Holy Winds

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Genesis 1:1-2

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.

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Call me the breeze
I keep blowin' down the road
Well now they call me the breeze
I keep blowin' down the road

"Call Me the Breeze" by J. J. Cale, recorded by Lynyrd Skinner from "Second Helping"

My favorite word in the Hebrew language is Ruach. There is an airy quality to the word that is appropriate because it means wind and breath. When you pronounce it, ru-aaaaach (heavy on the "a" light on the "ch") it sounds breathy, positively ethereal. It also means Spirit. So that wind from God that swept over the face of the waters is in truth the Holy Spirit of God.

Gotta love the breeze that creates, it continues to create, it keeps blowin' down the road. Even after six days of active creation of stuff and a seventh day where Sabbath is created, the breeze moves on down the road and continues the amazing work of God in all creation.

In Genesis, the breeze that blows across the waters, this breath of God, this spirit is imparted just before the light is created. It is the breath that blows across the chaos, across the darkness, across the void. This is the breath that precedes life. This is the breath that gives life to all creation.

This is the wind that comes off of the water in the morning. It’s the cool breeze that brings the dew to fall on the grass. It’s the summer breeze that rustles the leaves in the trees and tells us that all is right in the world. It is the Spirit that reminds us that God is in charge and regardless of the chaos of the world around us, it is the Spirit that says Emmanuel, God is with us.

The wind that blows across the waters of the formless void makes the form of our lives. And still, this wind calls us to listen and believe. When we stop listening to the word of God, when we quit feeling the breath of the Lord blowing across our faces, across our lives, we are not able to respond according to the Word. We instead pay attention to the words we hear from other voices.

When we stop listening to the voice of God, when we stop feeling the breeze on our faces and in our lives we stop forgiving and start retianing other’s sins. When we hear other voices, we do not hear the blessing of the Lord, “Peace to you.”

Temptation and Redemption

2Samuel 11:1-3(NRSV)

In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel with him; they ravaged the Ammonites, and besieged Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

It happened, late one afternoon, when David rose from his couch and was walking about on the roof of the king’s house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; the woman was very beautiful. David sent someone to inquire about the woman. It was reported, “This is Bathsheba daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite.”

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OPP, how can I explain it
I'll take you frame by frame it
To have y'all jumpin' shall we singin' it
O is for Other, P is for People scratchin' temple
The last P, well, that's not that simple

"O.P.P." written by Alphonso James Mizell, Freddie Perren, Deke Richards, Berry Gordy, Jr Anthony Shawn Criss, Keir Lamont Gist, and Vincent E. Brown; recorded by Naughty by Nature

Anybody who doesn't know that parts of the bible could make Soap Opera stars blush doesn't know the bible very well. This is one of the stories we learn because it is so sordid. King David should have been out in the field with the troops; it was the time of year when kings went out to battle, but David was not. So he sees this really hot woman and he has to have her.

First lesson: Don't pin this one on the woman. Bathsheba did not have a real choice in the matter. She could either go to David or she could die for disobeying by not going to the king. These are her choices. "Appealing to the better nature" of an ancient king was not in the cards.

David calls her knowing Bathsheba is the wife of Uriah the Hittite. The adultery is not hers, he faces his temptation by thinking below the waist. What follows is not on her head. This is why I don't highlight the second verse of this song where the woman is blamed for her part in the indiscretion. In this case she is without blame.

So she goes as called and she becomes pregnant.

David connives several ways to try to get out of his adultery. To David's frustration, Uriah the Hittite remains honorable to his king and his men in the field and does not partake in the comforts of home, if you know what I mean.

David finally to free himself from his shame gets Uriah killed in battle. David all but kills Uriah himself. The prophet Nathan discerns this and calls David on his sin. Nathan tells David of the consequences of his sin too, Bathsheba will miscarry.

This is what happens when you fool with O.P.P.

Yet ultimately, this relationship begun in sin will bear fruit and good fruit too. David and Bathsheba will have a child. They have a son and name him Solomon. The wisest of all the kings of Israel; it will be Solomon builds the Lord's temple.

This is not an encouragement to go and sin so you can bear a wise son, that's probably a one time only thing. What this does show, that temptation exists. Seeking deliverance from evil is the better way to live.

Yet, through the work of the Lord, the sins of the people can be redeemed for God's purpose. God is sovereign, God is in control, even when we're out of control.

The Hunter and the Hunted

Song suggested by Marie Andresen. An assist goes to the Reverend George Pabst for getting the ball rolling on this entry.


Matthew 7:15

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves."

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Burning the ground I break from the crowd
I'm on the hunt I'm after you
Scent and a sound, I'm lost and I'm found
And I'm hungry like the wolf

"Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran

Let's face it, as words in the English language go, ravenous doesn't get nearly enough play. When was the last time you used it in a sentence or in a conversation? It's been a long, long time. Honestly though, just as soon as the word came up on the page, images of that wolf separating the weak from the herd, isolating the prey, and springing for the kill take center stage in the imagination.

When it's used there is no question about its intent. Sure it deals with hunger, but there is also more than a little menace in the word. Ravenous, it's hungry turned mean. So when I hear "Hungry Like the Wolf" there's a lot going on in that little phrase.

The wolf hunts. The wolf goes for the weak. The wolf separates the young from the mother. The wolf snaps its jaws shut around the head of the lamb and scats off to consume its prey. Let's face it, the food chain, the circle of life, they're brutal.

So in biblical times the wolf was not seen as a particularly noble beast. In a society of shepherds you could hardly associate a hunter of the weak as noble. Particularly when your society is the weak and all around you are the big bad wolf.

Using this image, Jesus warns us, beware the false prophets. They come upon us disguised as one of us. They seem to want the same things, but what they truly want is to devour and destroy what God has created.

They wait and they bide their time. They're on the hunt. They're after us. They follow the scent and the sound of the young and the unsure. They also are on the scent and the sound of those who are too sure of themselves too. Those who are overconfident and those who have nothing to be confident about are just the sort of people the wolf hunts. The wolf hunts both the lost and the found.

So beware false prophets. Test the spirits. Matthew teaches that only the good trees can produce good fruit, fruit worthy of helping us grow physically and in faith. We won't find good grapes among the thorns so we shouldn't rely on good words from ravenous wolves. Don't rely on feelings to help judge the spirits either, because false prophets can infiltrate those too. Seek first the kingdom of God. It is the things of God that will satisfy us with good food and not make us fodder for the ravenous wolf.