Today’s Scripture Reading
(November 26, 2018): Deuteronomy 3
Ljupka Cvetanova in her book “The New
Land” writes “It's easy to write the history. All the eyewitnesses are dead.”
Even if the eyewitnesses are alive, we will find a way to write our own version of history. And so the White House releases a video in November 2018 of CNN reporter Jim
Acosta karate chopping the arm of an intern (the reality was that the video was
sped up at that point to make the hit look very different from what actually
happened). Or we spin conspiracy theories that take aim at events that we don’t
want to believe actually happened (such as the Holocaust, or the moon landing).
Politicians instruct us not to believe what we see
because they think that reality is quite different from what our eyes might be
revealing. Of course, we can always Photoshop the pictures to tell a different
story. And in the process, we write, or rewrite,
history.
Still, what we see holds value for us, if for no one else. We
know our experiences. We remember. Of course, sometimes there are reasons why
we don’t want to remember. In an episode of the comedy “The Big Bang Theory,”
Leonard and Penny argue over their first
kiss. As Leonard remembers it, their first kiss happened at a Halloween party.
Throughout the episode, Penny maintains that their
first kiss happened under different circumstances. That is, she maintains a
different story until the end of the episode, when Penny admits that their
first kiss happened at the Halloween party, just as Leonard remembers. Why was
she maintaining the lie, when she remembered the truth? Because at the
Halloween party she was drunk and the kiss was meaningless. And Penny wanted to
rewrite history because she didn’t want their first shared intimacy to be a
meaningless event.
Moses is trying to remind Israel of all that they have seen.
Joshua is one of the older members of the nation, and one of the ones who had
seen the most. And Moses wants him, and the nation, to remember what they had
seen. Don’t let those who oppose you, or even your insecurities, to rewrite the
history that you have experienced. You know how you feared Sihon, the King of
Heshbon, and Og, the King of Bashan. You also know how they were defeated, and
if you don’t, Joshua does. He was there. He is an eyewitness. And if God could
do that then, what is going to stop him in doing the same thing when you enter
into the land that God has been promised
to you.
The message is clear. You know what you have seen. You know what
God has done in your past. So, knowing what God has done, why would you lack
faith in what God can do tomorrow. It is a good question. And one that we need
to answer for our own lack of faith because we
are the eyewitnesses of what God has done in our lives. And even if no
one else believes us, we know the things he has done in our midst.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 4
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