Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Greetings, dear ones.

It’s cold, clear, and pretty. The signs of Spring are upon us. What a wonderful display of the Creator’s handiwork!

Once again, Becki and I discussed the rough draft of this devotional this morning before I brought it to the form it has below. Wish you could have joined us so you could contribute your two cents worth. But then, inflation would probably kick that up to about fifty cents. Anyway, when I made one of my last statements to her, she responded, “Hey, you should use that as your quote.” That took me back. But then I thought about it and reasoned “Well, why not?”, so I did. So, supporting a composition by Ray Sparre is a quote by Ray Sparre. Hmm. I’m not sure that sounds very convincing. I guess you’ll just have to judge its validity for yourself. So, what else is new?

Another long list awaits my attention. May the Lord authentically bless you today.

Love, Dad/Ray.

Are you ready for more STUPID? It gets about as ugly as ugly can get. I had no fun with this reading. It’s more like having a perverse nightmare, or being forced to watch a horror movie (something like a chainsaw massacre) on a big screen with high definition. I’m struggling to find inspiration to help me recover from the melancholy of it all. At least I better understand the significance of chapter 17 that describes the spiritual degeneration of this guy named Micah, and his goofed-up private priest. It serves to reveal a kind of seedbed for the terrible stuff that unfolds in these next three chapters. I lost count of all the violent deaths, but if we take everything into account, there had to be over 100,000. Mind boggling! And it’s all because of STUPID—back-slidden idolatry, moral debauchery (a gay agenda), and resulting civil war.

There may be some who will squirm with my take on processing Bible passages like this one. But personally, I don’t really believe everything the way it’s presented. By that, I don’t really believe that the Israeli army uniting to punish the Benjamites received an authentic word from the LORD as indicated in the FOCUS VERSE. They may have gone through some religious ceremonies and exercises—they may have “prayed about it” before “drawing straws” (“casting lots”), but the outcome makes me smell something very fishy. While the troops of Judah led the charge as they had presumed was God’s will, the Benjamites then inflicted 22,000 casualties on Israel!

My own Bible-based opinion is this: GOD GETS BLAMED FOR LOTS OF STUFF HE DIDN’T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH. And the universal flaws of human nature that keep contaminating the work of God makes that thesis as valid today as it was then.

There is something glaring in this reading that is not in the text. It’s conspicuous by its absence. That is, there is no indication that anyone in the whole fiasco possessed anything akin to a HEART AFTER GOD. So here’s the bottom line principle of life as I believe the Sovereign Lord wants to impart with authenticity—verified by a Biblical overview in general and this passage in particular: IF YOU WILL INSIST ON GOING YOUR OWN WAY IN RESISTANCE TO A HEART AFTER GOD, YOU ARE ENTIRELY ON YOUR OWN. I WILL ONLY GUARANTEE THAT THE END RESULT WILL NOT BE PRETTY.