Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 29:32-34

32 And Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram, and the bread that is in the basket, by the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.

33 And they shall eat those things wherewith the atonement was made, to consecrate and to sanctify them: but a stranger shall not eat thereof, because they are holy.

34 And if ought of the flesh of the consecrations, or of the bread, remain unto the morning, then thou shalt burn the remainder with fire: it shall not be eaten, because it is holy.

“If any portion remains” suggests that the Lord would provide for the priests even to the point of overflowing. Those that dedicate their lives to the Lord will receive as much blessing as they can receive, and the rest will have to be let go simply because there is no more room for it. Excess blessing was not to go to another unsanctified, though, but returned back to the Lord by the fire. This seems to suggest that God has blessings enough for everyone, without having to balance the load lest He run out.

Thus, in this offering ritual we see that the life of the disciple is defined on the one hand by sacrifice and surrender to the Lord, and blessing and providence on the other. One would think that sacrifice would cause want, but thanks to divine intervention, it would actually yield surplus.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Is the Old Testament God Evil? – Response to Common Defenses #3

I have been examining God’s command to slay the entire population of a nation, and in my last post I responded to the defenses that suggested such an action was justified, and that God has the moral right to do such a thing. I concluded that such an argument makes sense to me when viewing the destruction of a wicked nation as a whole, but when zooming in to the level of individual children being destroyed, it is still uncomfortable.

Today we will look at another category of defense for these verses, which argues that the destruction of these innocents may actually have been an act of mercy. Here are two examples of that line of reasoning.

  1. From the eternal perspective, death is simply an awakening from a painful dream into glory.
  2. When a nation becomes truly depraved, their own children suffer most. Some of these children were already being killed in pagan sacrifices, and those that lived were fixed on a path of corruption. Cutting this misery short was an act of mercy.

This line of argument is taking a common principle of life and extending it to the extreme. We all know that there are things that are unpleasant, that no one wants to go through, and which under normal circumstances would be wrong to subject another person to; yet we also know that there are exceptions to this principle when it prevents the person from experiencing greater harm, or when it is a step towards greater joy.

For example, under normal circumstances it is wrong to shove another person, and wrong to advise a person to cause themselves pain. But what if you are shoving the person out of the way of a charging horse? Or what if you are encouraging someone to go through painful physical therapy so that they can walk again. Because your underlying intention is good, and because the intended outcome is good, it actually becomes an act of kindness and love to shove and to encourage painful exercise.

An important realization here is that at first thought we might think it is fundamentally wrong to cause someone pain, but clearly that isn’t the case. If all I hear is that someone caused another to feel pain, I still don’t actually know whether that person did something good or bad. Causing pain is not objectively wrong. The intent to harm is.

But does this reasoning extend all the way to death? It is more challenging for us to see the ultimately good consequence that might follow death, because for us death is the end. We do not see anyone receive any positive consequence that comes after having passed through it. Of course, we’ve all been told that there is the potential for experiencing a terrific good after death, but that is something we can only imagine for now. The degree to which death disquiets us is a metric for just how real heaven is in our minds.

Summary)

If these things are true, then it is understandable why from God’s perspective His consignment to death might be an act of great mercy, but why it seems cruel from ours. Our view of the exchange is being halted in the middle, just long enough to see the hard part of the bargain, and none of the good return.

A stronger testimony of the afterlife might improve my outlook on these passages, but I still have a lingering concern. Even if God has great enough rewards to make up for any type of death, why not subject the innocent to the most peaceful demise imaginable? Why not make all the infants die peacefully in their sleep, as opposed to by the sword? I’ll keep these questions in mind as I continue with this analysis.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Narrowing of Privilege- Part Two

A Word Maligned)

With my last post I began my exploration of “privilege,” a word that has come to have a particularly negative connotation in recent years. I gave three definitions and uses of the word that defy that narrow connotation, though, showing three positive aspects of privilege. In short, those conceptions of privilege were:

  1. A joyful obligation
  2. The reward for hard labor
  3. A gift handed down by the honest labor of one’s forebearers

Today we will look at two more definitions of privilege, then finally conclude our analysis of the word.

Two More Forms of Privilege)

Fourth, each of us are born with certain advantages built into us, certain talents and proclivities that are innate within us, things that neither we nor our ancestors made happen for us, but which give us an advantage in life. It might be a girl born with a beautiful face, or a boy born with a sharply analytical mind. It might be a rich child with an unusually charitable disposition, or a poor child born with uncharacteristic determination. These are gifts that bestow opportunities beyond one’s first demographic.

Note that this still isn’t the sort of definition that is more and more commonly used as a pejorative in our society. For these are not systemic, socially-constructed advantages, but virtues given by God. They are gifts that we do not control the placement of, and which are sprinkled across all demographics and all walks of life.

Finally, with our fifth definition, we do come to the meaning of the word “privilege” that is intended to humble the proud. Some people have a privilege that is based upon no virtue, no effort, no obligation, and no gift from their forebearers. In every land and in every time, certain people have been exalted above others, giving them advantages for no other reason than their identification with a favored group. No population has been innocent of this sort of preferential treatment, and through the push and pull of society, the pendulum has swung to favor each side in turn. Though all may get their time in the light at one point or another, it isn’t fair that it is isolated to one type of people at a time.

Conclusion)

The main point that I wanted to call attention to is how “privilege” is a complex word, that is actively being pared down to only a fraction of its original meaning. It is becoming nothing more than an epithet, which makes us all dumber by removing our ability to have alternative and nuanced meanings.

Beware the trends that seek to flatten, twist, or erase words. The maligning of a language might seem an inconsequential thing, but our minds are in large part made up of the language we speak, and so it is our own selves who end up being flattened and twisted and erased.

As it stands, I’m grateful and proud for the vast majority of the privileges that I enjoy. I’m proud of the happy obligations I take on to provide for my family, and proud of the rewards I receive for my hard labor. I’m grateful for the gifts given to me by the sacrifices of my forebears, and grateful for the gifts God has seen fit to bestow upon me. The only privilege I feel askance towards is anytime I benefit absent any of the channels mentioned above, when I receive something just because I belong to some group identity.

I thank God that I at least have enough nuance left in me to tell the difference.

Posted on by Abe Austin

The Narrowing of Privilege- Part One

A Troubling Narrowness)

I was recently in a Sunday School class where the teacher asked for a definition of privilege. It was a surprising request, given that our Sunday School classes usually steer clear of social commentary. In any case, the definition that was ultimately given to us was that privilege means to have an unearned advantage.

This was a single passing moment, and I didn’t think too much about it at the time. In hindsight, though, I’ve realized that I don’t hold with that definition at all, and I believe it represents a troubling narrowing of the definitions we have for words. I call it a narrowing because the word “privilege” means several different things, and not all of them match the strictly negative connotation that modern society tries to limit it to. Today we will go through three valid applications of the word “privilege,” tomorrow we will cover two more, and then make our final analysis.

Three Forms of Privilege)

For example, as a husband and a father, I make great effort to provide and protect for my family. It is the primary function of my life to consecrate my time, effort, and resources to keeping those that I am responsible for fed, clothed, sheltered, enriched, and protected. If any of those under my care express gratitude for my sacrifice I have but one response: “it is my privilege.”

This is a common sentiment among fathers, and one that doesn’t line up at all with the idea of unearned advantage. Yes, I consider it a gift and a blessing that I get to provide for those that I love, but it isn’t like I am receiving this “privilege” at no cost to myself. From this definition, the word privilege means something along the lines of “a joyful obligation.”

A second definition of the word comes to mind when I think of my father-in-law, who built a successful company from scratch. I have heard stories of the many years and long nights spent getting a foothold in the industry, slowly but surely building a solid foundation that only yielded fruit far, far down the road. Now, decades later, my father-in-law is finally ready to retire, and selling his company has meant being wined and dined by prospective buyers who are eager to receive the keys to his little kingdom.

Does that wining and dining constitute a privilege? Absolutely. But is it a privilege that was unearned? Absolutely not. Yes, it is a reward that most people won’t attain in life, but it’s one he did the work to receive. What the word privilege means in this context is: the reward for labor.

A third definition of privilege takes place downstream of the “joyful obligation” and the “reward for labors” mentioned already. Many of us enjoy gifts and opportunities that we personally did nothing to earn, but which our forefathers sacrificed greatly for. My ancestors fought to make my country a free nation. They left their homes and crossed the plains to obtain religious freedom. They fought a war to bring liberty to all the people of this nation. They toiled before the sun and the furnace to grow crops and build infrastructure. They innovated and invented to create convenience and security. Did I earn all the benefits I now enjoy because of their labors? Absolutely not. But that doesn’t mean that they weren’t unearned!

A Complex Picture)

Here we have seen three definitions of privilege that have nothing to do with the more negative uses of the word. These definitions describe people who are dutiful, hard-working, and with a noble heritage. Tomorrow we will look at two more definitions, the last of which will acknowledge the more negative aspect of the word. It should already be clear that this word is much more nuanced and deep than modern rhetoric would have us believe.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Worthy Vessels- 2 Kings 4:2-7

And Elisha said unto her, What shall I do for thee? tell me, what hast thou in the house? And she said, Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil.
Then he said, Go, borrow thee vessels abroad of all thy neighbours, even empty vessels; borrow not a few.
And when thou art come in, thou shalt shut the door upon thee and upon thy sons, and shalt pour out into all those vessels, and thou shalt set aside that which is full.
So she went from him, and shut the door upon her and upon her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out.
And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed.
Then she came and told the man of God. And he said, Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live thou and thy children of the rest.

COMMENTARY

Thine handmaid hath not any thing in the house, save a pot of oil
She shut the door upon her and her sons, who brought the vessels to her; and she poured out
The handmaid had nothing but a single pot of oil in her house. It was all that she gave God to work with, but it was more than enough. For it wasn’t the pot that mattered, just so long as it was a container from which blessings could flow. Once blessed by the hand of God that pot was able to not only fill itself, but also every other vessel it came in contact with.
When God asks to work through us we might feel that we are little more than a simple pot as well. It is easy for us to say that we don’t contain enough goodness or capability to fill the soul of another, but frankly we don’t have to. In and of itself, the pot didn’t have enough either, but somehow it found its extra oil in the giving of what it had. So long as another vessel was present and the oil pot tried to share with it, God made up the difference.

Go, sell the oil, and pay thy debt, and live
The oil pays our debts and lets us live. The grace of God that flows through us and into others also purifies our own hearts and absolves us of our sins. It is an astounding charity of God, for He performs the miracle, but then rewards us as if it had been our own merit.
We do not have to create the oil, we just have to be willing to pour.