Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Things Don't Change That Much

As I continue reading through the Old Testament of the Bible for the ongoing Tao Bible series, I came across an interesting story in the Book of Joshua in Chapters 6 - 7. This section tells of the Israelites conquest of the town of Jericho. God grants his "chosen people" the ability to massacre their enemies, but they could keep "only the silver, and the gold, and the vessels of brass and of iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the LORD."

Put in common vernacular, all the wealth seized must be placed in the hands of the priestly class, the affluent sector of their society.

In Chapter 7, we learn that one of the soldiers claimed a bit of the booty for himself. Achan took and hid "a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight." We are told that this upset the Lord and led the Israelite forces to be turned back in a battle.

Of course, Achan is found out and stoned to death. His booty is reclaimed by the wealthy and, with this sin taken care of, the Israelites go out to slay the next town.

This story doesn't sound altogether different from modern times. The rich want to control all wealth and become unglued if they think anyone is holding out on them. In the US, the wealthy elite are buying the current mid-term elections by trying to manipulate the will of the people to elect representatives who will readily transfer more public dollars to the already egregiously affluent.

For me, it just goes to show that the basic issues in life don't change all that much. The rich and powerful want absolute control, whether it be amongst ancient tribal nomads or a rich industrialized nation.

2 comments:

  1. Dear R.T.,

    Indeed, avarice is as old as the concept of ownership, itself. From a Taoist perspective, it's very clear that though the objects of human desire change, desire remains an ever-changing, yet ever-present static fact of life. The entire Old Testament, also, reflects this principle.

    Love this place. Thanks for writing.

    Yours Truly,


    -Both

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  2. It amazes me that I've never read such passages in that way before. That is, to translate it into common vernacular. I'm almost ashamed.

    But of course! It's all so clear: all the wealth must go to the temple, and who controls the temple? the priests. and who are the ones with the direct line to God, recieving this command that the wealth go to the temple? The priests!

    What a joke.

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