Reading from Saturday, September 25

What up?

Reading for September 25
Isaiah 45:11-48:11
God's big outro.

God jumps into a huge theological speech here about...well...about everything.

First, he reminds the reader what the relationship between God and man should be.

 ¹¹ "This is what the LORD says—
       the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:
       Concerning things to come,
       do you question me about my children,
       or give me orders about the work of my hands?
 ¹² It is I who made the earth
       and created mankind upon it.
       My own hands stretched out the heavens;
       I marshaled their starry hosts.

 Now, I don't think this means we shouldn't question God. I think there's some merit in questioning God and his actions. You can grow in your faith and understanding of him through that questioning. But I think what Isaiah means here is that we should remember God's place in the whole spectrum of things. He is the one who designed the planet we live on. He imagined gravity. He conceptualized love. He designed my little bulldog with love in his heart. He drew up the plans for the chicken, which led to the most wonderful creation of the chicken sandwich. In that mindset should we approach God. Just more emphasis on this point:

 ¹⁸ For this is what the LORD says—
       he who created the heavens,
       he is God;
       he who fashioned and made the earth,
       he founded it;
       he did not create it to be empty,
       but formed it to be inhabited. 

Then we have this:

 ¹⁹ I have not spoken in secret,
       from somewhere in a land of darkness;
       I have not said to Jacob's descendants,
       'Seek me in vain.'
       I, the LORD, speak the truth;
       I declare what is right.

So let's just take a couple things as givens to make this work. First, assume that the Bible is God's word, and second, assume that God's word is infallible. Given those things, and the verse above, one would conclude that everything in the Bible is absolute and right. This conclusion includes the things that makes me proud of my faith as well as the things that I try to sweep under the rug. It also includes the things I hate about my faith. It says that everything God did in the Old Testament was justified and right to do. This is a difficult thing to accept, and I don't know if I ever will...

Then - we get an answer to the meaning of God's repeated refrain of "for my own sake..." Check this out:

 ⁹ For my own name's sake I delay my wrath;
       for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
       so as not to cut you off.
 ¹⁰ See, I have refined you, though not as silver;
       I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
 ¹¹ For my own sake, for my own sake, I do this.
       How can I let myself be defamed?
       I will not yield my glory to another.

Before we get into that though, I want to look at verse 10 there. This is evidence of the conclusion I reached after reading much of the Old Testament - that the only possible reason for God to behave so harshly was to refine the people of the earth. God desperately and, admittedly, with futility, tried to make his people as he is holy. It never worked. Not until Jesus came to save his people.

OK, now "for my own sake." It's just as I thought. God requires praise. He is an entity fueled entirely on the worship juice of others. Taken at face value, this makes God an incredibly selfish individual. Even Jesus' sacrifice, the act that is generally accepted as the most selfless, loving act in the history of the universe, could be viewed through this lens and deemed entirely selfish. Yes, he saved his people from his wrath, but to what end? So he could be praised? So more people would praise him? Sure, there are benefits in being one of God's protected children, but it just seems like he is so in need of us and our praise to him that it puts a tint of self servitude on everything in the Bible.

What's your take on this, guys? I'm really curious...


Ephesians 4:1-16

¹¹It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, ¹²to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

Yeah, but for what? So God could feed on our precious praise? 

Psalm 68:19-35
OK, so I guess it's not all one way...

¹⁹ Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,
       who daily bears our burdens.
       Selah
 ²⁰ Our God is a God who saves;
       from the Sovereign LORD comes escape from death.

Yes, God does require praise from us in what seems like a somewhat selfish manner, but how much do we ask of God? Much more, I would say...

Proverbs 24:3-4

 ³ By wisdom a house is built,
       and through understanding it is established;
 ⁴ through knowledge its rooms are filled
       with rare and beautiful treasures.

Yes. Tired. Goodnight. 

Reading from Friday, September 24

Hi. Hi there.

Reading for September 24
Isaiah 43:14-45:10
Hmm...here's that phrase again...

 ²⁵ "I, even I, am he who blots out
       your transgressions, for my own sake,
       and remembers your sins no more.
 ²⁶ Review the past for me,
       let us argue the matter together;
       state the case for your innocence.
 ²⁷ Your first father sinned;
       your spokesmen rebelled against me.

These few verses not only outline the importance of original sin, making us all guilty an in need of grace, but we have that pesky little "for my own sake" in there again. We saw a few chapters back as well. Again, what benefit would it be to God, almighty creator of everything, if we were guilty of sin or not? "For my own sake." What could God gain from his forgiveness of us?

We're often told as Christians to forgive. Jesus said that we should forgive someone who wronged us 490 times (70 x 7). Maybe God's grudges against humanity were taking a toll on him. His nature didn't allow him to forgive us until the life and sacrifice of Jesus. Maybe through his forgiveness he gains something "for his own sake."

Or maybe God wants to go for sushi and wants to drink sake with it.

Ephesians 3:1-21

⁸Although I am less than the least of all God's people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, ⁹and to make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery, which for ages past was kept hidden in God, who created all things.

When Paul says that the mystery of Christ was kept hidden in God for "ages" he could mean a couple things. Either God kept this mystery hidden before Christ was born or after he was born. The gospel of John infers that Jesus was with God from the very beginning, so maybe God did know about this insane thing that would happen hundreds and thousands of years after he created the earth. But then why go through all the heartache and trouble of Israel? I know - so they can grow and persevere - I'm just getting tired of that answer...

Psalm 68:1-18

 ⁵ A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows,
       is God in his holy dwelling.
 ⁶ God sets the lonely in families

Proverbs 24:1-2

 ¹ Do not envy wicked men,
       do not desire their company;
 ² for their hearts plot violence,
       and their lips talk about making trouble.

Reading from Thursday, September 23

Hello friends. Sorry about the inconsistent posting schedule. I hope to get to more regular updating in the next couple days.

I went into work super early this morning and caught a story on CNN about religion. There was a study and survey taken across the country that said that the majority of people who claim to be religious know very little about the religions of other people, or even sometimes lack knowledge about their own religion - and yet people who claim no religion (atheist or agnostic) usually scored higher on the quiz. You can read the article and take the quiz for yourself here. You can also listen to the beginning of this sermon that talks about this idea.

This is partially the reason why I'm doing this Bible in a year thing - not to do well on some CNN quiz, but to actually have a knowledge base of what I believe in. To know the history around why Jesus' life and subsequent death were so important. I'm debating about what to do after this year is over. I would like to learn more about other religions, so one idea would be to have Brandon's Qur'an Adventure, or I could keep going with this for another year and try to gain an even greater understanding about my own religion. What do you guys think? Qur'an Adventure, or Bible Adventure #2?

Bible time...

Reading for September 23
Isaiah 41:17-43:13
So I did a Google search on these three chapters and there seems to be a lot of people who seem to think that Isaiah 41-43 are predictions about the rise of Islam and the coming of the Prophet Muhammad. There is one set of verses that specifically seemed to be agreed upon from the various sites I visited - 42:1-3

¹ "Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
       my chosen one in whom I delight;
       I will put my Spirit on him
       and he will bring justice to the nations.
 ² He will not shout or cry out,
       or raise his voice in the streets.
 ³ A bruised reed he will not break,
       and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
       In faithfulness he will bring forth justice

To me, this is a clear reference to Jesus, but to others who practice Islam, this is a clear reference to Muhammad. I suppose its all in your perception. I know very little about Muhammad and what his deal was, so I wouldn't be surprised if these verses described him well, and hey - who I am to say that this prophesy wasn't about him? Maybe it is - in fact, maybe all the predictions about the one who will save Israel were about Muhammad and not Jesus. I need to do some more research into the life and mission of Muhammad before making a judgment.

Any of you guys know the Muhammad story? Let me know if I'm spot on, or way off base here.

Ephesians 2:1-22
Many of the books of law in the Old Testament contained laws that had caveats for foreigners. The writers of these books often referred to these people as "aliens living among you" and usually all the laws that applied to the Jews also applied to these aliens.

What Paul does here in the letter to the Ephesians is preaches a fantastic message of inclusiveness and peace.

 ¹⁹Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, ²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. ²¹In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. ²²And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Meaning everyone in the whole world is now accepted and loved by God, where for centuries only the descendants of one man, Abraham, were loved and protected by his divine mercy. Again, I'm still not cool with that, but that's the story, and I'm glad I'm living in a time when I can be included as a "member of God's household." 

Psalm 67:1-7

 ⁴ May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
       for you rule the peoples justly
       and guide the nations of the earth.
       Selah

Proverbs 23:29-35
Warnings against drunkenness...

 ²⁹ Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
       Who has strife? Who has complaints?
       Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
 ³⁰ Those who linger over wine,
       who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
 ³¹ Do not gaze at wine when it is red,
       when it sparkles in the cup,
       when it goes down smoothly!
 ³² In the end it bites like a snake
       and poisons like a viper.
 ³³ Your eyes will see strange sights
       and your mind imagine confusing things.
 ³⁴ You will be like one sleeping on the high seas,
       lying on top of the rigging.
 ³⁵ "They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt!
       They beat me, but I don't feel it!
       When will I wake up
       so I can find another drink?"

Boom.

Reading from Wednesday, September 22

Hey ho. What do you know?

Reading for September 22
Isaiah 39:1-41:16

"All men are like grass,
       and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.

 ⁷ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
       because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
       Surely the people are grass.
 ⁸ The grass withers and the flowers fall,
       but the word of our God stands forever."

 One of the more famous verses in the Bible. What does it mean? Well, it lays out here that the grass represent us, and the flowers represent our glory. But grass and flowers are temporary things. They are great and beautiful to look at, but one day they will no longer be there. So in the same way, there are awesome people on this earth who we can admire and and attempt to emulate, but we have to remember that none of this is eternal.

I know it's not the most Christian of shows, but we were watching True Blood a couple of weeks ago. It's a show about vampires and werewolves and all that other super popular stuff right now. There was this one really awful vampire who was buried under six feet of quick dry cement. Before he was fully submerged, he said that it would only be 100 years max that he would be down there. It would be like a nap to him. Meaning whatever stupid mini mall they were building over him would be gone in 100 years and he would be free. But 100 years is a normal person's entire life. For everything we want to see and everything we want to do and achieve in this life, we have about 100 years to do it, and then it will be over. God and his word are just as eternal as that vampire - even more so - because the Bible doesn't need to drink blood to survive.

Ephesians 1:1-23

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. ⁴For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love ⁵he^[c] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— ⁶to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

A couple interesting things here. Particularly the predestination stuff. Paul is arguing that God chose each of us before the earth was even created. While that might conflict with the idea of free will, I may have an explanation for it. Maybe God chose us the way we would choose a puppy. We can pick a dog we want, but that dog will end up doing whatever it wants. We can train it and scold it when it does wrong, just like God does, but ultimately we may have to give it back if it doesn't behave. You know what makes this analogy even better? Dog spelled backwards is God. Mind blown.

The other thing that is a bit concerning is that he chose specific people. What about the others? They don't get to experience God's grace? Automatically before they even have a chance to live and prove themselves, they're already damned to hell because they weren't a believer? That doesn't seem fair. That would be like me picking a puppy from a litter to be born 20 years from now and ordering the breeder to burn all the rest.

Psalm 66:1-20

 ¹⁷ I cried out to him with my mouth;
       his praise was on my tongue.
 ¹⁸ If I had cherished sin in my heart,
       the Lord would not have listened;
 ¹⁹ but God has surely listened
       and heard my voice in prayer.
 ²⁰ Praise be to God,
       who has not rejected my prayer
       or withheld his love from me!

Proverbs 23:25-28

 ²⁵ May your father and mother be glad;
       may she who gave you birth rejoice!
 ²⁶ My son, give me your heart
       and let your eyes keep to my ways,
 ²⁷ for a prostitute is a deep pit
       and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
 ²⁸ Like a bandit she lies in wait,
       and multiplies the unfaithful among men.

Reading from Tuesday, September 21

Keep it goin, dog.

Reading for September 21
Isaiah 37:1-38:22
This is a retelling of one of the events that occurred in 2 Kings, I believe. The king of Judah was Hezekiah, who as I recall was one of the better kings from the Israeli nations. He was worried to the point of death about an impending invasion from Assyria. The night before the invasion, the Assyrians were camped a little ways outside of Judah and it says an angel of the LORD swept through their camp and killed all of them. All 185,000 of them.

Now the thing I want to point out here is God's motivation for doing this. He first says that he is offering this help because Hezekiah prayed to God and asked him for help, but he also says this:

³⁵ "I will defend this city and save it,
       for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!"

 What I'm really interested in here are those three little words in the middle of the verse. "For my sake." This is so strange to me...we're seeing God having an actual desire and need. By saying "for my sake" he's inferring that saving Judah from an invading army is beneficial to God himself. How can that be? My understanding is that God is whole and needs nothing. But perhaps he needs us. Perhaps the relationship between God and servant is mutually beneficial. There are so many commandments by God to worship him - he needs the worship of his people. So by saving Judah, he is saving his worshipers and likely gaining new ones by performing this miracle.

I think God needs us just as much as we need him. What a concept...any thoughts on that, dudes?

Galatians 6:1-18
Hey - this is the last chapter in Galatians! Woot! And Paul closes with a great rally cry:

⁹Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. ¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

This is what I want to believe Christianity is all about. This is what I want to share about my faith and this is what I am proud of when people ask me about what I believe. I know there is more to it than this though. There are some things about this faith that I'm still not sure about, but for now - it certainly can't hurt to do good to all people. So that's what I'ma do.

Psalm 65:1-13
This reminds me of this sermon. God loves the land he created. He cares for it like a patient gardener.

⁹ You care for the land and water it;
       you enrich it abundantly.
       The streams of God are filled with water
       to provide the people with grain,
       for so you have ordained it.  

Proverbs 23:24
 ²⁴ The father of a righteous man has great joy;
       he who has a wise son delights in him.

Word up homie G's.

Reading from Monday, September 20

What what. Lazy Sunday, yo.

Reading for September 20
Isaiah 33:10-36:22
In Chapter 34, God talks about how all the nations have become, or are becoming, a wasteland desert. Completely devoid of life except for jackals and owls. He talks about how his vengeance has been poured out and how his sword is covered in blood from all the generations of justice on his people. The desert to me is symbolic of the heart of man. Without God, our hearts become deserted, dry and lonely places.

In Chapter 35, he talks about how the people in the desert will be redeemed.

 ⁷ The burning sand will become a pool,
       the thirsty ground bubbling springs.
       In the haunts where jackals once lay,
       grass and reeds and papyrus will grow.

 ⁸ And a highway will be there;
       it will be called the Way of Holiness.
       The unclean will not journey on it;
       it will be for those who walk in that Way;
       wicked fools will not go about on it. ^[e]

In an obvious reference to Jesus, Isaiah writes something here that he may not have even known he was writing. In verse 8 when he refers to the Way of Holiness, he is naming what Christians called themselves in the time shortly after Christ. They were called "The Way". Little trivia for ya.

So the purpose of this is to paint a picture of how people's hearts can be radically changed through knowing Jesus. A place that was once alone and desperate for water, Jesus brings living water that will never make men thirsty again.

One more thing. Remember the other night when I was talking about how people were probably expecting a different type of savior when Jesus came around because Isaiah made it sound like it was gonna be this awesome celebration? Check this out:

⁴ say to those with fearful hearts,
       "Be strong, do not fear;
       your God will come,
       he will come with vengeance;
       with divine retribution
       he will come to save you."

These people, as I would have, assumed that this vengeance and divine retribution would come in the form of a hail storm of fire on the enemies of Israel. Instead, it was the death of a humble man - the divine retribution was paid for by Jesus, though we are the ones who deserved it. 

Galatians 5:13-26
Oh yeah. Great stuff in this one.

¹³You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature^[a]; rather, serve one another in love. ¹⁴The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself."^{[b] 15}If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

Verse 15 is so poignant. How often have you seen friends, or even yourself, involved in a frivolous dispute with a friend and that dispute goes too far and in the end, they both hate each other and have done some serious emotional damage to one another? Instead, Paul teaches, serve one another in love. Be kind to each other. Let love rule your thoughts and emotions and most of all - let love rule your actions. That is how we can change the world.

Then Paul gives us a surefire plan to avoid the snares of sin:

 ¹⁶So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ¹⁷For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.  

The tough thing about this is that "live by the Spirit" is kind of a tough thing to outline. "Live by the law" is much easier to define, but obviously a much harder thing to do. Could living by the spirit just mean living in a loving way? Loving your neighbor as yourself? I think it is that, but I think it's also more than that. I had begun to dig into the idea of the Spirit a few months back, but now I've forgotten it all. Paul does give one clue as to what it means:

 ²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control.

While this is helpful, it only shows the result of living in the Spirit. So now I know what I should be getting out of it, but I don't know what I need to do to get it. 

Someone help me out. What do you think it means to live by the Spirit?

Psalm 64:1-10

 ⁶ They plot injustice and say,
       "We have devised a perfect plan!"
       Surely the mind and heart of man are cunning.
 ⁷ But God will shoot them with arrows;
       suddenly they will be struck down.
 ⁸ He will turn their own tongues against them
       and bring them to ruin;
       all who see them will shake their heads in scorn.

Again, this kind of thing outlines a message and expectation that good people will have good lives and bad people will have bad lives. God will raise up the righteous and humble the wicked. But this is simply not true. We see it today just as we see it in books like Job and Ecclesiastes. 

Proverbs 23:23
 ²³ Buy the truth and do not sell it;
       get wisdom, discipline and understanding.

Yup.

Reading from Sunday, September 19

Hop. Let's go do the hop. Oh wait - it's Let's go TO the hop, right? I'm really tired.

Reading for September 19
Isaiah 30:12-33:9
Here's another definitive characteristic of God laid out plainly:

¹⁸ Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you;
       he rises to show you compassion.
       For the LORD is a God of justice.
       Blessed are all who wait for him!

 The word "longs" is one that has some distinct connotation. You long for something that you miss usually. You long to see your wife if she's been away on business. You long to be with friends you haven't seen in a while. I think what we're seeing here is God longing for the days in the garden before sin entered the world. Or! He could be longing for the future date in which Jesus would make God's grace possible and available to everyone.

The other thing that the verb "longs" insinuates is a sense of joy. The thing you long for will bring you gladness and joy when you finally get it. God takes pleasure and joy in being gracious to us. In helping us.

Galatians 5:1-12
This is an interesting aspect of Judaism/Christianity - circumcision. The practice carries so much symbolic value that Paul here infers that if you cut that little piece of skin off your weiner, you are obligated to following the law:

²Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.

His point here is that by taking that symbolic step, you are entering into the covenant between God and man outlined in the Old Testament which is essentially - follow the rules or who the hell knows what I'll do to you. But as we know, it is impossible to follow the law perfectly - so even really really good people were breaking the covenant and were subject to God's wrath.  So what Paul is saying is that circumcising oneself is to enter into that futile, destructive contract and that Christ's death will not matter to that person.

I still think it's weird that all of that is based on cutting off a piece of your dingler.

Psalm 63:1-11
This one's unique in that it is all positive. No "why have you forgotten me" or anything like that. Here's some choice jams.

⁵ My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
       with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

 ⁷ Because you are my help,
       I sing in the shadow of your wings.
 ⁸ My soul clings to you;
       your right hand upholds me.

Very nice.

Proverbs 23:22
 ²² Listen to your father, who gave you life,
       and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Blamo. Tired. Sleep.

Prayer Request: Please pray for a friend of mine who is suffering from a condition that makes it hard for her to work. She is very frustrated with her situation. Please pray that she will find a job that can work around her needs, or that she find peace with the state of things.

Thanks.

Reading from Saturday, September 18

Holy moly - I'm over a week behind. Sorry about the lax updates lately - my normal routine has been thrown off my traveling and a few late nights this past week. Let's see if I can get caught up...

Reading for September 18
Isaiah 28:14-30:11
There's only one verse that stuck out to me in this whole reading:

^29:13 The Lord says:
       "These people come near to me with their mouth
       and honor me with their lips,
       but their hearts are far from me.
       Their worship of me
       is made up only of rules taught by men.

I have been thinking lately about the idea of God. A friend of mine was telling me about this concept called Ignosticism. This is the belief that no judgment can be made one way or the other about God because there is no way to accurately or scientifically define him, or prove his existence. And in a way, that's true. The word "God" can mean completely opposite things to two different people, so what's the point of even trying to figure out more about him or debating certain characteristics about his motivations and mentalities if we can't prove it?

But I think there is merit in that. From a Christian perspective, I believe that very few people understand God as how he is described in the Bible - including myself. On the other hand, even people who know the Bible inside and out debate certain things about the character of God. But what I think God is implying here in Isaiah is that we as people have made up things about him and how he should be worshiped and those things have stuck over time. There's things that are even in the modern American lexicon today that appear to be Biblical but actually are not. "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is a prime example. Sounds totally Biblical, but is nowhere in the Bible.

I think what God would want from all of us based on this quote is to worship him to the best of your understanding and ability after reading the Bible and experiencing his grace.

Galatians 3:23-4:31
This is especially poignant based on the previous reading:

⁸Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. ⁹But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles?

I know it's kinda buried in a larger discussion about different religious practices, but that little "known by God" instead of "know God" I think is incredibly important. Really, there is no way we could ever know God fully. I think they key to Christianity though is understanding that we are known by God. That God knows us fully and loves us fully and died fully for us. Sure there are elements we can understand about him, but I think knowing that he knows us in such an intimate way is super important to one's faith.

Psalm 62:1-12
Here is a great example of an understanding of God that is not complete:

⁵ Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
       my hope comes from him.
 ⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation;
       he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
 ⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God;
       he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

What I mean by this being incomplete is that you could read verse 5 for example and believe that God brings only hope and rest to people. But then you read Job, or experience something in your own life that's difficult and that belief that he brings hope is gone, and likely your faith with it. On the other hand, if you understand that God can bring hope, but can also bring pain - sometimes without purpose - it will strengthen you in times of hardship. 

Proverbs 23:19-21

 ¹⁹ Listen, my son, and be wise,
       and keep your heart on the right path.
 ²⁰ Do not join those who drink too much wine
       or gorge themselves on meat,
 ²¹ for drunkards and gluttons become poor,
       and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Here's an example of potential interpretation discrepancy. I read that and my immediate reaction was "Well, it's still OK if I get drunk if I want because I won't let it ruin me." While someone else might interpret it as "We can never drink alcohol or eat meat." I think the right interpretation is somewhere between those two, but what do I know?

Reading from Friday, September 17

Alright. After three straight days of shooting pictures at an insurance conference, I am spent. But I also feel like my photography got significantly better since Monday. I can take really good pictures of accountants presenting on super boring subjects - that's a life skill if I've ever seen one.

Reading for September 17
Isaiah 25:1-28:13
Wow. This is the good stuff. In Chapter 25, there is another clear prediction about Jesus' sacrifice and what the result of that sacrifice will be.

⁶ On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare
       a feast of rich food for all peoples,
       a banquet of aged wine—
       the best of meats and the finest of wines.
 ⁷ On this mountain he will destroy
       the shroud that enfolds all peoples,
       the sheet that covers all nations;
 ⁸ he will swallow up death forever.
       The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears
       from all faces;
       he will remove the disgrace of his people
       from all the earth.
       The LORD has spoken.

The imagery in these three verses is not only spot on, but also rapturously beautiful. Think about the painful history of Israel - constantly under threat of God's wrath. Living in perpetual fear of the day God will snap and kill people as he seemed to do every generation or so. Then you have this amazingly loving image of eternal grace and peace. Let me say that again - eternal grace and peace. There were certainly times of peace in their history, but what God is promising here is a peace that is everlasting.

"He will swallow up death forever."

The death he's referring to here is not the literal death that we all think of upon hearing that word. Going back to Genesis and this sermon about the fall, God warned Adam and Eve that eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil will cause them to "surely die". But after eating the fruit, they didn't die - not literally. But sin came into the world, and shame, anger, violence, deception and every other awful thing along with it. This "death" that separated God and man is what he talks about "swallowing up forever" here in Isaiah. And he is going to achieve that through Jesus.

However, reading those three verses a second time, they are somewhat deceiving as well. Go ahead and reread them and try not to associate what you already know about Jesus. It sounds like an awesome time, right? Reading those three verses you would assume that the event that causes this eternal grace would be a wonderful, joyous occasion. A banquet of aged wine...wiping away tears...removing disgrace from all peoples...as an Israelite reading this back when it was written, they must have assumed that this would be a freaking blow out party.

I think this is why Jesus had such a hard time convincing people of his divinity and of his ultimate plan - the people's expectations were out of alignment.

The other thing I want to point out is in Chapter 26 where the very first mention of the afterlife appears in the Bible, if I'm not mistaken.

¹⁹ But your dead will live;
       their bodies will rise.
       You who dwell in the dust,
       wake up and shout for joy.
       Your dew is like the dew of the morning;
       the earth will give birth to her dead. 

There is a belief that when Jesus died, every dead person who was a faithful follower of God was resurrected into Heaven. I would assume that this is where that belief originated.

Also - look at that last line - "The earth will give birth to her dead." What an image.

Galatians 3:10-22
Again - great stuff in this reading as well. More faith vs law stuff, but there are some cool concepts on the plate here.

¹²The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."^{[c] 13}Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."

I've never thought of the idea of Jesus becoming a curse, and Paul's interpretation of that verse may be stretching it a little bit, but it's still an interesting concept nonetheless.

Then he gets into the question of 'what is the purpose of the law?' Right? Like, if faith is all we need, then why was the law in place at all to begin with? Here is his response to that question (Cliff's Notes: The "Seed" is Jesus)

 ¹⁹What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.

So in Paul's interpretation, the law was a temporary fix until Jesus came to redeem the people. It was in place to help people be in communion with God, and for those who were able to follow it - the law allowed them interaction and protection and grace from God. The problem is, it is impossible to follow the law perfectly. So even those who did receive communion with God through works and attempting to follow the law, received that communion as a gift they did not deserve. Just as all of us received the gift of Christ though we did not deserve it.

Psalm 61:1-8
David - the King - wrote this:

⁶ Increase the days of the king's life,
       his years for many generations.
 ⁷ May he be enthroned in God's presence forever;
       appoint your love and faithfulness to protect him.
 ⁸ Then will I ever sing praise to your name
       and fulfill my vows day after day.

That's a little selfish and conditional don't you think?


Proverbs 23:17-18

 ¹⁷ Do not let your heart envy sinners,
       but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.
 ¹⁸ There is surely a future hope for you,
       and your hope will not be cut off.

Word up doggies.

Reading from Thursday, September 16

Yo yo. What's up friends? I've missed the last few nights due to fatigue and lack of internet. I'm in Brooklyn right now for work, and I'm working off the Hotel's "free" wifi - which is slower than the 3G on my phone.

If you are on a network that was updated after 1998, unlike myself right now, I would highly recommend - no - I would highly demand that you go and listen to this sermon right now. This is the second sermon in the series of our church's "Big Picture" series where they cover the overall story of the Bible in eight weeks. This particular sermon focuses on "the fall" but really addresses the problem of evil in a really interesting way.

Christian, Atheist, Agnostic, Muslim, Buddhist - take a listen, I think there's some value in this one for everyone. 

Reading for September 16
Isaiah 22:1-24:23
Up until this point, Isaiah has been making prophesies against the enemies of Israel. Countries and territories that sought to hurt Israel were to be dealt with harshly by the Lord, and as we saw a few night ago, many of these predictions came to pass if you believe the timeline of events.

So I would imagine that the original readers of this text would be pretty revved up at this point after reading how all the people who caused them fear or pain would get what was coming to them. However, in these three chapters, Isaiah prophesies about the destruction of Jerusalem and then the entire world.

After the prediction of these terribly scary things that will happen to Jerusalem, and how the people will react to the terror by trusting in their own methods of saving themselves, Isaiah concludes with this message:

¹¹[...] But you never ask for help from the One who did all this.
      You never considered the One who planned this long ago.

That's the thing - throughout the early part of the Old Testament there is a very predictable, almost graphable up-and-down in the Israelites faith in God. They have faith, then they turn away, God brings destruction, they ask for relief from said destruction, they turn back to God and the cycle repeats. It appears that in the midst of this destruction that Isaiah is predicting, the people do not ask for help from their God. They forget they he made everything and is responsible for everything - or can at least control everything.

Galatians 2:17-3:9
Paul brings it back to his sweet spot of his teaching's: the relationship between faith and law. This is awesome stuff:

¹⁹ For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. ²⁰ My old self has been crucified with Christ.^[a] It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. ²¹ I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.

There is this idea in the brand of Christianity I was taught, that focusing on ridding yourself of sin, or "keeping the law", will only lead you into sin because you continue to think about it and obsess over it and it just creeps back into your life very easily. Paul sums up this idea perfectly in verse 19: "For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me." The remedy for this is to avoid even thinking about sinning, but rather to focus on your relationship with God - and through your relationship with God, the sin will dissolve naturally. 

There is a careful balance though. We can't just ignore the law, because I believe that it is in place for our own benefit.  But neither we can't be a slave to following the law - this approach leads to self torment and a lot of mental anguish. What we need to do is three things:

1) Realize and accept that sin is a part of being human. We can not live a perfect existence.
2) Realize and accept that God paid the ultimate price to save us - in spite of our inability to follow his law.
3) Live in way that reflects the forgiveness bestowed upon us.

Psalm 60:1-12
This is interesting. A lot of the imagery in this group of verses was in the prediction against Israel that we read in Isaiah tonight:

¹ You have rejected us, O God, and broken our defenses.
      You have been angry with us; now restore us to your favor.
 ² You have shaken our land and split it open.
      Seal the cracks, for the land trembles.
 ³ You have been very hard on us,
      making us drink wine that sent us reeling.

Both the sealing of cracks and the bitter wine were mentioned specifically in the reading from Isaiah:

^22:9 You inspect the breaks in the walls of Jerusalem.
      You store up water in the lower pool. 
^24:9 Gone are the joys of wine and song;
      alcoholic drink turns bitter in the mouth.

Now this Psalm was written by David - who lived probably a good couple hundred years before Isaiah - so these psalms were probably readily available for Isaiah to read which would mean that he may have gotten these images for his prophecies from David's writings or if he didn't read them, then it shows consistency in the revelation that comes from God. 

Proverbs 23:15-16
 ¹⁵ My child,^[a] if your heart is wise,
      my own heart will rejoice!
 ¹⁶ Everything in me will celebrate
      when you speak what is right.

Awesome sauce. Word up. Doggy dog. Gin and Juice. 

Reading from Wednesday, September 15

Hey guys. What's up?

Reading for September 15
Isaiah 19:1-21:17
There are prophesies against a few more nations in this reading, similar to the ones from yesterday's reading.

I was listening to this debate on NPR today about the validity of philosophy. One guy was a philosophy professor and the other guy was a scientist or something. The scientist believed that there is no point in studying philosophy and that it had no meaning. His argument was slightly flawed, but the way he was talking reminded me very much of Ecclesiastes, and then I started to see his point.

While I believe philosophy is important in helping to decide ethical and moral questions, just debating ideas or concepts that have no real bearing on our planet is meaningless in the end. Sure it exercises our minds and gets us thinking three-dimensionally, but what outcome does it produce?

I say all this because I was about to jump into a big statement about how God foretold all of these events of destruction but doesn't that interfere with free will and all that stuff, but what does it matter?

On that note - what's the point of doing this blog at all? Of trying to understand God and his word? What good will it do anyone if I figure out that God isn't all good all the time or that he doesn't just want us to be happy? If I believe in relative truth, then the person who believes in the God who is a wish granting vending machine would be just as valid as my theories about the "true God" after studying him for a year straight.

Pete Mitchell - if you're reading this...I know you're all over this topic.

Galatians 2:1-16
Two groups of friends...

I know that in the Christian sub-culture we can often run with two distinctly different groups of people. Our Christian friends and our secular friends. This is true for almost everyone I know. I am also aware of how most people act differently depending on which group of friends they're with, I am certainly guilty of it. When around our church friends we clean up our language a bit, maybe mention God a few times, maybe sit out that third beer - but we do just the opposite around the other group.

There is also a certain amount of shame on our parts between both groups. Have you ever downplayed your church activities to your secular friends or vice versa? I know I have. I know a few people who have made valiant efforts to merge these two groups - and while there have been some successes, I can certainly attest that it is not an easy thing to do.

Well, here in Galatians, Paul mentions a time when the apostle Peter had a similar circumstance.

¹²Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. ¹³The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

So Peter was trying to hang with the Gentiles (non Jews) and share the message of Christ with them, but when these apparently more conservative men came he began to separate himself from this other group as to not lose his street cred.

I'm not sure what the lesson here is: don't be ashamed of your non-Christian friends when your Christian friends show up? Maybe.

Psalm 59:1-17
I think the most compelling thing about most of the Psalms is the sharp contrast that runs through them. This one is no exception. The first 15 verses are about how God is going to wreck these evildoers:

⁵ O LORD God Almighty, the God of Israel,
       rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
       show no mercy to wicked traitors.

But then at the end of the Psalms like this one, you have stuff like this:

¹⁶ But I will sing of your strength,
       in the morning I will sing of your love;
       for you are my fortress,
       my refuge in times of trouble.

The funny thing is, these "good" verses are the ones that most people pick out when quoting psalms. I mean, sure they're likely some of the most uplifting verses in the Bible, but I this is a perfect example of taking only the good side of God and ignoring the bad side - but again - that debate is meaningless.

Proverbs 23:13-14

 ¹³ Do not withhold discipline from a child;
       if you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
 ¹⁴ Punish him with the rod
       and save his soul from death.

Spare the rod, spoil the child? Is that it?

Reading from Tuesday, September 14

Let's keep it rollin, yo.

Reading for September 14
Isaiah 15:1-18:7
In this reading there are prophecies against three nations who were enemies of Israel: Moab, Damascus, and Cush.

First Moab:

¹⁴ But now the LORD says: "Within three years, as a servant bound by contract would count them, Moab's splendor and all her many people will be despised, and her survivors will be very few and feeble."

Moab was a nation that descended, but broke off from the family of Abraham back in Genesis - he was a descendant of Lot. If you remember, Lot slept with his daughter - and Moab was the result of that sexy-time, so make of that what you will. Well, what happened to Moab after Isaiah's prophecy?

Sometime during the Persian period (550–330 BC) Moab disappears from the extant historical record. Its territory was subsequently overrun by waves of tribes from northern Arabia, including the Kedarites and (later) the Nabataeans.

Boom. Prophecied!

Next, Damascus:

       "See, Damascus will no longer be a city
       but will become a heap of ruins.

And once again, I know nothing about history, so Wikipedia said:

By the 8th century BC, Damascus was practically engulfed by the Assyrians and entered a dark age. Nonetheless, it remained the economic and cultural center of the Near East as well as the Arameaen resistance. In 727, a revolt took place in the city, but was put down by Assyrian forces. After Assyria went on a wide-scale campaign of quelling revolts throughout Syria, Damascus became totally subjugated by their rule.

Not quite as cut and dry as Moab, but still interesting nonetheless.

And finally Cush:
Well, this one's a little more abstract, and I don't get it. But you get the idea - Isaiah was pretty accurate...
 
Galatians 1:1-24
This is certainly relevant considering the idea of the Quran burning last week:

If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!
 ¹⁰Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

I mean he has a point. The human side of me is the side that said "hey, let's all get along. The Islam religion is just as relevant and important as Christianity" - but apparently I am wrong in that assumption if I am going to be under the umbrella of Christianity.  I was trying to win the approval of man - to put it in Paul's words. And while I don't think God would approve of a Quran burning, although he surely would have in the Old Testament, there is a fine line of pleasing other people or pleasing God.

The problem is that most of the major religions have the "one truth" clause - meaning within each religion's own holy books or teachings, they proclaim that their religion is the one truth and all others are malarky. So how can I justifiably prove that my truth is truthier than someone elses?

As for me, right now, I'm going with the relative truth belief. If it's the truth in your heart then it's an absolute truth.

Psalm 58:1-11
Damn...

¹⁰ The righteous will be glad when they are avenged,
       when they bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
 ¹¹ Then men will say,
       "Surely the righteous still are rewarded;
       surely there is a God who judges the earth."

That's pretty intense.


Proverbs 23:12
 ¹² Apply your heart to instruction
       and your ears to words of knowledge.

Reading from Monday, September 13

What it is, kids?

Reading for September 13
Isaiah 12:1-14:32
There is a stark contrast of messages in this - admittedly very long - reading. Chapter 12 is a song of praise that reminds us that there is a savior coming and that even though God's anger has been against us in the past, we are no longer subject to it - at least for now:

¹ In that day you will say:
       "I will praise you, O LORD.
       Although you were angry with me,
       your anger has turned away
       and you have comforted me.

But then it goes into a section of predictions of the violent destruction of many nations - the one that seems to get the most attention from God's "hand of judgment" is Babylon.

 ¹⁹ Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms,
       the glory of the Babylonians' ^[b] pride,
       will be overthrown by God
       like Sodom and Gomorrah.

Now - not knowing anything about history, I looked up Babylon on Wikipedia - here's what it says:

In 689 BC, its walls, temples and palaces were razed, and the rubble was thrown into the Arakhtu, the sea bordering the earlier Babylon on the south.

The timelines match too - it's believed that Isaiah made these predictions somewhere in the BC 700s. Pretty neat when history and the Bible match. Sure these could have been written after the fact, but where would my faith be if I believed that?

2 Corinthians 13:1-14
So closes the most pointless book in the Bible. I think I found less value in 2 Corinthians than in the first chapter of 1 Chronicles.

Boom.

Bible insult.

Psalm 57:1-11
I think I singled this verse out in the last go-around, but I liked it so much, here it is again:

⁷ My heart is steadfast, O God,
       my heart is steadfast;
       I will sing and make music.

Proverbs 23:9-11
Again...OK...

 ⁹ Do not speak to a fool,
       for he will scorn the wisdom of your words.
 ¹⁰ Do not move an ancient boundary stone
       or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
 ¹¹ for their Defender is strong;
       he will take up their case against you.

Reading from Sunday, September 12

Hey.

Reading for September 12
Isaiah 10:1-11:16
This book continually swings back and forth from the image of God the angry father to Jesus the redeemer - though Jesus is not named.

There are sections of "Woe to you..." and "woe to those who..." followed by the severe punishment that God will dish out on those people. Each of these sections ends in this same refrain:

   Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away,
       his hand is still upraised.

Striking the people of the earth, only to raise his hand for another strike - over and over. I think this may be referring to Israel's continual adoption and abandonment of God, in addition to the "wickedness" of other nations. So Chapter 10 is all about these people who will fall victim to God's judgment, while Chapter 11 is about this "Root of Jesse".

Isaiah talks about how very few people will be left from the lineage of David in the days of God's anger. He keeps mentioning this "remnant"

²⁰ In that day the remnant of Israel,
       the survivors of the house of Jacob,
      [...]will truly rely on the LORD,
       the Holy One of Israel.
²¹ A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob
       will return to the Mighty God. 
 ²² Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand by the sea,
       only a remnant will return.
       Destruction has been decreed,
       overwhelming and righteous. 

That's some pretty terrifying stuff to hear as an Israeli. But then God counters with something quite comforting.

 ²⁴ "O my people who live in Zion,
       do not be afraid of the Assyrians,
       who beat you with a rod
       and lift up a club against you, as Egypt did.
 ²⁵ Very soon my anger against you will end
       and my wrath will be directed to their destruction."

Now - with absolutely no knowledge on the subject - I think this is a misinterpretation of Isaiah. I think what God is saying that his anger against humanity will soon end, and his wrath will be directed at the destruction of sin. Which to me would mean sending Jesus to die on the cross for all of us. And funnily enough - that's where he goes next:

¹ A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
       from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.


 ⁴ but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
       with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
       He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
       with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
¹² He will raise a banner for the nations
       and gather the exiles of Israel;
       he will assemble the scattered people of Judah
       from the four quarters of the earth. 

Verse 12 there really reinforces my theory - Jesus, this "root of Jesse" will return to reunite all people. Forgive all people. And when he says "gather the exiles of Israel" I believe that means everyone. If we take the Adam and Eve story as truth, then technically every nation other than Israel are exiles of said nation.

Right?



2 Corinthians 12:11-21
Nothing. Skip.

Psalm 56:1-13
Hope.

¹¹ in God I trust; I will not be afraid.
       What can man do to me?
 ¹² I am under vows to you, O God;
       I will present my thank offerings to you.
 ¹³ For you have delivered me ^[c] from death
       and my feet from stumbling,
       that I may walk before God
       in the light of life. ^[d]

Proverbs 23:6-8
OK...sure

⁶ Do not eat the food of a stingy man,
       do not crave his delicacies;
 ⁷ for he is the kind of man
       who is always thinking about the cost. ^[a]
       "Eat and drink," he says to you,
       but his heart is not with you.
 ⁸ You will vomit up the little you have eaten
       and will have wasted your compliments.

Reading from Saturday, September 11

So my pastor just started a new series of sermons called "The Big Picture". Over the next eight weeks, he will try to convey the big picture of the story of God and his people. The first one was yesterday and here is a link to the online playback - SERMON. It's really freaking good. I will make sure to link you guys each week to the sermons in this series, as it kind of is a much smarter and much more educated guy doing what I'm doing but in a much better way.

The sermon's about forty minutes, but hey - you're at work reading this anyway - why not listen to something awesome while you work?

Reading for September 11
Isaiah 8:1-9:21
OK - a lot of this stuff is pretty cryptic, or it's flying over my head - one or the other. Although as a prophet, I imagine that the messages Isaiah received were pretty confusing as well. Even the stuff that appears to be about Jesus is inconsistent with the story. Look here:

 ⁶ For to us a child is born,
       to us a son is given,
       and the government will be on his shoulders.
       And he will be called
       Wonderful Counselor, ^[h] Mighty God,
       Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 ⁷ Of the increase of his government and peace
       there will be no end.
       He will reign on David's throne
       and over his kingdom,
       establishing and upholding it
       with justice and righteousness
       from that time on and forever.
       The zeal of the LORD Almighty
       will accomplish this.

Certainly there is nothing false in those two verses, but they are misleading. The way Isaiah describes it, you would have thought that Jesus would come into Jerusalem on a space ship from the future with seventeen swords and a platinum tank, and a million guns. Or, in other - more realistic words, a typical Israeli king: hungry for power, and a fervent, physical defender of his people. This is where the mind goes when reading these words. And it's likely that Isaiah was only given a few details and he filled in the rest based on how he thought it should be.

This explains why the Jews in the early NT had a hard time accepting that Jesus was the one the prophets spoke about. He was very plain and poor and not much to look at. They wanted Vin Diesel and they got Michael Cera.

2 Corinthians 12:1-10
OK. This is so weird:

²I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. ³And I know that this man [...] ⁴was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell.

What. Is third heaven?  Is this one of those cases where someone dies on the operating table and is then resuscitated but was in Heaven for five minutes or something? Maybe. Or maybe this was the first person to discover a hallucinogenic drug, and didn't know any better.

I'm not sure what I feel about heaven. The consistency of the stories of people seeing a "bright light" could easily be explained away by the mind creating what it thinks it is supposed to see that close to death. Or it could be the "hallway to heaven" - who's to say?

Maybe our entire afterlife occurs in the instant before we die - a creation of the mind to reward us for following religion and sacrificing and dedicating and believing and giving and waiting and being disappointed and happy and sad and all these things that go along with believing in God - our brains may take all that and manifest a reality for us to exist in during the eternity between our last breath and death.

Or Heaven could exist the way I was taught. A place where people go who believe in Jesus and accept him as their personal savior. Although, outside of the gospels, there really isn't much talk about Heaven. Even most of Jesus' nods to the topic seem to be about the time after his second coming.

Heaven. What a mystery. What are your thoughts on the afterlife? Hit me up in the comments.

Psalm 55:1-23
This is interesting in light of Job and Ecclesiastes:

²³ But you, O God, will bring down the wicked
       into the pit of corruption;
       bloodthirsty and deceitful men
       will not live out half their days.
       But as for me, I trust in you.

The psalmist's belief that God will take early the lives of bad people is simply incorrect - as proven by Job, who suffered the opposite fate, and the Teacher, who witnessed many evil people living long and happy lives. Again, wishful thinking projected onto the human ideal of what God should be. 

Proverbs 23:4-5
Riches are meaningless.

 ⁴ Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
       have the wisdom to show restraint.
 ⁵ Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,
       for they will surely sprout wings
       and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Alright kids. Checkin out. See you tomorrow. 

Reading from Friday, September 10

Hey hey. Lazy Sunday has culminated in a very sleepy, last ditch effort to get at least one post done today. Apologies in advance for laziness in this post.

Reading for September 10
Isaiah 6:1-7:25
There is a prophecy about Jesus in this section that is very specific, but it contains details that aren't familiar to me. So I'm not sure if the prophecy was incorrect, or if my ignorance is holding me back. Here is the statement:

¹³ Then Isaiah said, "Hear now, you house of David! Is it not enough to try the patience of men? Will you try the patience of my God also? ¹⁴ Therefore the Lord himself will give you ^[d] a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and ^[e] will call him Immanuel. ^{[f] 15} He will eat curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right. ¹⁶ But before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste. ¹⁷ The LORD will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah—he will bring the king of Assyria."

Aside from the virgin birth, I don't remember anything about Jesus eating curds or the king of Assyria or anything like that in the gospels. Who's smarter than me who can answer these things? 

2 Corinthians 11:16-33

In this section, Paul boasts or brags about his many hardships. He talks about how he was shipwreked, imprisoned, beaten, deceived, tortured, stranded and various other things that have happened to him. He says

³⁰If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.

It's an interesting idea - bragging to one another about sacrifices and hardships you've gone through - who had it worse so to speak. But then it's still a pissing contest. I think one of the main reasons that boasting is discouraged is because of the comparative rivalry is causes in our minds. We focus on how someone has done something so much better, or in this case, worse than us. And then we have to one up them - completely defeating the purpose of being humble in Christ. 

I guess it beats bragging about how big your hubcaps are.

Psalm 54:1-7

Hope.

 ³ Strangers are attacking me;
       ruthless men seek my life—
       men without regard for God.
       Selah
 ⁴ Surely God is my help;
       the Lord is the one who sustains me.

Proverbs 23:1-3
This is an interesting one:

 ¹ When you sit to dine with a ruler,
       note well what ^[a] is before you,
 ² and put a knife to your throat
       if you are given to gluttony.
 ³ Do not crave his delicacies,
       for that food is deceptive.

Whatchu guys make of that?

Reading from Thursday, September 9

Howdy.

Reading for September 9
Isaiah 3:1-5:30
These couple chapters give some context to God's side of the story for the events of the Old Testament. He compares Israel and Judah to a vineyard, saying that he picked out the choicest plot of land and used the best seeds and took special care of the vines, protected it from intruders and yet it only yielded bad grapes. In the same way, God gave the Israelites their own beautiful land, protected them from other nations, loved and cared for them in times of need, and yet they continually turned away from him.

What strikes my interest in this section is God's apparent distaste for violence. Look here:

  And he looked for justice, but saw bloodshed;
       for righteousness, but heard cries of distress.

My problem with that is that God was the cause of much bloodshed and the reason for many cries of distress. So someone is wrong here - either Isaiah is incorrectly assuming that God dislikes violence or the authors of the older books incorrectly attributed the violence to God's hand. Or maybe I'm wrong - actually I am probably wrong because later in this reading, Isaiah writes about how God will punish his people for their continually disappointing behavior. Maybe God doesn't like people to commit violence but it's fine if he does it. Maybe he doesn't like doing it himself, but he has to to shape and mold his people - a kind of "this hurts me more than it hurts you" thing.

Anybody got any ideas about this apparent inconsistency?

2 Corinthians 11:1-15
Paul gets into the idea of avoiding false apostles. Pretty standard stuff, nothing mind blowing.

Skip.

I never realized how little theology was in this book.

Psalm 53:1-6
I remember this one - this is a Psalm that clearly outlines the need for a savior.

² God looks down from heaven
       on the sons of men
       to see if there are any who understand,
       any who seek God.
 ³ Everyone has turned away,
       they have together become corrupt;
       there is no one who does good,
       not even one.

We always have to remember that we are all sinners. No one is better than the other, we are all broken, awful creatures, but thanks to my main man, JC - we don't have to suffer in our sin. 

Proverbs 22:28-29
 ²⁸ Do not move an ancient boundary stone
       set up by your forefathers.
 ²⁹ Do you see a man skilled in his work?
       He will serve before kings;
       he will not serve before obscure men.

Goodnight. If you're into video games, I just beat God of War III last night and reviewed it on my other blog. You can check that out here if you're interested.  Thanks, kids.

Reading from Wednesday, September 8

What up, kids?

Reading for September 8
Isaiah 1:1-2:22
Oh yeah. I am extremely excited to read these next few books. From what I understand - this is the prophetic section of the Bible - from Isaiah to Daniel - I have heard many mind blowing quotes from these guys so I'm pumped to see what's on the plate here. Let's dig in.

Oh yeah. This is the good stuff. I wish I wasn't rushing through the Bible to try to finish it in a year - I could probably do three or four nights of blogging just on these two chapters alone. Let me try to summarize what's going on here.

So this is the same prophet Isaiah that we read about back in 1 or 2 Chronicles. He was around during the whole Israel vs Judah thing. The majority of the text is God speaking through Isaiah, so if I say "he said" or "he wrote", assume I'm talking about God. So he opens the first chapter with a commentary on the rebellion of Israel. How they have abandoned God and ignored his commandments. This is true - during the time this was written, there was a constant rebellion away from God and into the neuveaux religion of the moment. He encourages his people to stop doing wrong but to do right. And it actually sounds right!

^1:17 learn to do right!
       Seek justice,
       encourage the oppressed.
       Defend the cause of the fatherless,
       plead the case of the widow.

Yes, yes and yes. This is the God I believe in. A God of true justice and mercy. A God who helps the helpless loves the unloving and gives grace to those undeserving.

But that's not why people came to this show. They came for prophecies, and in these first two chapters he makes two main prophecies:

1) The coming of Christ
2) The second coming of Christ

Now I'm assuming these things since I already see what the context clues are insinuating, but judge for yourself:

First coming:

  ^1:18 "Come now, let us reason together,"
       says the LORD.
       "Though your sins are like scarlet,
       they shall be as white as snow;
       though they are red as crimson,
       they shall be like wool.

Second coming:

^2:12 The LORD Almighty has a day in store
       for all the proud and lofty,
       for all that is exalted 
¹⁷ The arrogance of man will be brought low
       and the pride of men humbled;
       the LORD alone will be exalted in that day

This is really excellent stuff. Maybe after this year is over I can spend a couple months a piece in a few of the books I really enjoyed reading, and really get in depth with research and stuff. This, of course will be on my list.

2 Corinthians 10:1-18
Again, this section really isn't doing anything for me.


Skip.

Again.

Psalm 52:1-9
 ⁷ "Here now is the man
       who did not make God his stronghold
       but trusted in his great wealth
       and grew strong by destroying others!"

These kind of people still exist in the world - perhaps more than ever. Evil rich dudes who care for nothing but their riches. But we have to remember that Jesus died for them too. "The least of these" isn't just poor or oppressed people - it includes "the best of these" by worldly standards. Remember to love these kinds of people too, as Jesus loved them.

Proverbs 22:26-27
 ²⁶ Do not be a man who strikes hands in pledge
       or puts up security for debts;
 ²⁷ if you lack the means to pay,
       your very bed will be snatched from under you.

Alright, yo. Bedtime. Happy weekend.