One of the challenges with reading a book like this in one sitting is that throughout the reading, I'm thinking of clever stuff to say in reflection on what I've read. Then, I have to get past that so to not let the message and content of what I'm reading get lost on me.
The benefit, on the other hand, is that I see thigns that I had not seen before. For example, in Is. 6, Isaiah states "I'll go, Send me." He states this almost directly after having an encounter with God that helped him see his own sinfulness. Fast forward to Is. 59:15b-16 - "When the Lord that justice had disappeared, he became very displeased. It disgusted him even more to learn that no one would do a thing about it."
For me, I see these two statements as sort of a parenthesis to the entire message of Isaiah. God waslooking for someone to send a message, and Isaiah said yes. Isaiah was used by God not because he was special or holy, but because he was willing. that's it.
I find it interesting that throughout what I've read so far, an key indicator of a society's sin is how it treats widows, orphans and those in need (Is. 1:16-17). Then, as a society is made whole and becomes more like God, it defends the helpless, the widows, their families and those in need.
I have to say I wasn't looking forward to reading Isaiah. I was anitcipating poetry and imagery. It wasn't so bad. Isaiah starts out saying that his message was during the kingships of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. Much of his message is judgement on Judah for doing wrong. Some is historical and quite a bit (mostly at the end) is God's promise of blessing, if they obey.
There are quite a few glimpses of jesus throughout the book, but again, most of it is towards the end. I am confused by a couple of things: in Is. 6, God says to make the people stubborn so they do not understand; don't let them be healed. In Is. 37, God says to Sennacherib: "And you don't even know that I alone am the one who decided that you would do these things." This is referrignt ot he evils he did. Then, in Is. 63, Isaiah asks: "Why did you make us turn away from you, our Lord? Why did you make us want to disobey you?" A couple times throughout the book, God stated that he did things because of who he is (48:11). Later, in 55:9, God says, "Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, my thoughts and my ways are higher than yours." So, I guess it's okay that I don't get it.
There is much to say about idols as well. My favourite, though, makes it terribly simple in 57:13: "Ask your idols to save you when you are in trouble. Be careful though - it takes only a faint breath to blow them over." Go God!
But throughout the judgetment, there is hope. It shines through. Even in the midst of the punishment, there is the promise of Jesus and God's commitment: "I won't forget you" (44:21). When his people are whole in in right relationship with him, there will be peace and justice. The poor and needy will be taken care of. God describes what right worship is: "The people I treasure most are the humble - they depend only on me and tremble when I speak" (66:2). Is. 58 describes it in more detail - injustice, abuse, hunger, nakedness and homelessness no longer exists. God's light will shine.
And it's funny, because in the next chapter, God says "all you think about is sin." But in the midst of that, there is hope.
I thought Isaiah was going to be filled with things I didn't understand. There was a little bit of that, but I think I got the main message loud and clear. It's the same message God was declaring almost right after creation, that if his people obey him, they will live and prosper; if they disobey, they will die (sometimes very creatively). But even then, God will not forget the promise he made to his people, and he will take the onus of making the relationship right.
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Monday, December 05, 2005
Song of Songs
I know I should, but I don't get it. It's a love story. A man and a woman, with some friends making comments throughout.
I've read in some comments that it typifies the love between Christ and the church. I don't see it. It simply looks like two lovers being romantic.
I never really enjoyed poetry. The narratives are easier. Yet, I'm now headed into the Prophets, so I'd better get used to it.
I've read in some comments that it typifies the love between Christ and the church. I don't see it. It simply looks like two lovers being romantic.
I never really enjoyed poetry. The narratives are easier. Yet, I'm now headed into the Prophets, so I'd better get used to it.
Friday, November 11, 2005
Ecclesiastes
Right now I'm away from home at a work conference in Orillia, near Casino Rama (that piece isn't relevant, but it's interesting). Yesterday morning before all the sessions began and before breakfast (with all the bacon I could eat), I found a comfortable chair in one of the buildings and opened Ecclesiastes.
I must admit, I read Ecclesiastes from the CEV before I started this trek through the Bible. I love this book. I'm not sure why - it might be because the writer seems undecided. Clearly he (I assume it's Solomon) is thinking out loud, letting the reader see through a window to his soul. Here is a man who is loaded ($), famous and wiser than anyone who has lived and he's trying to figure life out. Over and over again he says that when it all comes down, we should enjoy life, enjoy eating and drinking, and work hard. We can't take it with us and when we die - it's over.
I don't think the point of Ecclesiastes is the afterlife. It seems to me the writer was focused on life, not after life. I'm reminded of Bon Jovi's song - "I don't want to live forever, I just want to live while I'm alive." This is keeping with John 10:10, in which Jesus says he wants to let us live life to the full.
There are tonnes of snippets of wisdom spread through this book: it's better to be wise than anything else, enjoy life, keep your promises, don't make promises to quickly, don't forget that our lives are mortal, don't debate too much before acting, it's good for a nation (how about a company?) when the leaders are mature, and so many more.
But then, the writer stops his thinking and ends the book by saying "Respect and obey God. This is what life is all about." I don't think that is meant to negate all the other advice he gave (I used to think that); rather, I think he realized that it underpins all the other advice he gave. First, and and during, respect and obey God in life and while we are alive, be wise about it, and be sure to live.
I must admit, I read Ecclesiastes from the CEV before I started this trek through the Bible. I love this book. I'm not sure why - it might be because the writer seems undecided. Clearly he (I assume it's Solomon) is thinking out loud, letting the reader see through a window to his soul. Here is a man who is loaded ($), famous and wiser than anyone who has lived and he's trying to figure life out. Over and over again he says that when it all comes down, we should enjoy life, enjoy eating and drinking, and work hard. We can't take it with us and when we die - it's over.
I don't think the point of Ecclesiastes is the afterlife. It seems to me the writer was focused on life, not after life. I'm reminded of Bon Jovi's song - "I don't want to live forever, I just want to live while I'm alive." This is keeping with John 10:10, in which Jesus says he wants to let us live life to the full.
There are tonnes of snippets of wisdom spread through this book: it's better to be wise than anything else, enjoy life, keep your promises, don't make promises to quickly, don't forget that our lives are mortal, don't debate too much before acting, it's good for a nation (how about a company?) when the leaders are mature, and so many more.
But then, the writer stops his thinking and ends the book by saying "Respect and obey God. This is what life is all about." I don't think that is meant to negate all the other advice he gave (I used to think that); rather, I think he realized that it underpins all the other advice he gave. First, and and during, respect and obey God in life and while we are alive, be wise about it, and be sure to live.
Sunday, November 06, 2005
Proverbs
Wow. I have never read Proverbs in one sitting before. There is quite a few themes throughout it 31 chapters that I had not noticed before, mainly because I read it in portions.
What did I learn? Solomon was really smart and really wise. True wisdom starts with respecting and honouring God. Humility good, pride bad. Don't talk too much or be too opinionated. Listen a lot. Accept, even invite, correction, instruction and opportunities to learn. Be fair and just. Look out for the poor, widows, helpless and homeless. Watch what you think. Getting rich quick is bad. Don't seek after money. Don't say (or think) "I'm all that!" Be content. A good wife is a gift from God; a bad wife, not so much - I have a great wife! Be honest. Don't be a fool (see ch. 26). Be patient and gentle. Don't gossip. Pride bad (yes, I know I said that already, but it's really bad!). Seek after wisdom.
I highlighted something on pretty much every page of this book, short of just highlighting everything. Of course, as I started, I was judging other people I know by the measure Solomon was writing about. As I got further into it, I realized again I need to be judging myself by these standards and dealing with my own shortcomings. I can try to instruct or correct others, but they must have a heart-change in order to receive it. Besides, according to Proverbs, it's better to listen than to speak. If I work at that (I tend to talk a lot), then maybe I can grow and help others grow at the same time.
I think the secret to a happy life is contained within this book.
What did I learn? Solomon was really smart and really wise. True wisdom starts with respecting and honouring God. Humility good, pride bad. Don't talk too much or be too opinionated. Listen a lot. Accept, even invite, correction, instruction and opportunities to learn. Be fair and just. Look out for the poor, widows, helpless and homeless. Watch what you think. Getting rich quick is bad. Don't seek after money. Don't say (or think) "I'm all that!" Be content. A good wife is a gift from God; a bad wife, not so much - I have a great wife! Be honest. Don't be a fool (see ch. 26). Be patient and gentle. Don't gossip. Pride bad (yes, I know I said that already, but it's really bad!). Seek after wisdom.
I highlighted something on pretty much every page of this book, short of just highlighting everything. Of course, as I started, I was judging other people I know by the measure Solomon was writing about. As I got further into it, I realized again I need to be judging myself by these standards and dealing with my own shortcomings. I can try to instruct or correct others, but they must have a heart-change in order to receive it. Besides, according to Proverbs, it's better to listen than to speak. If I work at that (I tend to talk a lot), then maybe I can grow and help others grow at the same time.
I think the secret to a happy life is contained within this book.
Friday, November 04, 2005
Psalms
It's been quite a while since I last posted an entry here. Where did September and October go?
This trek through the Bible has been something else. It's like I'm reading it for the first time, and learning about God and about myself. It's like everything I learned growing up and in Bible College had been filtered and I did not get the raw truth. Sure, I've read the Bible growing up, and through Bible College, but guess I'm a little more receptive to the truth now that I've had life experience.
First when I started Psalms (in the middle of October), I figured David was manic. I mean, He talks about God as his refuge, asks God to save him and protect him, wonders where God is, asks for damnation on his enemies and those who sin against God, then asks for forgiveness for his own sin. That's a man I can relate to.
But I kept reading (and finally finished this morning). There are some beautiful songs of praise in Psalms, and some heart-wrenching cries for help. I think on a subconscious level I was apprehensive to start Psalms because I knew it was much more personal and intimate than what I had read so far. All the books from Genesis to Job are essentially narratives. Stories. Sure, some of the stories include speeches that go on for days, but it's all sandwiched within a story.
Psalms is the bearing of a soul. I've never been one to share my emotions, and I've always been comfortable with that - I've never felt the need to change. But I have and continue experienced doubt, frustration with the same God with whom I experience joy and thanks. But David, Asaph, and whoever else wrote these Psalms certainly wore their feelings - the joy and the hurt, the gratefulness and the hate - on their sleeves.
And it's poetry. I never liked poetry - always enjoyed math though.
But now I think that's why God called David a man after his own heart - because he was honest - he did not pretend. David was grateful and he wrote about it. David hated something and he wrote about it. I guess the poetry and songs allowed it to be recited so others could learn the language to communicate with God in the 'likeheartedness' of David.
I started reading Psalms looking to learn about God. I ended up learning more about David working out his relationship with God. As he wrote in Psalm 139, God knows all about us - before we were created and after we're gone. So why pretend? God knew it anyway, so he may as well say it out loud.
A few months ago we were going through a rough spot. I was praying as I drove to work and really could not do much other than mutter, complain and swear under my breath as I tried to talk with God. I don't think I left much airspace for him to talk back, though. I figured God knew what I was thinking, so why hide it. So my prayer contained swearing. Why not?
I shared this with someone later - I'm not sure why. They disagreed with my approach. Then I read Psalms. David may not have used the same amalgamation of words I used, but he certainly let it rip on some occasions. Now I know God must have appreciated my honesty. It's not a prayer method I would use in public, though it worked for a private moment between God and me.
I did learn something about God from Psalms. He is not only silent with me sometimes. He was silent with David.
All the writers in Psalms echo a common theme about God throughout their pieces. This theme is contained in the words of Psalm 146: 7-9 -- He gives justice to the poor and food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free and heals blind eyes. He gives a helping hand to everyone who falls. The LORD loves good people and looks after strangers. He defends the rights of orphans and widows, but destroys the wicked.
Other Psalms add the homeless to the list. I've often heard the teaching that "God helps those who helps themselves." Clearly, that's not indicated here. And it makes me think about the life of Jesus. He came to fulfill this kind of stuff - heal the broken heart, set captives free. James says that true religion is taking care of widows and orphans. If God looks after those people, then I guess I should be, in some sense, doing the same: the homeless, hungry, poor, widowed, orphaned and fallen.
What's funny though is that even though David says here that God destroys the wicked, in other places he asks God why he lets the wicked prosper? How long will he wait before he saves David? Sure, I realize that the latter question has a short-term vision and 146 is longer-term. Either way, David knows the truth at one point but doesn't see that truth at other times.
Poet or not, I think I'm a lot like David, and I don't think that's such a bad thing. I also think that the times in my life when everything wasn't working perfectly are the same times that God had a closer eye on my situation. He may have seemed silent, but he was hanging on every work I said and watching every move - because He loves me.
This trek through the Bible has been something else. It's like I'm reading it for the first time, and learning about God and about myself. It's like everything I learned growing up and in Bible College had been filtered and I did not get the raw truth. Sure, I've read the Bible growing up, and through Bible College, but guess I'm a little more receptive to the truth now that I've had life experience.
First when I started Psalms (in the middle of October), I figured David was manic. I mean, He talks about God as his refuge, asks God to save him and protect him, wonders where God is, asks for damnation on his enemies and those who sin against God, then asks for forgiveness for his own sin. That's a man I can relate to.
But I kept reading (and finally finished this morning). There are some beautiful songs of praise in Psalms, and some heart-wrenching cries for help. I think on a subconscious level I was apprehensive to start Psalms because I knew it was much more personal and intimate than what I had read so far. All the books from Genesis to Job are essentially narratives. Stories. Sure, some of the stories include speeches that go on for days, but it's all sandwiched within a story.
Psalms is the bearing of a soul. I've never been one to share my emotions, and I've always been comfortable with that - I've never felt the need to change. But I have and continue experienced doubt, frustration with the same God with whom I experience joy and thanks. But David, Asaph, and whoever else wrote these Psalms certainly wore their feelings - the joy and the hurt, the gratefulness and the hate - on their sleeves.
And it's poetry. I never liked poetry - always enjoyed math though.
But now I think that's why God called David a man after his own heart - because he was honest - he did not pretend. David was grateful and he wrote about it. David hated something and he wrote about it. I guess the poetry and songs allowed it to be recited so others could learn the language to communicate with God in the 'likeheartedness' of David.
I started reading Psalms looking to learn about God. I ended up learning more about David working out his relationship with God. As he wrote in Psalm 139, God knows all about us - before we were created and after we're gone. So why pretend? God knew it anyway, so he may as well say it out loud.
A few months ago we were going through a rough spot. I was praying as I drove to work and really could not do much other than mutter, complain and swear under my breath as I tried to talk with God. I don't think I left much airspace for him to talk back, though. I figured God knew what I was thinking, so why hide it. So my prayer contained swearing. Why not?
I shared this with someone later - I'm not sure why. They disagreed with my approach. Then I read Psalms. David may not have used the same amalgamation of words I used, but he certainly let it rip on some occasions. Now I know God must have appreciated my honesty. It's not a prayer method I would use in public, though it worked for a private moment between God and me.
I did learn something about God from Psalms. He is not only silent with me sometimes. He was silent with David.
All the writers in Psalms echo a common theme about God throughout their pieces. This theme is contained in the words of Psalm 146: 7-9 -- He gives justice to the poor and food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free and heals blind eyes. He gives a helping hand to everyone who falls. The LORD loves good people and looks after strangers. He defends the rights of orphans and widows, but destroys the wicked.
Other Psalms add the homeless to the list. I've often heard the teaching that "God helps those who helps themselves." Clearly, that's not indicated here. And it makes me think about the life of Jesus. He came to fulfill this kind of stuff - heal the broken heart, set captives free. James says that true religion is taking care of widows and orphans. If God looks after those people, then I guess I should be, in some sense, doing the same: the homeless, hungry, poor, widowed, orphaned and fallen.
What's funny though is that even though David says here that God destroys the wicked, in other places he asks God why he lets the wicked prosper? How long will he wait before he saves David? Sure, I realize that the latter question has a short-term vision and 146 is longer-term. Either way, David knows the truth at one point but doesn't see that truth at other times.
Poet or not, I think I'm a lot like David, and I don't think that's such a bad thing. I also think that the times in my life when everything wasn't working perfectly are the same times that God had a closer eye on my situation. He may have seemed silent, but he was hanging on every work I said and watching every move - because He loves me.
Monday, August 29, 2005
Job
We've rented a cottage on a remote lake up near North Bay. Unlike our trip to Newfoundland, this cottage has wireless, high-speed internet. It's beautiful.
So this morning I read Job. Poor Job. He didn't know what hit him. What was happening to him had everything to do with otherworldly conversations and nothing with him, except that he was a good-living person. Stripped of everything in order to prove a point, he still did not walk away from God. Sure, he complained, not as much because of his illness and life, but because of God's apparent silence.
And his friend's did nothing to comfort him. They kept telling him to stop challenging God and questioning; that God would not be punishing him unless he sinned. Job insisted he had not sinned and did nothing to warrant this, except obey God.
I can't help but see Job as a symbol of Christ in some sense. Job, in chapters 29 and 31, explains the good he did, how he was a model citizen, yet God saw fit to bring this upon him without reason. I think of Isaiah 53:9-11 which states about Jesus that "it was the Lord's Will to crush him." What happened to Job doesn't make sense by earthly understanding. His friends did not have the capacity to explain what was going on - Job must have sinned. And Jesus death makes no sense in an earthly sense - it is a supernatural response to our sin, not his own.
Anyway, I also enjoyed Job's sarcastic response to his friends in chapter 26:1 to 4 -- "Job said: You have really been helpful to someone weak and weary. You have given great advice and wonderful wisdom to someone truly in need. How can anyone possibly speak with such understanding?" See, Job had asked them to be quiet, that they were not helping, but that didn't work, and they weren't listening to him, so he turns up the sarcasm.
Mind you, God does the same thing when he finally speaks in chapter 38. It is evident most in v. 18 to 21: And how large is the earth? Tell me, if you know! Where is the home of light, and where does darkness live? Can you lead them home? I'm certain you must be able to, since you were already born when I created everything." Hmm.
There's a lot of stuff going on in Job. I read John Ortberg's "God is Closer than you Think" when we were in Newfoundland. He had some neat insights. Either way, at the end, Job was right and God lavished blessing on him. God never did explain why he did what he did. But that Job shouldn't pretend to be God. God does what he does. And then God blessed Job.
I think I've learned more from the friends though. I'm sure I've judged others who were going through crap, assumed they did wrong and brought it on themselves. And if I've learned nothing else from Job, it's that sometimes we will not know what's going on, and that's okay. As Donald Miller talks about, we should not expect God's actions to make sense to our logic, after all, why should the creator be subject to the logic he created?
So this morning I read Job. Poor Job. He didn't know what hit him. What was happening to him had everything to do with otherworldly conversations and nothing with him, except that he was a good-living person. Stripped of everything in order to prove a point, he still did not walk away from God. Sure, he complained, not as much because of his illness and life, but because of God's apparent silence.
And his friend's did nothing to comfort him. They kept telling him to stop challenging God and questioning; that God would not be punishing him unless he sinned. Job insisted he had not sinned and did nothing to warrant this, except obey God.
I can't help but see Job as a symbol of Christ in some sense. Job, in chapters 29 and 31, explains the good he did, how he was a model citizen, yet God saw fit to bring this upon him without reason. I think of Isaiah 53:9-11 which states about Jesus that "it was the Lord's Will to crush him." What happened to Job doesn't make sense by earthly understanding. His friends did not have the capacity to explain what was going on - Job must have sinned. And Jesus death makes no sense in an earthly sense - it is a supernatural response to our sin, not his own.
Anyway, I also enjoyed Job's sarcastic response to his friends in chapter 26:1 to 4 -- "Job said: You have really been helpful to someone weak and weary. You have given great advice and wonderful wisdom to someone truly in need. How can anyone possibly speak with such understanding?" See, Job had asked them to be quiet, that they were not helping, but that didn't work, and they weren't listening to him, so he turns up the sarcasm.
Mind you, God does the same thing when he finally speaks in chapter 38. It is evident most in v. 18 to 21: And how large is the earth? Tell me, if you know! Where is the home of light, and where does darkness live? Can you lead them home? I'm certain you must be able to, since you were already born when I created everything." Hmm.
There's a lot of stuff going on in Job. I read John Ortberg's "God is Closer than you Think" when we were in Newfoundland. He had some neat insights. Either way, at the end, Job was right and God lavished blessing on him. God never did explain why he did what he did. But that Job shouldn't pretend to be God. God does what he does. And then God blessed Job.
I think I've learned more from the friends though. I'm sure I've judged others who were going through crap, assumed they did wrong and brought it on themselves. And if I've learned nothing else from Job, it's that sometimes we will not know what's going on, and that's okay. As Donald Miller talks about, we should not expect God's actions to make sense to our logic, after all, why should the creator be subject to the logic he created?
Sunday, August 21, 2005
Esther
The key verse that I've heard repeated over and over from Esther is in 4:14 (CEV) - "It could be that you were made queen for a time like this!" I want to unpack that statement.
Mordecai said it because he had asked Esther (his cousin) to talk to the King on behalf of the Jews to save them. The King's highest official, Haman, had made a decree that all the Jews should be killed. Haman made that decree in order to send a message because Mordecai refused to bow to him, as was the custom instituted because he was the highest official of the King.
Now, this was only an issue because Mordecai worked in the palace and was around Haman. Mordecai didn't start work in the palace until after Esther becam Queen. She became Queen after King Xerxes became displeased by Queen Vashti and had a "Beauty Pageant" of sorts to find one. He was smitten with Esther from when he first saw her. (She was in beauty treatment for a year before meeting the King.)
On a side note, because Mordecai had the Esther connection, he informed her of a plot to kill the King early on. She informed the King and he made note of it in his official records.
Back to the story. When Esther had the King's ear, she was about to tell him about Haman's scheme. That very night, the King couldn't sleep and was caused to remember Mordecai who previously saved his life. He instructed Haman to honour Mordecai, as he was unaware of the hate. Then Esther informed him of the bigger plot and, long story short, the King had Haman hanged on the very gallows Haman built to hand Mordecai. Then, he issued a decree that let the Jews fight back anyone who tried to kill them and made Mordecai his right-hand man. The Jews ended up killing thousands of their enemies.
I've often heard that God (whose name is never mentioned) caused Esther to become Queen in order to save the Jews. However, the Jews wouldn't have needed saving if Mordecai didn't offend Haman, and that wouldn't have happened if Mordecai didn't work in the palace, and he probably wouldn't have worked in the palace if Esther had not become Queen.
Rather, I think God caused it all to happen to give his people a place of prominence in Xerxes kingdom. It was an offensive plan, not defensive. That's what I think.
Mordecai said it because he had asked Esther (his cousin) to talk to the King on behalf of the Jews to save them. The King's highest official, Haman, had made a decree that all the Jews should be killed. Haman made that decree in order to send a message because Mordecai refused to bow to him, as was the custom instituted because he was the highest official of the King.
Now, this was only an issue because Mordecai worked in the palace and was around Haman. Mordecai didn't start work in the palace until after Esther becam Queen. She became Queen after King Xerxes became displeased by Queen Vashti and had a "Beauty Pageant" of sorts to find one. He was smitten with Esther from when he first saw her. (She was in beauty treatment for a year before meeting the King.)
On a side note, because Mordecai had the Esther connection, he informed her of a plot to kill the King early on. She informed the King and he made note of it in his official records.
Back to the story. When Esther had the King's ear, she was about to tell him about Haman's scheme. That very night, the King couldn't sleep and was caused to remember Mordecai who previously saved his life. He instructed Haman to honour Mordecai, as he was unaware of the hate. Then Esther informed him of the bigger plot and, long story short, the King had Haman hanged on the very gallows Haman built to hand Mordecai. Then, he issued a decree that let the Jews fight back anyone who tried to kill them and made Mordecai his right-hand man. The Jews ended up killing thousands of their enemies.
I've often heard that God (whose name is never mentioned) caused Esther to become Queen in order to save the Jews. However, the Jews wouldn't have needed saving if Mordecai didn't offend Haman, and that wouldn't have happened if Mordecai didn't work in the palace, and he probably wouldn't have worked in the palace if Esther had not become Queen.
Rather, I think God caused it all to happen to give his people a place of prominence in Xerxes kingdom. It was an offensive plan, not defensive. That's what I think.
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Nehemiah
I've just spent the last two days at Willow Creek's Leadership Summit. It has been quite motivational and inspriational to see what God has done in the lives of regular people. The last session is this morning, so I'm also looking forward to it. Two days of positive input certainly does well to minimize my cynical and jaded outlook on life. It's no doubt that it has influenced the way I read Nehemiah.
I think it's odd how many statistics are included in these writings. Nehemiah, first of all, writes it in the first-person. He is a servant of the King of Persia and heard news that Jerusalem was still in ruins and was not being cared for, so he decided he needed to do something about it. He prayed for favour from the King, and then proceeded to ask him not only for a Leave of Absence to go to the place of his ancestors, but for supplies and protection as well. The King gave it to him.
Nehemiah provides lists of who rebuilt what section of the wall. He also lists who originally came back from captivity in the first place. He had enemies, but he trusted God to protect him and they did not succeed in their intent. He made legislative changes to benefit the poor; by this time he was governor.
Once the wall was built and Ezra read the Law, the people confessed their sins, then they prayed. I find the prayer very insightful and relevant. The people, in a nutshell, recounted their history and God's involvement, from their time in Egypt to now. It's the whole concept of 20/20 vision in retrospect. They saw their ancestors disobedience and how they ended up in exile. We've recently gone through many changes in our lives and when we were in the midst of it, it seemed God was far from us and we weren't sure where to turn. However, as we look back and recount the events and decisions, we see that God was very close and directed us all along the way. Reflection is a good thing.
One statement certainly sums up people's fallen nature: 9:16 - "Our stubborn ancestors refused to obey-- they forgot about the miracles you had worked for them, and they were determined to return to Egypt and become slaves again." The Jews in Nehemiah's time recoconized how bent their ancestors were on returning to captivity - it was a challenge for them to enjoy their freedom.
In chapter 13, Nehemiah tells us he left Jerusalem and went back to Persia for a while. When he returned, he found that people were already disobeying. How quickly they forgot their agreement with God. Nehemiah corrected it, and also made some sweeping changes about the Sabbath, bringing people back to its proper observance.
I was talking with someone recently about one person's sin potential and another person's freedom. We agreed that one person's freedom should not be held hostage by another person's sin. Here, the Jews' own sin and captivity were holding them hostage and not letting them enjoy and live in the freedom that was already theirs. I think it's the same for many Christians today. We've been set free, given permission to live in freedom from our sin and sin potential, yet we keep returning, even though freedom is the way to go. I'm guessing it is not until we're fully redeemed and off this planet that we'll get it right.
I think it's odd how many statistics are included in these writings. Nehemiah, first of all, writes it in the first-person. He is a servant of the King of Persia and heard news that Jerusalem was still in ruins and was not being cared for, so he decided he needed to do something about it. He prayed for favour from the King, and then proceeded to ask him not only for a Leave of Absence to go to the place of his ancestors, but for supplies and protection as well. The King gave it to him.
Nehemiah provides lists of who rebuilt what section of the wall. He also lists who originally came back from captivity in the first place. He had enemies, but he trusted God to protect him and they did not succeed in their intent. He made legislative changes to benefit the poor; by this time he was governor.
Once the wall was built and Ezra read the Law, the people confessed their sins, then they prayed. I find the prayer very insightful and relevant. The people, in a nutshell, recounted their history and God's involvement, from their time in Egypt to now. It's the whole concept of 20/20 vision in retrospect. They saw their ancestors disobedience and how they ended up in exile. We've recently gone through many changes in our lives and when we were in the midst of it, it seemed God was far from us and we weren't sure where to turn. However, as we look back and recount the events and decisions, we see that God was very close and directed us all along the way. Reflection is a good thing.
One statement certainly sums up people's fallen nature: 9:16 - "Our stubborn ancestors refused to obey-- they forgot about the miracles you had worked for them, and they were determined to return to Egypt and become slaves again." The Jews in Nehemiah's time recoconized how bent their ancestors were on returning to captivity - it was a challenge for them to enjoy their freedom.
In chapter 13, Nehemiah tells us he left Jerusalem and went back to Persia for a while. When he returned, he found that people were already disobeying. How quickly they forgot their agreement with God. Nehemiah corrected it, and also made some sweeping changes about the Sabbath, bringing people back to its proper observance.
I was talking with someone recently about one person's sin potential and another person's freedom. We agreed that one person's freedom should not be held hostage by another person's sin. Here, the Jews' own sin and captivity were holding them hostage and not letting them enjoy and live in the freedom that was already theirs. I think it's the same for many Christians today. We've been set free, given permission to live in freedom from our sin and sin potential, yet we keep returning, even though freedom is the way to go. I'm guessing it is not until we're fully redeemed and off this planet that we'll get it right.
Saturday, August 06, 2005
Ezra
It's hard to believe it has been over two weeks since I finished Chronicles. I've been thinking about it and processing ever since, but I've not had a chance until now to sit and read in a concentrated manner. We were out of our house for a week while the floors were refinished, but have been back in now for a week (today).
Ezra is a different read then the last few books. By comparison, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles tells the story of the rise to superpower of the nation of Israel, then their demise into exile because of the blatant disregard for God and his law who let them ascend to power and blessing in the first place. Here in Ezra, Israel is like a puppy that's been scolded, trying to get close again to his owner that scolded him, crouching, head down, moving slowly back to the couch.
But God, in his mercy, has not forgotten about his people. He prompted Cyrus, the King, who was not an Israelite, to send God's people back to rebuild the temple. It seems much time past over the duration of this book, because several kings are named and a couple prophets (Haggai and Zechariah). They really kept good records in those days, even without computerized databases, because lists of families and numbers were kept as to who went back to rebuild the temple.
Ezra refers to the trouble they ran into, but quickly resolves it. There are a few things that stand out to me in this book:
1. Things look different in retrospect. In chapter 5, some politicians were trying to get clarification about who gave the command to rebuild. In their letter to King Darius, they detail their conversation with the Israelite people. They were told "that their people had made God angry, and he let them be captured by Nebuchadnezzer." Now, God had told his people all along that they had to obey his laws, and if they didn't, bad things would happen. Back in Leviticus, Moses shared a promise that "theorized" that they were exiled because of their sin. They didn't seem to get it then, but they certainly appreciate it in retrospect. Hindsight.
2. Why did the Kings want to obey the God of the Heavens? One would think they were afraid because he did nasty things to them. But no. It must have been because they saw what God did to his own people, because he gave them over to other nations. I suppose they could have thought that if he would do that to his own kids, how much worse would he do to those who captured them?
3. The Kings were kind to Israel. Again, in Leviticus, God said that even if he cast them out to another nation, he would not forget them and the promises he made. Here it is. God is faithful, and the situation thye found themselves in did not negate his faithfulness.
Ezra, the book, culminates in mass divorces. Once the temple was complete, it was brought to Ezra's attention that there was massive intermarriage between Israel and non-Israel nations. This was forbidden, and Ezra pleaded with God. Lists were made, and it was decided that people who were involved would divorce their wives and send them away with their kids so that they wuld no longer be living in sin. Only a couple people were named as objecting, but it doesn't say one way or the other what they did. All in all, this seems odd to me, because God has said elsewhere that he doesn't like divorce. So, I'm not sure of the moral here: is it that sometimes significant actions are required in maing corrections or that under some circumstances, dicorce is permitted? Perhaps there is no moral, except that the people did what they had to do to obey.
Ezra is a different read then the last few books. By comparison, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles tells the story of the rise to superpower of the nation of Israel, then their demise into exile because of the blatant disregard for God and his law who let them ascend to power and blessing in the first place. Here in Ezra, Israel is like a puppy that's been scolded, trying to get close again to his owner that scolded him, crouching, head down, moving slowly back to the couch.
But God, in his mercy, has not forgotten about his people. He prompted Cyrus, the King, who was not an Israelite, to send God's people back to rebuild the temple. It seems much time past over the duration of this book, because several kings are named and a couple prophets (Haggai and Zechariah). They really kept good records in those days, even without computerized databases, because lists of families and numbers were kept as to who went back to rebuild the temple.
Ezra refers to the trouble they ran into, but quickly resolves it. There are a few things that stand out to me in this book:
1. Things look different in retrospect. In chapter 5, some politicians were trying to get clarification about who gave the command to rebuild. In their letter to King Darius, they detail their conversation with the Israelite people. They were told "that their people had made God angry, and he let them be captured by Nebuchadnezzer." Now, God had told his people all along that they had to obey his laws, and if they didn't, bad things would happen. Back in Leviticus, Moses shared a promise that "theorized" that they were exiled because of their sin. They didn't seem to get it then, but they certainly appreciate it in retrospect. Hindsight.
2. Why did the Kings want to obey the God of the Heavens? One would think they were afraid because he did nasty things to them. But no. It must have been because they saw what God did to his own people, because he gave them over to other nations. I suppose they could have thought that if he would do that to his own kids, how much worse would he do to those who captured them?
3. The Kings were kind to Israel. Again, in Leviticus, God said that even if he cast them out to another nation, he would not forget them and the promises he made. Here it is. God is faithful, and the situation thye found themselves in did not negate his faithfulness.
Ezra, the book, culminates in mass divorces. Once the temple was complete, it was brought to Ezra's attention that there was massive intermarriage between Israel and non-Israel nations. This was forbidden, and Ezra pleaded with God. Lists were made, and it was decided that people who were involved would divorce their wives and send them away with their kids so that they wuld no longer be living in sin. Only a couple people were named as objecting, but it doesn't say one way or the other what they did. All in all, this seems odd to me, because God has said elsewhere that he doesn't like divorce. So, I'm not sure of the moral here: is it that sometimes significant actions are required in maing corrections or that under some circumstances, dicorce is permitted? Perhaps there is no moral, except that the people did what they had to do to obey.
Saturday, July 23, 2005
1 & 2 Chronicles
I picked up the Bible this morning (Sunday, July 17) and started Chronciles. The first nine chapters or so are catch-up on genealogies from the beginning of time to King David. I felt I deserved a break after getting through that, so I'll go back and read the rest another day.
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It's now Wednesday. I haven't picked up Chronicles yet to continue it because I'm still trying to process some stuff. In 1 Chronicles 2:4, it states: "Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar also had two sons: Perez and Zerah. Now, I remember reading about this in Genesis (chapter 38). In short, Tamar pretended to be a prostitute and Judah had sex with her. She got pregnant and they had two sons. I really didn't think too much of it at the time, because everyone was doing something wrong.
But, as I read the bigger picture of the fmaily tree, I see that David himself came from this line. So, King David came from an incestuous relationship. (Okay, maybe they were not blood related, but it was his daughter-in-law) And, she prostituted herself, which means he solicited her services.
All that's well and good. It sheds light for me about David and Bathsheba. But, I know that Jesus came from this family line as well. And he was the illegitimate son of Mary and Joseph, conceived outside of marriage. So, we have Jesus, the illegitimate child from a family line that is rooted in prostitution and incest. What is that?
And then I got to thinking. Solomon, the heir to David's throne, the builder of the temple, the wisest king that lived, was a child of adultery. Sure, I knew all this before, but I never really thought about it.
So you can see, Chronicles is a lot to take in, and it's just a repeat. We'll see how it goes.
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Now it's Friday, around 8:30 pm. I've been thinking about Judah and Tamar all week, and I think I've made sense of it (at least for me). God new before time began how it was all going to work out, yet he chose to have David, a man after his own heart, to be King and come from Judah and Tamar's line. Then, he chose that Jesus would entire humankind via this same line.
That, and every other messed up person that I've read about so far leads me to this final conclusion -- God prefers to work through misfits, or screw-ups. Or, for those who don't like strong language, God prefers to work through people who regularly screw up.
Why do I come to this conclusion? Although I haven't gotten as far as Job yet, I know the story. He was a man who was blameless before God, and look what happened to him - bad times. But, look at all the people who sinned for a living, but wanted to have a reationship with God - he used them.
Paul wrote about his thorn that God gave him - when we are weak, He is strong. I've always thought that God can use us in spite of our shortcomings. Now I've concluded that God likes to use us because of our shortcomings. It is when we are weakest, he is strongest.
Now I can move on.
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It's Saturday afternoon. I can finally finish this post, as I read the rest of 1 and 2 Chronicles this morning. It was nice. The writer focused more on the David, Solomon and the subsequent Kings who obeyed the Lord than all the ones who disobeyed. It was nice.
I'm not sure I would have come to the prior conclusion that God prefers to work through misfits had I read Chronicles in its entirety initially. Even David and Solomon had their challenges, though they are not mentioned much here (i.e., David's indiscretion with Bathsheba, Solomon building an altar for the pagan god of one of his wives). All in all, a pleasant Saturday morning read. Now I have to leave my house, because I just had my floors stained, and it stinks like nothing else.
--------------
It's now Wednesday. I haven't picked up Chronicles yet to continue it because I'm still trying to process some stuff. In 1 Chronicles 2:4, it states: "Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar also had two sons: Perez and Zerah. Now, I remember reading about this in Genesis (chapter 38). In short, Tamar pretended to be a prostitute and Judah had sex with her. She got pregnant and they had two sons. I really didn't think too much of it at the time, because everyone was doing something wrong.
But, as I read the bigger picture of the fmaily tree, I see that David himself came from this line. So, King David came from an incestuous relationship. (Okay, maybe they were not blood related, but it was his daughter-in-law) And, she prostituted herself, which means he solicited her services.
All that's well and good. It sheds light for me about David and Bathsheba. But, I know that Jesus came from this family line as well. And he was the illegitimate son of Mary and Joseph, conceived outside of marriage. So, we have Jesus, the illegitimate child from a family line that is rooted in prostitution and incest. What is that?
And then I got to thinking. Solomon, the heir to David's throne, the builder of the temple, the wisest king that lived, was a child of adultery. Sure, I knew all this before, but I never really thought about it.
So you can see, Chronicles is a lot to take in, and it's just a repeat. We'll see how it goes.
--------------------------------
Now it's Friday, around 8:30 pm. I've been thinking about Judah and Tamar all week, and I think I've made sense of it (at least for me). God new before time began how it was all going to work out, yet he chose to have David, a man after his own heart, to be King and come from Judah and Tamar's line. Then, he chose that Jesus would entire humankind via this same line.
That, and every other messed up person that I've read about so far leads me to this final conclusion -- God prefers to work through misfits, or screw-ups. Or, for those who don't like strong language, God prefers to work through people who regularly screw up.
Why do I come to this conclusion? Although I haven't gotten as far as Job yet, I know the story. He was a man who was blameless before God, and look what happened to him - bad times. But, look at all the people who sinned for a living, but wanted to have a reationship with God - he used them.
Paul wrote about his thorn that God gave him - when we are weak, He is strong. I've always thought that God can use us in spite of our shortcomings. Now I've concluded that God likes to use us because of our shortcomings. It is when we are weakest, he is strongest.
Now I can move on.
------------------
It's Saturday afternoon. I can finally finish this post, as I read the rest of 1 and 2 Chronicles this morning. It was nice. The writer focused more on the David, Solomon and the subsequent Kings who obeyed the Lord than all the ones who disobeyed. It was nice.
I'm not sure I would have come to the prior conclusion that God prefers to work through misfits had I read Chronicles in its entirety initially. Even David and Solomon had their challenges, though they are not mentioned much here (i.e., David's indiscretion with Bathsheba, Solomon building an altar for the pagan god of one of his wives). All in all, a pleasant Saturday morning read. Now I have to leave my house, because I just had my floors stained, and it stinks like nothing else.
Monday, July 11, 2005
1 & 2 Kings
Same thing goes for Kings as Samuel - one book that's too long for one scroll so they cut it. I read both earlier today.
Solomon became king after Adonijah tried to take it. Again, you don't hear much about Adonijah, so we know how it worked out for him - no kingship! Solomon went to work building the temple and grew in wisdom and influence and wealth. Solomon disobeyed by worshiping the god of one of his wives. God's response is to split the nation - David's descendants will rule Judah but the rest of Israel will be ruled by someone else. Enter Rehoboam, Solomon's son, the King of Judah and Jeroboam, the King of Israel.
If up to now the book is about Solomon's installation, building the temple, the realization of God's promise in Egypt and Solomon's succession plans, the remainder of the two books is about destroying the temple, running away from God's promise and ruining any possible plans for future succession.
The people of Israel disobeyed from the time they left Egypt - in the desert, in their new land, and with the judges. Heck, before God chose them as his people and said he'd protect them and made these promises, we met a bunch of others who found new and creative ways to disappoint him. He destroyed the place in Noah's time and vowed not to do it again. Here we are with a divided Israel, reading the stories of the Kings and their antics, and it's the same old same-old.
Each King of Israel and Judah are listed, their time in office and some of the things they did. Some have more stuff written about them than others. Generally, each story ends with "and he ruled these many years and obeyed / disobeyed God more / less / the same as his predecessor." Only one King obeyed as David did - Josiah, King of Judah, but King Manesseh screwed it up so bad that God was finally done with Judah and they would eventually be given over to Babylon. Israel had already been given up to Assyria.
Each King that disobeyed did so in creative and deplorable ways. A common statement is that they sinned like that of those in other lands. For example, King Ahaz (2 Kings 16:3 - CEV) "sacrificed his own son, which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel."
Now, this hit me. More than once the writer talked about the sacrifice of children, that it was bad. Here, I'm reminded of Jesus. God sacrificed Jesus, his own son - "which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel." What a display. How difficult must it have been for the Jewish people of Jesus day to accept that he was God, or even for modern Jews, given that it is "disgusting?"
And what an act of love. The very thing God told his own people not to be - they were set apart from the lands and people they conquered - well, he did it in order to bridge the gap back to Himself.
That's a lot to process.
Solomon became king after Adonijah tried to take it. Again, you don't hear much about Adonijah, so we know how it worked out for him - no kingship! Solomon went to work building the temple and grew in wisdom and influence and wealth. Solomon disobeyed by worshiping the god of one of his wives. God's response is to split the nation - David's descendants will rule Judah but the rest of Israel will be ruled by someone else. Enter Rehoboam, Solomon's son, the King of Judah and Jeroboam, the King of Israel.
If up to now the book is about Solomon's installation, building the temple, the realization of God's promise in Egypt and Solomon's succession plans, the remainder of the two books is about destroying the temple, running away from God's promise and ruining any possible plans for future succession.
The people of Israel disobeyed from the time they left Egypt - in the desert, in their new land, and with the judges. Heck, before God chose them as his people and said he'd protect them and made these promises, we met a bunch of others who found new and creative ways to disappoint him. He destroyed the place in Noah's time and vowed not to do it again. Here we are with a divided Israel, reading the stories of the Kings and their antics, and it's the same old same-old.
Each King of Israel and Judah are listed, their time in office and some of the things they did. Some have more stuff written about them than others. Generally, each story ends with "and he ruled these many years and obeyed / disobeyed God more / less / the same as his predecessor." Only one King obeyed as David did - Josiah, King of Judah, but King Manesseh screwed it up so bad that God was finally done with Judah and they would eventually be given over to Babylon. Israel had already been given up to Assyria.
Each King that disobeyed did so in creative and deplorable ways. A common statement is that they sinned like that of those in other lands. For example, King Ahaz (2 Kings 16:3 - CEV) "sacrificed his own son, which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel."
Now, this hit me. More than once the writer talked about the sacrifice of children, that it was bad. Here, I'm reminded of Jesus. God sacrificed Jesus, his own son - "which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel." What a display. How difficult must it have been for the Jewish people of Jesus day to accept that he was God, or even for modern Jews, given that it is "disgusting?"
And what an act of love. The very thing God told his own people not to be - they were set apart from the lands and people they conquered - well, he did it in order to bridge the gap back to Himself.
That's a lot to process.
1 & 2 Samuel
The notes at the beginning of Samuel says it is one book that was separated to fit on two scrolls, so I tried to read the entire thing as one. I did it in two sittings, but close together.
Samuel begins with his conception, birth and dedication to the Lord. It ends when David is about to die, so it takes us from Samuel as a priest, the Israelites request for a King, the installation of Saul and subsequent installation of David and the soap opera that surrounded it all. Lots of lessons for me, the first of which was that Samuel had to learn to recognize God's voice. Nice to know it's not just me.
I thought is was funny that in his farewell speech (12:17) Samuel proves to the people that God did not want to give them a King, but did so because they wanted it. Free will. Of course, Saul disobeys, as did most everyone else I've read about so far, and God chooses David. David, respecting the authority, would not kill Saul, God's chosen, but waited for God to remove him. It was several years.
I also found it interesting that at one point Saul needed some guidance so he called on a lady who could talk to the dead and they spoke with Samuel's ghost.
When David became king of Judah and he mourned and sang a song in Saul's memory (1:17-27). Ishbosheth became king of Israel but how much have we heard about him? It only lasted for two years, then David took over.
Lots of stories about wars, killings and deaths. All in all, David does good except for the Bathsheba incident. Even then, good came from it because their son, Solomon, was the next king. I learned that David was painfully loyal to his family and generally obedient to God.
On to Kings.
Samuel begins with his conception, birth and dedication to the Lord. It ends when David is about to die, so it takes us from Samuel as a priest, the Israelites request for a King, the installation of Saul and subsequent installation of David and the soap opera that surrounded it all. Lots of lessons for me, the first of which was that Samuel had to learn to recognize God's voice. Nice to know it's not just me.
I thought is was funny that in his farewell speech (12:17) Samuel proves to the people that God did not want to give them a King, but did so because they wanted it. Free will. Of course, Saul disobeys, as did most everyone else I've read about so far, and God chooses David. David, respecting the authority, would not kill Saul, God's chosen, but waited for God to remove him. It was several years.
I also found it interesting that at one point Saul needed some guidance so he called on a lady who could talk to the dead and they spoke with Samuel's ghost.
When David became king of Judah and he mourned and sang a song in Saul's memory (1:17-27). Ishbosheth became king of Israel but how much have we heard about him? It only lasted for two years, then David took over.
Lots of stories about wars, killings and deaths. All in all, David does good except for the Bathsheba incident. Even then, good came from it because their son, Solomon, was the next king. I learned that David was painfully loyal to his family and generally obedient to God.
On to Kings.
Ruth
I'm still on vacation in Nefoundland. I was confused on my last post - it was Friday, not Thursday. I thought I wouldn't add anything else due to the dial-up connection, but I've read so much my head is about explode if I don't write something.
After finishing Ortberg's book on Friday, I picked up "Jesus in the Margins" by Rick McKinley and read it Sunday morning. Another great book with some fantastic insights and also an easy read. In the midst, I read Ruth.
I mentioned to an acquaintence (a pastor) that I was about to read Ruth and he said he had prepared an eight week series from Ruth. I wasn't looking to get that deep, and wanted to take something away more personal. Ruth is a lesson for me in faithfulness. Ruth's faithfulness to her mother-in-law, Naomi (I live next door to mine), Naomi's faithfulness to Ruth, the community's faithfulness to Naomi, Boaz' faithfulness to his family, and all of it a picture of God's faithfulness.
As well, it's a feel-good story in the midst of all sorts of crazy disobedience-themed stories. It's nice to see that someone was being faithful to God.
Finally, it ends showing the family tree to get to David, which we know is an ancestor of the line Jesus was born into. So, the picture of faithfulness is put into context of a larger historical picture. I enjoyed it. Maybe I'll come back one day and look for an eight-week study, but not anytime soon.
On to Samuel.
After finishing Ortberg's book on Friday, I picked up "Jesus in the Margins" by Rick McKinley and read it Sunday morning. Another great book with some fantastic insights and also an easy read. In the midst, I read Ruth.
I mentioned to an acquaintence (a pastor) that I was about to read Ruth and he said he had prepared an eight week series from Ruth. I wasn't looking to get that deep, and wanted to take something away more personal. Ruth is a lesson for me in faithfulness. Ruth's faithfulness to her mother-in-law, Naomi (I live next door to mine), Naomi's faithfulness to Ruth, the community's faithfulness to Naomi, Boaz' faithfulness to his family, and all of it a picture of God's faithfulness.
As well, it's a feel-good story in the midst of all sorts of crazy disobedience-themed stories. It's nice to see that someone was being faithful to God.
Finally, it ends showing the family tree to get to David, which we know is an ancestor of the line Jesus was born into. So, the picture of faithfulness is put into context of a larger historical picture. I enjoyed it. Maybe I'll come back one day and look for an eight-week study, but not anytime soon.
On to Samuel.
Friday, July 08, 2005
Newfoundland Vacation
It's Thursday afternoon (I think), and we've been in Newfoundland for a couple days now. We arrived at my parents last night, I got up this morning and read "God is Closer Than You Think" by John Ortberg. What a great book! I enjoy his writing style and where he's coming from, but I'm not going to talk about the book here.
The only internet that's available here in my hometown is dial-up. Right now I've got a lightning-speed 40k connection. Wow.
So, not much blogging for the next few days.
Except one simple prayer that comes out of the book: "Lord, make up there come down here!" Genius!
The only internet that's available here in my hometown is dial-up. Right now I've got a lightning-speed 40k connection. Wow.
So, not much blogging for the next few days.
Except one simple prayer that comes out of the book: "Lord, make up there come down here!" Genius!
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Judges
It's been a while since I've been able to sit and read. I just started some vacation time and now this morning am sitting on my deck, first to read, and now type. All accompanied by my faithful companion - a Diet Coke.
Judges is full of a bunch of crazy characters and stories. Every other page, the author tells the reader that this all happened before Israel had a king, so people just did what they thought was right.
There's Ehud, who killed Eglon, the King of Moab. Eglon was so fat that when Ehud put the sword in his stomach, even the handle got swallowed up by his fat.
Debaroh led an attack, and when her enemy Sisera hid in Jael's tent, Jael hammered his head to the ground with a tent peg. That's gotta hurt.
Gideon had an angel appear to him, and then God himself. I've always heard people talk about Gideon and elevate him, but when reading for myself, he was doubtful & fearful. He needed proof that it was God, then was afraid of his family. As the attack is being planned, God said, if you're still afraid, sneak into the enemy camp and you'll see that I will deliver them to you. Gideon snuck in. The author went out of his way to tell us Gideon was afraid and doubted.
After all that, "Gideon returned to his home in Ophrah and had the gold made into a statue, which the Israelites soon started worshipping" (8:27-29, CEV).
Abimelech, Gideon's son, killed all his brothers except Jotham, who in turn put a curse on him and those who installed him as "king." They eventually all got what was coming to them. Abimelech was died after a woman dropped a rock on his head and in his desire to not be killed by a woman, asked one of his men to run him through with a sword. Hmmm.
Jephthah, the son of a hooker, was used to deliver Israel. Then, made a promise to sacrifice the first person who greeted him upon his return. Not a lot of thought went into that promise - it was his daughter. He eventually sacrificed her.
Samson got a lot of time devoted to him in this book. He was chosen before he was born, did significant feats of strength against the Philistines, and gets smitten by a woman destined to be his downfall. He walks right into it, gets his eyes plucked out and eventually dies a cinematic death by taking out thousands of Philistines when he collapsed a roof.
The final story is a cornucopia of crazy. A Levite man visits Gibeah in Benjamin. Some of the locals demand his host sends him out so they can rape him. He sends out his wife, and the rape her so bad she dies. The Levite cuts up her body in twleve pieces, sends a piece to each tribe with a message. Fast forward, and the other eleven tribes attack Benjamin & defeats them, but only after thousands of people are killed on both sides. Then, they make promises not to let there daughters marry the few Benjaminites that are left, so they come up with a plan to manipulate the promise to give them wives.
All this happened before Israel had a king.
So, I'm sitting here, wondering what is my take-away. What have I learned and how am I better for reading this? What does God want me to learn?
God uses people who are messed up. Sure, killing and wars were a way of life then. It was civilized at that time, although it's hard for me to wrap my head around. But, the one constant is his people kept turning their backs on him and he kept saving their backsides. He's merciful and faithful; we're not. For sure, if Gideon, with all his doubt and then Samson, being stupid and arrogant as he was, could be used by God to do such great things, then he can use me with all my screw-ups.
Judges is full of a bunch of crazy characters and stories. Every other page, the author tells the reader that this all happened before Israel had a king, so people just did what they thought was right.
There's Ehud, who killed Eglon, the King of Moab. Eglon was so fat that when Ehud put the sword in his stomach, even the handle got swallowed up by his fat.
Debaroh led an attack, and when her enemy Sisera hid in Jael's tent, Jael hammered his head to the ground with a tent peg. That's gotta hurt.
Gideon had an angel appear to him, and then God himself. I've always heard people talk about Gideon and elevate him, but when reading for myself, he was doubtful & fearful. He needed proof that it was God, then was afraid of his family. As the attack is being planned, God said, if you're still afraid, sneak into the enemy camp and you'll see that I will deliver them to you. Gideon snuck in. The author went out of his way to tell us Gideon was afraid and doubted.
After all that, "Gideon returned to his home in Ophrah and had the gold made into a statue, which the Israelites soon started worshipping" (8:27-29, CEV).
Abimelech, Gideon's son, killed all his brothers except Jotham, who in turn put a curse on him and those who installed him as "king." They eventually all got what was coming to them. Abimelech was died after a woman dropped a rock on his head and in his desire to not be killed by a woman, asked one of his men to run him through with a sword. Hmmm.
Jephthah, the son of a hooker, was used to deliver Israel. Then, made a promise to sacrifice the first person who greeted him upon his return. Not a lot of thought went into that promise - it was his daughter. He eventually sacrificed her.
Samson got a lot of time devoted to him in this book. He was chosen before he was born, did significant feats of strength against the Philistines, and gets smitten by a woman destined to be his downfall. He walks right into it, gets his eyes plucked out and eventually dies a cinematic death by taking out thousands of Philistines when he collapsed a roof.
The final story is a cornucopia of crazy. A Levite man visits Gibeah in Benjamin. Some of the locals demand his host sends him out so they can rape him. He sends out his wife, and the rape her so bad she dies. The Levite cuts up her body in twleve pieces, sends a piece to each tribe with a message. Fast forward, and the other eleven tribes attack Benjamin & defeats them, but only after thousands of people are killed on both sides. Then, they make promises not to let there daughters marry the few Benjaminites that are left, so they come up with a plan to manipulate the promise to give them wives.
All this happened before Israel had a king.
So, I'm sitting here, wondering what is my take-away. What have I learned and how am I better for reading this? What does God want me to learn?
God uses people who are messed up. Sure, killing and wars were a way of life then. It was civilized at that time, although it's hard for me to wrap my head around. But, the one constant is his people kept turning their backs on him and he kept saving their backsides. He's merciful and faithful; we're not. For sure, if Gideon, with all his doubt and then Samson, being stupid and arrogant as he was, could be used by God to do such great things, then he can use me with all my screw-ups.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Joshua
7:14 am. I’m actually writing this note before I write anything about Deuteronomy. It took me a few days to get through Deuteronomy only because work and church have monopolized my time. Right now I’m out of the city at a workshop, all my colleagues are probably only now getting ready for the day, but I was able to get up early and read Joshua. What’s weird though is we’re at this fancy resort, and they don’t have Internet access. I typed this in Word initially and copied it later (as per the time stamp).
Now, Moses died before Joshua did all these things written here, but something occurred to me about Moses as I read Joshua. If the speeches are any indication as they are recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, Moses certainly talked a lot. I say that because the first half of Joshua is action based, clearly outlining the people that Israel defeated and how they acquired the Promised Land. Most of the last half explains the boundaries of this land, but only the last couple pages are dedicated to speeches given by Joshua.
I think it is interesting, because when God called Moses to lead His people out of Egypt, Moses made up excuses why he could not; Exodus 4:10 (CEV) – “Moses replied: ‘I have never been a good speaker. I wasn’t one before you spoke to me, and I’m not one now. I am slow at speaking, and I can never think of what to say.’” So God promised to give him the words, but Moses still wasn’t satisfied, so God gave him Aaron, his brother, to help him.
Fast forward to Joshua’s book, and I’m reminded of Moses self-perceived weakness and God’s promise. Moses talked a heck of a lot more than Joshua. After reading Joshua, I’m reminded of God’s faithfulness to Moses.
As for Joshua, I have to say I enjoyed it, but all the details on the verbal maps were a bit much. I suppose if I knew more about the geography of Israel it might make more sense. I may come back to Joshua one day with the goal of studying these maps more closely, just to see how it lines up with today’s Israel. I‘m sure it has implications to the current fighting between Israel and Palestine.
I think it’s odd how in some cases God told Joshua to wipe out everything in a city, and in other cases they could keep things. It seems it was simply an issue of obedience. People disobey, they die; people obey, they get the Promise. Pretty simple, really.
All in all though, Joshua (the book) is cool because it describes in intricate detail how God allowed his people to collect on his promise to give them this land, a promise that was in place when Moses brought them out of Egypt. A promise that was kept by God, as he said he would, after 40 years of waiting. Inasmuch as he promised to help Moses to speak and kept it, he gave his people the land they were told they’d get.
Now, Moses died before Joshua did all these things written here, but something occurred to me about Moses as I read Joshua. If the speeches are any indication as they are recorded in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, Moses certainly talked a lot. I say that because the first half of Joshua is action based, clearly outlining the people that Israel defeated and how they acquired the Promised Land. Most of the last half explains the boundaries of this land, but only the last couple pages are dedicated to speeches given by Joshua.
I think it is interesting, because when God called Moses to lead His people out of Egypt, Moses made up excuses why he could not; Exodus 4:10 (CEV) – “Moses replied: ‘I have never been a good speaker. I wasn’t one before you spoke to me, and I’m not one now. I am slow at speaking, and I can never think of what to say.’” So God promised to give him the words, but Moses still wasn’t satisfied, so God gave him Aaron, his brother, to help him.
Fast forward to Joshua’s book, and I’m reminded of Moses self-perceived weakness and God’s promise. Moses talked a heck of a lot more than Joshua. After reading Joshua, I’m reminded of God’s faithfulness to Moses.
As for Joshua, I have to say I enjoyed it, but all the details on the verbal maps were a bit much. I suppose if I knew more about the geography of Israel it might make more sense. I may come back to Joshua one day with the goal of studying these maps more closely, just to see how it lines up with today’s Israel. I‘m sure it has implications to the current fighting between Israel and Palestine.
I think it’s odd how in some cases God told Joshua to wipe out everything in a city, and in other cases they could keep things. It seems it was simply an issue of obedience. People disobey, they die; people obey, they get the Promise. Pretty simple, really.
All in all though, Joshua (the book) is cool because it describes in intricate detail how God allowed his people to collect on his promise to give them this land, a promise that was in place when Moses brought them out of Egypt. A promise that was kept by God, as he said he would, after 40 years of waiting. Inasmuch as he promised to help Moses to speak and kept it, he gave his people the land they were told they’d get.
Deuteronomy
7:34 am. Deuteronomy was interesting to read immediately after Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, because it is simply a repeat of the events and laws of those books. Moses summarizes a lot of things from before, and draws special attention to them.
As indicated in my notes about Joshua, I’m actually writing these reflections after I’ve written about Joshua, so my thoughts are not as fresh. It’s been a wacky few days. Nonetheless, there were a couple things that stand out in my mind.
The promise God made in Leviticus 26 is essentially repeated here: Deuteronomy 4:29-32 (CEV) – “In all of your troubles, you may finally decide that you want to worship only the Lord. And if you turn back to him and obey him completely, he will again be your God. The Lord your God will have mercy – he won’t destroy you or desert you. The Lord will remember his promise, and he will keep the agreement he made with your ancestors.”
I have to say, God, being all-knowing and not constrained by time, knew that his people would turn from him, and knowing that, made up his mind that if they turned back to him, he’d take them. Jesus shared the same sentiment in the story of the Prodigal Son. Turn our backs, sin, but come back and he will accept us with arms wide open.
Then, reading the laws, which indicate the kinds of sin Israel was capable of, and reading about the actual sins, makes me appreciate even more the depth of this promise. It’s not like we are fooling around and flirting with some sin – this stuff was blatant, and God was willing to take them back.
A couple other specific sentences stand out:
10:12-13 (CEV) – “People of Israel, what does the Lord your God want from you? The Lord wants you to follow him, to love and serve him with all your heart and soul, and to obey his laws and teachings that I am giving to you today. Do this, and all will go well for you.”
10:16 (CEV) – “Remember your agreement with the Lord and stop being so stubborn.”
That one’s a mouthful. Stubborn.
Perhaps the one section the stands out the most, though, is 15:4-11. It starts with “No one in Israel should ever be poor” and ends with “There will always be some Israelites who are poor and needy.” Later, in 27:14-26, Moses declares some curses, one of which was “We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who keeps the poor from getting justice, whether those poor are foreigners, widows, or orphans.” So, the poor are important.
This hit me for a couple reasons:
1. I know a bunch of Christians that say Christians shouldn’t be poor, which agrees with the first statement, but they say it in such a way that we’re sinning if we’re poor. Yet, later it says there will be poor, and that the ones who are well off should be happy to give to them, that it will make them successful.
2. My work is essentially with poor people. It encourages me to think that this might apply to me, that by being happy giving to the poor, the Lord might make me successful in everything I do.
Now, I’m not doing it to be successful. It’s not what I aspire to, it’s simply a matter or fact or progression. As well, I don’t define “successful” as money. I’m really not sure how I define “successful.” I’m sure God has a different definition than the rest of the world, but I know it’s good. If God says I’ll be successful, then whatever that looks like will be a good thing, and I like that.
As indicated in my notes about Joshua, I’m actually writing these reflections after I’ve written about Joshua, so my thoughts are not as fresh. It’s been a wacky few days. Nonetheless, there were a couple things that stand out in my mind.
The promise God made in Leviticus 26 is essentially repeated here: Deuteronomy 4:29-32 (CEV) – “In all of your troubles, you may finally decide that you want to worship only the Lord. And if you turn back to him and obey him completely, he will again be your God. The Lord your God will have mercy – he won’t destroy you or desert you. The Lord will remember his promise, and he will keep the agreement he made with your ancestors.”
I have to say, God, being all-knowing and not constrained by time, knew that his people would turn from him, and knowing that, made up his mind that if they turned back to him, he’d take them. Jesus shared the same sentiment in the story of the Prodigal Son. Turn our backs, sin, but come back and he will accept us with arms wide open.
Then, reading the laws, which indicate the kinds of sin Israel was capable of, and reading about the actual sins, makes me appreciate even more the depth of this promise. It’s not like we are fooling around and flirting with some sin – this stuff was blatant, and God was willing to take them back.
A couple other specific sentences stand out:
10:12-13 (CEV) – “People of Israel, what does the Lord your God want from you? The Lord wants you to follow him, to love and serve him with all your heart and soul, and to obey his laws and teachings that I am giving to you today. Do this, and all will go well for you.”
10:16 (CEV) – “Remember your agreement with the Lord and stop being so stubborn.”
That one’s a mouthful. Stubborn.
Perhaps the one section the stands out the most, though, is 15:4-11. It starts with “No one in Israel should ever be poor” and ends with “There will always be some Israelites who are poor and needy.” Later, in 27:14-26, Moses declares some curses, one of which was “We ask the Lord to put a curse on anyone who keeps the poor from getting justice, whether those poor are foreigners, widows, or orphans.” So, the poor are important.
This hit me for a couple reasons:
1. I know a bunch of Christians that say Christians shouldn’t be poor, which agrees with the first statement, but they say it in such a way that we’re sinning if we’re poor. Yet, later it says there will be poor, and that the ones who are well off should be happy to give to them, that it will make them successful.
2. My work is essentially with poor people. It encourages me to think that this might apply to me, that by being happy giving to the poor, the Lord might make me successful in everything I do.
Now, I’m not doing it to be successful. It’s not what I aspire to, it’s simply a matter or fact or progression. As well, I don’t define “successful” as money. I’m really not sure how I define “successful.” I’m sure God has a different definition than the rest of the world, but I know it’s good. If God says I’ll be successful, then whatever that looks like will be a good thing, and I like that.
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Numbers
Numbers was a bit of a tough read. More sacrifices, more laws and a few interesting stories. But, I got through it in two sittings, which was my goal - try to see the whole thing as, well, a whole.
Of course the title of the book is a dead giveaway as to what happens - Moses counts the Israelites. Then, after some laws and instructions on sacrifices, and some stories, counts them again. Between counts, God killed a bunch of them for disobedience.
The Israelites got a bit more agressive in Numbers with their sins. Before, they would grumble and complain about the lack of food or water and say they wanted to go back to Egypt. Now, they're starting revolts and rebellions trying to take over leadership from Moses. Even Aaron got upset at one point, with his sister, but Moses and God straightened them out. He's one of the few that didn't get killed for it.
God was creative in the punishment as well. He didn't just kill them with disease, but had them swallowed by the ground at one point. Now that's a cool effect to put in a movie. A couple times Moses had to beg God not to kill off the works of them.
The odd part for me was about Balaam. He refused to curse the Israelites, as requested by a king, and instead spoke blessing over them four times. It's odd because he was not an Israelite, yet he is presented as serving the same God. Second, when the Israelites conquered Midian, Moses makes it a point to say they killed Balaam, son of Peor. Odd.
Either way, the Israelites are still messed up in Numbers, if not worse, but more organized about it and in the end, still favoured and protected by God. This is good. My wife and I just made public a decision we believe God wanted us to make. It's good to know he has our backs.
Of course the title of the book is a dead giveaway as to what happens - Moses counts the Israelites. Then, after some laws and instructions on sacrifices, and some stories, counts them again. Between counts, God killed a bunch of them for disobedience.
The Israelites got a bit more agressive in Numbers with their sins. Before, they would grumble and complain about the lack of food or water and say they wanted to go back to Egypt. Now, they're starting revolts and rebellions trying to take over leadership from Moses. Even Aaron got upset at one point, with his sister, but Moses and God straightened them out. He's one of the few that didn't get killed for it.
God was creative in the punishment as well. He didn't just kill them with disease, but had them swallowed by the ground at one point. Now that's a cool effect to put in a movie. A couple times Moses had to beg God not to kill off the works of them.
The odd part for me was about Balaam. He refused to curse the Israelites, as requested by a king, and instead spoke blessing over them four times. It's odd because he was not an Israelite, yet he is presented as serving the same God. Second, when the Israelites conquered Midian, Moses makes it a point to say they killed Balaam, son of Peor. Odd.
Either way, the Israelites are still messed up in Numbers, if not worse, but more organized about it and in the end, still favoured and protected by God. This is good. My wife and I just made public a decision we believe God wanted us to make. It's good to know he has our backs.
Friday, June 10, 2005
Leviticus
What a trip. I finished reading Leviticus yesterday morning. Some of the laws were pretty insane, but I guess at the time it must have been common practice so God needed to tell the Israelites not to be engaged in certain things. A lot was said about 1. Sacrifices, 2. Sex, and 3. Mold. There are very specific guidelines as to how to deal with mold. Lots of opportunity for humour, if you ask me.
But really, I walked away from the book with two things: 1. People sinned as much then as they do now, and 2. We really needed Jesus to come and fulfill this law and be the sacrifice once for all. The amount of sacrifice required otherwise is crazy.
In the midst of the blessings for obedience and cursing for disobedience, God makes one simple statement that speaks to his faithfulness: 26:44-45 (CEV) - No matter what you have done, I am still the LORD your God, and I will never completely reject you or become absolutely disgusted with you there in the land of your enemies. While nations watched, I rescued your ancestors from Egypt so that I would be their God. Yes, I am your LORD, and I will never forget our agreement.
Next stop: Numbers.
But really, I walked away from the book with two things: 1. People sinned as much then as they do now, and 2. We really needed Jesus to come and fulfill this law and be the sacrifice once for all. The amount of sacrifice required otherwise is crazy.
In the midst of the blessings for obedience and cursing for disobedience, God makes one simple statement that speaks to his faithfulness: 26:44-45 (CEV) - No matter what you have done, I am still the LORD your God, and I will never completely reject you or become absolutely disgusted with you there in the land of your enemies. While nations watched, I rescued your ancestors from Egypt so that I would be their God. Yes, I am your LORD, and I will never forget our agreement.
Next stop: Numbers.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Exodus
The first thing that struck me as I read Exodus yesterday and today was that Moses powered through over 400 years of history in order to introduce himself, then he says about himself: "He was a beautiful Child." Third person, and confident.
The second thing I realized was after I got to 13:19 (CEV) - "Moses had them take along the bones of Joseph, whose dying words had been, "God will come to your rescue, and when he does, be sure to take along my bones." This got me thinking about Joseph. He told his brothers, as recorded in Genesis, that it was God's plan all along for him to be in Egypt; they sold him to slavery, but God intended it for good, in order to save Israel. So, God lead the Israelites into Egypt, knowing full well the 400 or so years that would pass and move them from prominent and honoured among the Egyptians to slaves of the Egyptians. Then, to show his glory, God would deliver them.
Even as God was working in Pharoah, God allowed him or caused him to become stubborn, so that the Israelites could remember how God saved them. God was writing history for his glory. I'm not sure what to do with that just yet.
Another thing I see is the constant excuses and mistakes of the Israelites. It seems the only reason they were God's people and he was watching over them was because he chose to do so. There's been no change since Genesis - the people were still messing up. Right from the getgo, God tells Moses he will deliver his people, and Moses comes up with an excuse - "Yeah, about that God, here's the thing, I'm not good at public speaking." God finally convinces him he can do it by getting the assistance from his older brother, Aaron.
Then, once God delivers his people and they leave, even after all the miracles to get them out, including walking across the dry bed of a sea, they complain and gripe asking where is God, will he let them die, they'd be better off as slaves, and so on. Each time, God in his patience, sometimes with Moses' convincing, makes himself known to them. Even Aaron made excuses about the idol he built for the people while Moses was on the mountain - 32:22 (CEV) - "You know as well as I do that they are determined to do evil."
Moses covers a lot of ground in the first half, taking us through dozens of stories to get to the point where he is able to tell us about God's laws. Twenty chapters of laws on two stone tablets. It must have been big tablets or some seriously small font. Either way, Moses was very deliberate to tell us about the laws. In fact, in great detail he records it as God told him, then he records it again as he told the people and as it was being built. Obviously, it was very important. It made me be thankful that Paul in his writings tells us that we're no longer under law, but grace. I don't think we'd be looked too kindly upon now if we were killing rams and smearing their blood over stuff now. Of course, the Israelites sinned a lot, so it required a lot of blood.
The book began and ended in the same theme. The beginning records how God helped his people leave Egypt and at the end he is still directing them, but in a means that is visible to all of them - a cloud by day and a cloud of fire by night. All he seemed to want was to be in realtionship with them, and this book sets out the guidelines or infrastructure for that to happen.
I remember two incidents in Genesis and at least one in Exodus where Moses says specifically that someone looked at God, or was in his presence, and lived to tell about it. As a matter of fact, they seemed surprised that they walked away from it. No wonder so many rules and directives were necessary. If God's people recklessly came into his presence, it's a good chance they wouldn't live to tell about it, then God wouldn't have a people to have a relationship with and someone to show his glory through. The rules were necessary in order to let them live to enjoy his blessing. I don't think I ever saw that before.
The second thing I realized was after I got to 13:19 (CEV) - "Moses had them take along the bones of Joseph, whose dying words had been, "God will come to your rescue, and when he does, be sure to take along my bones." This got me thinking about Joseph. He told his brothers, as recorded in Genesis, that it was God's plan all along for him to be in Egypt; they sold him to slavery, but God intended it for good, in order to save Israel. So, God lead the Israelites into Egypt, knowing full well the 400 or so years that would pass and move them from prominent and honoured among the Egyptians to slaves of the Egyptians. Then, to show his glory, God would deliver them.
Even as God was working in Pharoah, God allowed him or caused him to become stubborn, so that the Israelites could remember how God saved them. God was writing history for his glory. I'm not sure what to do with that just yet.
Another thing I see is the constant excuses and mistakes of the Israelites. It seems the only reason they were God's people and he was watching over them was because he chose to do so. There's been no change since Genesis - the people were still messing up. Right from the getgo, God tells Moses he will deliver his people, and Moses comes up with an excuse - "Yeah, about that God, here's the thing, I'm not good at public speaking." God finally convinces him he can do it by getting the assistance from his older brother, Aaron.
Then, once God delivers his people and they leave, even after all the miracles to get them out, including walking across the dry bed of a sea, they complain and gripe asking where is God, will he let them die, they'd be better off as slaves, and so on. Each time, God in his patience, sometimes with Moses' convincing, makes himself known to them. Even Aaron made excuses about the idol he built for the people while Moses was on the mountain - 32:22 (CEV) - "You know as well as I do that they are determined to do evil."
Moses covers a lot of ground in the first half, taking us through dozens of stories to get to the point where he is able to tell us about God's laws. Twenty chapters of laws on two stone tablets. It must have been big tablets or some seriously small font. Either way, Moses was very deliberate to tell us about the laws. In fact, in great detail he records it as God told him, then he records it again as he told the people and as it was being built. Obviously, it was very important. It made me be thankful that Paul in his writings tells us that we're no longer under law, but grace. I don't think we'd be looked too kindly upon now if we were killing rams and smearing their blood over stuff now. Of course, the Israelites sinned a lot, so it required a lot of blood.
The book began and ended in the same theme. The beginning records how God helped his people leave Egypt and at the end he is still directing them, but in a means that is visible to all of them - a cloud by day and a cloud of fire by night. All he seemed to want was to be in realtionship with them, and this book sets out the guidelines or infrastructure for that to happen.
I remember two incidents in Genesis and at least one in Exodus where Moses says specifically that someone looked at God, or was in his presence, and lived to tell about it. As a matter of fact, they seemed surprised that they walked away from it. No wonder so many rules and directives were necessary. If God's people recklessly came into his presence, it's a good chance they wouldn't live to tell about it, then God wouldn't have a people to have a relationship with and someone to show his glory through. The rules were necessary in order to let them live to enjoy his blessing. I don't think I ever saw that before.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
Genesis
Today I read the book of Genesis. I don't recall ever reading it through before in one sitting, but I did it today. What happened? I've just finished reading a few books that have challenged me in a big way: The Barbarian Way, Blue Like Jazz and Searching for God Knows What. All three are very good books. Anyhow, the authors (Erwin McManus and Don Miller) both seem to have some keen insights into Scripture, and one thing I noticed as I read their books was the ease with which I could reference parts or themes in their their books after the fact, like it actually stuck in my brain.
Growing up in church, I was preached at from the King James Version and was told I needed to read God's Word. However, I rarely understood it and often fell asleep or drifted into Neverland (not Michael Jackson's place - it wasn't around).
A few years ago the Canadian Bible Society published the Contemporary English Version (CEV), which I have been flirting with but have never fully converted. After reading the three other books recently and thinking about how I might get something fresh from the Bible, I thought I'd experiment - read the Bible through from Genesis to Revelation, one book at a time and as much as possible, one book each sitting, each book as it was meant - a book. Today was my first day.
It all starts like we remember it: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..." I heard a fellow preach once for two hours on "In the beginning God" -- I have no idea what it was about, because how do you talk about such a small topic for two hours? God was before it all. It takes longer to type than to say it. Either way, it turns out I could have read Genesis from 1 to 50 during that sermon.
It's funny. Moses..... Now, there's another thing. My sister-in-law is a seminary student so I told her I was going to read Genesis by Moses. Turns out Moses may not have written the whole thing. You'd think I would know that. Anyway, Moses starts out with this glorious story about how God systematically created the heavens and the earth, one day at a time, culminating with man and woman, and then he took a break. It's a beautiful story, and reading it from a different translation helped me appreciate it like a new book I hadn't read before.
Then Moses goes a little more in depth about God's interactions with Adam and Eve, and it all goes downhill from there. Each story Moses tells is essentially the same: Man does something stupid, somebody gets hurt, God tries again. When we get to Noah, God seems to have had enough, destroys the whole lot of it and starts over with Noah's family. Abraham lost his patience and had a child by his wife's slave, then he and Sarah had their own, Isaac. Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him the birthright entitled to his brother Esau. Joseph's brothers pretended he was dead and sold him such that he ended up with the Egyptians. Joseph ends up in charge of Egypt and saves his family, but not before toying with his brothers for what they did.
In the midst of it all, God seems to be trying to get through to these people, wanting to be in relationship with them, performing miracles for and through them. Man keeps doing stupid stuff, God keeps promising them his blessings.
Then, I got to the last verse of Genesis: "So Joseph died in Egypt at the age of one hundred ten: his body was embalmed and put in a coffin." How's that for irony? It starts with creation, it ends in death.
65 more books to go. If I didn't know the end of the story, I'd expect that God would give up on us.
Growing up in church, I was preached at from the King James Version and was told I needed to read God's Word. However, I rarely understood it and often fell asleep or drifted into Neverland (not Michael Jackson's place - it wasn't around).
A few years ago the Canadian Bible Society published the Contemporary English Version (CEV), which I have been flirting with but have never fully converted. After reading the three other books recently and thinking about how I might get something fresh from the Bible, I thought I'd experiment - read the Bible through from Genesis to Revelation, one book at a time and as much as possible, one book each sitting, each book as it was meant - a book. Today was my first day.
It all starts like we remember it: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth..." I heard a fellow preach once for two hours on "In the beginning God" -- I have no idea what it was about, because how do you talk about such a small topic for two hours? God was before it all. It takes longer to type than to say it. Either way, it turns out I could have read Genesis from 1 to 50 during that sermon.
It's funny. Moses..... Now, there's another thing. My sister-in-law is a seminary student so I told her I was going to read Genesis by Moses. Turns out Moses may not have written the whole thing. You'd think I would know that. Anyway, Moses starts out with this glorious story about how God systematically created the heavens and the earth, one day at a time, culminating with man and woman, and then he took a break. It's a beautiful story, and reading it from a different translation helped me appreciate it like a new book I hadn't read before.
Then Moses goes a little more in depth about God's interactions with Adam and Eve, and it all goes downhill from there. Each story Moses tells is essentially the same: Man does something stupid, somebody gets hurt, God tries again. When we get to Noah, God seems to have had enough, destroys the whole lot of it and starts over with Noah's family. Abraham lost his patience and had a child by his wife's slave, then he and Sarah had their own, Isaac. Jacob tricked Isaac into giving him the birthright entitled to his brother Esau. Joseph's brothers pretended he was dead and sold him such that he ended up with the Egyptians. Joseph ends up in charge of Egypt and saves his family, but not before toying with his brothers for what they did.
In the midst of it all, God seems to be trying to get through to these people, wanting to be in relationship with them, performing miracles for and through them. Man keeps doing stupid stuff, God keeps promising them his blessings.
Then, I got to the last verse of Genesis: "So Joseph died in Egypt at the age of one hundred ten: his body was embalmed and put in a coffin." How's that for irony? It starts with creation, it ends in death.
65 more books to go. If I didn't know the end of the story, I'd expect that God would give up on us.
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