The Very Lutheran Project

The latest in the Talmud series is now up! Say, did you know that Adam was a morbidly obese giant that destroyed everything in his path? Did you know that God didn't finish creating the universe? Hey did you know that it's OK for people to worship the stars but only if they do it in groups? Of course, none of that is true, but the rabbis taught it. Let's go over more nonsense from the Chagigah. Audio: https://soundcloud.com/verylutheran/whats-in-the-talmud-part-10 Video: https://youtu.be/NQEbN4ilrRY NCTV: https://nicecrew.tv/w/vbnhsMj8WXquuSgs9efWoY Support the VLP in our crusade to make sure people know what they're talking about: https://verylutheran.gumroad.com/

*The Other* 5 Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor. 6 Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. 7 Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised. -Song of Solomon 8:5-7 This is the most mysterious passage in the Song, because we do not know who is speaking. It cannot be the bride, because she is observed leaning on her husband, which tells us that the husband cannot be the speaker either. Since they were there when the groom was born, that further excludes the bride as speaker. The verbs referring to the speaker ("I awakened you" and "set me") are not grammatically gendered but they are directed at a male. One option is that this is the Lord speaking to the couple, as well as to us. He speaks as being present when the groom was born, and He is the active agent in "awakening" the soul. If this is the case, then the speaker telling us to put Him as a seal upon our hearts and arms is a reference to the Greatest Commandment. From Deuteronomy 6: 4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your *heart.* 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your *hand,* and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. This then would be the Song telling us in no uncertain terms that fealty to God must be our first priority. It simply must be, or else we will be burnt up by our own desires and end our days poor and despised. The bride has been exhorting her contemporaries to wait in awakening love until the time is right. How shall one do this? By pious fealty and obedience to God. Someone might claim that the speaker is the groom's father and this is Solomon telling the reader to listen to his wisdom. Others may think it is a yearning motion of desire for permanency on the part of the bride. But these is far less likely than God being the speaker. A father's guidance is not always strong enough to deal with the flames of love that arise in a young man's heart; a bride's yearning does not place her at the time her groom was born. Besides, only God can temper, tame, and bind the strength of our inner desires and passions. Let us then heed this exhortation, and place faith and obedience as our highest priorities lest our passions break out and destroy us.

Apparently the mercy-for-demons bit comes from Isaac the Syrian, a universalist who for some odd reason is canonized in both the Roman and eastern orthodox churches. Seems to me the problems with bad theology aren't just a post-vatican II thing.

"Catholics want mercy for demons?"

The latest in the Desert Fathers series is now out! Let's talk about Arsenius and his angry death loving nihilistic incel wizard powers, and ask why that didn't make him feel like he was saved when he was on his deathbed. https://soundcloud.com/verylutheran/evaluating-the-desert-4

People in such situations should head on over to verylutheran.biz and start up a house church. That's the whole point of everything we do here my friends.

He's right. I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten - the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm -my great army that I sent among you. You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God, who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Joel 2:25-26 @Presbyterianism

"Look, riots are French tradition. We draw the line at stopping the riots." Clown world

Lyon 🇫🇷 Rhône prefect Étienne Guyot has expressed outrage at "far-right thugs" who marched through the streets of the city on Monday, warning that hateful chants targeting rioters would not be tolerated in the French republic and were punishable under French law. Welcome to neo-communist France.

*She* 1 Oh that you were like a brother to me who nursed at my mother's breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and none would despise me. 2 I would lead you and bring you into the house of my mother— she who used to teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate. 3 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me! 4 I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you not stir up or awaken love until it pleases. -Song of Solomon 8:1-4 One of the benefits of marriage is that it offers an easy solution to many of life's problems. Here the bride begins to fret over some of the drama in her life. While the community (represented by the chorus) has been enthusiastically supportive of her marriage, some people have complained that they are too affectionate in public. Distressed by this and worried that people secretly despise her, she entertains a "what if" scenario of her and the husband being siblings so no one would bat an eye at her doting. Her husband responds in the third verse by... well to put it frankly he pleasures her with his hand. So long stress! Suddenly something that looked like an insurmountable problem was shown to be very small. After this moment the bride reflects on and repeats the main refrain of the Song. The daughters of Jerusalem simply must know that this doesn't happen for fornicators. The sexually immoral is haunted by drama, internal conflict, and guilt. Sex becomes less of an asset and more like an albatross hung around the sinner's neck. They are filled with regret instead of appreciation for God's wedding gift to man: it is this that led men like Augustine to despise it entirely and seek to restrict others from enjoying it outside of procreation. But for the Song, sex is not a guilty pleasure if it is within the confines of marriage. To the contrary it is something that becomes a constant source of joy for those who waited - and for those who avail themselves of the opportunity. While it isn't some magical cure-all, it provides joy and closeness between spouses and helps with all sorts of problems in life. So, the bride exhorts all women, wait and enjoy it in its proper time!

Starting up the stream VC!

Streaming in an hour! Let's read our Bibles! Find the stream here only at 9pm EST: https://t.me/VeryLutheran

LEVITICUS BIBLE STUDY STREAM TONIGHT! Let's finish up the 25th chapter of Leviticus by discussing property rights, slavery and why property rights and slavery are even in this priestly book to begin with. Catch the stream here at 9pm EST: https://t.me/VeryLutheran

Luther on what to do with rioters and uprisings.

The riots in France, like all the terror attacks, grooming gangs, mass fraud, etc. is yet another reason that inviting mass immigration into your country is a sin against your neighbor. "Let's invite a bunch of foreigners who hate our people and give them money" is a statement of hate no matter how much it is dressed up in love.