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Category Archives: Decisions

Eavesdropping on Someone’s Dream – God’s Story and our Narrative in 2017

28 Wednesday Dec 2016

Posted by biblebeans in 2017, Bible, Change, Christ, Decisions, Faith, Gideon, God, Hong Kong, Overcoming Rejection

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2017, Bible, BibleBeans, Gideon, NewYear, Overcoming Rejection

Dreams & Flashbacks

Dreams and Flashbacks are interesting narrative techniques…they are used in literature and film to provide insight into a character’s past, to open a window into their psychology and sometimes even to foreshadow events in their future.  When a book or a movie utilize these techniques, I am all in…bonus points if they come right at the beginning of the story.

A couple of my favorite examples in film and literature are the following:

  1. G.G Marquez’ One Hundred Years of Solitude (Flashback Ch 1):                                              “MANY YEARS LATER as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. At that time Macondo was a village of twenty adobe houses, built on the bank of a river of clear water that ran along a bed of polished stones, which were white and enormous, like prehistoric eggs. The world was so recent that many things lacked names, and in order to indicate them it was necessary to point.”
  2. D. DuMaurier’s Rebecca (Dream Ch 1):                                                                                      “Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again. It seemed to me that I was passing through the iron gates that led to the driveway. The drive was just a narrow track now, its stony surface covered with grass and weeds. Sometimes, when I thought I had lost it, it would appear again, beneath a fallen tree or beyond a muddy pool formed by the winter rains. The trees had thrown out new low branches which stretched across my way. I came to the house suddenly, and stood there with my heart beating fast and tears filling my eyes.”
  3. F. W. Murnau’s Der Letzte Mann (Dream/Flashback Sequence) – also called a “psychological dream” – a mix between a dream and a flashback…where we see the main character reminiscing and idealizing his past abilities and role as a hotel portier (Credit to Ted Sakowsky’s youtube channel).

Personally, I always like to listen to dreams…they are fun, creative, symbolic, and meaningful.

Recently the business insider published the excerpt of a book that detailed common themes in people’s dreams; among the most frequent dreams reported by people are 1. flying, 2.trying to find a bathroom, 3. having teeth fall of, and 4. being late, or unprepared for an exam.

In the bible, there are several occasions in which God uses dreams to speak to people.

1. In the book of Genesis we see how God uses dreams to show Joseph, the son of Jacob a glimpse of his future role as the leader of his family.  Later this gifting propels him to becoming one of the most powerful men in Egypt and through his leadership God saved the nation of Egypt, the nation of Israel, and Joseph’s brothers and father from famine.

2. During the period of Babylonian occupation of Israel, God gave Daniel – a young man who had been brought to serve in the Babylonian court – the ability to tell the king what he dreamed about and the interpretation of that dream.  This made the Babylonian king take notice of Daniel’s wisdom and understand that God was with Daniel in a special way.

3. In the New Testament God speaks to Joseph through a dream to let him know that Mary’s baby was truly conceived through the Holy Spirit..and later after Jesus was born God uses a dream to warn the three wise men about Herod’s intentions to towards Jesus (not to worship but to harm him).

I could go on an on about how God uses dreams in the lives of his children; Jacob, Paul, Solomon…

Common themes of how God uses dreams in the Bible

Just like authors have identified common themes in people’s dreams in everyday life, in the bible, we also see common themes in how God uses dreams: he uses dreams to warn people about future events, encourage and reassure people in times of uncertainty, and he also uses them to help his people understand and pursue the calling that he has for them.

An interesting example is shown in Gideon’s story  (Judges 7:12-14)

Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.
And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”
Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”

This bible passage narrates how two men  Gideon and his servant Purah had sneaked into the camp of the enemy army that they were at war with.. the night before the big battle…and when they arrived at the encampment of the enemy army, they overheard a conversation between two other men..soldiers in the enemy army.  Of the soldiers told another one a weird dream that he had.  He said that in his dream…he saw a loaf of barley bread come downhill into the camp…and overturned a tent…and it collapsed.

In this story…even though Gideon was not the one who had the dream, nor was he the one who interpreted the dream, God used this dream to affirm Gideon in his calling to lead the army of Israel into victory against the Midianites…because it so happened that the dream came true; the next day Gideon and 300 Israelites came against the army of Midian and defeated them.

But before we move from this point to the future, I would like to go back in time and look at the initial information that the bible provides about Gideon’s background, because that will help us see the significance of the dream in full context…and the bible provides this information in Judges 6:2-6:
 

Flashback on Gideon’s life

Gideon was born during a time in which the people of Israel were experiencing opposition from other tribes in the region, namely the Midianites, and their allies the Amalekites.  
The Amalekites were more numerous and their strategy was to sabotage and block every activity that the Israelites did in order to sustain themselves. The insidious tactics of the midianites brought Israel to a state of poverty and despair in which they felt that they had been collectively rejected by God…(see Judges 6)

Not only was Gideon part of this group that felt rejected…he was a reject among the them…And in the midst of this, he experiences God’s calling…which is not compatible at all with how Gideon identifies as an individual, in his family, in his community and in the larger context.  Nowadays the feeling of rejection both at the societal and individual level is as prevalent as it was for Guideon and Israel during the time of Midianite occupation. This rejection is covertly or overtly exercised by denying access to a sense of adequacy and/or belonging to an individual or a group.

Gideon is a person who has experienced rejection at multiple levels and in multiple stages of his life, and many of us are no strangers to this feeling.

From the passage, it is clear that as Gideon was brought up, there was a message that was communicated to him by his family that he was the least among them…
By his community, that his family/clan was the least in the community
and the bible states clearly that the Amalekites and Midianites were bullying Israel…

So when Gideon is confronted with God’s calling, there is a conflict between what he has heard about himself all his life and who he and who God is calling him to be…and this gap/chasm is expressed in feelings of inadequacy and hesitation to believe what God says about him.

People deal with rejection differently, however we can a common threads in how rejection operates in our lives: Rejection occurs in two dimensions: externally and internally and it shapes our narrative of who we are…however, when we hear God’s calling, there is an underlying narrative of acceptance, love and support that empowers us to live our life differently.

The Process of overcoming rejection and accepting God’s narrative for our life seems to highlight key stages;

1. The Sign of the Fleece (Judges 7:36-40)

36 Then Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said, 37 behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” 38 And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water. 39 Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.” 40 And God did so that night; and it was dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground there was dew.

The sign of the fleece represents an initial ‘awakening’ into a new understanding of ourselves and our circumstances.  It has three characteristics:
1. Private
2. Gradual
3. Involving a Lamb (Jesus in the bible is referred as the Lamb of God)


2. The sign of the right inner circle – Gideon’s Three Hundred Men (Judges 8)

7 Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.

2 The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ 3 Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.
4 And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.” 5 So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.” 6 And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water. 7 And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.” 8 So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the 300 men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.

The sign of the inner circle represents an initial evidence of who we are by those who are around us and have known us through our previous circumstances.  It has three characteristics:
1. Small Scale
2. Grass Roots
3. Involving a new confidence – not a false self-confidence but genuine confidence the calling that we have and God’s faithfulness to see us through

3. The sign of those who are outside of our ‘inner circle’ – Gideon defeats Midian (Judges 8:15)

15 As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.” 16 And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars. 17 And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do. 18 When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”

19 So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch. And they blew the trumpets and smashed the jars that were in their hands. 20 Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!” 21 Every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled. 22 When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army.

The sign of those outside our inner circle represents an external confirmation of how our life has moved from the past rejection to living out the narrative of God’s love in our life.  It has three characteristics:
1. Likely occurs in a new context for us
2. Moves past the grass roots to a less immediate circle
3. Affirms our new identity and removes us from our past experience of rejection

 

As we flashback to 2016, may we tune our ears to listen to God’s dreams for our lives, and start 2017 moving past those experiences that hold us back and continuously reaching out for God’s narrative of love and acceptance in this new year.



Trees, Decisions and Rationality

05 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by biblebeans in Decisions, Esau and Jacob, God's Discipline, Rationality, Trees

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One of my dear friends recently shared with me about one of her many trips around the world, where she visited Lebanon. One of the highlights of her trip was to go and see the cedars of Lebanon.


Cedars of Lebanon are evergreen trees…they are from the coniferous family (like pines) and they have been used since ancient times for building.


Rulers in the ancient times would order the wood for religious and civil constructs. In the bible, the most famous example is King Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem and David’s and Solomon’s Palaces. Because of its significance the word Cedar is mentioned 76 times in the Bible, and played a pivotal role in the cementing of the Phoenician-Hebrew relationship.


Beyond that, it was also used by Romans, Greeks, Persians, Assyrians and Babylonians.


Trees are pretty cool…they bring a lot to our lives…they give wood for furniture, houses, fuel (for heat and cooking), they give fruits for eating, they give shade and some trees are the oldest living things in this planet being thousands and thousands of years old.


Trees also appear as important elements in bible narrative. They feature as literal elements and as symbolic elements.


Trees in the Bible as literal figures:
1.Trees in the Garden of Eden for fruit (Genesis 3:8)
2. Trees as boundary markers (Genesis 13:18, 12:33, 1 Sam 14:2, 1 Chr 10:12)
3. Many Cedar’s of Lebanon were used in the construction of the temple of Solomon (1 King 5:6-10, 6:15-20).


Trees in the Bible as symbolic figures:
1. Trees symbolize powerful Kings (Dan 4:10)
2. They symbolize a fulfilled wish (Prov 13:12)
“Hope deferred makes the heart sick, 
 but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.”
3. Trees symbolize righteous people (Ps 92:12-13, Ps 1:3)
There is a tree in the bible that has both symbolic and literal meaning. Is the tree of knowledge of good and evil.





The bible talks about it in Genesis 2:


Adam and Eve


“15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”


This tree plays a crucial role in the history of mankind; it serves both a literal and a symbolic element in bible narrative.


1. Literal because it is an actual tree, with branches and leaves and all of the normal tree characteristics.
2. Symbolic because it has the role of a decision point in bible narrative; God said to Adam and Eve that they should abstain from eating its fruit, that if they did eat of the fruit of the tree, the outcome would be death…


There was a certain criterion of expected behavior that was attached to it, it is perhaps the first symbol in the history of mankind. Anytime there is a message and an expected behavior attached to an object, this object becomes a symbol. The tree in the garden became a symbolic element for a moment of choice with two clear outcomes; life or death.


In Western Christian art, the fruit of the decision tree in the garden of Eden is commonly depicted as the apple, however some scientists argue that this is not possible, as the apple tree rarely grows in Mesopotamia, which is the area where the garden of Eden is believed to have been located.


Even though it is not clear which kind of fruit-tree the tree of good and evil was (in a literal sense), it is possible to say without a doubt, that in a symbolic sense, the tree of good and evil is a DECISION TREE.
What is a decision tree? A decision tree is a schematic representation of a set of choices used in economics, management and the business world in order to anticipate possible outcomes for a decision…thereby enabling people to make better decisions.


If you want to learn more about decision trees go to:
http://www.time-management-guide.com/decision-tree.html


Seeds of a decision tree
The underlying assumption upon which a decision tree rests is that of rational choice. Gary Becker, the Nobel Prize winning economist, postulated that people make decisions based on rational choice, which means that given a set of options, people will choose the course of action that renders the most advantageous outcome for their own purposes.
Lately, however, psychologists, and other behavioral scientists have challenged the assumption of rationality.


In 2010 an MIT behavioral economist called DAN ARIELLY did some studies on why people act in ways that do not always reflect RCT…and he found out three things:
1. People act irrationally because THEY DO NOT HAVE ALL THE INFORMATION…
2. People act irrationally, because THEY ARE OVERWHELMED BY THE CHOICES
3. People act irrationally, because THEY ARE STIRRED UP EMOTIONALLY OR BY EXTERNAL FACTORS


If you want to learn more about Dan Ariely’s books go to his blog at http://danariely.com/


IRRATIONAL US


In his books, Dan Ariely describes several experiments in which he demonstrated that people did not always act in accordance to their own criterion of what is beneficial for them, or even worse, people did not act accordance with their own values.  One of my favorite examples has to do with Coca-Cola and money.


Like many other college dorms, the MIT dormitories have refrigerators in every floor for the use of all residents. In one of the buildings, Ariely went to every floor and put inside each fridge, a six-pack of coke, and also, he put on top of the fridge the equivalent value of the six-pack in US dollars (approx. six dollars).  After doing this, he checked periodically to see whether the coke cans, and the money were still there.  To his surprise, the cokes didn’t last longer than 72 hours the entire building, and even more surprisingly, he found out that no-one had touched the money that he left in every floor.




Dan Ariely found out that people will “fool themselves” to betraying their own values by stating for example, “stealing a coke is not stealing”, however they wouldn’t dare to steal the equivalent in money value of that coke.  The bible says it in this way:


The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
-Jeremiah 17:9


We can see examples in daily life and also in the bible, which show that people do indeed make irrational choices; one such biblical example is the case of Jacob and Esau.


Jacob and Esau were twin brothers who were born to Rebeccah and Isaac. In Genesis 25, the bible narrates how Esau was born first, and Jacob was born second. During bible times, being a firstborn meant carrying the family name and inheriting double portion of the family’s estate. Thus, it was a great privilege.


Any person acting rationally would’ve considered the first-born right as something of great value both financially and emotionally. However, the bible narrates that Esau traded his first-born right for a plate of lentil stew.


 Genesis 25:29-34
“One day Jacob was cooking a stew. Esau came in from the field, starved. Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stew—I’m starved!” That’s how he came to be called Edom (Red).
Jacob said, “Make me a trade: my stew for your rights as the firstborn.”
Esau said, “I’m starving! What good is a birthright if I’m dead?” Jacob said, “First, swear to me.” And he did it. On oath Esau traded away his rights as the firstborn. Jacob gave him bread and the stew of lentils. He ate and drank, got up and left. That’s how Esau shrugged off his rights as the firstborn.”



It is clear that Esau was stirred up emotionally and was overwhelmed by hunger and tiredness when he came to the decision point where he traded his first-born right. 


This passage of the bible illustrates how people fail to act rationally, and the most dangerous part of our failure to act rationally is that there are certain decisions that can’t be taken back, the bible calls it the “Esau Syndrome”.




“Watch out for the Esau syndrome: trading away God’s lifelong gift in order to satisfy a short-term appetite. You well know how Esau later regretted that impulsive act and wanted God’s blessing—but by then it was too late, tears or no tears.”

– Hebrews 12:15-17


Esau traded something of greater value, for something of lesser value because he was stirred up by external factors…he traded a better future for immediate gratification, and the bible cautions us against doing the same thing.




So how can we avoid ending up like Esau? The answer is in the chapter 12 of Hebrews and it can be subsumed in one word; DISCIPLINE.


Hebrews 12:11 says the following:
“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”



Discipline in the bible is closely related to trust and submission to God, even beyond our own understanding.  This in my opinion, should be more evident in light of the fact that we are not always able to do what is best for ourselves.


Thus, according to the bible it is necessary to take time evaluate our decisions, not in the light of our immediate gratification, or our own interpretation of ‘what is desirable in our own understanding’ but put our trust in God…in his discipline.

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