Friday, February 5

Good evening. And I mean good. Today was remarkably better than the past four days. I feel like I caught up on work, had some good conversations today and last night, and am looking forward to a snowed-in weekend with my little lady.

Reading for February 5

Exodus 21:22-23:13

So weird...
This section continues God's...I'm gonna call them ramblings after the Ten Commandments. I don't mean to be disrespectful by calling them ramblings, but that's how it sounds! God starts a few of the hypothetical circumstances by saying "Now suppose..." like they situations are so specific, I wonder why he had to make these decrees. Check out some of the things God gives guidance on:

- If two men are fighting and one accidentally punches a pregnant woman and the baby dies
- If an ox gores a man, woman, child, slave or another ox. Differing degrees of punishment depending on the goree
- If someone borrows your ox and the ox dies or runs away
- If you are burning thornbushes and the fire spreads to another person's field
- ¹⁸ “You must not allow a sorceress to live."
- ¹⁹ “Anyone who has sexual relations with an animal must certainly be put to death."

Um...yes.

There are some good things too:
-  ²² “You must not exploit a widow or an orphan.
-  ²⁵ “If you lend money to any of my people who are in need, do not charge interest as a money lender would.
-   ⁹ “You must not oppress foreigners.

So one of my running questions is what can be dismissed as cultural norms of the time, and what should carry over? Obviously, I think the stuff about slaves should not carry over, but this was God speaking here. Even if some of the rules have expired, I think there is still merit in him speaking. I think I would have a much better understanding with a historical context around the Israelites at this time, but still its cool to see God go on and talk for a long time - even is he is rambling.

Matthew 24:1-28

A shift in focus

Jesus just came off of a tirade against the Pharisees. Saying how they are hypocrites and how they are not focusing on the right aspects of the faith. Now he shifts into predicting the destruction of the earth in the "end times" and gives many warnings about false prophets and  what to look out for.

Psalm 29:1-11
This one is very cool. It talks about the power of the Voice of God.

³ The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea.
      The God of glory thunders.
      The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.
 ⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful;
      the voice of the Lord is majestic.
 ⁵ The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars;
      the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.
 ⁶ He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf;
      he makes Mount Hermon^[b] leap like a young wild ox.
 ⁷ The voice of the Lord strikes
      with bolts of lightning.
 ⁸ The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake;
      the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.
 ⁹ The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks^[c]
      and strips the forests bare.
   In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”

This would be  a very cool tattoo if someone could translate these words into images.  I've never read it, but my friend Sole always tells me about a scene in the Chronicles of Narnia when Aslan (a lion who represents Christ) is walking around a blank area of earth singing - and as he sings things are created all around him. That's the immediate image I thought of as soon as I read this passage.

Proverbs 7:6-23
Solomon rocks out the case study here. He talks about a guy who is seduced by a woman who is trying to get some on the side while her husband is away. The guy falls for it, but the way Solomon writes it, I imagine it would be extremely inciting for a lot of dudes.

OK Time for bed. Snow day tomorrow. Love.