The Bundle of Sticks

Can a man own land?  The English enshrined property above all else.  An Englishman holding title could sell land, rent it, sell some rights and reserve others—anything a seller could conceive.  Land ownership was compared to owning a bundle of sticks.  A man walking home with firewood on his back might sell you one stick, but keep the rest.  So it is with land.  He might sell you an easement for a cable TV wire or the right to drill for oil—but keep the rest.

Compare that to the traditional view of Native Americans.  Though research indicates Indians had as many conceptions of property ownership as there were tribes on the continent, the common understanding is that they viewed land as a resource to be used, not owned. To some, the notion of land ownership was as crazy as the notion of owning air or sunlight.

What does the Bible say about land ownership?  You might be surprised.

“The land is NOT to be permanently sold because it is Mine, and you are only foreigners and temporary residents on My land” Leviticus 25:23.

God gave His people the Promised Land, dividing it among tribes, clans, and families.  If a family sold its land, it would be returned during the Year of Jubilee (every 50th year).  Imagine that connection to real property.  On the one hand, it belongs to God—He literally said “the land is MINE.”  But on the other hand, your family is tied to it for hundreds of years, and if you are forced by poverty to sell the land, it will be returned in the year of Jubilee. 

APPLICATION?  GOD OWNS THE LAND.  We are stewards, not owners.  I take care of the land because I want to leave it in better condition than I found it—and I want to please God by honoring the gifts He has entrusted to me.  I also consider the environment.  I don’t want to pollute the land where my well is located.  But I also don’t want to pollute the planet—because the EARTH BELONGS TO HIM.

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Provision.

I paid bills yesterday. First I sent money to the church. And it was sort of hard. I thought about the way that I feel disconnected from my church: I don’t teach Sunday school, many worship from home, I attend the Cypress campus for convenience but not out of a sense of calling. I’m in no choir. My college kids attend elsewhere (FOR WHICH I AM SO GRATEFUL), and if I drive to the Loop campus, it’s sparsely attended this year due to COVID-19, and my parents definitely won’t be there. On top of that—the money was difficult to send to the church following an unexpected car repair. 

But God asks for the tithe. And the church meets needs: that money will bless poor people around the world with food, shelter, and the gospel message. People who need Jesus will be blessed. And honestly, when you feel disconnected from church, that’s the time to give MORE, not less. Giving IS connecting. And giving is an act of worship, a demonstration of faith in action. Giving says, “God, I trust you to meet my needs.”

God asked His people to give not only tithes, but to trust Him by taking the 7th day off—the sabbath was holy. Jews were faithful about the Sabbath; the orthodox continue to be amazingly disciplined about it.

But God also told them to take every seventh year off from farming, to let the ground rest and to TRUST GOD to provide. The people seem to have conveniently ignored this command. God dealt with their disobedience 490 years later by having all the people carted off to Babylon for 70 years so the land could have the 70 years of rest it was owed.

But it never had to be this way. God promised to provide:

“When you say, ‘What shall we eat in the seventh year if we do not sow nor reap?’ Then I will command my blessing upon you in the sixth year and it shall bring forth fruit for THREE years. And when you sow in the eighth year, you will still be eating from the sixth year even until you reap in the ninth year.” Leviticus 25:20-22.

You can give. You can make sacrifices. And you can trust God to take care of you, no matter what.

He is our PROVIDER. He always will be.

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Holidays and Celebrations.

Do you ever wonder what God thinks about all our celebrations? Isn’t our calendar full of holidays, covering topics from the sublime to the ridiculous? Many Americans decorate their yards nearly year-round: Valentine’s, Saint Patrick’s Day, Easter, July 4th, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Advertisers go even further: President’s Day Sale!, April Fool’s Folly!, Cinco de Mayo Special!, Memorial Day Savings Event!, Labor Day Selloff!, Veterans Day Savings!, New Year’s Blowout!, etc. Greeting card companies make a fortune on these, plus Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Boss’s Day, Secretary’s Day, Pastor Appreciation Sunday, and more. And in addition to these somewhat universal American days, there are regional, ethnic, and religious days: Chinese New Year, Mardi Gras, Ash Wednesday, Cinco de Mayo, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, and Ramadan.

But again, what does God think about all these special days? Is He for holidays or against them?

First, the obvious—God would not approve of the debauchery that is so common around holidays. Saint Patrick was a missionary, for example. He was an English boy kidnapped and enslaved on an Irish ship. He learned the language. Years after his release, he heard God calling him to share the gospel with the Irish people. Think of him as the Billy Graham of fifth-century Ireland. Would Patrick be honored by people who drink until they pass out in his name? This is a Christian hero who sacrificed an easy life in England to follow God’s call. I believe many of today’s celebrations dishonor him. The same is true for so many holidays. God’s standards do not change for special days.

In addition, many of our holidays have origins that do not honor Christ. They may be harmless, but should be handled with wisdom: consider the origins of Halloween (as opposed to “Reformation Day”), Easter (as opposed to “Resurrection Day”), Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday (a day to get fat on rich foods before giving them up for Lent), and the various holy days from other religions.

We must never use a holiday as an excuse to sin, whether with food, drink, sex, or anything else. In fact, many Biblical holidays include days of self-discipline, days without work, days with special diets, and some days of feasting.

However, with that caveat (“qualification” or “warning”), we should note that God INVENTED holidays. (After all, the English word “holiday” is a shortened form of “holy day.”)

The Old Testament is filled with holy days. God knows we need “punctuation” in our time. We need breaks—day, night, summer, winter, work, rest, one day off every week, and special holidays throughout the year. In Leviticus chapters 23-25, God explains the special days on the calendar, beginning with this verse:

“These are my appointed times, the times of the Lord that you will proclaim as sacred assemblies.” Leviticus 23:2.

  1. The Sabbath Day—52 days a year
  2. Purim—(celebrates deliverance by Esther from Haman)
  3. Passover—7 days
  4. The Feast of Unleavened Bread
  5. Firstfruits
  6. Pentecost/Shavuot
  7. Rosh Hashana—2 days (Jewish New Year)
  8. Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
  9. Feast of Tabernacles—7 days.
  10. The Sabbatical Year (every 7th year)
  11. The Year of Jubilee (every 50th year)

Even though I can tend to be a non-participator (I admit it!), I know from reading the Bible that God loves special days, festivals, days off, special years, and more. He built into the Jewish calendar numerous opportunities for the people to remember God, to repent, to worship, to give thanks, and to get to know God better.

Dear God, show us how to celebrate you! May our years be filled with special days, and may we use them to get to know Jesus better.

ΑΩ

Why Do We Obey?

God provides reasons to obey His laws. Most obvious? To avoid punishment. Consider:

  1. If a man commits adultery with a woman—death penalty. Lev. 20:10.
  2. If anyone sleeps with a close relative—death penalty. Lev.20:11-12.
  3. If a man sleeps with a man—death. Lev.20:13.
  4. If a man marries a woman and her mother—death to all by fire. Lev.20:14
  5. If a man sleeps with an animal—death to both. Lev.20:15.
  6. If a man marries his half-sister—banishment. Lev.20:17.
  7. If a man sleeps with a menstruating woman—banishment. Lev. 20:18.
  8. If a man sleeps with his aunt—barrenness. Lev.20:20.
  9. If a man marries his brother’s wife—barrenness. Lev.20:21.

These punishments are SEVERE and are a warning that God takes them seriously. He knows we need the fear of consequences. When we are tempted, sometimes only the fear of horrible consequences can stop us. But as we grow in Christ, a more important motive should begin to motivate us—God’s holiness, and our love for our holy, loving, saving God. It begins at Leviticus 19:2:

“Be holy because I, Yahweh your God, am holy.”

He repeats this reason over and over. No idols—I am Yahweh. Be compassionate—I am Yahweh. Be honest—I am Yahweh. Do not gossip—I am Yahweh. No revenge—I am Yahweh. Do not gash or tattoo yourselves—I am Yahweh. Observe the Sabbath—I am Yahweh. Honor the elderly—I am Yahweh. Be kind to foreigners—I am Yahweh.

Twenty-two times this phrase is repeated.

“You are to keep my commands and do them; I am Yahweh.” Lev. 20:22-23.

Obey God because you fear the consequences—we reap what we sow. If you plant sin, problems will grow in your life. But may God help us begin to obey Him because we love Him and He is holy. Ask Him to help you want to obey Him.

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“Do Not Be Partial…”

Can you be neutral? Can you listen to both sides before reaching a decision? Can you be objective when every friend and family member and church member, work associate,—EVERYONE is on the same side?  And they expect you to join them?  Can you RESERVE JUDGMENT?

Most cannot.  But here is a Biblical principle that will provide some guidance:

“Do not be partial to the poor or give preference to the rich. Judge your neighbor fairly.” Leviticus 19:15.

Most of us think we would never automatically favor someone based on their poverty or wealth. Yet everyone does it.  American liberals are “partial to the poor,” and American conservatives “give preference to the rich”—or at least the gainfully employed members of the middle-class.  When a defendant enters court with a certain look, or vibe, certain clothing or tattoo choices, liberal jurors may immediately assume he has had a tough life and look for ways to excuse his failures—while conservative jurors may assume he has made a lifetime of bad choices and it’s time for him to face the music.  Both are wrong: YOU MUST RESERVE JUDGMENT UNTIL YOU SEE THE EVIDENCE.

This is also true in the area of journalism.  Reporters must not “be partial to the poor” or “give preference to the rich.”  Yet they do both constantly.  Many news outlets have all but given up the pretense of telling both sides of the story.  Instead, they tell only the side they prefer. Liberal news outlets (nearly all traditional newspapers and broadcasts) have a left-leaning bias, causing them to tell stories in ways that make the poor and downtrodden look like victims of “society’s failures,” as if the poor are children who bear no responsibility for their actions.  Conservative news outlets, by contrast, tell the same stories in a manner that make the poor and downtrodden look like evil-hearted criminals who can never be reformed and should be locked up forever.

Both are wrong.  But we cannot change journalism.  What we can do is RESERVE JUDGMENT and listen to news reports from both sides.  That is the only way to ensure that we are neither favoring the poor nor the rich, but are “judging our neighbors fairly.”

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Your Parents May Be Out of Touch, But God is Not.

It is easy to think parents have no idea what the world and its temptations are like. Parents talk about things like not drinking (you mean “AT ALL”?) or remaining a virgin until marriage, or not smoking, or not skipping classes, or whatever else—and it is easy to think these old people are out of touch.

Well… FALSE.  But even if it were true, God is not out of touch. His standards are incredibly high.  He says, “be holy, as I am holy,” (1 Peter 1:16) and “be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” Matthew 5:48.  But at the same time “he knows what is in man” (John 2:25), and he addresses the details. 

For example, though God says do not have sex before or outside marriage, he also provides numerous rules for those who do.  Why? Because he is realistic about peoples’ failures.  Further, God knows PEOPLE DO NOT UNDERSTAND BOUNDARIES.  So he makes it clear: You must not have sex with– any close relative, including a parent, step-parent, sibling, step-sibling, half-sibling, grandchild, aunt or uncle, daughter or son-in-law, brother or sister-in-law, and more, Leviticus 18:6-16.

But isn’t sex all fun and laughs? What difference does it make? Didn’t God see the movie RUMOR HAS IT, where Kevin Costner sleeps with a grandma, mom, and granddaughter? (The movie bombed, by the way.)

“You are not to have sexual intercourse with a woman and her daughter… They are close relatives; it is DEPRAVED” Lev. 18:17.

God knows how wicked and corrupt people can be, perverting His design.  He does not simply announce an unattainable rule—BE HOLY—but He also specifically addresses many situations that may come up in the lives of imperfect people. He provides DETAILED, SPECIFIC guidance.

But you have to take the time to read the OWNER’S MANUAL. Study the WORD and let Him instruct you.

God, thank you for understanding our weaknesses. Teach us how to live lives that please you.

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Boundaries.

Throughout Leviticus, God provides laws that should not have been necessary. In 17:15, He says don’t eat roadkill (tempting, right?): “Every person … who eats an animal that died or was mauled by wild beasts… will be unclean.” God is realistic—He knows people will take things too far and push the boundaries.

The same is true for sexual relations. If you don’t think so, consider television. I once complained to my wife that though Breaking Bad (TV-MA) includes very little sex, what it does include is … “unusual.” Nothing traditional happens. The same is true for most television. If you kept a record, the people audiences see in bed together are married—to each other—about one time out of a hundred. The other 99 times, the sex is OUTSIDE the Biblical rules.

God is not surprised by that. He takes the time to clearly state some rules, providing guidance for a culture (like ours) that has moved WAY BEYOND the simple extra-marital affair. He realistically addresses other issues:

“You are not to come near any close relative for sexual intercourse. You are not to have sex with your father’s wife; it will shame your father. You are not to have sex with your sister [or half-sister]… You are not to have sex with your son’s daughter or your daughter’s daughter, because it will shame your family. You are not to have sex with your father’s sister; she is your father’s close relative… You are not to have sex with your daughter-in-law, or your brother’s wife, or your aunt… You are not to have sexual intercourse with a woman and her daughter… they are close relatives; it is depraved. You are not to sleep with a man as with a woman; it is detestable. You are not to have sexual intercourse with any animal… it is a perversion.” Leviticus 18:6-23.

God is Holy, but God is NOT naïve. He knows what is in the hearts of people. Thank Him for being merciful enough to provide clear guidance. Ask Him to help you obey.

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Do Not Add a Second Sin to the First.

It is easy for the naïve to assume the best.  But God is not naïve.  “Jesus knew what was in the heart of man” John 2:25.  In situations where well-meaning parents or teachers might think minimal guidance is enough, God spells things out in detail.  Consider sexual sin, for example.  Most of us think there’s one rule: no sex outside of marriage. 

But God “knows what is in the heart of man” and thus, provides great detail, addressing some of the more unusual situations—situations that are not unusual at all on TV situation comedies and rom-com films like “Rumor Has It.” 

But this is no laughing matter: 

Do not have sex with close relatives for that is depraved: mothers or stepmothers, sisters, stepsisters, or half-sisters, daughters, grand-daughters, or step-granddaughters, aunts, daughters-in-law, sisters-in-law, or any mother and also that mother’s daughter. Don’t marry two sisters. “Do not have sex with a man as with a woman; it is detestable. You are not to have sexual intercourse with any animal, defiling yourself with it; it is a perversion.” Leviticus 18:1-23.

God is a realist; He knows people—even the people of Israel—will violate the simple rule prohibiting sex outside of marriage.  Knowing the first rule will be broken, God warns us not to add a SECOND sin.  It’s as though He says, “if you must fornicate, do not ALSO violate a close family member.  If you must fornicate, do not also violate your nature by exchanging sex with a woman for sex with a man or an animal. 

Why the extra warning? Because each additional sin comes with additional consequences.  What consequences?  Consider the Promised Land.  God is going to overthrow every nation living there because of their depravities, perversions, and detestable acts.  If Israel sows the seeds of the sins of the Canaanites, Israel will reap the same harvest, the grapes of God’s great wrath.  So He warns His people: do not add a second sin to the first. 

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God Knows How to Muck Out Your Hurricane-Ravaged House.

After Hurricane Harvey, I thought I’d seen it all. In my rubber boots I had slogged through a dozen Houston-area houses with water dripping from carpets and insulation. As the sun rose toward noon, you could feel the steam coming out of those swampy damp caverns of mold and moisture. It was interesting, but gross and foul to smell. Still, dragging the wet stuff out, getting fans going, and letting the place begin to dry felt great.

But not until the pipes froze in my parents’ house did I encounter collapsed ceilings and rooms buried in insulation and filth. Wow.

I’m not sure when people realized mold was unhealthy, but God has always known. And though Israel is a dry climate (healthier than ours, provided you have food and water), He gave laws for dealing with mold. If people found mold in the house, they had to move out and call in the priest to check it. He would have every stone with mold removed and taken outside the city walls. Then everything that’s left would be scraped clean and the dust taken outside the city. If no mold reappears, the house is clean, new stones and mortar are put in, and the family returns. If the mold keeps coming back, the house will be taken down, brick-by-brick, and the stones and timbers taken outside the city. Meanwhile, everyone who touches the house each day has to wash himself and his clothes and is ceremonially unclean till evening. Leviticus 14:33-57.

Did the Israelites understand the reasons for these laws? Probably not. But God knew what was best. Just as dietary laws protected them from unknown parasites, laws about mold—and all His laws—were for their protection. 

That’s still true today. I know it’s hard to understand some of God’s laws, such as those concerning sexuality. But we have to trust that He knows what is best, and He wants to protect us from dangers we don’t understand. 

Trust God and submit to His word. Doesn’t He deserve that from you?

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Quarantine. Leviticus 13 and 14.

As of this morning (2/20/2020), the Coronavirus has reached 24 nations; 75,000 people have been infected; 2,118 have died. Cruise ships returning from China are under 14-day quarantines around the world. China has placed 45M people under quarantine—the largest quarantine in history. Hong Kong announced prison sentences for anyone who violates the quarantine. Researchers trace the disease to a market in Wuhan, China. The virus was transmitted from bats to an animal called a pangolin (a Chinese armadillo). Then a human ate a pangolin.

What would the Bible say about such a meal? Does a pangolin have split hooves and chew the cud? No. It is unclean. Had it not been eaten, there may never have been an outbreak. Again, there is a reason behind God’s laws.

Once on an episode of LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE, half the town contracted smallpox. Doc Baker put all the patients in the ice cellar to protect those who were still healthy. He hung a sign on the door that struck fear in the hearts of everyone: QUARANTINE.

Where did the notion of a quarantine begin? Leviticus. In chapters 13 and 14 the word “quarantine” is used ELEVEN times. People with questionable skin conditions must be quarantined for 14 days so the priest can determine if the condition is clean (like eczema) or unclean (like leprosy).

Guess what? Quarantines are not just for people. If a Hebrew found mildew in his leather or fabric, that item was quarantined for 14 days to determine whether it was a spreading, harmful mildew. And if he found mildew in his house, the priest would quarantine the house for 14 days.

Once again, we return to Exodus 15:26:

“If you will listen to the voice of the Lord … and keep all His statutes, then I will put NONE OF THESE DISEASES on you...”

God promises His people that if they obey, they will not have the diseases of the pagans. Dietary laws might have prevented this outbreak of the Coronavirus. And for those who may have caught the disease, God created the rule of quarantine to stop the spread. God’s laws may not be exciting reading—but they are amazing when you appreciate the way He took care of His people thousands of years before modern medicine.

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