Another great new addition to the blogroll: Full of Grace, Seasoned with Salt.
Archive for the ‘Men’s Rights’ Category
Hunting Pigeon Blood
Thursday, July 1st, 2010Naso 5770 – A Republic if You Can Keep It
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010Numbers 7:84-86 This was the dedication of the altar, in the day when it was anointed, by the rulers of Israel: twelve platters of silver, twelve silver basins, twelve golden pans. (85) Each silver dish weighed a hundred and thirty shekels, each basin seventy. All the silver vessels weighed two thousand and four hundred shekels, according to the sanctuary shekel; (86) twelve golden pans, full of incense, ten shekels each, according to the sanctuary shekel; all the gold of the pans was a hundred and twenty shekels.
Each tribe of Israel made the same offerings regardless of size or wealth. A peace offering was a community bar-b-que, but Judah, with 186,000 soldiers, offered the same number and type of animals as Manasseh with 32,000 soldiers. This is indicative of Israel’s non-communist, republican form of government. Although Levi had a special role (and did not participate in this round of offerings), every other tribe had an equal voice and responsibility in the national government. The same principle is apparent in the annual half-shekel owed by every man of twenty years and older, whether rich or poor. Every man of Israel was a landowner, and, although not every man could be in leadership, every man had a say in how his nation, his tribe, and his village would be governed.
Manual for Priests
Monday, March 22nd, 2010Ariel ben-Lyman HaNaviy makes a very good point in his teaching on Tzav this week. (Part A is great. Part B contains too much rabbinic mythology.) The book of Leviticus (aka Vayikra) is a manual for priests. Christian men claim to be the priests of their homes. LDS men claim to be priests of another sort. The Torah says that Israel is to be a kingdom of priests to the world, and John wrote that Yeshua has made all those who believe on him to be kings and priests. Here in Leviticus we have a manual for priests. Even though it was specifically addressed to the Levitical order, it is full of principles and patterns that apply to all priests of whatever order.
P.S. Here is an interesting thought. I have heard it taught that David was able to eat the bread of the Tabernacle without repercussion because he was also a priest, but of a different order. Being a foreshadowing of the Moshiach ben David, he too was a priest of the order of Melchizedek, which consists of a royal priesthood, men who are both kings and priests simultaneously. If Yeshua has made all those who believe on him to be both kings and priests, then this line of reasoning implies that all believers have the same (or parallel) responsibilities and privileges as the Cohanim. That does not mean that they are above the Law any more than David was. On the contrary, both priests and kings are held to a higher standard. I am not saying that this is a correct interpretation, only that it is a possibility worth considering.
Google Is Watching out for You
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
“If you have something that you don’t want anyone to know, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.” -Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google. (The Register, Dec 7, 2009.)
In case you need a review of why Schmidt’s opinion matters, see my previous blog post about Google. Everybody thinks everybody else is doing something they shouldn’t. Privacy is essential to freedom.
Books in My Queue
Monday, December 7th, 2009My current reading queue after I finish a book on IT consulting:
- What is the Truth? Scott Ledbetter
- The Messianic Revelation Series V.1. Announcing: Judgment Day
Eliyahu ben David
- Man and Woman in Biblical Law, Part 2: They Shall Be One Flesh Tom Shipley
I’ll try to let you know what I think.
A Christian Understanding of Polygyny
Friday, December 4th, 2009Mark Niwot posted a great article showing a biblical understanding of marriage and polygyny at Helium.
Scripture repeatedly commands (Deut. 4:2 and 12:32, Rev. 22:18-19, etc) that man is not to “add to” nor “subtract from” the Written Word of God. Our Savior was likewise critical (Matthew 23 is just one obvious example) of those “Hypocrites!” who took it upon themselves to insert their own “traditions” into “law” and thus make His commandments “of no effect”. (Matt. 15:6, Mark 7:13, etc.) But there is perhaps no better example of a false doctrine elevated by tradition alone to the status of unquestioned “Law” than the false idol of Monogamy….
Permission to Sin?
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009I frequently hear people say that God allowed this or that sinful behavior because people are weak.
Buzzzz. Try again.
God does not allow sin. He never says, “Don’t ever do this, but if you do, here’s how I want you to go about it…” He just says, “Don’t do that.”
So, if, in the course of your Bible reading, you see that God said, “If you are going to [insert activity here], then do it like this,” you can safely conclude that the given activity is not sinful. It might not be the best thing for you, but it’s not a sin to make choices where God has given you liberty.
Marriage in the Bible
Mark McLellan on the Roles of Men and Women
Sunday, November 29th, 2009Pastor 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.