Joshua 2; Rahab seems a traitor

Joshua 2, CJB, My comments in endnotes.

Concise opinion: Viewed as an agent of the-God, Rahab seems a traitor to humankind. Respecting Yahweh, Rahab broke several of the 10 commandments. As a Canaanite, Rahab seems an egocentric traitor to her people, excepting her immediate family. If I were an Israelite contemporary, I would not trust her or her family, because of their fears and errors. Making Rahab a hero to any ideology or religion bemuses believers.

[In studying the Bible, I ponder reliability to the-God’s message in Genesis 1:26-28, NIV, “make mankind in our image so they may rule over the [lesser species] . . . [and] fill and subdue the earth”. Coming from the-God, “may” implies can choose to. Each person may and can choose to responsibly pursue order on earth. Happy is the person whose actions the-God both appreciates and would mimic if on earth. I want to behave to so represent the-good against the-bad. I want to be a civic citizen. “Civic” means responsible in human connections and transactions.

“May choose to rule” is not equivalent to free-will, which accommodates no-rule, or chaos, or evil. Necessity requires constraint, so those who choose free-will get ruled by citizens who accept and never doubt the-God’s appreciation. “May rule” implies that the-God appreciates the-good and will not usurp mankind’s role. In other words, the-God’s gift to mankind is their opportunity to pursue the-good on earth. It seems “subdue” refers to humankind’s erroneous behavior.

I perceive that John 1:1 asserts that Jesus is the-God. Further, Matthew 5:48 asserts that a human-being may and can pursue unique perfection that mimics Jesus’ reliability. No surrogate can pursue a person’s unique perfection: the person must rule his/her way of living. Also, Matthew 25:41-45 expresses that citizens who do not treat fellow-civic-citizens as unique images of Jesus accept neither Genesis 1:26-28 nor the-God. Each person may accept the-God’s appreciation and pursue Jesus’ civic influence.

Jesus’ civic influence may be discerned in the gospels when he speaks with individuals. Happy is the person who joins with fellow-citizens to pursue, facilitate, and promote Jesus’ civic influence. That is, pursue reliability to Jesus' civic influence to the-good to each generation – “to ourselves and our Posterity”, quoting the preamble to the U.S. Constitution.

I write opinion, because I do not know the-ineluctable-truth. Ineluctable means: not to be assailed, avoided, changed, escaped, neglected, obfuscated, rationalized, or resisted.]

 

2 Y’hoshua [Israelite] the son of Nun secretly sent two spies from Sheetim with these instructions: “Go, inspect the land and Yericho.”[A] They left and came to the house of a prostitute named Rachav, where they spent the night. ² The king[B] of Yericho [Canaanite] was told[C] about it — “Tonight some men from Isra’el came here to reconnoiter the land.”

³ The king of Yericho sent a message to Rachav [Canaanite], “Bring out the men who came to you and are staying in your house, because they have come to reconnoiter all the land.” ⁴ However, the woman, after taking the two men and hiding them, replied, “Yes, the men did come to me; but I didn’t know where they had come from [a lie]. ⁵ The men left around the time when they shut the gate, when it was dark. Where they went I don’t know [a lie]; but if you chase after them quickly, you will overtake them.”[D] ⁶ Actually she had brought them up to the roof and hidden them under some stalks of flax she had spread out there. ⁷ The men pursued them all the way to the fords at the Yarden; as soon as the pursuit party had left, the gate was shut.

⁸ The two men had not yet lain down when she returned to the roof ⁹ and said to them, “I know that Adonai has given you the land. Fear[E] of you has fallen on us; everyone in the land is terrified at the thought of you. ¹⁰ We’ve heard how Adonai dried up the water in the Sea of Suf ahead of you, when you left Egypt; and what you did to the two kings of the Emori on the other side of the Yarden, Sichon and ‘Og, that you completely destroyed them. ¹¹ As soon as we heard it, our hearts failed us. Because of you, everyone is in a state of depression. For Adonai your God — he is God in heaven above and on the earth below. ¹² So, please, swear to me by Adonai that, since I have been kind to you, you will also be kind to my father’s family. Give me some evidence of your good faith, ¹³ that you will spare the lives of my father, mother, brothers and sisters and all who are theirs, so that we won’t be killed.”[F] ¹⁴ The men replied to her, “Our lives are certainly worth yours [the bargain for favor], provided you don’t betray our mission. So when Adonai gives us the land [we completely destroy Jericho], we will treat you kindly and in good faith.”

¹⁵ Then she lowered them by a rope through the window; since her house abutted the city wall, indeed was actually built into it. ¹⁶ She told them, “Head for the hills, so that the pursuit party won’t get their hands on you; and hide yourselves there for three days, until the pursuers have returned. After that, you can go on your way.” ¹⁷ The men said to her, “We will not be guilty of violating the oath you made us swear, provided that ¹⁸ when we enter the land, you tie this piece of scarlet cord in the window you let us down from; and you gather together in your house your father, mother, brothers, and your father’s entire household. ¹⁹ If anyone goes out the doors of your house into the street, he will be responsible for his own blood, and we will be guiltless. But everyone who stays with you in the house — we will be responsible for his blood if anyone lays a hand on him. ²⁰ However, if you say a word about this business of ours, then we will be free of your oath that you made us swear.” ²¹ “According to your words, so be it,” she said, and sent them away. As they departed, she tied the scarlet cord in the window.

²² They left, arrived in the hills, and stayed there three days, until the pursuers had returned. The pursuers had searched for them all the way but hadn’t found them. ²³ Then the two men returned. Descending from the hills they crossed over and came to Y’hoshua the son of Nun, and reported everything that had happened to them. ²⁴ “Truly Adonai has handed over all the land to us,” they told Y’hoshua. “Everyone in the land is terrified that we’re coming.”

Updated on 9/22/2023

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[A] Yericho was a Canaanite city; https://www.bibleodyssey.org/places/main-articles/jericho.

[B] The Canaanites (and the Hebrews) were Northern Semites; Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples - Wikipedia.

[C] Who leaked the secret?

[D] Rachav or Rahab deceived her king, her city, her family, and her neighbors, I think breaking at least the 1^st, 3^rd, and 9^th of 10 commandments.

[E] Rahab committed treason against everyone in Jericho to save her life and her immediate family who could and would come to her home.

[F] Did Rahab’s quid pro quo exclude her 4 grandparents and theirs from protection? Seems so.

Exodus 21: Moses' laws

[Please recall, I ponder reliability to Genesis 1:26-28, NIV, “in our image so they may rule . . . earth”. The-creator-God’s may implies can. Each person may& can choose to pursue order on earth. Happy is the person whose actions the-God images.

“May rule” is not equivalent to free-will, which accommodates no-rule, or chaos. Necessity requires rule, so those who choose free-will get ruled.

I perceive that John 1:1 asserts that Jesus is God. Further, Matthew 5:48 asserts that a human-being can pursue unique perfection that mimics Jesus’ perfection. No other entity can pursue a person’s perfection. Also, Matthew 25:41-45 expresses that citizens who do not treat fellow-citizens as unique images of Jesus accept neither Genesis 1:26-28 nor its mystery-creator. Each person may accept the-mystery-of-God and yet pursue Jesus’ civic guidance.

Happy is the person who joins with fellow-citizens to pursue& promote the-civic-Jesus. That is, reliability to Jesus' civic-suggestions to the-good to each generation – “to ourselves and our Posterity” quoting the preamble to the U.S. Constitution. “Civic” means responsible in human connections& transactions.]

 

Exodus 20

²² Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the Israelites this: ‘You have seen for yourselves that I have spoken to you from heaven: ²³ Do not make any gods to be alongside me; do not make for yourselves gods of silver or gods of gold.

²⁴ “‘Make an altar of earth for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, your sheep and goats and your cattle. Wherever I cause my name to be honored, I will come to you and bless you. ²⁵ If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it. ²⁶ And do not go up to my altar on steps, or your private parts may be exposed.’

Exodus 21

21 “These are the laws you are to set before them:

Hebrew Servants

² “If you buy a Hebrew servant, he is to serve you for six years. But in the seventh year, he shall go free, without paying anything. ³ If he comes alone, he is to go free alone; but if he has a wife when he comes, she is to go with him. ⁴ If his master gives him a wife and she bears him sons or daughters, the woman and her children shall belong to her master, and only the man shall go free.

⁵ “But if the servant declares, ‘I love my master and my wife and children and do not want to go free,’ ⁶ then his master must take him before the judges [Or translation “before God”]. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life.

⁷ “If a man sells his daughter as a servant, she is not to go free as male servants do. ⁸ If she does not please the master who has selected her for himself, he must let her be redeemed. He has no right to sell her to foreigners, because he has broken faith with her. ⁹ If he selects her for his son, he must grant her the rights of a daughter. ¹⁰ If he marries another woman, he must not deprive the first one of her food, clothing and marital rights. ¹¹ If he does not provide her with these three things, she is to go free, without any payment of money. [This notion negates the God who rendered such a law. There’s no civic-integrity in these laws.]

Personal Injuries

¹² “Anyone who strikes a person with a fatal blow is to be put to death. ¹³ However, if it is not done intentionally, but God lets it happen, they are to flee to a place I will designate. ¹⁴ But if anyone schemes and kills someone deliberately, that person is to be taken from my altar and put to death.

¹⁵ “Anyone who attacks their father or mother is to be put to death.

¹⁶ “Anyone who kidnaps someone is to be put to death, whether the victim has been sold or is still in the kidnapper’s possession.

¹⁷ “Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.

¹⁸ “If people quarrel and one person hits another with a stone or with their fist and the victim does not die but is confined to bed, ¹⁹ the one who struck the blow will not be held liable if the other can get up and walk around outside with a staff; however, the guilty party must pay the injured person for any loss of time and see that the victim is completely healed.

²⁰ “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, ²¹ but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.

²² “If people are fighting and hit a pregnant woman and she gives birth prematurely [Translation “or has a miscarriage] but there is no serious injury, the offender must be fined whatever the woman’s husband demands and the court allows. ²³ But if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, ²⁴ eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, ²⁵ burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. [Infant for infant?]

²⁶ “An owner who hits a male or female slave in the eye and destroys it must let the slave go free to compensate for the eye. ²⁷ And an owner who knocks out the tooth of a male or female slave must let the slave go free to compensate for the tooth.

²⁸ “If a bull gores a man or woman to death, the bull is to be stoned to death, and its meat must not be eaten. But the owner of the bull will not be held responsible. ²⁹ If, however, the bull has had the habit of goring and the owner has been warned but has not kept it penned up and it kills a man or woman, the bull is to be stoned and its owner also is to be put to death. ³⁰ However, if payment is demanded, the owner may redeem his life by the payment of whatever is demanded. ³¹ This law also applies if the bull gores a son or daughter. ³² If the bull gores a male or female slave, the owner must pay thirty shekels^[f] of silver to the master of the slave, and the bull is to be stoned to death.

³³ “If anyone uncovers a pit or digs one and fails to cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it, ³⁴ the one who opened the pit must pay the owner for the loss and take the dead animal in exchange.

³⁵ “If anyone’s bull injures someone else’s bull and it dies, the two parties are to sell the live one and divide both the money and the dead animal equally. ³⁶ However, if it was known that the bull had the habit of goring, yet the owner did not keep it penned up, the owner must pay, animal for animal, and take the dead animal in exchange.

(147) Exodus 21:22-27 - The Law and Restitution - YouTube

Deuteronomy 13: the church falsely accusing Jesus of hate; with Addendum and Yeshua note

Note: In early 2024 I learned his mom and dad in Nazareth named and called him "Yeshua", and "Jesus" is a consequence of translations from Aramaic/Hebrew to Greek, to Latin, to old English, then to Protestant English. "Christ" supports Paul, and some people believe Paul without civic objection. This discovery is wonderful and to be shared.

[Please recall I ponder reliability to Genesis 1:26, NIV, “in our image so they may rule . . . earth”. May coming-from-the-God implies can and leaves the person with choice to pursue order or not. This is not equivalent to free-will, which is presented without assessment of consequences: there may be chaos (no rule). I do not know the-ineluctable-truth, and therefore seek it.

I perceive that John 1:1 asserts that Jesus is God. Further, Matthew 5:48 asserts that a human-being can pursue perfection that mimics Jesus’ perfection. It is their unique perfection no other human can pursue. Also, Matthew 25:41-45, expresses that citizens who do not treat fellow-citizens as unique images of Jesus, accept neither Genesis 1:26-28 nor its mystery-source.

Happy is the person who joins with fellow-citizens to pursue& promote the-civic-Jesus: reliability to Jesus' commands.]

13 If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, ² and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” (gods you have not known) “and let us worship them,” ³ you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer. The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. ⁴ It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him. ⁵ That prophet or dreamer must be put to death for inciting rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. That prophet or dreamer tried to turn you from the way the Lord your God commanded you to follow. You must purge the evil from among you. [How foolish! The author could but does not accept that whatever constrains human choices (no one knows the source) does not respond favorably to institutionally constructed labels.]

⁶ If your very own brother, or your son or daughter, or the wife you love, or your closest friend secretly entices you, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods that neither you nor your ancestors have known, ⁷ gods of the peoples around you, whether near or far, from one end of the land to the other), ⁸ do not yield to them or listen to them. Show them no pity. Do not spare them or shield them. ⁹ You must certainly put them to death. Your hand must be the first in putting them to death, and then the hands of all the people. ¹⁰ Stone them to death, because they tried to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. ¹¹ Then all Israel will hear and be afraid, and no one among you will do such an evil thing again. [I speculate that gospels plagiarize Deuteronomy 13, e.g., John 15:18-23, Mathew 10:34-39 and others. Churches rather than Jesus condone hate, even murder. The habit of substituting “God” for Jesus is individual choice to cling to evil rather than practice the-good. People know better, because Genesis 1:26 is made plain to them by the laws of physics& progeny yet they avoid, change, or resist its claim, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule”. It’s a matter of potential human-integrity and the individual power to choose the-good or not.]

¹² If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in ¹³ that troublemakers have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), ¹⁴ then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, ¹⁵ you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock. ¹⁶ You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. That town is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt, ¹⁷ and none of the condemned things are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger, will show you mercy, and will have compassion on you. He will increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your ancestors— ¹⁸ because you obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes. [R. E. Lee, believing each his local ministers, Thomas Aquinas, and Aristotle, set out to destroy the USA, because of slave-emancipation-evil, according to Lee-God. Luke, I think erroneously, imposes evil in reporting Jesus’ teachings. See Luke 14:25-33.]

[If the church has bad past performance, it implies not that it is evil but that it has opportunity to reform. I do not know the-ineluctable-truth.]

Addendum, from today’s UBC sermon (June 4, 2023):

Matthew 28: ¹⁸ Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Does that imply from the beginning?)

Compare Genesis 1:26-28: ²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” ²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. ²⁸ God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

Genesis’ God-mystery gives authority on earth to humankind, who may choose to rule life on earth. Since they may, they can.

Jesus claims authority “in heaven and on earth” and orders “obey everything I have commanded you”.

I think people who cling to the God-mystery miss life’s chance to comprehend& obey the most reliable entity I experience: Jesus “to ourselves and our Posterity”, quoting the preamble to the US constitution.  

Mark 16 - Jesus is present each time a human mimics Jesus’ civic-integrity (Yeshua note)

 

Note: In early 2024 I learned his mom and dad in Nazareth named and called him "Yeshua", and "Jesus" is a consequence of translations from Aramaic/Hebrew to Greek, to Latin, to old English, then to Protestant English. "Christ" supports Paul, and some people believe Paul without civic objection. This discovery is wonderful and to be shared.

[Please recall I ponder reliability to Genesis 1:26, NIV, “in our image so they may rule . . . earth”. May coming-from-the-God implies can and leaves the person with choice to pursue order or not. This is not equivalent to free-will, which is presented without assessment of consequences: there may be chaos (no rule). I do not know the-ineluctable-truth, and therefore seek it.

I perceive that John 1:1 asserts that Jesus is God. Further, Matthew 5:48 asserts that a human-being can pursue perfection that mimics Jesus’ perfection. It is their unique perfection no other human can pursue. Also, Matthew 25:41-45, expresses that citizens who do not treat fellow-citizens as unique images of Jesus, accept neither Genesis 1:26-28 nor its source, Jesus.

Happy is the person who joins with fellow-citizens to pursue& promote the-civic-Jesus.]

16 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. [Many cultures, e.g., Greece, 2800 years ago, consider obligations to dead citizens on par with obligations to the living. See Death, Burial, and the Afterlife in Ancient Greece | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History (metmuseum.org).] ² Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb ³ and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

⁴ But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. ⁵ As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed.

⁶ “Don’t be alarmed,” he said. “You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene [Note the controversy that nothing good comes from Nazareth. See Can Anything Good Come Out Of Nazareth? | The Guardian Nigeria News - Nigeria and World News — Sunday Magazine — The Guardian Nigeria News – Nigeria and World News.], who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. ⁷ But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.’” [This suggests a supernatural yet physical resurrection of Jesus. I don’t know the-ineluctable-truth. However, I trust& am committed to the-civic-Jesus, which involves practice, facilitation& encouragement to the-good --- reliable-human-independence, which is expressed as a theism in Genesis 1:26-28.]

⁸ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

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[The earliest manuscripts and some other ancient witnesses do not have verses 9–20.]

⁹ When Jesus rose early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had driven seven demons. ¹⁰ She went and told those who had been with him and who were mourning and weeping. ¹¹ When they heard that Jesus was alive and that she had seen him, they did not believe it.

¹² Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. ¹³ These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either.

¹⁴ Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

¹⁵ He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” [I agree when scholars express doubt in these supernatural claims. In fact, a civil judge who must assign children unfortunately orphaned by snake handlers is likely to seek a blood relative who opposes snake handling. And, anyone who drinks deadly poison dies. Likewise, it is healthy to doubt the physical resurrection of Jesus, because doubt positions a person to consider more earnestly the civic-lessons concerned students can glean from things Jesus is reported to have said and done. For example, from Matthew 25:41-45, citizens who do not treat fellow-citizens as unique images of Jesus, accept neither Genesis 1:26-28 nor its source, Jesus. Jesus may be the source of the-good. I do not know the-ineluctable-truth, yet I perceive evidence.]

¹⁹ After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. ²⁰ Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it. [Jesus is alive and well each time a living person practices, facilitates, and/or encourages Jesus’-civic-influence -- influence to the-good.]

[I apply Genesis-1-NIV perspective to Bible interpretation -- NIV because of the phrase “so they may” in Genesis 1:26. Coming from the-God, “may” implies “can”: Each person may& can choose the-good. For all I know, Jesus is the-God, and the-God may be the-good.

“For all I know” seems a casual equivalent of “I don’t know the-ineluctable-truth”. I consider my position humble to the-God, whatever it is and would appreciate opportunity to change my opinion toward more appreciation& humility.

I think Genesis 1:26-28 expresses the-civic-Jesus-message (CJM):  Human male unites-to female human-being and their spouse-hood may& can pursue comprehensive-safety& security to the living species and to the earth (SECURITY). In self-interest, there is no race; no rights; no coercion; no force – only human-opportunity to choose the-good. Every person may& can aid SECURITY, and the civic-citizen so chooses. “Civic” means reliable in human connections& transactions. Some persons neglect, partially or wholly, civic-Jesus-appreciation, Jesus’-peace, and SECURITY. I don’t know that there are humans who cannot, rather than will-not, aid SECURITY. But some humans choose not to aid SECRITY.

I call Genesis-1’s message, “reliable-human-independence”, or RHI. Responsible is like reliable. Some human-beings, throughout history, practice, facilitate& encourage RHI. Jesus exemplified& encouraged RHI. From the past, civic-citizens guide-us to the-good, and consequences from non-civic-persons warn-us against error. I think the-civic-Jesus guides-us to RHI. Perhaps the authentic Jesus merely advocated the-good.

But I don’t know the-ineluctable-truth. “Ineluctable” means: not to be avoided, changed, escaped, neglected, obfuscated, rationalized, or resisted: I may& can choose either RHI or dependency, such as religious arrogance. I may& can choose dereliction to my self-interest.

Persons who appreciate contemporary human being (verb), during each generation, develop CJM. CJM facilitates the civic-appreciation that human being (verb) applied “before Abraham was born”, since then, and into the future. Given the question, “Was Jesus a man?”, I respond IDK, yet value CJM, an attitude which seems sufficient& complete to my person. I advocate the-civic-Jesus and admit CJM could be the-good. Yet the-good cannot replace the authentic Jesus. Nor can Christ displace Jesus. Allowing “Christ” to obfuscate Jesus seems ruinous. Yet I expect& accept judgement from higher than myself.

Perhaps CJM always was the-good human being (verb). Perhaps intention to the-good was present at the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago. There’s joy in accepting doubt, seeking the-ineluctable-evidence, and reserving humility to RHI. Happiness may facilitate joy.

It seems the-laws-of-physics& progeny (PHYSICS) constrains the consequences of each person’s choices. A person who claims to be a spirit nevertheless bleeds. Physics’ progeny includes: fundamental forces, mathematics, chemistries, biology, psychology, imagination, and their subsets. I choose to accept the-civic-Jesus and pursue Jesus’ “my-peace”, in-order-to commit-to and trust-in PHYSICS. For example, I work for my food& shelter rather than accept what a bureaucrat might provide. Food is essential and I have no right to it. Only if I secure my energy to work can I help fellow-citizens including the indigent. I work to aid SECURITY rather than pray for an entity to attempt to usurp RHI. Make no mistake: if one of my loved ones seems threatened beyond my protection, I pray to the-what-I-don’t-know.

Admitting I could be wrong, I accept that Genesis 1:26-28, NIV, urges me to constrain chaos in my way of living; in other words, urges me to the-good suggested by the-civic-Jesus, which I pursue by listening to fellow-citizens. I don’t know, but at age 79, I perceive joy made possible by Jesus’ direct-influence and look forward to what I may& can learn on the journey toward age 99. I hope readers will take these ideas seriously and share ideas I need to hear.]

Matthew 21 discovering “a-reliable-people”

[Please recall I ponder reliability to Genesis 1:26, NIV, “in our image so they may rule . . . earth”. May coming-from-the-God implies can and leaves the person with choice to pursue order or not. This is not equivalent to free-will, which is presented without assessment of consequences: there may be chaos (no rule).]

^21:1 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, ² saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. ³ If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

⁴ This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:

⁵ “Say to Daughter Zion,
    ‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
    and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”^[a]

[The above is a construct by Rabbinical leaders, weather Levites, Pharisees or synagogue lords. To accept it as the word of God lessens Jesus to “the anointed one” and king, whereas Jesus is at least a witness to the-ineluctable-truth, and for all I know is God and source of Genesis 1 (as implied in John 1:1).]

⁶ The disciples went and did as Jesus had instructed them. ⁷ They brought the donkey and the colt and placed their cloaks on them for Jesus to sit on. ⁸ A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. ⁹ The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

“Hosanna^[b] to the Son of David!”

“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”^[c]

“Hosanna^[d] in the highest heaven!”

¹⁰ When Jesus entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?”

¹¹ The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

[The point here is that Jewish hearsay had the Messiah coming not from Nazareth. I perceive I associate with the crowd, except that I refer to Jesus as a-civic-citizen rather than prophet.]

Jesus at the Temple

¹² Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves. ¹³ “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’^[e] but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’^[f]”

¹⁴ The blind and the lame came to him at the temple, and he healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shouting in the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

¹⁶ “Do you hear what these children are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “have you never read,

“‘From the lips of children and infants
    you, Lord, have called forth your praise’^[g]?”

¹⁷ And he left them and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

[I see no way selective, physical miracle working comports to Genesis 1:26-28. Arbitrary favor creates division rather than order.]

Jesus Curses a Fig Tree

¹⁸ Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. ¹⁹ Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.

²⁰ When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

²¹ Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. ²² If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

[I take comfort that the-Jesus-that-influences-me does not behave with meanness; does not take eye for eye; does not condemn the errant citizen. The-civic-Jesus practices, facilitates, and encourages reliability in living connections& transactions. “Civic” expresses reliability rather than conformity; appreciation rather than praise; right rather than wrong. Jesus knows what I pursue.]

The Authority of Jesus Questioned

²³ Jesus entered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him. “By what authority are you doing these things?” they asked. “And who gave you this authority?”

²⁴ Jesus replied, “I will also ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. ²⁵ John’s baptism—where did it come from? Was it from heaven, or of human origin?”

They discussed it among themselves and said, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will ask, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ ²⁶ But if we say, ‘Of human origin’—we are afraid of the people, for they all hold that John was a prophet.”

²⁷ So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”

Then he said, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.

[Throughout my lifetime, Bible promoters invariable corner themselves into admitting “I don’t know but that is what I believe”. In my 80^th year, I realize: “but” cannot negate what came before. That’s why I often remind people, “I don’t know”.]

The Parable of the Two Sons

²⁸ “What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’

²⁹ “‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed his mind and went.

³⁰ “Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did not go.

³¹ “Which of the two did what his father wanted?”

“The first,” they answered.

Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. ³² For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

[I nominate the above passage as an illustration of the-civic-Jesus. Of the ideas attributed to Jesus, some are applicable to reliability to humankind. In this case, the moment a person discovers the right behavior, they can& may choose to make it a habit, so as not to risk bad consequences of wrong behavior. For example, in 1972, I accepted that smoking was killing me and Cynthia. Together we stopped, cold turkey. I never smoked again and Cynthia smoked only a few times in the mid 70s.

At this moment, I realize that “civic”, a byproduct of my work on the preamble to the U.S. Constitution, expresses reliability to U.S. intentions. I sense that “civic” may yield to “reliable”, in my work as impacted by Nomads and others in UBC. I now promote a-civic-people and may change to a-reliable-people if it seems more expressive as the phrase matures in my mind.]

The Parable of the Tenants

³³ “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a winepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and moved to another place. ³⁴ When the harvest time approached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit.

³⁵ “The tenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third. ³⁶ Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenants treated them the same way. ³⁷ Last of all, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

³⁸ “But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and take his inheritance.’ ³⁹ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.

⁴⁰ “Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?”

⁴¹ “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

⁴² Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes’^[h]?

⁴³ “Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit. ⁴⁴ Anyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”^[i]

⁴⁵ When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talking about them. ⁴⁶ They looked for a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the people held that he was a prophet.

[Once a human-being grasps the Mesopotamian message (MM) in Genesis 1:26-28, NIV, they may choose to accept that they can pursue in their way of living order-rather-than-chaos. The MM may be: pursue safety& security in your way of living. For all I know, Jesus is the source of the message, you can& may choose the-good for self-interest and aid a-reliable-people as well.]