Divorce. 1 Chronicles 8:8.

A curious fact is recorded in the Biblical genealogies:

“Sons were born to Shaharaim in Moab after he had divorced his wives Hushim and Baara. By his wife Hodesh he had Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malkam, Jeuz, Sakia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of families. By Hushim he had Abitub and Elpaal” 1 Chronicles 8:8.

The writer notes that Shaharaim married and divorced his first wife (who bore him two sons). Then he married and divorced his second wife. Then he married his third wife and she bore him seven sons.

But what may appear to be missing is any criticism of Shaharaim for being twice divorced. The writer simply reports the man’s actions without commentary.

Does that mean divorce is acceptable?

No. Jesus condemned divorce.

“Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way in the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery” Matthew 19:8-9.

Not only does Jesus condemn divorce. The Old Testament prophet Malachi does too:

“Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another? … The Lord is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant. Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit … So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth. “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty” Malachi 2:10-16.

Many translations put it more bluntly: “‘For I hate divorce,’ says the Lord God of Israel” Malachi 2:16.

So if divorce is wrong, why is it not condemned in 1 Chronicles 8? Consider the purpose of the passage. The genealogy recorded in 1 Chronicles was a historical record of the lives of actual people, for the benefit of their descendants. The family line of Shaharaim—his great, great grandchildren, for example—need to be able to prove that they are Hebrews from the tribe of Benjamin. They do not need to feel guilty over Shaharaim’s failures as a husband.

As Bible readers, we must avoid drawing conclusions based on the fallacy known as the “Argument from Silence.”

That is, if the text is silent on the matter, do not assume silence equals approval. When facts are presented without comment, we should not draw any conclusion based on silence. Rather than assume divorce is okay because Shaharaim’s divorces are not expressly condemned, we should assume nothing. Instead, look elsewhere in the Bible to see what it says about divorce. It actually says a great deal, calling it a violent betrayal based on unfaithfulness and hardness of heart. God literally says, “I hate divorce.” Would that include the two divorces of Shaharaim? Certainly. First Chronicles is silent about Shaharaim’s divorces, but that does not render them acceptable.

Dear God, find us faithful. Make us strong, loyal spouses, with marriages rooted in integrity, love, and patience. Give us the wisdom to interpret the Bible correctly, and to draw no conclusions where none is supported. Alert us when we base a belief on something the Bible has left unsaid. Thank you for your grace and compassion that reaches all of us–especially those suffering from divorce. May we love people and bless them with your compassion, forgiveness, and grace.

AΩ.

Study Genealogies to Show Thyself Approved. 1 Chronicles 1:1.

Image: In 1946, Norman Rockwell produced this painting for the Saturday Evening Post following his visit to a one-room schoolhouse in Carroll County, Georgia.

My son’s first-grade class learned two things “by heart.” They learned to sing the song of the U.S. presidents, and they used a sort of rhythmic chant to help them learn to recite the second chapter of Luke, the popular “Christmas story.” I remember using one memory trick when I was in college—a Greek professor taught us to sing the Greek alphabet using the same alphabet song we had all learned as English-speaking children. (I cannot get past Epsilon thirty years later.) Nevertheless, singing and poetry are well-known memory tricks. Another involves landmarks and pictures. In fact, before a trip to New York, I found it helpful to memorize the landmarks on a map of Manhattan.

“Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahaleel, Jered, Enoch, Methusaleh, Lamech, Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. The sons of Japheth … the sons of Ham … the sons of Shem …” 1 Chronicles 1:1-17.

The book of First Chronicles begins with a genealogical record that runs for nine chapters! NINE CHAPTERS. Why? Because Israel had been captured and the people were going into captivity in Babylon for what Jeremiah prophesied would be seventy years. When their unborn descendants returned to Israel, they would need a detailed record to prove which of them were Israelites, to which tribe they belonged, and whether they were qualified to serve as priests.

But why does the Bible pass such records down to us? What can these long, boring lists of difficult-to-read names teach us today? Here are seven lessons from genealogies; the first six I have discussed previously:

  1. Biblical genealogies prove that character traits can be passed down: they run in families.
  2. Genealogies indicate that in God’s eyes, the birth of a child is the birth of a lineage—not just a single person.
  3. Genealogies prove no man is an island. We are connected.
  4. Genealogies prove God loves “the little people.”
  5. Biblical genealogies defeat racism, proving that we are all the human race.
  6. Genealogies indicate that God values family trees and our ancestral heritage more than we do. (It means something or it would not be in the Bible!)
  7. Finally, memorizing Biblical genealogies provides a mental framework on which to hang additional information.

The children growing up in Biblical Israel would have memorized parts of these genealogies the way the song of the U.S. presidents was memorized by my son and his first-grade friends. Such memorized lists then become a frame from which to hang future information.

Without that mental structure, facts just float around in your head never connecting to other facts in a meaningful way. For example, you must know something of the map of Israel if you are going to understand the Bible. You have to know the difference between the relatively small Sea of Galilee (a freshwater lake) and the Mediterranean Sea—which is basically the ocean. You should know that the Jordan is a small river bisecting the nation from north to south, and that Bethlehem is a small village just a short walk from Jerusalem. Similarly, you need some sense of history and the timeline. The genealogies provide that. They provide landmarks to help you chart the history of the nation.

Dear God, help us to do a better job studying the Bible. Show us how to study the broad strokes: genealogies, the order of the kings and which kings were heroes and which were evil, the Divided Kingdom and the captivity and occupation periods. And God, give us an interest in studying the maps of the Holy land. Thank you for the amazing resources available to us today. May we use them in a way that honors You through our hard work.

AΩ.

City Planning. Nehemiah 11:1-2.

Image: New York City by Jan Christopher Becke.

An article I read begins with a great question:

“What do Ron Paul, Nancy Pelosi, and President Donald Trump have in common? They have all promised to ‘drain the swamp’ of Washington politics.”[1]

As the article goes on to point out, there never was a swamp on the Potomac–in spite of the persistence of the myth. What there was, was a grand city built out of nothing from the ground up. Today it is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But my guess is no one was in a hurry to live there in the earliest days.

As a young college student, I once stumbled onto a set of books on city planning. My thought was Oh, ‘city planning’? That’s a thing?’ As an English major, I was aware of subjects like engineering and business, but who knew colleges were offering degrees in city planning? I started imagining the problems faced by city planners: how do you provide power, water, and essential services? What about sewers, flood control, and wildlife? How do you divide land between homes, businesses, and government?

I’ve since run across some real-life city planning problems:

How was Galveston to respond to the hurricane that wiped the city off the map in 1903? (The city built a concrete seawall and bounced back, though its port was moved to the safer waters of Houston.)

What was Detroit to do when factories closed down and workers moved away leaving miles of urban housing empty? Old neighborhoods became ghost towns, leaving the people in the suburbs to travel through miles of empty areas to reach their jobs in the city. (The city razed the empty houses, converting the land to parks and gardens.)

New York found itself filled with disease-ridden, crime-infested tenement housing which often saw ten or twelve families living in apartments designed for single families.[2] The city fought for the poor by passing laws requiring more fire escapes, more working outhouses/toilets, more space-per-person, more ventilation, more windows, periodic inspections, and in the end, a “Multiple Dwelling Law” that led to many tenements being torn down.

Finally, there is the fact that Houston (like so many of the world’s great cities) is sinking due to subsidence. My day job is part of the solution, a project to convert the city from over-use of groundwater to greater reliance on river water.

As I have noted often, the Bible is an intensely practical book.

(Unlike most religious texts, the Bible is not always poetry, and it is not always ‘spiritual.’ It is often quite practical.)

The Bible addresses many city planning topics.

For example, wild animals were once a serious consideration for city planners. God tells Israel He will drive the idol worshippers out of the Promised Land—but not all at once, because “the land would become desolate and the wild animals too numerous for you” Exodus 23:29.

Another practical text is Leviticus 14:33-53, in which God tells the people how to handle mold if they find it in their houses.

Sewage is addressed as God tells the people to relieve themselves outside of camp and use a shovel to bury it, Deuteronomy 23:12-14. Septic systems still work that way today.

Finally, in 2 Chronicles 32:30, King Hezekiah secured water for the city of Jerusalem by designing a 500-meter tunnel to springs outside the city. An army that might lay siege against the city would never know they had a water source behind the wall. To this day, engineers marvel at Hezekiah’s Tunnel.[3]

When the Israelites returned from the Babylonian captivity, they faced numerous city-planning problems.

They had to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem. They had to rebuild the temple. And they had to rebuild the city—its houses and its culture. There was no life in Jerusalem because there were so few people there.

“Now the leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem. The rest of the people cast lots to bring one out of every ten of them to live in Jerusalem, the holy city, while the remaining nine were to stay in their own towns. And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered to dwell in Jerusalem” Nehemiah 11:1-2.

Jerusalem is in the news every single day. It is the most hotly contested real estate on earth: everyone wants to own Jerusalem. It is not only the holy land for three of the world’s largest religions, but it is a beautiful, historic city.

But no one wanted to be bothered with Jerusalem after the Babylonian Captivity. Too many headaches. Much like the early days of the District of Columbia, only the leaders wanted to be in the capitol city. Creating Washington or reviving Jerusalem was going to be a lot of work. Would you be up for it? Notice who was.

“The leaders of the people settled in Jerusalem” v.1.  Being a leader means doing hard things. The early days of a new project are hard, but that’s what leaders signed up for.

‘The people blessed those who willingly offered” v.2. I think the next best thing to a leader is a VOLUNTEER. And you know who appreciates volunteers? Those who did not volunteer. But so do the leaders. Leaders value volunteers. And–

If you hope to be a leader, volunteering is one way to get there.

“The rest of the people cast lots” v.1. This third group was drafted. They may not be appreciated the way volunteers are, but they will pitch in, do the work, and reap a deserved reward. Service is appreciated, whether you volunteered or not. We appreciate your service for the kingdom.

Dear God,

We are available. Show us when to step up. Show us when to volunteer. Use us as leaders and servants. May we serve You willingly, work hard, and treat people with kindness and compassion. Thank you for the practical words of the Bible. May we exercise wisdom as we study it and follow it.

AΩ.

[1] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/draining-swamp-guide-outsiders-and-career-politicians-180962448/

[2] I was reading yesterday about one tenement found with a wet cellar full of pigs, complete with a heavy load of unventilated manure. More commonly, landlords placed newly arrived immigrant families in the cellars or the tiny attics several flights up. Several of these tenements were found to contain nearly 100 children in only four apartments. In such close quarters, it is understandable that recurring epidemics spread like wildfire, wiping out large numbers living in poverty. HOW THE OTHER HALF LIVES: Studies Among the Tenements of New York, by Jacob Riis (1890).

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siloam_tunnel

What if You Have No Family Tree? Nehemiah 7:61-65.

Alex Haley’s book ROOTS includes a scene in which an African tribal leader expresses shock over any child unable to recite from memory his genealogy to the tenth generation. I have never met anyone in America that can recite from memory ten generations of their genealogy. I can’t do it. In fact, my written record of my father’s line stops at generation six (Larkin Wales, born 1808, Kentucky, died 1884, St. Helena Parish, Louisiana).[1] I guess I would be the dunce if I went to school in a village in Gambia, Africa.

The Bible contains 25 lengthy genealogies, and many more brief genealogies. As I have written elsewhere, God is interested in you as an individual. But the pages and pages dedicated to genealogies in His word would seem to indicate that He is also interested in you as a member of a lineage. He sees those who came before you and those who will come after you and God understands the role you play in that unbroken line.[2]

But understanding such things or why they matter is harder for us. Not simply because  we lose track of records.

Our identity as Americans rebels at what a family tree represents.

Sure we are curious about these people. But we are offended by the notion that their lives could have any impact on our own. America is the land of independence and nowhere is that impulse felt more passionately than by youth struggling to escape the “boring” lives of their parents.

Governor Nehemiah records an interesting story about family trees. After the Israelites returned to Jerusalem from Babylonian captivity, Nehemiah had them counted. There were 42,360 people. Nehemiah put the people to work, often giving them duties according to their family lines.

But during those 75 years in a foreign country, some families (or probably both the families and the nation’s historians) had lost the relevant genealogical records. After all—when you are dragged off to a land a thousand miles from home, where no one speaks your language or worships your God, you will lose many things. Your connection to the past is broken. You have NO CONTINUITY.

These Hebrews lost touch with ancestors because they had NO CONTINUITY.

“These were they who came up from Tel-melah, Tel-harsha, Cherub, Addon, and Immer; but they could not show their fathers’ houses or their descendants, whether they were of Israel: the sons of Delaiah, the sons of Tobiah, the sons of Nekoda … Of the priests: the sons of Hobaiah, the sons of Hakkoz, the sons of Barzillai … These searched among  their ancestral registration, but it could not be located; therefore they were considered unclean and excluded from the priesthood. The governor said to them that they should not eat from the most holy things until a priest arose with Urim and Thummim” Nehemiah 7:61-65.[3]

God had given Moses strict orders regarding the priesthood. Priests had to be members of the tribe of Levi. And to perform select priestly duties, they had to be not only Levites, but directly descended from Aaron.

But these folks could not even prove they were Israelites. Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest were not about to resume the offering of sacrifices without verifying the ancestral lines of every priest.

Nevertheless, those without papers were not without hope. Nehemiah would summon a priest to bring the Urim and Thummim, the “holy dice” Moses placed inside the breastplate of the High Priest’s robes (Exodus 28:30), and the priest would ask God for answers about the lineage of each potential priest.

But does knowing a genealogy or a family tree make any difference? Does God expect you and me to be able to recite our family trees?

No. Given the mobility and immigration in today’s world, given the job transfers around the globe, adoptions, the forced breakup of families during generations of enslavement, and numerous other disruptions, it is rare to find families who live in the same city for more than three or four generations. We barely know our ancestors.

Like the Hebrews without family trees, Americans have NO CONTINUITY.

Any family tree an American draws up is likely to look about as broken as Charlie Brown’s Christmas Tree.[4]

But even if you are privileged enough to know your grandparents or even great-grandparents, Americans simply don’t talk about family trees. It’s not part of the way we think. Where the billions of people living in Asian nations care about these things so much they actually call it “ancestor worship,” Americans and the people of Western Europe see themselves as islands in an archipelago, every person disconnected from every other person.

The poet-pastor John Donne may have told us “No Man is an Island,” but Americans do not believe it. We are obsessed with our own independence, committed above all else to a life of passionate self-determination.

And perhaps that is the lesson here. Not everyone knows their ancestors. We have no continuity. We live in broken homes. Foster homes. Adoptions. Absent fathers. Divorces. Blended families. Job transfers. And people on the run. People off the grid. Fugitives.

And for all of the above, there is grace. GRACE. Lean-in to God’s amazing grace.

But later on …

When you can, and as the Lord provides, …

Consider learning more about your lineage. It will bless you, as it did Timothy, to whom Paul writes:

“I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also” 2 Timothy 1:5.

Like abilities and talents, even faith and spiritual gifts can be passed from one generation to the next.

Search for the good traits in your ancestors and God will use that search to reveal the good traits He placed in you.

AΩ.

[1] I can locate (but have not memorized!) ten generations of the Henderson clan, beginning with Thomas Henderson, Father of Colonel Richard Henderson. Thomas was born in 1650 and died in 1709 in the Colony of Virginia. Today I stumbled across an unexpected entry in the Courtenay line at generation ten: “Cherokee Indian Usaan,” DOB 1700.

[2] (The Bible, an Eastern text, is not nearly as individualistic, independence-oriented, or Western as many of its readers.)

[3] Ezra 2:59-62 records the same account word-for-word.

[4] Having mentioned my own family tree, I should note that I benefited from a tremendous amount of work done by many other people, including people on the internet that I do not know.

MONEY! Finance, Bankruptcy Protection, and the Economy. Nehemiah 5:1-11.

THESIS: Nations hoping to bless people and grow the economy should draft laws that (1) help small businesses thrive, create jobs, and earn a profit for shareholders, (2) protect the nation from war and protect its citizens from crime, (3) use courts to protect the sanctity of contract and resolve conflicts between people and businesses, and that (4) provide some features of a safety net for the downtrodden.

You see it in the newspaper headlines. Every day people protest that the rich are not paying their fair share, that the “wealth gap” between the rich and poor is widening, that taxes are too high for the middle class and too low for the rich, that the capitalist system is corrupt and unfair. While these complaints are not entirely false, they often indicate a poor understanding of economics.

One of history’s great economic experiments took place when Canada and the United States were settled largely by the English, and Mexico and the nations of Central and South America were settled by the Spanish and the Portuguese. “Impose British rule on North America, and Spanish and Portuguese rule on South America, and see which one does better economically.”[1] Who would win the proverbial race to riches? “The early British colonies faced continual risk of starvation, while the Spanish to the south were planting tropical gardens and mining mountains of silver.”[2]

Yet, it is hardly controversial to state that the heirs of the British economy won the economic experiment. Why? A big part of the answer lies in the nature of Anglo-American law.

A nation’s economy is shaped less by its natural resources than it is by the environment the nation’s laws create around those resources.

“The north had [private] property rights, representative government, religious pluralism, and the rule of law. The south had none of these things.”[3]

As an example of the impact of the law on the economy, consider lending laws. Those who have money can increase it by lending to those in need and charging interest. If the borrower does not repay both the principal and the interest, the creditor may take from the borrower the agreed collateral, often the borrower’s house, farm, or the tools of his trade. And until it was outlawed in 1833, another option in the U.S. was to lock the borrower in a debtor’s prison and leave him there until the debt was paid. Individual lenders may have profited from such arrangements, but they were bad for society because they removed able-bodied workers from their families and from the economy.

The man who could be providing for his family and adding to the wealth of the nation through his labor was doing nothing, his energy and talents wasted in a prison cell. To cure this societal ill, we used the law to create bankruptcy protection, a system that allows most creditors to be paid a portion of what they are owed, while the defaulting borrower retains enough assets that he can enjoy what the law calls a “fresh start.” Legal arrangements such as this are one of the reasons our economy continues to thrive.[4]

When the King of Persia appointed Nehemiah the governor of Israel during a famine, the people came to Nehemiah in protest with complaints that sound a lot like today’s headlines:

“Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their fellow Jews. Some were saying, ‘We and our sons and daughters are numerous; in order for us to eat and stay alive, we must get grain.’ Others were saying, ‘We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards, and our homes to get grain during the famine.’ Still others were saying, ‘We have had to borrow money to pay the king’s tax on our fields and vineyards. Although we are of the same flesh and blood as our fellow Jews and though our children are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but we are powerless, because our fields and our vineyards belong to others’” Nehemiah 5:1-5.

Nehemiah learns wealthy Jews have been lending to poorer Jews. And when the borrowers missed payments, lenders foreclosed, leading to circumstances so dire, borrowers sometimes sold their own children into slavery just hoping for enough money to be able to eat and keep everyone alive.

Such predatory lending practices are bad for the nation. But they also show a deep disregard for people and families. Where was the compassion?

Charging interest on a loan is not wrong. A man expects to pay for the privilege of borrowing another man’s money.

But unreasonably high interest or usury is wrong. And when lending to a countryman in need, even interest is not to be charged.

“If you lend money to one of my people among you who is needy, do not treat it like a business deal; charge no interest” Exodus 22:25.

Governor Nehemiah is outraged to see Hebrews taking advantage of each other during a famine.

“I was very angry … I told them, ‘You exact usury! … You are selling your own people … What you are doing is not right. Shouldn’t you walk in the fear of God? … I and my brothers and my men are also lending the people money and grain. But let us stop charging them interest! Give them back immediately their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and houses, and also the interest you are charging them” Nehemiah 5:6-11.

I disagree with some of the most conservative financial advisors. Borrowing money is not wrong in every situation. As my father once told me, “if we didn’t borrow money, you would have been grown before we could have gotten into this house. And if the church did not borrow money, we would have been stuck downtown for twenty years in a crumbling building.”

Borrowing has its place.

But lending laws should help people prosper, buy a modest home, and flourish. Lending laws should not result in defaulted loans, foreclosures, and people and businesses going bankrupt because of usurious interest rates. Remember the economic collapse of 2008? That happened because lending laws had been pushed to a point where borrowers were defaulting on far more loans than normal.

Although foreclosures and the Re-Po Man are a part of a working credit/collateral system, the best loans—and the best laws—are designed to allow both parties to gain. Both parties should benefit from the transaction.

That is what real compassion looks like. That is what Nehemiah wanted: we must have a system of finance. But we must also take care of our citizens and their businesses. High interest loans (in a system without bankruptcy protection)* are dangerous and hurt the society because they hurt so many of its borrowers. Loans that result in financial ruin should be extremely rare.

When a nation takes care of its poorest citizens, God will bless that nation.

“He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack” Proverbs 28:27.

God promises blessings on the nation that obeys Him:

“The Lord shall open unto thee His good treasure, the heavens to give the rain unto thy land in its season, and to bless all the work of thine hand. And thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt not borrow” Deuteronomy 28:12.

“There should be no poor among you [if you obey], for the Lord will greatly bless you in the land the Lord your God is giving you as a possession to inherit” Deuteronomy 15:4.

AΩ.

[1] See Andrew Wilson’s discussion of Adam Smith’s THE WEALTH OF NATIONS, in Wilson’s book, REMAKING THE WORLD: How 1776 Created the Post-Christian West.

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] The economy also benefits from a strong national defense (fear of invasion has a chilling effect on business!), the enforcement of contracts in court, the prosecution of financial crimes including fraud, burglary, and robbery, laws that encourage small businesses, laws protecting inventions and other intellectual property, a tax regime that does not overly-burden businesses or their employees, and so on. Do I over-state the case? I guess I’m enthusiastic, having taught college students the “Legal Environment of Business” for years!

*Some argue high-interest loans have their place, because they allow those who are the worst credit risk to nevertheless borrow money. Pawn shop loans (200% APR), car title loans (300% APR), and payday loans (400% APR) do charge excessive interest but are allowed because the total amount loaned is small, the collateral lost in the event of default is not that significant, and the repayment term is short enough it should not become a burden, and again–it allows a person in need to get their hands on cash during desperate times.

Civil Engineering: All Hands on Deck! Nehemiah 3:1-31.

Image: Golden Gate Bridge by Joseph C. Filer and Jason W. Filer.

Many of the biggest projects on earth are civil engineering projects. The Great Pyramid at Giza is the height of a fifty-story building and built out of “bricks” that weigh 5,000 pounds. How did they do that in 2560 B.C.?

The Great Wall of China is some 13,000 miles long. Thirteen thousand miles is more than halfway around the world!

The New York City subway system includes hundreds of miles of tunnels under both land and sea, with 665 miles of train tracks.

The city of Venice is built on top of thousands of wooden pilings driven into the sea.

And let’s not forget the Chunnel, the new 30-mile tunnel under the English Channel that allows cars to drive from England to France. Can you imagine the engineering work—and the money required—to build a tunnel under the ocean?

There are so many other impressive feats: the Roman Colosseum, the Panama Canal, the Hoover Dam, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge. From the Bible, Hezekiah’s Tunnel remains impressive, 2 Chronicles 32:2-4. Even Louisiana’s Lake Pontchartrain Causeway makes the list; though completed in 1959, it remains the longest continuous stretch of bridge over water in the world (28 miles).

These massive infrastructure projects require incredible planning, gifted leadership, and most of all, an extraordinary labor force.

Consider the walls of Jerusalem. When the people returned from Babylonian captivity, the walls of their beloved capital city had been destroyed, burned, and turned to rubble. A city without walls was not simply vulnerable to attack. It was naked in a manner that was considered shameful. The people were embarrassed about the public humiliation of a once-great city with no proud walls encircling it.

One day the king noticed Nehemiah was not in good spirits. “Why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies in waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?” Nehemiah 2:3. King Artaxerxes sent Nehemiah home to Jerusalem with authority to lead a wall-building project. When Nehemiah met with the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, he told them the same thing: “You see the distress we are in, how Jerusalem lies in waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire. Come, let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach” Nehemiah 2:17.

Unfortunately, Nehemiah was not the only one unhappy. Once his building project got started, he faced opposition from local leaders who considered Jerusalem a “rebellious city” and did not want it restored. “It grieved them exceedingly that there was come a man to seek the welfare of the children of Israel” Nehemiah 2:10. Soon, these enemies began mocking the effort. “They laughed us to scorn, and despised us” Nehemiah 2:19. Nehemiah told them ‘Laugh all you want, but God is going to bless us’ v.20.

Soon the work began in earnest.

“Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests, and they built the Sheep Gate … Next to him, the men of Jericho built, and next to them, Zaccur the son of Imri built. Now the sons of Hassenaah built the Fish Gate … Next to them Meremoth … made repairs. And next to him Meshullam … made repairs. And next to him, Zadok also made repairs. Moreover, next to him the Tekoites made repairs … Joiada … repaired the Old Gate … Next to them … the men of Gibeon made repairs … Next to them, Uzziel … made repairs. And next to him Hananiah, one of the perfumers, made repairs … Next to them Rephaiah made repairs. Next to them Jedaiah … made repairs opposite his house. And next to him Hattush … made repairs … Next to him Shallum … made repairs, he and his daughters” Nehemiah 3:1-12.

Do you see a theme emerging like a chorus? Next to him. Next to him. Next to him. Soon Nehemiah adds the phrase ‘After him,’ which means the same thing. These people were neighbors, each working alongside the other.

“Shallum … repaired the Fountain Gate … After him Nehemiah … made repairs … After him the Levites carried out repairs … Next to him Hashabiah … carried out repairs … After him … Next to him … After him … After him … After him … After them … After them … After him … After him … After him … After him … After him … After him …” Nehemiah 3:15-31.

When Jerusalem needed its walls rebuilt, the people did not wait for professionals to do it. Volunteers working side-by-side made it happen. Similarly, when 2017’s Hurricane Harvey flooded thousands of homes in Houston, there were not enough water damage companies in the nation to muck out all the houses. Volunteers had to step up. When the Guadalupe River flooded on July 4, 2025, the people of the Texas Hill Country could not complete rescue, recovery, and rebuilding efforts without help from other communities. Volunteers had to step up.

Imagine the joy of being a part of rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. You would point that wall out to your family and friends for generations.

Similarly, when I joined teams mucking out houses after Hurricane Harvey, it brought me so much joy. My parents taught Sunday school for four decades—and I will forever be so proud of them for that. There is great joy in putting your shoulder to the weight and pushing forward for God’s kingdom—and it’s even better when you can do it alongside other believers. It is such a privilege to work next to him … next to him … next to him.

Do you like teamwork? Do you want to be a part of something greater than yourself? Step up. Volunteer. Get involved in the work of God’s Kingdom! It will bring you so much joy!

AΩ.

I often think of and sometimes mention the acronym RAMPS. It is not enough to READ God’s Word, APPLY God’s Word, MEMORIZE God’s Word, and PRAY God’s Word. We need to SHARE God’s Word. Get involved in the local church. so you can find ways to share the word!

Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem: A Primer on Conflicts in the Middle East. Zechariah 10:6-10.

This morning I watched a video compilation of protestors. They were screaming, “Death to Israel” and “Heil Hitler!” Young women were shaking their fists and saying Hitler did not go far enough. Small children were saying they want to grow up and kill Jews. An old woman was screaming and spitting, shouting at Jewish passersby, “Go back to the ovens!” Where was this video filmed? Libya? Iran? Saudi Arabia? No. New York City.

Israel has long been a war-torn land of conflict. Following the overthrow of Jerusalem in 79 A.D., Jewish people dispersed throughout Europe and around the world through what has become known as the Diaspora.

And remarkably, though separated by years and often by thousands of miles, the Jewish people managed to maintain a cohesive identity based on shared ethnicity, religion, language, and culture. And they have maintained their identity while confronting more than their share of enemies. Virulent anti-semitism has been a thing since—well, forever. Because the devil cannot hurt God directly, he hurts Him by hurting those He loves, often by attacking innocent and vulnerable children, by attacking Christians, and especially by attacking those God named His “chosen people.” Too often Christians have made it worse, joining in the attacks by labeling Jewish people “Christ killers.”[1]

Between 1917 and 1948, the Zionist movement in England and the League of Nations/United Nations led to the establishment of the new state of Israel. The story is too complicated to detail here, but I can’t write further without noting that many Palestinians lost their homes.

I know a lawyer in Houston whose mother and father were both born in Bethlehem. They were Palestinian Christians, members of a Christian sect that lived peacefully in the region for centuries. But in 1948, Richard’s grandparents were driven from their homes so that Jewish people could move in. The families immigrated to Houston. I note this in an attempt to be honest about difficult facts. Yes, Israel displaced innocent people when the nation was created. And that is one[2] of the sources of this conflict that never seems to end.

On the other hand, the enemies of Israel continue their attacks, year-after-year, decade-after-decade. There are threats from every nation in the Middle East. The enemies of Israel, a nation the size of New Jersey, occupy an unbroken line some 5,000 miles long from North Africa to Pakistan.

And American Christians have proven to be Israel’s greatest supporters. As Michael Horowitz of the Hudson Institute once told me, Jews owe a debt to American Christians who have long been their most vocal advocates. Why? Partly because so many Evangelical Christians have subscribed to a “dispensational” view of history. Such a view sees 1948’s creation of the modern state of Israel as the fulfillment of prophecy. After all, the Bible speaks of God calling His people back to Israel from far-flung locations throughout the world:

“I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph. I will bring them back, because I have mercy on them … I will whistle for them and gather them, for I will redeem them … I will sow them among the peoples, and they shall remember Me in far countries … and they shall return. I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and gather them from Assyria. I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon until no more room is found for them” Zechariah 10:6-10.

God gave this prophecy to Zechariah 500 years before Christ. The prophecy applied at that time to indicate God would bring His people home following the Babylonian captivity and other circumstances that had caused them to be dispersed. But does the prophecy have a secondary meaning applicable to the restoration of the nation of Israel in 1948? Many believe it does. The Enduring Word Bible Commentary speaks only of this latter interpretation, omitting entirely any meaning applicable in the time of Zechariah: “In the 20th Century many Jewish people were gathered back to the land of Israel, and in 1948 Israel became a nation again—after more than 2,000 years of not being a nation.”[3]

However, I am no longer persuaded by the dispensational theology on which I was raised. Like many, I simply do not see dispensationalism in the scripture. Maybe the founding of Israel in 1948 fulfills Bible prophecy. Maybe it does not.

Recently the doctrine of “Replacement Theology”** has been gaining followers. This is the idea that the Christian church replaced Israel as God’s Chosen People, and God no longer works in or through the Jewish people or the modern state of Israel. However, Replacement Theology, attractive in part because it provides Christians an excuse to stop supporting the modern nation of Israel, is not a Biblical doctrine. The church did not replace Israel and the Jewish people. No matter how you interpret Bible prophecy, you cannot deny the significant role of the Jewish people throughout the book of Revelation.

Some writers who may not go so far as to adopt Replacement Theology, nevertheless believe that because the Jewish people have rejected Christ, they no longer play any role in the work of God on earth.

I am not prepared to accept that conclusion. But those who make the argument cite a great deal of scripture in support.[4] Consider this paragraph:

“This is what dispensationalism misses. Modern Judaism must be considered an idolatrous faith, and the modern secular nation of Israel is in no sense God’s covenant people. Unbelieving Jews do not worship the same God Christians worship because, as Scripture teaches, if you reject the Son, you also reject the Father (Matthew 10:33; 1 John 2:23; and Galatians 4:8-10, which compares returning to Judaism as equivalent to returning to paganism).”

Unbelieving Jews do not worship Christ, that is true. But in my opinion, they remain God’s Chosen People (more on that below).

But where does this leave us? The world loves to go to war over Israel. What should Americans do? What should Christians do?

We must pray.

God tells us to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” (Psalm 122:6) and He did not say to only pray for Jerusalem after they accept Jesus as the Messiah. The grief Jesus expresses over the state of Jerusalem in Matthew 23:37 convinces me that if He walked among us today, He would be praying for Jerusalem. God loves Jerusalem. And He loves the Jewish people. Even the Apostle Paul expressed grief over the state of Israel and its rejection of Jesus, Romans 9:1-3. I believe we must support Israel and pray for the peace of its capital city.

But is this the same Israel? Are these the same people? Are the Jewish people now living in the Holy Land actually descendants of Abraham? Yes.

But what about their rejection of Christ, and Paul’s statement that if they reject Christ, they are no longer Abraham’s seed, Romans 9:6? I think this is a valid point about salvation, but has no bearing on our command to pray. Paul himself says Israel may one day be grafted back in to Christ, Romans 11:23-24. So keep praying for Israel.

We must support Israel.

Second, for purely pragmatic, political reasons, I believe we should continue to support Israel. Not because Hal Lindsay and Tim LaHaye believe the 1948 founding fulfilled prophecy.

We should support Israel because we need a thriving democracy in the middle of that sea of cancer and death we call the Middle East.

Whether Israel is the subject of the Reverse-Diaspora in Zechariah 10:6-10 or not, Israel remains the lone outpost of Western democracy in one of the darkest regions of the world. The world needs this oasis in a harsh desert. The world needs Israel, America needs this ally–and Israel needs our support. As for the Zionist failures of 1948, I cannot defend the way people were driven from their homes. This was not an eminent domain action proceeding under due process of law. Property owners were not paid market value for the loss of homes and real estate. This was ‘Get out, or else.’

Nevertheless, generations have passed. Battles have been fought. Warriors and diplomats have come and gone; soldiers have been born and died. In a relatively short time, the nation of Israel will celebrate 100 years. I believe it is time to consider the actions of 1948 “water under the bridge.” I don’t mean to say those actions were not wrong. But I believe the wrongs of 1948 have been buried so deeply under the decades of non-stop violence that have followed as to be rendered irrelevant today. It’s time to stop fighting over 1948.

Dispensationalist History or Not, I Believe Israel Remains God’s Chosen People.

You know why I think Israel remains “God’s chosen people”? Because Israel remains the devil’s chosen enemy. What other people are persecuted the way Jews are? Hitler was not the first and certainly won’t be the last. Hitler fans today are screaming ‘Heil Hitler” and speaking murderous threats to Jews everywhere. And American and Western Europeans are making it that much easier by screaming “Free Palestine” (though Hamas launched the current conflict on October 7, 2023). Add to that the fact that terrorists and terrorist-wannabees are shouting “death to Israel” and I am that much more inclined to support Israel.

Finally, a succession of miracles indicate that God is on Israel’s side.

I am persuaded to support Israel because when Israel is in trouble, miraculous things seem to happen. First, the fact that the Jewish people have survived across the centuries, their scripture, traditions, and religion intact, is nothing short of a miracle. These talented, entrepreneurial, inventive people have been the subject of violent envy and hatred from day one. They have been driven from homes, attacked with genocide, pursued across Europe by the most organized military machine the world has ever seen, billions of dollars wasted on their extermination, yet they remain. Their survival is nothing short of a miracle. The Re-Birth of the Nation of Israel is likewise seen by many as another miracle.

And there are more recent miracles. The Six-Day War[5] is one well-known, well-documented example. More recent allegations of miracles include the “Bus Bomb Miracle,” the “First and Second Iranian Attack Waves—No Casualties,” “Houthi Harassment,” and more.[6]

Frankly, stories similar to these seem nearly constant. Every year Israel is attacked, and every year we hear stories of how ineffective those attacks have been. In the face of sometimes overwhelming odds, Israel survives, often unscathed. I cannot verify whether all of these alleged miracles happened or happened in the miraculous way they are reported to have happened. But the survival of this tiny nation that is almost constantly under attack—that I can argue is a miracle. And if God is working miracles to support Israel, I believe we should too.

“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem” Psalm 122:6.

AΩ.

[1] The Bible calls the name “Christ killers” into question—the Jews had no power to use the death penalty. It was Pontius Pilate and the Romans that actually put Jesus to death. Sadly, these oversimplifications persist. No less significant a person than Martin Luther, something of a hero to me, became in his later years a raging anti-semite, spewing filthy ideas in a pair of books said to have influenced even Adolf Hitler himself.

[2] The displacement of Palestinian people in 1948 is certainly not the only source of conflict. Many anti-semitic people claim to have committed themselves to the destruction of the Jews, and will not be satisfied until every Jewish person is removed from the face of the earth. For many, claims about the loss of a historic homeland are merely an excuse for genocidal hatred. Consider, for example, the commitment of Hamas to the total destruction of Israel. https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/doctrine-hamas

[3] https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/zechariah-10/

[4] Consider this article about the modern state of Israel. https://thefederalist.com/2025/07/01/what-does-the-bible-really-say-about-who-the-true-israel-is/?fbclid=IwY2xjawLeUDZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHiMiPEQso-F-LsgjeVQFzhEWjQfaiGsIn4R83gPHhML1N0_JtmOt4zs3fOyj_aem_SshUQT_aGGS8jS82_ZGA-w

[5] https://www.chabad.org/multimedia/timeline_cdo/aid/525341/jewish/Introduction.htm

[6] https://ffoz.org/messiah/articles/israels-miracles-at-war

** https://icejusa.org/2024/09/05/replacement-theology-what-it-is-and-why-it-matters-for-christians/#how-respond

The Lord Looks on Your Heart (and Your Actions!). Zechariah 7:5-10.

“Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” 1 Samuel 16:7.

What matters more, your actions or the heart behind those actions? Is it really the thought that counts? Sometimes, the action counts for a great deal, does it not? Can the father who never spends time with his children defend his absence by saying “you were always on my mind”? No. Actions matter as much as thoughts. But thoughts and motives do matter.

Jesus spoke often of motives:

“Examine your motives to make sure you are not showing off when you do your good deeds, only to be admired by others; otherwise, you will lose the reward of your heavenly Father” Matthew 6:1 the Passion Translation.

Likewise, Jesus’s half-brother James writes, “you ask [pray] and do not receive, because you ask with the wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” James 4:3.

The Old Testament speaks of motives too.

Following the Babylonian captivity, some of the people came to Zechariah to ask whether they could stop fasting for Jerusalem, now that the city was being rebuilt. God came to the prophet with an answer that pointed out a flaw in their reasoning:

“When ye fasted and mourned in the fifth and seventh month, even those seventy years, did ye at all fast unto me, even to ME? And when ye did eat, and when ye did drink, did not ye eat for yourselves, and drink for yourselves?” Zechariah 7:5-6.

I imagine the answer from the people would be something like, “But hey, we fasted didn’t we? I mean, we gave up eating? What more do you want?” People would assume that if they are missing meals, then they are following the fasting rules. Such a fast sounds like a good, legitimate fast. So what is the problem?

The problem is the state of their hearts. Fasting is described as “afflicting ourselves,” Ezra 8:21.  If you are not taking on a humble, worshipful heart, you are only fasting on the outside and your heart is not in it.

The indictment continued:

“Execute true judgment and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother, and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor. Let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart” Zechariah 7:9-10.

(Doesn’t that sound reminiscent of the words of Jesus some 500 years later? “Whoever looks on a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart?” Matthew 5:28.)

So are motives more important than actions? No. God simply addresses motives because His people so often manage to obey “on the outside” while having disobedient hearts. As Jesus told the hypocrites, their act of obsessive tithing was good, but they were neglecting matters of the heart, such as justice, mercy, and faith:

“These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone” Matthew 23:23.

In other words, God is interested in our actions AND our motives.

I think of singing in church. How easy is it to sing every note perfectly while your mind wanders, completely un-worshipful? I am guilty of that. I get caught up thinking about harmony parts and can miss the worship. And of course, that is missing the whole point. Worship should be all about the heart.

Sing well. But sing to God.

Fast well. But fast with a heart of worship.

Serve and help people with justice and mercy—and do it “as unto God rather than men” Colossians 3:23.

Dear God, teach us to serve You well, to work hard like Martha. And remind us to have our hearts in the right place and worship well, like her sister Mary. May we serve You with our outward actions while also honoring You with worshipful, humble hearts.

AΩ.

Pictured: “Manhattanhenge” the twice-yearly occurrence when the sun sets between the buildings of Manhattan.

Learn More About Heaven and its People by Reading the Old Testament Prophets. Zechariah 6:1-8.

When God created the universe, He made so much more than this planet and the plant, animal, and human life on it. In addition to the observable, material universe—stars, planets, and things we can see, God filled His creation with an even more-real dimension of life that those of us in the material world cannot see.

The heavenly or invisible realm of the universe is filled with more life and more beauty than the material world in which we dwell.

Imagine heaven. It is not just more beautiful than earth. It is filled with angels of so many types and ranks, cherubim and seraphim, archangels, heavenly elders, and beasts and figures of all kinds, such as the worship-leading “Living Creatures” with multiple wings and the faces of lions, oxen, men, and eagles, Revelation 4:6-8.

In addition to all the spiritual beings, God created a throne for Himself, surrounded by twenty-four additional thrones (Revelation 4:4), a sea of crystal, streets of gold. None of it is easy to imagine; all of it is beyond our comprehension. For “eye has not seen, ear has not heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him,” 1 Corinthians 2:9.

(Never let the weakness of your own imagination convince you that heaven is not one million times better than earth. Would God give us oceans, Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyons, and Redwoods on earth, then send us to Heaven to play harps on a cloud for eternity? No way.)

God exists in a very real heavenly realm. It is not invisible because it is not real. It is invisible because it is dangerous. God keeps that world invisible to protect us. We are not ready to see it and would find it both terrifying and tantalizing. If you experienced it now, the rest of your life on earth would be filled with longing and homesickness to return.

God hides your heavenly future so you can live a full life here. You will have plenty of time to experience heaven during your eternal life … in heaven!

We will see it all one day. Hang onto that. Until then–

Read the books of the Old Testament prophets for their pictures unlocking the mysteries of heaven.

Consider Zechariah. In chapter one, an angel reveals to Zechariah horses that are sent to do reconnaissance on the world. Like reporters, the horses patrol the earth and report back. Unlike reporters[1], the horses report that “the whole earth is calm and quiet” Zechariah 1:11.

(Are there animals in heaven, you ask? There are horses, we know that much. My opinion is there are probably more animals in heaven than on earth.)

A few chapters later, the prophet encounters a different set of horses. These are not quiet patrols on some secret recon mission.

“I looked up again, and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains—mountains of bronze. The first chariot had red horses, the second black, the third white, and the fourth dappled—all of them powerful. I asked the angel who was speaking to me, “What are these, my lord?” The angel answered me, “These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world. The one with the black horses is going toward the north country, the one with the white horses toward the west, and the one with the dappled horses toward the south.” When the powerful horses went out, they were straining to go throughout the earth. And he said, “Go throughout the earth!” So they went throughout the earth.

“Then he called to me, “Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit rest in the land of the north” Zechariah 6:1-8.

What is going on in this passage? This time the notes in my study Bible were not as helpful as I would have liked. So I turned again to the ENDURING WORD BIBLE COMMENTARY. The commentary first noted that some believe the two mountains to be Mount Zion and the Mount of Olives. Describing the mountains as bronze indicates this is a vision of judgment. Next, consider the colors of the horses: “In the usual scriptural symbolism, RED speaks of war, BLACK of famine and death, WHITE of victory, and DAPPLED [spotted] of pestilence.”[2]

This vision of horses is a vision of God’s judgment on sin. Does judgment make you uncomfortable?

Stop focusing on the judgment and look at the sin.

God judges the school shooter.

God judges the pedophile who destroys innocent children and never gets caught.

God judges the warmonger whose greed brings hate and grief to untold millions of people.

Even a cursory reading of the Bible indicates how incredibly, amazingly patient God is. He does not judge lightly. He “takes NO pleasure in the death of the wicked” (Ezekiel 33:11) but He does judge.

And when judgment comes to the wicked, it brings to the innocent peace. It brings God peace. Consider verse 8:

“Look, those going toward the north country have given my Spirit rest in the land of the north” Zechariah 6:8.

The commentary explains, “God’s Spirit is at rest when His enemies and the enemies of His people are judged.”

Or, as the New American Standard translates this verse, “See, those who are going to the land of the north have appeased My wrath.”

Judgment of the guilty brings peace to the holy, both God and His people.

Dear God, improve our imagination of how amazing life in heaven will be. Give us more insight into that very real world that you nevertheless prevent us from seeing. Give us a sense of the life and the many different amazing, remarkable beings we will one day encounter in heaven. And help us understand their roles, even when the role is one of judgment. Give us insight about the critical nature of your wrath, how important it is and how much peace it can bring to the innocent. Finally, remind us not to exercise judgment ourselves, but to “leave room for the wrath of God” Romans 12:19.

AΩ.

[1] The Whole Earth is Calm and Quiet. Zechariah 1:8-11. – Household Words:

[2] Enduring Word Bible Commentary Zechariah Chapter 6

No Written Records? Close the Deal and Slap the Children: Ezra 6:1-2. 

Imagine a world without writing. People simply talk. They make promises. They shake hands. When the matter is really important, they employ rituals to ensure that everyone remembers. In pre-literate England, the sale of real estate included an elaborate ritual: go to town and round up a couple of little boys, then go to the property location and hand over a bit of symbolic dirt. Then commence to whipping the boys. Why? Because if you whip them severely enough, you can be sure the children will remember the sale decades later. Is that crazy or what? (Check out the article footnoted here–[1])

As soon as people began building cities, the complexities of commerce required them to create better records. How do you prove you paid for something? You need a written receipt. How do you prove a marriage? With a written marriage license. How do you prove the terms of a contract? You need a written language that can spell out the exchange of promises. What is each party going to gain? What is each party going to give up? What are the terms of the deal?

Written language led to written records of births, deaths, conquests, new boundaries, ownership—soon every kind of fact imaginable was being written and filed away. After the Hebrews were released from captivity in Babylon, they traveled 900 miles home to Jerusalem and began rebuilding the temple. And they faced opposition. The local governor challenged them: “Who are you to build this temple?” Ezra 5:3. The governor wrote to the Persian King Darius and Darius handed the problem over to his librarians and record keepers.

“And a search was made in the house of the scrolls, where the treasures were laid up in Babylon. And there was found at Achmetha, in the palace that is in the province of the Medes, a scroll, and therein was a record” Ezra 6:1-2. 

That record explained that the previous king, King Cyrus, had made a decree authorizing the Hebrews to rebuild “the house of God at Jerusalem” Ezra 6:3.

Once he saw the records, King Darius issued a decree, directing the complaining governor not only to allow the restoration of the temple, but also to pay for the project, both in currency and in livestock, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, and to assist the priests in offering sacrifices “and pray for the life of the king and of his sons” Ezra 6:6-10.

This is the power of the written word. Written records grease the wheels of commerce, and sometimes they protect God’s people. Does the Bible ever seem overly long to you? Do the genealogies or the descriptions of the temple and all its contents seem far too detailed and about as interesting as watching paint dry? If so, perhaps you have never imagined a world without writing, without written records, written genealogies, written surveys and blueprints, written catalogues of wars, battles, soldiers lost, prisoners taken, chariots destroyed.

Our world turns on written details. The Word of God does too.

God, give us patience. Make us patient readers of your word. Give us insight so we can better understand what we are reading. Illuminate our minds with a passion for the written word and excitement that we have your word available. May we never take it for granted!

Dance like no one is watching. Email like it will be read aloud in court.

AΩ.

[1] https://www.pbselderlaw.com/livery-of-seisin