Tag: wicked

To Judge

Posted on by jovial_cynic

And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.
Genesis 19:9 (NKJV)

The ancient Hebrew uses double-words for emphasis.

When the wicked men of Sodom accuse Lot of acting as judge, they use a double-word structure. This phrase never appears anywhere else in the scripture.

וַיִּשְׁפֹּט שָׁפוֹט – vayyishpot shafot

“And he judged, judging.”

The root word שָׁפַט “shafat,” meaning “to judge,” first appears in Genesis 16:5, when Sarai says to Abram, “may God judge between you and me.”

The next is when Abraham pleads with God: “won’t the Judge of the earth do rightly?”

And then it’s here, in double-emphasis.

In the first instance, Sarai is claiming the moral high ground, using a phrase reserved for someone willing to stand before God in her accusation against her husband.

In the second instance, Abraham addresses God’s own moral high ground, appealing to God’s righteousness and God’s unique ability to render judgement rightly in light of mercy.

So when the text shows us that men of Sodom use this word, we are shown an irony.

In the same way “yadah” (to know) has been corrupted, so has “shafat” (to judge). Because there is nothing to judge at this point.

The word shafat presents a picture of someone deciding who is wrong and who is right. The “judge,” or law-giver applies wisdom to examine the evidence and make the determination when there is disagreement, or when it’s hard to tell due to limited evidence.

But the readers have already been told that the men of Sodom are wicked; judgement has already been established back in Genesis 13:13.

But the men of Sodom were exceedingly wicked and sinful against the Lord.
Genesis 13:13 (NKJV)

The men of Sodom calling Lot a judge is irony for the reader.

The Righteous

Posted on by jovial_cynic
There’s a teaching in Christianity that says “none are righteous,” and it’s pulled from Romans 3, which quotes from either Psalm 14 or Psalm 53 (they’re almost identical).

The thing is… the scriptures refer to people being “righteous” all the time.

Noah, Abraham, David… and though Jesus spoke Aramaic, our bibles record this greek word δίκαιος (dikaios) to describe “righteous Abel” in Matthew 23:35, and it’s the same word that Paul uses in Romans 3.

What are we supposed to learn from this?

For starters, this seems to provide pushback against “I’m-a-worthless-worm” theology, unless there’s some odd subclass of “righteous-worm” that’s hidden in the text.

And actually, if you go back and read the Psalms mentioned above, you’ll notice something important.

But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
for God is present in the company of the righteous.
You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is their refuge.
Psalm 14:5-6 (NIV)

David doesn’t say that “nobody is righteous.” He’s identifying a corrupt and wicked people, and they are distinct from the righteous people who are identified in Psalm 14:5-6.

Psalm 14:4 calls the wicked people “workers of injustice,” and when you read Psalm 14 in the context of the wickedness of Genesis 6 and Genesis 18, you’ll start to see parallels. There’s a description of a growing tide of wickedness and oppression that covers everything.

In the case of the Psalm, David is obviously not including himself in the definition of the wicked fools who say “there is no god.”

Likewise, though “the whole world is wicked” in Genesis 6, Noah is singled out. In the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot is singled out.

There’s a rabbinical teaching that says “a single righteous person could save the rest of the world,” and I think this can be derived from seeing that in the case of the flood, Noah was hidden away, leaving none. In the case of Sodom, Lot was led away, leaving none.

When Abraham asks if God would spare the cities for the sake of 10 righteous people, I think the teaching is that God would have spared the cities if there was even one who remained. Removing Lot brought the number of righteous people down to zero.

Perhaps this understanding informs the parable of the Wheat/Weeds in Matthew 13:24-30. God won’t tear out the weeds and destroy the wicked so long as there is even a single stalk of wheat growing in it.

In the Psalm, David calls these wicked people “fools” who say in their hearts, “there is no god.”

David isn’t making a statement about atheists. The description of the “fools” here are the specifically wicked who commit injustice, devour God’s people, and afflict the poor.

This absolutely (and specifically) includes people who loudly proclaim God’s laws and the existence of God, but who believe *in their hearts* that there is no God. This is hypocricy. And this is precisely what Paul was talking about in Romans 2. That’s the whole context!

Now, before we get too comfortable with drawing lines around the righteous and the wicked, I suspect that Jesus is saying something very particular when He warns against calling anyone a “fool.”

But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.
Matthew 5:22 (NIV)

All this to say, I don’t believe Paul is teaching us to never consider anyone “righteous.” We have plenty of examples of righteous people in the Bible who serve as examples of faithfulness, and as examples of God’s faithfulness in them.

Be blessed!

Backwards

Posted on by jovial_cynic

When something is repeated in scripture, it might be because you are supposed to pay attention to it. Underline it. Highlight it.

I wondered why the text uses this word אֲחֹרַנִּית (ahoraneeth) twice in the same sentence. Backwards, or Reverse.

But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it on both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were [a]turned away, so that they did not see their father’s nakedness.
Genesis 9:23 (NASB)

[a] Lit backward

If you’ve followed along, you know that I have to chase these words down and try to find meaning in them and their usage in the text. Sometimes, this results in dead ends, but often it’s quite enlightening.

But sometimes, it gets very interesting…

One learning is that Genesis is full of spiritual versions of words that later are demonstrated in physical words.

Examples:
Good is the spiritual root of beautiful
Shame is the spiritual root of naked/uncovered

So we’re supposed to view them in a related way. This is the nature of parables.

The Genesis Ark is covered inside and out in “pitch,” and we later learn that this word is the same word used for “atonement.” In Exodus, when Moses is in the basket (same word: Ark), it’s also covered in “pitch,” but it’s the natural version of this word. But it’s linked.

And then there is the relationship between the Genesis Ark (“tayVah”) and the Exodus Ark (“ahRon”) of the Covenant. Same concept… except different words are used. One covered in pitch/atonement, the other covered in gold/purity. Sort of like our house vs God’s house? Maybe.

So anyhow, this word “backwards” appears here in Genesis 9, and the next time we see it is in 1 Samuel 4.

Samuel learns that his two wicked sons have died and that the Ark of the Covenant has been taken. In his shock, he falls backwards and dies.

Then the one who brought the news replied, “Israel has fled before the Philistines and there has also been a great defeat among the people, and your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas are also dead; and the ark of God has been taken.” When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell off the seat backward beside the gate, and his neck was broken and he died, for he was old and heavy. And so he judged Israel for forty years.
1 Samuel 4:17-18 (NASB)

Isn’t that interesting?

Eli has two wicked sons who die, and Noah has two good sons who are blessed. The Ark was taken away instead of God’s people exiting it. Eli falls backwards, breaks his neck, and is forever shamed in the text for being fat vs. the two good sons walking in backwards to protect Noah’s dignity to prevent further shame. These stories seem so connected.

Kind of weird, right? But stranger yet, we later have three back to back instances in Scripture that point to another set of “backwards.”

It’s when Elijah demonstrates the power of God to Hezekiah. He appears to reverse the clock, and then set it forward again by 10-degrees.

So Hezekiah said, “It is easy for the shadow to decline ten steps; no, but have the shadow turn backward ten steps.”
2 Kings 20:10 (NASB)

Then Isaiah the prophet called out to the Lord, and He brought the shadow on the stairway back ten steps by which it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.
2 Kings 20:11 (NASB)

Behold, I will make the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.
Isaiah 38:8 (NASB)

Incidentally, ten degrees by the sun-dial equates to… 40 minutes. And we’ve already learned that 40 = testing or trials. It represents a time of testing.

So here’s an interpretation:

Noah cursed Canaan instead of forgiving him. He thinks he has good reason for this: he wants vengeance.

We can choose vengeance (Noah’s way) or forgiveness (God’s way). There’s time to consider it – a time of testing where God makes the clock stand still. Through our forgiveness or acting out in wrath, we move the sun. We either move forward or backward. We create or destroy.

That’s what forgiveness and wrath do: they create and they destroy. They move creation forward or they undo it and send it back into chaos.

Perhaps we’re meant to see this and understand that time is connected to all of this. God is telling us how to move through time rightly.

The last, and possibly most important instance of “backwards” is in the center of the listings, in 1 Kings 18. This is when Elijah faces off against the prophets of Ba’al, when he calls down fire from heaven.

He prays that God turns the clock of hearts… “backwards.” Back to Him.

Answer me, Lord, answer me, so that this people may know that You, Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back.

—

And here’s another thought:

Based on these connections, I suspect Noah did not merely curse Canaan. He pummeled him with his fists.

Why?

Because Eli’s sons names are as follows:

Phinehas: – root meaning: mouth. This points to the curse from Noah’s mouth.

Hophni – root meaning: fist. This points to the physical beating from Noah’s hands.

Their deaths points to undoing all of Noah’s vengeance as God turns the clock back.

Totally Wicked

Posted on by jovial_cynic

But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each human being, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of another human being.
Genesis 9:4-5 (NIV)

Someone recently commented that God’s prohibition on eating meat with blood in it pointed to the pre-flood world being filled with people who literally ate other humans alive.

Maybe! The world was described as completely, totally wicked, and this certainly enters the imagination.