“Don’t Shoot Until You See the Whites of Their Eyes!” was the order given this day, June 17, 1775, by Colonel William Prescott to colonial troops defending Bunker Hill. They were aiming at the wall of twenty-three hundred British soldiers marching toward them from the Boston Harbor in their bright red uniforms with bayonets fixed. Twice the Americans repelled them til they ran out of gunpowder. Over one thousand British died and five hundred Americans. Colonel William Prescott wrote: “Let us all be of one heart, and stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.”

Federer, B. (2003). American minute. St. Louis, MO.: Amerisearch, Inc.

If God asks that you bend,
bend and do not complain.
He is making you more flexible,
and for this be thankful.
--- Terri Guillemets

... from here, there and everywhere

17 He who is kind to the poor is lending to ADONAI;
and he will repay him for his good deed.

18 Discipline your child while there is hope,
but don’t get so angry that you kill him!

Stern, D. H. (1998). Complete Jewish Bible-OE
: An English version of the Tanakh (OT) and
B'rit Hadashah (NT) (1st ed.). Clarksville, Md.: Jewish
New Testament Publications.

                         The uncritical temper

     Judge not, that ye be not judged. --- Matthew 7:1.

     Jesus says regarding judging—Don’t. The average Christian is the most penetratingly critical individual. Criticism is a part of the ordinary faculty of man; but in the spiritual domain nothing is accomplished by criticism. The effect of criticism is a dividing up of the powers of the one criticized; the Holy Ghost is the One in the true position to criticize, He alone is able to show what is wrong without hurting and wounding. It is impossible to enter into communion with God when you are in a critical temper; it makes you hard and vindictive and cruel, and leaves you with the flattering unction that you are a superior person. Jesus says, as a disciple, cultivate the uncritical temper. It is not done once and for all. Beware of anything that puts you in the superior person’s place.

     There is no getting away from the penetration of Jesus. If I see the mote in your eye, it means I have a beam in my own. Every wrong thing that I see in you, God locates in me. Every time I judge, I condemn myself (see Romans 2:17–20 ). Stop having a measuring rod for other people. There is always one fact more in every man’s case about which we know nothing. The first thing God does is to give us a spiritual spring-cleaning; there is no possibility of pride left in a man after that. I have never met the man I could despair of after discerning what lies in me apart from the grace of God.

Chambers, O. (1993). My Utmost for His Highest

The salmon lying in the depths of Llyn Llifon
Secretly as a thought in a dark mind,
Is not so old as the owl of Cwm Cowlyd
Who tells her sorrow nightly on the wind.

The ousel singing in the woods of Cilgwri,
Tirelessly as a stream over the mossed stones,
Is not so old as the toad of Cors Fochno
Who feels the cold skin sagging round his bones.

The toad and the ousel and the stag of Rhedynfre,
That has cropped each leaf from the tree of life,
Are not so old as the owl of Cwm Cowlyd,
That the proud eagle would have to wife.

R.S. Thomas

     The real issue, hidden between the lines of (yesterday’s) Midrash text, is not sex but the future. And questions about the future are asked by every generation of humanity, not only by the generations before the flood. Will we have a posterity? What do we feel when we imagine the problems our descendants will face in the future? Is it a sense of futility—“Tomorrow a flood will come”—or a feeling of possibility—“Do yours and the Holy One, praised is He, will do His”? A sense of powerlessness, or a feeling of potency?

     The issue of creating a positive future for ourselves and our children is the subject of the book A Good Enough Parent by the renowned psychoanalyst Bruno Bettelheim. His point about parenting is simple: we don’t have to be the best parents in the world. And, in fact, trying to achieve perfection may stop us dead in our tracks and prevent us from ever living up to our potential. We just have to be “good enough parents.” Do your best; the rest is out of your hands.

     Judaism demands of us to be “good enough people.” We don’t have to be perfect, and we should not judge others for their imperfections. Rather, we must be as fully human as possible, to “do yours” and leave what we cannot do to others, or to the Other. That is to say, we should not let our limited power, our finite years, and our human frailty be excuses for not acting. Rather, we should use our creativity to its fullest potential. While that may not seem like a lot, it will be good enough.

     ANOTHER D’RASH

     The Bible merely tells us that Lamech’s two wives were Adah and Zillah. We know nothing more about them, or about their relationships with their husband. Our Midrash, however, tells a more elaborate tale: Like many men of his time, Lamech married two wives. One woman would drink a potion that rendered her sterile, so that pregnancy would never ruin her figure. She was the “trophy wife,” kept for her good looks. The other woman’s role was for procreation, as breeding stock. What is the basis of this fantastic tale? As it turns out, it is their names that provide the clues to Adah’s and Zillah’s domestic arrangement. The Talmud Yerushalmi (Yevamot 6:5) gives us the following information:

     עָדָה/Adah—for he used to “luxuriate” (מִתְעַדֵּן/mit-ah-den) in her body;
צִלָּה/Zillah—for he used to sit in the “shade” (צִלָּה/zillah) of her children.

     So it seems that, in the absence of any other information, the Rabbis made a pun on the women’s names and created a story out of a wordplay. Or did they?

     Classical Jewish tradition saw names as much more than just random labels. They were “windows to the soul” that described the very essence of a person. In the words of the Bible, “For he is just what his name says …” (1 Samuel 25:25). You want to learn about a person? Look to his or her name.

     The modern Hebrew poet Zelda has written a beautiful poem that speaks of all the “names” that are imposed upon an individual throughout life. This reflects the traditional Jewish view that a person’s name, given by others, conveys his very destiny:

Katz, M., & Schwartz, G. Searching for Meaning in Midrash: Lessons for Everyday Living Philadelphia, PA: The Jewish Publication Society.

     Even in darkness light dawns for the upright.
--- Psalm 112:4

     There is a fourth beam of light, the awakening of the human conscience. Classic Sermons on Suffering (Kregel Classic Sermons Series) One main function of the face of the suffering that we encounter all around us is to be a perpetual challenge to us to be cooperating with a burden-bearing God and to be giving ourselves in consecrated service for the healing of this broken earth.

     If poverty, unemployment, and war were the will of God, there would be no call for us to stir a finger to remove the sufferings they bring. But if these things are not the will of God at all but simply the product of human bungling and selfishness and sin, and if, accordingly, God’s mind and program for the race is that [these things] should one day be banished from the earth, then clearly we are not meant to lie down under them.

     He means us to be the agents of his purpose and the channels of his providence to one another.

     Yet we admit quite frankly that if these gleams of light were the sum-total of the comfort to be offered, one would hardly have the heart to dwell on it at all. For what men and women want most in the hour of trouble is not an answer to a problem but a power to carry them through. And, indeed, even if the best and most completely satisfying solution of the mystery of suffering were available, that would not alter the fact that the actual suffering itself—the grim reality in experience—would still be there to be endured.

     So we begin to see that there is a deeper question. The ultimate demand is not “Why has this happened to me?” but “How, seeing it has happened, am I to face it?” And when you see that, suddenly the New Testament comes right in. The New Testament is not much concerned about Why? But it is desperately and magnificently concerned about How? It does not offer you a theory and an explanation—it offers you a power and a victory.

     Now we must press right in, until we reach the Holy Place, and there we shall see, coming forth to meet us, God’s answer—when we lift our eyes and gaze on a cross.
--- James S. Stewart

Wallis, D. (2001). Take Heart: Daily Devotions with the Church's Great Preachers

     Now that he had their attention, Joel told the people to stop looking around at the locusts and to start looking ahead to the fulfillment of what the locust plague symbolized: the invasion of a fierce army from the north (v. 20). Unless Joel had some other attack in mind, about which we know nothing, he was probably referring to the Assyrian invasion, during the reign of King Hezekiah, which took place in 701 B.C. (Isa. 36–37). God allowed the Assyrians to ravage the land, but He miraculously delivered Jerusalem from being taken captive. (Why should Joel call the people to repent in order to avoid an invasion that would take place a century later? But they didn’t know when the invasion would come, and their brokenness before God was the means of postponing it. We look back and see that Isaiah 36–37 fulfilled what Joel wrote, but the people of Judah were looking ahead into an unknown future. It’s always right to repent and submit to the will of God. That’s the best way to secure the future.) The prophet gave the people three timely instructions.

     “Blow the trumphet!” (Joel 2:1–11) This was real war, so Joel commanded the watchmen to blow their trumpets and warn the people. The Jews used trumpets to call assemblies, announce special events, mark religious festivals, and warn the people that war had been declared (Num. 10; Jer. 4:5; 6:1; Hosea 5:8). In this case, they blew the trumpet to announce war and to call a fast (Joel 2:15). Their weapons against the invading enemy would be repentance and prayer; the Lord would fight for them.

     Twice in this passage, Joel tells us that invasion is “the Day of the Lord” (vv. 1, 11), meaning a very special period that God had planned and would direct. “The Lord thunders at the head of His army” (v. 11, NIV). It was God who brought the locusts of the land and God would allow the Assyrians to invade the land (Isa. 7:17–25; 8:7). He would permit them to ravage Judah just as the locusts had done, only the Assyrians would also abuse and kill people. “Woe to Assyria, the rod of My anger and the staff in whose hand is My indignation. I will send him against an ungodly nation … to seize the spoil, to take the prey, and to tread them down like mire in the streets” (Isa. 10:5–6).

     In his vivid account of the invading army, Joel sees them coming in great hordes, “like dawn spreading across the mountains” (Joel 2:2, NIV). Once again, he uses the locusts to describe the soldiers. Just as the locusts had destroyed everything edible before them, so the army would use a “scorched earth policy” and devastate the towns and the land (Isa. 36:10; 37:11–13, 18). The locusts looked like miniature horses, but the Assyrians would ride real horses and conquer the land. (The repeated use of the word “like” in 2:4–7 indicates that Joel is using a simile and not describing the actual army. The locusts looked and acted like an army, and the invading Assyrian army would be like them: numerous, ruthless, destructive, and invincible. When you get to 2:8–11, you are reading about real soldiers in a real battle: for locusts don’t worry about swords.)

     The prophet makes it clear that the Lord will be in charge of this invasion; this is His army fulfilling His Word (Joel 2:11). God can use even heathen nations to accomplish His purposes on this earth (Isa. 10:5–7; Jer. 25:9). The awesome cosmic disturbances described in Joel 2:10 are Joel’s way of announcing that the Lord is in charge, for these signs accompany “the Day of the Lord” (3:15; see Zeph. 1:14).

     “Rend your hearts!” (Joel 2:12–17) Once again, Joel called for a solemn assembly where God’s people would repent of their sins and seek the Lord’s help. The nation didn’t know when this invasion would occur, so the important thing was for them to turn to the Lord now. But they must be sincere. It’s easy to participate in a religious ceremony, tear your garments, and lament, but quite something else to humbly confess your sins and bring to God a repentant heart (Matt. 15:8–9). “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—these, O God, You will not despise” (Ps. 51:17, NKJV).

     The one thing that encourages us to repent and return to the Lord is the character of God. Knowing that He is indeed “gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love (Joel 2:13, NIV) ought to motivate us to seek His face. This description of the attributes of God goes back to Moses’ meeting with the Lord on Mt. Sinai, when he interceded for the sinful nation of Israel (Ex. 34:6–7). You find echoes of it in Numbers 14:18 (another scene of Moses’ intercession); Nehemiah 9:17; Psalms 86:15, 103:8, and 145:8; and Jonah 4:2. Such a gracious God would “turn and have pity” (Joel 2:14, NIV). (God is said to “repent” when from man’s point of view He changes His attitude and turns away His wrath. The word “relent” might be a better choice.) Note that Joel’s concern was that the people would once again have offerings to bring to the Lord, not just food on their tables.

     But all the people must assemble and then turn to the Lord (vv. 15–17). This includes elders and children, nursing babies and priests, and even the newlyweds who were not supposed to be disturbed during their first year of marriage, not even because of war (Deut. 24:5). The prophet even gave them a prayer to use (Joel 2:17) that presents two reasons why God should deliver them: (1) Israel’s covenant privileges as God’s heritage and (2) the glory of God’s name before the other nations. Moses used these same arguments when he pled for the people (Ex. 32:11–13; 33:12–23).

     The Jews are indeed God’s special treasure and heritage (Ex. 15:17; 19:5–6; Ps. 94:5; Jer. 2:7; 12:7–9). To Israel, He gave His laws, His covenants, the temple and priesthood, a special land, and the promise that they would bless the whole world (Gen. 12:1–3; Rom. 9:1–5). From Israel came the written Word of God and the gift of the Savior (John 4:22).

     Israel was called to bear witness to the other nations that their God was the only true God. How could God be glorified if His people were destroyed and the pagans could gleefully ask, “Where is their God?” (See Pss. 79:10 and 115:2; also Micah 7:10.) The nation had to choose between revival (getting right with God) or reproach (robbing God of glory).

     “Believe his promises!” (Joel 2:18–27) Joel now looks beyond the invasion to the time when God would heal His land and restore his blessings to His people. Just as He blew the locusts into the depths of the Dead Sea and the Mediterranean Sea (eastern and western seas), so He could drive the invading army out of the land. In one night, God killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers, and Sennacherib went home a defeated king (Isa. 37:36–38). The corpses must have created quite a stench before they were buried.

     Some Bible scholars believe that Psalm 126 grew out of this event, for it describes a sudden and surprising deliverance that startled the nation. (Judah’s return from Babylonian Captivity was neither sudden or surprising.) “The Lord hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad” (v.3) is echoed in Joel 2:21, “Be glad and rejoice; for the Lord will do great things.” Both Joel 2:23–27 and Psalm 126:5–6 describe the restoration of the ravaged earth and the return of the harvests. This fulfilled what Isaiah promised to King Hezekiah (Isa. 37:30).

     Without the former rain (March-April) and the latter rain (October-November), the land could not bear its crops; and one way God disciplined His people was to shut off the rain (Deut. 11:13–17). But the Lord promised to give such bumper crops that the harvest would more than compensate for all the people lost during the locust plague and the drought. “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten” (Joel 2:25, NIV) is a word of promise to all who return to the Lord with sincere and broken hearts.

     “You cannot have back your time,” said Charles Spurgeon, “but there is a strange and wonderful way in which God can give back to you the wasted blessings, the unripened fruits of years over which you mourned.… It is a pity that they should have been locust-eaten by your folly and negligence; but if they have been so, be not hopeless concerning them.” (Charles H. Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit (Pasadena, Texas: Pilgrim Publications), vol. 35, 217.)

     And why will God do this for His deserving people? So that they will praise His name and never again be shamed before the heathen. “Then you will know that I am in Israel, that I am the Lord your God, and that there is no other, never again will my people be shamed” (v. 27, NIV). (There may be a hint here that some of the people were involved in idolatry and needed to turn from heathen vanities and worship only the Lord (Ex. 20:1–6).)

     As never before, our lands today need healing. They are polluted by the shedding of innocent blood and the exploiting of both resources and people. We can claim God’s promise in 2 Chronicles 7:14 because we are “His people.”

W. W. Wiersbe, (1996) Be Amazed (Minor Prophets): Restoring an Attitude of Wonder and Worship (The BE Series Commentary)