If you spend your time and money on pleasure when you should be working or saving you will end in poverty. If you are constantly spending your money on luxuries you will soon have none.
If we faithfully follow Christ we too will experience what the psalmist references in this psalm. There will be those who will do evil to us in response to our good acts. There will be those who lay traps for us even though we did them no wrong. We will fast and pray for them when they suffer, but they will rejoice when we are in trouble. All of this and more we will face as we try to faithfully serve the Lord. However, if we are in that situation we can rely on God to oppose those who oppose us. He will give us victory. So, let us continue to pray for those who do not serve Him, for God will protect us if we do.
In today’s passage Paul tells us that a man dishonors his head if he prays or prophesies with his head covered (the origin of the tradition of men removing hats and caps when the National Anthem is sung. I will come back to this.). He also says that women dishonor their head if they pray or prophesy without a covering on her head (the reason that women wore hats or some other kind of head covering until modern times). I do not fully follow Paul’s argument here.
I follow the idea that women are supposed to cover their heads because the first woman was created out of the first man. Then Paul says something intended to make sure that men do not become arrogant about this and believe that this makes them overlords over women. He tells us that every man since the first man came out of women. So, the first woman came from man, but every man since that has come from a woman. And both come from God. The resulting teaching is that women are not independent of men, but then neither are men independent of women. We all need each other. There are men who say that they do not need a woman. They are wrong. They may not need a wife, but every man needs at least one woman in his life. Of course, there are women who say that they do not need a man. They are just as wrong. This is not about sexual relations (if you need sexual relations, you need a spouse of the opposite sex).
Nehemiah had left Jerusalem for a time to return to the court of Artaxerxes. When he got back to Jerusalem he discovered that the men of Judah were working and doing business on the Sabbath, which they had vowed not to do. Nehemiah confronted them and got them to stop. In addition, Nehemiah discovered that some of the Jewish men had married women from the surrounding peoples and had failed to even teach their children to speak their language. In other words, rather than assimilate their wives and children into the people and worship of God, they were assimilating into the local people and pagan worship.
This is an important lesson for us as Christians. We are called to bring people from our society into the Church. However, we must assimilate them into the culture and society of the Body of Christ, not allow ourselves to assimilated into the secular culture and society that is around us.
If you spend too much of your spare money, that which is above and beyond what you need to survive, on luxuries, you will never become rich. If you spend all of your spare money on pleasure, you will soon have no spare money.
I have often read this proverb and never understood it. This morning I hit upon something that finally makes sense of this proverb for me. If traitors and the wicked are not punished the righteous and the loyal will suffer. Those who are good desire to see no one hurt or made to feel bad. This leads them to desire not to punish anyone. However, if those who do wrong are not punished, are not made to suffer for their wrongdoing, then those who do no wrong will be made to suffer. If a society chooses not to punish those who do wrong, or worse, betray that society, then those who are honest and upright will suffer instead.
The Lord will give us victory over our enemies if we can say about them what the psalmist says here. If our enemies lay traps for us, even though we did them no wrong, God will defend us and cause them to fall into their own traps. God will bring defeat and destruction on those who accuse us of crimes of which we are completely unaware. We need not fear those who repay us evil for good. I will not let such things cause me to stop doing good for those I encounter. I will grieve and mourn for the illness and suffering of which I become aware. More than that, I will do whatever is within my power to alleviate the pain and suffering of others, even those I know will turn on me at the first opportunity. I will remember that I can pray for those who are suffering, even if I can do nothing else.
In today’s passage Paul tells us that a woman should wear some kind of covering on her head when she prays or prophecies and that a man should have no sort of covering on his head when he does the same. This is a controversial passage subject of much debate and interpretation. I understand some of the controversy and I do not fully understand, or follow, Paul’s logic supporting what he is saying. However, ultimately, I believe that what I said in the first sentence represents God’s will.
However, in the middle of this Paul says something which is often overlooked in the discussion over his teachings on head covering. Paul tells us that men and women are not independent of each other. God made mankind as male and female. Men need women and women need men. This is not a matter of sexual acts (although that is an element of the mutual need, it is far from the most important element and is far from universal). The first woman came from man and therefore women are dependent on men. On the other hand, every man since the first has come from a woman, therefore men are dependent upon women. This is true of people in general, but is a truth that we must never forget in the Church, the Body of Christ.
The first part of this passage is a joyous celebration and dedication of the completion of the walls around Jerusalem. The people were unified and praised God together for what He had done for them. Then Nehemiah needed to leave Jerusalem to fulfill the commitment he had made when he first obtained permission to come to Jerusalem and lead the rebuilding.
When he once more received permission to return to Jerusalem he discovered that the people had lost their unity before God. Some of the leaders, and some of the people, were choosing economic interests over faithfulness to God (one priest had rented out a Temple storage room, people were working and doing business on the Sabbath). He confronted his coreligionists who were working and doing business on the Sabbath. Then he discovered that some were getting around it by doing business with foreigners, so he put a stop to that. This was followed by the discovery that some of the returned exiles had married local women and were not raising their children as part of the community. There are aspects of this passage which trouble me, but the main theme is the importance of us worshiping God in unity.
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.
When the wall was completed, Nehemiah organized two choirs to go around the top of the wall in opposite directions, singing praises to God. When they met again, they joined together and went to the Temple to conduct a worship service dedicating the wall of Jerusalem. During the reading of the Law as part of this celebration, they discovered that the law said that no Ammonite or Moabite should be part of the assembly of God. At that point they excluded everyone of foreign descent from the assembly. This sounds harsh. However, there is some back-story.
Before this all happened, Nehemiah had needed to return to the court of Artaxerxes. When he returned to Jerusalem he discovered that the priest in charge of the Temple storerooms had converted one of them into a warehouse for Tobiah, one of the leaders of the neighboring peoples (and an opponent of the restoration of Jerusalem). Nehemiah also discovered that the Levites who were supposed to help conduct Temple services had not been given their allotment of food and had returned to working the fields rather than serving in the Temple. Nehemiah confronted the leaders over this and brought the Levites back. Further Nehemiah found the residents of Jerusalem conducting business on the Sabbath, both on their own and with non-Jewish merchants. He confronted them and demanded that they keep the Sabbath. Finally, he discovered that many Jewish men had married foreign women and had children with them and were not even teaching their children to speak Hebrew, instead raising them to speak the languages of their mother’s people. So, Nehemiah purged the people of foreign influences which were leading them away from God. The key factor in all of these things was that these foreign influences were leading the people to be unfaithful in following and worshiping God.
Today’s passage begins with Paul’s final comment on the topic he was discussing in yesterday’s passage: “And you should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.” I have heard different expositions on this passage, but the one that strikes me today is a simple question. Do I imitate Jesus well enough that I can in good conscience suggest that others imitate me? That is quite the challenge, but I think it is the standard we are called to live up to. For me, the idea that others are measuring the validity of the Christian message by my behavior is scary enough, but the thought that someone might be attempting to model their Christian life on what I do comes close to giving me the screaming willies. I just don’t do that good of a job of imitating Christ. I guess that means one thing: Time to up my game!…And there is only one way to do that, give the Holy Spirit more control over my life.
Paul next says that men should not cover their head when praying or prophesying and that women should. People have argued about whether or not this passage is something that we should follow today. I am not inspired today to make a case for it one way or the other. I will merely say that I am inclined to believe that we should follow the instructions in this passage. For today, the Spirit is bringing another point to my attention. One which I do not believe we spend enough time looking at. In the middle of this teaching Paul tells us that in Christ women are not independent of men. And that men are not independent of women. Men and women fill different, but equally important, roles in the Body of Christ. All too many of the problems in our congregations result from us acting as if we are independent of each other. I had a lot of trouble composing that last sentence because I kept coming up with things that touched on issues addressed in other passages, most of which are somewhat controversial. I wanted to stick with the point I see here, that men are dependent on women and women are dependent on men. We need each other.
If we do not learn to delay gratification of our desires we will end up in poverty. If we spend our money on all of the luxuries we can afford, we will never accumulate much wealth.
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.
When the construction of the wall was complete, Nehemiah organized a celebration to dedicate the new wall. He asked all of the Levites who had resettled in Judah to come to Jerusalem for this celebration. All of the priests and Levites ritually purified themselves and then did the same for the people, the gates and the wall. Nehemiah organized the Levites into two choirs. The two choirs went in opposite directions along the top of the wall singing and praising God, with the people of Jerusalem following along. When the two groups met up again they went together to the Temple to offer sacrifices and worship God. On this day they set up a system to ensure that the needs of those who tended the Temple (priests, gatekeepers, choir directors, etc) were met without them having to leave their posts at the Temple to provide for themselves.
Nehemiah recounts how he had gone back to the court of King Artaxerxes for a period of time (as he had originally agreed to do when he gained permission to travel to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall) and then returned to Jerusalem. When he got back to Jerusalem he discovered that the priest who had been put in charge of the storerooms in the Temple had given the use of one of them to Tobiah (Tobiah was one of the leaders of the neighboring peoples who had worked against the rebuilding of the wall). He also discovered that the Levites tending the Temple had not been given the portions of food that were prescribed for them and had returned to working in the fields to support themselves rather than conducting worship services at the Temple. Nehemiah confronted the leaders about this. He called the Levites back to work as worship leaders in the Temple and appointed new supervisors of the Temple storerooms in order to ensure that the Levites received an honest distribution of supplies.
Upon his return to Jerusalem, Nehemiah discovered that some of the Jews were working on the Sabbath and more were bringing merchandise into Jerusalem to sell on the Sabbath. In addition, he discovered that Gentile merchants were bringing goods in to sell as well. He confronted the Jewish leaders about allowing the Sabbath to be desecrated in this manner. Then Nehemiah ordered that the gates of Jerusalem be shut at sundown the day before the Sabbath (the technical beginning of the Sabbath) and to remain shut until the Sabbath was over. The first week or two after he did this he found merchants camped outside the walls selling goods. However, he warned them that if they did this again he would have them arrested and they stopped doing so.
Finally, Nehemiah discovered that some of the Jews were not only marrying women from the surrounding peoples, but were not even teaching their children from these marriages to speak the language of Judah. He forced the people to swear that they would not allow their children to intermarry with pagans.
Tin work and tools at the Goschenhoppen Folk Festival
It is a shame that the first verse of chapter 11 was included in today’s passage rather than in yesterday’s, since it is the conclusion about the argument that Paul was making in that passage. In yesterday’s passage Paul said that he did not do just what was best for him, but he tried to do what was best for others so that many may be saved. The first verse of chapter 11 follows that by telling us that we should imitate Paul as he imitates Christ. He is telling us that we should imitate his practice of doing what is best for others in order to lead them to salvation.
Then Paul starts discussing a new topic. This passage is the origin of the tradition that gentlemen do not wear a hat indoors and the tradition that men take off their hats during the singing of the national anthem. Paul tells us that men should not wear anything on their head when they pray or prophesy. On the other hand, he says that women should have something on their heads when they pray or prophesy. This is a passage that the Church in the U.S. has pretty much completely abandoned, simply because they do not like what it says. Those groups that do continue to preach this generally encourage women to wear old fashioned head coverings (there are exceptions but they are almost a minority). There is nothing wrong with women wearing the old fashioned head coverings, but if the Christians who teach this were to emphasize that any type of head covering would do, we might see a resurgence of women’s head coverings of various sorts. I knew a young woman who followed the teaching of wearing a head covering, but I do not think many people realized it (even among others who followed the teaching) because she always wore some kind of pretty head covering that completed the rest of her outfit.
There is another important teaching in this passage that often gets overlooked because of the controversy over the teaching on head covering. That is that women are not independent of men. This sounds very sexist especially in the context of Paul teaching that women should wear a head covering of some kind when they pray or prophecy. Except he follows that up immediately by saying that men are not independent of women. I think this is the most important part of this passage. This teaching that men and women are interdependent. Women need men and men need women. This is not a teaching about marriage or sexuality, Paul covers those elsewhere. This is about human nature. In large part I believe that Paul teaches women to wear head coverings as a way for the Church to bring out this interdependence and make people aware of it.
Tin work and tools at the Goschenhoppen Folk Festival
The psalmist calls on God to fight his enemies for him. The psalmist claims that he did them no wrong. That when they fell on hard times he prayed and fasted for them. He mourned for their troubles as if they were his own family. This is a model for us, we, also, should pray and fast for those who suffer as if they were our own family, even if they consider themselves our enemies. The one thing that is often overlooked in the Bible’s calls for us to care for the needy is that it assumes that we will first care for our families. You should be suspicious of someone who claims to be working for the poor if members of their own family are in need when they have the means to help them.
The first proverb tells us that the pursuit of pleasure is the road to poverty and seeking after wine and luxury will leave us without the resources to enjoy either. The second proverb tells us that the wicked will be punished in the place of the godly. I am not quite sure what that means, but I think a story about my childhood might shed some light. I was a “good boy”, I usually did what I was supposed to and rarely got into trouble. I rarely did things to get into trouble for. I had a good friend who often got into trouble. He frequently challenged authority. He wasn’t a “bad boy”, but he was close. Most of the time when we were together, I kept him out of trouble because he understood that I had a better grasp of what the limits of what we could get away with were. But every now and then, I would come up with a bad idea and he would be the one who thought better. On those occasions that we followed my course of action when it was a bad idea and we got caught, he always got blamed. Because so often he did things that got him in trouble and I so rarely did (and almost never when not with him) those in authority assumed that the bad idea was his and I just went along. He never really minded though, because for every time I got him into trouble there were two or three where I kept him out of trouble. The point of this is that because I had a reputation as being a “good boy” and he had a reputation as being a “bad boy” he got the blame in my place. That seems to me to be the point of this second proverb.
