Reading from Saturday, April 10

Hey ho. Today was a mighty Sunday. We got some spring cleaning done and our friends Ray and Amanda joined us for dinner. I'm sure everyone reading this cares immensely about that.

Reading for April 10
Deuteronomy 34:1-Joshua 2:24
Deuteronomy: done. Moses climbs the mountain, God shows him the promised land and then he swiftly dies. It also says that God buried Moses on the mountain, which is a little strange to think about, and then the focus moves over to Joshua in the next book - Joshua.

Joshua sends three men to spy on the city of Jericho which was part of the Promised land. The three men end up in a prostitutes home. Her name is Rahab and she tells them that her people have heard of the Israelites and how their God has protected them. She says that they have heard about the parting of the Red Sea and the many nations that they have destroyed. Rahab then tells the three men that the entire nation of Jericho is "melting with fear" of the Israelites. I mean, you commit a genocide or two and people are gonna be afraid of you...

Luke 13:22-14:6
Jesus here is talking about the salvation of the soul. Someone asks him if only a few people will be saved - Jesus responds in this way:

²⁴"Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. ²⁵Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, 'Sir, open the door for us.'

This is similar to the parable of the wedding banquet, where the women came back to the party late and the groom would not let them in. God's patience with humanity grew an immeasurable amount once Christ took away the sins of the world, but it is not limitless - there will be a time when God's new patience with humanity will once again fade away.

Psalm 79:1-13
 ⁶ Pour out your wrath on the nations
       that do not acknowledge you,
       on the kingdoms
       that do not call on your name;

Right there. That is a large problem with Christianity. If a nation or - no, scratch that - if a person does not acknowledge God, they are to feel the wrath of God. Now wrath is a sticky word here. It could mean exactly what it sounds like - pain and suffering. Or, it could mean, in the light of the New Testament, grace. Relentless, neverending grace that would be poured out on a non-believer until he or she believed.

If you asked me this same question a year ago I would have said that the idea of grace representing God's wrath here is absolutely how we should interpret this Psalm, but so far, I have not seen an ounce of grace from God for people who do not worship him. Well, except for Jesus dying on the cross for all of humanity. I suppose that was fairly gracious of him...

Either way, I think this psalm is about literal wrath, and its things like this that spark our rabid, hyper-patriotism. "God bless America" is fine, but how about "God bless Afghanistan" or "God bless third world countries"? Aren't they in need of a lot more blessings than our selfish society? And don't freak, I'm including myself in that selfish statement, its just the culture - we are groomed to be incredibly selfish individuals, and yet there is a subconscious feeling that we are the only nation that matters to God. How is that fair?

Proverbs 12:26
 ²⁶ A righteous man is cautious in friendship, ^[a]
       but the way of the wicked leads them astray.

Hmm...this one is a bit confusing. Cautious in friendship...that little [a] footnote says the alternate of this text is "A righteous man is a guide to his neighbor" which makes a heck of a lot more sense.

OK - back to work tomorrow. Goodnight, chums.
 

Reading from Friday, April 9

Hey ho. So today was interesting. It started with a very stressful rush to the vet because Kreacher threw up and then wouldn't move. Turns out he was fine and just barfed as dogs sometimes do. Then we had our friends the Soles join us for the day which is spectacular. But then at the end of the day we had a toilet issue that is, as of this writing, still unresolved.

Reading for April 9
Deuteronomy 33:1-29
The previous section of text was Moses singing a song about how the Israelites were going to rebel against God and basically how awful they were, but now Moses is faced with his own mortality and he now sings a song of blessing on the Israelites. He says something encouraging about each of the tribes of Israel. Nothing too eventful though, so we'll leave it there.

Luke 13:1-21
This really got me:

 ⁶Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. ⁷So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'
 ⁸" 'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. ⁹If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.' "

I read it several times because I really didn't understand it on the first read. I'm sure I still don't have it completely right, but here's what I think it means: God represents the vineyard owner. The tree is humanity, and the fruit is obedience to God. After centuries of waiting for humanity to return to the goodness God wanted from them, God decided to just give up and start over. "The man who took care of the vineyard" represents Jesus, who gives humanity a second chance. 

Psalm 78:65-72
This psalm goes on forever. This continues the history of the people, nothing super exciting here.

Proverbs 12:25
 ²⁵ An anxious heart weighs a man down,
       but a kind word cheers him up.

Alright - this is my personal challenge to anyone reading this: use today as an opportunity to give a kind word to a stranger who looks like they may need it. I take the challenge on myself as well.


OK - goodnight friends.
 

Reading from Thursday, April 8

Yo yo, son. Still a day behind. Today was awful. Just a terrible day at work. Nothing was going right and it was just a huge frustrating piece of crap. But once again Jilly made me feel better the minute I saw her at the end of the day. Thanks babe.

Also, I just watched the Veggie Tales version of the story of Joshua - which I am just about to start reading. For those of you who don't know, Veggie Tales is a series of cartoons where vegetables reenact scenes from the Bible. They're actually very well written and funny, but I did find myself getting a little frustrated with the "editing" of the "nasty bits". Now I'm not saying that they should include murder and rape scenes in a kids show, but I think this is a larger problem. Christian media only selects the good bits of the Bible and the palatable pieces of God's character to put forth so people don't get the whole story.

To be honest, the majority of my understanding of the Old Testament came from Veggie Tales until I started this project. I can see now that I was only getting the "happy side"  of the story. My point is that when people are given a rosy picture of God, they overreact when something bad happens, or they interpret things incorrectly. God is not to be effed with. He's not some peace loving hippie tree hugger. He's a serious, intensely loving being who will do whatever it takes to defend his love of his creation. The love of a father of a kidnapped child. Ever see last house on the left?

OK - rant off.

Reading for April 8
Deuteronomy 32:28-52
The story doesn't progress too far here. Moses finishes up his song about how the Israelites will turn their back on God once they're in the promised land, then he goes up to a mountain to die. He is only granted the privilege of seeing the promised land from a distance. Remember, God told both Moses and Aaron that they would not enter the promised land because they did not credit God when they brought water out from a rock. Then again, the Bible says that Moses was 120 years old at this point, so it's not like his life was cut short....

Luke 12:35-59
A couple of things here:


1) Jesus talks a lot about his "return", and that "no one will know the day or time". One of the interesting things is that often when he makes these statements, the reader is led to believe that he intended to come back during the lifetime of those to whom he was speaking. Although he does say "not even the son knows, only the father" - that could go either way since God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are all considered one.

But I have a theory. What if Jesus' return isn't the huge earth shattering event that everyone pictures, but rather an individual experience. What if this "return" happens to each person as they die? Just playin a little game of speculation...

2) A very controversial statement here:

⁵¹Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. ⁵²From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. ⁵³They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law."

This illustrates the point I was making earlier. Jesus is not John Lennon. He's not about peace on earth. I mean I believe that if everyone followed these teachings there would be peace, however, Jesus knows that not everyone will, which will lead to disputes among friends and even family. Wow. He knows there will be people who don't accept his teachings, and yet still dies for those people. That's awesome.

Psalm 78:56-64
This continues the recap of the Old Testament stories. Nothing really jumps out at me here.

Proverbs 12:24
 ²⁴ Diligent hands will rule,
       but laziness ends in slave labor.


Word up, homies. Goodnight.
 

Reading from Wednesday, April 7

I am sick. I left work early with what felt like a fever, now its definitely a fever. I feel like blugh.

Here is the reading for the 7th

Reading for April 7
Deuteronomy 31:1-32:27
This is the official passing of the torch from Moses to Joshua. God and Moses have finished their commands to the Israelite people, and just as God had told him, Moses will not cross the Jordan River into the promised land. Moses gives a final warning against disobedience against God, and God actually predicts that the people will rebel against him once they get into the promised land. Now I'm not one to mess around with fate, but doesn't this sort of create a self fulfilling prophecy? God says "you're going to rebel." Chances are now higher that is going to happen...

Luke 12:8-34

"...a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

I don't think I need to say anything else. This is a perfect statement. Worthy of a bumper sticker even...

Psalm 78:32-55
The Israeli History Psalm part 2. Psalm 78 is essentially a Cliffs note version of Exodus - Deuteronomy. If you want to skip four books in the Bible, just read this chapter of Psalms.

Proverbs 12:21-23
 ²¹ No harm befalls the righteous,
       but the wicked have their fill of trouble.
 ²² The LORD detests lying lips,
       but he delights in men who are truthful.
 ²³ A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself,
       but the heart of fools blurts out folly.

Sleep makes me feel better. Hopefully.

Reading from Tuesday, April 6

Hello. Still playing a little catchup. Katsup. Ketchup? Katsup? Where are the Burns-O's?

Reading for April 6
Deuteronomy 29:1-30:20
There really isn't anything new here. It is now Moses who is speaking and he is basically reiterating everything God just said for the past 10 or so chapters. Culminating in the same thing God concluded with the last reading: Obey God and be blessed, or disobey God and be cursed.

There really isn't much more to it than that. At least back then...

Luke 11:37-12:7
Jesus is invited to dinner at a Pharisee's home. After calling Jesus out for not washing his hands before dinner, Jesus uses this opportunity to jump into an attack  on the Pharisees. Haven't seen one of these since the book of Matthew:

 ⁵²"Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering."

 I find this very interesting - the Pharisees, the one's who are tasked with teaching and upholding the law, are doing so in such an ineffective way that they are actually keeping people from the truth. Actually, the point here is probably that they are not only teaching in an ineffective manner, but  in fact teaching incorrect information.

Jesus uses a specific example of the Pharisees being so focused on tithing, but completely neglecting the poor and needy. He says that they should be doing both.

I think that Pharisees are a perfect representation of what the ideals of the Old Testament would naturally evolve into. God required strict adherence to the rules he laid out, no room for goofing around. One step out of line and zap. Deadsville. The Pharisees seem to represent that sort of militant obedience to God's law, where Jesus was more focused on helping those around him. Interesting.

The second half of this reading has  some good insight into why we should fear God:

 ⁴"I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. ⁵But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.

It not only gives humans a great relief of fear and worry from the things of this world, but this is the first logical statement I've read that really makes sense as to why one should fear God. 


Psalm 78:1-31
This psalm recounts some of the stories from Exodus and Numbers. Mainly about the Israelites complaining about no food, water, or meat - and God delivering food, water and meat, though that meat one didn't end so well...God kinda went crazy and killed a bunch of  people for being such whiny carnivorous babies.

Proverbs 12:19-20
 ¹⁹ Truthful lips endure forever,
       but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
 ²⁰ There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil,
       but joy for those who promote peace.

Word. Goodnight.


 

Reading from Monday, April 5

Hey, still playing catch up - but here we go.

Reading for April 5
Deuteronomy 28:1-68
Geez. In this scene, God is lecturing the Israelites about following his word and commands. He tells them that if they do follow his commands, and follow them joyfully, then they will be blessed. BUT. If they don't follow his commands, they will be cursed. There are 14 verses that describe the blessings for obedience, but 54 verses on curses for disobedience. And there's something I noticed when reading these curses. The curses range from plagues on the people and on the land, to being invaded by armies that take over and sell the Israelites into slavery. Sound familiar? Like, does it sound like every single group of people that God commanded the Israelites to take over in a militaristic strike? Or every group of people that God directly cursed himself? Yes, it does.

These 54 verses are basically a recap of every bit of vengeance God has dished out on humanity so far in the Bible. And the simple reason for God's punishment? Disobedience. And in this section of text, it is extremely apparent that the Israelites - God's chosen people - are not immune to God's punishment for disobedience. The only issue that remains to appear as "unfair justice" is that the other nations weren't given fair warning like the Israelites did. Unless it is simply undocumented, or if we're supposed to assume that the other nations are all descendants of Adam and Eve and their forefathers were given fair warning back in Genesis...Either way, this section clearly shows what is referred to as God's "perfect justice". Or - if that doesn't sit right with you - his "unbiased justice". Don't obey God, pay the price.

It also appears that in the Old Testament, God's punishment for disobedience is solely for the human, earthly lifetime. While in the New Testament, or after Christ's sacrifice, the punishment for not following God is carried out after death. This is another common problem with modern humanity accepting Christianity - accept Christ or go to hell. Why is that so? Some of the best people I know don't believe in God, or at least not the Christian God. Why should they be punished for disobedience? I need to sit on this one for a while...

Luke 11:14-36
Jesus is speaking to a crowd of people after driving a demon out of a man who was mute. Some were amazed, while other accused him of driving out demons in the name of Beelzebub. Some interesting things about Beelzebub:

1. This name is thought to be the evolution of the ancient god, Baal - who was referenced many times in the Old Testament. Baal was also the god of the Midianites. 
2. It is also thought that Beelzebub is Satan/Lucifer himself. If not, one of the higher ranking demons. 
3. Beelzebub literally translates to "Lord of the Flies"- Conch shell and all.

 The idea that the Midianites were worshiping Satan is a little easier to digest when thinking about their genocide that upset me so much...

Anyway, Jesus says basically says 'why would the devil drive out the devil?'

Then some woman in the crowd says:

 ²⁷[...]"Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you."
 ²⁸He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it."

Does this discount the blessed nature of Mary that is so central to Catholicism? I'm not saying it is, but as a Protestant, I don't hold the same level of esteem for Mary mother of Jesus that Catholics do. Either way, the point here is not to focus on Mary, or even Jesus in this case, but rather the word of God, and following it.

This is interesting to see after what I just read in Deuteronomy about following God or else.

Psalm 77:1-20
Man, I love this Asaph guy. His writing is so much more intricate and interesting than David's slogging, repetitive cries of relief from his enemies. Asaph's psalms also appear to be written in times of pain, but the way he pens his words are simply much more captivating:

² When I was in distress, I sought the Lord;
       at night I stretched out untiring hands
       and my soul refused to be comforted.
        [...]
⁷ "Will the Lord reject forever?

       Will he never show his favor again?
 ⁸ Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
       Has his promise failed for all time?
 ⁹ Has God forgotten to be merciful?
       Has he in anger withheld his compassion?"
       Selah

So once again, it appears that Asaph has never actually seen or interacted with God, rather his belief stems from the stories of the Old Testament as he goes on:

¹⁰ Then I thought, "To this I will appeal:
       the years of the right hand of the Most High."

 ¹¹ I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
       yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
 ¹² I will meditate on all your works
       and consider all your mighty deeds.

So what causes someone to have such a firm belief in something they've never seen? Well, I suppose that's what faith is, by definition...


Proverbs 12:18
 ¹⁸ Reckless words pierce like a sword,
       but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all...

Reading from Sunday, April 4

Hey-o. Forgive me if this is a short post - I was up until 2:00 AM last night and had to get up at 6:00. Workin on 4 hours sleep is nasty.

Reading for April 4
Deuteronomy 26:1-27:26
This section of text features the anti-beatitudes. The beatitudes are a group of statements Jesus gave that all started with "Blessed is he who..."

This section has 10 verses the all start with "Cursed is the man who..."

This is another way of contrasting the new and old testaments - God curses and punishes those who do wrong, and Jesus rewards those who do right. I know its not as simple as that, but I'm extremely tired...

Luke 10:38-11:13
Jesus tells everyone the Lord's prayer here. Excellent.

Psalm 76:1-12
 ¹⁰ Surely your wrath against men brings you praise,
       and the survivors of your wrath are restrained.

- God's character encapsulated

Proverbs 12:15-17
 ¹⁵ The way of a fool seems right to him,
       but a wise man listens to advice.
 ¹⁶ A fool shows his annoyance at once,
       but a prudent man overlooks an insult.
 ¹⁷ A truthful witness gives honest testimony,
       but a false witness tells lies.

Sleeeep.