Reading from Sunday, November 7

Hey kids. How ya doin? I have some free time so I'm gonna try to catch up a little on this thing.

Reading for November 7
Ezekiel 16:42-17:24
This reading focuses again on the destruction of Jerusalem and why its being destroyed. God compares Israel to a vine which he planted in the most fertile soil and watered and helped it grow, but it ended up withering and dying. Instead of getting into the nitty gritty of this reading, I want to address a thought I had earlier today.

We often hear "If God is a God of love, why does he hurt people?" I think what's wrong about that question is the understanding of the word "love". The first thought that pops to mind for most people would be a tender, caring relationship with no controversy or hardship. But think about someone you love, a spouse, girlfriend or boyfriend, parent or sibling, you love them, but are things always easy and nice? Probably not. I think the comparison is most accurate when looking at the love of a parent for a child. A good parent will not let the children get away with things that will hurt them. You punish them only so they learn not to do those things which may harm them in the future. I know I've made this comparison many times before, but I think its important to think about.

The other type of love that makes a good comparison is romantic love. Love that makes you jealous when the object of your affection spends time with someone else. Has this ever happened to you? Have you ever done something drastic or foolish to try to reclaim your love? In the same way, we sometimes see God simply "react" to Israel's infidelity. It's not because he's vengeful or evil or even bad, he's head over heels in love with us. So he is indeed a God of love, but he is subject to the same pitfalls of love that humans are.

Hebrews 8:1-13

⁷ For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.

Paul quotes Jeremiah here. That section I read a couple months back that made me so happy to be a Christian is referenced here in Hebrews. It's important to remember that the fault of the dissolving of the first covenant was no one's fault but our own. Humans are incapable of sustaining that level of goodness and righteousness for very long. And yet, because of our failure we ended up with a better deal than before. It's not very often that you default on a contract and a new one is drawn up that gives you all the advantages.

Psalm 106:13-31
There are a few major acts of God's wrath in the Bible.

1. The flood which killed everything on Earth
2. The crucifixion
3. The destruction of Jerusalem which we're currently studying 

And one more, but it was stopped by a man. Crazy to think about but back in Exodus, when the Israelites turned away from worshiping God and started worshiping the golden calf, God's anger reached the point it had reached centuries later when Jerusalem was leveled. But Moses pleaded with God to not allow his anger to get the better of him. He convinced him to put his anger on hold and spare the people, but if he hadn't, that likely would have been the fourth major act of wrath in the Bible. 

¹⁹ At Horeb they made a calf
   and worshiped an idol cast from metal.
²⁰ They exchanged their glorious God
   for an image of a bull, which eats grass.
²¹ They forgot the God who saved them,
   who had done great things in Egypt,
²² miracles in the land of Ham
   and awesome deeds by the Red Sea.
²³ So he said he would destroy them—
   had not Moses, his chosen one,
stood in the breach before him
   to keep his wrath from destroying them.

Proverbs 27:7-9

 ⁷ One who is full loathes honey from the comb,
   but to the hungry even what is bitter tastes sweet.
 ⁸ Like a bird that flees its nest
   is anyone who flees from home.
 ⁹ Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart,
   and the pleasantness of a friend
   springs from their heartfelt advice.

Bam.