Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear ones.

Another day…another dollar. But I’m not quite sure which way the dollar is going…whether it’s coming in or going out.

After I press “SEND” I intend to take off on a little jog with Bimbo. Becki, of course, is too busy with two little boys to join us. It’s really too late for such an excursion, but, if I’m not careful, it will always be too late. Know what I mean?

Blessings on your adventure…your jog through the day.

Love, Dad/Ray.

One thing for sure—I don’t need Hollywood to feed me scenes of suspense, intrigue, espionage, violence, and war—all I need to do is read my Bible. Wow! There are some wild and grisly scenes in this reading. An 18-inch sword thrust through the gut of a fat man so that the handle is lost in the grease makes my own gut squirm (3:21). A battle of hand-to-hand combat where the Israeli warriors wipe out about ten thousand Moabite soldiers stimulates my own adrenalin (3:29). And the scene of a guy getting bashed in the head by a hammer-wielding woman while he is sleeping—followed by her pounding a big spike through his head—ouch! Although it’s early morning, I’m already kind of exhausted.

So what’s the point and purpose of all this ugly conflict? My own overview leads me to two ideas:

1. SIN IN GENERAL AND DISOBEDIENCE IN PARTICULAR. Attempting to deny the fallen NATURAL SIN NATURE of man allows no adequate explanation for all this stuff. To be sure, planet earth is not a safe environment for human habitation—because it is inhabited by humans. And because this particular group of humans (Israel) that has received so much divine attention and instruction for rising above their natural SIN-DROME (syndrome of sin), only to quickly and grossly disobey those instructions, this segment of history becomes a record of consequence and punishment.


2. A MEANS OF NATIONAL TESTING AND REFINING. Consider the FOCUS VERSE above. “They were left to test Israel…” The LORD specifically allowed enemies to remain right there in the land of promise to see if Israel would seek, trust, love, and obey Him or not. I’m inclined to discern a principle here that includes us, right where we are, today. Why else would the Sovereign LORD even allow the dirty devil and his influence to remain? If this really is an accurate observation, it follows that the entire drama of human history is, by divine intention, a testing ground to see if you and I (and everyone else) will seek, trust, love, and obey Him or not. Indeed, seeking Him brings unimaginable blessing while rejecting Him brings unimaginable consequence. Allow me to sign off with a profound word of contemplation—duh!