Month: September 2020

Up from Slavery, part I

Booker T. Washington was born a slave in 1856, in Virginia–actually about 45 miles from my home. After reading just a few pages of his book, Up from Slavery, I concluded that we, in the 21st century, have just no clue about the institution of American slavery, or the thoughts of either the slaves, nor their masters. I recommend that you read it. Washington points out that the slaves definitely wanted their freedom, and that he pitied anyone who “is so unfortunate as to get entangled in the net of slavery.” Listen to what he says about the potential for bitter feelings toward the white race:

“When we rid ourselves of prejudice, or racial feeling, and look the facts in the face, we must acknowledge that (not withstanding the cruelty and moral wrong of slavery) the ten million Negroes inhabiting this country… are in a stronger and more hopeful condition, materially, intellectually, morally, and religiously, than is true of an equal number of black people in any other portion of the globe.”

Booker T. Washington, from Up from Slavery, Dover Publications, 1995, p. 8

Booker T. Washington national Monument

That is surprising–that a former slave would have that sentiment. Maybe this was because of tender age, but he claims that the same feelings were widespread.

However, as a white American, I cannot help but feel the sting of hearing that no whites–even Christians– offered to teach any of their black neighbors to read after the Emancipation. Washington explains in great detail the longing for education among former slaves of all ages.

“The great ambition of the older people was to try to learn to read the Bible before they died.”

Booker T. Washington, from Up from Slavery, Dover Publications, 1995, p. 15

And another insight seems very appropriate for our time:

“The world should not pass judgment upon the Negro, and especially the Negro youth, too quickly or too harshly. The Negro boy has obstacles, discouragements, and temptations to battle with that are little known to those not situated as he is. When a white boy undertakes a task, it is taken for granted that he will succeed. On the other hand, people are surprised if the Negro boy does not fail.”

Booker T. Washington, from Up from Slavery, Dover Publications, 1995, p. 17

And consider this:

“I have no idea, as I have stated elsewhere, who my grandmother was. I have, or have had uncles and aunts and cousins, but I have no knowledge as to where most of them are. My case will illustrate that of hundreds of thousands of black people in every part of our country. The very fact that the white boy is conscious that, if he fails in life, he will disgrace the whole family record…is of tremendous value in helping him to resist temptations.”

Booker T. Washington, from Up from Slavery, Dover Publications, 1995, p. 18

And lastly:

“In later years, I confess that I do not envy the white boy as I once did. I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed. Looked at from this standpoint, I almost reach the conclusion that often the Negro’s birth and connection with an unpopular race is an advantage, so far as real life is concerned. With few exceptions, the Negro youth must work harder and must perform his tasks even better than a white youth in order to secure recognition. But out of the hard and unusual struggle through which he is compelled to pass, he gets a strength, a confidence, that one misses whose pathway is comparatively smooth by reason of birth and race.”

Booker T. Washington, from Up from Slavery, Dover Publications, 1995, p. 19

In our next blog, we plan to take a look at Frederick Douglass, and see if we can gather some insights from his experience as a slave growing up in America.

“Wait for It…” (“What are you waiting for?”)

“Wait for It”

By now, most of us have seen the musical, “Hamilton.” (If not, I recommend you do!) The musical centers around the relationship between founding fathers Alexander Hamilton and “Aaron Burr, Sir.“

The men, Hamilton and Burr, remind one of several famous several pairs of counterparts in the Bible, such as Abraham and Lot, Jacob and Esau, and even Moses and the Pharaoh of Egypt.

First, let’s look at Abraham and Lot–the differences between them. Abraham is often referred to as a man of faith, though he screwed up a number times.

  1. Genesis 12:1, God says to Abraham (then known as Abram), “Go…to the land that I will show you…”
  2. Genesis 12:4 tells us, “So Abram went…”
  3. Verse 7 “He built an altar to the Lord…”
  4. Verse 8, he built another altar.
  5. Genesis 13:8-9, there’s quarreling between Abram’s men, and his nephew, Lot’s.
  6. The two men choose to separate.
  7. Abram lets Lot choose west or east.
  8. Verse 10, Lot chooses the east–the “better” land (the Jordan Valley).
  9. Verse 12-13, that includes the city of Sodom.
  10. Genesis 13:14-17, God’s promise to Abraham (not including Lot):

“Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the north and to the south, to the east and to the west. All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy seed for ever.”

Genesis 13:14-17
  1. Verse 18, Abram built another altar to the Lord.
  2. Genesis 15:6 “(Abram, now called Abraham) believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness. In other words, despite Abraham’s failures, God considered him to be a righteous man.
righteousness = "the quality or state of being just or rightful." (Dictionary.com)

We’ve all got to have something to believe in.

A song in the “Hamilton” musical says: Hamilton doesn’t hesitate.” Hamilton held strong beliefs, and acted on them. But the song points out that Burr was, instead, “lying in wait.” Burr was what the Bible calls “double-minded”

The Greek word originally used in the Bible to describe that is dipsos, which is G1373 in Stong’s Concordance: “wavering, uncertain, divided in interest, vacillating.”

Abraham’s nephew, Lot, was like that.

  1. Genesis 19: 7, Lot calls the wicked men of Sodom, “my brothers.”
  2. Verse 8, he offers his own daughters to the men of Sodom.
  3. Verse 9, the men of Sodom treat him like a hypocrite, saying, “he’s acting like a judge!”

In the Hebrew, the word that’s used is shaphat, H8199 (to act as law-giver).

  1. Verse 14, When Lot advises them to flee the city for safety, “his sons-in-law thought he was joking”
  2. Verse 18 When the angels tell Lot to flee to the mountains, Lot replies, “No, my lords—please…I can’t run to the mountains…I will die. Look, this town is close…Please let me go there…”
  3. Verses 30-36, It didn’t turn out well.

But 2 Peter 2:8 calls Lot:

“The just soul…”

Douay-Rheims Bible

Other translations call him:

“That righteous man”

King James Version

How can that be?

Is it possible that right-standing with God is based on our beliefs (despite our less-than-virtuous behavior)?

In Genesis 25:34, we find the statement, “Esau despised his birthright.” 

despise = "feel contempt or a deep repugnance for." (Bing)

The Hebrew word the Bible uses is bazah, which is H959 in Stong’s Concordance: “to despise, hold in contempt, disdain.”

Even a cursory look at the book of Genesis shows that Jacob did not have sterling character, but there was a difference between he and Esau, just as we will see that there was between Hamilton and Burr.

To begin with, as we said before, Esau revealed his character, see Gen 25:31).

This seems reminiscent to Shakespeare’s:

“This above all- to thine own self be true…”

Hamlet, Act I, Scene 3

Peoples’ choices–often made when under pressure, quite often end up determining their destinies.

From this perspective, let’s look at Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr’s early lives.

  1. In 1775, early in the Revolutionary War, Burr participated in a failed expedition to Quebec. While the expedition was disastrous for the American army, it was fortuitous for Burr, who was appointed to General Montgomery’s staff, and became known as a hero, when the general died in his arms.
  2. Later, in 1776, Burr’s stepbrother Matthias Ogden helped him to secure a position on the staff of George Washington. He and General Washington apparently did not get along and he quit a few weeks later.
  3. In 1775, in the British invasion of New York Harbor, there was worry that they might seize cannons in Battery Park, and Hamilton is asked to join in a hazardous operation to drag cannons to safety away from the British. (Fort Hamilton in Brooklyn is today named after him.)
  4. In 1777, Washington asks Hamilton to join his staff.
  5. In 1780, Hamilton marries Eliza Schuyler.
  6. In 1782, Hamilton’s son Philip born.
  7. In 1782, Aaron Burr marries Mrs. Theodosia Bartow Prevost, the widow of a British officer.
  8. 1783, their daughter, also named Theodosia, was born.

Their love stories and the births of their children could have been an opportunity for both men to turn their hearts in God’s direction.

In the song, “Dear Theodosia,” Burr says, “When you cried, you broke my heart.” Hamilton says, “When you smile I am undone… I fall apart, and I thought I was so smart.“

The Bible says:

“The Lord is near to the broken-hearted…”

Psalm 34:18

And:

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart…”

Psalm 51:17

This reminds one of David, the man who committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband Uriah killed.

But in the New Testament he is called:

“A man after mine own heart…”

Acts 13:22

So what did happen to Hamilton and Burr?

  1. In 1789, Hamilton becomes first Treasury Secretary.
  2. In 1791, Burr is elected U.S. Senator from New York, defeating Hamilton’s father-in-law; meets Thomas Jefferson while in the Senate, but the two have little to do with each other. Burr later loses his bid for re-election.
  3. 1791, Hamilton has a four-month affair with Maria Reynolds.
  4. In 1796, Chosen by his party to build a north-south coalition, Burr runs with Jefferson against Adams for President, but loses by 41 votes. Adams is elected.
  5. 1797, Washington retires. Not long after, Hamilton resigns.
  6. 1797, Hamilton, trying to hold onto his legacy, publishes the “Reynolds Pamphlet.”
  7. 1801, Hamilton’s son, Philip, dies in duel.

In the song, “It’s Quiet Uptown,” Alexander Hamilton says, ““I take the children to church on Sunday / A sign of the cross at the door / And I pray / That never used to happen before.” In Ron Chernow’s biography of Hamilton, which was the inspiration for the musical, he writes: “It is striking how religion preoccupied Hamilton during his final years.”

♫“Forgiveness, can you imagine?”♫

The grace of God was available to both Hamilton and Burr’s lives, just as it had been to both Jacob and Esau. Yet, their legacies are the result of their choices.

The New Testament, looking back on Esau’s life in hindsight, calls him:

“(An) ‘immoral (and) godless person…who sold his own birthright for a single meal…though he sought for (the blessing) with tears.”

Hebrews 12:16-17

Under pressure–when “push came to shove“–Esau revealed his true nature by his choices. And this was the case with Hamilton and Burr.

  1. In 1800, Aaron Burr had been elected Vice-President under Jefferson, but Jefferson said of him:

“[H]is conduct very soon inspired me with distrust…I habitually cautioned Mr. Madison against trusting him too much.”

Thomas Jefferson (Notes on a Conversation with Aaron Burr, January 26, 1804)
  1. In 1804, Burr runs for governor of New York, but loses by a large margin.
  2. Later in 1804, Burr kills Hamilton in duel.
  3. On his deathbed, Hamilton says:

“I have a tender reliance on the mercy of the Almighty, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ.” and “I am a sinner. I look to His mercy.”

Alexander Hamilton
  1. Afterward, Burr is charged with multiple crimes, including murder, in New York and New Jersey, but is never tried in either jurisdiction. He flees to South Carolina, where his daughter lives with her family, but soon returns to Philadelphia to complete his term as Vice President.
  2. In 1805, Burr attempts to form an independent republic in the Louisiana Territory, and is arrested for, and tried for, treason, but is later acquitted.
  3. 1808, Burr sails to England, hoping to gain support for a revolution in Mexico, but this fails, leaving him so penniless he can’t even travel home.
  4. 1808-1812, Burr became a good friend, even a confidant, of the English Utilitarian philosopher, Jeremy Bentham, even residing at Bentham’s home on occasion. (Utilitarianism was closely tied to his political aspirations [“A ruler’s interest will coincide with those of the governed only if he is politically accountable to the governed“] and promoted a new conception of morality which avoided references to God and religion)
  5. 1811, Burr eventually sails by French ship, but it is captured by the British and he us detained in England until May 1812, finally returning to New York.
  6. 1812, Burr’s grandson, Aaron Burr Alston, who grew up on a rice plantation in South Carolina, dies of malaria (a common problem in the rice plantations).
  7. 1813, Burr’s daughter, Theodosia Burr Alston, the wife of the newly elected governor of South Carolina, dies at sea.
  8. In 1833, at 77, Burr marries again, to a wealthy widow. When she realizes he is involved in land speculation, they separate after only four months.
  9. 1836, during the month of their first anniversary, she sues for divorce which was granted the day he dies.
  10. During his final hours, a clergyman inquired about his prospects for salvation. Evasive and cryptic to the end, Burr only replied:

“On that subject I am coy.”

Last words of Aaron Burr

Burr’s enigmatic legacy, once considered a patriot hero, but later a rogue and probably, a conspirator in a “treasonable scheme” to take up arms against the government and seize land in the frontier of the Louisiana Purchase.

Burr’s is a notorious case. But was he outside the reach of God’s grace? That is a not only a profound question, but also a very practical one, that has ramifications for all of us. One might say that it (God’s grace) “doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints.“

In fact, the Bible distinctly says that:

“The Lord does not delay His promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.”

2 Peter 3:9

Does that mean that God’s promises are for everybody–that God’s “salvation” is universal?

No, but it is available to all who accept it, in spite of anything they may have done, in the same way that Hamilton seems to have done.

But is it possible to resist God’s grace?

Yes, we know that Esau must have rejected it (Hebrews 12:16-17).

Lot, though he seems to be a lot like Esau, did not. How do we know? (2 Peter 2:7).

Hamilton seems to have not.

“It is striking how religion preoccupied Hamilton during his final years.”

Ron Chernow

This apparent mystery is made clear in the story of Moses and Pharaoh, king of Egypt. Why? The Bible tells us that Pharaoh, like Esau, despised God.

despise = "feel contempt or a deep repugnance for." (Bing)

“Pharaoh said, ‘Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice…?'”

Exodus 5:2

God was aware that Pharaoh held him in low esteem. But God did not react to Pharaoh in indignation.

indignation = "anger or annoyance provoked by what is perceived as unfair treatment."

Instead God gave Pharaoh ten opportunities to turn to humble himself before Him. But Pharaoh did not.

Have you ever seen the movie and TV show, Stargate SG-1? They really did an excellent job with their visualizations of the Goa’uld as the rulers of ancient Egypt.

These were wicked, evil, and arrogant people. And, like a lot of people in powerful positions, they were paranoid and petty.

“Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.“

Exodus 5:7

Think of Henry VIII of England.

God brought ten plagues upon the land of Egypt. Why?

The Bible tells us:

“The Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch forth mine hand upon Egypt…”

Exodus 7:5

People will argue that God hardened Pharaoh’s heart. That’s true. But do you not know that God allows all of our hearts to be hardened, if we allow it? It’s true. Each “plague” that life throws in our path is an opportunity for us to harden our hearts, to raise a fist toward the heavens and curse God (Sovereign of the Universe). It may be a mystery, but it’s not a secret.

It’s simple. God wants us to want Him. Why? Is God insecure? No, God only wants authentic believers in His kingdom.

authentic = "not false or imitation" (Mirriam-Webster)

“Now for a little while…you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith…may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 1:6-7

“The Father seeketh such to worship Him.”

John 4:23

“I love those who love Me, and those who seek Me find Me.”

Proverbs 8:17

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”

Jeremiah 29:13

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.”

Acts 17:24-27

That is why the Bible tells us at least three different times:

“Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart…”

Psalm 95:6-11; Hebrews 3:7-19; Hebrews 4:1-8 (and see Deuteronomy 1:26-38)

Like Aaron Burr (who lost his wife, grandson, and precious daughter), Pharaoh lost his own son–his heir.

“And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead. And he called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, Rise up, and get you forth from among my people, both ye and the children of Israel; and go, serve the LORD…”

Exodus 12:30-31

And like Burr, Pharaoh–even at that point, even after all that suffering–turned away from all those opportunities to humble himself, to soften his heart, and to accept God’s grace.

“And it was told the king of Egypt that the people fled: and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was turned against the people, and they said, ‘Why have we done this, that we have let Israel go from serving us?’ …And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them… And the Egyptians pursued, and went in after them to the midst of the sea, even all Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen… And the waters returned, and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them…. But the children of Israel walked upon dry land in the midst of the sea; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.”

Exodus 14:5-29

Grace is always available to those who turn to God. And He, in His mercy redeems our life–our story.

redeem = "to buy back, repurchase;" "to free from captivity by payment of ransom;" "to extricate from or help to overcome something detrimental;" "to release from blame or debt, clear;" "to free from the consequences of sin." (Mirriam-Webster)

So what about you? What are you waiting for?

Will you accept God’s offer of reconciliation and redemption? Will you accept His grace?