Reading from Thursday, December 16

Howdy, chums. It's the second day of 2011 and that means I'm running two days late on finishing this thing.

I think by the end of this week I should be done. Thanks for being patient.

Reading for December 16
Micah 5:1-7:20
The remainder of this book is like so many of the other later OT books. God is angry, he will carry out his vengeance on this nation and that nation, we are all doomed, etc. However, there is one line I want to really focus on here.

¹³ The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants,
   as the result of their deeds.

des·o·late/ˈdesəlit/

Adjective: (of a place) Deserted of people and in a state of bleak and dismal emptiness.

This is what God has been trying to prevent all along. All the anguish and sorrow and pain that he sent - that he caused - was all for the purpose of avoiding the image that's painted in this single verse. We as people are bent on destroying ourselves. In most cases it is subconsciously, or even accidentally, but more and more we see people making self destructive decisions. War, fast food, smoking, drinking, promiscuity, selfishness, greed, apathy for the poor - all of these things make for a people who will eventually exterminate itself. God makes every effort to make us humble and conscious of our decisions and our bodies, while we make every effort to ignore him. 

 

Revelation 7:1-17
Revelation is a scary book. Partly because I feel like I'm missing a lot of the intended message out of ignorance, but also because it deals with something we should all fear - the end of the world. If this is to be taken as truth, what you are reading when you read Revelation is a blueprint for how we will all die and what will happen afterward.

But its because the book is so frightening that verses like this stand out like a flashlight in a dark hallway.

⁹ After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

From a God who chose a single group of people to watch over and protect, to a God being praised in his heavenly home by people from every type of person. Follow the logic and that means that everyone is welcome into heaven given a love for God. Now that's character development.

Also, thanks to Chris Dela Cruz for the knowledge drops from the past few entries. Check the comments from the previous couple of days to see what I was reading actually meant. For example those four horsemen that dealt with apocalyptic type things - turns out those were the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

Psalm 135:1-21
Fun thought. Do you think God had a competition with other gods to see who would rule over everyone?

⁵ I know that the LORD is great,
   that our Lord is greater than all gods.

Him and Baal are like the Yankees and the Red Sox.

Proverbs 30:5-6

 ⁵ “Every word of God is flawless;
   he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
⁶ Do not add to his words,
   or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar. 

This presents an interesting question: based on verse 5 - would you consider the entire Bible 'the word of God' as its presented here? Meaning should we take that to mean that every word of the Bible is flawless? Because there are things that certainly don't line up...what do you guys think?