Tuesday, March 2

Yes yes. Good evening. I'm gonna try to go to bed relatively early tonight as I've tried for the past two days to wake up early to exercise. So far the snooze button has won out both days. I'm telling you this because once I tell someone else, I then feel a little more accountable to follow through with it. So here's to tomorrow's post starting with "I worked out this morning"

Reading for March 2
Leviticus 25:47-27:13
Rewards for following the rules, ridiculous punishment for breaking them.

So it's clear that God doesn't fall under the eye for an eye rule. In this section he tells Moses about how much he will reward the Israelites if they follow his rules and decrees. Which is great, but if they do not follow his rules and decrees, the punishment he pours out can be described as nothing short of ruthless. Plagues, unsuccessful harvests, slaughters by the enemy, slaughters by wild animals, cannibalism - man, God can't handle his people not following him.

What am I supposed to make of this? A God who is so in need of his people to do everything he says, that if they don't he completely overreacts and inflicts penalties that are complete overkill.

An interesting point did come out of this passage though: the rules and decrees God provided seem to have been a stop-gap for him to tolerate his people before Jesus' sacrifice. Check it:

¹⁸ " 'If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over.

So this leads me to believe that all these rules were actually in place to serve as a buffer between God and our sin, or between God and our sin-nature. As I theorized before, God physically cannot be in the presence of sin, so maybe the people following these rules acted as a sort of filter for God to be able to be around them. Still, the punishment does not seem to fit the crime.

Then the last section of text is extremely strange to me. God is putting dollar values on human beings.

'If anyone makes a special vow to dedicate persons to the LORD by giving equivalent values, ³ set the value of a male between the ages of twenty and sixty at fifty shekels ^[b] of silver, according to the sanctuary shekel

It goes on from there breaking down different age ranges and gender. I'm not entirely sure what this vow means. People dedicate someone to the LORD by giving the right amount of money. But giving the money to whom? The temple? What expenses did they have? They lived in the desert? Who would be able to even spend money in the desert? 


Mark 10:32-52
Power grab.
James and John are starting to see how great Jesus is and how well he is respected wherever they travel. I also imagine that all Jesus' talk about being the son of God and how he is God's son made James and John feel like they needed to capitalize on an opportunity while it was available. So they pulled Jesus aside and asked him if they could both sit at his side 'in his glory' (presumably heaven).

Jesus challenged them and asked if they were prepared to drink the cup Jesus was about to drink - this was right after he explained to them for a second time, what was going to happen on the day of his crucifixion - and they were all for it. Jesus knew better though and told them they didn't know what they were talking about. I'm sure they were relieved when they found out what he actually meant by that. Well, maybe relieved isn't the right word when talking about the crucifixion of Jesus. Maybe relieved that Jesus talked them out of it.

Psalm 45:1-17
Like a sweet best man toast.
 ¹ My heart is stirred by a noble theme
       as I recite my verses for the king;
       my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.
 ² You are the most excellent of men
       and your lips have been anointed with grace,
       since God has blessed you forever.
 ³ Gird your sword upon your side, O mighty one;
       clothe yourself with splendor and majesty.
 ⁴ In your majesty ride forth victoriously
       in behalf of truth, humility and righteousness;
       let your right hand display awesome deeds.
 ⁵ Let your sharp arrows pierce the hearts of the king's enemies;
       let the nations fall beneath your feet.

This psalm was not credited to David, and it shows - this is a completely different writing style. Different but beautiful.

Proverbs 10:22
I love this:
²² The blessing of the LORD brings wealth,
       and he adds no trouble to it.

So God will pour out his blessings, and at the same time, will not make it difficult for you to enjoy his blessings.

OK, I don't know why I'm so tired. It's only 10:00. Well if I go to sleep now, maybe I'll be able to get up for the gym tomorrow morning.

Gnite.