justice

Where else does the arms and legs of state get disconnected?

eejoseph

An excruciatingly long suspension of answers on demand punctuated the usual Texan pride in the mechanics of law and order.  When judges, safety officers, and heads of state try to excuse their lack of literacy by acting out against the vulnerable and defenseless we knew the day when the plug gets pulled on all of them could not be far. The Uvalde, Texas, police department, at least, should have been fired a long time ago.

Send more officers with spines

“More” is becoming a discredited response to recurring problems.  What government officials need is not more staff and more equipment.  We do need more critics, reports and commissions of inquiry. The world only needs more disciplined, energetic, fearless, generous, and honest officials.

It is too bad governors and military types are not always equipped with hearts and minds tuned to the people they are supposed to serve.  Increasingly the people in civilized society are getting more leaders who are woefully uninformed about what public service is. 

Murdering Mullahs and cowardly rangers

From the mullahs to the sherriffs in rural America there are fewer  discernible links between the safety people deserve and what they actually experience. We should not be surprised that violence is the answer to the cry of Iranian women for relief from the decrees of religious extremists, telling them what to wear and how to wear it. Thank God, the mullahs and their supporters can now conclude that the minds of the Iranian people are not the property of Islamic scholars and misogynist theoreticians.

Massacre with hundreds of safety officers on site

The world has seen what safety officers may have as their priority when prescribed actions are called for when a known massacre of preteen children in their classrooms at school is in progress a dozen or two steps away. We shall soon discover what the ruthless governor of Texas calls justice.

Make no mistake

eejoseph

Some people count to three and still screw up. Others do not count at all. They plant a knee on your neck and calmly watch you die. Raw and unvarnished bondage and violence has their distinct looks. What messenger of God pulls out the wrong covenant to talk about eternal life? None. If the subject is pardon for sin and friendship with God there is no accident that people are talking about Christ and the Cross. When a police officer yells “Taser! Taser! Taser!”, pulls out her service weapon and kills a man it is what it looks like. Make no mistake.

Photo by KoolShooters on Pexels.com

We grieve with the family in Brooklyn Center. We do not accept “accident” as an explanation for choosing the wrong tool. We know that lethal force has a certain look and feel. Lethal force sits on the right hip and the respect for life sits on the left hip. Having trigger-happy neighbours is one thing but police officers who chose to use force on Black people at the drop of a hat need to be purged from law enforcement. Let it begin with the pastors who also have been yelling “Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!” and filling the air with the stink of human futility.

When our words get jumbled or we seem tongue-tied there is no shame, but when we say “egg” and pick up a venomous snake there is justice locked out and good sense buried deep in . Who drinks vinegar instead of water? How many white people have a gun in their face when they are pulled over by law enforcement? It is not an accident that a law enforcement officer takes a life, says “Holy ****. I shot him” and gets due process. Justice for Daunte Wright must be swift and unequivocal and cleaning up the services of dishonest departments begin in earnest.

Like that 20-year peace officer there is a host of spiritual guides, teachers, preachers and motivational speakers who need to get their act together. People can see through the spaghetti throws and the soft-pedalling of Jesus’ victory, deceptive theories about God and justice, and golden rule philosophies. That is no accident. That is damnable malpractice. People who are mindful and properly motivated and prepared make no mistake.

Send in the troops and clowns

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(revised)

Is sending in troops and thugs an answer to the mass of humanity’s rising up to say no more to suffering under  thinly disguised fascism, to dying because of racial supremacy greatness, to burning our consciences with religious zeal,  and to honoring the dishonorable as patriots?

The success of any movement depends on the people taking a hard cold look at the leader’s accountability at the top. Incompetence tolerated leads to disorientation. Not even the high priest in Israel was immune to folly. The prophets were often just shallow pools with no fish, and the kings were the true experts at dithering. These faces of authority, ugly and sinister, are on the screen right now in the melee of our 21st century quest to be diligent and vigilant.

Patriotism is no basis for establishing identity. Ethnic, tribal, national, or linguistic values do not count towards the resources we bring to bear on our human fellowship. Who cares where you were born? You do of course. There is always our mother’s connection to the land as a pure emotional and spiritual home. The person who takes interest in your birthplace had better be kept under the scope, micro or tele.

Patriotism is also all of those things that define people who live together, whether for decades or centuriesm Those activities they pursue, the goals they set, and the vigilance each of those people exhibit in their time frames constitute an important patriotism; an unspoken but lived patriotism. The sons of Israel lived in Egypt for four centuries, all the while patriotic to Abraham and his dream. The state used birth control – infanticide – and deadly violence against them. Is it not a fabulous? Pharaoh used his military against civilians and failed. Even more fabulous is the narrative of the kingdom of Judah exiled in Persia (the last days of the Babylonian exile) where the state, manipulated by one Jew-hater, used violence against the exiles, and authorized Jews to assault and plunder.

There is no reason for us to tolerate one more day under the threat of violence to civilians by a head of state.

And the letters were sent by posts into all the king’s provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, [even] upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and [to take] the spoil of them for a prey.

Esther 3:13

Then were the king’s scribes called at that time in the third month, that [is], the month Sivan, on the three and twentieth [day] thereof; and it was written according to all that Mordecai commanded unto the Jews, and to the lieutenants, and the deputies and rulers of the provinces which [are] from India unto Ethiopia, an hundred twenty and seven provinces, unto every province according to the writing thereof, and unto every people after their language, and to the Jews according to their writing, and according to their language. Esth. 8:9,
And he wrote in the king Ahasuerus’ name, and sealed [it] with the king’s ring, and sent letters by posts on horseback, [and] riders on mules, camels, [and] young dromedaries: Esth. 8:10,
Wherein the king granted the Jews which [were] in every city to gather themselves together, and to stand for their life, to destroy, to slay, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, [both] little ones and women, and [to take] the spoil of them for a prey, Esth. 8:11,
Upon one day in all the provinces of king Ahasuerus, [namely], upon the thirteenth [day] of the twelfth month, which [is] the month Adar. Esth. 8:12,

Patriotism notwithstanding

How much we love our hometown!

And you, Capernaum, will not be exalted to heaven, will you? You will descend to Hades; for if the miracles had occurred in Sodom which occurred in you, it would have remained to this day. ,

Matthew 11:23

America’s Balding Cult of Death

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  • Alaska, sexual assault capital
  • Washington, DC, crime capital

First of all, let us cut the fat.  Judeo-Christian principles are not so sophisticated that we cannot say “Moses said” or “Christ said” and know with certainty that they can be on opposite sides of an issue. If a thing is Christian it has Christ as source. I have learned that the buck stops at Christ’s desk.

Where exactly is the Judeo-Christian contribution to the system of government that calls a 200k death count “what it is” and tries to remove health care coverage from the poor and middle class, and stacks the supreme court with right-wing neo-Nazis? Are people supposed to believe that supreme court justices only interpret the law and never break new ground? The fact that US law contains amendments tells us that it is not a monolith. It is a deceptive and idolatrous gambit to talk about simply interpreting the law as written.

We understand covenant and legislation well enough to reject the popular belief that any nation that has laws against theft, murder and covetousness is a moral entity.

The cues from the Sinai covenant

  • Refusing counsel
  • Saying yes and meaning no

Alaska, the land of the pioneering lover of   freedom and independence, has little character and performance that is impressive.  Its rugged beauty and spacious skies were not sufficient to create a haven or refuge for people loving daylight and a quiet and peaceful environment.

With the law in hand, judges and executioners

Any Jew, Aboriginal, Black, or person with an accent is at risk of losing life and limb for no crime at all.  How many of us have been judged by Americans with the law in their hands we may never know but the sea will give up its dead in the exposé of the ages.

Every known prison yields to investigation

And the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds.

Revelation 20:13

All kinds of homicide cover the walls of research and the happening news.

Shades of the great Babylon!

ALL NATIONS CONTRIBUTE TO THE INMATE POPULATION

For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.”

Revelation of John 18:3

ONE MASSIVE PRISON

And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.

Revelation of John 18:2

Chief of the assassins

It does not help anyone to have law-enforcement operatives solving problems with fatal violence nor does having unscrupulous heads in the departments of state, justice, urban development and the executive mansion. All the democratic hedges have not prevented nations with sizable Christian populations from allowing Christianity has no official political preference.

Remembering Saul of Tarsus and the Risen Lamb who arrested him renders the error of putting anyone to death an utterly inconsistent refuge for an enlightened society.

Hate the whore and walk away

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No fault hate

Who can believe that the world’s merchants and bankers will abandon the mother of merchants? Who has seen a giant shrink to a midget? Or who can relate to something in the making for over a century crumbling in one hour? When we do not see change coming and it overtakes us we can create talking points to say we are still the same. We can even convince people that greatness is increasing. When, however, the bankroll for one’s greatness is not one’s own a good laugh is in order.

The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth.”

Revelation 17:18

The only power with the global reach and influence to lead the nations does not want the job any more and the economic and technological ace can barely bring itself to admit that the centre of the world has shifted eastwards. It was not so long ago that it was said that Brittannia rules the waves. Can God be expected to command a blessing or fan the flames of war and its rumours when the rulers set their sights on terrorizing the meek of the earth?

These entities – horns, beast, and harlot – are nation states and authorities, existing now, not hiding, though it might appear that the prophets were all mad. Expect to see great powers shrunk to pathetic worms. The example of the Soviet Union in recent times should suffice but we can revisit ancient times

When God laughs we can at least smile

We are done here. Rejoice Zion!

eejoseph, , , ,

The first day of the last week of Yeshua’s life is on public display at this time of the year again with its well-rounded appeal and its popularity as a fabulous deep. The light streaming from the triumphant entry is somewhat dimmed torch when compared to the untrimmed prophecy from which the gospel writers cited Zion’s joy. That now famous donkey ride calls for a closer look at Zion’s reason to rejoice greatly.

King nobody wanted

Yeshua’s contemporaries and the Jewish leadership objected to his preaching, teaching, and his healing. The people even exploited his feeding of the hungry: this food manufacturer could be our king. Was he not born king? Yes, but they did not really want the Nazarene. I think the Roman governor hit the piñata when Yeshua’s opponents tries to get the cross-sign changed from “Jesus, Nazarene, Jewish King” to “he called himself Jesus, Nazarene, Jewish King”

I N R I

In that last week Yeshua pushed the buttons to shift to the work he came to do: establish who is really in charge.

The ride into Zion is more than popular acclaim. The full prediction breaks out of the mold of Moses and the prophets.

The gospel-writer’s citation
Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.

Matthew 21:5

The full Zecharian prophecy

A. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. B. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. C. As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

Zechariah 9:9-11

The lines following the procession description play out in the sayings and interactions in the following list. Israel’s pride is over. Everything she had at the top of her power list is now useless. Abraham’s family, those countless Gentile “sinners” will be have God’s peace through His decree. There comes a covenant that releases people from wells without water.

  1. Clearing the temple of merchandising
  2. Cursing the fig tree
  3. Condemning the rejection of the Baptist
  4. Evaluating and evicting the murderous tenants
  5. Identifying the wedding guests who disinvited themselves
  6. Separating Caesar and God
  7. Resurrection and human destiny
  8. Capping the law and the prophets
  9. Identifying David’s son
  10. Trashing the leadership (people in Moses’ seat)

Weeping over Jerusalem

The events in the list cover Matthew chapters 21 to 23 and they are clearly the final actions of the king before he finishes his work on the cross. Joy vanishes quickly as people return to their ways, kicking and screaming that YHWH was not their king. It was too much to be under the wing of a loving mother.



O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, which killeth the prophets, and stoneth them that are sent unto her! how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Matthew 23:37

Desolation vs Covenant

The united memories of both Zionite and the waterless wells cannot paper over the manifest fate of Zion vs the desolation, not merely the physical destruction but the loss of spiritual relevance to life, of the temple. There is no evidence of a God until the airwaves begin to record the sound of relief. People have to welcome the king.

Blessed is he who comes in Yahweh’s name

On law and order

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When US Attorney-general Barr threw out Special Counsel Mueller’s summary and gave the American people his own chlorinated version of the Mueller Report he showed himself an Eli.

Don’t know Eli? Meet him here in this interaction with Samuel, his youthful successor as judge and priest. If you utter an OMG you are in good shape.

And the Lord said to Samuel, Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of every one that heareth it shall tingle. In that day I will perform against Eli all things which I have spoken concerning his house: when I begin, I will also make an end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for ever for the iniquity which he knoweth; because his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not. And therefore I have sworn unto the house of Eli, that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be purged with sacrifice nor offering for ever.

1 Samuel 3:11-14

What General Barr needs to do – restore the bar

He needs to deliver a stern rebuke to the GOP and Tea Party clans that makes it clear that (a) facts alone make America safe and (b) lies are abominable in every circumstance, not just in FBI interactions.

Nay, my sons; for it is no good report that I hear: ye make the Lord’s people to transgress.

1 Samuel 2:24

Need more graphics? Here’s a blind and aged man in 1 Samuel 4:15.
Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see.

Here’s the overweight Eli in I 1 Samuel 4:18
And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years.

Need more graphics? Here are two snapshots to remember: the capture of the ark by the Philistines and family reaction.

1 Samuel 4:19
And his daughter in law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, near to be delivered: and when she heard the tidings that the ark of God was taken, and that her father in law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and travailed; for her pains came upon her.

The outcome of Eli’s slipping – the glory question

1 Samuel 4:21
And she named the child I–chabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father in law and her husband. ee kabôd means where is the glory?

Perhaps this woman felt that she had been robbed by the nepotism of the Eli family just as an entire nation feels robbed of its vital participation in the nation’s choice making without interference. There is so much crime following the crime busters that we have to conclude that the greatness has departed. If greatness has anything to do with officers and administrators of justice it had better not bar the people from the unvarnished – redacted is fine – truth.