From time to time, I've been to the Redeemer's fellowship on Tuesday mornings at 7Am.
I love the early wake. Refreshing after the meeting. Knew a few folks.
I prefer to read the materials before attending it, so I don't go there every week.
We've been doing Judges. Using Tim Keller's book: Judges for You. I like the quotes from Michael Wilcock whom Keller frequently cited.
There are however certain few passages which I find not to my agreement. Such as his comments on Judges 19:1-20:25:
Keller completely remove any good from anyone in the passage. While I would note the cultural difference between ancient time and the Western civilization today. Hospitality towards strangers is very important in those days. I don't expect someone influenced by an individualistic culture of the Western world today to grasp or practice it. It is not just about being nice or follow certain custom of hospitality. It involves the very sacrifice of the host.
I shall limit anything pertaining to West Side Men to this thread.
Judges 17-21
It is interesting to note that these chapters do not conform to chronological order of the book (Judges 20:28).
Thus, this story is very likely happening in the beginning of the book. Israel thus united to fight their own kind, before they had to deal with outsiders and eventually subsided in Samson's time, when Samson was dealing with the enemies by himself, even against his own people's wish.
In chapter 20, when the Benjamites refused hand in their sexually corrupt citizens, they were able to fend off the larger army of the Israelites. I am reminded of America. And the things pertaining to issues like the gay marriage. The U.S. like the Benjamites is proud of their military superiority, which is not untrue. And what was going with the Benjamites are more than just racial, it was cultural, as is the case in America. The post-modern culture believes it is the pinnacle of human morality, freedom, not God.
Unlike Keller in pg. 191, I do believe that the slaughter of the Benjamites was justice. Though, the Israelites had done injustice when they committed genocide. God's hand is at work, that is the justice. The Benjamites harbored evil doers and did everything opposite of handing them in. From this expository, I can understand why Keller got some critics at one time in the case of whether gay marriage should be make legal in the country.
Andrew Melton, one of the WSM leader, had his notes to us comparing v.18 and v.26-27 that the Israelites inquired Elohim, not Yahweh, as if there is a difference in these two terms in this passage. Implicating that Yahweh is preferred. I think this is 多此一举. v.23 used Yahweh, and yet Israel failed.
Herem is the term connected with "holy war" of the Jews. Some tries to object this connotation. However, I think Andrew Melton puts it rightly - that Herem = holy war (when the Israelites in this passage misapplied the word to kill their own), since this term is used only in such cases. In Bahasa, it is "haram", so I wouldn't call Herem = holy war all the time.