The Gospel According to Yeeks

Some day I will perhaps use "V for Vendetta" to illustrate how words itself need context to see what is their "true" meaning. In the movie, the first few lines of the poem "The Fifth of November" are cited: Remember, remember!     The fifth of November,     The Gunpowder treason and plot;     I know of no reason     Why the Gunpowder treason     Should ever be forgot! The purpose of citing these lines were to incite a spirit of rebellion against the neo-fascist regime of the day. The poem in its original form however is actually meant to DETER people from following Guy Fawkes, i.e., we are meant to remember the Fifth of November so that we would never commit the same treason. Here is the poem with a few more lines of the original added:    Remember, remember!     The fifth of November,     The Gunpowder treason and plot;     I know of no reason     Why the Gunpowder treason     Should ever be forgot!     Guy Fawkes and his companions

I shared this with our youths (not so clearly) and our Discipleship Seminars classes (a bit more clearly) recently. One can see the "Gospel in Genesis" if we pay attention to the life of Judah: Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, in Genesis: Birth (Genesis 29:31-35) When the Lord saw that Leah was hated, he opened her womb, but Rachel was barren. And Leah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Reuben, for she said, “Because the Lord has looked upon my affliction; for now my husband will love me.” She conceived again and bore a son, and said, “Because the Lord has heard that I am hated, he has given me this son also.” And she called his name Simeon. Again she conceived and bore a son, and said, “Now this time my husband will be attached to me, because I have borne him three sons.” Therefore his name was called Levi. And she conceived again and bore a son, and said, “ This time I will praise the Lord.” Therefore she called h

I do not read much of Joshua. So it was to my pleasant surprise that I noticed a theme recurring within this book that perhaps adds some perspective to the offense of the Cross to a Jewish person. In the Book of Joshua, upon completing conquests of certain parts of the land, the Israelites would then hang Canaanite Kings on trees. This described the "cursed" state of the Canaanite Kings in Deuteronomy 21:22-23 “And if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree , his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God . You shall not defile your land that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance. It is thus somewhat surprising to see that this law was applied not to Israelites, but to the Canaanite Kings. First the King of Ai in Joshua 8:28-29: So Joshua burned Ai and made it for ever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day. And he hange