Reading from Monday, November 8

Well I didn't get as far as I wanted to today. Only my second post and I'm probably hittin the hay after this one...

Reading for November 8

Ezekiel 18:1-19:14This passage shifts the focus from God laying out the punishment on Israel to laying out the punishment on individuals. Saying basically that people who are awful will be punished and people who are good will not be punished. But then there's a third category - people who used to be bad but now they're good. That reads like this:

²¹ “But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. ²² None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. ²³ Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?

A couple things to note in this selection:

1. It appears that, despite it seeming to be the contrary, God does not take pleasure in killing people - even wicked people. He would much rather see them turn their lives around and prosper. 
2. "Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live" This sentence becomes very interesting when thinking about it in the context of Paul's main message of faith vs. works. God is laying out a plan here that rewards people purely based on works and not on faith. And this is kind of the general idea that non-religious people have about God and the afterlife.
   
   "I'm a good person, I've never killed anyone...I should probably get into heaven if there is such a place." I've heard that statement so many times, and while I do believe that there's more to it than that, I wouldn't blame someone for having that viewpoint. It's so ingrained in the fabric of the relationship between God and man in the Old Testament that it's not surprising that its a view of God that has stood the test of time. 

Then he kinda sums it all up here.

 ³⁰ “Therefore, you Israelites, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. ³¹ Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? ³² For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Hebrews 9:1-10
A retelling of the history of the tabernacle and how the priests worked within the system. Very boring.

Psalm 106:32-48
Another recount of the history of the people of Israel. This section again shows the angry yet redemptive side of God:

⁴⁰ Therefore the LORD was angry with his people
   and abhorred his inheritance.
⁴¹ He gave them into the hands of the nations,
   and their foes ruled over them.
⁴² Their enemies oppressed them
   and subjected them to their power.
⁴³ Many times he delivered them,
   but they were bent on rebellion
   and they wasted away in their sin.
⁴⁴ Yet he took note of their distress
   when he heard their cry;
⁴⁵ for their sake he remembered his covenant
   and out of his great love he relented.
⁴⁶ He caused all who held them captive
   to show them mercy.

In this last month and a half I feel like I'm really starting to grasp who God is. I am starting to be able to predict what he will do before I read it. It's like coming home from hanging out with an acquaintance who you finally feel like has become a friend.

Proverbs 27:10
 ¹⁰ Do not forsake your friend or a friend of your family,
   and do not go to your relative’s house when disaster strikes you—
   better a neighbor nearby than a relative far away. 

Well, I feel like I got one more in me. Let's do it.