Tag Archives: Do Not Fear

God gives rules about health issues (Leviticus 13, 14, 15)

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Bible Summary:

God gives Aaron and Moses rules about managing skin diseases. Anyone with a sore on the skin, boil, burn, spots, or are balding must visit the priest. The priest either isolates the person for a week for reexamination or deems the person unclean, and sends them to live outside the camp, uncombed and in torn clothes. Once the skin heals, the priest examines the person, deems them clean, and then conducts ritual offerings. The healed person washes their clothes, shaves their head, and then moves back into camp, though lives outside their tent for a week before being deemed completely clean.

God also provides rules about managing mildew. The people of Israel tell a priest if they find mildew on their clothes or in their house. Clothes are held and reexamined in seven days. If the mold spreads, they must burn the clothes. They must lock up a house with mildew for a week. If the mold spreads, they must replace the stones. If the mold persists they must tear down the house.

God also gives rules about men with discharge or semen and women during their periods.

My Thoughts:

Roles of the Priests: Priests were spiritual leaders, judges and even doctors in the time of Moses, examining patients and prescribing treatment.  They also ruled on heath care issues, like mildew management.

Quarantine: The priests quarantined diseased people outside the main community to stop the spread of the disease. Affected people were not exiled, but allowed to reenter the community once they become clean, unless the disease persisted like leprosy.

Do not hide your disease: I am sure afflicted people felt like outcasts back then and were very relieved when the symptoms cleared. Many cancer patients today distress over what people think about their baldness from chemotherapy and hide behind a wig. I understand no one wants pitied, but displaying your disease has two benefits: it shows you are fighting it head on and it let others know so they can pray for you. So, do not hide your disease, wear it like a medal so everyone can see how strong you are in the fight. This may seem easier for men, but I have seen many women, beautiful women, adorned with beautiful scarves. No matter what you decide, my prayers are with you!

Mayans never predicted end of the world

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According to Mayan experts 12/12/2012 is just the end of a 5,126 year cycle of their calendar, not the end of the world. See full Mayans never predicted world to end in 2012: experts story at Reuters.

Do not be afraid. Fear is the most harmful condition on the planet. False rumors like the end of the world only incite anxiety and panic and may even cause bad things to happen. Terrorist and the evening news thrive on fear. The next time you watch the news, listen closely to *where* the incident happened. Most of the time it occurred somewhere else in the state or even across the country, but they make you feel like it happened next door. If you are afraid, take a 30-day “media break”, no watching or reading the news. Use the time to help your neighbors or a local shelter. You will be surprised how your outlook will change.

Note: I try to post only positive news on Whittle Love.

God’s Boundary at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19)

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Bible Summary:

The Israelites arrive at Mount Sinai. God tells Moses to remind them what he did to the Egyptian and how He carried them like upon eagles wings. He asks them to keep his covenant and to be his chosen people. The people agree.

God tells them to purify themselves and then He will come down the mountain to see them. They are not to cross a boundary though, upon death by stoning or being shot with arrows.

On the third day, thunder, lightening and clouds appear above the mountain. A loud trumpet blasts and the people tremble with fear. They stand at the foot of the mountain with Moses to meet God. The mountain is covered in smoke as God comes down on the fire. God asks Moses to bring Aaron up the mountain, but no one else.

My Thoughts:

Chosen People: This story is the first instance of the Israelites being called the chosen people, at least in my Bible. I believe it was to give them the confidence to overcome 430 years of slavery.

Ruled by Kings: I grew up with a loving God so fearing Him is so foreign to me. It kind of seems like the Israelites moved from the king of Egypt to being ruled by the “kings” of Israel through the fear of God.

Moses Flees to Midian (Ex 2: 11-25)

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Bible Summary:

Moses grows up and sees how his people, the Hebrews, are forced into hard labor. He watches an Egyptian kill one, so he kills the Egyptian. The next day he tries to resolve a Hebrew quarrel, but fears for his life after they mention the Egyptian’s death. The king of Egypt finds out and Moses flees to Midian for safety.

One day, Jethro’s seven daughters are driven away from a well by some shepherds. Moses rescues the daughters and waters their animals. The girls tell their father of the Egyptian’s heroics, so Jethro invites Moses to eat with them. Moses decides to stay, Jethro gives him Zipporah in marriage, and they have a son.

Years later the king of Egypt dies, but the Israelites still cry for God’s help, so He becomes concerned for the Hebrews.

My Thoughts:

Confidence: Moses likely lived in luxury after being adopted by the king’s daughter, but he knew he was Hebrew and resented how “his people” were treated. The story paradoxically paints him out as a coward who flees to Midian and a hero to the daughters.

There is a coward and a hero in all of us. The coward sits back and worries what might happen and fears the worst, while the hero finally takes the step. Even great people had fears, but finally, with God’s help, took that step. So, push, shove, or heave that fear out of the way and take that step! You will be amazed what happens.

Risk

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To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental,

To reach out to another is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self,

To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss,

To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.

The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.

He may avoid suffering and sorrow,
But he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.

Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.

Only a person who risks is free.

The pessimist complains about the wind;
The optimist expects it to change;
And the realist adjusts the sails.

– William Arthur Ward

Jacob Faces his Fears (Gen 32)

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Bible Summary:

On his return home, Jacob sends messengers ahead to tell his brother Esau how he had been delayed at Uncle Laban’s. The messengers return to warn him that Esau is on the way with 400 men. In fear, Jacob divides his people and animals in two, in hopes that one group might escape.

Jacob prays to God about his fear of Esau and reminds Him of His promise to keep them safe. Jacob sends hundreds of farm animals ahead as gifts to Esau in hopes of being forgiven for taking his birthright twenty years earlier. Later, he takes his wives, concubines, and eleven children across the Jabbok River to safety, and then returns alone.

A man arrives, wrestles Jacob until daybreak, and knocks his hip out of joint. Near daylight, the man asks to be let go, but Jacob demands to be blessed first. The man commends Jacob for successfully struggling with God and men, changes his name forevermore to Israel, and blesses him.

My Thoughts:

Fear: Jacob still fears Esau’s revenge for taking his birthright, even after twenty years in hiding at Uncle Laban’s. After bringing his family to safety, he fights his fears (the man) and wins. To honor this victory, the now bolder Jacob is renamed Israel.

Fear is everywhere today – in the news, on the streets, in our homes. We fear the shaky economy, losing our job, someone invading our home or stealing our car, “those people”, “that part of town”, getting cancer, failing, getting rejected, and so on.

But, fear is the only thing holding you back from a fulfilling and happy life. You need to put aside the fears you cannot control and push through the ones you can. Through repetition, the fear will diminish and soon disappear altogether.

Isaac Survives a Famine (Gen 26)

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Bible Summary:

Another famine hits Canaan. The Lord tells Isaac not to go to Egypt but stay in the lands near Canaan that He promised Abraham, so Isaac moves to the land of Philistines.

Isaac tells everyone Rebecca is his sister for fear they will kill him for his beautiful wife. King Abimelech sees Isaac and Rebecca making love, so challenges Isaac about the lie. Isaac tells the king of his fear, so Abimelech warns his people not to mistreat them or be put to death.

Isaac becomes a farmer, reaps a hundred times as much as he sows, and becomes a very rich man. The Philistines become jealous and fill Isaac’s wells, plus King Abimelech asks Isaac to leave.

Isaac moves twice and digs new wells. Each time the shepherds of the area quarrel over the water, so Isaac moves on. With no dispute after the third move, Isaac stays and names the well “Freedom”.

Isaac then leaves for Beersheba. God appears and tells Isaac not to fear because He is with him. Abimelech shows up with an advisor and army commander to make a peace agreement since Isaac was close to God. They celebrate with a feast.

My Thoughts:

Wife as Sister Again: Isaac pulls the same stunt as Abraham did to Abimelech in Genesis 20 by telling everyone his wife is his sister. Maybe the fear of being killed for his wife is real since they are foreigners. Things were a lot different back then.

Isaac Rich Again: I guess Isaac must have lost his inheritance during the famine, likely spent on the only remaining food, since this story says he becomes rich in the new lands. Farming seems somewhat of a break from shepherding for Isaac, though he still has sheep per the quarreling over the wells. Farming is a natural response to famine though.

Do Not Fear: God says, “Do not be afraid; I am with you.”  God is always with us, each and every one of us.  I love the poem Footprints in the Sand by Mary Stevenson.  It helps me remember that God is there, even when things are not going well.

Abraham Buries Sarah (Gen 23)

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Bible Summary:

Abraham mourned Sarah’s death at age 127.  He asked the Hittites three times to sell him, a foreigner, some land to bury his wife.  Each time they offered to “give” him the land.  On the last response, a high ranking Hittite mentioned the land was only worth 400 pieces of silver anyway, so Abraham paid him that amount and the land became his.

My Thoughts:

Ownership: I believe Abraham wanted to own the land to ensure his beloved wife’s burial site would be safe for generations to come.  He knew they or future generation could not renege on the “gift” if he bought the land.

Foreigner: Even more than thirty years after moving there, Abraham was still considered a foreigner in Canaan (modern day Israel).  It is so hard to accept new people.  They are “different” in how they dress, what they eat, and how they act.  We fear they will take over our area, that they will change things.

I know in America we were all new at some point in our family’s past, except maybe the Native Americans.  This newness fades after we live in the same neighborhood, become friends, and “they” become “us” over years.  Please remember this the next time someone “different” moves in next door.  Introduce yourself so you can speed up this “getting to us” process.  The world would be at peace if we all realized we are “us” and there is no “them”.

Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen: 18:16-33, 19: 1-29)

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Text Summary:

The Lord tells Abraham he has heard great accusations about Sodom.  Abraham negotiates with God to spare Sodom if He finds 50, 45, 40, 30, 20, and finally only 10 innocent people.  God agrees.

Abraham’s nephew Lot urges two Angels to stay at his house.  The men of Sodom surround Lot’s house and demand he give up the two men so they could have sex with them.  Lot begs them to take his two virgin daughters instead.  The men try to barge their way in but are struck with blindness by the Angels.

The Angels tell Lot to leave Sodom for the hills before they destroy it.  Lot negotiates for the small town of Zoar since the hills are too far.  The Angels agree.  At sunrise, the Lord rains burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah.  Lot’s wife looks back and turns into a pillar of salt.

My Thoughts:

Negotiating: This story was likely used periodically to teach the next generation how to negotiate.  I mean, if Abraham can negotiate with God, you can negotiate with anyone.  It shows how to find a common point to agree on, like that God does not want to harm innocent people, and the whittling technique of slowly moving your counterpart down towards your goal.

Pillar of Salt: This story sounds right out of science fiction.  Three men show up and all of a sudden men are blinded outside a house, two cities are destroyed by flames from the sky, and a woman is turned into a pillar of salt.

I think the answer is more geological.  The middle-east is sitting on top of the world’s largest oil reserves.  It is possible that an earthquake caused a huge reservoir of underground petroleum to explode, destroying the area.  This would explain the raining down of sulfur.  The pillar of salt is likely that Lot’s wife was covered in ash.  See an example in this 9/11 picture of Marcy Borders.

Golden Rule: Lot serves and protects the Angels, so is saved from the destruction.

Homosexuality: It sounds like the storyteller is trying to teach the listener not to be homosexual.  Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because of their sins as pointed out by the gay men wanting to have sex with the men Lot was protecting in his house.

I’m in a catch-22 here.  No matter what I write, some people will perceive me to be anti-gay and others that I am pro-gay.  What I would like to address is the fear in the topic of homosexuality.

Prior to the 1980’s, gays feared about “coming out” because they would be ostracized by their families and friends and could even lose their jobs over this “socially unacceptable behavior”.  The 1980’s added the hysteria of catching AIDS to this burden and gays kept very quiet about their sexual orientation.

In the 1990’s, movies like Philadelphia with Tom Hanks portrayed gays as real people and opened the doors for acceptance of gays in films and TV shows.

Gays have “come out” in droves and with their new found freedom are now demanding their rights; the biggest being marriage that has now become legal in many states.  I’m not sure gays and lesbians are looking to be recognized as married as much as they want to gain the same benefits as a husbands and wives: insurance, social security, common law property, etc.

The scale of fear seems to have tipped in the opposite direction today.  Now, all the heterosexuals are afraid to make any negative comments about gays for fear of not being “politically correct” and potentially losing their jobs.

Frankly, I believe we are all people on this little blue marble cruising through space and we need to figure out how to get along with everyone and stop labeling and stop judging just so we can feel superior.  It should not matter about a person’s color, religion, sexual orientation, height, age, weight, job, economic status, hobbies (as long as they are legal), shoe size, or where their ancestors happen to have lived.  We are all human beings.  We all eat, breath, sleep, and bleed the same.  We all dream, hope, want someone to listen, and wish to be loved the same!

The only way to reduce fear is to open yourself up to new experiences.  Meet other people. Find out what they like, dislike, do for work, do for fun, eat and don’t eat.  You will discover that we are all not much different from each other.