Category: Solomon Says

A generic “Calvinist” reading of Deuteronomy is straightforward: At the time that Moses preached the text to Israel either many were unfaithful or following generations soon would be. This unfaithfulness can be best be understood as involving a large number of unregenerate Israelites. But Deuteronomy promises that God will one day cause Israel to be faithful, which probably means He will regenerate many of the Israelites at that time and in some number of subsequent generations.

This is from the out of print book The Law of the Covenant: An Exposition of Exodus 21-23 by James B. Jordan.

Hebrew law is public and addressed to all. Increasingly in our modern world, law has become a complicated, esoteric matter which can be understood only by lawyers. This is a trend away from Hebrew-Christian law, which is simple and public. In the ancient world, both cultic and judicial laws were often hidden from the people, but in Israel the law was to be read to everyone, every seven years (Deuteronomy 31:10-13). Moreover, since the law is addressed to everybody, not just to rulers and Priests (indeed, Israel was a “nation of priests”), ” everyone is held personally responsible for the observance of the law. This leads, in turn, to the concept of individual and joint responsibility. No longer is it the sole concern of the leader of the community ( e g, the king in Mesopotamia) to maintain justice and to protect the rights of his community. This responsibility is now shared by every member of the society…” [M. Shalom Paul, studies in the book of the Covenant in the light of cuneiform and Biblical Law. Supplements so Vetus Testamentum XVIII (Leiden: E. J. Brill), p. 38].

Because God’s law is publicly addressed to everyone, it has a strongly pedagogical (teaching) function. Thus… Israelite law differs from heathen law and that it has motivations included in it…

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This is the time of year for the diet, fitness, and financial industries to advertise for a new crop of customers. Most will use the “superstition” of New Year’s resolutions as a draw. But some will have too much integrity, and, while they will offer their services for 2021, they will make a point of conceding there is nothing magical about a New Year’s resolution.

I disagree. While I understand that people are trying to be honest and helpful when they deny the magic of resolutions, when they work it does indeed seem like magic.

Sin is a human behavior.

Maybe it would help us, if we have a general agenda to reduce our own sin, to think about what we know about general human behavior.

[GET THE BOOK]

When we practice behaviors they become easier. When a child learns to tie his shoe, he gets to the point that he doesn’t have to think about it. In fact, if you told someone, “I want you to really pay attention to how you tie your shoes,” the only observable result would be that they would do the task more slowly than usual. It is a step backwards. The normal way we do things is to start slow and make mistakes. As we develop our skill, we get faster and yet stop making as many mistakes.

Much controversy was occasioned in the debate over the proper confessions of the incarnation and the Trinity in the early centuries of the Church by Wisdom’s portrayal in Proverbs 8: “The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth…” (vv.22, 23). The Arians used this passage to ague that Jesus was merely a created being rather than eternally God with the Father and the Spirit.

But the puzzle would arise even without the question of the person of Jesus. Obviously, God was not foolish before he created the world. Wisdom is an attribute of God. So why would Solomon portray Wisdom as a first act of creation.

[This was originally posted at Kuyperian.com.]

As I was writing my book on Proverbs, I made a point to not mention certain things. One of those things was my ischemic stroke.

Wait a minute, Mark. You were writing a book on Proverbs. Proverbs! What could your stroke have to do with anything? Why would you even think of it?

I had reasons, but the worry that people would find such a discussion outlandish and perhaps decide I was looking for an excuse to write about myself, outweighed them.

Recently, I got James Clear’s valuable book, Atomic Habits, from the library.  In the introduction, Clear begins by recounting his high school experience dealing with a life-threatening brain injury. He describes what was involved in his recovery as an entry-way into his learning the importance of acquiring productive habits.

I don’t think the implications of the stewardship parables (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:11-27) are widely appreciated. The servants aren’t judged according to how well they obeyed “orders.” They were never given any specific commands other than try to multiply what they had been entrusted with. And the unfaithful servant wasn’t judged for not doing enough, but for maligning his master to his face and refusing to do anything at all with what he was given.

I’ve written elsewhere on “toxic masculinity” in Proverbs. I’ve also suggested that Proverbs concludes with a warning against Solomon’s foolishness in multiplying wives. I didn’t apply the term “toxic masculinity” to the folly that Solomon committed, but it might be appropriate. Male rulers prove themselves super-powerful (they think) by a large collection of wives.

To see how this is revealed in Scripture, let’s start with David.

First Samuel 25 is a story of David set between his two refusals to take Saul’s life in chapters 24 and 26. These were admirable actions. But the story of Nabal, Abigail, and David is more ambiguous.