I'm wondering why you call money evil...Money, (or, better, the love of money) it is said, is the root of all evil"
Good point, Chris. Perhaps, I ought to have said: "money" (the root of all evil).
Sometimes (as I'm sure you know), it is difficult to know the right thing to do. MT did not seem to suffer from these doubts in the same way as I have--at least not after that train ride cured her of that human affliction. Unforunately, I have only (basically) ridden the trains in Mexico--and I did not have a sleeper.
The bible confuses me on money; at least, I am able to confess to that. For instance, this confuses me:
Ec.10:19
"A feast is made for laughter, and wine maketh merry: but money answereth all things."
1 Tim.6:10
"For the love of money is the root of all evil."
This also confuses me:
Isaiah, Chapter 55
55:1
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
55:2
Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
55:3
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
55:4
Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.
55:5
Behold, thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel; for he hath glorified thee.
55:6
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near:
55:7
Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.
55:8
For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
55:9
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
55:10
For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater:
I wonder if this is the way that MT viewed materiality and money. It seems possible...
This also confuses me. It shows that money and the gift of goods and money is clearly good and godly, as being commanded by God herself. But I had always considered the value of a woman to be at least double that of men--100 sheckels. I don't know why God set the value of women as so low compared to men. Moses must have been awfully surprised at all those rules. Thank God he had sufficient piety to desist from disobedience. We in north america have lost our sense of devotion and obedience. Wage equity is just one example of our idiotic ungodliness.
Sorry Chris, to stray off topic. Money and value are such confusing concepts for me. I struggle on a daily basis not to hate myself for the wicked way that I do spend. I guess I can agree with you (although it creates cognitive dissonance--and that is extremely painful) that spending money for food is not necessarily evil. But what if one spends it to alleviate TRUE suffering? Surely, you will not suggest that suffering is not good? MT is much too large a figure to be repudiated by the likes of you or I.
This is where I am stuck. I know that suffering is like a kiss from Jesus; and I know that Jesus wishes to kiss everyone because He loves everyone. How do you tell someone you love that they may not be kissed? It is a dilemma for me. Fortunately, the pain that it causes is pretty much continuous...
Leviticus 27
1
The LORD said to Moses,
2
"Speak to the Israelites and say to them: `If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate persons to the LORD by giving equivalent values,
3
set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels [1] of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel [2] ;
4
and if it is a female, set her value at thirty shekels. [3]
5
If it is a person between the ages of five and twenty, set the value of a male at twenty shekels [4] and of a female at ten shekels. [5]
6
If it is a person between one month and five years, set the value of a male at five shekels [6] of silver and that of a female at three shekels [7] of silver.
7
If it is a person sixty years old or more, set the value of a male at fifteen shekels [8] and of a female at ten shekels.
8
If anyone making the vow is too poor to pay the specified amount, he is to present the person to the priest, who will set the value for him according to what the man making the vow can afford.
9
"`If what he vowed is an animal that is acceptable as an offering to the LORD, such an animal given to the LORD becomes holy.
10
He must not exchange it or substitute a good one for a bad one, or a bad one for a good one; if he should substitute one animal for another, both it and the substitute become holy.
11
If what he vowed is a ceremonially unclean animal--one that is not acceptable as an offering to the LORD--the animal must be presented to the priest,
12
who will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, that is what it will be.
13
If the owner wishes to redeem the animal, he must add a fifth to its value.
14
"`If a man dedicates his house as something holy to the LORD, the priest will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, so it will remain.
15
If the man who dedicates his house redeems it, he must add a fifth to its value, and the house will again become his.
16
"`If a man dedicates to the LORD part of his family land, its value is to be set according to the amount of seed required for it--fifty shekels of silver to a homer [9] of barley seed.
17
If he dedicates his field during the Year of Jubilee, the value that has been set remains.
18
But if he dedicates his field after the Jubilee, the priest will determine the value according to the number of years that remain until the next Year of Jubilee, and its set value will be reduced.
19
If the man who dedicates the field wishes to redeem it, he must add a fifth to its value, and the field will again become his.
20
If, however, he does not redeem the field, or if he has sold it to someone else, it can never be redeemed.
21
When the field is released in the Jubilee, it will become holy, like a field devoted to the LORD; it will become the property of the priests. [10]
22
"`If a man dedicates to the LORD a field he has bought, which is not part of his family land,
23
the priest will determine its value up to the Year of Jubilee, and the man must pay its value on that day as something holy to the LORD.
24
In the Year of Jubilee the field will revert to the person from whom he bought it, the one whose land it was.
25
Every value is to be set according to the sanctuary shekel, twenty gerahs to the shekel.
26
"`No one, however, may dedicate the firstborn of an animal, since the firstborn already belongs to the LORD; whether an ox [11] or a sheep, it is the LORD's.
27
If it is one of the unclean animals, he may buy it back at its set value, adding a fifth of the value to it. If he does not redeem it, it is to be sold at its set value.
28
"`But nothing that a man owns and devotes [12] to the LORD--whether man or animal or family land--may be sold or redeemed; everything so devoted is most holy to the LORD.
29
"`No person devoted to destruction [13] may be ransomed; he must be put to death.
30
"`A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.
31
If a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it.
32
The entire tithe of the herd and flock--every tenth animal that passes under the shepherd's rod--will be holy to the LORD.
33
He must not pick out the good from the bad or make any substitution. If he does make a substitution, both the animal and its substitute become holy and cannot be redeemed.'" |
