Friday, 13 November 2009
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A Lesson from the Old Testament: Be an Idiot
Joshua was an idiot. Joshua was also a warrior. Having been privileged to know some warriors from fairly close quarters, I can tell you he lead a pack of manly, macho, rough, belching, farting, pink-hating dudes. Some of them may have even had the refinement to be warrior poets, but I can assure you they didn't compose verse about daisies and moonglow. These were not the kinds of dudes to show up to a battle carrying ribbons and trumpets, of all ridiculous things, but that is exactly what Joshua took to the walls of Jericho. Trumpets! I have an idea what the manly, macho, belching, farting, pink hating dudes at Jericho said to them when they got there. (I have spent enough time around infantry types to know the exact verbage is not printable in polite company. Use your imagination or watch Jarhead if you can't fill in the blanks for yourself.) Joshua marched his army around the walls of that city for an entire week, with no evidence that they were doing anything other than making complete idiots of themselves. (And, honestly, a nation's image is more than just pride. A weak image builds the courage and determination of the enemy; we learned that lesson from Mogadishu. I imagine this crossed Joshua's mind a time or two.) Joshua did it anyway.
Gideon was an idiot, too. Gideon was told to go out and conquer an impossibly strong enemy with way too few men. God told him he had too many and had to eliminate the vast majority of his army before he could win. Made no sense. Gideon did it anyway. Then God told him he still had too many men. I have to think that at least once, this thought went through Gideon's mind: "Ok, not only are we going to be pulverized, but we're going to look like idiots while we do it." I'm pretty sure which of those was more terrifying to macho man, but he did it anyway.
Noah was the biggest idiot of all. Noah was told to build a boat on dry land in a place where it had never rained. Huge idiot! Major laughing stock of the entire neighborhood. And, here's the kicker: he continued doing this for years! Seriously, go check it out. I'll wait. (Genesis, chapters 6-9) The man was told by God one time to do something utterly ridiculous and he labored on that for, literally, lifetimes. I bet the wife stopped nagging him about it after, ya know, 60 years or so.
The thing is, how willing are you to jump out on a limb and be an idiot? God told you something and you won't do it or believe it because your friends and your family all tell you it's idiotic to hold onto that, pray for that, believe in that. Some of these people are even Christians who profess with their mouths that they believe God can do anything. And you are willing to be stopped by that. Would these people still be pounding nails with you building a boat in the desert 100 years from now? Would they go to war with you carrying a tambourine? No? Then they aren't the companions you need.
Is there some apology you need to make but you know that person is just going to heap ridicule or retribution on your head? Who cares? Do it anyway. Is there some huge mountain in your life that God has said he would move for you but you need to take a step out on faith that will make you seem like you've lost your marbles? So, what. Do it anyway.
Do it today.
Go be an idiot.
What step of faith do you need to make today, regardless of how it will make you look? What have you in the past not dared to do that you wish you had?
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- From: blonde_apocalypse@xanga
- Name: Barbara
- About Me: this box is too small
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Comments (10)
The funny thing is that God has not asked us to march around a wall, build a boat, or go into battle out-numbered and out-gunned.
He has, instead, asked us to give everything up for him-- making us "of all men, most pitiable" (as Paul stated it) if we are mistaken. I think the extent of "give everything up" is what makes this so poignant; everything is everything. So, as you said, we must go into the world and "be idiots"--- or at least... risk being an idiot if we are mistaken in our convictions.
Perhaps unwillingness to give everything (ways of life, standards of living, family, etc) up is an expression of doubt or fear of being found to be "idiots" eventually?
Steppng out on faith doesn't make one an idiot: it makes a person wise. See I Corinthians 1
Great advice! In fact, I think I just heard God telling me to kill my children .. Of course, everyone else will think I'm psycho, but evidently it's a good and noble thing to put blind faith in an invisible being! Heck, God even pulled this stunt with Abraham by telling him to kill Isaac, so I'd better listen to him like Abraham did! And any logical, sound opposition to my plan to kill my children must be wrongy-wrong-wrong!
Hmm, now which should I choose? Drowning my kids or shooting them?
(Seriously, though, this is the exact mindset that allows people to commit atrocious crimes in the name of God, because "god told them to" and they're psycho enough to believe it.)
This. Is. Disgusting.
@Venca@xanga - Just because you hear a voice does not mean it is God's voice. Could it not be a demonic voice masquerading as God? God's voice is already in the Bible so if you hear a voice that contracts the Bible, it is not God's voice. God is unchanging. For those who commit atrocities in the name of Jesus, I have to wonder how much time they spend knowing Him -- as in praying and Bible reading.
Regarding Abraham and the sacrifice of Isaac, God was testing Abraham to see if he loved his son more or God more. You also left out the point that God did not let Abraham sacrifice Isaac. God told Abraham to stop and provided another sacrifice, a ram, at the last minute. The almost-sacrifice of Isaac is a foreshadowing of God's sacrifice of His son, Jesus. However, in Jesus' case, God did not stop the sacrifice so the penalty for sin can be paid.
This is so good...and touches the heart of a man within me. I'm so encouraged to hear this from a woman! You have incredible wisdom...and I can imagine you love your husband well (not perfectly, but well).
God bless you!
@god_stories@xanga - I love my husband with everything I have. Thank you for this.
@hothombre@xanga - I know Abraham didn't kill Isaac.
But heck, how did ABRAHAM even know that God's voice was God himself instead of a so-called "demon"? There really isn't a sound method of "testing" God's voice. I mean, telling someone to kill their son doesn't seem god-like at all -- it sounds disgustingly cruel -- and yet God actually said that (according to the Bible). So you can't rely on the assumption that anything God truly says is nice and loving and merciful.
So how should anyone really know better? How can one person claim to have heard God's true voice and say that others have not?
@Venca@xanga - You have asked some very good questions and I will try to provide answers which are satisfactory.
How did Abraham know it was the voice of God when ordered to sacrifice Isaac?
Abraham is a man of great faith and was considered a friend of God (James 2:23), which means he is close and intimate with God. Abraham is used to listening to God; they even had conversations (Genesis 18:16-33). With all the faith that Abraham has, it is not blind faith. God has already done so much such as delivering Abraham from pharaoh, destroying Sodom and Gomorrah, providing for him when he settled in the barren lands (from separating with Lot), and most of all, giving him a son at his old age. Because of their relationship, it is clear Abraham knows God voice, even when He called for the sacrifice of Isaac.
Isn't God's command of sacrificing Isaac bad / evil?
In the Old Testament, God does some things which we do not completely understand such as ordering the eradication of certain tribes and the sacrifice of Isaac. As creator and totally in control, God has authority which we do not have. In the first example I pointed out, God was ordering judgment upon a group of people who displeases Him. They were morally debase and a hindrance to Israel. Sometimes God destroyed them Himself or ordered the Israelites to destroy them. However, it does not mean we have the same authority when wrong is done to us. According to Romans 12:19, it is God who will "avenge and repay." As an omniscient, omnipotent, perfect God, He also has the authority to take life -- since He has control over life and death. Abraham reasoned that since God made him a promise through Isaac, God could raise Isaac from the dead to fulfill His promise (Hebrews 11:17-19). The Old Testament is quite shocking compared to the New Testament, but we have to remember that God is unchanging. God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament. The Old Testament reveals God's character which is loving and slow to anger, but he is not quite like our grandfather or Santa Claus. He is also just. It reveals a bit about his judgment and is a foreshadow of what is to come at Jesus' second coming -- when ALL will be judged. This is why we need Jesus to be our savior; we need to be saved from God's judgment. If God chooses to take a life, He can do so because he is creator. If God chooses to destroy the soul (in hell), He can do so because he is creator.
Apparently, we are not Abraham and most likely do not have the kind of relationship with God that he has. So how do we know that a voice is from God?
As mentioned in the previous answer, although God is love and merciful (because His desire that none should perish but have eternal life through Jesus), He isn't always nice. As the Bible states, Jesus is the only way to salvation (John 14:6), which means all the other religions without Jesus does not lead to salvation and is not the truth (which is not very nice nor politically correct). Just because a voice is nice or not nice does not mean it is from God or not from God respectively. So how can we know? 1 John 4:1-6 is an excellent guide for discernment. First of all, test the voice / spirit by asking if it acknowledges Jesus was Lord (v.2). If it acknowledges Jesus as Lord, the spirit is from God. If it does not acknowledge Jesus as Lord, it is not from God and from Satan. Secondly, the voice / Spirit must conform to the Bible (v.5,6). There are two viewpoints, the world's and God's. To find out if a spirit is from God, one must first know His Word.
Therefore, I doubt that the parents who kill their children because a voice told them to do were following God's instruction. How well did they know God and know the Bible? However, Abraham definitely knows God on a personal level and the command to sacrifice Isaac was from God -- a test of Abraham's faith.