Pastor Mark has another great podcast, this one on the respective roles and responsibilities of men and women in marriage. Listen to his last sermon at http://graftedin.com. Seriously. Listen.
Archive for November, 2009
Mark McLellan on the Roles of Men and Women
Sunday, November 29th, 2009Vayetzei 5770 – Who’s Eyes Were Veiled?
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009Genesis 29:23 …he took Leah his daughter…
It appears that this maneuver was Laban’s idea, but Jewish tradition says that Rachel and Leah willingly cooperated. Jacob and Rachel had devised a secret sign for just this situation, so that Jacob would not be fooled. Rachel, knowing that Leah might never be able to marry and have a family, had compassion on her and revealed the secret sign to her. Even so, it seems difficult to believe that Jacob could make such a mistake, especially after having lived with both of these women for seven years. But there are several other factors to consider:
- There was almost certainly a substantial amount of alcohol consumed during the celebrations.
- Rachel and Leah probably both wore veils, even in public, and which they might not have removed even on their wedding night until after the last lamp had been put out.
- The interior of an animal skin tent at night can be exceptionally dark.
- Jewish tradition says that Rachel and Leah were twins and so could have been very similar in height, weight, and build.
- God had promised to look after Jacob until he returned to Canaan, and Jacob’s blindness could have been induced by God to ensure the execution of a divine plan.
In support of the fourth and fifth items above, there is another tradition that says Esau should have married Leah while Jacob should have married Rachel. Since Jacob received Esau’s blessing from Isaac, he also had to be the father of all twelve of the tribes of Israel. Leah, Rachel, Bilhah, and Zilpah had been marked as the mothers of the nation of Israel, and no other woman would do. Therefore Jacob had to marry all four of them, and God made sure that it happened. But why did Rachel and Leah go along with this idea? I have heard some women say that they would rather be the third or fourth wife of King David than the first wife of Nabal. The rabbis say that Jacob married so late in life because he had been studying under Shem, the son of Noah. I do not know if that is true, but it would certainly make Jacob a more attractive prospect than most other men. Having spent the last seven years in such close proximity to Jacob, Leah might have already harbored a strong attraction to him. She was also a godly woman and probably very respectful of her father’s wishes, however conniving he might be.
Rachel was more likely than Leah to find another husband if Jacob rejected her and could have felt some compassion toward her sister in her unfortunate situation. She was also a godly woman and probably experienced a great deal of conflict in her loyalties, as she was not yet fully married to Jacob.
Local.com Is a Spam Farm
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009Within minutes of listing my business information on local.com I began receiving spam. My advice: avoid it.
Paranoid Fantasies?
Thursday, November 12th, 2009- What if your free email provider indexed every email you sent or received for keywords?
- What if they provided a free search engine that remembered every search?
- What if they also owned a great video sharing site and remembered every video you watched?
- What if they offered free blogging sites, remembered every visit, and indexed every post and comment?
- What if the same company offered free maps and directions with satellite or even street-level views and remembered every location you viewed?
- What if they made the maps really easy by linking them to the GPS device in your phone?
- What if you could use their on-line productivity software to create all your documents and financial records.
- What if they let you store backup copies of all your computer files on their servers for safe keeping and kept a copy of your encryption key?
- What if they cross-referenced all these different data points and shared them with others?
George Orwell? 1984? The real thing could be so much worse.
Thank You, Veterans
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009To those of you who have been willing to put yourselves in mortal danger for the rest of us, Thank You!
To everyone else: Tomorrow is not the day for patriotic disclaimers. Don’t say, “Thank you, but…” Don’t say, “Serving in the military would be ok if only…” Just say thank you. Show sincere appreciation, and leave it at that. Resume your political commentary on Thursday.
Vayeira 5770 – Talent on Loan from God
Saturday, November 7th, 2009Genesis 18:1-3 And YHWH appeared to him in the plains of Mamre, and he sat at the tent door in the heat of the day. (2) And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo, three men stood by him. And when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed toward the ground. (3) And he said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass away, I pray, from Your servant.
Abraham recognized YHWH immediately and ran to meet him. If God appeared to you or I in human form, would we recognize him? Many people did not. Abraham was chosen by God from among all the other people of Babylonia to receive a special revelation of his Name, such that Abraham would know him and all his ways instinctively. He wrote his Torah on Abraham’s heart so “that he will command his sons and his house after him, and they shall keep the way of YHWH, to do justice and judgment, that YHWH may bring upon Abraham that which He has spoken of him.”
Every one of us has been hand picked by God to perform some vital task for his kingdom. Few of us are meant for such a prestigious role as Abraham’s, but we have all been called none-the-less. Not only have we been called, but, like Abraham, we have been given the means to answer the call and to accomplish our work. Our gifts, our talents, are not ours by right or to do with whatever we choose, but they are tools to serve God. The revelations which we have been given are for God’s glory, not ours. We must recognize the opportunities that God places before us to use those gifts and be willing to throw ourselves at his feet or else be passed by and forgotten.
Great Podcast
Friday, November 6th, 2009Mark McLellan delivered another great message last shabbat. You can download the mp3 at graftedin.com.
Unicorns, Carebears, and the H1N1 Vaccine
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009A selection of headlines from the past few weeks:
- Initial Results Show Pregnant Women Mount Strong Immune Response To 1 Dose Of 2009 H1N1 Vaccine
- Pregnant Women At ‘Serious Risk’ from Flu
- Mother’s Flu Shot Protects Newborns
- Flu Vaccine Given To Women During Pregnancy Keeps Infants Out Of The Hospital, Study Suggests
- Pregnant women should get flu shot as winter bites
- Pregnant women need H1N1 shots
- H1N1 contributed to pregnant woman’s death
- Pregnancy a Key Risk Factor for H1N1 Flu
- Swine flu shot may ease pregnant mom’s worries
- Pregnant? It`s Time for a Flu Shot, Says Miami OB-GYN Specialist
I am certain that the people who wrote these articles and most of their sources truly believe that pregnant women need to get a flu shot and especially need to be vaccinated against H1N1. Maybe they’re right.
But it smells like brainwashed lemmings trying to hose down the rest of us.
Creationism Confirmed Again
Monday, November 2nd, 2009Creation scientists have long said that, since carnivorous behavior is an artifact of the Fall, many (or most) venoms probably devolved from digestive enzymes. Evolutionary biologists have once again confirmed a creationist hypothesis by discovering that the North American shrew and the Mexican beaded lizard both employ a venom that appears to have devolved from the same digestive enzyme, kallikrein.
“The venom is essentially an overactivation of the original digestive enzyme, amplifying its effects,” Yael T. Aminetzach said. “What had been a mild anticoagulant in the salivary glands of both species has become a much more extreme compound that causes paralysis and death in prey that is bitten.”