Friday, March 12

Hey Ho. This morning we got up early and brought ZE GERMANS to the bus stop to get them to the city. They're doing somesight seeing and enjoying the fruits of New York, New York. You know as long as I've lived in this area, I haven't seen a lot of the touristy things to see there, at least not in a while. I did the Empire State building when I was super young, and I did the Statue of Liberty in eighth grade. I would love to do those things again, but I'm excited that ZE GERMANS get to see it.

Reading for March 12
Numbers 16:41-18:32
So when we last left the Israelites, a group of Levites had decided to rebel against Moses saying that he was self-appointed to the position he was in. These people were swallowed into the earth by an earthquake. The rest of the Israelites began to feel the same way as these Levites the next day, and began "muttering against Moses" saying that he "killed the LORD's people".

God hears this and tells Moses that he's about to "instantly destroy them." God does this by kicking off the effects of the plague he initiated a few chapters ago as a result of "the meat incident". The plague kills 14,700 people before Aaron can purify the people by using some sort of incense.

This event again shows me that God is this inflexible being I've been thinking of him as lately. In a weird way, he's kind of like a robot. What I mean by that is that he is "programmed" to react a certain way to certain actions.

fx=[if]Israelites = rebellious [then] God = vengeance. That's for you, Pete.

The rest of this section puts a literal spin on the term "God's will". God literally made a will of inheritance for the Israelites. One of the most interesting is that the 10% that everyone gives to God, God gives to the Levites - but in turn the Levites must give 10% of that back to God. Most of the rest of the stuff is given to Aaron and his sons.

Why would God leave this inheritance? He's not dying, not for several thousand years anyway...
He only gave the inheritance to Aaron's family and the Levites - two group among the highest esteem in God's eyes. Also, God had elected Aaron to be the head of the tribe of Levi. Is this a thank-you gift for being obedient and clean followers of God? Is this God's offering to his people? Very interesting...

 Mark 16:1-20
The interesting thing about this last chapter of Mark is that it says the last few verses aren't included in most early, reliable manuscripts of Mark. So then the question is, where did this text come from if it wasn't included in the earliest document? This would be how Mark ended if the extra text wasn't included: Mary, Mary Magdalene, one other went to the tomb where Jesus was buried to purify his body. They were surprised to find that that stone covering his tomb had been rolled away and there was someone sitting inside telling them that Jesus was alive and waiting for them...

 ⁸Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

The end. No proof of resurrection - just some crack pot in an empty grave. The text after this - which is included in this Bible - talks about Jesus resurrected and gives a few vereses worth of encouraging words before going up to Heaven. But again. Why would this be left out, and where did it come from if it wasn't in there originally? Was it snuffed out intentionally by Romans to try to quell the belief in Christ? Or, conversely, did it actually never happen and was made up by the church later on to try and persuade people into believing? I'm fairly sure the other gospels have this information without that disclaimer. Weird.
 
Psalm 55:1-23
This one is classic David. Although he is leaning slightly to the "punish the wicked" side of things on this one. It does sound like God has finally begun to hear David's pleas for help though:

 ¹⁶ But I call to God,
       and the LORD saves me.
 ¹⁷ Evening, morning and noon
       I cry out in distress,
       and he hears my voice.
 ¹⁸ He ransoms me unharmed
       from the battle waged against me,
       even though many oppose me.

I don't think I've never been in a situation where I needed to be ransomed by God. And I suppose that is a very fortunate thing to be able to say. I know one day these verses will give me great comfort, but for now they're not resonating the way they were intended to...
 
Proverbs 11:7
 ⁷ When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes;
       all he expected from his power comes to nothing.

Very interesting - the idea of a dictataor's power dying the day he does resonates strongly in modern times. Think of the capture of Sadaam a few years back - I wouldn't say Iraq is all perfect and great now, but the power and wealth that Sadaam wielded for his own advancement became worthless the moment he was captured and executed.

Alright, early to bed. Well, normal time to bed. I've got Germans to entertain tomorrow...

Guten Tag. That means good day, but I don't know how to say good night yet...how about "Guten Tag NIEN!"