Stephen
Terry, Director
Deuteronomy in the New Testament
Commentary
for the December 18, 2021, Sabbath School Lesson
"So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we
eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run
after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But
seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be
given to you as well." Matthew 6:31-33,
NIV
Almost two years ago, when the
Covid-19 Pandemic began to unfold, many people panicked and began hoarding things
in preparation for what they expected to be a viral apocalypse. Many items began
to disappear from store shelves. Disinfectants became almost impossible to
find. This is understandable as pop science teaches that disinfectants kill
viruses so the more we have, the better. But strangely, people began hoarding
toilet paper. Leaving stores with aisles of empty shelves and dazed shoppers
wondering what had just happened. Those who did their shopping weekly for
necessities suddenly found themselves unable to even purchase a week's supply
of toilet paper. As a result, toilet paper shortages lasted for months as panic
buying spread. When shipments of toilet paper arrived in the stores, social media
would be a buzz and the store would be cleaned out in minutes.
Ironically, medical staff,
doctors and nurses who were valiantly fighting the pandemic and could not get
away to chase down these shipments may have been among those that suffered the
most from the hoarding. I can only imagine how dispiriting it must have been to
work long hours trying to save lives only to go home and find that you were not
even able to care for your own needs. In addition, several of these medical
staffers came down with Covid and with the hospitals over capacity, they found
it difficult to find the supplies to care properly for themselves at home
Bad as it is, panic buying was
not the only problem. Some were buying up these things to sell on the black
market. In April, 2020, once he found out about the panic buying, a man in Adelaide,
Australia had bought up 5,400 rolls of toilet paper that he tried to sell on
the black market, even to local stores that had none, at a huge markup to get
rich from other people's suffering. As people like him began posting on social
media marketplaces, prices soared. Disinfectant wipes that would normally go
for $3.00 were now bringing $10.00 or more. Similar markups appeared for toilet
paper. With shortages created by panic buying and profiteering, it was hard for
even the most stoic to ignore the frenzy. Fortunately, two years on, the
availability at reasonable prices for most of these things has been restored.
But even so, like for those who went through the Great Depression of the early
twentieth century, many are keeping more items on hand in their homes than
before the pandemic began.
For Christians, this experience
is particularly troubling. Not least because I fear that when the predicted apocalypse
finally does arrive, there will not be any toilet paper. Seriously though,
according to the Exodus, all those people who left Egypt were to wander for
forty years in the wilderness. How long do we think whatever supplies they
carried with them from Egypt would last, a few weeks or months? They survived
not because of what they brought with them. Instead, we read repeatedly in the
Bible that God provided them with water and food. He even sustained their
clothing for forty years.[i]
This is a remarkable testimony of God's willingness to care for us. Every day that
the manna fell, confirmed God's abiding care and compassion, and even when it
did not appear on the sabbaths, God made sure there was enough to provide for
everyone.[ii]
The Pentateuch is primarily
about the Exodus and Moses, what led up to it, from Creation to Joseph, how it
unfolded, what experience taught them, and how it shaped Iron Age Jewish
culture and continues to influence societal expectations for the three major
Abrahamic faith traditions today, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Despite the
lessons of God attending to their needs in the past, all three seem to be
overly drawn to the accumulation of wealth as a means of security and power.
Just as the cadre of the wealthy were threatened by Jesus and his radical
preaching about people turning to God who cares for and loves them instead of
the leaders who, with their wealth, could buy and sell whomever they chose,
they remain opposed to Christ's message today, a message of love and compassion
for one another, even for those we despise.[iii]
Worth is often measured by bank accounts, stock holdings and the amount of personal
property. Too many call extravagant personal wealth a blessing from God and extrapolate
that to mean that the wealthy are more righteous than the poor. An entire theological
school grew up, built upon that idea. They believe that those who are poor are
so because they have rejected God's desire to bless them and therefore have
lost God's favor. Therefore, the wealthy are so because they have accepted God's
blessing where others have not.
It does not take much examination of scripture to see that we have gone
astray, just as the pre-exilic Jews did, much as the Jews of Christ's day had,
and as too many of the modern churches, synagogues, and mosques have. But the
words of Christ still call to all three to remind them that it is God who
sustains and provides. When Jesus cast aside all the provision of this world to
spend 40 days in the wilderness, he was pointing back to the Exodus experience,
a day in the wilderness for each year of that ancient journey. Although there
is little mention of Satan and his influence in the Pentateuch some
similarities stand out. Repeatedly the Israelite wanderers gave in on the point
of appetite. Since the experience in Eden at the Tree of Knowledge of Good and
Evil, humanity has been susceptible to appetite, and it has only gotten worse with
time. We all know this about each other. It is why the candy shelves are by the
cash register in the supermarkets. The entire advertising industry relies upon appealing
to appetite. It was upon this point that the Devil came to Jesus. Who among us
has not said "I am starved" after only being away from eating for a matter of
hours? We cannot begin to imagine what forty days must have been like. We diet
for health reasons today and experience the temptation of television advertisements
for pizza, burgers, ice cream, chocolate and more. With millennia to hone such
temptations, it is little wonder that obesity is a growing global problem.
But when the Devil tempted
Jesus to make a simple crust of bread to sate his hunger, he replied that it
was God and his word that sustains us. This not only pointed back to God's care
during the Exodus, but to Creation as well, when God spoke everything into
existence. It would be capricious and make no sense to think that God would do
all of that without purpose, and if there is purpose, it makes no sense to fail
to promote that purpose by sustaining his creation. As Jesus pointed out in the
Sermon on the Mount, why would God care for the flowers and the birds with
their short life spans and not care for the rest of Creation, especially man,
created in his image?
Sometimes, when overwhelmed by
the struggle of the journey, we forget God's compassionate presence. While we may
not dress with exotic materials by famous fashion houses, we are
clothed. While we may not have everything to eat and drink that our
appetite desires, we nonetheless thrive and grow. Though we may not live on an
estate in a mansion, God provides us with a place to lay our head each night. Even
if, like Jacob, it is only a stone beneath a star filled sky. God's presence makes
it a holy place for us as it was for him.
The Devil may offer us the entire
world and believe that it is his to give, but everything is God's by right of
Creation. We have allowed ourselves to accept the Devil as our landlord, but he
is not. Letting him act that part and steer our destinies with his temptations
and false promises has only brought chaos and heartache to our lovely planet.
The planet groans under that suffering and deeply desires to see humanity restored
to God's image of compassion, grace, and love and once again, bring peace and
harmony to Creation.[iv]
The Devil does not want that.
He will do anything to prevent it. He will tell us whatever we want to hear to
lead us away from that.[v] He
will even make it appear that we are doing God's will, if it will keep us from
loving our enemies.[vi]
He will rail against enemies with a religious fervor that demands their
destruction rather than their salvation. He will even, in the garb of religious
orthodoxy, accuse the righteous of being of the Devil, for he did exactly that
with Jesus.[vii]
The Devil promises us the world and all its wealth, just as he did to Jesus, if
we will only follow him. But there is a catch not mentioned when the Devil
tempted Christ. It is the world as it is, not the world as it was meant to be.
We can do better through Christ.