Reading for December 12
Amos 7:1-9:15
Hey, this sounds familiar.
“I will make the sun go down at noon
and darken the earth in broad daylight.
10 I will turn your religious festivals into mourning
and all your singing into weeping.
I will make all of you wear sackcloth
and shave your heads.
I will make that time like mourning for an only son
and the end of it like a bitter day.
This is a pretty accurate prophecy for the events that occurred on the day of Jesus' death. The sun went black as soon as he breathed his last, it was during the Passover festival - which turned to morning, and let's not overlook that little "only son" bit in there.
Revelation 3:7-22
I have heard this verse shot around at youth retreats probably a hundred times.
15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
This is always used to rile kids up to a passionate faith in Jesus. "On the fence" as it's often called, is not a place you want to be, according to America's youth leaders. On the other hand, I would classify my position right now as "on the fence" and I have learned more about God in this time than in my whole life. Granted, it's shaking up my faith and I go back and forth on believing in God, but I don't think we should be encouraged to just blindly have super strong faith in God without any knowledge to back it up.
I have a feeling that anyone's first solo read through of the Bible would challenge them the way it has challenged me throughout this year.
Psalm 131:1-3
3 Israel, put your hope in the LORD
both now and forevermore.
Proverbs 29:23
It's a vicious cycle...
23 Pride brings a person low,
but the lowly in spirit gain honor.
Final note, on Revelation. Didn't want to confuse you with one of my previous comments. According to my notes (this will be helpful once you get to Ch. 12, Spoiler alert!), the dragon is Satan, and the first beast that comes out of the water is Rome. The Second Beast is the priesthood of the imperial cult. 666 is Nero Caesar. the "mortal wound" is Nero dying, then three emperors rising in succession, then the Roman Empire continuing despite Nero's death.
ReplyDeleteThis makes no sense right now, but I think this will be helpful come Chapter 13. So save this! Also, the Lamb is Jesus, but I think you already got that.
Maybe this IS an episode of Lost...
What DOES worry me about Revelation, Daniel, and the rest, is that what is clear is that God views human empires negatively...
ReplyDeleteAnd, let's face it, we live in the country with the current human empire. Awwwkward. But we're not persecuting Christians like Rome did, right? Instead, we're numbing them with entertainment, blind patriotism, and the military-industrial complex. What's worse?
Actually, I thought about that for a second, and the being thrown into lion pits is worse.
ReplyDeleteSo yes, we have tons of problems, but I am genuinely very thankful for the freedoms in America.