness." (Hebrews 12:10) As parents we can neither accept the full credit for raising good children nor can we take unto ourselves the full blame when they make wrong choices, choosing sin over godliness. Parenting is not for the weak of heart; there are times of joy and also times of heartbreak. Parenting requires faith and trust in God that, even in our lack, He will make up the difference; that, in the end, they are really His children and our hope is in Him.

David Robison

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Friday, July 17, 2009

Children are not pawns Dt:21:15-17

"If a man has two wives, the one loved and the other unloved, and both the loved and the unloved have borne him sons, if the firstborn son belongs to the unloved, then it shall be in the day he wills what he has to his sons, he cannot make the son of the loved the firstborn before the son of the unloved, who is the firstborn. But he shall acknowledge the firstborn, the son of the unloved, by giving him a double portion of all that he has, for he is the beginning of his strength; to him belongs the right of the firstborn." (Deuteronomy 21:15-17)
This scripture speaks of a man who's feelings for his two wives are at opposite extremes of emotions. For one he has intense and intimate affection, but for the other, hatred. It is not that she is merely unloved by him but she is hated by her husband, even to the point of being his enemy.

Putting aside the command that husbands should love their wives, even, if necessary, as their enemies, Moses focuses on the effects of one's feelings for their spouse upon their children. God intended marriage to be a blessing for those who marry and for their children, but when a marriage goes sour, the children can suffer as much, or more so, than the parents. In a marriage filled with acrimony and a waring between partners, too often the children end up as collateral casualties.

Moses' command here is that we should love all our children irrespective of how we feel about their mother (or father). We should not make our children pawns in our war with our partner; using them as chess pieces and weapons to manipulate and hurt our enemy spouse. Unfortunately, such behavior is all too common in our culture. Marriages fall apart leading to painful divorces and leaving the children in the middle; in the middle of fights, custody battles, and slanderous diatribes from one partner to another. Moses' command is to "stop it!"

David Robison

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Saturday, July 11, 2009

Wives are not property (part 3) Dt 21:10-14

"It shall be, if you are not pleased with her, then you shall let her go wherever she wishes; but you shall certainly not sell her for money, you shall not mistreat her, because you have humbled her." (Deuteronomy 21:14)
Husbands, our wives do not cease to be a person when they marry us. Even in marriage, our wives maintain their own unique and special identity, personage, and, most importantly, their individual relationship with God. Some husbands treat their wives as if all their interaction with the "outside" world is to be "funneled" and "filtered" through their husband. This includes their external relationships, their beliefs and opinions, and their aspirations, goals, and desires. They act as if there is only one person in the marriage; themselves. In doing so, they ignore the fact that their wives are, as they themselves are, a unique and special creation of God. "The Lord God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man." (Genesis 2:22) Eve was created by God, not Adam, and while she was to be Adam's helpmate, her new relationship with Adam would never erase her identity or individuality that was hers through her creation by God. Paul further reminds us of our wives individual relationship with God when he encourages husbands to, "live with your wives in an understanding way... and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered." (1 Peter 3:7)

Our wives are not our property, nor do we own them, rather they are our companions, our partners, our "fellow heirs" of the grace and blessings of God. "She is your companion and your wife by covenant." (Malachi 2:14) In the Song of Solomon, Solomon describes his beloved in this way. "How beautiful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much better is your love than wine, and the fragrance of your oils than all kinds of spices!" (Song of Solomon 4:10) He describes her as both his sister and his bride. While she is his bride by marriage, she is still his sister, retaining her own identity and personage. This is especially true in the Lord. Our wives are our brides by marriage but our sisters in the Lord though His redemption. Our wives belong to God more than they belong to us. They are first His daughter, His bride, His beloved ever before they are ours. We should count it an indescribable privilege and blessing that He should share His daughter with us. Our wives are not our possessions, they are individuals, loaned to us by God, that we might be companions in love, one to another.

David Robison

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