Judges 1, Adoni-bezek and Toes & Thumbs

Judges 1:1-10

Adoni-bezek, 70 kings and toes and thumbs
The interesting event with Adoni-Bezek a cruel king being repaid for his actions he took out against 70 neighboring kings, where he had cut off their big toes and thumbs and made to pick up scraps under his table.
It is interesting to note that though actively humans repay him he himself says, "Now God has paid me back for what I did to them(the seventy)". He attributes his loss to God's revenge.

But now to the nitty gritty.

The hands are only useful for work with thumbs. Without thumbs it is difficult to be productive.
Likewise without toes it is difficult to balance and walk around. Essentially one becomes crippled and highly dependent upon others and upon welfare.

This king, like many governing bodies before and since, had reduced others to a state of dependency. He had forced 70 other kings to scrounge for scraps under his table. His table which could've been a symbol of abundance and food is now the ceiling under which those dependents barely survive.

There is more to this as well, here comes Christ!
In Leviticus 8 and 14 the thumb and toe (and ear) were symbols to be consecrated to God. The high priest would place a bit of the ram's blood on each of those places.
In our own lives we need to ask that Christ cover our hearing, the work of our hands and wherever we go/walk in life.
The contrast shown here is huge, the difference between:
-one 'lord' and king who cuts off the means to productivity
vs
-the true Lord and King of Kings! who sacrifices his life for us so that we can draw near to God and be blessed in the work of our hands and wherever we go!

What about the name?
Adoni-Bezek means "my lord is Bezek" or "my lord is lightning". It is possible that there is idolatry here? and in keeping with the culture of Canaan i don't doubt it. But there is also more to this. Bezek is the town where Adoni-bezek resides. Is this nationalism of sorts? Upholding the town, the city, the place as the lord? Standard nationalist behaviour.

Interestingly, many years later it is at Bezek that Israel's first king Saul (though God strongly recommended against having a king....) coerces all the people of Israel to war. He literally says if you don't come and join i will make you like this cut up piece of oxen...(1 Samuel 11). How fitting that the symbol and place of a potentially idolatrous and tyrannical king becomes the place where yet again standard tyrannical behaviour is displayed.

As a Christian Anarchist I have only one Lord and he isnt really all human... That is Jesus Christ. He doesnt force me to follow him, he asks and as always i can leave if i want. But people generally don't try and leave those who love them, they run from tyrants not from friends and definitely not from real 'down-to-earth' saviours, scuse the pun :P
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Other points to note from start of chapter 1:

The Israelites continue to follow God's command of conquest. This is always hard for us to read and i agree it is difficult to read. Here are some quick thoughts on the matter:
-God had asked them to DRIVE them out.
-I have heard it was the standard practice to give the enemy the chance to leave before turning to war.
-from a Divine Command Theory perspective God has every right to issue such a command.
-if taking into account all knowledge and God's sovereignty. One could imagine a far worse world with far greater suffering had the conquest of Canaan not happened. As painful as it could be this could perhaps have been the best possible outcome given man's freewill.

However i didn't start this topic to defend the conquest of Canaan! And that is a side issue only set up at the beginning.
One thing to take note of are the numbers (of dead). As nearing the end of Judges i will provide a summary to compare the dead in Judges vs the dead of the kings both 400 years each.
It does not seem that the Israelites were commanded to repay this king with such treatment. Perhaps they were moved (and i disagree with their movement) as a result of his barbarity. This only shows the inhumanity of man to his fellow man.

It is interesting to note that decisions to act were between tribes, Judah talks to Simeon, they make a deal a contract as it were and follow through. They do not force each other into it (though one may assume that the people within the tribe may have been forced, but this is not explained). I still disagree with the concept of war as initiated by man.

The book of Judges, Anarchism and Christianity

Studying Judges, the free-market and anarchism

I have gone through judges many many times in the past. Lately as i have been more convinced that anarchism is a natural outcome and one of the ultimate ends of Christianity and following Christ AND as i see anarchism as the most ethical approach a Christian can take in regards to politics AND that the economics makes sense, I decided to read through Judges again.This time seeing some remarkable thoughts being portrayed that i hadn't seen other times.
After reading straight through as a first overall pass, i decided to read over again this time more thoroughly and carefully :)
Let's see what we find, no doubt Jesus will be scattered throughout the book :) and i have a feeling..without any spoilers..anarchism as a positive thing will be making some cameos.

A New Song

I waited patiently for the Lord...

He turned to me and heard my cry.

He lifted me out of the slimy pit...

He set my feet on a rock

He put a new song in my mouth...

A hymn of praise to our God.

Psalm 40. I have read it many times but something hit me this time. The words that are coming out of the mouth have changed. Who knows what they used to sing in the past. Does it matter? Do i need to recall it anyway? Regardless, the words that ring out are NEW and awesome, full of awe for a hearing, saving God who heard me and saved me. He didn't just stop me from sliding backwards down some dirty pit but completely took me out and onto a different ground, one that doesn't slide or pull me down but becomes the perfect platform from which i can stand and stretch and touch the face of God.

But this new song? What hit me is i am reminded of Jesus' words, 

"from out of the heart the mouth speaks". - Luke 6:45

In putting a new song in my mouth he has not only changed the way i sing but the way my heart sings. 

The transformation happened internally FIRST, where in stinking sinking i cried out and waited patiently and God heard me, reached down, pulled me up and set me on the strongest rock possible.

I remember in primary school having a mouth that spouted such nonsense and dirt that in hindsight i can barely imagine it was me. And i remember one very significant day when through the un-knowing words of a friend my heart was transformed and the pollution stopped. In complementing me on my most excellent, polluted vocabulary, my friend said with a smile, "you swear too much :)". In an instance God showed me myself, almost like a birds eye view of this shocked primary kid. "I do swear an awful lot! =S"
Sick to the stomach, not because i was terrified of an awesome God, nor because i thought i had to be good enough, but because my heart was hurting the heart of my best friend (Jesus), my heart was transformed and from that point on, somehow (it doesn't always happen like this) any words of that sort refused to be uttered or even thought. 

He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God!

Some thoughts on Language

Was thinking about language the other day, programing language in particular. Often a programer would define a "simple name",string/object/procedure/function, sometimes with a very complex definition and then wherever that name is used it would mean whatever defined it and so simplify the writing process among other things. Similar to algebra for those who care :)
I began thinking about human language and how similar it is, words like love,hate,stop,go aren't random utterances of sound like an elvis presley "uh", but carry much meaning! They have prior definitions that allow purposeful,meaningful actions to be carried out, whether they are physical expressions "that tree is green" or abstract "i love you!".
Some words have properties or attributes, like past tense and singular or plural. As do procedures and functions in a computer language.
As if that was not enough, "structure" of langue has definition.
You dont just mix all the defined words in any random order there is a defined pattern in which you have to mix them to make any sense!! All though someone who understands the specific structure would be able to debug your language and decipher what you mean based on context (another layer of definition in itself!)

In all this I wonder. First of all.....leet programmers are amazing. C,C+, Python etc are indeed great languages
And Secondly, who programmed my/our language??!!
I can see some ways in which such complex definition and pattern could POSSIBLY come about through other natural coincidental means. But it seems much more plausible..that matter does not beget meaning, rather meaning begets meaning, or mind brings forth mind. Matter birthing mind seems meaningless.
As Steve Kumar likes to say, "whats the matter with matter?! Dont mind, doesnt matter!"

Museli musings from work

Wow, it is really early. I got to work at 7:45 this morning, left at 6:50 ish. Probably the earliest its been for a while =P. Usually i start work around 8:30am so its nice to be able to get my work done sooner!

Well once again im eating some more museli and cocoa pops next to my computer. Also i have some yummy red fruit tea!! (which i think is actually berry tea). But whatever it is its nice as i forgot to bring a jumper and the air con is kinda cold!

Just another musing from something me and Brit read last night. Its from a book in the Bible called Philemon! which to me sounds like a dinosaur. Kinda like a librarian dinosaur as he likes to.... "phile" things away....hahahahahaha..

hohohoho.
Verse 6 of this one chapter book says:

"I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding of every good thing we have in Christ."
or
"I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ"

What i found interesting in this passage was as we share the faith we too deepen in understanding of Christ and every good thing we have in Him. Interestingly its a slightly tricky verse as it also carries a few other meanings.

"As you share your faith with others, I pray that they may come to know all the blessings Christ has given us."

"..that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus."

"[And I pray] that the participation in and sharing of your faith may produce and promote full recognition and appreciation and understanding and precise knowledge of every good [thing] that is ours in [our identification with] Christ Jesus [and unto His glory]."

So also the sharing of our faith and our identification with Jesus brings an awareness of the good things (salvation among them and also a new life on earth and the age to come) to the people being shared to.

So when we share we can let people know what God has done for us and what He has done for the world if they would accept His gift of life. And its a win win because even ourselves benefit from as we edify to ourselves of all the wonderful things we we have in our Saviour.

Peace!
Love from
Jono

Some musings at work

Hey all!!

Just thought id email from work. Im by my computer eating cocoa pops and muesli and drinking straight milky hot chocolate! =)

Hey in 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 it says among many things "For we are to God the aroma of Christ, among those who are saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death and the other the fragrance of life. (v15)"
Something really interesting i read a while ago, was that in acient Hebrew culture when a someone was pronounced king he would be annointed with perfume and good smells, yeah boi. And Solomon even had it poured over his clothes i think it mentions somewhere in the Bible or hints at it in proverbs??. so even days after the procession a king would still have his fragrance drifting about him. A few days before Jesus was crucified this lady came and poured perfume on him if you remember, so when he went up to Jerusalem on his donkey not only would he be pronounced the Son of King David by the people but he smelt the part too!!! =D and then he got brutally beaten and carried a cross up to golgotha! So he truly wouldve smelt of death and of some sweet perfume. A strange mix.
If you read vs 14 you see that it says something like "Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place." So though that proccesion to the cross was a gruesome thing in one sense it was a massive victory and triumph beacuse it made a way to a new life, both here and now and in the future into eternity. And to those who accept Him, He really is a wonderful fragrance of life and we too can spread that fragrance every where. Read the rest to 17. Its cool =)


Ok actually ive finished my eating now, took like 2 hrs to write this lol

Peace!
Love
Jono

Museli Musings

***

Hey lately, ive been emailing out some thoughts on verses in the Bible that are either encouraging or challenging or a bit of both! It so happens that at the same time i'm usually eating a bowl of museli and cocoa pops (yum) cos at work milk is free so thought might as well make the most of it. Also means i can be earlier to work (beat traffic at and all that) cos i dont have to have breakfast at home =D anyway, thought i might just put them up here on my Deepening blog. Maybe people can reflect on it etc.

Peace!