Reading for November 11
Ezekiel 23:1-49
God again pulls out the prostitute comparison. He compares the ways of Israel to the ways of a prostitute who turned her back on God. When God begins to explain the parable, he gets into what is making him so mad. This has been mentioned a lot in the Bible, but I haven't really gotten into it much: it seems that the religion that the Israelites turned to is one that requires the sacrifice of their own children to the idols. I think we can all get behind God's righteous anger caused by people killing their own kids, but I still wonder about the motivation behind the anger.
Even though he mentions this child murder aspect of the other religion a good number of times, I can't help but wonder if he's exploiting that fact to make it seem like his anger is righteous. God doesn't want us worshiping anything besides him - even if its a God that exclusively gives homeless people free food for life, he doesn't want us anywhere near anything else. So while it's obviously awful that people are killing their kids, I think God is just pointing out one really bad thing about one specific religion and using that to convince people that every other religion is wrong and nasty.
What are your thoughts on this?
Hebrews 10:18-39
This is one of those great little nuggest of the Bible that just makes me happy to be a Christian
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another.I like the idea of not only doing good ourselves, but also thinking about what we can do to encourage each other into committing acts of love and goodness. What are some good ways to encourage one another toward love and good deeds? Let's get a dialogue going.
Psalm 109:1-31
Ah, David. Remember him? He was the best. He's got some beef with someone and he really lets all his feeling out about this guy.
6 Appoint someone evil to oppose my enemy;
let an accuser stand at his right hand.
9 May his children be fatherless
and his wife a widow.
12 May no one extend kindness to himIt's funny - that kinda sounds like Job...
or take pity on his fatherless children.
Proverbs 27:13
13 Take the garment of one who puts up security for a stranger;
hold it in pledge if it is done for an outsider.
Hey, I'm catching up the past couple of weeks of blog entries.
ReplyDeleteQuick note on Philemon (Don't know if someone already answered this for you). Paul doesn't have a son. He is advocating THE RELEASE OF A SLAVE! Philemon's slave, Onesimus, apparently escaped. He also probably stole something from Philemon.
But it seems like Philemon was discipled under Paul and became a faithful Christian. But rather than stay with Paul, Paul has Onesimus sent back to his former master.
Shrewdly, Paul tells Philemon that of course he would free Onesimus, because Paul is sending his "own heart," ie Onesimus, back, and Philemon would never hurt Paul's own heart, now would he?
Even more radically, Paul says that if Onesimus has wronged Philemon in any way, "charge that to " Paul's "account."
Paul has to talk in code in order not to 1) upset Philemon, and 2) be F'd up for advocating the freeing of a freaking slave during that time period.
But Paul is indeed trying to live out the radical implications of the Lordship of Christ over the world. And while, no, Paul doesn't outright call for all slaves to suddenly be freed, throughout his letters he has a high view of those slaves as God's people that are counter to the view of those times.
And Paul is being a faithful imitator of Christ. Whatever Onesimus stole from Philemon, Paul is paying for it. In other words, Paul is paying the debt that Onesimus owes -- he is taking on himself the wrongs that Onesimus committed.
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