The Old Testament: The Book of Daniel—Power of Interpreting Dreams

Posted on July 23, 2013 by virgowriter

I get night terrors.  They tend to brought on by stress and they usual involve someone trying to attack me.  Mom gets these too, although hers are different. But what they have in common is that they always end with us screaming at the top of our lungs. Were I inclined, I might seek out a professional to break these down for me, although, since they’re stress related, I wonder what I might learn besides: cut the stress out of your life.

As the Bible demonstrates, people have been looking for meaning in their dreams for thousands of years, and if you were a person who could make sense of these dreams, you were treasured.

In the Book of Daniel (like Joseph before him), Daniel possesses such as a skill—though it helps that God is feeding him the analysis.  But he also has his own dreams to relate. So he’s sort of like a psychic, but then again not really, for his visions come from God.  And it’s a good thing that they have a source, for some of them are quite out there, so out there that if a friend conveyed a similar dream to you, you might suggest they go check in somewhere for some help.

While in exile, four young Israelites are called to the Babylonian Court.  One of these men is Daniel. When king Nebuchadnezzar has a troubling dream and needs some input, he challenges the wise men of his court to not only explain his dream but to tell him the content of his dream.  Apparently he didn’t want some nonsense interpretation, so he believed that the person with the right answer wouldn’t need to be told what the dream was about in the first place.

No pressure, really.

Turns out, with God’s help, Daniel figures out this dream, and when he presents the explanation to the king, Daniel is appointed prefect over the wise men (2:48).

Later, his usefulness comes in even more handy when, during a feast, a spirit writes something odd on a wall. Daniel is brought in to make sense of it, and he interprets the message, which explains the downfall of the dethroned king (Nebuchadnezzar) (5:20) and chastises the new king—who, conveniently, is killed that night (5:30)

So naturally, Daniel’s useful talent draws enemies, who conspire unsuccessfully against him (6:24). Daniel then starts having his own visions. Predictably, he sees a bleak future, which includes God’s reckoning, menacing empires (7:23), and the arrival of a human being from heaven—which sounds an awful lot like Jesus (7:13). The details are fuzzy—a bunch of terrifying beasts with multiple horns, etc.

Good thing God is around to explain them, otherwise, one wonders what a head trip these would have played on Daniel—or anyone he went to for insight.

With God’s ability to communicate with his chosen people, you would think he would have chosen the most direct route—why obscure the message? Just tell us what you want? But, then again, the human brain works in mysterious ways.  Maybe the message is more vivid when you have to work to figure it out? After all, what better way for me to realize just how stressed out I can get without waking up screaming?

 

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The Old Testament: The Book of Ezekiel II – Let Me Tell You What You’ve Done Wrong (Dr. Phil)

Posted on July 20, 2013 by virgowriter

I have this friend—who shall remain nameless—who, after a drink or two (or six) experiences a shift in personality and assumes the personality of a Dr. Phil. The people with whom he is seated at this moment fall into his line of fire, and they need to be prepared,  They are about to experience a diatribe of all their faults and how they can (and should!) fix them. He probably means well, although through the haze of alcohol, it’s hard to figure out his true intention: is he trying to help you out or is he being a jerk? Can you be both?

The problem is that even if the points are valid, the message gets lost in the packaging.

Among other things, Ezekiel is an ancient version of a Dr. Phil, and he’s armed with a laundry list of problems with the Israelites before he shifts his gaze elsewhere.  Turns out, he has issues with other nations now as well.  In fact, this books is one of the few places that God’s wrath has been directed at people besides the Israelites and, as you can guess, these other people need to watch out.

Ezekiel begins with useful—constructive—information. He restates Israel’s extensive list of sins, finally spelling them out (beyond worshipping the false idols, which makes the list) all they have done wrong (22:6-8, 9-12). They’ve been so bad, Ezekiel lets them know that, in fact, there is no a single righteous man among them. Ouch. So no good examples to learn from? Thankfully, there is a list of things they can do to turn things around. Here, we have a rehashing of some of the Ten Commandments (18:7).

What’s interesting, however, is which of the Ten Commandments that God presented Moses have been omitted and what has been added. The additions: Don’t oppress anyone (18:7), give food to the hungry (18:7), abstain from having sex with women during their periods (18:6), don’t gouge people with interest (18:8), and judge all people fairly (18:8).  Ezekiel seems to have updated this list to align the concerns of the time.  Also: if the son sees his father’s sins but avoids the same sins he will not be punished (which seems fair) (18:14). What didn’t make the cut? Apparently, honoring thy mother and father, observing the Sabbath, and avoiding taking the Lord’s name in vain have fallen out of priority.

The man (or presumably woman too) who follows these guidelines is righteous.  Shockingly, there’s no mention of also being heterosexual.

So how come these useful, respectable, rational ideas are not drawn into the public discussion about the Bible more often?

You would think that all the times that the Bible is invoked to back an ideology (like in certain bills being passed in Congress) that those who claim to be Bible devotees don’t look to this part of the Bible and state: “You know what, we might not agree with certain things, but the Bible says we should not oppress people, so we should not enact legislation that does exactly that.” Whether it’s legislation that blocks voting rights or laws against gays and lesbians (among others).

When I read Books like this on the heels of hearing talking heads on TV espouse their religious beliefs, I deeply question how much of the Bible they have read, the book to which they claim to be so devoted.

But perhaps non-believers have always been held to laws and beliefs which they do not hold.  Here, neighboring nations of Israel are doomed, according to God (through Ezekiel). On God’s radar:

  • Ammon, for rejoicing at Israel’s fall (25:6)
  • Moab, for ridiculing Israel (25:8-9)
  • Edom, for revenge of Judah (25:12);
  • Philistine, revenge of Judah (25:15);
  • Tyre, for benefitting from Israel’s demise (26)
  • Egypt, for not helping the Israelites (29: 6-9)
  • Gog, for attacking defenseless people (38:10)

Now, these nations did some messed up stuff, but nothing better or worse that Israel has done during similar times. Furthermore, if you have no access to the messengers—God—then how can you be held to the same standard as those who do listen to God? Lastly, it seems a bit awkward to call them out now, at which point they can’t change their behavior. At least give them the chance to do things differently.  The Israelites have generation after generation to fall in line with God’s ways; why not cut some of the other people some slack with a little time.

If you have some wisdom to impart, it helps if this is not cloaked in anger; otherwise, the message stands too good of a chance to get muddled—and ignored.

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The Old Testament: The Book of Ezekiel I – 25:17, Pulp Fiction, and Liberties with the Bible

Posted on July 18, 2013 by virgowriter

Do you read the Bible, Brett? I got this passage memorize, that sort of fits this occasion; Ezekiel 25:17. “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.” And then Jules unleashes his vengeance on Brett. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2WK_eWihdU)

So ends the first scene in Tarantino’s epic film Pulp Fiction.  This film changed my life.  I watched it three nights in a row when it hit theaters in 1994.  This film made me want to be a writer.  I was won over by, among other elements, the film’s unconventional narrative structure, the snappy dialogue, the unusual content, and, if you probed deep enough, the message of the film: what was in that briefcase? Was it Marcellus’ soul?

This first scene set the tone for what follows  This scene, which is brilliant in so many ways, struck a nerve with me because, among other things, it made the Bible sound really dark and, frankly, bad ass.  I had no clue as to the context of the passage, but mixed with the violence of the film, there had to be some connection (right?). Even better: if someone mentioned the Bible, I could say I was familiar with at least one passage.

This is part of why I couldn’t wait to read The Book of Ezekiel.  Finally I would learn the context and determine the degree to which this would enhance my understanding of the film.

Unfortunately, the movie misquotes this book. It’s not even close. The first half of the second to last line is correct. As is the last line.  Everything else is invented.

Don’t get me wrong.  This book of the bible is dark. It’s full of dark visions (1-2), the bleak future in store for Jerusalem (4-7), various allegories (Israel’s fall explained through story of two prostitutes (23:4-5), for example) and a parable of a cooking pot to explain how, like the remnants of a good meal that refuse to be burned off, Israel will rise again (24:12). As usual, the Lord is conveying to the people, through Ezekiel, just how pissed he is, reminding them in the process of all that they have done wrong (sins including worshipping the wrong/false idols). And of course, as the bearer of bad news, Ezekiel is punished. This punishment, however, is nothing compared to what awaits Israel’s enemies (35:10). The book ends on a note of hope, as Ezekiel presents a layout of the new Temple.

But why would Tarantino, who wrote the script, so boldly invent a Bible passage? Especially when it would be so easily checked?

Well, perhaps Tarantino was taking some artistic license. It’s the spirit of the book I was using, right? Okay. And perhaps even better: do you think the people who really know the Bible will check and the people who don’t will bother looking it up?

I can’t speak for those who know the Bible so well and saw the film. But I can say that I was lazy enough not to care. I believed that, as a writer, and responsible person, why would he distort the Bible? Turns out people do this all the time, which is why, in light of June 26th’s Supreme court decision that struck down DOMA and California’s Prop 8, I can wait to read the New testament and hear what Jesus has to say about homosexuality, to confirm Mike Huckabee’s pronouncement that, upon hearing the verdict, Jesus wept. Something tells me this is a major distortion as well.

The even sadder part is that the people who feel they have some familiarity with the Bible won’t check Huckabee’s comment and the people who are unfamiliar with the Bible will just take the man’s word for it. After all, he’s a man of god, right? It’s not like he would take license with the good book in order to serve his own conservative agenda, right?


 

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