Ezekiel 20:25-26 and How to Investigate Biblical Translation Issues

The following are rough notes from a Twitter discussion I had on the translation and meaning of Ezekiel 20:25-26. It was claimed God gave “bad laws” to the Israelites (eg. child sacrifice) because they wouldn’t follow His good laws. This is obviously problematic as its relates to the Goodness of God. These are my tweets and notes from that discussion.

– “nâthan, naw-than’; a primitive root; to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.)”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H5414&t=KJV

– “Your reading, if true, is delightfully illogical. The people are so disobedient that god gives them different laws, which they suddenly and cheerfully obey, like the obedient followers they aren’t. And that cheerful obedience mirrors the disobedience of their ancestors.”

– Vs 23 God swore to disperse Isrealites to the nations around them (who didn’t have God’s Law), because they had not obeyed the Law (Vs 24), “So I gave them other statutes” meaning the statutes of the nations He dispersed them to (vs 25)

“23 Also with uplifted hand I swore to them in the wilderness that I would disperse them among the nations and scatter them through the countries, 24 because they had not obeyed my laws but had rejected my decrees and desecrated my Sabbaths, and their eyes lusted after their parents’ idols. 25 So I gave them other statutes that were not good and laws through which they could not live;”

– Verses 30-38 continue this idea of dispersing to the immoral nations and bringing them back home where they are still doing immoral things they brought with them (Vs 32 ‘we want to be like the nations).

Comment from discussion suddenlyseymour’s comment from discussion "God and Child Sacrifice (Ezekiel 20:25-26): The Last Pieces of the Puzzle".

Tweet Thread

Okay, continuing the Ezekiel 20:25-26 thead here. I’m going to talk about 3 main points I’ve come across so far from, in my opinion, the least convincing to the most convincing why this could be better translated ‘I gave them [over to] statutes’ instead of ‘I gave them statutes’.
– https://twitter.com/shovas/status/1017610935618465793

1. Translation for the word “gave” from: “nâthan, naw-than’; a primitive root; to give, used with greatest latitude of application (put, make, etc.):” () Note wide usage of meanings. It can’t categorically be said to be wrong to use “gave over” here.
– https://twitter.com/shovas/status/1017613563605716993

See translation of whole verse here: https://t.co/XW4vCFizeq
– https://twitter.com/shovas/status/1017613689388720130

2. Logical Consistency of Argument (): Israelites so disobedient God gives them other laws…which He expects them to obey??! Infers wording does not indicate bad laws from God – because they wouldn’t obey anyway. Maintains logical consistency of argument.
– https://twitter.com/shovas/status/1017614811616686080

Did you read the link? It’s quite clever in its simplicity as an argument: From your side, you’re admitting the Israelites didn’t want to folllow God’s statutes so…God gave them more statutes…to follow? It’s not logical. It breaks the meaning of the passage.
– https://twitter.com/shovas/status/1018211081569951744

3a. Immediate Context Makes It Obvious (): *head hanging in shame* I should have read the chapter much sooner *sigh*. Cont’d…
– https://twitter.com/shovas/status/1017615444579102720

3b. Vs23 God swore to disperse Isrealites to the nations around them (who didn’t have God’s Law) because they had not obeyed the Law (vs24), “So I gave them statutes” meaning the statutes of the nations He dispersed them to (vs25). He claims ownership of statutes… Cont’d…
– https://twitter.com/shovas/status/1017616152980320256

3c. God claims ownership of the statutes by way of the dispersion resulting in them acquiring those statutes from the evil nations around them not in the giving of the statutes.
– https://twitter.com/shovas/status/1017616394551222273

3d. This is the most convincing to me because it’s right there in the text and it just follows so immediately one verse to the other, sequentially, and it maintains its internal consistency. It’s so powerful because it’s so simple.
– https://twitter.com/shovas/status/1017616911683768320

NoGripRacing.com Is Down

Update 2018-07-08: Just wanted to invite all NoGrip fans over to Race Department. It looks like we’re not going to get NoGrip back and many have already moved over to Race Department. Their GTR2 forum is starting to come to life and the RD guys have recently filled out the GTR2 Downloads categories and people have been uploading there so it’s starting to feel more like home. You can always use RD for free and, if you’re so inclined, I feel the service they provide is worth paying for their premium membership. Unlike many other small-time sites like NoGrip, RD has some serious business muscle behind it so, hopefully, it’s not likely to disappear like some of the other small sites like NoGrip. If you’re still looking for another alternative, I recommend the European Endurance Center.

Update 2018-06-13: Sorry, no good news to share, but I did want to re-share the Nogripracing.com gone? thread over on RaceDepartment.com. Looks like more and more nogripgracing.com members and fans have been migrating over there. Don’t forget about the European Endurance Center which is also an excellent resource and alternative site for most of the things you could find on NoGrip. Don’t worry about their somewhat tedious signup process, they’re friendly enough and the site is worth it.

Update 2018-06-04: A user by the name of wibble has posted over at RaceDepartment.com about the the situation indicating the hosting contract has expired but they have a full backup of all the data on the server. I replied with some questions and asked if there were any way we fans and members could help out. It sounds like there is a past due hosting bill situation and, if that’s the case, I am personally willing to contribute to help pay off the bill and get the server hosted elsewhere. Please leave a comment if you’d like to help keep nogripracing.com alive!

Members and fans of nogripracing.com will probably have noticed by now that the site is down. I first noticed the site as down May 30th. If you are the owner, know the owner, or have news of the downtime I’d appreciate hearing what’s going on.

At this point, the downtime has gone on a few days and it’s looking less likely that it will come back, although I’ll be delighted if it does! NoGrip hosts many downloads for many different sims.

You can find alternatives to nogripracing.com at RaceDepartment.com and the European Endurance Center (which also serves general sim racing purposes), eSport-Racing.de (non-English language but you can work your way around). If you know of any others, please leave them in the comments, thank you!

Best of luck to NoGripRacing! I really hope it makes a comeback. The site really served an important niche not really served by anybody else.

If you are the owner or know the owner please let them know that I’d be happy to provide mirror hosting for the site if they’re having issues with hosting.

Did you know? GTR2 supports 180hz+ FFB

Due to GTR2’s FFB loop being tied to the refresh rate, the sky is the limit when it come to GTR2’s FFB update rate. *mindblown*

Treat yourself right now: Download the 2005 FiaGT Mod, download my PLR with FFB tuned to the mod (put the “FFB …” lines into your own PLR file), and feel the difference FFB like Automobilista/Assetto Corsa/rFactor makes with GTR2.

To achieve significantly higher FPS, even on modern, high-end CPUs, you will need to enable GTR2 to use all of your CPU cores. To do this, download the free Bill’s Process Manager or nagware Process Lasso to set CPU Affinity (make it use all your CPU cores) and set it to use all physicals.

Kudos to the authors, JorritVD, LeSunTzu, and GTR233, for working on the ffb and tire model that makes it so expressive.

As someone who’s been using vsync for a long time this blew my mind when I tried without vsync tonight.

For others who have not been using vsync, you may still experience a difference due to a recent tweak I made for 2005 FiaGT Mod FFB related to FFB Steer Force Output Max (it was soft-clipping in the in-game ffb calculations at the default 1.8 value). Now road forces come through in high ffb corners and it feels brilliant.

Give it a try!

The GTR2 Mod Bounty Program

The GTR2 Mod Bounty Program is fan crowd-sourcing to improve our favourite game, GTR2.

The idea is to pledge money, any amount of your choice, towards one or more bounties, and then match bounties with interested modders who are willing to implement the requested features.

In return for successfully implementing the mod, modders will be rewarded with the bounty amount.

You can review the details including currently available bounties here:

If you have comments or suggestions for improvement, please reply, I’d love to hear what people think.

If you’re an interested fan or modder, please contact me!

Why a bounty program?

I’ve been thinking about crowd-sourcing sim improvements for some time. It’s not tied to GTR2, it could be applied to any sim being developed. It just so happens I’m starting the concept with GTR2 because I feel it’s a great platform that could still see much improvement.

There has long been a real-world problem with the way sims are developed: Their content is either completely open or completely closed. We all see what happens with the approach of iRacing, a wall-garden and expensive, RaceRoom, no modding, Reiza, completely open but having a hard go, and rFactor, open but moving to a more paid/closed approach.

Open sims are great for users, who get all the benefits of modders efforts, but developers can’t control their revenue streams when the content is out of their control.

Closed sims are great for developers, who can now control their content and charge for updates, but bad for users who can’t change anything about the sim and don’t get the benefits that modders bring to the table.

A bounty program attempts a win-win solution between these two approaches: Keep the content open, a win for users and modders, and provide a mechanism for developers to claim bounties for new or improved content, a win that allows them to control their revenue streams.

A further improvement, from a developer’s point of view, would be a bounty program that kept content encapsulated in DRM for a limited time, protecting their revenue stream, and at a later time would be opened up for end-users, which would give their userbase all the benefits of modder involvement.

I hope this bounty program takes off but I also hope it starts a discussion and gives developers some ideas about how they could approach sims differently, protecting their interests but also gaining amazingly devoted fans along the way.

(This has been cross-posted on racedepartment.com, nogripracing.com, and gtr2-endurance.forumotion.org)

Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect – Wait, what?

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” It’s all too easy to wonder for a brief moment how that could be, and then go about your day, forgetful of the awkward sense of impossibility you felt, until the next time you read or hear that verse. But it’s always there, haunting the back of your mind: God demands perfection! That’s not me! What sacrifice is left for me?

When you read Jesus’s words, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect,” (Matthew 5:48) it’s all too easy to wonder for a brief moment how that could be, and then go about your day, forgetful of the awkward sense of impossibility you felt, until the next time you read or hear that verse. But it’s always there, haunting the back of your mind: God demands perfection! That’s not me! What sacrifice is left for me?

There’s good news, of course, in the context, in the original language, and in the realization that, as James MacDonald likes to put it, God has made no provision for you to live the Christian life in your own strength, intelligence, or ability – it’s better than that!

Continue reading “Be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect – Wait, what?”

The End is Near: Seeing the Kingdom that is near, here, within, and coming.

The Kingdom of Heaven is more than meets the eye: The Kingdom of Heaven has come near you, it is here, it is within you, and the Kingdom of Heaven is coming.

I was struck by an idea presented in a recent church service: The Kingdom of Heaven is more than meets the eye: The Kingdom of Heaven has come near you, it is here, it is within you, and the Kingdom of Heaven is coming. We tend to think the Kingdom of Heaven as something in the future that we’re all waiting for, and that’s partly true, but it also carries other profound dimensions.

The phrases Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God refer to the same thing. Jesus used both phrases one right after the other in Matthew 19:23-24, explaining to His disciples how difficult it was for people to enter the Kingdom of God/Heaven.

The End is Near

When Jesus sent out the disciples ahead of Him to the places He would soon visit, he told them, “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” (Luke 10:8-9)

Jesus had been teaching His disciples about the kingdom of Heaven and now the disciples were preparing the people to hear about it, as well.

You and I are those people and God has sent out his disciples to reach us. Will we welcome his servants? Or, will we reject them and have it said against us,

Say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. –Luke 10:10-11

Continue reading “The End is Near: Seeing the Kingdom that is near, here, within, and coming.”

Those who mourn are blessed: Reading scripture backwards.

A few weeks ago our pastor taught on the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-12, and he highlighted something I hadn’t really considered: The verses from 3 to 12 are not simply separate sayings, like little nuggets of wisdom. Instead, they form a whole and each verse builds on the one before. They reveal a pattern for the life of a Christ-follower.

A few weeks ago our pastor taught on the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3-12, and he highlighted something I hadn’t really considered: The verses from 3 to 12 are not simply separate sayings, like little nuggets of wisdom. They’re not like some parts you might find in Proverbs, superficially a list of individual, wise sayings. Instead, they form a whole and each verse builds on the one before. Have a quick read through with that in mind and we’ll pick up after,

Jesus began to teach them,

“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

– Matthew 5:3-12

The first thing that struck me was that these people were “blessed.” Blessed?! Blessed… Maybe they were blessed because each ‘bad thing’ was followed up by a comforting thing, like “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted,” but that’s a little morbid, isn’t?

Continue reading “Those who mourn are blessed: Reading scripture backwards.”

Gerber Down Syndrome ‘Spokesbaby of the Year’ May Help Start Changing Attitudes

Gerber’s ‘spokesbaby of the year‘ is a child with Down Syndrome. Along with the exposure for a widespread public eye, as Gerber will be using the baby on social media and in advertising, it also puts under the spotlight parents who decided to keep their child rather than perform an abortion.

Anna Maria Tremonti, of CBC Radio’s The Current, recently aired a segment after the Gerber baby announcement concerning attitudes and abortion around babies with Down Syndrome. You can listen to the podcast and read the article over at The Current’s site..

We may still have a long way to go to encouraging mothers and parents that all lives are sacred and providing the support that all care-givers really need for their Down Syndrome babies, but this goes a long way in the public eye.

Credits:

 

Lion of Judah: New verses with chords

I really enjoy this song so I added two verses which I’ve inserted as Verse 2 and 3. You can find the chords at Ultimate-Guitar.com [Note: Linked original version, not mine, as it’s not approved yet. Will fix link when approved. Link now works.]. Here’s a plain-text version for now.

Here’s the song, including new verses…

Continue reading “Lion of Judah: New verses with chords”

The Firelight In Your Eyes

In the dark I can see,
reflected, weaving and waving,
in this blessed early morning moment,
the firelight in your eyes.

Your lips, full, pained, hurt,
whisper out an injured stream,
while I memorize your eyes,
and the mirrored flame of your soul.

And I am struck dumb,
feeble words wretch forth,
anguished to see you lifted and built up,
to fan the heart and the flicker still there.

Who am I,
that I should be the one here,
so lacking, failing even in this,
to blow these embers back to life.

But God–this is not of me–
but God–in spite of me–
He can take you in the hollow of His hands,
and blow your embers back to Life.

When we part ways,
the morning darkness hides us,
when I hold you again, once and again,
heat rushes into me, melting the cold of many moonless ages.

In the darkness, parting, again I look deep in your eyes,
and the warmth of your embrace rushes out from me,
but my prayer has ascended to Him Eternal, that I see you again,
and the firelight in your eyes.