Reading from Wednesday, November 3

What up, sons? Who's ready for some more freaky poop-eating Ezekiel? I am.

Reading for November 3
Ezekiel 7:1-9:11
So this one isn't as strange and actually fits in with a lot of what Jeremiah prophesied about. The entirety of chapter 7 is about God's impending destruction on Israel, apparently from the Babylonians. But he is freaking ruthless about it. Not only does he guide the Babylonians in the right direction but he gives them specific instructions to do awful things to the land and to the people:

“Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. ⁶ Slaughter the old men, the young men and women, the mothers and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the old men who were in front of the temple.  ⁷ Then he said to them, “Defile the temple and fill the courts with the slain. Go!” So they went out and began killing throughout the city.

The mark on their head was similar to the Passover where the Israelites smeared the lamb's blood over their door to protect them from the angel of death. But here, God is using a group of people to just kill everything that doesn't have the mark. I can see the logic behind God's methods - weeding out the pieces of the engine that are causing trouble for the other pieces - but these are human lives we're talking about. As someone who had a recent death in my family, I can tell you that losing a grandfather to old age is hard. To see someone you love get decapitated or blugeoned by a being in the sky that is supposedly your God, well I imagine that's just a little bit harder. 

Hebrews 5:1-14
So remember back in Exodus when Aaron became the high priest over the people of Israel? Well Paul is making a connection between Jesus and the role of high priest. Apparently he fulfilled all the requirements of that role but he didn't take the glory and pride that comes with such an esteemed position. And while it's not a news flash that Jesus was humble, it's still a cool concept to think about.

Psalm 105:1-15
This talks about another one of God's promises - that the Israelites would inherit the land of Canaan. The writer here gives an illustration of how they were protected in the "early years"

¹² When they were but few in number,
   few indeed, and strangers in it,
¹³ they wandered from nation to nation,
   from one kingdom to another.
¹⁴ He allowed no one to oppress them;
   for their sake he rebuked kings:
¹⁵ “Do not touch my anointed ones;
   do my prophets no harm.”

Gives you a little insight as to how a violently aggressive God behaved against those who threatened his people.  It puts a frame on the actions he carried out in Egypt, but it's something. It's also interesting to note that here in Psalm, God is talking about how he will defend Israel, and in Ezekiel he is crawling up the walls to get them out of his face for a while...

Proverbs 26:28

²⁸ A lying tongue hates those it hurts,
   and a flattering mouth works ruin. 

My flattering mouth is time for sleep. Goodnight.