The Park Forum

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Deuteronomy 23 Listen: (3:10) Read: Romans 3 Listen: (4:30)

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 23:15-16

15 If a slave has taken refuge with you, do not hand them over to their master. 16 Let them live among you wherever they like and in whatever town they choose. Do not oppress them.

Reflection: Blurred Borders

By Erin Newton

In most cases, borders are invisible lines. The border between my house and my neighbor’s exists on some land survey stored at the courthouse. For us, it tends to be where someone stops mowing. To get from my state to the next, we cross a river, but I’m not entirely sure which part of the river belongs to which state. If I drive east or west, the border is somewhere lost in the pine trees or in the sand.

Our world is made up of lines. Some lines have been given walls or are naturally bound by water. Borders serve the purpose of separating us from them.

We read about God’s people needing to separate themselves in the foods they eat or the way they worship, conduct business, and relate in marriage and family. Such a separation allowed them to establish their new identity as God’s people.

Some of their laws, however, were similar to the laws of other nations. The “eye for an eye” rule is one that echoes the laws of Hammurabi, an eighteenth-century BCE ruler. This shared principle highlights how sometimes borders were blurred. Such is the case in Deuteronomy 23.

Edward Woods points out in his commentary on Deuteronomy, “While international treaties often required the return of fugitive slaves, Israel was not to follow this practice.” The refusal to return the refugee slave meant allowing the us/them divide to dissipate. The fleeing person could abide with the Israelites, under the protection of God. This call to acceptance showed that the people had utmost allegiance to God.

Despite this call for acceptance, biases and prejudices were likely to happen. So another important piece of instruction was given: “Such a slave was not to be oppressed” (Woods). Oppression was part of Israel’s past. Oppression was the reason for the exodus. The oppressed should not become the oppressor.

Even if the Israelites remembered their years of slavery in Egypt, God instills this direct command for compassion. Let them stay. Leave them alone.

As Christians, we remember that we are not to be conformed to this world. Such separation establishes the basis for our ethical and moral behavior. There are many behaviors and beliefs in the world that we cannot align with. But that does not mean we create walls of hostility.

Living among God’s people should be a place of refuge and welcome, not oppression.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting

In you, O Lord, have I taken refuge; let me never be put to shame; deliver me in your righteousness. — Psalm 31.1

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Jesus on the Border

Whether Jew or Samaritan, Red or Blue, or any other worldy division, Jesus stands calling everyone to acknowledge him.

Jesus on the Border

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Supporting our Work

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Deuteronomy 22 Listen: (4:13) Read: Romans 2 Listen: (4:13)

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 22.26-27

26 Do nothing to the woman; she has committed no sin deserving death. This case is like that of someone who attacks and murders a neighbor, 27 for the man found the young woman out in the country, and though the betrothed woman screamed, there was no one to rescue her.

Reflection: Abusive Assumptions

By John Tillman

A court’s verdict is just a number on the scoreboard or the snapshot of a referee holding up one fighter’s glove. When we see an article about a Supreme Court ruling, that’s typically all we get—a snapshot. Detailed legal opinions from the justices give graphic, blow-by-blow accounts of how every punch landed and every point was scored.

The “Majority Opinion” shows the reasoning that won the majority of the court over. We learn the evidence the majority found compelling and vital. The “Minority Opinion” details the other justices’ disagreements with their colleagues, including evidence they weighed differently, and reasons they would rule differently.

Moses became the de facto Supreme Court for Israel. He daily heard case after case of everyday mishaps, typical crimes, and outright scandals during the desert sojourn. Eventually, Moses created a court system, appointing judges over successively smaller groups of people. These judges decided simple cases and sent only the most difficult cases to higher judges and eventually to Moses.

Moses had, or developed, a refined legal sensibility and the writings of the law reveal this. They often read like a listing of old case decisions. Sometimes we get only a ruling or verdict, but often, we get hints of Moses’ reasoning. Without familiarity with the cultural context, sometimes we scratch our heads at the verdicts we see. However, it can be helpful to keep our ears open to the compassionate reasoning we find.

In this case of two people in a sexually compromising situation, Moses gives the benefit of the doubt to the party more likely to be victimized. Abuse is assumed by the more powerful and the best is assumed about the target of abuse, not the worst. In Moses’ day, it was assumed that when someone cried out regarding abuse, help would come. In our day, this assumption has often proved false.

God expects us, like Moses, to use our logic to apply his love for others in our interactions with them. Whatever judgments we make about others should be humble (because we are also sinful), compassionate (assuming the best about the victims), and without bias (allowing no excuses due to someone’s prior status, wealth, or “importance”).

Moses’ task was to establish justice. Ours is as well. God will judge organizations, nations, churches, and individuals by how well we carry out justice—especially for abuse victims. May we avoid abusive assumptions and act to rescue them.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Refrain for the Morning Lessons

Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. — Psalm 92.12

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Beyond Consent

The very first step of abuse is to groom victims until they consent to abuse.

Beyond Consent — Readers’ Choice

Read more: Not a Temptress but an Abuser

Any sexual abuse victim would spot the familiar pattern Joseph faced: unwanted attention, comments, messages, and contact, followed by the attack.

Not a Temptress but an Abuser

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Deuteronomy 21 Listen: (3:33) Read: Romans 1 Listen: (5:02)

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 21.6-9

6 Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, 7 and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. 8 Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, Lord, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent person.” Then the bloodshed will be atoned for, 9 and you will have purged from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the Lord.

Reflection: Cold Case Justice

By John Tillman

Crime dramas usually start with a dead body.

In the mid-2000s, Cold Case, flipped that script. The show’s detectives investigated unsolved murders from decades past. The story moved simultaneously on two timelines. In the present, you watched the detectives investigate. In the past, you got to know the victim as they moved inevitably toward the day of their demise.

Cold Case typically started in the past with the sympathetic victim’s story. We developed a saying: “Don’t get sucked into Cold Case. We know how it ends!”

Knowing the victim’s fate was morbid, but seeing them first as a person, instead of an unidentified body, created a unique emotional dynamic. There was a poignant satisfaction when justice finally came for the long-unsolved crime, right before the credits rolled.

As Moses reviewed the law, he described a crime scene identical to the first murder. Like Abel, a body was found in a field, with the victim’s blood crying out to God for justice. Moses prescribed a ceremony, atoning for the community’s guilt. They confessed their failure to provide justice and pleaded for God’s mercy on the community and the victim.

Unsolved crimes are a failure of the community to establish and enforce justice. If you look up crime statistics in your county, you’ll find unsolved murders and open cases. If we observed Mosaic law, we’d be out in the field, sacrificing a cow every week.

Thank God that ultimately Jesus will bring justice for everyone. On the day of judgment, every “cold case” will be solved and every perpetrator punished as the credits of history roll. However, even though we know that no victim’s cry will go unanswered in eternity, that doesn’t mean we shrug our shoulders today and neglect our calling to establish justice and repent of our failures.

Flip the script. Think about the victims before they are statistics. Don’t merely say, “Our hands did not shed this blood,” and “Our eyes did not see it.” Let us open our eyes to see the causes of crime and suffering in our communities. Let us work with our hands to prevent poverty, lack of opportunity, and social inequality—the precursors of crime.

Are there church or community groups or programs near you addressing these problems? Devote prayer, time, or money toward them. Establishing justice is a Christian calling and preventing crime is as much a part of it as investigating crime.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm

Wait upon the Lord and keep his way; he will raise you up to possess the land, and when the wicked are cut off, you will see it… — Psalm 37.34

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Do You Feel Like It?

Despite questions, fickle desires, favorites, frustrations, or vindictiveness, we are called to remain rightly responsive to the realities of who God is, and who we are.

Do You Feel Like It?

Read more: Degrading Each Other

“You have done it unto me.”…Whether we help or harm others, Jesus steps into the interaction.

Degrading Each Other

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Deuteronomy 18 Listen: (3:08) Read: 2 Corinthians 11 Listen: (4:46)

Links for this weekend’s readings:

Read: Deuteronomy 19 Listen: (3:04) Read: 2 Corinthians 12 Listen: (3:54)
Read: Deuteronomy 20 Listen: (2:55) Read: 2 Corinthians 13 Listen: (2:19)

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy18.18-19

18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their fellow Israelites, and I will put my words in his mouth. He will tell them everything I command him. 19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.

Reflection: Prophets Like Moses

By John Tillman

Prophets speak about the future, but aren’t fortune tellers. Prophets perform signs, but aren’t sorcerers. What is a prophet like?

God says his prophets will be like Moses. God will put his word in their mouths and tell them his commands. God will hold accountable those who do not listen. Prophets speak to people on behalf of God.

We think of prophets as having spooky supernatural visions and experiences. They sometimes do. But most of the time, prophets’ “visions” are simple observations of human wickedness. When prophets speak, they usually address problems of the moment and promises for the future.

Problems of the moment can be problems people face or problems people cause. The people faced the probem of Pharaoh’s army. Moses said, “You will never see them again.” (Exodus 14.13) The people caused problems through rebellion, idolatry, and sin. Moses issued God’s judgments. (Exodus 32.30)

Promises for the future can be blessings or cursings, conditional or unconditional. Pharaoh heard conditional promises of plagues, suffering, and death if he did not let the people go. The people heard conditional promises of life, peace, and safety if they followed God’s commands. (Deuteronomy 28.9-11) God’s unconditional promise was to save a people for himself and bring them to a good land to prosper. (Genesis 12.1-3; Exodus 6.6-8)

Prophets speak of the future based on what God says about the present. Prophets see the now through God’s eyes and hear it through his ears. Prophecy is one of the gifts described in the early church community. (Romans 12.6; 1 Corinthians 12.8-10) We still need believers with this spiritual gift today. We must hear the cries of the poor, oppressed, and vulnerable before we speak about power. We must confess the reality of today’s sins before we speak of tomorrow’s judgment or salvation.

Are you a prophet? Do you see today’s problems? Do you know God’s promises for the future?

If you do not sense a prophetic call to speak, obey your calling to listen to today’s prophets. Prophetic messages are often uncomfortable or inconvenient. Resist the urge to grumble against them as the people grumbled against Moses. Beware “prophets” who always promise comfort and safety and say “peace” when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6.14; Ezekiel 13.10)

Remember this, too. Every believer carries at least one prophetic message—the gospel. Go. Tell of the problem of sin. Tell of the promise of freedom, forgiveness, and salvation through the cross and resurrection of Jesus. Be a prophet like Moses who sets people free. (Luke 4.16-20)

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Come now and see the works of God, how wonderful he is in his doing toward all people. — Psalm 66.4

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Tortured Prophets Department

Many who speak out against abuses in the church…of power and sexual abuse, found the track “Cassandra,” from Taylor Swift’s album, devastatingly relatable

Tortured Prophets Department — Readers’ Choice

Read more: Unworthy Prophets

May a better class of prophets speak the truth to power and to God’s people.

Unworthy Prophets

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Deuteronomy 17 Listen: (3:24) Read: 2 Corinthians 10 Listen: (2:45)

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 17.16-20

16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. 18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

Reflection: Kingly Qualifications

By John Tillman

Many places in scripture tell us God considered Israel’s request for a king an idolatrous act, a rejection of him, and a rebellion. (1 Samuel 8.6-9) Yet, knowing the request will one day come, God gave Moses a list of qualifications for kings.

The godly king Moses described is nothing like the ones Israel had and nothing like the ones we ask for today. In a poll released in July of 2024, Americans rated important traits in a president. They don’t compare well with God’s priorities.

God’s first requirement is to not build up expensive military resources. (Deut 17.16) The second requirement is sexual purity in marriage to just one partner. (Deut 17.17) The third requirement is to not enrich himself through his position. (Deut 17.17) Sounds tough already, right? But the last qualification is the kicker and most important.

God wanted kings to be biblical scholars. (Deut 17.18-20) The first task of the king was to write out his own copy of God’s law and to study and read it every day, so as to follow it without turning to the right or the left. As Tim Mackie of the Bible Project says, Israel’s king was supposed to be “a Bible nerd.”

These kingly qualifications aren’t binding on our political systems, however, we can evaluate political leaders or other kinds of leaders using these principles. It’s tempting to look at the list, despair, and complain that there’s no one qualified. We can blame the system and absolve ourselves from guilt over who we choose to support. However, there’s a twist…

In democracies similar to the United States, authority derives from the consent of the governed. You are the king. These principles are for you. The reason our leaders don’t match them is decades of us not matching them.

This is not just a technicality for citizens of democracies. It is a theological reality. With or without political power, we are the body of Christ, our king, on this earth. As regents and ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are the rulers commanded to do these things.

To reign with Christ, develop the qualities of a godly ruler. Love and study the Bible. Do not enrich yourselves through misuse of power. Be sexually pure in marriage or chaste in singleness. Do not trust in violence or its tools but trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm 20.7)

Properly representing Jesus’ kingdom will have effects on earthly ones.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Come, let us sing to the Lord; … For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. — Psalm 95.1, 3

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Kings Like Ahab

Victories don’t grant leaders a never-expiring stamp of God’s approval or mean a leader is “God’s man or woman.”

Kings Like Ahab

Read more: To Wicked Kings, Foreign and Domestic

We must abandon Jonah’s sinful wish to weaponize God’s wrath. God will not be our tool of destruction.

To Wicked Kings, Foreign and Domestic