Reading from Wednesday, June 16

OK. Time for the big reveal. The good news that I am finally at liberty to share with all of you. Well, all two of you...I got a new job! It's actually within the same company, so the transition will be very easy, but the new gig is with our Events and Meetings group and I will be working with my friend Jim doing video production and editing. I'm so pumped about this new jobby and am really excited to learn to be a pro-level photo/video dude. In addition to it being a sweet position, it's also a promotion, which is awesome.

So that's my good news. But the Murray's have another reason to celebrate! Jilly got promoted as well to Manager! Yay, Jilly! We are so thankful for this blessing in both of our lives and the challenge will be to take the increased income and use it in a Godly way.

Bible Time! 

Reading for June 16
1 Kings 15:25-17:24
We have now entered the "Judges" period of Kings. By that I mean we are covering larger portions of the timeline in single chapters where Kings come to power, act like jerks, die and then are replaced by another jerk. So at the start of this chapter, both Israel and Judah have new kings - Asa becomes king of Judah and Nadab, son of Jeroboam (Jerry) became king of Israel. Then Baasha, the son of Ahijar the prophet, killed Nadab and succeeded him as king. As soon as Baasha took power he killed everyone in Jerry's family, just as God had promised Jerry's wife a few chapters ago. A few years later Baasha's son Elah bacame king. Some dude named Zimri kills Elah, takes over as king and kills everyone in Baasha's family. This was also prophesied to Baasha in the last chapter. Then Omri takes over  as king, followed by his son Ahab. Every single one of these kings were awful people and "did evil in the eyes of the LORD" Ahab was the worst though, building altars and statues to Baal, God's nemesis.

The interesting thing about this whole chapter is that as the throne of Israel changes hands every few years, the throne of Judah remained the same. Each time a king took power the text said, "In the twenty third year of Asa, King of Judah" or "In the thirty-eighth year..." Indicating that the "shamed" portion of Israel was doing just fine and trucking along without angering God or bringing his fury. 

Chapter 25 introduces Elijah - a pretty well known dude in Jewish history. I know very little about him except that he appeared during the Transfiguration, so I'm excited to see what this guy is all about. Right off the bat, he has a very Christ-like attitude about him, and he even performs miracles similar to those of Jesus. Before I get into those though, I want to point out a clue about God's power. God orders Elijah to go to a certain ravine.

³ "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. ⁴ You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there."

"I have ordered the ravens to feed you there." Is that not incredible? And it happens, too! The ravens come and hand deliver (or I suppose, beak deliver) bread and meat to Elijah. It's just so interesting to me that God has control over animals. I know we're to believe that God has control over all things, but we usually associate that with weather and coincidence. Not wild animals. The author uses almost the same language in the next paragraph:

 ⁷ Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. ⁸ Then the word of the LORD came to him: ⁹ "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food."

I wonder what the difference in the Hebrew is between "ordered" and "commanded", but to me it seems like God has just as much control over animals as he does humans.

So Elijah goes and stays with this widow who is preparing to die alongside her son because they are running out of food and water. Elijah tells her to make a meal for him out of what little they have left and if she does, her bag of wheat will never become empty and her pot of oil will never dry up. Miraculously, this happens just as Elijah predicted, but soon the widow's son becomes very ill and eventually dies. She accuses Elijah of coming to represent God and kill her son because of her sins, an event that seems to be so common that ordinary people fear it's occurrence. Elijah goes up to the room where the dead boy is laying and prays to God to bring the boy back to life. Here's how it plays out:

²¹ Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried to the LORD, "O LORD my God, let this boy's life return to him!"
 ²² The LORD heard Elijah's cry, and the boy's life returned to him, and he lived. ²³ Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, "Look, your son is alive!"

Now, this part is crucial - look at the woman's reply:

 ²⁴ Then the woman said to Elijah, "Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the LORD from your mouth is the truth."

Up until this point, God has proved his power and existence through destruction, murder and terror. This is the first chronological instance I can think of - and correct me if I'm wrong - where someone is convinced of God's power through an act of mercy and love. Could this be the point where God's heart  started to change? I wonder if there was any sort of mental or psychological connection between Elijah and Jesus. Based on what I've read so far they are extremely similar in their character and manner of speaking. I wonder if that cosmic connection to Jesus allowed God to see what could be through the actions of his future son. 




Acts 10:24-48
So right after Peter has the vision with all the unclean animals he goes to meet with a group of Gentiles and explains his vision.

²⁷Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. ²⁸He said to them: "You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean[...]I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism ³⁵but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right. "

It's interesting the way Peter phrases this:  I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism. He certainly did at one point - for about 5000 years he played favorites. So has Peter had a revelation that God wasn't actually playing favorites the whole time? Or was it that now the favoritism had ended? I'd say the answer's pretty obvious, unless you completely dismiss the validity of the Old Testament. How then, could I say that God is the same? I will consent that he has remained the same entity since the beginning of time, but his heart went through a radical change from the Old to New Testaments.

Towards the beginning of this project I came up with this idea that God was sort of like a Robot. He was a known constant who could not be shaken from his plans and reactions. I came up with this equation that I can't find now, but it was something like =(if.Israelites=sin then.God=vengeance) - meaning that when someone sins, there is no other reaction for God to have than the freak out and kill things. This was certainly true of the first few books of the Old Testament. Now we're seeing him show compassion and mercy for the first time in the Elijah story, and love and universal acceptance here in Acts. So to say that God did not change would be a disservice to the huge character arc God went through. He came full circle, originally creating man in a paradise where sin was not even possible, man blew it, and for 5000 years God raged out on humanity, showing little cracks of kindness and love here and there. Then finally he was able to quell his anger with sin because of Jesus' sacrifice. Still not existing in perfect harmony like he envisioned, but it's the best stop-gap in history.

I haven't studied it too in depth yet, but I'm pretty sure that there is one more step to bring up back to that paradise - and that is the rapture. When Jesus returns to earth to create the paradise that was planned for us from the beginning, which we are also apparently able to experience after death. That's a pretty incredible story. That would make an excellent screenplay done in allegory. Who wants to work on the first draft with me?

Psalm 134:1-3
 ¹ Praise the LORD, all you servants of the LORD
       who minister by night in the house of the LORD.
 ² Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
       and praise the LORD.
 ³ May the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth,
       bless you from Zion.

Not too much goin on there.



Proverbs 17:9-11
 ⁹ He who covers over an offense promotes love,
       but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.
 ¹⁰ A rebuke impresses a man of discernment
       more than a hundred lashes a fool.
 ¹¹ An evil man is bent only on rebellion;
       a merciless official will be sent against him.

Alright. Time for a celebratory dinner with Jilly. We goin to Charlie Browns, son. For her birfday I'ma take her somewhere ruuuul nice like Olive Garden.