Reading for October 19
Jeremiah 33:1-34:22
Wow. This is the first thing I've read where I've felt that God was completely justified in his anger. Chapter 31 continues the positive healing that God is promising to his people. He goes into great detail about specifically what he will restore and how many and how long and when and all the questions people would normally have about this sort of thing.
Then he asks all the Jews to free any slaves they own. He reminds them of a promise the Jews made to God back when they were freed from slavery in Egypt. They promised that they would free all owned slaved every seventh year in memory of what God had done for them. It appears that this practice had not been followed in millennium but God asks for the people to follow it now.
At first they agree and set their slaves free, but shortly after that, they all find their slaves and enslave them again. Here's what God says about that.
17 "Therefore, this is what the LORD says: You have not obeyed me; you have not proclaimed freedom for your fellow countrymen. So I now proclaim 'freedom' for you, declares the LORD -'freedom' to fall by the sword, plague and famine. I will make you abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth.This is interesting. We kinda see God's own interpretation of what benefits he provides to his people. But in the same way I tried to make God go away a week ago, God now "sets free" the Israelites - but in that he is no longer offering them his protection and guidance in a time so wrought with war that it would be a devastating blow to realize that their greatest asset had sold them up the river.
But God asked them to do something directly, they said they would, and then they didn't do it. And it wasn't some weird abitrary task like walking around a city blowing trumpets, it was to set human beings free. And the people disobeyed God and shamed their own people with their awfulness.
1 Timothy 4:1-16
9This is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance 10(and for this we labor and strive), that we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, and especially of those who believe.
Interesting distinction there. God is represented here as the savior of all men, and Paul says "especially those who believe" but that means that it could include those who do not believe. This is a tricky piece of theology that I may not be smart enough to decode. Anyone out there get this?
Psalm 89:1-13
I like hearing about when God creates things like this:
11 The heavens are yours, and yours also the earth;
you founded the world and all that is in it. 12 You created the north and the south
It's creatively inspirational to think about God's thought process of creating something as non-tactile as "north" and "south"
Proverbs 25:23-24
23 As a north wind brings rain,
so a sly tongue brings angry looks.
24 Better to live on a corner of the roof
than share a house with a quarrelsome wife.
Sleep.
Oooh, I'd like to dive into that Timothy passage more, but I should be studying Greek (exam!!)
ReplyDeleteSo, quick thoughts..
1) Context. In that whole passage, Paul is talking against false prophets, perhaps the ones who say you ahve to get circumsized and follow the Jewish laws that separate Jews form Gentiles (See false prophets from the first half of Galatians). See also earlier, in 1 Tim 2, Paul says I have been sent here to convert the Gentiles, emphasizing that Gentiles are now part of God's family, all under Christ. The barrier has been broken through grace..
so the ALL in this context is probably especially emphasizing "listen, when I say all, I mean including Gentiles, people! Which means that we are not to do the law things that were meant to separate Jews from Gentitles for purposes of holiness. That was good before Christ, but now God's secret plan has been fulfilled."
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2) Our salvation happens solely due to God's work on the cross. Nothing we do can stop what is already fact -- that Jesus took on sin, conquered death, etc. And these are communal, cosmic events for Paul (and for the Bible as a whole) -- so it makes sense that Paul would emphasize salvation in its totality. It is only our more individualistic culture that has talked so much about individual salvation. Our faith is a response to the faith of JESUS through his life, his death, and resurrection, a sign of God's faithfulness to the Abrahamic covenant.
Ahhh, Greek! Let me know what you think..
I had to log on again because that second point was rambling (it's easier to write MORE when you're rushing, I guess.).
ReplyDeleteIn short: I think it says Savior of all people etc... because I think salvation happened for everyone when Jesus became man, lived a human life, died, and rose from the dead. In other words, (to put it in modern Christian speak) I was saved when Jesus died for the whole world, not when I decided to believe in him. So it makes sense Paul would talk about the whole world's salvation -- because that what Jesus says he does.
As for the second part "but especially....", I have my own interpretation (because we are made anew by choosing to be a personal relationship with Christ, in knowing Him, and in living and loving other people in light of that truth), but I would have to read the rest of 1 Tim again and think about it more to have a better answer...