Category: Digging in Deeper

Digging in Deeper: Ecclesiastes 1:9

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“What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done; there is nothing new under the sun.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

I remember when the modern superhero movie genre first exploded into existence. Superhero movies had been around for a long time, of course. Most of them weren’t any good. The original set of Superman movies were okay, and Christopher Reeves was certainly iconic in the role, but to go back and watch them now, they were campy and had horrible special effects. Technology has improved since then and the writing mostly has too. The first Spider-Man movie with Tobey Maguire, though, was the start of the modern age of superhero films. I was a freshman in college, a first-rate nerd, absolutely loved it, and haven’t looked back. There may be a handful I haven’t seen since then, but not more than that. Still, it has been hard to keep up of late because there have been just so many. But as the total has continued to rise, the quality has tended to decline. As much as I hate to say it, one of the most recent superhero movies to release – and an MCU film no less – is a great example. I finally got to watch the Captain Marvel series, The Marvels, the other day. Let’s talk for a few minutes about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 21:28-32, 35-36

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“When an ox gores a man or a woman to death, the ox must be stoned, and its meat may not be eaten, but the ox’s owner is innocent. However, if the ox was in the habit of goring, and its owner has been warned yet does not restrain it, and it kills a man or a woman, the ox must be stoned, and its owner must also be put to death. If instead a ransom is demanded of him, he can pay a redemption price for his life in the full amount demanded from him. If it gores a son or a daughter, he is to be dealt with according to this same law. If the ox gores a male or female slaves, he must give thirty shekels of silver to the slave’s master, and the ox must be stoned. . .When a man’s ox injures his neighbor’s ox and it dies, they just sell the live ox and divide its proceeds; they must also divide the dead animal. If, however, it is known that the ox was in the habit of goring, yet its owner has not restrained it, he must compensate fully, ox for ox; the dead animal will become his.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

When I lived in Denver several years ago, the city experienced a wave of high profile dog biting incidents. They were high profile not because of the identity of the victims, but because of the viciousness of the attacks. And in each instance, a pit bull was the guilty breed. Now, some of the sweetest dogs I’ve ever met were pit bulls. But as a breed, they can be very aggressive if not raised properly. The city responded then by banning the breed entirely from being owned as pets within city limits. I thought the move was rather a bit of an overreaction myself, but the city leaders understood they had to be seen as doing something to maintain its generally very dog-friendly image. The driving idea was that animal owners are responsible for the behavior of their beasts. This is not a new idea. The next couple of passages, and the last we’ll look at in Exodus 21, deal with something similar. Let’s talk about goring oxen and unexpected barbecues.

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Digging in Deeper: 1 Corinthians 1:18

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“For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Today’s post will represent something of an update of a continuing conversation I’ve been having via the comments section of several different posts now with a skeptical friend. Most of it you can find here and here. It has been a learning experience for sure. It has also been a reminder of several different things including the importance of clarity and kindness in our interactions as followers of Jesus with the unbelieving world around us. Perhaps more than anything else, though, it has served as a demonstration of just how true what the apostle Paul wrote here toward the beginning of his first letter to the Corinthian church really is. Let’s talk about why.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 21:22-25

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“When men get in a fight and hit a pregnant woman so that her children are born prematurely but there is no injury, the one who hit her must be fined as the woman’s husband demands from him, and he must pay according to judicial assessment. If there is an injury, then you must give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, bruise for bruise, wound for wound.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There are not many topics hotter in our culture right now than abortion. It was burning pretty hot before the Dobbs Supreme Court decision last year overturning the infamous Roe v Wade decision. In the wild, wild west world created in the aftermath of Dobbs, things have gotten even more intense. As followers of Jesus, our thinking on this matter must be informed by the Scriptures. In that effort, this passage matters a great deal. Let’s talk about what we see here, what it means, and why it matters.

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Digging in Deeper: Exodus 21:7-11

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“When a man sells his daughter as a concubine, she is not to leave as the male slaves do. If she is displeasing to her master, who chose her for himself, then he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners because he has acted treacherously toward her. Or if he chooses her for his son, he must deal with her according to the customary treatment of daughters. If he takes an additional wife, he must not reduce the food, clothing, or marital rights of the first wife. And if he does not do these three things for her, she may leave free of charge, without any payment.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

There’s a memorable scene from the series, West Wing, when President Bartlett publicly embarrassed one of his critics. Bartlett is a Democrat (being the protagonist of a show developed by Aaron Sorkin, of course he is). The critic is a religious conservative who has a popular call in radio show where she has been critical of the President and his policies and has taken a conservative stance on a handful of social issues including homosexuality. In front of a roomful of reporters and supporters, Bartlett asks the critic what kind of price his daughter would fetch if he sold her into slavery. This is followed by a series of other questions whose purpose is to show that this critic’s traditional understanding of the Old Testament is silly, and thus so are conservatives. Well, this next law starts with the verse Bartlett cities about selling a daughter into slavery. Let’s talk about what this means, what it doesn’t, and why this doesn’t take away from our image of God’s character in the Old Testament.

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