Reading from Friday, October 1

Yes indeedy.

Reading for October 1
Isaiah 62:6-65:25
This is an intense look into the mind of God/Jesus before and after the crucifixion:

¹ Who is this coming from Edom,
       from Bozrah, with his garments stained crimson?
       Who is this, robed in splendor,
       striding forward in the greatness of his strength?
       "It is I, speaking in righteousness,
       mighty to save."
 ² Why are your garments red,
       like those of one treading the winepress?
 ³ "I have trodden the winepress alone;
       from the nations no one was with me.
       I trampled them in my anger
       and trod them down in my wrath;
       their blood spattered my garments,
       and I stained all my clothing.
 ⁴ For the day of vengeance was in my heart,
       and the year of my redemption has come.
 ⁵ I looked, but there was no one to help,
       I was appalled that no one gave support;
       so my own arm worked salvation for me,
       and my own wrath sustained me.
 ⁶ I trampled the nations in my anger;
       in my wrath I made them drunk
       and poured their blood on the ground."

What an image. This idea of Jesus staggering out towards us covered in blood as if he were working in a winepress is jaw dropping. If you've ever seen the show Dexter, I imagine that God is similar to his character at this point. He is lamenting all of the deaths that had occurred under his watch, and by his hand. He is covered in the blood of those he had slain. But look at it from Jesus point of view too. Every drop of blood that he spilled was our blood. He was covered in the sins of the world - our sins "spattered his garments" and our transgressions "stained all his clothing".

I think the dual meaning in these verses - if I'm reading them correctly - is at the very heart of the question behind God's good and bad sides. At the same time that he is lamenting the deaths of his victims, he is also saving them through Christ. The very same "cup of wrath" that we looked at a few nights ago, is also the "cup of life". This - right here - is the yin and yang of the Hebrew God. The light and the dark. All summed up in these starkly beautiful, yet haunting verses.

Philippians 2:19-3:3
This is reminiscent of the "grass withers and flowers fall" thing...

²Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. ³For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—

Psalm 73:1-28This digs into the idea that was touched on in Ecclesiastes and Job - the issue of good things happening to bad people and vice versa:

³ For I envied the arrogant
       when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.  
⁴ They have no struggles;
       their bodies are healthy and strong.

¹³ Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure;
       in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.
¹⁴ All day long I have been plagued;        I have been punished every morning.

 ¹⁶ When I tried to understand all this,
       it was oppressive to me
 ¹⁷ till I entered the sanctuary of God;
       then I understood their final destiny.

So the lesson here is that evil people may end up having a fantastic life on earth while we toil and suffer, but in the end - sheep go to heaven. Goats go to hell.

Proverbs 24:13-14

 ¹³ Eat honey, my son, for it is good;
       honey from the comb is sweet to your taste.
 ¹⁴ Know also that wisdom is sweet to your soul;
       if you find it, there is a future hope for you,
       and your hope will not be cut off.

In the same way that honey tastes sweet to our tongues, wisdom tastes sweet to the soul. It delights the soul to increase in wisdom. I like that analogy.

Word.