Poetic Justice from the Throne Room

There are times when I am listening to the Sunday School lesson that a verse jumps out at me or something the teacher says connects to something I have read in my Bible. The following resulted from a single verse heard in the adult Bible class on a Sunday morning. My revelation had absolutely nothing to do with the lesson that morning.

To understand you have to read Lev. 27:1-34, which I have copied below for your convenience. Basically, the verses relate how the priest were to establish the value of a person, animal, or possession in order to redeem them.

1. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 

2. Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When a man shall make a 

singular vow, the persons shall be for the Lord by thy estimation. 

3. And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. 

4. And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. 

5. And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 

6. And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. 

7. And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels. 

8. But if he be poorer than thy estimation, then he shall present himself before the priest, and the priest shall value him; according to his ability that vowed shall the priest value him. 

9. And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord, all that any man giveth of such unto the Lord shall be holy. 

10. He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy. 

11. And if it be any unclean beast, of which they do not offer a sacrifice unto the Lord, then he shall present the beast before the priest: 

12. And the priest shall value it, whether it be good or bad: as thou valuest it, who art the priest, so shall it be. 

13. But if he will at all redeem it, then he shall add a fifth part thereof unto thy estimation. 

14. And when a man shall sanctify his house to be holy unto the Lord, then the priest shall estimate it, whether it be good or bad: as the priest shall estimate it, so shall it stand. 

15. And if he that sanctified it will redeem his house, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be his. 

16. And if a man shall sanctify unto the Lord some part of a field of his possession, then thy estimation shall be according to the seed thereof: an homer of barley seed shall be valued at fifty shekels of silver. 

17. If he sanctify his field from the year of jubilee, according to thy estimation it shall stand. 

18. But if he sanctify his field after the jubilee, then the priest shall reckon unto him the money according to the years that remain, even unto the year of the jubilee, and it shall be abated from thy estimation. 

19. And if he that sanctified the field will in any wise redeem it, then he shall add the fifth part of the money of thy estimation unto it, and it shall be assured to him. 

20. And if he will not redeem the field, or if he have sold the field to another man, it shall not be redeemed any more. 

21. But the field, when it goeth out in the jubilee, shall be holy unto the Lord, as a field devoted; the possession thereof shall be the priest's. 

22. And if a man sanctify unto the Lord a field which he hath bought, which is not of the fields of his possession; 

23. Then the priest shall reckon unto him the worth of thy estimation, even unto the year of the jubilee: and he shall give thine estimation in that day, as a holy thing unto the Lord. 

24. In the year of the jubilee the field shall return unto him of whom it was bought, even to him to whom the possession of the land did belong. 

25. And all thy estimations shall be according to the shekel of the sanctuary: twenty gerahs shall be the shekel. 

26. Only the firstling of the beasts, which should be the Lord's firstling, no man shall sanctify it; whether it be ox, or sheep: it is the Lord's. 

27. And if it be of an unclean beast, then he shall redeem it according to thine estimation, and shall add a fifth part of it thereto: or if it be not redeemed, then it shall be sold according to thy estimation. 

28. Notwithstanding no devoted thing, that a man shall devote unto the Lord of all that he hath, both of man and beast, and of the field of his possession, shall be sold or redeemed: every devoted thing is most holy unto the Lord. 

29. None devoted, which shall be devoted of men, shall be redeemed; but shall surely be put to death. 

30. And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord's: it is holy unto the Lord. 

31. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof. 

32. And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the Lord. 

33. He shall not search whether it be good or bad, neither shall he change it: and if he change it at all, then both it and the change thereof shall be holy; it shall not be redeemed. 

34. These are the commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.

One must remember that the Bible is filled with connections which at first glance do not appear related at all. For example, it is interesting to note here that the price paid to Judas for betrayal was the redemption price of a woman between the ages of 20 and 60. This is symbolically an insult to Jesus. The high priest would not even pay the price of a man.

My revelation came at verse 28: Anything set apart by the Lord was considered Holy. A person specially set aside by God to be destroyed CAN'T be redeemed --> They MUST be put to death. Jesus was set apart by God to be destroyed. According to Levitical Law he was Holy and could not be redeemed. He had to bear the sins of the world; nothing could change his destiny.

But here is an irony. Judas went to the priest and HE set a value for Jesus life. By doing this a betrayer symbolically stepped into the office of the priest. What is even more shocking is that the Priest actually PAID the redemption price set by Judas and by doing so, they symbolically redeemed Jesus! Something the Law said they could not do! They became, again symbolically, the redeemers of the Savior and transgressors of the Law of Moses.

Poetic Justice from the Throne.

So Busy I Can't Think!

This blog has fallen by the way a bit. I've been spending an inordinate amount of time on the 360 blog. It is easier to post where you know people are reading! And I like my friends list there.

I've been working on my novel for fun "Hidden in the Mist". It is now over 38,000 words! I thought it would have died a painful death long ago. But I have decided to follow it to the end. I have closed it to the public and it is only by invitation now. I am considering doing my next project the same way. This is a good way to get input on my draft. Other eyes see what I miss!

I am also gearing up for the National November Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). This is where you write a novel of 50,000 in 30 days. The only prize is the satisfaction of doing it. I tried last year and reached about 35,000 words. I was frustrated I didn't make it but I am looking forward to trying again. I did get a good start to a new story so even though I didn't reach the stated goal; I reached a goal of sorts.

I will have a writing buddy this year, I think. Chris from my 360 blog says she wants to try it. It will be nice to have someone to commiserate with! If you are into personal challenges, please look at the the NaNoWriMo site.

Michael had an MRI and EEG this past Tuesday. If you check the 360 blog you will find a post explain why this occurred. He had some kind of seizure a few weeks ago and we don't exactly know what caused it or if it will happen again. The test this week looked ok they said but they want another in 3 months.

I'm not closing this blog down. I just haven't had the time to do two at once. There are still things I like about it, but it needs a few tweaks. I'd like to put up my own wallpaper but don't know how.

One Minute of Your Life

I don't usually forward many items because I know   a lot of people hate to get forwards. I received the item at the end of this from an email friend and felt it had potential. I do not know if the information is true. However, if it isn't, it should be.

I believe we are at a pivotal time in history. The potential for anything to happen is very real. If you feel no concern, you should. But to feel concern without courageous and honorable action, is a waste of time. To be complacent and put your faith in politics and weapons of war, is foolishness. I am not a preacher and I am not an evangelist seeking converts. I am telling people that unless we wake up as a nation, as a single people unified under a banner of truth and righteousness, we are in trouble.

I put no faith in the abilities of any human being to resolve the problems facing us today. But I do know AND believe that as the prophet said, " If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land." 2 Chro. 7:14.

There is an Almighty God waiting to hear from people who want to call Him "Lord". He will answer the prayer of those people if we simply pray with the right attitude. Please note that there are several key contingencies to this prayer: we must humble ourselves - we aren't special or deserving of favor, we must seek his face - actively looking for him, sincerely desiring his favor, pray and THEN turn from our wicked ways - repent our foolish attitudes, behavior, and ideals and let go of the things that    weigh us down, that ensnare us and degrade us as people.

I can't describe what we have become in my lifetime. As a nation we have abandoned the values that made this a place that every person on earth wanted to live. They respected our values and envied our lifestyles. Now, they envy our wealth and despise us. What a change in   perspective that is. There are more broken homes, broken people, more abused children, and more perverted values than ever before and we still believe we are just fine. We are not. And now, we stand poised over an abyss.

But perhaps there is hope. If we can reach Heaven, if one voice as many waters can be heard, something will happen. I believe it. If you would be a voice, join this call to prayer. It is one minute of your life that may change your world and mine.

ONE MINUTE EACH NIGHT
           In WWII, there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every night at a prescribed hour for one minute    to collectively pray for the safety of England, its people and peace.  This had an amazing effect as bombing stopped.
           There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America.  If    you would like to participate: each evening at 9:00 PM Eastern Time (8:00 PM Central, 7:00 PM Mountain, 6:00 PM Pacific), stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens and for peace in the world.
           If you know anyone who would like to participate, please pass this along.   Someone said if people really understood the full extent of the power we have available through prayer, we might be speechless.  Our prayers are the most powerful asset we have.
 Thank You.   Please pass this on to anyone who you think will participate.

Trying to Keep It Together

It has been a trying month. For more info here check the 360 site. Suffice it to say it has caught up with me. I am exhausted and depressed. The two usually do go hand in hand where I am concerned. When I get tired, I get depressed. I am going to try and get some real rest tonight.

David and Becca moved into their apartment. I hope everything will go well for them now. If he will just get that GED so he can get better jobs. He now thinks he wants to join the Coast Guard but they won't take GED's. I told him get the GED and take a college math and college English class. That will effectively get people to look past the GED. Who knows, he may find he likes education.

Right.

I'm not going to have a bowl of ice cream and go to bed.

Happy 4th of July, America! I love you.


By dixiegirl at 2007-07-01

Passing Through on the Way to the Shower

I wandered in again and decided to post something. I have finally managed to get the house refinanced. This will save me thousands in interest and eliminate two payments totaling $275 a month. It will only raise my house payment by about $60. But even it it was more, the interest on the second mortgage and on my credit card were over 100 a month. I feel I can breath a bit now.

Of course, the middle east will get a hefty cut of my pay as gas has not hit the $3.00 mark in Southern Indiana. How stupid that our country can't find an alternative fuel source. We would not need their oil. Of course, when politicians have their fingers in the oil pie, we don't dare bake another pie.

I'm headed for the shower after which I hope to clean my desk and sit down for me time. It hasn't been a good day off. Well, there is Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday to make up for it. We shall see.

Tomorrow we have bi-lingual service at church. We have some hispanic families coming and some of them speak no English. They are very nice. I've been trying to brush up on the Spanish from my college days. . . 10 years ago! Actually, I know a lot of words but stringing them together in a coherent sentence needs lots of work.

Back again soon. The shower beckons.