Reason number 1; It is 2021 and time to update the Old Testament. Stories in the Old Testament do not hold up to scrutiny by rational minds, science or political evolution. Biblical archaeology finds no evidence for an actual Exodus event. The Exodus story is pivotal to the Israelite identity story, but there would be some earth evidence if 600,000 men on foot, besides women and children, (Exodus 12:37) set out from Egypt and wandered in the Sinai desert for 40 years. An abundance of archaeological searches have rendered no substantiation of this rather tall tale. Many other stories have come under scrutiny and were likely written much later from embellished tales handed down from inhabitants of Canaan and Israelite/Jewish ancestors and from the perspective of the surviving Kingdom of Judah in the seventh century BCE. The misery inflicted on the vast numbers of humans and our planet due to religious oppression needs to come to an end.
Perhaps from the viewpoint of our universal struggle to find individual meaning, community connection and independence, myth has it’s own truth. Regarding the Exodus story, there is some evidence that Canaanites would migrate into the delta area of Egypt during times of famine. It was not unusual for them to gain status and power within the Egyptian government. Their eventual enslavement and their longing for independence is our personal and human story. Maybe that is why the stories within the Old Testament survive.
“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind,” Albert Einstein
Reason number 2; Religious war and religious influence plague us. We still have not evolved to understand and respect diverse human consciousness and experience. We think we have the right to insist, sometimes violently, that other people share the same reality we have made up. Religious zealots pop up to cause misery even in secular nations. Updating a text that guides the religious practices of three major religions. Judaism, Islam and Christianity are Abrahamic religions, so the old Testament is key to edit in our best interest for human survival.
There is nothing to replace the inspiration found in the magnificent space of a cathedral, a church, a synagogue, a mosque or Buddhist center. This rewrite is not a repudiation of our search for meaning and answers put forth by religion or spiritual practices. I can’t influence dogma, it is here to stay, but we can set it aside and look at it from a distance. Dogma arises from politics. Politics is unavoidable for group dynamics, but perhaps if we better sort truth from misinformation, we can return to universal truths that could unite us.
“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of art and science” Albert Einstein
My father, a Methodist minister gave me advice I am certain he regretted. “You must sort the seed from the chaff”. Critical thinking is worth it. Critical thinking requires asking questions. It is dangerous in times of economic and political compression. Sometimes the individual must succumb to group think or be weeded out.
“You are not who you think you are” American Buddhist nun Pema Chödrön
“The World we have created is a process of our thinking, it can not be changed without changing our thinking” Albert Einstein
As humankind has progressed with an improved standard of living for a portion of the world’s population, we continue to face our nemesis, our aggressions, our lack of tolerance for our differences. If only our creator had created one gender, one race, one religious system, but our creator is creative. If we had collectively evolved at the same rate to self reflect and live by higher truths, perhaps we could avoid war and lend our energy toward stewardship of our planet, equality and universal justice, but we have shown ourselves to be bad monkeys, forever repeating human mistakes of the past.
Just like we strive to find meaning in our lives today, early Levant tribes passed down traditions from even earlier religious practices morphing them to suit their circumstances. Kings of both the upper kingdom of Israel and the lower Kingdom of Judah, used religious practices to unify and hold political power over the region. Monotheism in particular became a tool for control under King Josiah in Judah, the surviving regional nation, after the fall of the northern Kingdom of Israel. King Josiah had aspirations of building back territorial lands, and consequently needed a methodology to unite and inspire and validate his ambitious desires.
Religion can be a tool for authoritarian politics. Monotheism requires all members of a tribe or region to think the same – obedience and adherence to strict protocols were required to demonstrate belonging to the tribe during early times. In King Josiah’s time, there was only one place of worship – the temple of Jerusalem, and only a priest could intercept between an individual and Yahweh. King Josiah “discovered” Deuteronomy and the strict rules and protocols in that text gave him authoritative control of his kingdom.
Reason number 3: The Old Testament is this story of Yahweh (YHEH) written by mankind. Yahweh is a jealous and punishing male God. When the word, God, is used in the summary of each book, it refers to Yahweh. Yahweh has no place for the feminine, putting us out of balance. Yahweh is the ancient God of Judaism, Islam and Christianity. As long as these three powerful religions enforce the concepts of the Old Testament, long outdated and used for political oppression, we will fall prey to authoritarian menace. Maybe God is Lutheran, maybe she is everything right down to bacteria and ideas, maybe God is just time limited by our imagination, and after we are gone as a species, God in fact disappears.
When God is used in the rewrite, it is my personal and ever evolving God concept just like Yahweh was personal and evolving to the first authors of the Old Testament. Just like the confederate flag must be folded and put away, the jealous, punishing Yahweh must be put aside. What qualifies me to rewrite the Old Testament? So far, its a free country, so while I can write, I will. I am the feminine, the moderating influence to patriarchy, live in a desert like Israel and can use spell check as needed.
Our Earth Holds Our History
Archaeology’s findings in Palestine, Canaan and the old territories of Israel and Judah offer alternative timelines to Bible stories. A broader understanding ancient history emerges, one that the Kingdom of Judah does play a role, but a minor one. This minor role however, began to dominate the prevailing religious beliefs of today, and it is in our best interests to discover why.
In the late 19th century we were able to decode cuneiform tablets. This would transform our understanding of ancient Middle East history. Understanding the political environment and powers of Assyria, Egypt, the Amorites, Babylon and the Persian empire allow us to understand Israel from a larger lens. The influences and control these empires had on the area are captured in their records.
The Bible Unearthed by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman is used as my primary reference. Most archaeologists agree much of the Old Testament appears to be based on legends and myths written and re-written after the Persian release of Israelites back to Jerusalem following their capture and exile by the Babylonians. (Persian empire is dated 538-333 BCE). So you see, rewriting the Old Testament as well as the New Testament is a tradition.
How lucky we are to have great libraries and museums. YouTube has a rich source of ancient history once you start asking questions. Today, instead of using the blood of a lamb over my front door, I can get vaccinated during a plague.
Judaism, Islam and Christianity depend on the history told through Abraham’s family and the Old Testament. This has been influential up through modern time to consolidate power, sometimes inspiring wars, sometimes establishing social order and forever morphing into new tribes and kingdoms. A lot has changed in 3000 years and much remains the same. Most of my Bible book reviews came from the Bible Project, a series of YouTube videos that help me remember Bible stories and inspired me to look beyond the Kingdom of Israel for other civilizations, and ancient history.
Genesis
Genesis is more than a creation story. It profiles how Adam and Eve are created in God’s image, humanity (Adam) and life (Eve). It is an example of how our Gods are formed in our image. Although God plants the tree of knowledge in plain sight with delish forbidden apples, Adam and Eve are told explicitly not to eat this specific fruit. The tree contained verboten God knowledge. Once humans partake in this knowledge they tend to be more self serving. When leaving God to manage things, all goes well, and human action is compassionate, creative and non violent. (It is paradoxical that before Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they did not act with the wisdom of God and easily pass on the tempting apple.)
Genesis contains the fallout of this disobedience. It includes the tragic story of how jealousy fueled a murder between brothers. It includes a story of a lesser known character, Lamech, (perhaps an early forefather of Donald Trump), just bad to the bone. Don’t be like Lamech. Finally in grief and mourning God wipes out this initial human experiment and gives us the Ark story and the complicated character of Noah. We also get the Tower of Babel story and how humans while celebrating the invention of the brick start to build an inclusionary tower. But, God intervenes and scatters the people in order to prevent the fiasco of unity. Why? Eventually God settles on one head of family to represent his divine will, Abraham. Start simple right?
The rewrite;
In the beginning there was a void. No Gods, no light, no dark, no up, no down or sideways. Nothing. Zilch. As we all know Mother Nature abhors a vacuum, (a void). You might ask yourself what Mother Nature is doing in a void. At this point I need to explain that the existence of Mother Nature in a void will depend on a Biblical tradition of attempting to explain a mystery with another. A mystery does not explain another mystery, but that’s the way we are going to play it. Even today with quantum mechanics the inexplicable can be spooky. Mother Nature then made a soup of stars, tamed their fire and molded the goo into balls to hurl around in a space time continuum, whatever that is.
My rewrite god is like a tree. Trees have a quiet intelligence and strong interdependence. The roots interface with mycelium, reaching and exploring underground, communicating with and nurturing other nearby trees. They exist below and above ground level, like our internal consciousness and our outward above ground actions. Above ground they soak up abundant sunlight and transform carbon into the air we breathe. A tree exists in a competitive harmony with the elements and organisms around it. A tree nourishes it own offspring, a symbol of regeneration, and represents an adaptive pattern of life transcendence. Grasses, trees and plants preceded humans on land. Trees rule.
Finally, Mother Nature created Alan Turing who created Bill Gates who created the internet, which created Twitter which created Donald Trump who created chaos. Mother Nature abhors a vacuum, but she loves patterns. This is why history repeats itself.
Patterns
Exodus
Exodus takes us up through the story of Abraham and his grandson, Jacob. Jacob’s son Joseph was sold into slavery by his jealous brothers, but works his way up to land a good position with the Pharaoh of Egypt. There followed some bad times for Abraham’s family in Israel, and luckily through Joseph, the Pharaoh of Egypt welcomes Abraham’s family into Egypt. Once in Egypt, the descendants of Abraham prosper for some 400 years, until eventually, they over prosper and become a threat to the kingdom of Egypt. The Pharaoh addresses this threat by enslaving the Israelites and commanding their sons be drowned in the river Nile. Baby Moses is placed in a floating basket to prevent him from drowning. Moses floats downstream and is rescued by a member of the royal Egyptian family. Once Moses is grown, he is the instrument that Yahweh uses to free Israelites from bondage. God pressures the pharaoh to follow Moses’s requests to set the Israelis free by punishing the Pharaoh with plagues and misery, but the pharaoh is a true despot. Only when his own bad judgement results in the death of the sons of Egypt instead of the Israelites does he relent. This event is called Passover, because the plague passes over those homes painted with the blood of the lamb. First the pharaoh agrees to free the slaves but then regrets his decision and as the Israelites are crossing the Red Sea, he chases them to recapture. This effort fails due to strange timing in the parting and closing of the sea.
Once the Israelites have safely reached Mt. Sinai, Moses climbs a mountain to communicate with God. God gives Moses the terms of his blessing on the mountaintop while the people wait below. Unfortunately while Moses is on the mountain, the people below grow rebellious and ask Aaron, Moses’s brother to build an idol to worship, a golden cow. In disgust, God is set to destroy the people but Moses basically talks him down. Once God returns to a state of merciful forgiveness, he renews the covenant.
This fulfils a promise in Genesis that the family of Abraham would experience the blessing of God and become the kingdom of priests, God’s chosen representatives. The covenant includes the Ten Commandments as well as a few more rules (52) in exchange for God’s blessing. In exchange for their obedience, God’s blessing is the return of his direct presence. As you remember, that tangible presence was lost in the Garden of Eden once Adam and Eve discovered they were naked.
Exodus describes the blueprint for the Tabernacle. An outer wall protects an inner temple and this temple protects the sacred room that houses the Ark of the Covenant (God’s presence). The book of Exodus ends with the building of the Tabernacle, however Moses is denied entrance to the innermost door of the Tabernacle where the Ark of the Covenant is kept.
Exodus Rewrite
Exodus is our history of constant human migration, and how we assimilate and segregate over time. Our population growth may force expansion of land and territory from time to time, but livable land is limited. We tell ourselves a story of discovery of open available land, however most of the time our exciting new discovered land is occupied, just like Canaan was occupied. Native Americans had long inhabited America when we came along.
The promised land was already occupied when the Israelites were promised their gift from God. It is a mystery why Yahweh did not make this prior condition of the promised land clear when he set the Israelites on their 40 year journey wandering around looking for the promised land.
The Covenant: When God dictated the terms of the covenant, the Ten Commandments to Moses, one has to wonder what written language was used to document the terms? What we do know is that written language gives us some context to understand the blending of cultures during this time.
Egyptian hieroglyphics would suggest the influence of the lower regions of the Levant. Modern day Palestine and Israel have long been dominated by fluctuating regional powers. Ancient northern powers of the Sumerians and Akkadians (cuneiform written forms) once dominated the region. The area has long been the contested prize among early powers, and it continues to this day. Eventually written language morphed into an ancient Paleo-Hebrew/Phoenician.
If the Israelite tribe arrived in the promised land as slaves from Egypt they likely would have had a different language than that of the Canaanites, but you can see today the similarities. Populations in the Eastern Levant areas had waves of settlement and the origin of these migrations are determined to be from neighboring regions, originally more from the Northeast. We have examples of the early Phoenician Canaanite alphabet thanks to Samaritans. Unfortunately the early Canaanite people wrote on papyrus which has decayed with time.
Paleo Hebrew:
Phoenician
The above is from a posting: https://www.quora.com/profile/Juanjo-Gabi%C3%B1a
The Canaanites were essentially the early settlements along the coast of the Levant. They were a loose collection of ethnic groups. One of the ethnic groups, Phoenicians are credited with the invention of written languages. They were seafaring merchants. They were known for their trade in purple garments. Still today, purple is symbolic for royalty. “Phenicia” is a Greek word for purple. Lebanese are modern day descendants of the Phoenicians. Clearly Paleo Hebrew and Phoenician written language is similar.
Aramaic influences with biblical texts appear later, influenced by the Persian Empire and the Babylonia exile. Ezra and Nehemiah wrote in Aramaic. Interestingly, Canaanites although polytheistic, also worshiped Yahweh, so the cultures blended, despite the attempts to segregate.
Leviticus
The Tabernacle as you recall has denied Moses entry into the inner most chamber of the Tabernacle where God dwells. In this book God is laying down conditions for sinful, corrupt people to live in God’s presence. Because God is holy, people must be made whole to enter the presence of God. To be made whole, rituals and priestly guidance or intervention is required. Rituals were performed, like offerings; grain from a harvest saying “thank you”, or blood animal sacrifices that might express a regret and a request for forgiveness. Group rituals or ceremonies were required to honor history, including Israeli deliverance from slavery, Passover.
The priestly intercept was necessary, sort of like masks today, as sin was sort of airborne and the inner holy presence of God was kept pristine. Priests interact with individuals and then in a separate space communicate this interaction or confession to God Himself. The line of priests would descend from Aaron, whom Moses ordained. Remember, Aaron built the golden cow and now he is entrusted to be a priest? The sinful state of individuals is considered temporary with the atonement rituals and priestly intercept. Additionally, the entire tribe would be cleansed by an annual ceremony whereby the sins of all of the people were cast onto a goat who is cast off into the wilderness, as a scapegoat.
Leviticus Rewrite
The architectural design of the Tabernacle could also be symbolic of meditation practice. It includes an outer wall, an inner tent and within that tent an inner sanctum, a holy place. To grow quiet and build a wall is to filter to our mind’s incessant conversation, the first task of meditation. This quieter inner space provides liberation from the dictates of our mind. Not that our mind is sinful, but it does contain a lot of questionable assumptions about ourselves and those around us. Meditation is a ritual that allows us to sit by the side of our thoughts and observe them, forgive them, and move on from them. It also frees us up from unnecessary negative emotional states. We can let go of grievances that invade our thoughts and build walls that protect us from destructive words and emotions of others. I feel bad for the goat made to carry all of the negative energy from all humans. Maybe it provided some relief for the adults during this time, but I bet the children were disturbed by this ritual.
Numbers
In Hebrew this book title means “In the Wilderness”. It is the story of the meandering migration from the Mount Sinai to the promised land. Although you can walk the distance in two weeks, without Google maps it took the Israelis forty years. Numbers describes the strict organization of encampments and procedures to follow when moving across the desert lands. The cloud emanating from the tent of the Tabernacle communicated the timing and the path of the migration. This sort of smoke signaling from God determined their migration decisions. There are multiple revolts of the people during the forty year trek across desert land. Cranky people. Sometimes the spies sent to explore surrounding lands return with conflicting reports, and people after a while grew suspicious of the whole idea. They mistrust Moses and God. They make some bad choices. God honors choice for the negative lot who wish to return to slavery in Egypt, and this explains the curse of wandering around for 40 years. Rebellions continue throughout the forty years, followed by punishments. One punishment describes a a horrid snake attack. However, despite the doubtful behavior, the people are always provided food and water.
Eventually they arrive in Moab. The king of Moab is not that happy with the horde of immigrants. He orders a pox upon them via the evil sorcerer, Balaam. Balaam clearly was a forefather to our modern day Stephen Miller. Balaam attempts a clever strategy to use the Hebrew God to curse the immigrants, but his curses are turned into blessings! Magic. Only the second generation of Israelites are allowed to enter the promised land. Even Moses is denied entry. Moses gives his last speech, and this is what Deuteronomy is all about.
The Rewrite: Numbers is the story of refugees who often go from the frying pan to the fire. The migration experience is often borne of loss, loss of home, cast out, or loss of a future. I have this illusion that immigrants stand united in their state of homelessness, but imagine the circumstances and toil of never knowing where your next meal would arrive and the future of your children uncertain. We have examples of how suffering and oppression experienced by a group of people can breed discontent more than cooperation. Sometimes the surrender of the oppressed looks peaceful, when it actually is just helplessness. Think of those faces of survivors in concentration camps, so void of anger or hatred for their oppressors, instead, I see naked soulfulness. Sometimes the state of estrangement and sense of despair turns us against each other. It can breed betrayal as much as cooperation. In general, our happiness scale and survival rate increases with social structure, with rules and a sense of connection to each other. The original Israeli group purity rituals; caring for the poor, social justice, and moral sexual behavior were these kinds of rules. They attempted to put a greater human good in the everyday lives of a group. Some political policies or rules are better than others. Survival in North Korea is different from survival in Finland.
Deuteronomy
This book contains the speech that Moses gives to the second generation of Israelis just before they cross over the Jordan river into the promised land. Remember that this book was eventually discovered @600 B.C. by King Josiah, long after the actual crossing of the river Jordan into the promised land.
Moses encourages the younger generation to be different than their rebellious parents to God’s laws and reminds them of the covenant and emphasizes the practice of listening and loving. Obedience is love, Listening is responding with love. Above all, because they are entering a land that worships many Gods, they should remain faithful to the one true Lord God. This book is a second reminder about God’s laws as found in the 10 commandments and includes many other laws and details, like the treatment of slaves, who should be let go after 6 years:
“If a member of your community, whether a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you and works for you six years, in the seventh year you shall set that person free” (Deut. 15:12). Upon release, former slaves were to receive a share of the wealth their work had created. “When you send a male slave out from you a free person, you shall not send him out empty-handed. Provide liberally out of your flock, your threshing floor, and your wine press, thus giving to him some of the bounty with which the Lord your God has blessed you” (Deut. 15:13-14).
Moses understands that his people are flawed and that they are likely to disobey and consequently suffer the curse of God versus the blessings. Moses turns over the leadership of the Israeli people to Joshua and climbs a nearby mountain to look over the promised land and there he dies.
The Rewrite: Generation after generation benefit from the reminders of good behavior, like “do not steal, even if your neighbor is a thief” or “do not commit sedition even if your neighbor commits looting”. The rewards of following the 10 commandments are cast in doubt when good people suffer or the school bully experiences life’s rewards of status, power and wealth. What we see today is relative moral behavior, comparing our sin to the greater sins of others.
The commandment resist false witness is put to the test with social media. The truth has become so elusive. Slander, backbiting, and libel is freely exchanged on our highways and digital cul-de-sacs. We should be minding the words that exit our mouth. Every generation benefits from examples and reminders of the source of blessing and the curse of selfishness (hard hearts). As much as we know that good behavior brings us natural blessings, we invent (enter into new lands) machines and technology that is bigger than our moral ability to manage it properly. We endanger each other with nuclear weapons. We do not listen, and when we do it is often to false gods. There are many more stories of human kindness than murder or mayhem, but negative news get’s the headlines. We depend on poets, writers, artists, and filmmakers to bring us stories of human courage and kindnesses. Just like in Deuteronomy we are constantly counting on the next generation to save humankind, the planet and the rich variety of life that we depend on.
Joshua
Following the death of Moses, Joshua sends spies into the new land across the river Jordan. The spies finds some of the Canaanites willing to accept the God of Abraham and this is promising news. The river Jordan parts and the Israelites are able to cross over into the promised land, the Ark of the Covenant leading the way. Joshua reminds the new generation about their history and covenant. They practice circumcision and celebrate Passover. Joshua has an encounter with a an angelic warrior who identifies as non-partisan, God’s warrior. The battles with Canaanites who resist the God of Abraham include the battle of Jericho, a victory, whereby the walls come tumbling down with the music of the trumpets and the battle of Ai (which is the story of a lost battle). There are many battles. Canaanites, the enemies of Israel are described as sexually immoral and reportedly sacrificed children. This seems like a good enough reason to clean house. Even though the battles are described as completely wiping out the Canaanite cities that refused to assimilate into the worship of the Israeli God, the Canaanite inhabitants are later described as still populating these places. Furthermore as a consolation to those of us who would prefer fewer genocides, Israelites only do battle with the people within the land of Canaan, and are commanded to live in peace with neighboring kingdoms. The last part of Joshua describes the granted lands and boundaries for the twelve tribes of Israel. As an old Man, Joshua gives a speech similar to that of Moses, reminding the Israelites to be faithful to the one God.
The Rewrite: This military conquest by Joshua is biblically dated as mid 13th century BCE, and the city of Havor, for instance, experiences a very destructive fire at this time. However, through extensive excavations archaeology determined that many of the cities mentioned were either not inhabited or did not show destruction at that time. Jericho for instance had no walls at that time. Despite the blitzkrieg described in the Bible by Joshua, the destruction of these Canaan cities lasted over a century. The Egyptians remained in this region throughout this time. Egyptian clay tablets are diplomatic correspondence, demonstrating these cities were vassals of Egypt. As a hero story, Joshua is about the formative years of the nation including miracles and magical interventions by Yahweh.
Joshua is both the promise of a new day, a new opportunity as well as limitations with our attachment to our past. In our longing for a new day we often fail to let intuition and our environment guide us. Those moments when we review good fortune, we realize we were never really in charge, our good fortune often the result of where and when we were born. We are attached to our remembered personal past because it is familiar and safe, often limiting openness to other perspectives or exploration into new ideas. Sharing ideas, property and power is hard.
Remember how Mother Nature loves a pattern? In order to escape bad habits, we have to observe them. This entails self awareness, the promised land. The battles in Joshua represent our need for everyone to think the way we think, sometimes missing the fact that we share the same human flaws as those we are trying to eradicate in others. Sometimes we win the battle of influence, some times we are players in someone else’s game, and sometimes we can be oppressed by unfair power structures but we are rarely open for psychological change in our version of reality. Our quest for unity is futile when we recognize the limitations of reaching a shared reality, the one God. Currently Republicans are calling for unity on the grounds that we all agree Trump won the election in a landslide, the big lie. When I ask myself the question, Do I think everyone should think the way I think? The answer is yes. This is what Joshua is about.
Judges
Once the territory is divided among the Israelites, the nation is governed by tribal warlords called Judges. These judges start out as being just and faithful to God’s laws but over time this system of governance deteriorates and eventually the people of Israel are no different than the Canaanites and are constantly involved in violent conflicts with each other, a kind of bloody “might makes right”. “In those days Israel had no King, and everyone did what they pleased.” It could have been interpreted that it is very difficult to form a nation without central power, a King. It is not just depressing that the Israelites can not stay faithful, it is disastrous as the nation falls. It is completely corrupted, violent and immoral. Sound familiar?
The Rewrite: This book tells the story of the ebb and flow of civilization, in that the experience of oppression and chaos is overcome by central benevolent governance, only to fall back into oppression and chaos. We usually foul our own nest. Oppression, chaos, and suffering is thought to be the result of outside influences, but usually it is the fault of idolatry and laziness about maintaining higher principles and staying on the lookout for the abuse of power. As human beings migrate, they eventually come back into contact with one another again, transformed by their migratory experience. This introduces the familiar concept of “my way of life is way better than yours”. Narrow group-think spells disaster. Law and Order is tricky when we are richly diverse. Keep in mind the culture of the Canaanites (the Phoenician seafaring merchants) was blending with that of the Israelites. Each new generation presents shocking behavior to the one before.
Ruth
Ruth is a story about a Israeli family during the times of Judges. As farmers, Naomi and her husband had moved to Moab (Canaanite country) in search of better times. Their sons married Canaanites. Unfortunately all of the males died. Naomi wishes to return to Bethlehem, and encourages her two daughter-in-laws to remain in Moab, as their lives would be very hard in an Israelite community. Ruth declares her loyalty to Naomi and declares Naomi’s god would be her god and she returns to Bethlehem with Naomi. Ruth finds work in in the fields once they return and is noticed by Boaz, the owner of the land, who as it turns out is a family relative of Naomi (a kinsman redeemer). A kinsman redeemer is a male relative required to marry the widow of a brother, (or at least be some distant male relative) to maintain and protect the original property rights of the deceased male. Once Naomi realizes Boaz is her kinsman redeemer she instructs Ruth to “uncover Boaz at night and lay at his feet”, meaning to let Boaz honestly know who she is and request a marriage. Boaz is happy about the offer but after some honorable genealogy work, Boaz discovers a closer male relative to Naomi, who luckily turns down the marriage offer to a Canaanite, Ruth. The son of Boaz and Ruth, Obed, is the forefather of King David.
The Rewrite: This book describes how power was and continues to be maintained through property ownership and how women in the 3rd century BCE led complicated lives without ownership of property. Perhaps the whole problem starts with property ownership versus the responsibility of stewardship to the land. We build elaborate systems of power based on property rights.
I’m guessing since the original social embarrassment in the garden of Eden, women were not to be trusted with power or property or choice. Women are subject to the same temptations to abuse power, but generally, when women have access to property they take care of it. With power they are more likely to consider the conditions their children will face for survival – they value regeneration and good manners. All women are not the same just like all men are not the same. There are good examples of the goodness and generosity of men like Boaz, and examples of evil women who abuse whatever power they can scrape together. People should not be assigned to a caste based on their gender, their race or their religion. So far, this is an ideal, not a reality.
I Samuel
There is a lot to unpack in the two books of Samuel. There are two books because of the limitations in scroll lengths. Samuel was a prophet given up by his mom to a priest. By this Biblical time, even though there are many different scattered tribes of people (and Yahweh apparently created them all), HE has zeroed in on the Israelites to call them HIS people. The other people living in this area are regarded as a threat to His people. Pronouns like HE are significant as we will discover. Interestingly according to Samuel, Yahweh wanted HIS people to not be so bound up in monarchies. Yahweh prefers direct worship (although uses the indirect communication methods through priests) as defined in Leviticus. But leave it to HIS people to screw up. The Israelites created top down power structures (monarchies) based on might over right. The first prediction by Samuel about who should be anointed king, Saul, was a failure. Saul was at first humble but caught the old power corrupts virus and eventually is replaced by David. King David, with a bit of shiny rewritten biography becomes the model for a future messiah. Remember Yahweh was not that keen on HIS people selecting any ManKing because Yahweh wanted exclusive worship.
The Rewrite: Our own individual monarchy is the chatter of our mind. We all are ignorant of the chasm between what our mind tells us and what is true with our core central being. This is why critical listening results in better outcomes. To act on our instincts can be problematic, even if our instincts are good. One of my favorite Buddhist slogans is “You are not who you think you are”. Neuroscience is telling us we do not have free will at all. We are more likely the victim of our own unexamined thoughts – projecting our own fears and hopes onto others, rather than observing and questioning these personal thoughts that become our identity through theft. The difference between meditation and prayer is the difference between listening and talking. Unfortunately we are capitalists at the moment, and that might be even worse. We are consumers of propaganda on many levels, widgets in a pyramid scheme.
2 Samuel R-rated for sex and violence
The continuation of the prophesies and history written by Samuel continue with the reign of David. David is very committed to following the commandment of not murdering, especially of Saul the first king. However he goes on to smote out many people in the cities of Canaan, the son of Saul who wanted to be king, as well as the husband of a woman he had a crush on. He usually takes a hands off position for these murders, (has someone else commit the murder) and for some reason, God continues to support his reign, except for when King David requires a census and then God sends pestilence. You can see in this part of the Bible that human sin or moral behavior is all about branding.
The Rewrite: I have to think that the purpose of the books of 1st and 2nd Samuel are just to keep the interest going. There is incest, murder and mayhem under King David’s reign, but time passes and because scrolls were harder to erase and re-write we have the ugly truth. Today cut and paste is handy for our own hands off murders; children separated from their parents and put into cages, black men and women murdered at the hands of cops, the increasing and massive wealth gap that leaves a large part of the world hungry, without access to food, clean water, shelter and healthcare. We should not re-write the lies that left 400,000 and still counting, people dead in the US alone of CoVid-19. The lies of the fossil fuel industry and consequent climate crisis -the consequent droughts and migration of those most impacted. We insured Native American poverty through broken treaties. We can brand ourselves anyway we want, but the underlying white supremacy, greed and ignorance of our inter-dependency under the banner of Christianity is still evident. As I reread this today, Joe Manchin just signed the death warrant for our planet by killing a bill that would have us invest in climate change mitigation. Where is justice?
1st & 2nd Kings
In this book, King David has unified the kingdom that includes both the northern hills and the southern regions. Yahweh promises the succession line of King David will fulfil the promise of a great prosperous nation. Despite covenant laws, King David and his son, Solomon, conspire to murder their enemies to consolidate power. King Solomon builds the temple, but he also marries daughters of other kings (hundreds), includes the idols into the temple and uses slaves to build the temple. Following the reign of King Solomon, his son, King Rehoboam continues to abuse power. During this time, the northern kingdom of Israel revolts and starts a succession of their kings, starting with Jeroboam (c.931 BCE). Jeroboam builds his capital in Samaria. The book of Kings documents the succession of kings in both kingdoms and gives a scorecard based on their fidelity to Yahweh and the laws of the covenant. The scorecard is written from the perspective of Jerusalem in Judah, so surprise, all 20 kings in the northern kingdom of Israel are considered evil and that explains their eventual conquest by Assyria in 722 BCE. However, it appears that the northern kingdom is richer in resources and actually prospers during this time, sometimes as a vassal of Assyria. The Scorecard gives 8/20 kings in Judah stars for fidelity, but in general, most kings fail to live up to covenant rules and this is why prophets are sent to help the people fulfil their side of the bargain and obey the laws of the Torah.
The prophet Elijah was a wildman who traveled to the northern kingdom to rail against Ahab (873-853 BCE), who married Jezebel. Elijah passes on his powers to the prophet Elisha who raises a boy from the dead, purifies stew and floats an axe among 14 miracles. Despite the warnings to the northern kingdom they do not reform. The northern kingdom is rocked by bloody coups following Ahab’s rule, none of them very nice. The northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria in 722 BCE and the people were exiled to other places in the Assyrian kingdom. This is why they are referred to by “the lost tribes of Israel”.
The book of Kings continues to extol the virtues of some of the kings of Judah, including Hezekiah and Josiah. Josiah in particular plays a pivotal role in finding a lost book that is similar to Deuteronomy. This is read to the people and this book emphasizes monotheism and laws of the Torah, and the temple in Jerusalem as the only place of true worship. King Manasseh who reigned prior to Josiah had introduced idols. Despite the reforms Josiah introduced, Judah continued to fail in following the laws of the Torah and was eventually conquered by Babylon (586 BCE). The story ends with the king of Babylon inviting the imprisoned Jehoiakim, the would-be successor to the throne of Judah, to dine with him.
The Rewrite: This part of the Old Testament seems like a good time to bring up how ironic it is that Yahweh had warned Israelites that investing in monarchs would lead to enslavement. What does that tell us about today? It begs the question of do we invest in an earthly external power, through a MAN king, or do we continue to have a symbolic King not profiled as human? How do we construct a political order that will support our unique human collective ability to rise above it all, to have exchange of ideas, to debate, and to have the space to change, adapt and accept our planetary inter-dependence as well as our self determination? A democracy should provide that, but it appears easily corrupted by the persistent pattern of mankings.
As pointed out by my children, the Bible is the word of God written by MAN. It seems like the experience of women would breathe some life into understanding more universal truths. Once I asked a Buddhist monk why the Buddha had never re-incarnated as a woman. He instructed me to pay attention to the sand painting and the deity of the Tara. I will review this deity today in my attempt to rise above my general irritation at the HE.
From history based on archaeology and the surrounding power of Assyria and Egypt during this time a different story emerges that will influence the way we understand the book of Kings. The northern kingdom of Israel during this time had an ebb and flow of settlements. They were nomadic but once the urban areas had either been disrupted or destroyed, they needed to grow their own grain and consequently built their own villages. The area is rich for growing olives and grapes and this became a commodity that served them well during this time, as they appeared to prosper once in alignment with the greater powers of Assyria. Once Assyria had withdrawn from the area, early 7th century BCE, and Israel had been conquered, Judah attracted former inhabitants of the northern kingdom. This is when Jerusalem began to expand and under Hezekiah built fortifications and sophisticated engineering projects for water access and distribution. King Josiah the great grandson of Hezekiah attempted to re-annex the prior northern territories. He centralized power using the “found book” that required monotheism and central worship at the temple in Jerusalem. Other rural temples appear destroyed during this time. Unfortunately, Egypt was re-emerging as a powerful competitor, and Josiah was summoned to Megiddo to meet with the pharaoh Necho, and there he was slain, (609BCE). Early written language, ancient Hebrew, appears during this period, and this explains some of the origins of the eventual books of the Bible.
1st and 2nd Chronicles
Chronicles was written some 200 years following the Jewish exile to Babylon and back. After the two kingdoms of Israel split, following Solomon’s reign, the Northern Kingdom (Israel) was scattered and considered the lost tribes of Israel. The Southern Kingdom of Judea was eventually conquered by Babylon and the Jewish people were held captive in Babylonia for 70 years. Cyrus, the King in Persia at the time must have felt like they were a nuisance, because he ordered their return to Judea and Jerusalem in 539 BC.
The first chapters in Chronicles are dedicated to a genealogy of the father-son line of the messiah (the children of David) and the genealogy of Aaron (the Priesthood). Anyone who has tried to map out their family tree including siblings and step-children realizes the task quickly requires scotch tape and a large table. The simplified father-to one son genealogy makes a lot more sense, especially if limited to clay tablets. Imagine the genealogy in Chronicles if it included the 1000 wives and concubines of Solomon, and all those children and their offspring. Importantly, Chronicles cleans up the story of David and includes the promise of a temple rebuilt and a messiah to restore the glory of God. They are still waiting. Chronicles is the last book in the Torah.
My children have asked me who the sons of Adam and Eve married. This is not really addressed in the Bible. Biblical women appear to be useful trinkets for power brokerage in royal alliances and obviously useless if they fail to produce a male heir. Living in university housing allowed me to meet women from all over the world. This included the Middle East. Once when having a rare conversation with the multiple wives of my neighbor, I learned how concerned they were for my status as a single mother. I asked them how they could all live together in such a small apartment and with such strict laws of social interactions with other Americans. They giggled and we all realized how easy it is to normalize our place in the world without much analysis. I only got a chance to talk to them because they were locked out of their apartment.
Ezra-Nehemiah
These books tell the story of three successive attempts to rebuild Jerusalem following the Babylonian exile. Persian Kings, Cyrus and eventually Artaxerxes send three individuals along with resources for the attempt, which says a lot about Persian governance and their tolerance for diversity. Zerubbabel, represents the Israelite generation born in Babylon and he returns to Judah and successfully builds a second class temple according to the inhabitants of the land (who have never left and are held in low regard by Zerubbabel). Ezra, a Torah scholar, leads another wave of rejuvenation, but finds the people have remarried Canaanites and he tries to enact divorces. Not surprisingly this is conflicting for many families. Nehemiah, an Israelite official serving in the Persian empire returns to build a wall around the temple. He encounters opposition from the inhabitants who believe the temple should be inclusive. Nehemiah had to build the wall with armed guards. Ezra and Nehemiah throw a party and celebrate the Torah and this is going well, but then when the facts emerge they find there is still much corruption. The temple is neglected, the Sabbath is dishonored and markets are being set up around the wall – uh oh, capitalism.
The Rewrite: Global peace and prosperity is an idea, set in the middle of human moral resistance to the sacrifices it entails. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, “The arc of moral universe is long but it bends toward justice”. A hard lesson for democracy has been that our self-determination and struggle for equality is paradoxical but is better served by a system of truth and justice over religious beliefs. Purity tests divide us and once a system of justice is corrupted by greed or avarice we go through another disappointing period of discontent.
Judging from our current political time, we have a long arc ahead. A GOP Representative in the House believes that secret Jewish space lasers are causing forest fires. Trumpian Republicans continue to ignore the evidence brought by the January 6th Select committee identifying former President Trump and his sycophants as coordinating the attempt to overthrow democracy by violent means, in favor of circulating internet theories of Hugo Chavez coming back from the dead to steal the election via voter machine manipulations.
The priesthood, post Babylonian exile, had the role of sustaining a group identity. Ezra and Nehemiah are written from the perspective of post Persian conquest and return of the former Israelites to Judah. Post exile writers gave the final touches to what we now have as the Law of Moses. They needed to explain the Babylonian destruction and reunite the community of Yehud around the new temple. Post exile the people in Jerusalem were now considered Yehud, Jews. The rulings of Ezra and Nehemiah in fifth century BCE are defining the Jewish race as distinct from their neighbors adhering to the Deuteronomic Laws. They lay the foundation for the second temple which in actuality appears to be a project from the Persian kings, appointing governors and financing the operations. This is considered to be the time that the exile, the suffering and soul searching and political review led to the birth of the Hebrew Bible.
Esther
In a rare example of how politics influences religion, Esther is a book that never mentions God, but tells a story around political intrigue 100 years following the Jewish exile into Babylon. So clearly, not all people of Jewish heritage returned to the land of Judah from Babylon. Esther has to be secretly Jewish in order to enter a beauty contest for the selection of a new queen. She is chosen by the Persian King (Xerces maybe?) as the most beautiful woman in the beauty pageant. There is a beauty contest because of the misbehavior of his prior queen, Vashti. Vashti had refused to appear with just her crown in front of drunken princes from around the huge kingdom following epic days of party. She is consequently either exiled or punished more severely. This part of her story is not described fully. Following Vashti’s defiance, the king degrees all women to obey their husbands, securing the male overlords of today and then orders a beauty contest for a new queen.
Eventually Esther has to confess to the king that she is Jewish. She does this because of an kings decree instigated by a powerful Canaanite, Haman. Haman is involved is a drama with Mordecai, who happens to be a relative of Esther. Mordecai had previously saved the king by informing him of a plot to overthrow him, but the king had sort of forgotten all about this, maybe due to all the alcohol and 180 day parties. When Mordecai does not bow to Haman, this enrages Haman who passes on his recommendation for a genocide of Jewish people. Once Esther hears of this, she does some very brave things. She appears before the king un-invited, she confesses her Jewish race and she begs for the plight of her people. Once the king remembers the brilliant loyalty of Mordecai, he actually issues another decree saying Jewish people can defend themselves and the Haman purge sort of reverses itself with the slaughter of thousands of Haman relatives and followers.
The Rewrite: The point of this book is that context matters. Esther is only able to save the Jewish people because Vashti refused to be an object for the King of Persia’s entertainment and was consequently vanquished. Vashti was an early feminist, but remains Biblically uncelebrated today.
If only we could put compassion before judgement. It would help us put questions before assumptions. It would put a thoughtful pause with understanding before prideful revenge. Hamen’s relatives did not deserve genocide nor did the Jews. It is not divine justice that one population was slaughtered over another. One of the difficult limitations to children with autism is their ability to understand an action based on another perspective. It is a limitation we all have on a grading scale. If we could speak of our true identity, like Esther, perhaps we would find more commonality.
What would justify a horde of people storming the US capital, intent on murdering representatives of the government? The the angry horde had their belief that all voters preferred their autocratic candidate instead of the one certified by a democratic secure and valid election. This secure and valid election shocked their core belief in their right to power based on their birth certificate. Their belief system, their entitlement, trumps reason. This sobering reality is not just about the tensions when power begins to shift, it is about the political system under which it happens. Our fragile democratic system prevailed, just barely. The White Manpower structure of our American history is as old as the Bible and haunts our aspiration for self-determination.
Job
This book poses the question; Are people good because of the external earthly and heavenly rewards? This book starts with God holding a conference with the sons of God (no daughters here), and one angelic son of god named Satan poses a test for God. He confronts God claiming that his human children would not love him if he did not reward them for the devotion. A test is set upon the loyal devoted servant of God, Job. Imagine if one of your neighbors proposed this test for one of your children. Anyway as the suffering piles up, Job first questions himself and then endures the judgement of all of his so called friends who presume he deserves his special hell. He is still basically faithful and loving like any abused child, and eventually demands an answer to his condition from God, in person. It turn out that God can animate in a storm cloud. I really like God’s answer.
God explains that being in charge of the universe including all the details; the exact orbits of the planets, the cells of every organ in your body, the regulation of sunlight, the tides of the ocean keeps him busy. God is everything so HE is not so overwhelmed, as indignant that Job would question HIS actions. Sounds like a single parent huh. What is weird is that God doesn’t tell Job he has been a test specimen. We should keep this in mind when we send our thoughts and prayers. There is an explanation why it does not seem to make a difference. God is busy. We have created the problem, and no one is coming to save us.
The Rewrite: What I like about the book of Job is the description of God. God is everything. You might ask yourself, “Where is Mother Nature during this original Job conversation and all the cruel negotiations with the sons of man?” I presume she is doing all the work of the universe while the men are taking all the credit.
Humans are clueless creatures. As much progress as we have achieved, we continue make stuff up to explain left over mysteries. Why do some people have tragic things happen, and some bullies experience great success during their long life? Maybe if we were devoted to the description of God in the book of Job, and less attached to some smug religious beliefs we would better understand cause and effect.
Americans go about our privileged lifestyles producing massive amounts of green house gases, electronic toxic trash, wiping out pristine forests, and making single use plastic a problem for future generations. We may set aside our personal contributions to the destruction of our planet and consider it out of control, thinking God will save us personally if we just attend church. It is not rational to start a world war and call the consequences of a nuclear apocalypse God’s prophetic will. Worse we blame the suffering of those impacted by our waste in far off lands, as somehow deserving. World wealth inequality is growing exponentially because of the myth that more wealth and power for a very few will create more wealth for everyone. It is exactly opposite. Our rules are not working and we can not continue to masquerade our rules as God’s will. HE is too busy with the universe to care about the quality of our personal survival and our brief tour of the universe.
Psalms:
Psalms is a collection of songs and poems, some are lamenting and some of praise. The themes of the poems revolve around the suffering of the world as well as the promise of the future messiah to rescue the chosen people who follow the teaching of the Torah as well as remain faithful to the promise of a coming Messiah and holy kingdom. The theme of Faith and Hope run throughout and the final poems all end with a May the Lord God of Israel be Blessed Forever, Amen.
The Rewrite: Great literature, art and music sets a mood and often inspires the best in us in courageous action. The inauguration poem of Amanda Gordon entitled “The Hill We Climb” stunned our nation with the beauty of the young poet along with the truth of her black history lament captured with rhythm and rhyme. Today we have an extensive library of poetry and prose captured in music and film. Filmmaking in particular is bringing us time travel and visual truths of places we would never believe located on our planet. Films take us through ancient time telling us stories of various people, and places in the world without the cost of a plane ticket. If it were not for poetry, music and all forms of art, our lives would be lived in a grey scale. How lucky we are to have the gifts of art and science. Yes we can re-write history so much easier, cleaning up our uncivilized past, but truth as a way of layering up until the transparencies are made known and we see ourselves paving the way for progress.
Proverbs
The Book of Proverbs is a library of wisdom passed down from the library of Solomon, the wisest King. It contains short clever slogans that help us not just understand the moral guidance of God but put wisdom into action. Khokhmah, the Hebrew word for wisdom means not just a mental understanding of moral good, but an action, so think skillful mindfulness. This YouTube video does a much better job of summarizing Proverbs than I can do, so enjoy:
The Rewrite: The Book of Proverbs begins with a father teaching his children lessons on moral living and ends with a mother doing the same. The middle section of Proverbs gives us slogans for wise living. Wisdom is cast as very feminine, and of course, I am relieved that the feminine is finally given a positive perspective. I think this is describing my effort to rewrite the Old Testament, although it could be my own self righteousness acting up again. Although generally good things happen to people who live moral lives, it is not promised. Additionally it is clear that bullies get away with their actions. Joe Manchin just betrayed the planet and he will likely live a comfortable and long life. As we well know it is much more difficult to do the right thing when you are surrounded by people who have powerful group think dynamics. The Fear of God is instructive for us today, to live in awe and to not assume we are the center of the universe. To develop a moral mindset that understands the link between moral behavior and happiness is key to overcoming our consumer lifestyle.
Ecclesiastes
The video provides a much better summary of Ecclesiastes than I can present. The teacher notes life is hevel, hevel, hevel; like a wisp of smoke, temporary and fleeting, not meaningless but close. Life is an enigma, a paradox. Smoke appears tangible, but try grasping it. How many times have I wished I could put moments in the freezer to enjoy later in life. Life is like chasing after the wind. Most of us will disappear in time, even if famous or infamous. We know very little of powerful kings and civilizations in the Bronze age, and it wasn’t that long ago. Death devours all. The teacher goes on provide an antidote to this depressing reality. Acceptance of our emptiness in a world that we have assigned so much meaning to is key to our happiness. Simple acts of gratitude and kindness are a form of courage that elevates us spiritually.
The Rewrite: If we could shrink down to subatomic space, we would see how empty the world around us really is. Everything; dishes, cars, desks, windows, people…it all comes down to nothing, just negative and positive charges responding to each other. Our consciousness creates meaning, but it is tricky. We can have poorly integrated hemispheres that allow only a brisk sorting of life into pre-assigned categories and labels, like a computer. Without thoughtful pause we miss the earthy, richer whole of our experience. Context matters. Our unexamined prejudices put us in mindlessness jail. I disagree that we have very little control of life, as every word that enters our ears should exit through our heart’s understanding with quality improvement. This has a butterfly effect. We have very little understanding of how our actions create the future. The best we can do is study and sink into beauty, justice and compassionate understanding of each other to enter and exit this strange hall of mirrors.
Song of Songs (Song of Solomon)
Song of Songs is a collection of romantic love poems with various interpretations. One interpretation is that Song of Songs is about Solomon. This interpretation is told by the woman (the daughter of a prince) who is betrothed to King Solomon. However the woman was in love with another, a humble shepherd. Like any soap opera it might be hard to keep track of the love knots. Nevertheless, Song of Songs describes the longing of two lovers to one another in a pattern of lost and found, searching and seizing. It describes the transcendent quality of romantic love through the physical attraction of the lovers, the seeking and finding of love, and the inexplicable rewarding tensions as the lovers lose each other then find each other. Love is both a gift from God as well as a danger as it can make us feel whole, or destroy us and break our hearts. Love fulfills our desire to be known. The Song of Song ends by the lovers supposedly running off with one another in a “happily ever after” ending.
The Rewrite: It is fitting that this rewrite of Song of Songs falls on Valentine’s Day, 2021. This is the day Lyndsay Graham doubles down on his forgive all love for the cowardly insurrectionist Donald Trump. It is a bit pornographic but that is romantic love for you.
The dynamics of romantic love inspire great tragedies, make history so much more interesting and fuel our deepest genetic drive, to procreate. It has symmetry. Andrew Weil proposes the formula that the pleasure of romantic love is equal to the pain of the end of romantic love. Romantic love always ends. Romantic love can give or take from us that energy to carry on, even when that love lives on in our memories. A broken heart can mend, and sometimes when it does it makes us better than before. If we seek romantic love we often are left with ashes. These ashes grow a different kind of love for one another. We find compassion for other broken hearts. We seek to be known through romantic love, but we find that love changes who we are.
Isaiah
Isaiah is a prophet who warns the Israelites of impending doom if they fail to obey God’s laws. He predicts the oppression of Israelites if they do not remain loyal to the one God, Yahweh and predicts/records their captivity of the people by Babylon. Isaiah presents the hope that God will continue to bless them if they return to God’s laws. The book predicts a future servant of God who rises from the dead and teaches all people to be servants of God. It reinforces the laws previously referenced in Deuteronomy.
The rewrite: It is hard to understand if Isaiah is prophesy or is history, recounting two stories during the history of Israel; one of the fall of Judea in 720 BCE and two, the Babylonian conquest in 586 BCE. From both archaeological evidence and geographical references in Isaiah, it appears to be written by two authors a couple of hundred years apart.
The Assyrian conquest of the northern kingdom, Israel, in 720 BCE, led to a population explosion in the city of Jerusalem in Judea. Hezekiah had begun fortifications from the threat of advancing Assyrian control, but after Assyrian besieged the city of Samaria, Judea paid tribute to the Assyrian empire. The refugees from the northern kingdom of Israel came with many Gods. No doubt the rapid growth in Judea required strength in leadership for a united kingdom.
Josiah who was the great-grandson of Hezekiah reigned 639-609 BCE and he wished to regain control over the prior lands lost to Assyria, which by this time had withdrawn much of their occupation. Josiah wished to consolidate power by making Jerusalem the only place of true worship and enacted very strict laws. However Egypt the superpower to the south of Judea also had it’s eye on all of Canaan. These lands were pivotal to vital trade routes from the eastern plains of Afghanistan to Mesopotamia and included trade from Greece. One can deduct from the book of Isaiah that the survival of the nation required strict adherence to a unifying covenant, a constitution a set of laws and the failure to unite under a set of laws would spell disaster. This seems to be the important feature of the prophesies as well as the hope that the nation would somehow survive the great pressures surrounding them. Josiah (who is made to simulate the story of Joshua) is summoned to Egypt and killed.
Additionally Isaiah’s prophesy (a second author) as history could reflect the Babylonian conquest of the Levant (Israel and Canaan) in 586 BCE and the consequent Israeli exile to Babylon (70 years) and their return to Jerusalem under Persian kings 538-333 BCE.
Dating events in the Old Testament is improving using Biblical geographical references, and narrowed down using the records of powerful surrounding empires that kept written records. For Instance, Egypt kept extensive historic records including day to day descriptions of the goods and services traded within the Mediterranean and Mesopotamian regions. The Egyptians often hosted various tribes of people along the eastern lands of the Nile Delta most likely Hebrews in times of drought, but interestingly the Hebrew people are only mentioned once in their records, and that recorded a battle that the Egyptians won.
Likewise the Assyrians who controlled vast lands to the north, from the 25th century to 612 BCE kept written histories, primarily in Aramaic. These records reference Israeli Kings Omir, Ahab, Jehu, Menahem, Pekah, Ussiah, Ahaz, Hezekiah, and Manasseh. You can see why the small nation of Israel was caught in the middle of this power struggle, attempting to hold on to it’s independence and identity.
Jeremiah
Jeremiah follows the pattern of prophecy much like Isaiah, predicting the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem because of the idolatry and disobedience to God’s laws. He includes the leaders, and priests and other prophets of their promiscuity as well. They might attend temple but outside of temple they were worshiping other Gods and reverting to child sacrifice in some places. He predicts that Babylon is like a wine goblet filled with God’s anger and it will spill over onto them and that God is using Babylon as his instrument of justice. He describes his persecution and kidnapping to Egypt. He also offers the hope of God’s renewal of his blessing and transforming of their hearts following the exile to Babylon. The Laws of the Torah will be inscribed on their hearts. He repeats the promise of a Messiah from the line of David that will redeem not just Jerusalem but all nations. He also predicts that God will punish and destroy Babylon because of their glorification of wealth and war. After 20 years, God called on Jeremiah to collect his sermons and poems and commit them to writing. He used a scribe, Baruch, who included stories about Jeremiah on a scroll.
The Rewrite: The theme of God’s punishment for unfaithful people is repeated throughout the prophets. It seems unfair to lay waste and sweep away a full population of people without sorting out some of the faithful, especially considering the omnipotence of God, and the miracles that can happen. Nevertheless, we need to make sense of the world around us and the details often get in the way of thoughtful decisions. Jeremiah also points out the hypocrisy of attending temple but then reverting to selfish behavior once outside of the holy place. I especially think the sacrifice of children is much like our denial of climate change. We disrespect our responsibility for regeneration. Gifts we were given must be passed on to our children, their birthright.
Laws do not make us better unless we abide by them. It is frustrating to see politicians call themselves conservative and their actions undermine all of the foundations of the common good, the planet, the economy, healthcare, education, clean air and water, just about anything that gets in the way of their donor’s wealth. What exactly are they conserving? We are all on this ship called American. It is now populated with people who wish to sink the ship. There is no separating their worship of autocracy from the discipline of democracy, so the whole is swaying side to side. It is really alarming when it is leaders who spew the lies, and betray their oaths.
Lamentations
This book is a memorial to the pain left to the people following the decimation of Jerusalem by Babylonia in 587 BCE. The poems lament and provide emotional release for the loss and the suffering of the people. Confusion creates questions for God about this state of loss. The poem also offers sacred dignity to suffering. The poems are primarily structured by using the Hebrew alphabet A-Z, giving order to the chaos of suffering. Jerusalem is personified as the daughter of Zion calling out her grief. The explanation poems describe God’s wrath as being more like justice than an angry outburst. Much of the language in Lamentations draws from the book of Job, the Psalms, as well as the suffering servant poems of Isaiah. It includes the rationale that the Lord is our inheritance and therefore our hope will rest in his promises, despite the punishments of the failure to live up to his covenant. Lamentations is a communal prayer listing all of the people affected by the destruction of their homeland. It ends with the pain of feeling forsaken.
The rewrite: We want answers when tragedy strikes. We want to fix it. Whenever I read of a young life ending too soon it physically makes me ache. I don’t have the same emotion when I read an obituary of a life well lived, so it is more about the loss of young life for the family that will always experience sadness, a hole that no poem can heal. It is the unnecessary suffering brought upon people that makes me angry. The lies that end up hurting the third party, never landing back on the one who lies. I know that justice is the only antidote, but justice is imperfect and often does not repair the loss of life. Noticing I am arguing with Yahweh. The solution is to rout out ignorance that eventually causes heartache. The history of slavery is unforgivable, but here it is in 2021. The glorification of war and wealth is the best example of how empty our hearts can be of what seeds goodness and what seeds pain. Even today we struggle with holding on to property at the expense of furthering the ideal of equality. Yes equality is impossible but so worth the effort. If we have just this one life to live, may it be during times of peace, prosperity and human kindness.
Ezekiel
We find the refugee priest Ezekiel in Babylon at 30 years of age. He was part of the first wave of people who were exiled out of Jerusalem, but the city had remained intact. Sitting by an irrigation stream, he has an awesome vision (the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord) and the Ark of the Covenant. He is shocked that the Ark of the Covenant has come to Babylon! He is commissioned by God to accuse Israel of their misconduct that includes idolatry and injustice and to warn them of imminent destruction. As part of his messaging he performs street theatre. He makes models of Jerusalem and stages an attack of the city. He shaves his hair and chops it with an axe. He plays the role of a scapegoat (remember this?) and he ties himself up for a year eating food cooked using dung fuel. God also said “No one would listen to him. Very motivational.
About a year later he takes a virtual (paranormal) tour of Jerusalem and sees the idolatry. Picture the golden Trump outside of Lindsay Graham’s church. This is why God abandons the temple, allows the destruction of Jerusalem and goes to be with his people in Babylon. First there is judgement of Israel, then all nations. No matter what holy of holies would pray for Israel, their prayers would not be accepted as their punishment is deserved. The Surrounding powers of Egypt, Edom, Moab etc. would not escape the destruction.. The worst comes to pass and Jerusalem is destroyed by Babylon.
There remains hope. God promises a new David, a messiah and just like in Moses, the hard hearts will be replaced by soft hearts. Another vision depicted in Ezekiel is a valley of dry bones that stand up and gain breath and life with the spirit wind of God. It is a new creation story in a way, God remaking humans so they can love one another. There is hope for the nations because bad boy Gog, not God, will be defeated by earthquakes, fire X2, and then in a field battle where Gog and his army lay unburied. A new expansive temple will be built in an undisclosed location and the Ark of the Covenant will return. A stream will issue from this temple and water the world, making it abundant, teeming with plants and animals, like in the garden of Eden.
The rewrite: Priests, leaders and scribes were some of the first people exiled to Babylon. Myths, legends and recounted stories were likely first written during the time of Hezekiah and Josiah (7th century BCE). Archaeologists have come to this conclusion by locating, excavating and carbon dating the cities referenced during and after this time. The surrounding greater nations of Assyria and Egypt left records to co-relate to the events reported in the Bible. With the fall of Jerusalem (586 BCE) priests needed to provide accounting as to why the earlier promises of Yahweh to his people had fallen apart. First, those of Abraham for the promised land, then 400 years later, Moses for the return of the promised land. Then, the northern kingdom of Israel was conquered by Assyria (704 BCE) and resulted in the 10 lost tribes. Then, a messiah leader like David, Josiah, and his attempt to unite and reclaim the northern territories of Israel failed due to his murder by Pharaoh Necho of Egypt (609 BCE). And now this, the southern and remaining kingdom of Judah violently conquered by Babylon. The aspiration for an independent kingdom of Israel lay in ruins and the remaining refugees had to find reason in all of this disappointment. Books of the Old Testament were likely creatively re-written and reconfigured during and just after this time (586 BCE). The story ends with God not residing in a place, but residing with his people. It is notable that when Jerusalem is repopulated after 70 years of exile they are now referred to by their race, Judahites, or Jews.
I like the part of Ezekiel, that promises we can be re-created in such a way that we love one another, and the planet is restored to it’s natural perfect state and we exist in harmony with each other and the environment. The whole idea of skeletons walking among us is creepy but hey, Halloween all year! BUT, living per the 600 laws of the Old Testament will probably trap us the same as it did for Ezekiel’s people. Stoning to death adulterers seems like a bad headline, and wearing clothes of made from only one material is going to create a capitalists nightmare. Our own poor filters for what comes out of our mouth usually is the source of our suffering.
Daniel
The story takes place just after Babylon has plundered Jerusalem, and much like Ezekiel, Daniel is part of the first exiled. He and his friends, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego are regarded as royalty. Chapter 1 is written in Hebrew, and chapters 1-7 are in Aramaic, chapters 8-12 return to Hebrew.
Daniel and his friends are recruited to serve in the administration of the King of Babylon but pressured to give up their Jewish faith and identities. They refuse and consequently are punished. Following their miraculous survival from the fiery furnace and Daniel from the lions den, they are exalted by the King. Daniel interprets the dream of the King that entails a statue of four metals, representing the succession of violent kingdoms that will follow in Babylon. Daniel reports one day God will humble all kingdoms.
Two Kings, Nebuchadnezzar and his son Belshazzar are both are filled with pride. They respond in two different ways to God’s call to humble themselves. Nebuchadnezzar humbles himself after being turned into a mad beast, repents and is restored to power, but Belshazzar does not and he ends up assassinated. When human beings rebel and resist the ultimate power of God and instead make themselves God they become like beasts. Daniel has his own dream that a celestial being has to interpret. He sees four beasts, a lion, a bear , a winged leopard and a giant super horned beast. Luckily God returns and exalts the son of man and destroys the beasts. He has a second vision of a ram and a goat, perhaps symbolizing Persia and ancient Greece. Daniel consults Jerimiah for a date when all of this will happen and he understands that after 70 years, this will come to be, but an angel reports due to the continued Jewish bad behavior it will be 7 X 70 years or 490 years. Daniel’s third vision is of the kingdoms of Persia, then Greece (Alexander the Great) followed by lesser kings but finally an evil King of the North who eventually will come to ruin.
The rewrite: This prophecy looks like a historical rendering of the succession of powers that conquer or persecute the Jewish people, including a much later Syrian King, Antiochus (160 BCE). Some point to the Roman rule and the burning of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Never the less it points to the endless repeating pattern of how power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. All in all, so far the prophetic dreams are making me feel better about my own dreams and predictions for Mesa County. Not a lot better.
Hosea
Hosea lived in the northern kingdom following the division of the united Israel. The prophet Hosea’s wife is an adulterer, but Hosea forgives her and takes her back into his family, and this is symbolic of the love that Yahweh has for his people in that he can forgive the transgressions of his people. He is compassionate and loving and due to his covenant continues to love and forgive his chosen people, the Israelites. Hosea points out that Yahweh wants a daily relationship with his people, not just a ceremonious empty performance. This book follows the same logic and promise as prior prophets who warn of the peoples rebellious nature but promise a future messiah that will unite the kingdom and all nations. Only by God’s grace can the human heart be healed. The book ends with the writer posing the question, “Who is wise and discerning to understand all this? The ways of the Lord are right. The righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them”.
The Rewrite:
Hosea is the tale of the repeating failure of generations of people who inherit the good fortune of abundance, but fail to take responsibility for obeying the laws of caring for these blessings. Instead, we are prone to sit back, enjoy the bounty, claim our entitlements and think the rules do not apply to us. We betray the sacrifices it takes to pass on the benefits of a healthy planet, uncorrupted government by capitalistic greed and our failure to pay attention to the corrosive effects of blind religious beliefs that serve the corrupt. At some point time is up for each civilization that succumbs to this pattern.
Joel
This book is likely written post Babylonian exile and return to Jerusalem as the author references many of the prophets at that time, including Ezra and Nehemiah. He is familiar with many Biblical texts. He repeats the warning and promise that prior prophets have stated, but emphasizes the promise that all nations will eventually find peace with God’s grace. Joel appears to be a biblical scholar, immersed in the library available for him. Joel points to past events as a future prospect for how God will one day return to defeat evil. He reports both a current locust plague and a future one and begs for the people to humble themselves and honestly repent. God desires that the people change their hearts, not just offer up empty prayers. He himself offers up prayers. He portrays the Day of the Lord as dreadful, stating “who can endure it?”. God defeats the threatening invaders and restores humans to a garden of Eden, a renewal.
The Rewrite: This mirrors the same theme of a chosen people who disregard their laws of behavior as described by the powers bestowed by the Abrahamic God (as designed by a ManKing suiting their goals), their downfall and their eventual forgiveness and return to the promised land.
Amos
Amos is a shepherd and fig tree farmer who lived on the border between Judah and Israel. Amos appears to be a contemporary of the evil King Jeroboam II. King Jeroboam II was a military king who had accumulated wealth and more territory but allowed the variety of Canaanite idols in worship at temples throughout the northern kingdom. King Jeroboam neglected the poor. Amos was called to travel north to the temple in Bethel and deliver God’s message. Amos includes neighboring nations of idolatry but focuses on Israel. The injustices include allowing the poor to be sold into debt slavery and having deny them legal representation. Sound familiar? He reminds Israel of their deliverance from Egypt and how Israel had a great calling as well as a responsibility to God’s laws. He points out the hypocrisy of attending temples and making sacrifices while practicing cruel and unjust treatment to the poor and dispossessed. Amos calls on the people to “Let Justice flow like a river and righteousness like an unfailing stream”. Justice requires concrete actions to correct injustice, and righteousness is right relationships, or equity despite social differences. Amos experiences visions of Israel overcome by locusts, scorching fire and spoiled like overripe fruit. Amos sees God striking the idolatrous temple at Bethel and bringing it down. Once again the promise is made that God will restore the nation through a messianic king through the line of David. Amos draws the line between God’s judgement and his mercy
The Rewrite: Once again, the perils of collaborating with foreign powers is framed in this chapter as contributing to the eventual downfall of Gods chosen in the northern kingdom of Israel. When the northern kingdom begins to prosper from trade and cultural exchange with Assyria, it is viewed as a contaminating influence. Adultery. Eventually, Assyria dominates the northern territory. Who is to say what would have happened anyway to a prosperous region when a neighboring power lusts after it. Did the trade agreements really cause Yahweh to angrily destroy the nation, or did the national greed of a sprawling neighborhood empire just expand because it could?
Obadiah
The shortest book of the Bible, Obadiah focuses on the eastern nation of Edom. Edom has a shared family ancestry to Israelites. The son of Abraham, Isaac, had two sons, Jacob and Esau. If you will remember. Isaac’s wife, Rebecca, favored the younger son Jacob, and she helped him steal the birthright from Esau, the elder son. Issac was fooled into thinking Jacob was Esau because of a rough animal skin that Rebecca provided to Jacob. Issac was blind and too feeble to notice. Jacob’s family became the nation of Judah and Esau’s family became the nation of Edom. Hard feelings persist between the brothers throughout the ages. Their family bond was further shattered by Edom’s participation in helping Babylon overrun and destroy Jerusalem. During Babylon’s violent conquest, Edom plundered surrounding cities. murdered and took captive some of the refugees. Obadiah accuses Edom of pride and self exaltation. They literally lived high in the eastern desert rocks. Obadiah predicts that God will do to them what they have done to the Israelites. Obadiah shifts his prediction to all nations as he sees the God of Israel holding all prideful nations responsible and he will bring his justice down upon them as well as restore all nations to the glory of his kingdom. The word Edom is closely related to Adam (humanity).
The Rewrite: Brother against brother and the tragic results. Think WWI and the egomaniacal dispute between cousins. Grudges have consequences, and in most cases, everybody loses. The lesson of Obadiah is to stop the tradition of monarchies and family anointed power structures. Holy ceremonies do not always render competence. They usually cast innocent people into family quarrels that end in violence.
Jonah
God calls on Jonah to go to the pagan Assyrian city of Nineveh and preach his word. Jonah declines and decides to go the exact opposite way and ends up on a ship going west. He falls asleep while a great storm takes place and the pagan sailors realize there is a supreme power at work and they throw the dice to figure out the problem. They realize Jonah is the problem. Jonah admits he has betrayed God’s commandment and requests the sailors kill him, which they regretfully do by throwing him overboard. Jonah is swallowed by a big fish and after he admits he is grateful for God not abandoning him, the fish barfs him up on dry land. Jonah predicts 40 days until Nineveh is overturned. Overturned can also mean transformed. Jonah is half hearted with his reproach to Nineveh. Nevertheless, after a very short sermon, the King, the people and even the cows prostrate themselves before God. Jonah can see that God will likely forgive because God is compassionate, altogether too compassionate. He believes the Ninevites should suffer, rather than be redeemed. Jonah states he would rather die than live with a God who forgives his enemies. God does respond to his complaint by asking Jonah if his anger is justified. Jonah says “yes”. Jonah leaves the city and sits on a hill outside the city to observe what happens. While he is there God provides a viny plant that shades him and shields him from the heat of the day, but he also provides a worm that eats the leaves providing that shade. So once again Jonah asks to die and God asks the same question, “Is your anger justified?” This book really asks the reader the question if we are okay with God loving our enemies. God forgives the Jonah inside of us, the one that is resentful that God loves Attn. General William Barr just as much as he does us.
The Rewrite: Count yourself lucky if you ever get a chance to love your enemy. Nothing will control you after you have the skill of giving hateful words back to the one who spewed them, or hateful actions back to the person who committed the actions. Injustice is all around us, and once you experience your enemy having won some type of victory over you, it is a heavy smoldering fire of discontent within your spirit and physical body. But carrying around this type of anger can destroy you. Anne Lamont states that hating your enemy is like drinking rat poison and expecting your enemy to die.
My brother was killed by a late night customer as he was closing his gas station. My mother never recovered. My father, a Methodist minister, once visited the mother of the man who murdered his son, my brother. He felt great compassion for her, because she had a greater loss. He said the black hole of the acts of this man belonged to him, and felt the mother of this man must have great despair.
I do not understand why African Americans don’t rise up and torture and kill us for all of the disgusting crimes and suffering we have committed against them over the last two hundred years. It makes me sick every time a young African American man or woman is killed at the hands of law enforcement – and sicker when white Americans turn away from it. Maybe we don’t own slaves anymore, but we live in a house built by slaves, and it ruins our collective peace to witness the racism running rampant in our country. Where is God when hateful people get away with murder?
Micah
Micah echoes prior prophetic warnings to both Israel and Judah about their rebellion and injustice. He predicts their destruction but like prior prophets also offers the hope of God’s promises for a future messiah and blessing to all nations. He describes the corruption as leaders who become wealthy through theft and greed, like King Ahab stealing a vineyard. Evil prophets offer God’s protection for those that can afford it, and the government rules by bribery.
The laws of the Torah are ignored. Even though the destruction is unavoidable, God is like a shepherd who will regather his flock and bring them back to good pastures. Micah summarizes his message: “God has told you what is good, and what is required of you: to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
The Rewrite: It continues to this day, the absurd notion that some people are the “chosen” and other perfectly decent people are deemed irrelevant to the short and recent history of the hominid. Our human history just repeats itself like the story of Israel. Our destruction will outlast our existence, taking much of the life of the planet with us. Such a predictable plight is captured in the various books of the prophets. We are beautiful dreamers, unable to grasp the whole of the universe and our irrelevance. One day the planet itself will be swallowed by our sun, so there is simply no need to glorify our short visit here on earth. The children gunned down in our schools are the child sacrifice we are willing to take to indulge our fear of each other. It is so clear that while we stock up on military weapons, we will likely die of thirst. This is the false promise of the Old Testament. There will come a time when we are not forgiven.
Nahum
The book of Nehum predicted (or reported) the conquest of Israel by Assyrian rule, their cruelty and oppression, followed by the violent Babylonia conquest of Assyria. The cycle of human struggle for domination through violence repeats itself through history. The book describes the seeds that any nation plants when they aggressively attack other nations and innocent people are victimized. Violence begets violence. The message that Nahum presents is that “The Lord is Good, a refuge in the day of distress. He cares for those who take refuge in him.”
The Rewrite: There is no reason for me personally to object to the religious beliefs of the various Christian sects, but their evangelizing is different. Stop it. It is wrong to scare young children in believing in heaven and hell while denying climate change science because someone politicians have reassured you that God will intervene for the loyal believers, and all you have to do to believe. No you need to be more pragmatic that that. You need to recycle and regard your carbon lifestyle for what it is, your cruel overlord.
Habakkuk
Habakkuk is living in the southern kingdom of Judah and laments the injustice and idolatry. He can see the coming threat of Babylon. He questions “If God is Good, why is there so much evil in the world?” The book contains poems of lament much like in the book of Psalms. Habakkuk implores God to do something now about the neglect of the Torah, the injustice and the corrupt leaders, but nothing seems to change. God answers by saying he will send Babylon to destroy Jerusalem. Habakkuk can hardly believe this answer, saying that “Babylon is even worse than Israel!!” God then instructs Habakkuk to record or write down on a tablet dictating the eventual justice that will come even to Babylon and all nations that practice violence and injustice. He said the “righteous will continue to live by their faith”. The woes that describe the evil nations include; 1) Unjust economic practices, 2) Slave labor, dehumanization 3) The abuse of alcohol and depravity while people suffer 4) Idolatry, specifically of power, money and national security. These conditions are not unique to Babylon and most nations deteriorate to Babylon. The coming relief is described as a future Exodus, a great coming of God who will destroy evil and restore all nations. In the end we are invited into a world of faith no matter what dire circumstances we find ourselves in.
The Rewrite: In this rewrite, we need to be more realistic. We will fail in our species survival until we recognize our failure to understand our common good, respect our differences, regulate capitalism, escape disinformation channels, and have reliable justice.
Zephaniah
Zephaniah is also a prophet in the last days of Judah. King Josiah had tried to reform the people by introducing the lost book of the laws of the Torah, but had failed and the people continued their worship of many Gods. The book follows the same story of a depraved nation, specifically the leaders, priests, scribes and the lending elite. He predicts the coming apocalypse and the rebuilding of all nations. Zephaniah predicts all surrounding nations will fall as well. The burning fire purpose is to purify the nations. So the destruction will be a healing of all nations. God will celebrate humans with his song of exaltations.
The Rewrite: America, once a beacon of hope to those oppressed became the oppressor and now is infected with white male militias bent on a murderous overthrow of democracy. America will sacrifice her clean air and water to the overlords of consumerism and her children to the worship of military style weapons. Constitutional renders a minority rule structure and this is easily manipulate by those who know how to market an altered reality.
Haggai
Haggai is reporting on conditions following the return of the Israilites to Jerusalem from Babylon. Remember, Jerusalem had been destroyed by Babylon in 587 BCE and then Babylon had been conquered by the Persians (538 BCE). The Persian Kings were more tolerant of the Israeli people and allowed them to return to rebuild their temple (520 BCE). It is significant that the people now are referred to as “Judahites or Jews”. Haggai notices that the people are not prioritizing the rebuilding of the temple and instead they are busy building their own homes. He encourages them to re-prioritize. A month later, he notices the temple is still unimpressive and points out this is going to be the epicenter of the future return of the messiah and the temple should reflect a glorious place. He points out the prior laws of the Torah in Deuteronomy using the example of touching a dead body and then food, makes the food impure. He uses this example as a parable: If the people of Israel do not humble themselves before God, the temple will be impure as well.
The Rewrite: While we invest in the stock market and real estate, our primary concern is inflation, and our democracy is put to the side. We are building our private homes while the foundation of our democracy, our right to family planning, voting and education are left to decay.
Malachi
Malachi returns to Jerusalem about 100 years following the rebuilding of the second temple, and guess what? The people of Jerusalem have screwed up, again. They prove to be just as corrupt as their ancestors. Malachi describes the rebellious people by their idolatry and selfishness. God assures the people that despite how disappointed he is in them, he still loves them. Their response is what you would get from your teenager, “How have you shown your love?” scoff, scoff. God reminds them that he chose Jacob as his chosen people instead of Esau, who apparently is still a neighborhood problem for Israel. God notices they defile the temple by bringing very sick animals for sacrifice, and even the priests have grown lazy and corrupt. God accuses the men of treachery against him and their wives. They have married pagan wives and adopted their Gods, and they divorce their wives for no good reason. There may be some good reasons on the wives part, who knows.
The people complain that God has neglected them. God responds by the familiar promise that a messenger will come before the Day of the Lord. Only the faithful remnant will survive. (Just wait till your Dad comes home.) God requires the people to turn back to him by tithing 1/10th of their earnings. You have to have some understanding of their reluctance if the priests are corrupt, but anyway, God can see the temple has fallen into disrepair and would like this remedied. The people also complain it is pointless to live by God’s laws because they see wicked, prideful, selfish people getting by with their behavior and actually prospering. God responds with a story about how small groups of people can get together and honor God and commit to the sacred life. God orders a scroll of remembrance so that the people can remember their history, remember God’s character and promises. Once again the coming Day of the Lord is described as a purifying fire, and the celebration of the faithful remnant will experience new life and joy.
Finally the reader is called to remember the laws of the Torah. God will send the prophet Elijah before the Day of the Lord, who will restore the hearts of God’s people.
The Rewrite: I don’t think Yahweh’s prince messiah is coming home. I think he drinks and who can blame him. The Day of the Lord is a human self-fulfilling prophecy. Any fool can see we are fouling our own nest. We are on our own, magical thinking, superstitious beliefs are getting in the way of facing the reality of Ecclesiastes. Life is smoke.
Humans have plenty of resources to transform our base nature of power seeking, cheating, lying and glorifying false Gods if we choose. We have teachings from all religious disciplines that repeat the obvious; be kind to ourselves and each other. It is never a perfect discipline, but with practice, it will change everything. Can we just start with watching the words that issue out of our mouths? The arc of justice has to start with listening including the what surrounds an assumption. It is much less embarrassing to self correct than have your friends and family have to do so. What would it be like to live during a time of peace and prosperity for all and on a thriving planet still competitive but interdependent?
Somedays I am grateful, somedays selfish and fearful. My worried mind is about our children surviving our bad faith, our lack of connection to each other, our past patterns that seem inescapable. These are times when it is easy to throw stones, to undermine those doing good, and to maliciously mislead the vulnerable to degrade our union, world wide. Obviously I have done this in my re-write. It is frustrating to see the seeds of suffering continue to sprout through authoritarianism, racism and excessive greed for power. We can only save ourselves, but through this action plant a seed of regeneration. Please accept this rewrite of the Old Testament.
References
References: The Bible Unearthed, archaeology’s New Vision of the Ancient Israel and the Origin of its Sacred Texts, by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman, 2001
YouTube: https://youtu.be/cW-LV84c_O8