Aug 19, 2009

Texts:
Deuteronomy 12-14
Luke 13

Deuteronomy:Roman temple ruins near the Ommayad Mosque in Damascus.

The Israelites are commanded to tear down the holy places of the gods of the lands they are occupying. But when I was in the Holy Land in 2006, what was apparent to me was that the holy places stayed the same. Archaeologists would find a mosque, over a byzantine church, over a synagogue, over a temple to Jupiter, over a temple to Ba'al. The "owners" of the sites changed, but the holiness of the place stayed the same.This picture above shows that Roman ruins at Ba'albek in Lebanon were re-fashioned for Islamic construction.


And the Dome of the Rock (Muslim) is built on top of the ruins of Solomon's temple in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is perhaps the clearest illustration of holy places remaining holy, today with disastrous results.
Do we have "holy" places that remain holy in our lives?

And the penalty for people who try to lure you into worshipping false gods is.....drum roll please....DEATH BY STONING!!! Perhaps we are our brothers keepers after all. Worshipping false gods is bad. Leading others to do it is worse. Discuss.

14:19--I am glad to hear that winged insects are unclean and that I shouldn't eat them. What a relief!

Luke:
Which of the "kingdom" comparisons in this passage to you like the most? The least?