Friday, March 12

Hey Ho. This morning we got up early and brought ZE GERMANS to the bus stop to get them to the city. They're doing somesight seeing and enjoying the fruits of New York, New York. You know as long as I've lived in this area, I haven't seen a lot of the touristy things to see there, at least not in a while. I did the Empire State building when I was super young, and I did the Statue of Liberty in eighth grade. I would love to do those things again, but I'm excited that ZE GERMANS get to see it.

Reading for March 12
Numbers 16:41-18:32
So when we last left the Israelites, a group of Levites had decided to rebel against Moses saying that he was self-appointed to the position he was in. These people were swallowed into the earth by an earthquake. The rest of the Israelites began to feel the same way as these Levites the next day, and began "muttering against Moses" saying that he "killed the LORD's people".

God hears this and tells Moses that he's about to "instantly destroy them." God does this by kicking off the effects of the plague he initiated a few chapters ago as a result of "the meat incident". The plague kills 14,700 people before Aaron can purify the people by using some sort of incense.

This event again shows me that God is this inflexible being I've been thinking of him as lately. In a weird way, he's kind of like a robot. What I mean by that is that he is "programmed" to react a certain way to certain actions.

fx=[if]Israelites = rebellious [then] God = vengeance. That's for you, Pete.

The rest of this section puts a literal spin on the term "God's will". God literally made a will of inheritance for the Israelites. One of the most interesting is that the 10% that everyone gives to God, God gives to the Levites - but in turn the Levites must give 10% of that back to God. Most of the rest of the stuff is given to Aaron and his sons.

Why would God leave this inheritance? He's not dying, not for several thousand years anyway...
He only gave the inheritance to Aaron's family and the Levites - two group among the highest esteem in God's eyes. Also, God had elected Aaron to be the head of the tribe of Levi. Is this a thank-you gift for being obedient and clean followers of God? Is this God's offering to his people? Very interesting...

 Mark 16:1-20
The interesting thing about this last chapter of Mark is that it says the last few verses aren't included in most early, reliable manuscripts of Mark. So then the question is, where did this text come from if it wasn't included in the earliest document? This would be how Mark ended if the extra text wasn't included: Mary, Mary Magdalene, one other went to the tomb where Jesus was buried to purify his body. They were surprised to find that that stone covering his tomb had been rolled away and there was someone sitting inside telling them that Jesus was alive and waiting for them...

 ⁸Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.

The end. No proof of resurrection - just some crack pot in an empty grave. The text after this - which is included in this Bible - talks about Jesus resurrected and gives a few vereses worth of encouraging words before going up to Heaven. But again. Why would this be left out, and where did it come from if it wasn't in there originally? Was it snuffed out intentionally by Romans to try to quell the belief in Christ? Or, conversely, did it actually never happen and was made up by the church later on to try and persuade people into believing? I'm fairly sure the other gospels have this information without that disclaimer. Weird.
 
Psalm 55:1-23
This one is classic David. Although he is leaning slightly to the "punish the wicked" side of things on this one. It does sound like God has finally begun to hear David's pleas for help though:

 ¹⁶ But I call to God,
       and the LORD saves me.
 ¹⁷ Evening, morning and noon
       I cry out in distress,
       and he hears my voice.
 ¹⁸ He ransoms me unharmed
       from the battle waged against me,
       even though many oppose me.

I don't think I've never been in a situation where I needed to be ransomed by God. And I suppose that is a very fortunate thing to be able to say. I know one day these verses will give me great comfort, but for now they're not resonating the way they were intended to...
 
Proverbs 11:7
 ⁷ When a wicked man dies, his hope perishes;
       all he expected from his power comes to nothing.

Very interesting - the idea of a dictataor's power dying the day he does resonates strongly in modern times. Think of the capture of Sadaam a few years back - I wouldn't say Iraq is all perfect and great now, but the power and wealth that Sadaam wielded for his own advancement became worthless the moment he was captured and executed.

Alright, early to bed. Well, normal time to bed. I've got Germans to entertain tomorrow...

Guten Tag. That means good day, but I don't know how to say good night yet...how about "Guten Tag NIEN!"

Thursday, March 11

ZE GERMANS! ZE GERMANS IST HEIR! So we have three of them staying here and it has been a really fun first day. They got to our place around 5 and then we took them to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. They paid for us to thank us for letting them stay here. When they tried to tell us that's what they were doing, they said "We're inviting you to dinner." I thought that was very funny.

Reading for March 11
Numbers 15:17-16:40
The Rebellion
The majority of this section of text tells the story of 250 Levite men who decide they want to rebel and rise up against Moses, saying that he had 'gone too far'. They believed that everyone in the community was holy and that God was with all of them. They were upset because they believed that Moses set himself apart as special for the LORD. I suppose this came from the frustration of being so close to the promised land of Canaan, and yet unable to enjoy it. Before I talk about that story though, I want to look at a very small piece of this text - this one:

 ³² While the Israelites were in the desert, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. ³³ Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, ³⁴ and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him.Then the LORD said to Moses, "The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp." ³⁶ So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the LORD commanded Moses.

Geez. That's freaking harsh. Observing the Sabbath is one of the ten commandments,  but one that is punishable by death? The guy was just picking up some wood, and he gets put to death for it. I can't grasp why observing the sabbath is so important that God would need to kill someone for breaking the rule. As a deterrent? As pure punishment? I honestly don't get it. Eye for an eye this is not.

Anyway, back to the rebels. So they thought that Moses was basically working on his own accord and just sort of 'declared himself king' - so to speak - without any sort of help or influence from God. Moses made all of the rebels gather together and told them that if he really was working under the order of God, then the earth would open up and swallow all 250 of them. Guess what happened as soon as Moses finished that sentence. Yup, earthquake city - 250 Levites got sucked into a huge chasm in the earth. Deadsies.

Now I have the same problem with this as I did with the Sabbath breaker. These guys technically didn't even break a command, they just didn't trust the power chain of command. They didn't believe that God really had singled out Moses to lead the people - a fair thought, especially when things are going pretty terribly. Well, God doesn't seem to be able to handle the slightest amount of disbelief so, down to hell they go, I suppose...It just doesn't seem fair.

Mark 15:1-47
This text talks about Jesus' final trial before his crucifixion. I actually read these verses in my real, paper Bible this morning. I have a "Student Bible" which has little factoids throughout the text to provide historical context or other tidbits of info. The factoid about this text was pretty interesting. Jesus appeared before the Sanhedrin in last night's reading to be charged with his crime. The Sanhedrin was basically the Jewish court system, but they did not have the power to dole out a death penalty. That had to be handled by the Roman officials, which is why Jesus' fate ultimately rests in the hands of Pilate.

An interesting thing I saw for the first time here is that Pilate knew exactly why Jesus was on trial - because the Jewish officials were totally jealous of this guy.   

⁹"Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, ¹⁰knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him.

So, in a way, Pilate knew what decision the crowd would make. That little bit of info shows that this was a calculated move on Pilate's part. I'm sure that even he felt his power threatened by Jesus' reputation and legacy.  Even though he "washed his hands" of Christ's death, I think he knew what was gonna happen the minute he brought out the "King of the Jews" and the murderer.

Psalm 54:1-7
 ⁶ I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you;
       I will praise your name, O LORD,
       for it is good.

As much as the idea of an offering to God has faded from the Christian doctrines, the idea of a sacrificial freewill offering I think is still something we should practice. Giving up simple pleasures of the world in the name of God would be mightily beneficial, I think. I wish I had the strength to really give up something I cling to - like my PS3...as much as I hate to say it - I wouldn't be able to give that up right now...I mean Final Fantasy XIII just came out!

Maybe the freewill offering is where Lent came from. As a Protestant, I don't really observe Lent, but I have no problem with the idea of it - in fact, I think its a really good thing to do...I just think too few people do it with the right mindset. Many people I know who practice Lent always complain about not being able to enjoy the thing they gave up, when they should be happy that vice is out of their lives - looking at it as an opportunity to better oneself. Not, "UGH I wish I could eat that steak, but I gave up redmeat for Lent. Stupid lent!"

Proverbs 11:5-6
 ⁵ The righteousness of the blameless makes a straight way for them,
       but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness.
 ⁶ The righteousness of the upright delivers them,
       but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires.

Alright, time for bedsos. Gotta get up early to take ZE GERMANS to NYC.

Word, good night.

ZE GERMANS!

 

Wednesday, March 10

I'm very excited. Tomorrow we have a few of Jilly's friends from Germany coming to stay with us - or ZE GERMANS! as I've been referring to them. Honestly, though - I'm really pumped to get to know them and show them around our little corner of the world.

Reading for March 10
Numbers 14:1-15:16
Oh, Israelites! So rebellious.

So the Israelites hear that the promised land is filled with giants and they start up the wah wah wagon. They even go so far as to say "let's elect a leader and go back to Egypt to be enslaved again." Joshua speaks up as the voice of reason here saying "dudes, this place is awesome. Don't be afraid of these giants, God is with us." This is the next line in the text:

¹⁰ But the whole assembly talked about stoning them.

Like, I can understand being upset about having only dry manna to eat for two years, but this is just plain dumb. Here is Joshua, presenting a perfectly logical argument, stated beautifully, and these buttholes want to stone him.

God has had enough at this point. He tells his people (through Moses) that because of their lack of faith in God, even after the countless miracles he's performed for them, they will never inherit the promised land of Canaan, they will die in the desert. Their children will be forced to wander the desert for forty years before getting to move into the land. Once the people hear this they decide that they do want to try to go into Canaan after all, but on their own and without the help of God. They try to get in but are immediately rousted out by the natives of the land.

I'm really enjoying this historical stuff about the Israelites, but there is one nagging problem I'm having with this. It's the fundamental problem of God's need to be worshiped, and the punishment for not doing so. Is it benefitting him for us to worship him? I don't think so...what could God possibly need from us? So it must be beneficial for us to worship him. Which is why the Israelites were punished for not doing so. God wanted what was best for them, but they continually threw it in God's face.

Now, admittedly, God didn't exactly make it easy on them - roaming around the desert with bland food and the necessity of constant, ritualistic animal sacrifices wouldn't really be a big selling point on the "Become a Jew" brochure at the time. But whatever it was, following all of those requests God made, somehow benefited the Israelites. Whether they were aware of it or not...

Mark 14:53-72
Jesus' "trial"
So Jesus had been arrested for no charge at all, and the court grasped at straws to find something to convict him of during the trial. Many people stood up and lied about different things, but none of it agreed and couldn't be used to convict him of anything. Until finally the High Priest asked him if he was the Christ. Jesus replied:

 ⁶²"I am," said Jesus. "And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven."

That did it. This was deemed blasphemous and this statement is what sent him to the cross. On the other hand, this statement is what freed humanity forever.

Psalm 53:1-6
 ¹ The fool says in his heart,
       "There is no God."
       They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;
       there is no one who does good.
 ² God looks down from heaven
       on the sons of men
       to see if there are any who understand,
       any who seek God.
 ³ Everyone has turned away,
       they have together become corrupt;
       there is no one who does good,
       not even one.

Wow. This is somewhat humbling. It's true though, otherwise Christ's sacrifice wouldn't be needed. "There is no one who does good." Not even "No one is perfect", this is saying that no one does anything good at all. Now this could have been an exaggeration because this is lyrical in nature, but it's still something to read and be challenged by. 'Prove him wrong' kinda thing, yeah?

Proverbs 11:4
 ⁴ Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath,
       but righteousness delivers from death.

I saw the movie "The Road" a few months ago. The basic premise is that there has been some sort of worldwide catastrophe and there are very few people left on earth. There is also very little resources so the remaining people are fighting over what's left. The story focuses on a father and son who are on a journey across this barren land.

One of the opening scenes shows them rummaging through a pile of stuff they come across, looking for any sort of sustenance, finding none, they continue on. But as they walk away, the camera shows them intentionally stepping over a stack of cash and jewelry. Showing just how worthless all of those things become the instant our economy is changed by an event like that.

Out of the whole movie, that scene stuck with me the most.

How worthless all our "treasures" are. "Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath."
 

Tuesday, March 9

Howdy. We just finished watching another horror movie - "Session 9". It was about a crew of Asbestos clean-up dudes who were hired to clean out a mental hospital. It was really good, and an interesting and unique take on the horror genre.

I gotta say this too: we're currently laying in bed and watching "Chopped". It's a cooking challenge show on Food Network. Now the commonality between all these cooking challenge shows is the "food critics". I don't know where these people get their attitude, but they come off as the worst people in America. They have no personality and are just plain mean to these people. Especially that Alex lady. If you've seen it, you know who I'm talking about.

Enough chit chat. Bible time.

Reading for March 9
Numbers 11:24-13:33
The meat man cometh
So God does make good on his promise to give the Israelites as much meat as they can eat, but in a very backhanded way. It says that a wind blew thousands of quail into the Israelites camp. It says that the quails all fell to the ground, presumably dead, and that the pile of dead quails was three feet high for a day's walk in any direction, which would be about 20 miles I suppose.

So there was by far enough meat for a month, and probably more. However, before the first people even swallowed their first bite of quail, God strikes them with a plague:

3 But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague. ³⁴ Therefore the place was named Kibroth Hattaavah,  because there they buried the people who had craved other food.

Kibroth Hattaavah means "graves of craving". I think White Castle has it's new name. I mean check this out: "Kibroth Hattaavah: What You Crave." Or how about this take on the McDonald's jingle: "Ba da ba ba ba...Kibroth Hattaavah" Or maybe the Quiznos tagline: "Mmmmm...Kibroth Hattaavah". OK I'm done.

The next chapter focuses on the beginnings of the people's long trek into Canaan - the promised land. It begins with a scouting mission to see what the land and people are like. The scouts come back with a bad report saying that the people in the land they are to inhabit are too large and will surely defeat the Israelites in battle. Not to play teachers pet here, but weren't they just surrounded by a 26 mile diameter circle of quails three feet deep? And they don't think they can win a war against a tribe of people because they are bigger than they are - sad, sad Israelites.


Mark 14:22-52
Wow...Mark really does get right to the point. This section of text covers the last supper, the garden of Gastheneme and the arrest of Jesus. Two interesting things here:

1) There is a lot of talk about the scene were one of the disciples cuts off the ear of one of Jesus' captors. My question is - was it totally normal for everyone to carry around a sword all the time? Like there is a constant threat of duelling all the time. I just thought that was interesting...
2) What the heck is up with this:

 ⁵¹A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, ⁵²he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

Uh...what? I know I'm not supposed to take things out of context, but this is so darn weird and really out of place in the narrative that it's just funny. 

Psalm 52:1-9

A beaut

 ⁹ I will praise you forever for what you have done;
       in your name I will hope, for your name is good.

Sorry for the brevity, I am once again falling asleep...

Proverbs 11:1-3
So far, I think this is the most widely applicable proverb:

 ² When pride comes, then comes disgrace,
       but with humility comes wisdom.

Ever hear the expression, "pride comes before a fall"? That's what verse 9 is, but much prettier.

So tired. Goodnight.

Monday, March 8

Work has been pretty light the past week, but there is a looming cloud of destruction...kinda like the looming cloud God resided in I suppose. My looming cloud has to do with way too many projects knocking at the door, and as soon as I open the door, all these projects are going to rush in and be eating all my chips and staying up late partying. Well, I guess I should count my blessings for an easy week last week.

Reading for March 8
Numbers 10:1-11:23
This is very cool. Chapter 10 is pretty boring and uneventful, so I'm just gonna skip that. Chapter 11, however is when the action finally starts...or starts festering under the surface anyway...



The Israelites are now two years removed from Egypt, and the complaining starts again. They begin complaining about how they never have meat to eat, and have been eating bland, plain old manna for the past two years. They once again wish they were never rescued from slavery because at least they had meat in Egypt.

Moses gets tired of all the complaining, so what does he do? He complains to God about his complainers. Moses tells God that the people are constantly crying to him about not having meat and its getting too much for Moses to bear. God is kind to Moses and agrees to lighten the load by splitting up the responsibilities between several other preistly dudes. I was actually shocked to see God react so kindly. Earlier in the chapter he literally burned the people - killing some - for wishing they were back in Egypt. But with Moses he says, sure no problem.

But then the sarcastic God steps in. Maybe his response to Moses was sarcastic too...but God tells Moses that he can tell his people to get ready because they will now have meat to eat. He says that they won't have it for one day or two days, but will have meat for an entire month...

²⁰ You will eat it for a whole month until you gag and are sick of it. For you have rejected the Lord, who is here among you, and you have whined to him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?”

Basically, "Here's your effing meat. I hope you choke on it." I gotta admit, as much as I dislike this vengeful God, this is really funny.

Then the last line in this chapter is the big zinger. Moses says to God, "Meat for a month is great, but where the heck are we gonna get meat for 600,000 people? Even if everyone kills all their livestock it might not be enough..." God replies:

“Has my arm lost its power? Now you will see whether or not my word comes true!”

Oh...SNAP! Moses just got served.  I'm excited to see how this turns out...

Mark 14:1-21
This passage has nothing new that wasn't in Matthew. This section tells the story of the woman who pours expensive perfume on Jesus' feet, and then the story of the Last Supper. One interesting thing I've never thought about before: what does Judas do to betray Jesus? Mark especially talks about how often the religious leaders were looking for a reason to arrest Jesus. They tried to trick him into saying the wrong thing most of the time, or tried to catch him in the act of a minor crime, but were never able to do it. This section of text says that Judas goes to the religious leaders, telling them that he has come to betray Jesus. But all I know is that he kisses Jesus in the Garden of Gasteneme to indicate "this is the guy." Two things - 1) Don't they already know who Jesus is and what he looks like? 2) What crime is Jesus being charged with? Or what did Judas tell them that implicated him?

Maybe Mark's got the deets in a later chapter.

Psalm 51:1-19
David is back, baby.
I'm not sure if the Psalms are chronologically presented in the Bible, my guess is probably not. But let's pretend that they are for a minute...The last several psalms have been by different authors, but this one, David returns and returns with one of the best psalms so far. Check out these gems:

⁵ For I was born a sinner—
      yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.
 ⁶ But you desire honesty from the womb,^[b]
      teaching me wisdom even there.

This line really encapsulates the need for God in the Christian faith - that we are sinners the moment we are conceived. I wonder what sins a fetus can commit...lying probably. Those little liars.

¹⁶ You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one.
      You do not want a burnt offering.
 ¹⁷ The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit.
      You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.

So even in Psalms, the old way seems to be dying away, and the new way seems to be hinted at. The transitional period between the end of the Old Testament and beginning of the New Testament shows that people, or at least David, beginning to interpret the old scripture to apply to his time. The comparison of a sacrificial animal to sacrificing ourselves and offering our broken spirit to God is - I think - exactly what Jesus calls us to do as well. Nice one, David.


Proverbs 10:31-32
 ³¹ The mouth of the godly person gives wise advice,
      but the tongue that deceives will be cut off.
 ³² The lips of the godly speak helpful words,
      but the mouth of the wicked speaks perverse words.

Geez. Usually its something like "The Godly person does something great, the wicked person does something bad." This time its "Listen to the godly person, the wicked person will be dismembered." Kinda dark...

OK, chums. Sleep tight.

 

Sunday, March 7

Oh yeah. Oscar Sunday. Got E! on in the background watching the best and worst dressed. Actually I couldn't care less about the Oscars and the only reason E! is on is because the Soup Awards were just on. If you haven't seen the clip of an Ewok moonwalking and humping Al Roker on the Today show - look it up, it is unreal.

Reading for March 7
Numbers 8:1-9:23
Chapter 8 once again revisits the Levites and how they are to be set apart for God as they were the first born tribe of Israel. God gives Moses the ceremonial customs that must be performed to set the Levites apart. They were to sprinkle "the water of cleansing" on them, have them shave their whole bodies, and wash their clothes. This was followed by a series of offerings to God on the Levites behalf.

This "water of cleansing" intrigued me, so I looked it up. I thought it might be an early version of modern baptism. Baptism is basically a public statement of your faith, but it also signifies your dedication to God and serves as a physical reminder of our sin and God's ability to cleanse us from it. The commentary I found said this about the sprinkling of the water of cleansing:

This signifies the application of the blood of Christ to our souls by faith, that we may be fit to serve the living God.

All of these rituals and rules that have filled the previous two books of the Old Testament seem to fulfill that very purpose - so we may be fit to serve God. But then with Jesus' sacrifice we no longer need to do these things to be fit. His sacrifice validated us with God without having to go through the burdensome rituals.

Chapter 9 is about Passover. Saying that if someone is unclean during the selected date for the passover, they are not allowed to celebrate it on that date, but must wait an additional month to celebrate it. The text then revisits the imagery of God as a cloud that rests over the tabernacle. When the cloud is resting over the tabernacle, the Israelites are to camp. When the cloud rises and begins to move, the people are to move. Now this was discussed already in Exodus, but this section goes into a lot more detail. It says that sometimes they only camp for two days, or sometimes they camp for two years. Now remember, every time they moved, the keepers of the tabernacle had to ritualistically wrap up the items inside and transport them safely to their new, unknown destination.

As defiant and difficult as the Israelites were, it does show some serious determination to follow a cloud around the desert...

Mark 13:14-37
Jesus continues speaking about the 'end times' in this reading. He references something called the 'abomination that causes desolation' - this apparently occurred in the book of Daniel. After looking it up, apparently this abomination is when a Greek leader put up an altar dedicated to Zeus over the altar in the Israeli temple, and then sacrificed a pig on it. The double whammy. Not only did he dis God by putting something dedicated to another god right on top of his altar, but slapped him in the face by slaughtering a pig on it. Something that is considered unclean in the Jewish tradition. 

Anyway, this is a minor point as Jesus just used this as an analogy, but I was just really intrigued by that. Apparently there will be another abomination of desolation in the future that will be a sign of the end times. It doesn't say exactly what that will be, but apparently we'll know it when we see it. So if you see someone doing something that is like "uh oh...he really shouldn't be doing that" - you should probably go get a helmet.

Psalm 50:1-23
Ah, a new psalmist - Asaph.

Snap. This guy is excellent. Check it:

⁸ I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices
       or your burnt offerings, which are ever before me.
 ⁹ I have no need of a bull from your stall
       or of goats from your pens,
 ¹⁰ for every animal of the forest is mine,
       and the cattle on a thousand hills.
 ¹¹ I know every bird in the mountains,
       and the creatures of the field are mine.
 ¹² If I were hungry I would not tell you,
       for the world is mine, and all that is in it.

I love verse 11. I love the thought of God knowing every intimate detail of the world we live in. Like how in other books it says he knows the number of hairs on our head. Very cool. 

Proverbs 10:29-30
 ²⁹ The way of the LORD is a refuge for the righteous,
       but it is the ruin of those who do evil.
 ³⁰ The righteous will never be uprooted,
       but the wicked will not remain in the land.

Alright, yo.  Have a good night and an excellent week. Love.

 

Saturday, March 6

Hey Ho. This will be my first daylight post in a while which is exciting. The other thing that's exciting is that I just got back from the gym! YES! First workout. Hopefully this will motivate me to get up early tomorrow and throughout the week to continue working out.

So here we go...

Reading for March 6
Numbers 6:1-7:89
Good Lord - 89 verses?! Let's see how interesting 89 verses can be...

OK, so chapter 6 is all about becoming a Nazirite. A Nazirite is someone who has dedicated him or herself to the LORD. After researching it a little bit, it sounds like basically becoming a monk, but slightly less dedication is required...

It's strange though, the requirements aren't much different than what God has been requesting of his people up until this point. Here is what is required to become a Nazirite:

• Various animal sacrifices at the beginning and end of the period
• The person must not cut their hair
• The person must not drink wine or anything fermented or anything grape related
• The person must not come into contact with any dead person

There are also three levels of Nazirites. Temporary (usually 30 days), permanent (permanent), and then the Samson type of Nazirite - which isn't mentioned here, but totally mentioned in Wikipedia.

Also mentioned on Wikipedia is that this practice is still practiced very rarely in the Orthodox community, but is not recommended my Rabbis.

OK, on to chapter 7's 89 verses.

Sometimes I really question the writing skills of some of the authors of the books of the Bible. The reason that this chapter is 89 verses is because the same five verses are repeated 12 times. It is basically what each tribe brought as a gift to the temple once it was built. They all brought the exact same things:

one silver plate weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, and one silver sprinkling bowl weighing seventy shekels, both according to the sanctuary shekel, each filled with fine flour mixed with oil as a grain offering; ⁷⁴ one gold dish weighing ten shekels, filled with incense; ⁷⁵ one young bull, one ram and one male lamb a year old, for a burnt offering; ⁷⁶ one male goat for a sin offering; ⁷⁷ and two oxen, five rams, five male goats and five male lambs a year old, to be sacrificed as a fellowship offering.

So, this text was repeated 12 times. It's exactly the same all 12 times. Believe me - I checked. What is the thought behind writing it this way? It's so completely inefficient. At the end of the chapter, they even summarize it. Why not just have the summary and the names of the people who brought the gifts? I know I'm being a total nit-picking baby, but seriously - this is the kind of stuff that makes people give up on reading the Bible. Like what is the benefit of reading the same text 12 times in a row? OK I'm done...

Mark 12:38-13:13
Jesus speaks about the end times
So, a few of the disciples ask Jesus when the end times will happen. Jesus replies thustly:

⁵Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. ⁶Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and will deceive many. ⁷When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. ⁸Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

I know that there have been earthquakes before, but this verse is especially poignant with all the earthquakes that have been occurring lately.  There is an interesting point that my friend Chris De La Cruz brought up last week. When Jesus speaks about 'the coming of the Kingdom of God' - which many usually associate with the rapture, and the end of the world - he is sometimes talking about his ultimate crucifixion and resurrection. But in this case, I'm pretty sure he's talking about the end of the world, since the imagery is about the destruction of various buildings.

Psalm 49:1-20
This is a really great psalm. The majority of it talks about how rich people can't carry their riches over to the afterlife, and there's some really cool stuff in here:

 ¹² But man, despite his riches, does not endure;
       he is ^[c] like the beasts that perish.

 ¹⁸ Though while he lived he counted himself blessed—
       and men praise you when you prosper-
 ¹⁹ he will join the generation of his fathers,
       who will never see the light of life .

There are two little verses in here though that are very interesting:

 ⁷ No man can redeem the life of another
       or give to God a ransom for him-
 ⁸ the ransom for a life is costly,
       no payment is ever enough-

I find this interesting because the crucifixion of Jesus is often compared with a ransom. His death paid the ransom for our souls. Now I know that this chapter is talking about physical wealth, and also that this was written before Christ was born, but it's cool to look at that now and be like, "no, actually there is a payment that is enough." 

Proverbs 10:27-28
Hey, remember when I was obsessed with finding verses about fearing God? I haven't seen one in a while, but here's a great one:

 ²⁷ The fear of the LORD adds length to life,
       but the years of the wicked are cut short.
 ²⁸ The prospect of the righteous is joy,
       but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.

I think from a logical, secular standpoint this verse still makes sense. If you were to follow the teachings of the Bible and avoid getting caught up in debauchery and silliness, you will likely have a longer life than someone who is involved with crime and stuff. The grey areas like things that are considered sins, but aren't considered illegal is where that theory falls apart, and that's when faith steps in.

Well, I started reading around noon, but it actually took me the entire day to do this post as I was running around the house doing various tasks with Jilly. It was kind of nice though because it was like it was part of my entire day....

Goodnight yo.