Foolishness – Page 3

Digging in Deeper: 1 Samuel 14:24

September 12, 2018September 12, 2018Leave a comment

“And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food.” (ESV – Read the chapter)‬‬

This whole episode is just bizarre. Saul makes this tremendously egotistical and foolish oath and everything fairly well falls apart. This is another one of those stories that leaves you wondering why it got included in the Scriptures in the first place. A more contextually important question is this: How did Saul get made king in the first place? Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Joshua 9:14-15

July 18, 2018July 18, 2018Leave a comment

“So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the Lord. And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

There are three things worth noting in this story. First, the Gibeonites were both smart and wise, if dishonest. They saw the writing on the wall and decided that living as servants was better than being totally destroyed. If they could trick the Israelites into thinking they were not locals slated for destruction, but rather foreigners who came to serve because of how great Israel’s God was, perhaps they would be allowed to live, rather than being wiped off the face of the earth as had happened to Jericho and Ai. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Judges 17:13

July 6, 2018July 5, 2018Leave a comment

“Then Micah said, ‘Now I know that the Lord will prosper me, because I have a Levite as priest.” (ESV – Read the chapter)

Consider the insanity of this for a minute. This man has set up his own household god, hired a passing Levite as his personal priest of his personal religion, and now boasts confidently of the blessing of the Lord because of it. Read the rest…

Morning Musings: Proverbs 26:4-5

January 8, 2018January 8, 2018Leave a comment

“Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.” (ESV)

One of the most common criticisms of the Bible (usually made by people who have either not read it at all or else not read it closely) is that it is full of contradictions. Places like this give these folks a great deal of ammunition. At first read and even second and third, this is obviously a contradiction. As one commentator noted, if these verses were located in different parts of the Bible it would seem the contradictory nature was exceedingly obvious. Read the rest…

Digging in Deeper: Jeremiah 43:2

January 5, 2018January 2, 20189 Comments

“Azariah the son of Hoshaiah and Johanan the son of Kareah and all the insolent men said to Jeremiah, ‘You are telling a lie. The Lord our God did not send you to say, “Do not go to Egypt to live there…”‘” (ESV – Read the chapter)

The people of Israel who hadn’t been taken off to Babylon as captives or killed in the process were scared. The options before them didn’t seem good at all. Some of their leaders had murdered the governor the Babylonians had put in place to rule over them. They feared retribution was coming and would be painful when it arrived. The various nations around them not only didn’t want to help, but were actively antagonistic toward them. The only option that seemed to make sense was to head to Egypt in hopes that by coming as refugees from their mutual enemies in Babylon, they would be received graciously and not as a hostile force. Read the rest…