Reading from Monday, July 26

Alright, today will be catch up day. I have been spending far too much time on my game blog and I am still way behind on this thing, hopefully I can do 3 or 4 posts today.

Reading for July 26
2 Chronicles 17:1-18:34
This is a pretty good story. It is another retelling of something that happened in Kings, but it was interesting enough for me to read again.

At this point in time, Jehoshaphat is king of Judah and Ahab is King of Israel. Jehoshaphat allies himself with Ahab and they are considering going to war against another nation. Ahab has a few hundred prophets under his employ that all tell him 'go to battle, you will be victorious'. Jehoshaphat suggests hearing what a prophet of God had to say. Ahab says that he knows of one but hates him because the prophet never says anything good about him.

I don't know why but read that line where he says he hates the prophet, I imagine Ahab looking and acting a lot like Francis from Pee Wee's Big Adventure.

Anyway, this prophet, named Micaiah tells both kings that they will not be victorious over this other nation, and that Ahab will die in battle. This obviously angers Ahab and his guards and servants. One of his guards comes up and slaps Micaiah in the face asking him basically, "you're so psychic - did you see that one coming?" Ahab orders his guards to take Micaiah away and put in prison.

²⁵ The king of Israel then ordered, "Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king's son, ²⁶ and say, 'This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.' "
 ²⁷ Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!"

Micaiah is a wonderful example of being convinced of God's presence and influence in our world. He would only share the information that God revealed to him - even when it meant things would be bad for him personally.There have been times when I knew God wanted something for me, but I chose differently because I was thinking only of myself - in the end, I always regretted the choice I made. But to look at Micaiah and see how obedient he is to God's word is inspirational, to say the least.

Ahab was indeed killed in battle by the way. He tried to disguise himself as a normal soldier, but an arrow fired at random hit him right between the armor and killed him.


Romans 9:25-10:13
There is a lot of focus in this section on how the Jews and Gentiles are indeed equally deserving of God's love. But Paul hits on something that I had previously mentioned - the idea that the Jews struggled so long to follow the law, and then when they finally get it right, God changes the rules on them with Jesus. Here's how Paul addresses that idea:

³⁰What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. ³²Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works.

This is a unique way of looking at that idea. What he's saying is that the Jews, who struggled for thousands of years to earn the grace of God, never fully received it; but the Gentiles, who never had this struggle with God, are now freely given his grace through simply faith in Jesus Christ.

I will agree that doesn't seem "fair", but the gift is for all - not just Gentiles, Jews are welcome to receive the gift of Christ's sacrifice just as much as the gentiles. I just think it was harder for them to accept it because they had been forced into this idea of strictly following the law.

Paul then briefly addresses Heaven and Hell and gives the lone criteria to make sure you get to Heaven:

⁹...If you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

This is a statement of faith that maybe everyone in America has heard. Even non-Christians have probably heard this on late night televangelist programming. This is a beautiful idea that simple belief in Jesus earns you a spot in God's kingdom, but I think this line is often taken out of context. Not in the way that the content is being misrepresented, but the fact that people who hear this for the first time, have no basis for why that is such a beautiful idea. This altar call statement should be changed to:

"First read Leviticus. Go on, read it...OK now, you can see what you would have had to do to earn God's favor before Jesus came to this earth, yes? Now, guess what? All you have to do is confess aloud that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead."

I know that's not as punchy, but it's true. I believe that's why people become Christians and are crazy about it for a short while and then they fall away - there is no foundation for appreciation on their part. Fortunately, my faith has survived for 17 years without falling away too far - I think most likely because I have a lot of Christian friends who keep me honest. But like I said earlier, I am just now starting to gain an appreciation for what Jesus did for me.

Psalm 20:1-9
 ³ May he remember all your sacrifices
       and accept your burnt offerings.
       Selah
 ⁴ May he give you the desire of your heart
       and make all your plans succeed.

It's interesting to see those two verses back to back. Verse 3 is such an Old Testament statement - the sacrifices no longer applied after the greatest sacrifice was made, Jesus. And verse 4 is so counter intuitive to the idea of only wanting God's plans to succeed in your life. I wonder if the two ideas have any connection....

Proverbs 20:2-3
 ² A king's wrath is like the roar of a lion;
       he who angers him forfeits his life.
 ³ It is to a man's honor to avoid strife,
       but every fool is quick to quarrel.

Verse 3 is a little more applicable than verse 2.