I just utterly misread / conflated two emails.
I'm not sure what was THERE, but what I SAW was the Bank of America offering me a free Bible if I opened up a savings account with them.
But that got me to thinking....WEIRD stuff.
Such as: if religious groups were also in the business of running financial institutions, would they do business with pagan/heathens or not?
Could you have a First Fellowship Savings and Loan of Sodom and Gomorrah?
The only precedent I could find for this:
The children of Israel borrowed gold from the Egyptians right before they bugged out.
Now the sons of Israel had done according to the word of Moses, for they had requested from the Egyptians articles of silver and articles of gold, and clothing; and the Lord had given the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have their request. Thus they plundered the Egyptians. (Exodus 12:35-36, NASB)
But then I remembered, it's DEFINITELY not intended as a regular course of action,. Mostly, you take stuff you ain't supposed to, and not only do YOU get smatched, all your people get smatched as well.
In Joshua 7, there's the story about a guy named Achan, who took some stuff he wasn't supposed to, and got away with it.
Until the army of the children of Israel got smatched by a smaller force. That was their first clue there was a problem.
The story ends with Achan being smatched: stoned to death, and then burned, along with the stuff he took, and his family, oxen, sheep, donkeys, tents and everything else he owned as well.
Upon re-reading about the Great Smatching of Achan and Company, I stumbled upon this notable fact: it doesn't appear that Achan looted the goods because he was poor; if he was, there would have been no talk of livestock.
Draw whatever conclusions you wish; I'm gonna eat a late lunch. And after a while, I will attempt to review Mackey Chandler's "Neither Here Nor There," which I have had for two months now.
(TIP: it's gonna be five stars.)
Peace be on your household.
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