Old Testament Violence....Start at the Other End

I happened upon a website a few weeks ago. Don't ask me how I got there....but as always it was a result of clicking a link that led to another link....to another link and so on and so forth. Just another case of divine serendipity, I suppose.  

The name of the site is Redeeming God. It is authored by Jeremy Myers. I landed on a longish series of blog posts that take a close look at God's culpability for the violence, bloodshed and carnage in the OT.  

Like me, the author cannot reconcile the OT scriptures, taken at face value, with the expressed image of God that we see in Jesus.  

When we seek to understand the violence of God in the Old Testament, we must begin by looking at the end. We must begin by looking at the person and work of Jesus Christ.  Jeremy Myers

My intention is to post excerpts from his series and any of my own thoughts that are sparked by what I read. That is my intention...... 

I've already written about this topic in years past....here....and here....and here....and quite a few other posts under the tag Old Testament.

Picking and Choosing Scripture - Err on the Side of Love.....

At the beginning of the year, in an effort to get my web meanderings in some kind of order, I decided (among other things) to focus on several “preacher-teachers” whose sermons resonate with where I am on my spiritual/human journey. Adam Hamilton was one of them. (also Nadia Bolz-Weber)  I know I’ve mentioned Adam Hamilton numerous times here on this blog.

At the Church of the Resurrection website, there are archives of all his sermons from the present to yesteryear, along with sermon resources etc. At the gym yesterday, I used a version of the “eenie, meenie, miney, moe” method to choose which sermon to listen to. It was entitled “Making Sense of the Bible.” That is also the title of his newest book. He has gotten some slack about it because it takes a good hard “look-see” at what evangelicals hold near and dear; perhaps nearest and dearest….the inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture.

In his opinion, because of the enlightenment and several subsequent movements that have “dissed” scripture, fundamentalists pushed back in a Newtons Law kind of way…...for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. As a result, many evangelical denominations have moved scripture up to the top slot on their faith statements. I googled some well known evangelical churches and found that the Church of God, the Free Methodists and the Baptists all mention scripture FIRST in their faith statements. They mention it before they mention God. They mention it before they mention Jesus. They mention it before they mention the Holy Spirit. I’m sure there are other churches who stick to this hierarchy.

The Bible is not the word of God. Jesus is the Word of God. (In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1) The Bible CONTAINS the word of God and when we read it, listen to it, pray it and sing it, God speaks to us through it. When we pay attention, God uses the Bible as an instrument of his speaking.

Hamilton suggested using three “buckets”or categories to sort scripture.

The first, and by far the largest, bucket holds the sections of the Bible we read and know beyond a doubt “fit God.” They fit the image of God revealed to us in Jesus. There is no clearer image...no closer representation, no truer benchmark than Jesus. This bucket is easy to fill and the verses contained within console, convict, comfort, caution and clarify. They edify, enlighten and educate. These verses, stories and instructions are timeless. They reveal the heart of the Father that is exactly the same heart Jesus showed us.

The second bucket holds the scriptures that are clearly for another time, culture or situation. Keith had shrimp last night at Red Lobster. Uh-oh….abomination. My blouse was a polyester cotton blend. Uh-oh...abomination. He was sporting a haircut (He does have a beard but he often trims it) A lot of the abominations had to do with cleanliness. There was no Purell water-less hand sanitizer. No antibiotics. No thermometers to make sure food reached a safe temperature to kill bacteria and other nasties. Some of the abominations were to set Israel apart from other nations. Some abominations and OT directives have spiritual implications.

The third bucket is the sticking point for many “God said it, I believe it, That settles it” Christians. It is for scriptures you just don’t know what to do with. Oh, some folks try to explain them away, spiritualize them, justify them. Others ignore them. They are verses that don’t match the character and nature of God revealed in Jesus. They do not match up to any of the Gospel stories….nor to the “summation of the law” that Jesus gave us about loving our God and loving our neighbor. The passages that no how, no way fit the “golden rule” verse in the Bible….

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets. Matthew 7:12.

Genocide, war, violence, stonings, beheadings, trickery. Everyone is familiar with those verses that just don’t make sense.  

Aaaaaaaah….but that is picking and choosing scripture, no? But we all pick and choose. Even those who deny picking and choosing do, in fact, pick and choose. We don’t stone our rebellious teenagers. We don’t stone the folks who commit adultery.  We allow remarried people to worship in our churches. We RE-marry couples in our churches that clearly do not fit the “biblical criteria” for divorce and remarriage. We cut our hair. We don’t cover our heads. Some of us get tattoos. We allow women to speak in church….some churches allow women to preach in church. We eat pork. We don’t banish menstruating women to the shed in the back yard. We all pick and choose.

I like this quote from Carl Gregg's blog

Second, we should not be surprised that everyone engages in “picking and choosing” because if you survey what the Bible has to say about, for example, anger, wealth, adultery, disobedient wives and children, marriage, and divorce it becomes clear that the Bible is simultaneously both contradictory and enormously demanding. In other words, it is essentially impossible to obey all that the Bible literally says because some parts of the Bible are mutually exclusive of other parts. Does this mean that we are free to choose willy-nilly which parts of the Bible to follow? To quote the apostle Paul’s repeated refrain from the epistle to the Romans, “By no means!” However, from the perspective of progressive Christianity, Jack Black as Jesus is right when he says, “If you pick and choose, why not choose love?”

Indeed….why not err on the side of love?

Photo-Shopping Jesus....

I read an article this morning on the Relevant website about how many of us try to make Jesus into a more appropriate, acceptable....palatable Jesus....closer to our own tastes. Sometimes, even made in our own image. We do this by ignoring or adding to what we read in the gospels. The article compared it to airbrushing Jesus.

The Bible is not an easy read. There are many factors that make it difficult to understand. Contradictions, historical and cultural differences, translation bias, translation errors, denomination bias; especially the Old Testament. But there are four gospels that basically tell the same story. They are written from slightly different perspectives and to different "audiences" but all four agree on the big stuff, especially the synoptic gospels. The character of Jesus is consistent in all four of them. There are no schizophrenic exceptions, mood swings or inconsistent behavior. Anything that seems inconsistent just needs a closer look. And throughout the Gospels, Jesus bids us, "Follow me." How then do some of us get him so wrong?

There are some things he says that I really don't like much...like what he says about enemy love. I would rather he hadn't said that. I don't want to love my enemies or bless those who curse me. Not only did he tell us about enemy love, he showed us when he went to the cross praying for the forgiveness of those crucifying him. I am so totally not there yet, however, I KNOW he said it. I can't deny he said it and what he meant. He didn't really list any exceptions.  

How can anyone can read the Gospels and come away with the idea that Jesus taught anything but active nonviolent, sacrificial love? Not doormat love. Not pacifism. Nonviolence and pacifism are not the same thing. When I hear folks trying to present him as some kind of a "God Bless America Warrior" Jesus, I think they are totally missing the mark.

There has been a lot of controversy about the current American Sniper movie. Some say he was a hero...some say he was a glorified serial killer. I'm not weighing in on that discussion in this post but I did read a comment from a Fox movie critic, Todd Starnes, that I think is a great example of photoshopping Jesus.

In response to a comment by Michael Moore, Starnes said,

“Well, I’m no theologian, but I suspect Jesus would tell that God-fearing, red-blooded American sniper, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant for dispatching another Godless jihadist to the lake of fire,’ but then again I'm no theologian.”

Definitely NOT a theologian...and definitely not the Jesus presented in the four Gospels. But the Jesus that appeals to Starnes.

If we are too busy making Jesus look and act like us, doesn’t that it impede the process of theosis.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Word of God, of his boundless love, became what we are that he might make us what he himself is. (Irenaeus, Against Heresies, V.)   

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“God rewards those who seek Him. Not those who seek doctrine of religion or systems or creeds. Many settle for these lesser passions, but the reward goes to those who settle for nothing less than Jesus himself. And what is the reward? What awaits those who seek Jesus? Nothing short of the heart of Jesus.”   ― Max Lucado, Just Like Jesus  

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“Christ entered our world. As a result, we can enter His.” ― Max Lucado, God Came Near   

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“What you think of Jesus Christ Will thoroughly color how you think about everything else.” ― Max Lucado

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……………….but we know that when He is revealed, (to become known, to be plainly recognized, thoroughly understood--who and what one is) we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.

 

silence is your only claim to wisdom

I've been reading Job as part of a recently undertaken "read the Bible chronologically in a year" reading plan. My version of choice for this undertaking has been The Message. I've come upon some interesting ways The Message "turns a phrase" that makes me stop and think.

In Job 13:5, Job tells his miserable comforters:

- silence is your only claim to wisdom.

That reminds me of the oft repeated quote that has been attributed to numerous well known public figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Oscar Wilde, George Eliot, Silvan Engel

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

 Or how about....

When you are crazy you learn to keep quiet. ― Philip K. Dick, VALIS

Choose Your Contradiction….

I came upon a snippet in an essay I was rereading this week…for the umpteenth time,The Voice of the Good Shepherd on the God Quest website.  I highly recommend the essay…and all the other writings on the website. 

This article deals with the “two voices” running throughout scripture' (mainly the Old Testament) where in one passage God gives meticulous instructions about the who, what, when and where concerning sacrifice and in another passage God asks incredulously….WHO told you to do that?

What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the LORD; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who asked this from your hand?

There are numerous….hundreds….of places where the Bible contradicts itself.  God bashers delight in these contradictions. This “proves” to them that the Bible is nothing but a collection of hogwash.   

If taken at face value, the Old Testament God is pyscho to the nth degree….and detestable, as voiced by Thomas Paine in The Age of Reason. 

"Whenever we read the obscene stories, the voluptuous debaucheries, the cruel and tortuous executions, the unrelenting vindictiveness, with which more than half the Bible is filled, it would be more consistent that we called it the word of a demon than the word of God. It is a history of wickedness, that has served to corrupt and brutalize mankind; and, for my part, I sincerely detest it, as I detest everything that is cruel."

The Bible is written to the spiritual man (a head nod to Keith, who first taught me this concept) but the problem is that in this realm, our understanding is tainted by our carnality.  And we twist and adapt and interpret the words of scripture to fit our beliefs. 

It’s a cliché, and oft repeated, but you truly can prove anything from the Bible.  And volumes have been written propping up bullshit theologies using the words of scripture as the basis. 

The snippet, I came upon in this insightful essay…..

Choose your contradiction. 

Because in fact, we all do.  We focus on the verses that prop up our (bullshit?) theologies and ignore, or explain away or trivialize the verses that do not conform to our beliefs. 

WE. ALL. DO. IT.

That’s because the veil has not been completely rent…and our spiritual understanding is sometimes contaminated by our carnal thinking. 

My personal benchmark for interpreting scripture is to filter everything in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation through the image of the invisible God who has been revealed to us by Jesus.

My friend annie…her filter is “God is Light. God is Love. And in Him there is no darkness.”

We all have our filters.  We all have our blinders.  We all choose our contradictions.  Choose carefully.  Choose prayerfully. 

And one more link….

Crooks and Liars published an article on Monday about this Dominionist/Christian Reconstructionist stuff.  Most of it is a rehash of the other two articles I posted the other day….but if you scroll down to the bottom of the article (before the comments) there is a 7ish minute video about Greg Boyd’s view of the kingdom of God and how it relates to politics. 

I really like Greg Boyd and I’ve written about him and his trailblazing sermon series, The Cross and the Sword and other assorted posts about him and his theology HERE….  He lost a substantial portion of his church when he preached that series (which inspired his book, The Myth of a Christian Nation)…..something like 25%….a thousand people out of a congregation of four thousand.  That was back in 2004 or so. 

I’m not going to beat this dead horse much longer.  I’ve written about Dominionism….researched it enough to know that it stinks to high heaven.  It is the “Christian” version of Sharia Law…which also stinks to high heaven.  They share more similarities than differences…..with some of the more hard core proponents actually believing that homosexuality, teenage rebellion and blasphemy should be capital offenses.  In their view, they ARE capital offenses since they get a lot of their guidelines from the Old Testament.  Welcome to Uganda anyone? 

Now…would they/could they infiltrate our government and actually make any of these changes?  Do any of the presidential hopefuls truly believe this stuff?  Are their reported ties made up….exaggerated….fabricated?  Is it just more of the ssdd mudslinging that goes on in politics….with both sides equally guilty?  I don’t know. 

If you have the time and the inclination, research it.  Google it.  Pick up Rushdoony’s 3 volume “encyclopedia sized” books (remember World Book anyone?) The Institutes of Biblical Law.  Or check out Gary North’s site (Rushdoony’s son in law) with 90 free e-books by various authors defining some of their beliefs.  Hmmmmm….just at a quick glance, I see several books based on Leviticus are available. 

But my two cents worth is this….it is the inclination of fallen man to try to set up, cover up, prop up, make up their worldly kingdoms.  A kingdom with minute, explicit, all encompassing rules and regulations based on their interpretation of their own particular holy book.  Deeming this right and that right….this wrong and that wrong.  Meticulous systemS of punishments and consequences.  It is all based in the knowledge of good and evil….fruit from the tree that God told Adam not to eat of.  And it matters not if they are gleaning their rules from the Quran or the Holy Bible….if they are reading it from a knowledge of good and evil perspective….they will never get it right. 

Thoughts?  Comments? 

Are they Dominionists?

Today on my Facebook feed, there were links to two separate articles voicing concerns that several of the top presidential hopefuls on the Republican side (duh) of the great political divide have strong ties to….and a strong leaning toward….Christian Theocracy and Dominionism.  Both articles provided a lot of history about the movement which was spawned and promoted by the likes of Rushdoony, Gary North, David Chilton…but its roots go way back,  All the way back to the Old Testament…..and the belief that God’s chosen people (then the Jews…now the Christians) were mandated to take dominion of society. 

Some of these guys were seriously wacko….promoting all kinds of things which were rooted in OT biblical law.  Watch out gays.  Watch out divorcees.  Watch out sassy teenagers. It’s Christendom’s version of Sharia law. 

I wrote a series about that aspect of it a while back …..” No Clean Hands” 

I also wrote a post about something shocking I came across….on line….an article written by William Einwechter, at the time an elder at Immanuel Free Reformed Church in Stevens, Pennsylvania.  He wrote an article about the Biblical mandate to stone disobedient teenagers.  He later published a more thorough explanation of what he meant….not a retraction but a more detailed explanation outlining the criteria.  You can’t just kill your 12 year old for smarting off….there has to be a more sustained pattern of behavior.  But if my family had followed his guidelines….I’d have two living children today instead of three because one of them would have been stoned to death during her years of all out rebellion. 

I’m not sure if the articles are still available online.  The hosting site was (mercifully) hacked.  I think his church is still in full swing though….and his book is still available.  There are quotes and excerpts in my blog post though and some links that are still live.  if anyone is interested in a truly bizarre example of twisting scripture, you can read about it HERE.

One of the articles I read today was authored by Frank “knows of what he speaks” Shaeffer.  His dad, Francis, was one of the forefathers of this movement.  Frank, himself, was a pillar of the far (far) Christian Right until he jumped ship and joined the other side. 

The other article was written by Michelle Goldberg, author of Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism…and no….never a member of the Christian Right.  Her article is informative and balanced.  Even though Frank wrote from his unique “once upon a time” insider’s perspective, there was some rancor in his writing that was off putting.  Perhaps seeing it all up close and personal like he did stirs up those resentful emotions. 

Christian Domionism flies under the radar.  Both of these articles inform the reader of its origins, its beliefs and its skewed goal of making America into a Christian society….for Christians and non Christians alike…believers and non believers. 

It has more similarities to Sharia Law than differences. 

Check out Frank’s article HERE.  Check out Goldberg’s article HERE. 

Christians “dissing” Christians…and other perplexing questions….

This weekend I came across some writings on a blog by Peter Kirk called Gentle Wisdom.  He's written several posts lately on the Rob Bell thing...specifically about the way another blogger named Adrian Warnock handled the whole "Love Wins" concept.  (More on that...and the universalism issue in an upcoming post)  I was not familiar with Adrian...or his website.  I took a look around and he seems to be a Calvinist....and he definitely does not agree with Rob Bell's theology. 

But that is not the point of this post.  It seems the blogger at Gentle Wisdom was having some second thoughts about some of his comments.  And he cites a post by Martin Trench, another UK pastor (all three of these guys are in the UK) called "Do You Ever Feel Like a Hypocrite?"

It is a thought provoking post.  And it grapples with questions I've asked myself many times.  Oh….like perhaps…..

"And just who do you think you are, missy, writing some of the bitchy things you post on your blog?"  "Pretty full of yourself, aren't you?" 

I will admit my posts sometimes take on a somewhat…ahh….sarcastic tone. 

Following are a few quotes from the Hypocrite post...

I hate to hear Christian’s judging other people. It seems clear to me that Jesus taught “Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged” (Matthew 7:1-2). Why is it then, that so many Christians love to pass judgment on other people? Even on other Christians? The vitriolic, hate-filled, Tweets and blog posts that many Christians (including some well known pastors) put out, is, (in my humble opinion), a disgrace to the name “Christian” and an embarrassment to the gospel.

I would not disagree. 

If you don’t like another preacher or author – don’t listen to them or read their books. It’s simple. You don’t have to preach hate and accuse them of all kinds of crimes against God or hurl names like “heretic” about.

Again...no arguments here. 

So I do not like to see people judging other people, and I tend to be pretty free from judgmental attitudes myself …….. with one exception. I tend to judge judgmental people. I know it sounds ludicrous, but I tend to judge their level of Christianity by the fact that they go about judging other people’s Christianity.

Yes, indeed....

And there's more.  He also discusses those mean spirited theological debates that often turn very ugly and hateful.  Like a dog chasing it's tail...they go round and round and round but don't get anywhere or accomplish anything. Participants tend to stick their fingers in their ears while silently reciting the “close minded mantra.”

(la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la....I can't hear you)  

But then..the purpose is not to hear .....the purpose is not discussion.  The purpose is to defend and prove one's pet theology.  Two topics that often spawn this kind of debate....

• free will vs. sovereignty
• universalism vs. hell

These two topics have been debated down through the ages and only rarely do minds or hearts change. 

So he doesn't like these kinds of discussions.  I don't either.  And I usually bow out of them on e-groups and message boards....because they are fruitless time wasters. 

And there is something else that bugs him....

I know that it sounds self-righteous of me, but I can’t stand seeing or hearing people being self-righteous.
If I see you going after another person, I am going to go after you!

And here is where my views differ somewhat (and where it gets hazy and blurred) He thinks that's a bad thing.  And perhaps, it is a bad thing if you journey around the internet searching for heresies and threats to the faith and differing theologies.  If you are searching simply to find and set right those who have a different world view...or scriptural view....or moral view...perhaps that is self righteous. 

And really....are those who espouse different world/scriptural/moral views a danger?  Perhaps Adrian Warnock and others who have spoken out against Rob Bell feel it is their Christian duty to call out a perceived universalist. But is it really?  Where do you draw the line?

Perhaps I feel it is my Christian duty to call out those who take their theology to such an extreme that it hurts others.  Seriously, irrevocably hurts others. 

I am thinking of the "Christian" backed initiative in Uganda that makes homosexuality a crime punishable by DEATH.  Talk about an Old Testament mentality.  Sharia Law anyone?

And I am thinking of Fred Phelps and his gang.  Who doesn't want to speak out against idiots like Fred Phelps?

And looking back….didn't Christians and their unwillingness to oppose Hitler play a part in his regime?  And even Hitler declared he was just doing the will of God.

I believe today that my conduct is in accordance with the will of the Almighty Creator.

- Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, Vol. 1 Chapter 2

So exactly where does self righteousness end and "I'm my brother's keeper" kick in?

Good questions.  I hope you didn't expect to find definitive answers in this blog post. 

I do, of course, have an opinion.  For me, a good rule of thumb is to determine if there is a real live, actual victim in the situation.  To quote Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, author and activist...

"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. Sometimes we must interfere. When human lives are endangered, when human dignity is in jeopardy, national borders and sensitivities become irrelevant. Wherever men and women are persecuted because of their race, religion, or political views, that place must - at that moment - become the center of the universe."

and

"There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest."

Rending and Bending Hearts….

I came across two snippets about the heart the other day...via a website that posts daily lectionary based devotionals called The Daily Office.  A new one every day...contents include prayers/  intercessions/ scripture/etc. There are headings like... Collect of the Day / Benediction/ Invitatory/ Jubilate/ Antiphon/ Old Testament Lesson/ New Testament Lesson/ Prayers (guided and scripted) Canticles.  It resounds with ritual and convention....as in stained glass windows, heavy oak pews, ornate communion vessels. It comes across as very "high church" Pretty much the polar opposite of my flying by the seat of my pants, haphazard style of "quiet time." The site is called the The Daily Office from the Mission of St. Clare. 

Probably because it is the season of Lent and Easter, the theme is repentance. The two snippets that caught my attention and stuck in my thoughts are about the heart.  One is from a short book in the Apocrypha called The Prayer of Manasseh.  The other from the book of Joel. 

I found a few articles about the Prayer of Manasseh...following is a brief, concise description of the prayer found in a post on The Daily Episcopalian.

This Manasseh was a king of Judah, reigning from (roughly) 687-642 BC. And, as far as 2 Kings 21 was concerned, he wins the Worst King of Judah EVER award. The shortlist is idolatry, sacrificing his own children, and widespread murder… The version that 2 Chronicles 33 tells has a twist, though; here he’s carried off to Babylon where he prays a great prayer of repentance, God forgives him, and he returns to try to reverse the evil he has done. 

Another resource I found says this....

Most scholars believe that the prayer was originally composed in Greek, but for such a short book—about 400 words in English—the problem of determining the original language is difficult. Because the Prayer of Manasseh survives both in Greek and in Syriac, Latin (two forms), Ethiopic, Armenian, and Old Slavonic translation, it was clearly popular in the first three Christian centuries, among both Jews and Christians. 

Check out more information HERE

Daniel J. Harrington writes: "What were the words of Manasseh's prayer? Inquiring minds wanted to know. According to 2 Chronicles 33:18-19 the words were preserved in 'the Annals of the Kings of Israel' and in 'the records of the seers.' But neither of these books has been preserved. The Prayer of Manasseh represents what an anonymous author imagined that Manasseh should have said or would have said in his prayer. It was most likely composed in Greek and reflects the language and style of the Septuagint. It is included in some Septuagint manuscripts in a special section called 'Odes.' The most important versions are in Latin and Syriac, and it is included in church manuals from the third and fourth centuries C.E. (Apostolic Constitutions and Didaskalia). The earliest evidence for the work's existence comes from the third century C.E., so it could have originated at any time between the composition of 2 Chronicles and then. It was probably written by a Greek-speaking Jew outside the land of Israel, though Christian authorship is not impossible." (Invitation to the Apocrypha, pp. 166-167)   

So the gist of this is that The Prayer of Manasseh is not the exact prayer Manasseh prayed...and it was written much later, long after Manasseh was gone.  But it is what he could have, should have, might have said.  And perhaps God laid the exact words on the heart of the anonymous author of The Prayer because it really is a great prayer.  A quote by Madeleine L'Engle I happened upon sums it up quite well....

"Truth is what is true, and it's not necessarily factual. Truth and fact are not the same thing. Truth does not contradict or deny facts, but it goes through and beyond facts. This is something that it is very difficult for some people to understand. Truth can be dangerous."

and in another place a variation of that same thought....

it's truth, not fact, and you have to take truth seriously even when it expands beyond the facts.

The beginning of the prayer finds "Manasseh" describing the majesty, splendor, power and glory of God.  In verse 7 he focuses on the mercy of God....

for You are the Lord Most High, compassionate, patient, and merciful

And then he declares his version of "God be merciful to me a sinner." like the tax collector in the temple.

For I have sinned more than the number of sand of the sea; my lawless deeds are multiplied, O Lord, multiplied, and I am not worthy to look and see the heights of heaven because of the multitude of my unrighteous deeds.

And let’s just say that, in spite of the hyperbole, Manasseh was not really overstating the case.  He HAD INDEED sinned.  Among his many crimes….he shot down all the reforms his father Hezekiah had put in place.  He brought back idol worship, rebuilt the altars of Baal and profaned the temple. And he sacrificed his sons in the Valley of Ben-Hinnom. Some add the murder of Isaiah to Manasseh’s rap sheet.  Method of execution?  Isaiah was sawed in half.

So…Manasseh was definitely not a nice guy. And he was well aware of this when he knelt to pray. 

In verse 11 he utters my favorite words of the prayer....

And now I bend the knee of my heart, begging for your clemency.

Another version words it thusly....

And now I bend the knee of my heart, beseeching thee for thy kindness.

To wrap this post up (but to be continued in another post) here is one more quote from the Daily Episcopalian….

Then, in a beautiful mixed metaphor, the poet “bends the knee of my heart,” not in excuses or self-justification, but in pure supplication. In these words there is absolute conviction of two things: first, the poet’s sinfulness; second, the character of God—that our God is the God who forgives.

And it is the sentiment about “not in excuses or self justification, but in pure supplication” that brings me to the verse in Joel…in my next post.

No Clean Hands – Sharia Law by another name is….Dominionism…

I have been reading some really eye opening…scary… stuff while cruising around the internet researching this series.  It is not just radical Islam that wants to impose their own narrow interpretation of God’s Law on the nations of the world.  No sir-ee bob.  There is an underground movement in Christianity that believes this nation (and eventually the world) should be governed with laws set out in the Bible, beginning with the Old Testament. They are willing to overlook the ceremonial laws and customs…but the moral laws, in their view, are still binding. 

There are several different terms used to describe this ideology. The Christian Right is just the tip of the iceberg.  Dominionism, is more toward the hardcore/radical end of the spectrum. They claim the following verse as their Biblical mandate.

• "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." (King James Version).

There are degrees of belief among the Dominionists. From an article on Public Eye I found the following descriptions:

Soft Dominionists are Christian nationalists. They believe that Biblically-defined immorality and sin breed chaos and anarchy. They fear that America's greatness as God's chosen land has been undermined by liberal secular humanists, feminists, and homosexuals. Purists want litmus tests for issues of abortion, tolerance of gays and lesbians, and prayer in schools. Their vision has elements of theocracy, but they stop short of calling for supplanting the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Did you note the above was the description of the “soft” variety of Dominionists.  Check out the beliefs of the ones who are a bit more zealous.

Hard Dominionists believe all of this, but they want the United States to be a Christian theocracy. For them the Constitution and Bill of Rights are merely addendums to Old Testament Biblical law. They claim that Christian men with specific theological beliefs are ordained by God to run society. Christians and others who do not accept their theological beliefs would be second-class citizens. This sector includes Christian Reconstructionists, but it has a growing number of adherents in the leadership of the Christian Right.

Okay…so the Christian Right can be annoying but are any of them really serious about this dominion stuff?  Doesn’t this all sound a bit…ah…far fetched? 

Well, think back to 2008 when Mike Huckabee was campaigning for the Republican nomination….and he had the following to say the following to say during a campaign speech.

I have opponents in this race who do not want to change the Constitution. But I believe it’s a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God. And that’s what we need to do is amend the Constitution so it’s in God’s standards rather than trying to change God’s standards so it lines up with some contemporary view of how we treat each other and how we treat the family.

You can hear it for yourself HERE…if you don’t remember.

He later recanted….sort of… when asked on the Hannity and Colmes show if he would like to see America become a theocracy he said:

“Not at all. On two things. The context is two things: Human life amendment, which I support and which has been in the Republican platform since 1980. And, by the way, Fred Thompson doesn’t support it. Nor does John McCain. And yet it’s part of our platform. And it’s a very important part of our platform to say that human life is something we’re going to stand for. And the second thing is traditional marriage. So those are the two areas in which I’m talking about. I’m not suggesting that we rewrite the Constitution to reflect tithing or Sunday school attendance. I want to make that very clear…

At the heart of comments like these…and the whole Dominionist/Reconstructionist movement is the same spirit that spurs on the Taliban's desire to see Sharia Law enforced far and wide.  More to follow…..

Manna

I got a new kindle a few weeks ago. I've been busy filling it with books that I plan to read/hope to read/possibly might read/will probably never find time to read…but hey, they were free! There are a lot of free books in the kindle store….. some hokey and in the public domain (but formatted for kindle) and others regular books that, for a short time, are free. Perhaps not hot of the press bestsellers...and perhaps not books I would consider paying full price for....but interesting books from fairly well known authors that you would expect to see on the shelves at the Christian bookstore. I downloaded Gary Smalley and The DNA of Relationships, and Great Parents, Lousy Lovers for nothing..zero….zilch…nada. 

It’s also amazingly easy to send docs from my computer to the kindle. And another of the features I love about this new kindle is the text to speech function. It “reads” the book to you. Yes, it is a computer animated voice....and no, it is not comparable to the quality of an audio book...but you know, it's not bad. And he (or she, if you choose the female voice) reads to you while you walk.

The other day I listened to several chapters from a book called "The Land Between" by Jeff Manion..."Finding God in Difficult Transitions." He uses the Biblical story of the children of Israel....their Exodus from Egypt and their wanderings around the desert....and finally…their arrival in the Land of Milk and Honey four decades later. The desert years are what he refers to as the "land between."

And, he says, we all have our own "land between" experiences to live through. Sometimes these experiences come on gradually...like the frog that starts out in the pot of tepid water....only to realize a while later he is boiling. Other times we find ourselves transported to the "land between" in an instant....from an "everything is okay" frame of mind to a worst case scenario moment.

In one of the chapters I "read" while hoofing it around the park, he talked about the manna God provided for the children of Israel. Manna for breakfast....manna for lunch....manna for dinner. And on the menu the next day and the day after that....and the day after that for forty long years....manna, manna and more manna.

They didn’t see it as the blessing it was intended to be. It was provision from God...but they grew weary of it. And not only that....they really didn't even know what it was. The Hebrew word manna means "what is this." Perhaps they didn’t know exactly what it was but they knew for sure they were sick of it. They grumbled and complained....yearning for the flesh pots of Egypt.

I happened upon an article that had this to say…

God did not give them manna to satisfy their longing for taste, pleasure, and adventure, nor did he give it in an abundance to give them the security of knowing they would not starve. He gave them manna day-by-day to sustain their existence. But he did not intend to delight them; only to keep them from starving. In Praise of Manna by Jack Crabtree.

Hmmmm. Sounds like the situation many of us face every day….at our place of employment. Many…most?....jobs have that ssdd (same shit/different day) aspect to them. It pays the bills but there is certainly no delight….just another day of “bland, uninteresting, tedious manna.” We grow weary of the same old/same old duties, responsibilities and obligations that drag on and on in perpetual tedium. Or as Drew Carey so eloquently put it….

Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called everybody, and they meet at the bar.

No Clean Hands – the Rise of the Christian and Islamic “Empires”…

If you check out the following graph that depicts the breakdown of world religions, two clear winners emerge….eating up over half of the “pie.” Christianity and Islam.  Together they account for 55% of the world’s population.  That is a big chunk. 

 

 

An article in the Huffington Post (the namesake of this series) claims the reason is

....both Christianity and Islam owe their global success not so much to the magic words in their scriptures as to their effectiveness in practicing forced conversions. Oh, yes, we all know about the growth of the Islamic Empire, whose berobed foot-soldiers held a scimitar in one hand and the Quran in the other. But pull that beam out of your eye, dear Christian reader, and remember the Celts, the West Africans, the Indians of the Plains, the Hawaiians, and countless other peoples whose religions and languages were violently suppressed that they might know salvation through “our Lord Jesus Christ.”

In my journeys around the internet…while reading up on the controversy of the “mosque at ground zero”…. I came across many articles, comments and blog posts warning that the goal of Islam is to take over the US and institute Sharia Law. Many see this as a real threat.

Recently, I’ve been revisiting a topic I first ran across a while back (and wrote about here on this blog)…the Dominionists….the Christian Reconstructionists…the “take America back for God” folks. They  come in many flavors and degrees..but their goal is to make American a theocracy and institute Biblical Law.  Their interpretation of Biblical Law is very literal and very narrow.  Some advocate reinstituting Biblical punishments like the stoning of homosexuals, adulterers etc. (Sound similar to the oppression found in many middle eastern countries?  The Taliban by another name is still the Taliban.)

And the thing is…the history of both religions is tainted with forced conversions, tyranny, oppression, and theocratic rule. 

Pot…meet kettle. 

No Clean Hands – Apples with Apples

I'm having trouble getting this series organized in my head.  That's the reason it's been four...or more...days since my last post. It still hasn't "congealed" so I guess I'll just jump in and start typing...and see where I end up. In the post a few days ago I said:

Those who have never even leafed through the Quran, proclaim the holy book of Islam a book of hate that promotes…demands…violence against those of other faiths.  They’ve taken to heart short, snappy little excerpts repeated over and over like, “Kill the Infidel” without acknowledging that their own holy book…the Bible…also seems to promote violence, war, sacrifice, genocide and a whole host of other unsavory behaviors.

An example?

Deuteronomy 20:16-17 declares

But of the cities of these people, which the LORD thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the LORD thy God hath commanded thee:

Phillip Jenkins is a fairly well known author, Biblical scholar, and a Professor of Humanities at Penn State University....with other honors and titles (Distinguished Senior Fellow...Distinguished Professor...etc.)  Jenkins is a contributing editor for The American Conservative and writes a monthly column for The Christian Century. He has also written articles for Christianity Today, First Things, and The Atlantic so he probably can't be pigeonholed in that "he's a left wing liberal" column.  When he says his studies have led him to the conclusion that

"the Islamic scriptures in the Qur'an were actually far less bloody and less violent than those in the Bible"

perhaps folks who think of the Quran as nothing more than a book of hate should pay attention. He goes on to say:

“By the standards of the time, which is the 7th century A.D., the laws of war that are laid down by the Quran are actually reasonably humane,” he says. “Then we turn to the Bible, and we actually find something that is for many people a real surprise. There is a specific kind of warfare laid down in the Bible which we can only call genocide.”

The Hebrew word that describes this kind of warfare is "herem" and the children of Israel attempted to carry it out against the original inhabitants of the Promised Land....the "ites" listed above.  Talk about jihad...a "holy" war. 

Now, I know this has been explained away with concepts such as old covenant/new covenant....and dispensationalism....and progressive revelation....and types and shadows....and how most of the Old Testament points to Christ. And countless essays and books and Biblical commentaries have been written to try to minimize or justify the absolute wickedness of slaughtering whole groups of people...but they fall short.  Genocide is genocide. 

I don't read the Old Testament literally....as history.  I don't have it all figured out by any means... but I think perhaps some of the stories are parables....or analogies...or word pictures...or fables.  Or perhaps some....maybe even most....of the events actually happened but I think the retelling is from the perspective of the authors.  I don’t believe that God actually whispered in Joshua's ear about mass slaughter.  Joshua may have believed he heard God clearly but his interpretation was colored by his prejudices, his carnality and his lust to possess the Promised Land.  Damn inconvenient that it was already inhabited....

But that is the subject of a whole other series of posts.  My point is that if we compare apples with apples....a literal reading of the Bible compared with a literal reading of the Quran…choosing the most violent, bloody holy book is, at best, a draw.

More to follow….

Warrior Jesus?

A few weekends ago, when I drove to visit my mom about four hours away, I helped pass the time by listening to a series of sermons downloaded from Woodland Hills, the church where Greg Boyd  is senior pastor.  The series I listened to was about the outrageous love of God as told through the parables of the prodigal son, the lost sheep and the lost coin.
An interesting thing he mentioned about the parable of the lost coin...there was a custom during that time period...brides wore necklaces made of coins....as a symbol of the marriage bond.  The coins were the wedding ring.  Losing one of the coins....definitely not cool.  So she looked and looked until she found it....just like God seeks until he finds us....ALL of us.  And then there is rejoicing.  This view of the parable is not unique to Boyd.  He credited Wiersbe with introducing him to the idea.


While I'm on the subject of Greg Boyd...on his blog he recently posted a writing called,  Revelation and the Violent Prize Fighting Jesus.  It is a response to a comment in Relevant Magazine, by Mark Driscoll (well known pastor of Mars Hill in Seattle)

“In Revelation, Jesus is a prize-fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is the guy I can worship. I cannot worship the hippie, diaper, halo Christ because I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.”

Wow...think he might have missed the gist of the teachings of Jesus?  Jesus didn’t come the first time to make someone bleed…HE came to bleed and die on the cross.  And even if I believed in a literal, bodily return of Jesus the next time around, I’m thinking he wouldn’t come to kick anyone’s ass. 


Boyd responds:

.....the model of Jesus as a “prize fighter” with a “commitment to make someone bleed” allows us to indulge it. (our tendency to resort to violence) If we can dismiss the peace-loving Jesus as a “hippie, diaper, halo Christ,” then we’re free to wish and even inflict vengeance on our enemies all we like — and feel righteous about it! 

He mentions his upcoming book...

A Questionable Peace: Responding to Alleged Violence in the New Testament). It will serve as a prequel to my book offering a non-violent theological interpretation of the OT (The Crucifixion of the Warrior God).  Because the literalistic, violent misinterpretation of Revelation is so prevalent among evangelicals, I get asked about Revelation frequently. So I thought it might be helpful for me to share with you fine folks a few of the scholarly works I’ve found that support a non-violent interpretation of this book. How I wish Mark Driscoll and others who embrace the “prize fighter” perspective would digest some of this material!

He lists a dozen or so books that address the issue of an apocalyptic Jesus and a violent, literal interpretation of Revelation. I may not purchase the Questionable Peace book...but the other book...the Crucifixion of the Warrior God will be a must read for me.  It addresses something that has always bothered me.  The different face of God in the Old and New Testament.  Almost as if God was “two faced”…. 

Truth is Truth...

In a post entitled Truth is Truth, annie quoted the the following verse from the Quran....

Before He created life, the Almighty Allah declared, "My Mercy shall surpass My Wrath." Thus was it written.

- Hadith The Prophet Muhammad, as reported by Abu Hurairah

And then...since it was the list I mentioned in my last post, she added the following disclaimer....

no, i haven't converted to islam LOL.  this was in my inbox and i thought it was a good example that truth is truth no matter whose mouth it proceeds from.  it is the height of arrogance for christians to think that they and their judeo-christian bible have a corner market on truth.  who can deny that, in this instance, muhammad has voiced the same truth that james did when he wrote, "Mercy triumphs over justice"...?  i can place the full weight of my trust in the person of Christ without rejecting or denigrating those sincere men of other faiths.  peter learned this lesson with cornelius.  "then peter opened his mouth and said, 'in truth, i perceive that God shows no partiality.  but in every nation, whoever fears him and works righteousness is accepted by him'" (acts 10.34-35).  when cornelius was praying and heard from the Spirit, he had not, as of yet, even heard of Jesus.  though indoctrinated to the contrary, peter followed the Voice of Spirit he heard to reach out in the love of Christ and meet cornelius right where he was.  we see paul doing the same in acts 17, where he even quotes from two of the athenians' pagan poets and philosophers.  merely offered for consideration...   "for he himself is our peace who has made us one and broken down every wall of division between us" (ephesians 2.14)       blessed be - annie

In response, someone posted a page from a website with some of the hate texts from the Quran...from the perspective of conservative Christian party line belief about Muslims...all Muslims.  Not just the radical islamic whackos.  From the website....

 Does Islam teach hatred of non-believers?

Summary Answer:

There is no place in the Qur'an where Muhammad commands Muslims to love people of other religions.  By contrast there are at least three dozen verses that tell Muslims to fight against non-Muslims and about 500 that speak of their place in Hell.  They are from each period in Muhammad's life, scattered across 87 of the Qur'an's 114 chapters. 

To put this in perspective, nearly one out of twelve verses in the Qur'an says that Allah hates non-Muslims to the extent that he will torment them for eternity in horrible ways.  The Suras that make reference to this comprise about 95% of the Qur'an's total volume.  If Allah creates infidels merely to fuel the fires of Hell, then there is little reason for Muslims to believe that such lives are of any worth in this world either. 

Hmmmmm.....doesn't your normal run of the mill Christian believe that God will fuel the fires of hell with nonbelievers too? Including, of course, Muslims since they are not Christians. Doesn't your normal run of the mill Christian believe...wholeheartedly...that Jesus spoke more about hell than (take your pick)....1) any one else in Scripture. 2) any other subject 3) than he did about heaven. It has been said that Jesus was the greatest hellfire preacher that ever lived. Many Christians believe that. And using human beings as fodder to fuel  the fires of hell? ? Well, for Christians it's really just ssdd. It should not put off the majority of Christians since our God also consigns just about everyone who ever lived to hell. 

And don't Christians believe that their God ordered mass annihilation of the various groups of nonbelievers in the Promised Land...and other assorted and varied killings ranging from the mass slaughter of the 450 priests of Baal to the beheading of the 70 sons of Ahab.  And there are many, many more examples.  So Allah gets a bad rap for expecting his followers to kill nonbelievers ....but it's okay for the Christian God to order mass slaughter.  That's because he's the C..H..R..I..S..T..I..A...N God.  Makes all the difference in the world.  Right?

And following the examples from the OT, good Christians have killed the infidel in the name of their God down through the ages....

More tomorrow....

God On Trial...

Another digression from the current series...a digression that was initially birthed as a digression from a series I was writing several months ago.  I started this post about "God on Trial" after watching the movie with Keith...but never got around to finishing it.

Imagine that.

I feel compelled to post it now because otherwise, it could get lost among the topics I want to post about someday....and also because it goes along with the posts I've written lately about Bonhoeffer.

  Like Bonhoeffer, the characters in God on Trial are in a Nazi prison camp.  They also have lots of unanswered questions.  True, the characters are fictitious but their questions are not.  They are as old as time.  Almost everyone has asked these same questions at some point or another. They have been whispered in imploring prayers.  They have been shouted angrily to the heavens. They have been used as proof by skeptics.

This movie is for anyone who has ever questioned the God of the Old Testament, the book of Job, the God who allows suffering and evil to exist in the world.  It tackles free will, and atheism, humanism, the covenant with the Jews.  This is all set against the bleak backdrop of a Nazi prison camp.

There is an interesting cast of characters.  Some are believers.  Some not.  Some are Jews.  Some not.  Some are honorable men. Some not. Among them are rabbis, fathers, sons, thieves, businessmen, craftsman, con men. 

During a morbid kind of lottery...where the group is separated into two smaller groups, half of them chosen for the gas chambers the next day.  The prisoners can only guess which group will live and which will die when morning comes.  It is the last night for some of them. 

How do they spend the night?  They put put God on trial.  They seek to decide for themselves, once and for all.... If God is good and all powerful, why is there evil?  If he can stop evil and does not is he good?  If he wants to stop the evil but cannot, is he all powerful? It is riveting

Following is a YouTube video...an eloquent 10 minute summation, given by Akiba, an old-fashioned Rabbi from the countryside. He is a Melamed, or religious teacher, and a healer who has committed holy writings to memory. Although quiet for most of the trial, when Akiba eventually speaks, everyone is drawn to him.

And does he ever say a mouthfull. He recites a a laundry list of many of the atrocities and unfair, cruel doings attributed to the God of the OT.  One does not have to look too hard to find many, many atrocities. 

Particularly poignant, is his comparison of their plight to the plights of some of the people Adonia's wrath was vented against in the OT.

He muses:

For the Egyptians, the Amalekites...what was it like for them when Adonai turned against them?  It was like this.

He asks (knowing full well the answer)

Today there was a selection, yes?  When David defeated the Moabites, what did he do?

Schmidt a well-educated Rabbi appointed the Father of the Court, replies:

He made them lie on the ground in lines and he chose one to live and two to die. 

Akiba continues:

We have become the Moabites.  We are learning how it was for the Amalekites.  They faced extinction at the hand of Adonai.  They died for his purpose.  They fell as we are falling.  They were afraid as we are afraid.  And what did they learn?  They learned that Adonai, the Lord our God, OUR God, is not good.  He is not good.  He was not ever good.  He was only on our side.

He goes on to talk about the Flood, God's demand of Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac.  He repeats the sad conviction he has come to about God...

He is not good...he has simply been strong.  He has simply been on our side. 

And he's not finished....

When we were brought here we were brought by train.  A guard slapped my face.  On their belts they had written  "God is with us."  Now who is to say he is not?  Perhaps he is.  Is there any other explanation?  What do we see here?  His power, his majesty, his might.  All these things...but turned against us.  He is still God...but not our God.  He has become our enemy....

That's what's happened to the covenant.  He has made a new covenant with someone else.

 

 

Plot spoiler...God does not fare well in the final verdict. 

I rewatched parts of the movie tonight.  It is available in its entirety in four parts HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE. 

Akiba's number is among those called to go to the gas chamber.  When another prisoner, one who has declared he does not believe in God, is also called, he panics and implores of Akiba, "What do we do now." And Akiba's answer?

Now, we pray...

And they covered their heads with their hands and prayed....and they continued to pray as they were led into the gas chambers to die...

Without quoting the chapter and verse, they demonstrated by their actions....as Job did....

Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.....

Verses from Isaiah....

On EU, Chris has suggested we do a Bible Study on the book of Isaiah.  He is leading a study at church and would like our (heretical :) perspectives.  He posted yesterday that as he read the first few chapters of Isaiah it seemed to be more of the same old, same old "repressive, theocratic religion"

Chris went on to say:

But then I was digging through some of the EU files and found this:  “I was sought by those who did not ask for me; I was found by those who did not seek me…” (Isaiah 65:1).

Following is my reply....posted here not because it was brilliantly written or wittily worded...but because it contains wonderful verses from Isaiah...some that are echoed in the New Testament as well.  Post follows.  More on Bonhoeffer to come....

 

    

 

That verse goes on to say:

To a nation that did not call on my name, I said, 'Here am I, here am I.'

I love that.  Some of my favorite verses are in Isaiah...

Isa 25:8  He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from off all faces; and the rebuke of his people shall he take away from off all the earth: for the LORD hath spoken it.

This same verse is repeated in Revelation....TWICE.  These are my favorite 3 verses in Scripture....

Rev 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

Rev 7:17  For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes

and another hopeful...universalist verse in Isaiah.....

Isaiah 45:22 Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.23 I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear.

which is also repeated twice in the New Testament....my "second favorite" verses in Scripture...

Romans 14:11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Philippians 2:9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

And more from Isaiah.....66...

        3He who kills a bull is as if he slays a man;
        He who sacrifices a lamb, as if he breaks a dog's neck;
        He who offers a grain offering, as if he offers swine's blood;
        He who burns incense, as if he blesses an idol.
        Just as they have chosen their own ways,
        And their soul delights in their abominations,

And Isaiah Chapter 1:

  11"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?"
        Says the LORD.
        "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
        And the fat of fed cattle.
        I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
        Or of lambs or goats.
        12"When you come to appear before Me,
        Who has required this from your hand,
        To trample My courts?
        13Bring no more futile sacrifices;
        Incense is an abomination to Me.
        The New Moons, the Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies--
        I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting.
        14Your New Moons and your appointed feasts
        My soul hates;
        They are a trouble to Me,
        I am weary of bearing them.
        15When you spread out your hands,
        I will hide My eyes from you;
        Even though you make many prayers,
        I will not hear.
        Your hands are full of blood.

        16"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean;
        Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes.
        Cease to do evil,
        17Learn to do good;
        Seek justice,
        Rebuke the oppressor; F8
        Defend the fatherless,
        Plead for the widow.
        18"Come now, and let us reason together,"
        Says the LORD,
        "Though your sins are like scarlet,
        They shall be as white as snow;
        Though they are red like crimson,
        They shall be as wool. 

Isaiah was farther along in progressive revelation than some of prophets that came before him.