Relationships as Rules

In the West, rules must apply to everyone, and they must apply all the time. In the ancient world, rules did not seem to require such universal compliance. God announces about Ephraim: “Because of their sinful deeds, I will drive them out of my house. I will no longer love them” (Hos 9:15). Later he says, “How can I give you up, Ephraim?” (Hos 11:8). God’s judgment was influenced by his relationship with sinners (Hos 11:9–10). Exodus 12:40–49 explains that all males must be circumcised to eat Passover. Yet in Joshua 5:5–7, it is obvious the sons born during the wanderings had not been. If rules apply except when they don’t, then as Westerners perhaps we need more wisdom in discerning when they don’t. (We need help seeing the kairos for applying the rules; perhaps there really is a season for everything under the sun.)
 
Likewise, in the ancient world of the Bible (and in many non-Western cultures), rules did not necessarily apply to 100 percent of the people. The Israelites were clearly instructed that upon entering the Promised Land, every Israelite was to get an inheritance (land) and no Canaanites were (Josh 1). Yet the very next story is about a Canaanite who was given an inheritance, Rahab (Josh 2; 6). The story after that tells of the Israelite Achan, who was cut from his inheritance (Josh 7). The stories are woven together around the theme of sacrifices to the Lord. Everything captured was to be devoted (sacrificed) to the Lord. In Jericho, Rahab and her family were exceptions to the sacrifice. Because Achan kept some of the sacrificed things (gold) from Ai, he and his family were exceptions and were added to the sacrifice. By the way, did you notice the collectivist viewpoint? The deeds of Rahab were credited to her entire family. Likewise, the deeds of Achan were applied to his entire family. Before you begin to rail against the injustice of such group judgments, consider that we “have been crucified with Christ” (Gal 2:20): that is, the righteous work of Jesus is credited to his followers.
 

- E. Richards & Brandon J O'Brien, Misreading Scripture with Western Eyes: 

Removing Cultural Blinders to Better Understand the Bible, 2012.

Dealing with Hidden Sin

Sin is a reality with which we all must live. No one can escape the struggles we have with rebelling against God’s call on our lives (cf. Romans 3:10, 23). However, it is possible to choose whether one will vigorously fight the battle that wages against the flesh or not. The battle can be overwhelming, but it does not have to result in demoralizing defeat.
 
One, among many, devastating strategies of Satan, which is fed by our own shame, is to fight, or rather retreat, in silence. From the very beginning, sin resulted in hiding and shame as Adam and Eve hid from one another by covering themselves (cf. Genesis 3:7) and from the presence of the Lord in the garden by crouching among the trees (cf. Genesis 3:8). A similar type of “hiding” is also evidenced in the refusal to own the sin when confronted. What do Adam and Eve do when confronted? They blame-shift in order to direct the attention of the Lord away from self. They do not want to be “seen” in their sin so they justify it. The belief seems to be that, if the eyes of the Lord shift to the other and away from themselves, they can remain hidden. In either case the sin is avoided, hidden away, and not dealt with in an honest manner. Our natural tendency is to not deal with sin. Out of sight... out of mind... or is it?
 
The beauty of the cross is that we are clearly judged to be “sinners” but given a new identity as “redeemed,” “children of God,” and “joint heirs with Jesus Christ.” We do not have to hide our sin or justify it because Jesus has paid the penalty for us, bringing us undeserved forgiveness. He “hides our sin” as far as the east is from the west, and he justifies us by his shed blood. However, until we reach heaven, we, the “redeemed,” wrestle with the realities of that old flesh (cf. Romans 7). It does no good to be pretentious about our sin. It is useless to pretend that we are better than we are. I would rarely advocate “wearing” our sin “on our sleeve,” but it is futile to deny it or pretend it does not exist.
 
A good example of the futility of denying the reality of sin in our lives is King David in 2 Samuel 11-12, Psalm 32, and Psalm 51. In these passages, we find:

2 Samuel 11-12: King David lusts, sins, seeks to hide the sin by committing more sins, and then, after confrontation, repents. Psalms 32 and 51 are probably found within the “hiding” context of this story.
Psalm 32: King David reveals the struggle that results from hiding his sin and the subsequent peace that results from repentance.
Psalm 51: King David shows us that repentance is seeing our actions in the way the Lord sees them and coming to him honestly, without hiding.
 
Let's look at each of these passages more closely to see if there is any help found in King David’s experience.
 
2 Samuel 11-12

In 2 Samuel 11-12, King David hides his sin so that it is not exposed. It is clear that a major point of this story is that hiding sins leads simply to more sin. He executes two plans, which involve even more sin, to keep his sin hidden:
 
Plan #1: King David brings Uriah home to give him a report on the war. He throws him a party, gets him drunk, and hopes that he will have intercourse with Bathsheba, offering a cover-up for her pregnancy. The lies, manipulation, and impact on the armed forces who remain in battle without one of their leaders is obvious. Plan fails.
 
Plan #2: King David puts Uriah on the front line so that he will be killed in the intensity of battle. The disregard for human life in order to keep his sin hidden is again obvious. Plan succeeds.
 
It is important to note the plans King David is willing to pursue in order to keep his sin from being exposed. It takes all of his energies, and the one sin multiplies itself into more sin. If it were not exposed by Nathan, the multiplying of sin might continue on for years.
 
Psalm 32

Psalm 32 is probably scribed in the context of David’s manipulative plans to cover-up his sin. Verses 3 and 4 teach us that to hide sin leads to this experience:
 
“When I kept silent (about my sin), my body wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah (i.e., let this sink in).”
 
What kind of life is this? We all know the experience to varying degrees. Hiding sin can drain us of our resources. It can “eat” at us. In a sense, we have no energies to invest in the lives of others for fear of being exposed or found out. Our energy is invested in covering up our sin, not in ministering to others. A good example of this is found when one chooses to speed while driving. It is difficult to sit back, put on an easy-listening CD, and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. One’s energies are spent being on the lookout for the next police officer, who might ruin his day with a ticket at a high price. He is seeking to hide his sin, to not be found out. However, if he drives the speed limit, then he can sit back and relax. Peace is not available in deception. In fact, unfortunately, we can find ourselves frantically falling deeper and deeper into sin.
 
Being in this state of deception should be contrasted with the freedom that comes with openness. When King David comes to a place where he is willing to be honest about his sin, note the result in verses 5 through 7:
 
“I acknowledged my sin to you, and my iniquity I did not hide; I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord;’ and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah (i.e., let this sink in). Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to you in a time when you may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they will not reach him. You are my hiding place; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with songs of deliverance.”
 
This is obviously a good place to be in life. Previously in verses 1 and 2 it shows that a man is “blessed” who comes to the Lord and openly acknowledges his sin. Hiding does not bring this blessing. In fact, later in verse 10 it states, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked.” Sorrow upon sorrow upon sorrow. There is an appearance of being intact, but inwardly the sin eats away at the sinner. But, here in verse 5-7, when David acknowledges his sin, the Lord becomes his “hiding place,” “preserv(ing him) from trouble,” and “surrounding (him) with songs of deliverance” (verse 7).
 
Psalm 51

Psalm 51 explains the process of repentance that King David likely undertook when/after he was confronted. In 2 Samuel 11:25 King David states literally, “Do not let this thing (i.e., the thing that he did) be evil in your eyes.” Later, in verse 27, it states, “But the thing that David had done was evil in the eyes of the Lord.” No questions asked. King David had done evil in the eyes of the Lord. Of course, he had not seen it this way. He saw it as an obstacle that needed to be overcome or an inconvenience that needed to be fixed. So he devised his two plans to “fix” the situation. He was hiding and running from honestly dealing with his life.However, in verses 3-4, he pleads for forgiveness because he has come to realize:
 
“For I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your eyes, so that you are justified when you speak, and blameless when you judge.”
 
Note the process:
 King David’s assessment:“do not let this thing be evil in your sight” 11:25
The Lord’s assessment: “the thing that David had done was evil” 11:27
King David’s repentance: “I have sinned and done what is evil in your eyes” 51:3-4

The primary turning point for sinful humanity is to see with our eyes what the Lord sees with his eyes. We need to see our lives as he sees them. Hiding is simply an attempt to divert one’s and other’s attention away from what is true about self with the hopes that everything will be okay. King David’s life reminds us that it is not that simple. After seeing our sin as God sees it, we need to acknowledge it before him and ask for his forgiveness. King David’s prayer in verses 1-2 was “be gracious to me,” wash me thoroughly,” and “cleanse me” (see also verses 7-17).
 

- by David L. Talley.

Definition of "Sins"

The Hebrew word for "sin" is חטאה (hhatah, Strong's #2403) and literally means "miss the mark." From my understanding of the Bible, there are two types of sin, accidental and deliberate. I explain it this way. The Hebrew people were a nomadic people and their language and lifestyle is wrapped around this culture. 

 

One of the aspects of a nomad is his constant journey from one watering hole to another and one pasture to another. If you are walking on a journey (literal or figurative) and find yourself "lost from the path," which is the Hebrew word רשע (rasha, Strong's #7563), you correct yourself and get back on the path. This was a "mistake" (accidentally missing the mark), but not deliberate. Once you are back on the right path, all is good. However, if you decide to leave the path and make your own, you are again "lost from the path", but this time, being a deliberate act, it is a purposeful mistake (missing the mark on purpose). 

 

In the Bible God gives his "directions" (usually translated as "commands") for the journey that his people are to be on. As long as they remain on that journey, they are tsadiq (Strong's #6662, usually translated as "righteous," but literally means "on the correct path"), even if they accidentally leave the path, but return (this is the Hebrew verb shuv, Strong's #7725, usually translated as "repentance," but literally means "to return") back to the correct path.

from: https://www.ancient-hebrew.org/definition/sin.htm

The wrath of God

Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.

Generally speaking, there are two types of sin — discord with God and discord with one’s neighbor. Paul mentions them both, putting discord with God first because it is the greater sin, and calling it “ungodliness.” Then he mentions the second kind of discord, the one with one’s neighbor, calling it “wickedness. 

    ----Gennadius of Constantinople, in Pauluskommentare aus der griechischen Kirche, 15.356.

《论做十架神学家》书摘

 唯独十架是我们的神学

十架首先是上帝对人所犯之罪发起的攻击。其次，也是最终，十架是使人脱离罪的救恩。但是，如果我们没有看到十架首先是在攻击罪，那么我们就没有真正认清十架。真是奇怪的攻击——上帝把自己交在我们手中受苦和受死！路德将其称为上帝的“与本性相异的工作”（alien work）。作为攻击手段，十架显明罪的真正巢穴不是在肉体中，而是在我们属灵的渴望中，在我们的“荣耀神学”中。要点在于：在十架上发生的事情，与我们通常的敬虔思维截然相反。保罗知道这一点。他在《哥林多前书》1：18—25说：

因为十字架的道理，在那灭亡的人为愚拙，在我们得救的人却为上帝的大能。就如经上所记： “我要灭绝智慧人的智慧，废弃聪明人的聪明。”智慧人在哪里？文士在哪里？这世上的辩士在哪里？上帝岂不是叫这世上的智慧变成愚拙吗？世人凭自己的智慧，既不认识上帝，上帝就乐意用人所当作愚拙的道理拯救那些信的人，这就是上帝的智慧了。犹太人是要神迹，希腊人是求智慧；我们却是传钉十字架的基督。在犹太人为绊脚石，在外邦人为愚拙，但在那蒙召的，无论是犹太人、希腊人，基督总为上帝的能力，上帝的智慧。因上帝的愚拙总比人智慧，上帝的软弱总比人强壮。

因此，十架神学是一种得罪人的神学。它得罪人的地方在于：与其他神学不同，它攻击的对象是我们通常认为的基督教精粹。我们将看到，十架神学家并不特别担心我们信仰里面那些明显的糟粕，即我们的恶行；他们担心的是由善行而来的自命不凡。因此必须要说的是，十架神学与其他所有神学都非常不同。为了表明这一点，路德对十架神学和荣耀神学做了根本上的区分。因此，十架神学并不把自己当作许多神学类别中的一个选项。实际上，尽管宗教和神学似乎层出不穷，然而从这个视角我们可以很安全地说：归根结底只有两种神学类型，即荣耀神学和十架神学。荣耀神学实际上是所有神学和宗教的总括，而十架神学则把自己分别出来，与其他所有神学相对立。本书的目的之一就是尽量清晰地说明这两种神学之间的不同，从而更加准确地阐明十架神学，并借此使十架的宣讲保持它的愚拙，那种通过摧毁聪明人的智慧来拯救他们的愚拙。

那么如何着手呢？我已经声明，针对十架神学进行写作是极难的。实际上，就十架神学甚至某种十架神学进行写作都是极难的。毫无疑问，这不过是再一次试图对耶稣在十架上的呼喊——“我的上帝，我的上帝！为什么离弃我？”——给出最终的回答。我们无法回答耶稣的问题。我们只能与他同死，并等待上帝在他里面做出回答。如果我们给出某种回答，那么这仅仅是为了书本上的神学，而丢弃真正的十架。我们给出的神学，不过是关于十架的又一种神学，而不是属于十架的神学。基本上，所有关于十架的神学最终都成为荣耀神学。

这里的困难在于：十架是关于上帝的知识，上帝的逻各斯；十架的道是攻击手段。它不是用那些我们可以盗用而仍然基本走在原来道路上的现成神学命题来铸成的。它将人治死，又使人复活。它把旧造钉在十架上，同时期盼新造的复活。“唯独十架是我们的神学”，路德可能这样说过。这句被多次引用的话要在字面上理解。但是我们一定会注意到，这是一个何等奇怪的宣告。十架如何能够是一种神学？十架是一个事件。神学是对事件的反思和解释。神学是关于事件的，难道不是吗？然而，正是这个原因，使得著述某种确定的十架神学成为不可能。所有这种神学，最多只能是为十架的宣扬开辟道路，推动我们真实地宣讲十架的道，保持它那种灭绝智慧人的智慧的愚拙形态。    

这即是说，十架不是静默的或者已死的。十架自身首先是上帝对旧有的罪人以及罪人的神学发动的攻击。十架是上帝在我们身上的作为。但是，这个十架，唯独十架，同时还为对付罪人的老我及其神学开启了一个全新的、闻所未闻的可能性。这意味着十架神学不可避免地非常好辩。它一刻不停地想要发现并暴露罪人将其背信隐藏在敬虔面具之下的种种方法。它的精髓是攻击我们所以为的最好，而非最糟的东西。这是十架神学通常作为荣耀神学的对立面被人谈论的原因。两种神学始终胶着在一场你死我活的争战之中。如果提到十架神学而不指出此争战，那么这种十架神学必定不是这里正在表述的十架神学。牧师—神学家必须知道这一点，并学会如何在这场争战中运用十架的道。

十架神学总是与荣耀神学战火不断，并且牧师—神学家必须知道如何在争战中运用十架的道，此事实表明我们可以勇敢地尝试在本书导言中做好两件事情，然后再进到具体的海德堡辩论。首先，我们要尽力通过讨论两个塑造人的存在和自我理解的“故事”——这两个“故事”在根本上是不同的，或者如当今神学家所青睐的表达方式：不同的“叙事”——来布设这场争战的背景。其次，我们要尽力说明做这些叙事所倡议的神学家的两条道路。我们盼望通过专心讨论这两条做神学家的道路，在一定程度上克服尝试“针对”十架神学进行著述所固有的困难。十架神学无意构造另外一套完善的教义，而是倾力培养不同的运作方式，我们将要看到这一点。这种十架神学的目标是使人成为十架神学家，而不仅仅是针对十架神学进行谈论或写作。

from: https://www.baojiayin.com/product-7513.html  

锁国的代价

那些回避贸易的国家最终都停滞不前或逐渐衰败。1991年苏联解体以后，我向白宫请假，前去参观俄罗斯的圣彼得堡。在信步穿过艾尔米塔什博物馆破败不堪的大厅时，我意识到该国的问题不是无法跟上20世纪80年代美国不断提高的生活水平，而是没能跟上1917年俄国的生活水平。在菲德尔·卡斯特罗于1959年发动革命之前，古巴人均国内生产总值几乎排在拉丁美洲国家之首。在随后几十年的时间里，古巴经济下滑到拉丁美洲国家末尾，卡斯特罗的支持者们或许将这种下滑归咎于美国政府的贸易禁运政策。但这恰恰说明了我的观点：断绝贸易的国家（无论是主动的还是被动的）最多只能是停滞不前。总体来说，自1959年以来，拉丁美洲国家的生活水平翻了一番，但古巴的人均国内生产总值几乎原地踏步。如果你看到一些照片中瘦骨嶙峋的农民艰难地推着1956年的老式雪佛兰Bel Airs汽车，你就会明白谁应当为这种经济停滞负责。现在，美国开始解除贸易禁令，因此我们可以期待一个经济更加繁荣的古巴。

19世纪伊始，当令人恐怖的德川幕府统治者看到英国和葡萄牙商人乘坐着黑烟滚滚的燃煤商船驶进他们的港口时，他们感到惊讶、好奇和恐慌。日本统治者闭关锁国数百年，但他们当即意识到自己国家的经济和军事都受到了阻滞。

我们可以比较一下那些在20世纪八九十年代选择完全不同道路的国家。每一组中的前一个国家选择了面向全球开放的道路，后一个国家选择了故步自封：越南和缅甸、孟加拉国和巴基斯坦、哥斯达黎加和洪都拉斯。一般说来，选择开放的国家在80年代的年均增长速度是3.5%，在90年代的增长速度是5%。而选择闭关锁国的国家在80年代的增长速度只有0.8%，在90年代的增长速度是1.4%。随着时间的推移，当一个国家故步自封、闭关锁国时，其经济发展会变得年迈无力、衰败不堪，更像是一个通风不畅的动物养殖场，或者像一座潮湿阴冷的监狱。

1953年，朝鲜战争结束之后，北方比南方略微富有一些。日本人曾在三八线以北建过工厂，并且在20世纪五六十年代，苏联、中国、波兰，甚至阿尔巴尼亚都曾向朝鲜运送过大量援助物资。尽管得到过这么多社会主义国家的援助，今天的韩国却比朝鲜富裕17倍，韩国人的寿命比朝鲜人长10年，身高也高几英寸。韩国人称其为“汉江奇迹”。韩国现在制造出了超清三星平板电视、超智能化LG冰箱、性能优良的现代和起亚轿车，韩国魅力四射的流行音乐组合风靡全球。相较之下，朝鲜制造出了什么呢？

- 托德·布赫霍尔茨，《繁荣的代价：富有帝国的衰落与复兴》，2017.

The Caging of God

We have turned to a God that we can use rather than to a God we must obey; we have turned to a God who will fulfill our needs rather than to a God before whore we must surrender our rights to ourselves. He is a God for us, for our satisfaction - not because we have learned to think of him in this way through Christ but because we have learned to think of him this way through the marketplace. In the marketplace, everything is for us, for our pleasure, for our satisfaction, and we have come to assume that it must he so in the church as well. And so we transform the God of mercy into a God who is at our mercy.
 
In a psychologized culture such as ours, there is deep affinity for what is relational but a dis-ease with what is moral. This carries over into the church as an infatuation with the love of God and an embarrassment at his holiness. We who are modern find it infinitely easier to believe that God is like a Rogerian therapist who empathetically solicits our knowledge of ourselves and passes judgment on none of it than to think that he could have had any serious business to conduct with Moses.
 
The fact is, of course, that the New Testament never promises anyone a life of psychological wholeness or offers a guarantee of the consumer's satisfaction with Christ. To the contrary, it offers the prospect of indignities, loss, damage, disease, and pain. The faithful in Scripture were scorned, beaten, imprisoned, shipwrecked, and executed. The gospel offers no promises that contemporary believers will be spared these experiences, that they will be able to settle down to the sanitized comfort of an inner life freed of stresses, pains, and ambiguities; it simply promises that through Christ, God will walk with us in all the dark places of life, that he has the power and the will to invest his promises with reality, and that even the shadows are made to serve his glory and our best interests. A therapeutic culture will he inclined to view such promises as something of a disappointment; those who understand that reality is at heart moral because God is centrally holy will be satisfied that this is all they need to know.
 
Religious consumers want to have a spirituality for the same reason that they want to drive a stylish and expensive auto. Costly obedience is as foreign to them in matters spiritual as self-denial is in matters material. In a culture filled with such people, restoring weight to God is going to involve much more than simply getting some doctrine straight; it's going to entail a complete reconstruction of the modern self-absorbed pastiche personality. The cost of accomplishing this may well be deep, sustained repentance. It is our modernity that must be undone. Only then will the full weight of the revealed truth about God rest once more on the soul. Only then will we recover our saltiness in the world. Only then will God genuinely be known again in his church.
 

 - David F. Wells, God in the Wasteland: 

The Reality of Truth in a World of Fading Dreams, 1994.