May 3, 2025

It’s against the law in Alabama to play dominos on Sundays, to wear a fake mustache in church or to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket.

And for heaven’s sakes don’t eat your fried chicken with a fork in Gainesville, Georgia or eat a doughnut while walking backwards in Marion, Ohio if you want to stay on the right side of the law. Although still on the books, I can’t imagine that committing any of these comical offenses would ever land you a night in the pokey, but I know ten laws that once posed a far greater threat.

Scripture Study Series on the Ten Commandments: Deuteronomy 5, part 7

—We’ve all heard of the Ten Commandments, of course, but God actually gave an additional 603 commandments to Moses and the Israelites, and each one carried the same weight. I suspect you’ve heard of “You shall not kill” and “Honor your father and your mother,” but what about “A woman shall not wear anything that pertains to a man, nor shall a man put on a woman’s garment” (Deut. 22:5) or “You shall not permit a witch to live” (Exodus 22:18)? The Jews were beholden to all 613, not just to the big Ten.

—Written to a Jewish audience, James 2:10 in the New Testament makes it clear that “whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.” Therefore, if you disobeyed one single law, you broke the entire agreement or covenant and faced the consequences, which included death. You couldn’t say, “I’ve kept 99% of the commandments. Sorry about the others, Lord,” or “I’ve kept more than she did, Lord, so that should count for something!” No, if you disobeyed one command, whether one of the big Ten or not, you broke the entire agreement, and everyone has broken at least one.

—That’s actually the whole point. God, knowing that no man is capable of keeping the entire agreement without failure, sent Jesus who faithfully kept each and every commandment. Not deserving of death, Jesus died on behalf of man so that he wouldn’t have to die. Now that’s good news!

–Daniel McCabe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt7GBTksUYY

Trivia: Which US President has visited Israel more than any other?

—A. Bill Clinton

—B. Richard Nixon

—C. Ronald Reagan

—D. Donald Trump

Scripture Study: Psalm 17

—Here’s my one-sentence summary of this interesting psalm.

—“O God, hear my prayer to you for vindication from the callous, arrogant, violent men of this world who surround me to kill me and who stalk us all like a lion ready to pounce on its prey, and LORD, act now to defeat the wicked and to deliver me with your sword as you do for all those who trust you and who like me have been tested during the night and found righteous, but unlike others who only find satisfaction in their earthly possessions and their children, I’m asking you to keep me close and take me under your wings, for I’ve chosen to listen to you, say what’s right, and do what’s right, knowing that when I awaken in the morning I’ll be fully satisfied with seeing you, the one who answers my prayers, always loves me, and keeps me from falling.”

—Can anyone relate?

—Daniel McCabe

Life in the Land: Curious George

—Raise your hand if you grew up reading about George, “a good little monkey, and always very curious” and do you remember “the man with the yellow hat” who brought George from Africa to America where the two lived together in the big city? But could you name the husband and wife team who wrote and illustrated these memorable tales? Hans Augusto Reyersbach was born to Jewish parents in Hamburg, Germany in 1898. While attending the sixteenth birthday party of a friend, Hans (or H.A. as he would later become known to millions of readers) met his future wife, Margret, and to escape the rise of anti-Semitism in Nazi Germany they moved to Paris in 1935 after their marriage. Following the invasion of France in May 1940 the Reyersbachs fled Paris on bicycles just hours before its fall, carrying their first manuscript of Curious George with them. They made it safely to Spain, then on to Portugal and Brazil before eventually immigrating to New York and later Cambridge, Massachusetts where they lived for many years until their deaths. Altogether they would write and illustrate seven books with Curious George in the title.

—Daniel McCabe

Scripture Study:: Psalms of Ascent

—Over the years I have become more and more comforted and inspired by the psalms. Among my favorites are Psalms 1, 23, 51 and 73, but here I would like to mention the “Psalms of Ascents,” Psalms 120-134. There are different ideas of why these fifteen psalms came to be known as the “Psalms of Ascents.” The prevailing notion is that they refer to the Jewish pilgrims who would go up—or ascend—to Jerusalem, namely to the temple, to observe the three required pilgrim festivals: 1) the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which included Pesach (Passover); 2) the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot (Pentecost); and 3) the Feast of Booths, Sukkot (Tabernacles).

—There’s much we could say about this, but for now I’d like to simply highlight verses from the Psalms of Ascents that mention the House of the Lord—the temple, or going up to Jerusalem in general.

—Psalm 121:1-2, “I lift up my eyes to the hills—from where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth.”

—Psalm 122:1-4, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’ Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem! Jerusalem—built as a city that is bound firmly together to which the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.”

—Psalm 125:1-2, “Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, from this time forth and forevermore.”

—Psalm 134:1-3, “Come, bless the Lord, all you servants of the Lord, who stand by night in the house of the Lord! Lift up your hands to the holy place and bless the Lord! May the Lord bless you from Zion, he who made heaven and earth!”

—So these are just samplings that were sung as the people of Israel went up to Jerusalem to worship the one true God.

—Adam Keim

History and Geography: Hazor

—Over the last couple of weeks we’ve talked about pretty things like heaven, waterfalls and silver scrolls, but today it’s war, chariots and fire. General Joshua had conquered large swaths of central and southern Canaan after the Israelites’ miraculous crossing of the Jordan into their Promised Land, and Jabin, King of Hazor, in northern Canaan now assembled a coalition of kings to face off against Joshua. Jabin was highly motivated to lead the coalition, for although Hazor was a strong, walled, city-fortress about ten miles north of the Sea of Galilee, it would have been a prime target for the Israelites. Hazor was situated at the crossroads of two major “interstates,” like I-20 and I-65 in Birmingham or I-10 and I-45 in Houston, and if Hazor were to fall, then nothing would stop the Israelites from a free hand in all Upper Galilee.

—Archaeologists who have since excavated the ancient city of Hazor were not only surprised by the size of the city, approximately 200 acres in size (which is massive by ancient biblical standards), but also by evidence that the city had been burned by fire, which corroborates the biblical account that Joshua burned it (Joshua 11:13).

—But I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s get back to the assembled armies of Jabin’s coalition, The Bible compared it to “the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots” (v. 4). Chariots were like the tanks of today. They were synonymous with invincibility in Bible days; nevertheless, Joshua surprised the coalition and defeated them. But then we read, “So Joshua did to them as the LORD had told him … and burned their chariots with fire” (v. 9). Why would you burn the very thing that would likely guarantee future success on the battlefield? Simple! Joshua must not grow dependent on military might or willpower for his success. He must learn to trust in God alone!

—What are you counting on that’s not named Jesus—your bank account, your good-decision making, your charming personality, your family name? David in Psalm 20:7 said it best, “Some trust in chariots, and some in horses; but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.” Burn anything that builds self-dependence, for you must trust in the Lord alone.

—Daniel McCabe

Answer to the Trivia

A. Bill Clinton