Ga'Hoole and Covenant Renewal

This past weekend I saw the new movie "Legend of the Guardians," which is based on the kids' fantasy books, "Guardians of Ga'Hoole."  The movie centers around the story of some owls who end up being caught in a battle between a group of evil, Nazi Germany-like owls, and "the Guardians" who live in a land called Ga'Hoole. Although the movie was targeted at kids, there were several themes that I found particularly fascinating.

One of those themes dealt with the power of stories. In the opening scene, some young owls are playing in their tree and imagining themselves as heroes from their father's stories. While one brother firmly believes in the stories (which turn out to be true), the other brother looks on them with scorn and prefers to live in "reality." However, as their father tells them when he returns to the tree, "Stories are tell us who we are--they give us identity."

Being a Communication major and a Biblical Studies major in undergrad, I couldn't help but think of the Biblical story. The stories of the Bible are powerful not just because they can teach a lesson, but really because they give us identity by telling us our history and revealing our nature. A powerful example of this comes whenever Israel goes through the process of covenant renewal. In Joshua 24, Israel goes through such a ceremony. However, before the people can recommit themselves, they must remember their stories. Hence, the beginning of the ceremony in Joshua 24 rehearses the history of Israel up to that point. One's stories and history provide identity so that one is empowered to live in keeping with that identity.

In the movie, the consequences of not holding onto those treasured stories is clearly illustrated. In the end, the brother who believes in the stories goes on to become a hero while the brother who scorned the stories falls to evil and does not find redemption. Likewise, the consequences in Israel's history were equally severe. Just as Joshua predicted in chapter 24, Israel would forget her history and would fall under God's judgment. Thus, both this film and the Biblical story serve as poignant reminders of the importance of remembering and being committed to our stories and history.

Power of Remembering- Joshua 3-4

History is important. One need look no further than church traditions to see that much. So much of what we do is done because somewhere back in the church's history people decided to do it that way. Why are the hymnals blue? Because some of us years ago wanted them that way. Why do we do the announcements before the sermon? Because someone at some point decided it was more effective that way. Yet, examining a church's history is something that many churches today seem to neglect. Many members can't tell you how their church began or how the church's ministry had progressed and changed over its history.

However, taking the time to examine this history can be very informative and inspiring. At the church I attended while in college, when our new pastor began his ministry, we took the time to examine the history of our church on one Sunday evening. It was an excellent time to see issues that had been buried for years and also to see how God had been faithful and at work in the church over the decades. Taking the time to remember and reflect on those successes and on how God had been at work was a helpful exercise in bringing back unity and focus to our church.

In Joshua 3-4, Israel also recognizes the need to remember God's acts in their history. After God's miraculous act of bringing Israel across the Jordan, Joshua orders the people to collect a stone from the Jordan for each tribe. These are then erected into an altar. The purpose: that later generations my know that "Israel crossed this Jordan on dry ground" and that "all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty" (4:21-24 NASB). Such a memorial was a way of forcing Israel to remember this great act of God and continue to praise Him for His faithfulness and obey Him. Similar to war memorials today which cause citizens to remember the battles soldiers have fought for their countries, these stones stood to remind Israel of the acts that God was performing for them. In this way, not only does Josh. 3-4 remind us of a mighty act of god in history, but it also reminds us of our duty to remember the acts of God within our own history. Indeed, history is important and has great potential to impact the present.

Return of the Cousins

Within the story of Numbers we see the sins of the community in Genesis coming back to haunt Israel as they have to face their reprobate cousins while attempting to enter the land. Those peoples that were created through sinful acts or were simply not chosen by God end up being the same people who cause Israel grief. Below is a comparison of the Genesis and Numbers accounts:

Gen. 25, 27- Esau (Edom) becomes the reprobate brother under Jacob (Israel)
Num. 20:14-21- The king of Edom refuses to let Israel pass through their land

Gen. 19:30-38- Lot's daughters seduce him and bear Moab and Ammon
Num. 22-25:5- The Moabite king hires Balaam to curse Israel and the men of Israel are seduced by Moabite women

Gen. 9:20-27- Noah curses Canaan (Ham's son) for Ham's sin
Num. 21, 31- Israel defeats Canaanite nations while entering the promised land.

These stories thus serve both to justify to current actions of Israel (taking the land from reprobates), but also serve to condemn certain actions and behaviors. In this sense these stories can function similarly to some of our modern superhero stories. In the conflict between heroes and villains, the villains oftentimes are either relatives or friends of the hero. The difference, however, can be traced back to an event in the villain's past. Either a poor decision of the hero drove the villain to become evil or the evil was a result of a poor reaction to a tragedy in the villains life. In either case, the conflict becomes a stage not just for action, but also for a lesson in how to avoid behaviors that bring evil. Here is a You Tube video from The Incredibles that illustrates this point:

Mr. Incredible and Syndrome

Here, the villain was a fan of Mr. Incredible. However, Mr. Incredible's selfishness/pride, coupled with the poor decisions by Syndrome lead to repercussions for Mr. Incredible later in life as this young fan turns into a horrible villain. Thus, similar to Israel, those that are not chosen or who act sinfully within the community end up being a thorn in the side of their relatives later in the story.

YHWH as King in Num. 1-4

The first few chapters of Numbers seem to be not only preparing Israel for the conquest of Canaan but also to be placing YHWH as king over Israel. The arrangement of the tribes around the tabernacle is of course partially a military formation. In this light, it can be seen that the camp arrangement of Israel is not too different than the military camps of other kings in the ancient near east. Often such encampments would place the king at the center of the camp. This would signal the importance of the king and also provide the king with protection from enemies.

Thus, such a military camp would somewhat serve like the secret service does for the President today. Just as the Secret Service is always present and surrounding the President in public areas, likewise the armies of the ancient world would camp around their leader. Yet, it is interesting that in Numbers, at least part of the camp structure was for the protection of Israel instead of protection for God. Numbers 1:53 points out that one reason the Levites were to camp closest to the tabernacle was to help prevent God's wrath from falling on the rest of the camp.

The sense of YHWH as Israel's king is heightened in the following chapters as the book describes the various tasks of which the Levites were in charge. In describing the transportation of many of the pieces of holy furniture, Numbers reports that these holy objects were to be wrapped in blue, crimson, and purple clothes--all colors of royalty. The message is clear: the God who brought Israel out of Egypt is also to be their king who will bring them into the Promised Land and is to be worshiped as their king.

The New Testament continues with this idea of God/Jesus as king over His people. One wonders if we have lost some of this sense in our modern world. One also wonders what rituals or practices that we have in our churches today either place God and Jesus in this role as king or that strip Him of such a position.