The Authority of Parents, and primarily of Fathers.

To start with, don't even get started with me. If it's in the Bible, I believe it. I consider it historically accurate. With that in mind unless I post about the veracity of something in scripture in general then I'm not inviting you to comment on whether or not it's believable. That's going to be the policy from here on out. It's a given in this blog that I rely on scripture completely and at this time I'm not opening the floor to debate.

I'm reading Job right now. Another disclaimer. By "reading" I usually mean "listening". At this time I am going through the ESV for about the second or third time and I'm in the book of Job. Right away this stood out at me. Job 1:9-11:

"Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face."

Satan declares to God that Job will crumble if all that he HAS (that which he owns, that which is his) is taken from him. God responds with this permission in Job 1:12:

"And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD."

And then Satan does destroy much of what Job has, including his children. Job 1:18 & 19:

"While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house: And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee."

Great truths of scripture are revealed in sidebars. The primary point of the first chapter of Job is to record the preamble, rationale for and testing of Job. Snuggled in with that though is God declaring what Satan may touch, those things that are JOB's. As evidenced by the destruction of his children, and the fact that Satan cannot exceed the bounds of his mandate from God, Job's children are his. They are his possessions.

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Using Country as a concept. Lebanon is NOT big.

This is a letter to my daughter, slightly modified. I realized after I had written it that it's a somewhat useful observation for us all.

As the crow flies, the "Shaba Farms" area of northern Israel is about 40 miles from Beirut. For some perspective, my wife drives twice that distance one way to work every day. Overall, Lebanon is about the size of Connecticut. The notion that is conveyed in the media that Hezbollah is in "Southern Lebanon" is a bit misleading since on a clear day you can easily see mountains that are 40 miles away and given the right road conditions you can drive that distance in less than half an hour. Fighter aircraft cross that distance in the blink of an eye.
Being able to see that distance also means that radar support facilities for missile launches can be controlled and evidently ARE being controlled from Beirut.

Propagandists would like you to think that Hezbollah is confined to Southern Lebanon, but that's a myth built in part on your notion of what a country is. Some countries are no bigger than Connecticut, the third smallest state in the United States, only Rhode Island and Delaware are smaller. Having lived in larger towns (some of you will say "duh" at this point) metro areas can also stretch for 40 miles or so.

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Why I choose THAT name.

Ok, ok, it's partly an attention getting device. Here's the logic behind it. In their day it was the Pharisees that believed in the Resurrection. They were the most "Theologically Correct" adherents to the faith of the Hebrews commonly known today as Judaism.

Most don't know it but the only sect that is mentioned as carrying over into early "Christianity" (which wasn't known as Christianity until it spread to the gentiles) were the Pharisees. Paul continued to claim long after his conversion not that he used to be a Pharisee, but that he was a Pharisee.

With that in mind it would make sense that if we truly reformed, we'd end up being most like the Pharisees theologically. Obviously there were excesses and hypocrisies among them. I most certainly don't advocate returning to their micro managing interpretive rules.

I've started this Blog in part to promote my own forum. Expect to find what is discussed here, also discussed there.

Hugh McBryde

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