Today’s Scripture Reading (November
2, 2015): Deuteronomy 16
James
Buchanan is consistently listed among the worst of the Presidents of the United
States. His failure seems to be a lack of focus and understanding. In his inaugural
address, Buchanan did two significant things – he promised not to run for a second
term and he called the budding constitutional crisis over slavery a “matter of
little practical importance.” According to Buchanan, the crisis would be
averted by the Supreme Court and he would happily comply with their decision.
Two days later the Supreme Court came down with their decision in the Dred
Scott case and declared that the congress had no constitutional authority to
exclude slavery from any of the member states. The Supreme Court’s decision was
applauded in the South and it angered the North. What Buchanan missed was that
his “happy compliance” was only going to move the United States a step closer
to a civil war. (And when that war broke out in 1861, just after Buchanan’s
single term in office had expired, some insisted on calling the war “Buchanan’s
War.”) Many seem to believe that War could have been avoided if the President
had only focussed his attentions on the conflict during the Buchanan years.
Buchanan believed
that history would vindicate his actions, but as of yet that seems untrue. His
legacy seems to be that he focused his attentions on the wrong things, and as a
result, the United States crumbled around him. Maybe the most critical summing
up of Buchanan’s character was written by President James Polk years before
Buchanan took his place in the White House. Polk wrote in his diary these words
about Buchanan - "Mr. Buchanan is an able man, but is in small matter
without judgment and sometimes acts like an old maid."
God insisted that if Israel was going to survive, their
focus had to be on him. And for this reason, males were commanded to go to the
tabernacle three times a year and offer their sacrifices. At the time that the
law was written, the trip probably would have been a short one as Israel
gathered and moved together through the desert. Later, the trip would prove
longer and more difficult and the law would be amended so that only men in the
area had to make the trip every year while those at great distances were
allowed some absences. But the purpose of the celebration was still to rejoice
in God and his provision for Israel. He was the uniting force for the nation.
After the reign of Solomon, the northern tribes lost that
singular focus, and Israel experienced its own “crisis of secession” with ten
of the twelve tribes or states seceding from the nation to form their own
confederacy. In that time, the northern tribes set up their own places of
worship apart from the one that God had chosen, and evil reigned until they
were finally scattered and the nation existed no more. But it didn’t have to be
that way – if only focus on God could have been maintained.
It is important to note that Jesus seems to have kept
this command during his life and ministry. John 7 tells the story of one of
Jesus’ trips to the Feast of Tabernacles, and of course his final trip to Jerusalem
and his execution occurred as Jesus showed up at the place of God’s choosing to
rejoice at the Feast of Unleavened Bread (or the Passover). In following the
Law, Jesus showed that his focus was still on the will of the Father, and not an
act of rebellion against the God of Israel.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading:
Deuteronomy 17
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