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Ki Tetzei 5769 – Love Her or Leave Her Alone

Tuesday, September 1st, 2009

Late again. Sorry.

Deuteronomy 21:10-14 When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the LORD thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, (11) And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; (12) Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; (13) And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. (14) And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her.

The practice of taking captive women as concubines has long been frowned upon in western cultures, and for good reason. As with marrying more than one woman, marrying a prisoner of war is a complicated and difficult proposition. A man of weak character can’t pull it off, and a man of poor character can’t do it well. On the other hand, difficult doesn’t mean sinful or impossible. In fact, in the context of the ancient near east–probably in other contexts as well–marriage was one of the best options available. It is better than killing her with the rest of her people or leaving her to be abused or enslaved by some other nation. At least as a concubine to an Israelite, she would be brought into the religion of Yahweh and enjoy the rights accorded to all wives by Torah.

Allowing a man to take such a woman back to his home also recognizes and helps to stem the harsh reality of rape in war. This law says that a man is not allowed to simply take whatever woman he wants, but knowing that he can still have her after following the proper procedure (and being reminded of that fact every year when reading Ki Tetzei in the synagogue) can serve to temper his immediate lusts. Chances are very good that after the thirty days of mourning have passed, he will have realized what a crazy idea it is to bring a pagan woman into his house, and he will allow her to leave. If not, then he would be required to begin her education in Torah and her conversion to belief in the True God before he could consummate the marriage. (See Leviticus 19:19, Deuteronomy 7:3, and Deuteronomy 22:9-11.)

If he changes his mind and allows her to leave, she will no longer be a prisoner of war but a free woman with all the rights of a stranger in Israel. Those rights were considerable indeed, especially in light of what she might face in some other land.

Marriage in the Bible

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Posted in History, Love, Marriage, Men's Rights, Parsha 49 - Ki Tetzei, Theology, Torah | No Comments »

T’ruma 5769 – A Balanced Spirit

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Exodus 25:35-36
…one beaten work of pure gold. The six side branches of the Menorah were assembled in sets of two, one on the left and one on the right. The pairs of branches were made out of a single piece of gold with a ring in the center connecting it to the stem. Each pair represents a pair of inextricably linked character traits (See verse 32.), and each side balances the other. The fear of God is balanced against knowledge of God’s promises and love. Understanding of God’s creation is balanced against wisdom in its proper use. Strength is moderated by good council. These spirits only engender a right relationship with God if they are in proper union and order. If strength is not complemented by council, then they separately beget tyranny and manipulation. If worldly understanding is not united with wisdom, then they separately beget pride and foolishness. If fear is not united with knowledge, then they separately beget legalism and licentiousness.

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The Family Stones

Thursday, October 30th, 2008

Tonight I was reading about Joshua and the parting of the Jordan River when I was struck by the similarity between the twelve men carrying the river stones on their shoulders and the High Priest carrying the two stones on the shoulders of his uniform and the twelve stones on his breastplate. In both cases the stones represent tribes. The Priest’s shoulder stones have the names of six tribes inscribed on each of them. Each of the stones on the breastplate represent an individual tribe as do the stones carried out of the Jordan. It occurred to me that stones might represent tribes or nations in other contexts as well. Take a look at these possibilities:

Gen 28:11-15 Jacob gathers up some stones to use as a pillow. Who uses stones for a pillow? He lays his head on the stones, and in his dream God tells him that his descendants will be as the dust of the earth and will be scattered throughout the world. God also tells him that he will be returned to this land someday. The first part of that prophecy was fulfilled when the two kingdoms were scattered by Assyria, Babylon, and Rome. They have been living among the nations of the world, for the most part as if asleep (the stones for pillows!) and unaware of who they are. The second part of the prophecy was fulfilled in one sense when Jacob personally returned to Canaan. It will be fulfilled much more dramatically when all of Israel is called out of the nations and returned to the Promised Land someday.

Gen 31:51-53 As Jacob left Laban to return to Canaan, Laban chased him across the dessert. When he caught him, they set up a pillar and a pile of stones, proclaiming them to be witnesses to a peace treaty setting a border between their lands. Later, after Israel escaped Pharaoh, the River of Egypt was set as the boundary between their lands, and the events were witnessed by God’s pillar and by the nations of the world.

Lev 14:33-53 There is way too much to talk about in this passage, but here is one very interesting bit: The priest orders the house to be emptied and locked. On the seventh day he returns to judge the stones of the house. Those that are infected are cast into “an unclean place” while fresh stones are brought in to replace them. Sounds like something someone once wrote about olive branches, doesn’t it?

It seems obvious to me that stones, especially in the Torah, represent people groups, whether nations, tribes, cities, or families. Gold is divinity and purity. Silver is blood and atonement. Bronze is judgement. Iron is destruction. Wood is humanity or flesh. Coverings are spiritual authorities. Blue is divine, red is flesh, and purple is God made flesh.

I love this stuff. I could be wrong…but I don’t think so.

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Ha’azinu 5768 – This Is the Way Love Is

Monday, October 6th, 2008

Deuteronomy 32:4-5  He is the Rock; His work is perfect. For all His ways are just, a God of faithfulness, and without evil; just and upright is He. They have corrupted themselves: they are not His sons; it is their blemish; they are a crooked and perverse generation.

God does not violate his own Law, nor does he force anyone else to do so. “They have corrupted themselves,” and they deserve their end. We all do. It is solely by his mercy and his obedience to his own law* that we escape destruction.

* If God keeps his own Law, does that mean he is under the Law? That he is accountable to it? Of course not. He is accountable to no one but himself. Likewise if we keep the Law, neither does it mean that we are under it. We are under the Messiah, and keep the Law for his sake and for the sake of those who see it.

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Mercy above Sacrifice

Tuesday, December 12th, 2006

Matthew 12:7
But if you had known what this is, “I desire mercy and not sacrifice,” you would not have condemned those who are not guilty.

Matthew 22:36-39
“Master, which is the great commandment in the Law?”
Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

Yeshua plainly refuted the idea that there is no hierarchy or precedence within God’s law. There are greater commandments and lesser commandments. Some laws must be held higher than others in order to resolve apparent conflicts such as healing or feeding the poor on the Sabbath.

Most Christian theologians divide the law into two parts, moral and ceremonial, and they usually dismiss the ceremonial as irrelevant to life after the cross. I believe that division is incorrect and does a great deal of harm. It would be much better to divide the law the same way that Yeshua did: by beneficiary. All of God’s laws have a beneficiary, and usually more than one: either Self, Others, or God.

The Sabbath honors God and includes provisions for ensuring the rest of others, but obedience to it is primarily self-serving. There is nothing wrong with that. God gave us that law for our own benefit. For some, it is a vital opportunity to say no without causing hard feelings.

Other laws are aimed at the benefit of others and take precedence over the former. “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he shall serve six years. And in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.” A slave owner is required to care for the physical and spiritual welfare of the slave. Like the Sabbath, the laws governing Hebrew slavery fits all three categories: It honors God by honoring his image and his chosen people. It benefits the slave owner by ensuring the good will of his slaves and the health of his community. However, the slave reaps the greatest benefit. His servitude was limited in duration, scope, and rigor. He is assured generous compensation for his service. In fact, if he sold himself into slavery, he will be paid at least twice: First when he sold himself, second during the course of his service, and third when he is released.

Laws that benefit God always benefit the law-keeper and those around him. “You shall have no other gods before me,” for example. Worshipping other gods is a waste of effort and might actually invite sickness and disaster, but primarily we worship only one God because that is what he wants.

We have to be very careful with this category. All of God’s laws were given for mankind’s benefit, and we shouldn’t say that one law or another primarily benefits God unless he has told us so as in, “For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God…” Sacrifice is a good example. Blood sacrifices were never about satisfying God’s blood lust, for he has none. Like Yeshua’s sacrifice, the sacrifice of animals was to bring us closer to God. Hence, blood sacrifice is mostly for the benefit of the one bringing it.

If you encounter an apparent conflict in obeying God’s laws, he has already given us the standard which we are to follow. Choose the path which honors God first, then that which honors others, and finally that which honors ourselves.

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Posted in Keeping Torah, Love, Theology, Torah | 8 Comments »

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