The Crimson Thread - May I Gently Suggest?

The story of David's victory over the giant Goliath is well known to every Sunday school student. What is not so widely known is that, in addition to his spiritual advantage, David also had the tactical advantage.

After the sin of the Golden Calf, God informed Moses that, for Israel's safety and survival, He would not accompany them to the Promised Land. Moses protested and the Mishkan was God's solution that He could both be with them and safely separated. In this we see the Father's desire to be with His family tempered by His sense of justice. As with raising human children, both love and justice are nec...

When Saul was sent by God to exterminate the Amalekites. While he defeated them in battle, he took their king as prisoner and the best of their livestock and goods as plunder. He further raised a monument to himself at Carmel. When confronted by Samuel, he deflected the blame to his troops. This disobedience and lack of character caused God to reject Saul as king and choose David as his replacemen...

For the past several weeks, we have been talking about God's provision for freeing Israel and eventually all of humanity. In this week's Torah portion we get are told how to manage our slaves. How does this square with God's emphasis on liberty? How does this match with the freedom we have in Christ?

This section begins with Jonathan destroying a Philistine garrison in the Saddle of Benjamin. That action caused the Philistines to send a large punitive expedition into central Israel. All Israel was clearly intimidated. In a second move Jonathan again destroyed a Philistine garrison which sowed confusion among the Philistines. Saul took advantage of that confusion to attack. In his zeal, he orde...

Laws, almost by definition, represent curbs on someone's freedom of action. Laws may be negative, "You shall not do this," or positive, "You shall do that.' Laws are also designed to bring about someone's vision of a better world. In that spirit, look at the laws given by God through Moses at Sinai. God only needed 613 laws, the majority of which are negative. It turns out that they are designed t...

Although neither God nor Samuel was pleased with Israel's request for a king, in choosing Saul God gave the project its best chance of success. Saul was from the buffer tribe of Benjamin; he was tall, handsome and brave; he was modest in that he didn't want the job.

After crossing the Red Sea, God took Israel deep into the wilderness. Taking them away from any outside source of sustenance gave Israel no choice but to depend on God for water, food and victory in battle. In this, He showed them in practical ways that He could be trusted. That establishment of trust was a part of their integration into the family of God as His firstborn.

When Samuel became old and it was obvious that his sons were not suitable to follow him, Israel asked that he get them a king so that they could be like all the other nations. God was displeased but told Samuel to do what they wanted. The system of judges, while subject to corruption just like every other human institution, structurally provided the greatest potential human liberty. A monarchy was...

At the exit from Egypt the Hebrews were slaves both physically and mentally. Removing them from Egypt solved the physical part, but was just the start of God's process of making them free people. Understanding that process provides important insights about what is happening in our society today.

The Ark of the Covenant is captured by the Philistines at the battle of Aphek and the priests Hophni and Phinehas are killed. The Ark proves to be quite capable of taking care of itself and the Philistines hasten to send it back to Israel.

In Exodus there is a perennial question of whether God violated Pharaoh's free will. This brings up the question of whether free will even exists. Secularists say 'no', Calvinists say 'somewhat' and everyone else says 'yes'. Part of the idea for this talk came from an article by Rabbi Sacks of the same title.

The birth of Samuel. Samuel's mother, Hannah, was barren and bitter about it. Her prayer and promise to God flows from that anguish of soul. After the birth of a son, she makes a song of praise. Mary's prayer, although shorter, is essentially the same. The background on the Priest Eli and his corrupt sons sets the scene for the entire book - the importance of fathers and the consequences of their...

At the beginning of Exodus, Moses has his first recorded encounter with God. The exchange revolves around two questions; 'Who am I?' and 'Who are You?" At this point in his life, Moses is 80 years old and has really never lived as a Hebrew and has had no direct experience with God. So a great deal of his reluctance to accept the task of freeing Israel revolves around the answers to these questions...

In Joseph's dealings with his family at the end of Genesis he weeps seven times. In spite of having all of the might of Egypt available to him, he is unable to use that power to resolve the conflicts with and within his family. In the Gospels, Y'shua also weeps for much the same reasons. Even having all of the power of the Holy Spirit He is unable to get Israel to accept Him or to spare Mary and M...

There's more to the story of David and Bathsheba than you were probably told in Sunday school. The lady was quite the power player in Biblical Israel.

The question often arises, "What parts of the Law are gentiles responsible for?" The question bespeaks an attitude that laws are somehow negative and to be avoided where possible. This misses the point of Torah, God's instructions for leading a successful life. The Torah was given as a blessing to the people God chose for His own.

Having dealt with the doctrinal errors that had been reported to him, Paul switches to reinforcing the basic principles of life in the Kingdom of God. These include authority and order within the family and the community as well as general principles of human relationships. The letter concludes with personal greetings.

Chanukah is the celebration of the rebellion against an oppressive government with the help of God. The story mirrors that of the Exodus and has echoes of the American Revolution. In all three stories the catylist is excessive taxation. In Exodus, God does the fighting, but in the other two God's presence is indicated by giving victory to overmatched rebel forces.

Paul warns the church not to be taken captive by vain philosophy and man made religion. He also says that because of Christ, the record of our offenses against God have been nailed to the cross. Many take that to mean that the Torah has been nailed to the cross and voided. This is not correct.

Humility is considered a mark of spiritual maturity. The US emphasis on self esteem has resulted in a society whose spiritual growth has been short circuited. We are seeing the fruits in things like the various pride movements which wash over us from month to month, each with its own flag and logo. We are seeing the fruits in the push to change one's gender - by violent surgery if necessary. Stupi...

Paul's letter appears to be a theological corrective for something going on within the church in Colossae. The exact nature of the problem is not made clear, but it has to do with the person of Christ and with competing philosophies. In this first chapter he makes it very clear who the Messiah is and what He has done and is doing.

In the spiritual realm, just like in the physical world, when something is set into motion it keeps going until it is stopped. In Jacob's life he set deceit into motion when he stole the blessing from Esau. We see that it is a major theme in his life. Laban deceives him about his bride. His sons deceive Shechem about Dinah, and his sons deceive him when the sell Joseph into slavery. The reason thi...

If one believes in God and Angels, he must also believe in demons, since all three are integral to the Bible's narrative. This is a discussion of what demons are, how they behave, how to recognize their influence and how to defend against them.

The Bible has a number of stories about servants left to manage the estate while the master is away. In order to manage the estate, the steward must be entrusted with access to the master's goods. Sometimes the absence is short sometimes extensive, but the master always expects an accounting of the servant's stewardship. So too with our Master who has been away for some 2000 years so far. He has l...