Summary of text [comment] page 83
The New Testament develops this theme.
The Son of God invites us to the service of his Father.
The Son of God challenges our bondage to elites whose demands can never be satisfied.
Instead, our service to YHWH is presented as an exercise of freedom.
[In the graciousness of a Persian king, a remnant returned.
They built the second temple in Jerusalem.
Could this devotion be described as ‘bondage’?
No and yes.
No, the individual is ruled by YHWH.
Yes, the individual is ruled by an elite who claims to speak for God.]
[In Babylon, the exiles lost everything, except their values and their desires for YHWH.
In America, the exiles gained everything and lost their values and desires for YHWH.
What will happen now, once again, depends on Persia.]
Summary of text [comment] page 83
[How could this happen?
Their values1b and their desires1a were torn from their home.
YHWH told them that this would happen. Choose! Desire!
Babylon was the crucible of choice1b. Babylon was the forge of desire1a.]
[The Old Testament prophets held incredible expectations3a. The whole of Israel should serve YHWH.
And they failed. The whole of Israel failed, and the heart of Judah was excised and removed to Babylon.]
[In the Old Testament, the Zeitgeist was full of the erotic and lurid gods of Canaan.
Can you hear the siren calls of the temple prostitutes?
Old Testament men of God are YHWH’s servants3b.
They chose YHWH.
Their values overflowed their desires.]
[Each member of the tribe of Israel, is expected to choose2b YHWH, thus revealing “her” values1b.
But the challenge does not stop there.
Every child of Abraham, upon hearing the stories in Genesis, is called to ‘something2a’ that reveals “her” desires.
If this ‘something2a’ is anything other than YHWH, then all hell will break loose.
The vessel of “her” values1b will fill with delusions appearing in the Zeitgeist3a.
The vessel1b formed when choosing YHWH will burst, in thought3b(2b and deed2b(1b)), leaving the wayward child of God trapped in the words3a(2a that “she” takes to be real2a and in bondage2a(1a)) to the desires1a that they call forth in “her”.]
[Each member of the tribe of Israel, is expected to choose2b YHWH, thus revealing “his” values1b.
But the challenge does not stop there.
Every child of Abraham, upon hearing the stories in Genesis, is called to ‘something2a’ that reveals “his” desires1a.
Without this ‘something2a’, the vessel of “his” values2b stands empty.]
[Perhaps, the stories of Abraham were woven into a coherent narrative by the bards of Israel. They entered into the thought experiment for the tribes of Israel.
The thought experiment asks whether the children of Abraham not only value1b (thereby choose) God, but desire1a God as well.
YHWH is located as the something2a that reveals the desire1a of the tribes of Israel.]
Summary of text [comment] page 83
[How is this seen in Scripture?
In the Old Testament, God chooses2b Abraham, revealing God’s desire1a and value1b.
Abraham, in response, chooses2b God, revealing his values1b.
Abraham desires1a God.
All the strange tests that Abraham faces (including circumcision and almost sacrificing his son) reveals and tests Abraham’s desire1a.]
