I have just looked again at Google. It’s still pointing at the old website, hence no traffic. It does not matter. One should do the same with an audience and without an audience. So this morning, before Kirk, I sat down and (having got the IP address for this place loaded into my DNS — I find https://pukeko.net.nz/blog works) I linked through to the Lectionary and read it.
In the order they are quoted (there are other readings as well). The second leading predicts the consequences seen in the first, and the third can be taken as a commentary on both.
17David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. 18(He ordered that The Song of the Bow be taught to the people of Judah; it is written in the Book of Jashar.) He said:
19 Your glory, O Israel, lies slain upon your high places!
How the mighty have fallen!
20 Tell it not in Gath,
proclaim it not in the streets of Ashkelon;
or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice,
the daughters of the uncircumcised will exult.21 You mountains of Gilboa,
let there be no dew or rain upon you,
nor bounteous fields!
For there the shield of the mighty was defiled,
the shield of Saul, anointed with oil no more.22 From the blood of the slain,
from the fat of the mighty,
the bow of Jonathan did not turn back,
nor the sword of Saul return empty.23 Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely!
In life and in death they were not divided;
they were swifter than eagles,
they were stronger than lions.24 O daughters of Israel, weep over Saul,
who clothed you with crimson, in luxury,
who put ornaments of gold on your apparel.25 How the mighty have fallen
in the midst of the battle!Jonathan lies slain upon your high places.
26 I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
greatly beloved were you to me;
your love to me was wonderful,
passing the love of women.27 How the mighty have fallen,
and the weapons of war perished!2When the LORD first spoke through Hosea, the LORD said to Hosea, “Go, take for yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the LORD.” 3So he went and took Gomer daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son.
4And the LORD said to him, “Name him Jezreel; for in a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5On that day I will break the bow of Israel in the valley of Jezreel.”
6She conceived again and bore a daughter. Then the LORD said to him, “Name her Lo-ruhamah, for I will no longer have pity on the house of Israel or forgive them. 7But I will have pity on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the LORD their God; I will not save them by bow, or by sword, or by war, or by horses, or by horsemen.”
8When she had weaned Lo-ruhamah, she conceived and bore a son. 9Then the LORD said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not my people and I am not your God.”
10Yet the number of the people of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which can be neither measured nor numbered; and in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ it shall be said to them, ‘Children of the living God.’
6As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe, and not according to Christ. 9For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. 11In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision, by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; 12when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
16Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling on visions, puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking, 19and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
Now, some would say that men should all be Hosea. it does not matter what the woman has done, in this age we should all marry girls with a high partner count (because that is all that there is) and we should sacrifice our peace of mind for the good of all. Take the risk. I’d argue that this is not good, but instead we should restrain our natural instincts to go for the prettiest or most powerful.
or some reason, people tend to presume that religious girls will somehow be immune to hypergamy because it reeks of “dirty secular girl” behavior. Only secular girls obsess over income and tingles.….religious women would have no problems marrying a poor guy because they should be able to love regardless of her future husband’s income
The reason is that men… naïve, goodhearted men… assume that hypergamy is a sin that Christian women can, and should, repent of — when in fact it’s a hardwired portion of a woman’s mate seeking algorithm.
From the perspective of a naïve man — when hypergamy leads a woman to a rich man, it looks like greed, and when it leads her to a rough, wild biker, it looks like lust. Mr Naïve is just as hardworking and stable as Mr Rich, and just as good looking as Mr Harley, and is a much stronger Christian as well, so the reason for his rejection is utterly unfathomable to him. Unless she’s just sinning, and then it all makes perfect sense to him.
The reciprocal error on the women’s side, is ascribing the strongly visual nature of men’s sexuality, to the sin of lust — which they can, and should, repent of. When men’s eyes take them to prettier girls, Christian women see that as no different from the sin of porn.
This tendency of Christian women to think men’s visual sexuality, not simply something that can lead men to sin, but, a sin in and of itself, explains a lot of things. Why do single Christian women react so bitterly to the idea that they might need to lose weight to attract a husband? (He’s a Christian, he shouldn’t care). Why do they get mad if they are told, that wearing a miniskirt to church causes problems for them men? (That’s THEIR issue!, is a typical response). Why do some Christian wives get outraged if their husband enjoys watching them get undressed, or wear sexy lingerie? (“Why does he want me to dress a hooker at home? I thought he was a Christian when I married him!” — this is of course a totally backwards question, the correct question she should ask is, why do hookers dress that way?)
The truth is that women can no more repent of hypergamy, than men can repent of visual attraction. Both can lead to sin, but neither is sin in and of itself.
Coming back, the Galatians passage discusses how we should not go looking for deeper or more spiritual things. There is no hypergamy within the Church: here we are all one. But to remain one, we have to be tolerant. Of those Bavarians who drink 6 L of beer at a church festival, and those Presbyterians who remain remote in the most joyous occasions. We (thank the almighty) do not have to be the same.
And we also need to not fall into the error of rejoicing when the mighty fall. Schadenfreude is one of my favourite vices, and that is exactly why the Samuel passage is quoted. David was the anointed king. David was being chased by Saul, who wanted to kill him. But when Saul died, David grieved, for the leader of the people of God had been defeated. That should be our attitude when a scandal appears, regardless of which branch of the church it is in, for we all get tarred with the same brush.