Today’s Scripture Reading (August 5, 2019): 1 Chronicles 22
Some years
ago, I had a friend who wanted to opt out of his company’s healthcare plan. The
problem was that he was on a tight budget, and he and his family were very
healthy. They never used the benefit, so his question was, why should he have
to pay for it. But people like my friend are the lifeblood in any health plan.
The idea is that if you have mandatory enrollment in the program, then there
will be a balance between those who pay into the plan but rarely need its
benefit and those who are heavy users of the services covered. If there are
more healthy than unhealthy people enrolled with the healthcare provider, then
the insurer makes money, and the plan continues. But as soon as it swings the
other way, the prices rise, or the insurers go out of business.
Universal
healthcare is a great thing. I know because I live in a country where it
exists. I have seen news reports about long wait times for services, but I have
rarely really experienced those specific drawbacks. Often the requested
services are scheduled earlier than I need them. But, universal healthcare is
not free. It is quite expensive. The idea behind universal healthcare is that
everyone in the country is enrolled. We all pay for it through our taxes; both
the healthy and those who are sick pay the same amount. And through those
payments, everyone receives, at minimum, the essential health services when
they are required, and no one is turned away in their moment of need. The only
question that is left is this; is the benefit worth the price which is factored
into the taxes that I pay. If I want lower taxes, the easiest way to achieve
that is to remove the universal healthcare option. For the healthy who do not
need the service, I admit that this can seem quite attractive. Of course, the
older we get, the more we need the support of health services.
If you are a
frequent reader of this blog, you might know that I am not convinced that God
wanted Solomon to build a Temple. The promised son of David, the one who would
be a person of peace and would construct a temple for God that would last
forever, was not Solomon; it was Jesus. Solomon’s temple lasted four centuries,
but that is not forever. David wanted to build a brick and mortar home for God
that would replace the tent they called “The Tabernacle.” But God intended that
his Temple would eventually be placed into the lives, figuratively into the
hearts, of men. God accepted the Temple of Solomon, but it was not what he
desired.
And part of
the problem with the Temple was the cost, which would have to be paid for
through taxes. Gold and silver, bronze and iron, and wood and stone do not
arrive on the doorstep of the king for free. David would have to pay for the building
supplies to be used in the construction of the temple out of the public money.
Solomon would add to that resource pile, again out of the public funds. But the
very real question would be, “did the people see the benefit?”
David’s reply
would likely be that it doesn’t matter. The building of the Temple was a “God
thing.” Only the stupid would reject the will of God.
But God does
not seek to divide. The Temple was accepted by God, but its origins were of
man. And maybe the proof of this is that David’s actions actually sowed the
seeds of division in Israel. When the nation separated into Israel in the north
and Judah in the south, one of the main issues was that of taxation, of which
the Temple played at least a part. (There were other factors, including the
disobedience of Solomon, but the Temple was part of the broken mosaic in the
politics of the united Israel.) Stuck in Jerusalem, the Temple seemed to be the
property of one tribe, and not all of them. And so the question Jeroboam asks
Rehoboam after the death of Solomon was this; “Your father put a heavy yoke on us, but now lighten the
harsh labor and the heavy yoke he put on us, and we will serve you” (1 Kings
12:4). Lighten the load, allow us to pay fewer taxes, and we will stay within a
united Israel. But Rehoboam chose a different path, and the unified Israel came
to a quick end.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 23
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