Reading from Thursday, December 30

Oh man. Two away...

Reading for December 30
Malachi 1:1-2:17
Hey, new book! This is the last time I'll say that. Sad face.

Whoa. So much for the "new God". As we've neared the end of the Old Testament, we have begun to see God's heart softening. Not caring about ritualistic sacrifices, but rather seeking the heart of his people. Wishing for his people to be kind to one another, and fair in their judgments.

Here in Malachi, we see a God obsessed with ritualistic sacrifice, and the quality of the sacrifice - he seems even more adamant than he did in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.

   “It is you priests who show contempt for my name.
   “But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’
 ⁷ “By offering defiled food on my altar.
   “But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’
   “By saying that the LORD’s table is contemptible. ⁸ When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the LORD Almighty.
 ⁹ “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the LORD Almighty.

Wow, reading that I actually feel like I'm being yelled at - even though I have never offered a bad animal to God. Although, there is a lesson to learn here, even in modern times. While we may not sacrifice animals to God anymore, we are still called to give of our time and money. And where it seems these people have failed by simply giving because they're compelled to, and giving the least amount they can, we too have done the same. At least I have - I feel that I am called to give my time and money to God, and most of the time, these are token gestures, or just the change in my pocket when I have $20 in my wallet I'm saving for a Gameboy game. 

I'm reminded of the Simpson's ep when Homer put a coupon for "Shake and Bake" in the collection tray at church - responding to Marge's disappointment with "Marge, we can spare it - we've been blessed."

It goes on...

 ¹³ Another thing you do: You flood the LORD’s altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. ¹⁴ You ask, “Why?” It is because the LORD is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
 ¹⁵ Has not the one God made you? You belong to him in body and spirit. And what does the one God seek? Godly offspring.^[e] So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

Now in now way am I condoning adultery, I think this tough stance on it is perfectly fair. It's just not the patient, gentle being that God had seemed to evolve into as the Old Testament progressed.

And yes, I realize the irony of using the word "evolve" there.

Revelation 21:1-27
This is the resounding orchestra fanfare at the end of the whole thing. Everything and everyone is at pure peace and there is not even a glimpse of suffering - this is the image God had designed from the very beginning of his creation.

 ¹ Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”^[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’^[b] or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

What can you say about something like that? It's incredible - especially after the terrifying, tortuous images from the previous chapters. This is the hope of every believer, this is where we yearn to end up, under the rule of God alone, with no evil or influence of evil anywhere in the world. It will be like in Return of the Jedi when they finally destroy the Empire once and for all and the entire galaxy is at peace.

Sorry, I just watched those movies for the first time this week, and they were amazing.

I know, I know - "gasp gasp he's never seen Star Wars before? But he's such a nerd!" I've seen it now and I love it like the rest of you.

The chapter concludes with a vision of the New Jerusalem. Remember that the original Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians so the readers of this must have been totally stoked to hear the stats laid out here. It is to be 1,400 miles wide in both directions with walls 200 feet thick.

The chapter ends with these words which I can do no better justice to than copy paste

 ²² I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵ On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶ The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷ Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

How incredible is that first verse? For the entirety of the history of Jerusalem, and even further back to the nomadic Israelites, God's presence was contained within something. A tent, a cloud, the temple, he was never really willing to make his presence part of his people. In this new vision, there is no temple, only God. How awesome is that? 

Psalm 149:1-9
This sounds like the new earth...

² Let Israel rejoice in their Maker;
   let the people of Zion be glad in their King.
³ Let them praise his name with dancing
   and make music to him with timbrel and harp.
⁴ For the LORD takes delight in his people;
   he crowns the humble with victory.
⁵ Let his faithful people rejoice in this honor
   and sing for joy on their beds.

Proverbs 31:10-24
This section is headlined with "Epilogue: The wife of noble character" It basically outlines the ideal wife from the author's point of view. It's actually really long for a Proverb reading, so I won't post the whole thing here, but it basically says that the woman is kind to others, compassionate with the poor and needy, a provider of income for the household, and an all around good woman. If you go back and read it, you'll notice that it says nothing about submissiveness to the husband nor does it paint the wife as the less important partner. Rather, it appears that the wife is equal with the husband, doing her share and carrying a portion of the burden of the household.