Saturday, March 6

Hey Ho. This will be my first daylight post in a while which is exciting. The other thing that's exciting is that I just got back from the gym! YES! First workout. Hopefully this will motivate me to get up early tomorrow and throughout the week to continue working out.

So here we go...

Reading for March 6
Numbers 6:1-7:89
Good Lord - 89 verses?! Let's see how interesting 89 verses can be...

OK, so chapter 6 is all about becoming a Nazirite. A Nazirite is someone who has dedicated him or herself to the LORD. After researching it a little bit, it sounds like basically becoming a monk, but slightly less dedication is required...

It's strange though, the requirements aren't much different than what God has been requesting of his people up until this point. Here is what is required to become a Nazirite:

• Various animal sacrifices at the beginning and end of the period
• The person must not cut their hair
• The person must not drink wine or anything fermented or anything grape related
• The person must not come into contact with any dead person

There are also three levels of Nazirites. Temporary (usually 30 days), permanent (permanent), and then the Samson type of Nazirite - which isn't mentioned here, but totally mentioned in Wikipedia.

Also mentioned on Wikipedia is that this practice is still practiced very rarely in the Orthodox community, but is not recommended my Rabbis.

OK, on to chapter 7's 89 verses.

Sometimes I really question the writing skills of some of the authors of the books of the Bible. The reason that this chapter is 89 verses is because the same five verses are repeated 12 times. It is basically what each tribe brought as a gift to the temple once it was built. They all brought the exact same things:

one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁷⁴ one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; ⁷⁵ one young bull, one ram and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ⁷⁶ one male goat for a sin offering; ⁷⁷ and two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old, to be sacrificed as a fellowship offering.

So, this text was repeated 12 times. It's exactly the same all 12 times. Believe me - I checked. What is the thought behind writing it this way? It's so completely inefficient. At the end of the chapter, they even summarize it. Why not just have the summary and the names of the people who brought the gifts? I know I'm being a total nit-picking baby, but seriously - this is the kind of stuff that makes people give up on reading the Bible. Like what is the benefit of reading the same text 12 times in a row? OK I'm done...

Mark 12:38-13:13
Jesus speaks about the end times
So, a few of the disciples ask Jesus when the end times will happen. Jesus replies thustly:

⁵Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁶Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. ⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

I know that there have been earthquakes before, but this verse is especially poignant with all the earthquakes that have been occurring lately.  There is an interesting point that my friend Chris De La Cruz brought up last week. When Jesus speaks about 'the coming of the Kingdom of God' - which many usually associate with the rapture, and the end of the world - he is sometimes talking about his ultimate crucifixion and resurrection. But in this case, I'm pretty sure he's talking about the end of the world, since the imagery is about the destruction of various buildings.

Psalm 49:1-20
This is a really great psalm. The majority of it talks about how rich people can't carry their riches over to the afterlife, and there's some really cool stuff in here:

 ¹² But man, despite his riches, does not endure;
       he is ^[c] like the beasts that perish.

 ¹⁸ Though while he lived he counted himself blessed—
       and men praise you when you prosper-
 ¹⁹ he will join the generation of his fathers,
       who will never see the light of life .

There are two little verses in here though that are very interesting:

 ⁷ No man can redeem the life of another
       or give to God a ransom for him-
 ⁸ the ransom for a life is costly,
       no payment is ever enough-

I find this interesting because the crucifixion of Jesus is often compared with a ransom. His death paid the ransom for our souls. Now I know that this chapter is talking about physical wealth, and also that this was written before Christ was born, but it's cool to look at that now and be like, "no, actually there is a payment that is enough." 

Proverbs 10:27-28
Hey, remember when I was obsessed with finding verses about fearing God? I haven't seen one in a while, but here's a great one:

 ²⁷ The fear of the LORD adds length to life,
       but the years of the wicked are cut short.
 ²⁸ The prospect of the righteous is joy,
       but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.

I think from a logical, secular standpoint this verse still makes sense. If you were to follow the teachings of the Bible and avoid getting caught up in debauchery and silliness, you will likely have a longer life than someone who is involved with crime and stuff. The grey areas like things that are considered sins, but aren't considered illegal is where that theory falls apart, and that's when faith steps in.

Well, I started reading around noon, but it actually took me the entire day to do this post as I was running around the house doing various tasks with Jilly. It was kind of nice though because it was like it was part of my entire day....

Goodnight yo.