I am using One Year Bible Online for my daily Bible study. For today, One Year Bible Online links here. I have found that by writing this daily blog of what I see when I read these scriptures, I get more out of them. I hope that by posting these ruminations others may get some benefit as well. If you have any thoughts or comments regarding these verses or what I have written about them, please post them.
Once the walls around Jerusalem were rebuilt people began to settle into Jerusalem. The leaders of the returned exiles settled in Jerusalem. In addition, one out of every ten of the people living in the other towns of Judah were selected to resettle in Jerusalem. Those who volunteered to settle in Jerusalem were commended by the rest of the people. The passage then goes on to list some of the people who settled in Jerusalem and some of the villages around Jerusalem where others settled.
Paul continues his discussion on eating meat offered to idols. He starts by pointing out that by taking part in Communion/The Lord’s Supper/The Eucharist (whatever term your tradition uses to refer to the breaking of bread and sharing the cup) we become one body, even though we are many. He then extends the same metaphor to the sacrifices which the Jews offered in the Temple and then ate part of as a meal. In the same way, those who partake in offerings made to idols become part of the body which is worshiping an idol.
Paul points out that he is not saying that food offered to idols has some significance, nor that idols are real gods. Rather the sacrifices made to idols are made to demons, not to God. Paul says that we should not participants with demons. We cannot be part of the Body of Christ and the body of a demon (I really need to take some time and write a blog on some thoughts I have had about spiritual beings). Paul then continues by talking about our freedom in Christ. He quotes some as saying that as a Christian we have the freedom to do anything. He acknowledges this as a truth, but he tells us that there is an important qualifier, not everything is beneficial, not everything is constructive. Yes, we are free to do anything, but we should only do those things which are constructive and beneficial. More importantly, we should only do those things which are beneficial for others. Our concern should be with building up others.
From this, Paul offers a guidance about eating meat. He tells us that it is ok to eat anything sold in the market because, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” He goes on to say that if someone invites us to a meal, we should eat whatever is put before us without asking any questions. However, if someone tells you that the food that is put before you was offered as a sacrifice, then do not eat it. The reason to not eat it is to make clear to the person who told us that we will not take part in pagan sacrifices and by doing that we might encourage them to do so.
For a long time, I always assumed that Paul was talking about our fellow believers when he talked about someone telling us that meat had been offered to idols. However, it occurred to me recently that this applies just as much to a non-Christian who tells us that. If we are invited to take part in a religious meal by non-Christians we should decline (a Jew inviting us to a seder, or other Jewish holy meal, may be an exception. I have not thought that all the way through). We need to be clear that we do not partake in non-Christian worship practices.
This reminds me of a major fuss that occurred a short while back over certain fast food chains preparing all of their meat according to halal (Muslim dietary code). The reason that some people were upset about this is because a significant factor in whether or not meat is halal is that in order to be halal it must be dedicated to Allah before it is slaughtered. This is very similar to the way that food was offered to idols and then used as food in Paul’s day. My initial reaction was that this was no big deal because Paul told us to eat food sold in the marketplace without asking any questions. Then I realized that since a big fuss was made about this, it now fell under the category of someone telling me that it had been offered to an idol. I have since forgotten the details about this and am not much concerned about it (it now falls under the class of “food sold in the marketplace, ask no questions”). However, this illustrates the point Paul was making. I think that as Christians we should avoid knowingly eating food that is halal, but we should make no effort to know whether or not any food is halal. If, however, someone, whether a Christian, a Muslim, or of some other faith, makes a point of telling us that particular food is halal, we should not eat it, not for our sake, but for theirs.
Search for peace, and work to maintain it.
This was the first thing my eyes went to when I looked at this psalm today. I think there is something important here that we often overlook. “Turn away from evil and do good” is not really two instructions at all. When we do good, we are turning away from evil. Or to put it another way. the only way to turn away from evil is to do good. Having read that phrase I went back and read the entirety of today’s psalm. The psalmist also tells us that we are to keep from speaking evil or telling lies. There is a lot in this psalm, but I will conclude my meditation on it with this line:
but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.
That has certainly been true in my life.
You see the truth of the middle of these proverbs all around us. Those who do evil are terrified when they see justice done. They seek excuses to allow the guilty to escape punishment. And the third proverb is also true. I just read a story about a daredevil who died in a terrible accident while skydiving wearing what is called a “wingsuit”, which allows the skydiver to “fly” in a manner similar to a flying squirrel. In this case, the “pilot” (a term which is used to refer to those who do this) flew too close to the mountain, lost control and hit the mountain at a high speed. His search for the next thrill overrode his good judgment.