Path to Punishment (Daughters of the Rebellion Book 2)
And water came out abundantly. So the community drank, and their beasts drank too. Now we are here in Kadesh, a town on the edge of your country. We will not pass through the fields or through the vineyards, nor will we drink water from any well. We will only pass through on our feet, without doing anything else.
So Aaron died there on the top of the mountain. And Moses and Eleazar came down from the mountain.
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So the name of the place was called Hormah. Pray to the Lord that he would take away the snakes from us. When anyone who is bitten looks at it, he will live. And from the wilderness they traveled to Mattanah; When he came to Jahaz, he fought against Israel. Now he had fought against the former king of Moab and had taken all of his land from his control, as far as the Arnon. Let the city of Sihon be established!
It has consumed Ar of Moab and the lords of the high places of Arnon. You are ruined, O people of Chemosh! He has made his sons fugitives, and his daughters the prisoners of King Sihon of the Amorites. We have shattered them as far as Nophah, which reaches to Medeba. And King Og of Bashan and all his forces marched out against them to do battle at Edrei. You will do to him what you did to King Sihon of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon. Lord, please find me obedient in action and in teaching, adding nothing to Your Word. You have shown us Your faithfulness and power, You ask only that we trust and obey.
May I always trust in You and obey Your Word. There is again a shortage of water and the people complain to Moses, again whining that he and Aaron have led them astray. Moses and Aaron went to the Lord God and He instructed them to come before the nearby rock with the staff and to speak and water would come out. Moses gathered the people and more than speak to the rock he asked the people if he and Aaron were to bring water from the rock and then struck it twice and water did come out — sufficient for the people and their animals.
Moses asked the king of the Edomites to allow them to cross their territory, and even offered to pay for any resources — e. Aaron's robes and responsibilities were transferred to his son and God called Aaron home. Israel has a new head priest and has, at the Lord God's behest, continued their travels.
The Canaanites attack them and take them captive and they cry out to God — He intervenes and they were empowered to defeat them and to destroy their cities. The continued their travels and once again complained, criticizing Moses and God, so God sent snakes among them. They cried out in repentance so God has Moses mount a brass snake on a pole and if they were bitten and looked to that symbol of God they would be healed. The Amorites and then the King of Og both attacked them and God gave the Israelites victory and possession of their lands.
From his days as a young man in Egypt Moses had evidenced an impetuous nature. Because he was angry Moses did not follow God's instruction, but rather made it appear that it was he and Aaron who brought the water from the rock, thus he was disobedient — and as God's anointed he was held to a higher-standard. The Israelites promised God that they would not compromise with the local inhabitants, and if God gave them victory in battle, they would utterly destroy them.
He did and they did. Why did the people keep challenging Moses and continually-question the wisdom of the exodus from slavery in Egypt every time things got uncomfortable? After all that has happened how could the people repeat the error of rebellion? God could have moved the Edomites but chose not to since the people continued to be rebellious. God leads and provides and protects and empowers — and He wants to bless, but He does not bless disobedience. When have you doubted God, despite repeated evidences of His loving care in your live, and perhaps in that of others?
Ask the Holy Spirit to show you where you may be trading convenience for righteousness and comfort for obedience and to show you where you need to commit to serve God and to trust Him to be your strength. Today I will ask a fellow believer to prayerfully assist me in an inventory of my walk with Christ. Where I find places that I make decisions about gathering together with believers, about service to others, about caring for other believers, about sharing the resources He has given me, and about telling His story to those who are considering-Christ based on my comfort and convenience — turning away or even just not showing up — and I will repent of that.
I agree to reshape my priorities based upon God's perspective and priorities. I will partner with the Holy Spirit in the ministry that God has set before me. I will be fearless as the battle is the Lord's. I will share what He has said with a fellow believer and will ask that person to pray in-agreement with me for courage and wisdom. I will share what God does through me, and in me, as a result.
The Moabites were sick with fear because of the Israelites.
Now Balak son of Zippor was king of the Moabites at this time. They cover the face of the earth, and they are settling next to me. Perhaps I will prevail so that we may conquer them and drive them out of the land. For I know that whoever you bless is blessed, and whoever you curse is cursed. They came to Balaam and reported to him the words of Balak.
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Come now and put a curse on them for me; perhaps I will be able to defeat them and drive them out. So come, put a curse on this nation for me. Now he was riding on his donkey and his two servants were with him. But Balaam beat the donkey, to make her turn back to the road. So he beat her again. Then Balaam was angry, and he beat his donkey with a staff.
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Have I ever attempted to treat you this way? Look, I came out to oppose you because what you are doing is perverse before me. If she had not turned from me, I would have killed you but saved her alive. So now, if it is evil in your sight, I will go back home. Why did you not come to me? Am I not able to honor you? Now, am I able to speak just anything? I must speak only the word that God puts in my mouth. From there he saw the extent of the nation. Balak and Balaam then offered on each altar a bull and a ram.
I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary you have only blessed them! You will see only a part of them, but you will not see all of them. Curse them for me from there.
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Perhaps it will please God to let you curse them for me from there. I said that I would greatly honor you; but now the Lord has stood in the way of your honor. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in the future. So the plague was stopped from the Israelites. He was a leader over the people of a clan of Midian. Lord, You require Your servants to listen closely and to obey completely, may I be found to be a good listener and a faithful follower. You have warned us against dividing our loyalty between You and the false Gods, may I be found faithful to You alone.
The Moabites had observed all that God for the Israelites against the Amorites and others and decided to engage in spiritual warfare against them. They reached out to Balaam who had a reputation for some power in the realm of blessings and curses. Balaam heard their request to come and curse Israel and asked the spirits what he was allowed to do.
God intervened and forbid him to curse Israel. The messengers returned with Balaam's refusal so the king sent a higher-level delegation to pressure him to come. Balaam again consulted the spirits and God again intervened and told him that if they came to call him — and when they asked him to go with them he went — without returning to ask God what he was to say and do. God was angry with his disobedience and blocked the way of his donkey with an angel wielding a sword that only the donkey could see, so Balaam whipped the donkey, then the angel allowed the donkey to precede to the vineyard when this time the angel caused the donkey to grind up against the walls, crushing Balaam's foot, so Balaam whipped him again, then the angel allowed the donkey to travel a bit further until the way was narrowed — at which point the donkey crouched down — and Balaam whipped him again.
The Lord God placed the voice of a man in the mouth of the donkey and he asked Balaam why he was beating him. Balaam, accustomed to meddling in the occult, seemed unaffected by a talking donkey and answered him that he the donkey had embarrassed him and had he a sword he would have killed him. The donkey asked if he the donkey had ever done such a thing before and Balaam acknowledged that he had not — then God revealed the angel to Balaam. Balaam bowed and confessed that he had not seen the angel. God explained that what he Balaam was on his way to do was evil Balaam did not know this because he had not waited long enough to hear from God what He wanted of him.
Balaam offered to return home but God instructed him to continue - this time knowing what was his mission — he was going not to serve the princes of Balak but to serve God. Balak took Balaam from location to location to curse Israel but at each point he consulted God and decided to stand with those whom God was blessing and not with Balak in cursing them.
Balaam warned Balak and the other pagan kings to not attack Israel and prophesied their downfall before Israel. Some of the Israelite men disobeyed God and chose to engage in sexual sin with the Moabite women. Once they had become emotionally and physically intimate with the Moabites they sought to fit in with their culture and to please them, so they indulged also in their pagan cult. The Lord God was righteously angry and caused a plague to fall upon Israel.
He instructed Moses to bring those who had led others into this sin before Him and to hang them. While they were assembling one man brought a Moabite woman in front of the tent of meeting to show here to Moses — openly flaunting his sin before Moses, the tribal leaders elders , and others. Phinehas son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest rose up in righteous indignation and killed them both with a single javelin thrust.
God stopped the plague but 24, had died. He also rewarded Phineas and his descendants with a perpetual priesthood. God instructed Moses to destroy the Moabites for luring the Israelites into sin. God then instructed Moses to conduct a new census of the people. Those men over 20 years of age, capable of serving in the military, numbered , — and not one of those who had been over the age of 20 at the time of rebellion against God and Moses at the edge of the promised land was still alive.
Only Caleb and Joshua were spared. Balaam wanted to serve Balak and receive the money and prestige but was superstitious enough to consult the spirits first — then he heard from the Lord God — but rushed off before listening fully to God. All sin is first against God, then against ourselves, and finally against others.
Thus repuls'd , our final hope Is flat despair; we must exasperate Th' Almighty Victor to spend all his rage, And that must end us, that must be our cure, [ ] To be no more; sad cure; for who would loose , Though full of pain, this intellectual being, Those thoughts that wander through Eternity, To perish rather, swallowd up and lost In the wide womb of uncreated night, [ ] Devoid of sense and motion?
Will he, so wise, let loose at once his ire, [ ] Belike through impotence, or unaware, To give his Enemies thir wish, and end Them in his anger, whom his anger saves To punish endless? Say they who counsel Warr , we are decreed, [ ] Reserv'd and destin'd to Eternal woe; Whatever doing, what can we suffer more, What can we suffer worse? What when we fled amain , pursu'd and strook [ ] With Heav'ns afflicting Thunder, and besought The Deep to shelter us? What if the breath that kindl'd those grim fires [ ] Awak'd should blow them into sevenfold rage And plunge us in the flames?
Warr therefore, open or conceal'd , alike My voice disswades ; for what can force or guile With him, or who deceive his mind, whose eye Views all things at one view? Shall we then live thus vile, the race of Heav'n Thus trampl'd , thus expell'd to suffer here [ ] Chains and these Torments? To suffer, as to doe , Our strength is equal, nor the Law unjust [ ] That so ordains: I laugh, when those who at the Spear are bold And vent'rous , if that fail them, shrink and fear [ ] What yet they know must follow, to endure Exile, or ignominy, or bonds, or pain, The sentence of thir Conquerour: This is now Our doom; which if we can sustain and bear, Our Supream Foe in time may much remit [ ] His anger, and perhaps thus farr remov'd Not mind us not offending, satisfi'd With what is punish't ; whence these raging fires Will slack'n , if his breath stir not thir flames.
Our purer essence then will overcome [ ] Thir noxious vapour , or enur'd not feel, Or chang'd at length, and to the place conformd In temper and in nature, will receive Familiar the fierce heat, and void of pain; This horror will grow milde , this darkness light, [ ] Besides what hope the never-ending flight Of future dayes may bring, what chance, what change Worth waiting, since our present lot appeers For happy though but ill, for ill not worst, If we procure not to our selves more woe.
Thus Belial with words cloath'd in reasons garb Counsell'd ignoble ease, and peaceful sloath , Not peace: Either to disinthrone the King of Heav'n We warr , if Warr be best, or to regain [ ] Our own right lost: The former vain to hope argues as vain The latter: Suppose he should relent And publish Grace to all, on promise made Of new Subjection; with what eyes could we Stand in his presence humble, and receive [ ] Strict Laws impos'd , to celebrate his Throne With warbl'd Hymns, and to his Godhead sing Forc't Halleluiah's ; while he Lordly sits Our envied Sovran , and his Altar breathes Ambrosial Odours and Ambrosial Flowers , [ ] Our servile offerings.
This must be our task In Heav'n , this our delight; how wearisom Eternity so spent in worship paid To whom we hate. Let us not then pursue By force impossible, by leave obtain'd [ ] Unacceptable, though in Heav'n , our state Of splendid vassalage, but rather seek Our own good from our selves, and from our own Live to our selves, though in this vast recess, Free, and to none accountable, preferring [ ] Hard liberty before the easie yoke Of servile Pomp.
Our greatness will appeer Then most conspicuous, when great things of small, Useful of hurtful, prosperous of adverse We can create, and in what place so e're [ ] Thrive under evil, and work ease out of pain Through labour and indurance. This deep world Of darkness do we dread? How oft amidst Thick clouds and dark doth Heav'ns all-ruling Sire Choose to reside, his Glory unobscur'd , [ ] And with the Majesty of darkness round Covers his Throne; from whence deep thunders roar Must'ring thir rage, and Heav'n resembles Hell?
As he our darkness, cannot we his Light Imitate when we please? This Desart soile [ ] Wants not her hidden lustre , Gemms and Gold; Nor want we skill or Art , from whence to raise Magnificence; and what can Heav'n shew more?
Our torments also may in length of time Become our Elements , these piercing Fires [ ] As soft as now severe, our temper chang'd Into their temper; which must needs remove The sensible of pain. All things invite To peaceful Counsels , and the settl'd State Of order, how in safety best we may [ ] Compose our present evils, with regard Of what we are and were , dismissing quite All thoughts of warr: He scarce had finisht, when such murmur filld Th' Assembly, as when hollow Rocks retain [ ] The sound of blustring winds, which all night long Had rous'd the Sea, now with hoarse cadence lull Sea-faring men orewatcht , whose Bark by chance Or Pinnace anchors in a craggy Bay After the Tempest: Such applause was heard [ ] As Mammon ended, and his Sentence pleas'd , Advising peace: Which when Beelzebub perceiv'd , then whom, Satan except, none higher sat, with grave [ ] Aspect he rose, and in his rising seem'd A Pillar of State; deep on his Front engraven Deliberation sat and public care; And Princely counsel in his face yet shon , Majestic though in ruin: Thrones and Imperial Powers, off-spring of heav'n [ ] Ethereal Vertues ; or these Titles now Must we renounce, and changing stile be call'd Princes of Hell?
What sit we then projecting peace and Warr? Warr hath determin'd us, and foild with loss [ ] Irreparable; tearms of peace yet none Voutsaf't or sought; for what peace will be giv'n To us enslav'd , but custody severe, And stripes, and arbitrary punishment Inflicted? What if we find Some easier enterprize? There is a place [ ] If ancient and prophetic fame in Heav'n Err not another World, the happy seat Of some new Race call'd Man, about this time To be created like to us, though less In power and excellence, but favour'd more [ ] Of him who rules above; so was his will Pronounc'd among the Gods , and by an Oath , That shook Heav'ns whol circumference, confirm'd.
Thither let us bend all our thoughts, to learn What creatures there inhabit, of what mould , [ ] Or substance, how endu'd , and what thir Power, And where thir weakness, how attempted best, By force or suttlety: Though Heav'n be shut, And Heav'ns high Arbitrator sit secure In his own strength, this place may lye expos'd [ ] The utmost border of his Kingdom, left To their defence who hold it: This would surpass [ ] Common revenge, and interrupt his joy In our Confusion , and our Joy upraise In his disturbance; when his darling Sons Hurl'd headlong to partake with us, shall curse Thir frail Original , and faded bliss, [ ] Faded so soon.
Advise if this be worth Attempting, or to sit in darkness here Hatching vain Empires. But thir spite still serves [ ] His glory to augment. The bold design Pleas'd highly those infernal States , and joy Sparkl'd in all thir eyes; with full assent They vote: Well have ye judg'd , well ended long debate, [ ] Synod of Gods , and like to what ye are, Great things resolv'd ; which from the lowest deep Will once more lift us up, in spight of Fate, Neerer our ancient Seat ; perhaps in view Of those bright confines, whence with neighbouring Arms [ ] And opportune excursion we may chance Re-enter Heav'n ; or else in some milde Zone Dwell not unvisited of Heav'ns fair Light Secure, and at the brightning Orient beam Purge off this gloom; the soft delicious Air, [ ] To heal the scarr of these corrosive Fires Shall breath her balme.
But first whom shall we send In search of this new world, whom shall we find Sufficient? Here he had need All circumspection, and we now no less Choice in our suffrage; for on whom we send, [ ] The weight of all and our last hope relies. This said, he sat; and expectation held His look suspence , awaiting who appeer'd To second, or oppose, or undertake The perilous attempt; but all sat mute, [ ] Pondering the danger with deep thoughts; and each In others count'nance read his own dismay Astonisht: These past, if any pass, the void profound Of unessential Night receives him next Wide gaping, and with utter loss of being [ ] Threatens him, plung'd in that abortive gulf.
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If thence he scape into whatever world, Or unknown Region, what remains him less Then unknown dangers and as hard escape. But I should ill become this Throne, O Peers, [ ] And this Imperial Sov'ranty , adorn'd With splendor, arm'd with power, if aught propos'd And judg'd of public moment , in the shape Of difficulty or danger could deterr Mee from attempting. Wherefore do I assume [ ] These Royalties, and not refuse to Reign, Refusing to accept as great a share Of hazard as of honour , due alike To him who Reigns, and so much to him due Of hazard more, as he above the rest [ ] High honourd sits?
Go therefore mighty Powers, Terror of Heav'n , though fall'n ; intend at home, While here shall be our home, what best may ease The present misery, and render Hell More tollerable ; if there be cure or charm [ ] To respite or deceive, or slack the pain Of this ill Mansion: Thus saying rose The Monarch, and prevented all reply, Prudent, least from his resolution rais'd Others among the chief might offer now Certain to be refus'd what erst they fear'd ; [ ] And so refus'd might in opinion stand His Rivals, winning cheap the high repute Which he through hazard huge must earn.
But they Dreaded not more th' adventure then his voice Forbidding; and at once with him they rose; [ ] Thir rising all at once was as the sound Of Thunder heard remote. When Lulu turns in a poor practice session on the piano, Chua hauls her doll's house to the car and tells her she'll donate it to the Salvation Army piece by piece if she doesn't have The Little White Donkey mastered by the next day. When Sophia does the same, she screams: In Battle Hymn, Chua rips open the curtain on what she calls the "Chinese" method of rearing children, and it makes for a jaw-dropping read.
Asian households make up the demographic group most likely to produce stereotypically successful kids. How do they produce all those maths whizzes and musical prodigies? Can it really be by carrying on as Chua does? The book bares all about how the parenting model worked for her older daughter Sophia, now 17 and heading off to an Ivy League college, but backfired dramatically for her younger girl, Louisa, or Lulu, who is now Chua spares no detail in recounting her early methods: Even travelling abroad, Chua would book a practice room near their hotel.
With missionary zeal, Chua spurned the permissive style of "western parents" she uses the term loosely , the tendency to underplay academic achievement no rote learning! Dominant throughout is the powerful figure of Chua herself, a larger-than-life matriarch: Chua herself was raised on the Chinese parenting model, and her view is simple: But the cracks beneath the surface begin to show. Toothmarks are found on the piano the culprit is Sophia, who gnaws on it during practice , and Lulu becomes rebellious, openly defying her teacher and her mother and bitterly complaining in public about her home life.
By the age of 13, writes Chua, "[Lulu] wore a constant apathetic look on her face, and every other word out of her mouth was 'no' or 'I don't care'. What brings the situation to an end is two horrifying incidents. First, Lulu hacks off her hair with a pair of scissors; then, on a family holiday to Moscow, she and Chua get into a public argument that culminates in Lulu smashing a glass in a cafe, screaming, "I'm not what you want — I'm not Chinese!
I don't want to be Chinese. Why can't you get that through your head? I hate the violin. I hate my life. I hate you, and I hate this family! Now that Battle Hymn is about to be published in the US and UK rights were sold at auction, and have now sold in 11 other countries , the public reaction seeping on to internet sites and into newspapers is one of shock and outrage. How could she be such a mother? In publicly owning up to her conduct, Chua has broken a taboo because in print, at least, this territory has so rarely been charted. At its heart, Battle Hymn is an account of the psychological warfare between a "Chinese" mother and her "western" daughter and in telling it, Chua raises an interesting set of questions about bringing up children, cultural norms and the confessional mode: Why choose to open her mouth at all?
At what point does confessing in print that you called your child "garbage" to her face cease to be a comment on Chinese parenting and resume its traditional function as a sign that you are two cards short of a deck? Chua, 46, is a professor of law at Yale Law School who writes critically acclaimed books on free-market democracy and global instability.
On the morning I meet her, on a freezing day in New York, she has travelled into Manhattan by train from New Haven, Connecticut, where the family lives. If on the page she can come across as a little unhinged, in person she is charming, warm, down to earth, and quick to laugh.
The truth is, we are definitely in a monster-free zone. It's funny, they relate, it's not controversial for them. Now among my western friends it provokes extremely intense reactions in all directions. Some, including my closest friends, are shocked and aghast.