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.