Reading from Wednesday, December 22

Hey gang.

I'm uber sick. Been in bed for the past three days without the strength to read or post. I'm still shooting to finish by the 10th. Exactly a year.

Nine posts to go.

Reading for December 22
Zechariah 2:1-3:10
So Zechariah begins to prophecy about the coming of the savior. Though it appears that this prophecy is only for the Israelites. First you have a vision of the priest, Joshua standing before God and Satan. Joshua is wearing filthy clothes and God demands that he be stripped and clothed with new, pristine garments - symbolizing the taking away of sins. Joshua is only one man though...lets see what he says about everyone else...

⁹ See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes^[e] on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the LORD Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day. 

This land. That could mean Jerusalem, Israel, the Middle East in general or the whole world. I wonder if the original Hebrew gives any better indication about that...scholars...hit me up.

Revelation 13:1-18
This is possibly one of the most metal chapters in all of scripture. Dragons, fire, mortal wounds, swords, lions, war - Aspiring metal musicians - Revelation 13...read it.

So in the last post we read about a dragon who was trying to kill all the people of the earth. This dragon is Satan and he is trying to kill us all, spiritually. That's my interpretation anyway.

This chapter talks about how the dragon suffered a mortal wound but was eventually healed of it. My best guess is that the mortal wound is the salvation that came through Christ to all people, and that through time, people found less and less meaning and significance in that, and just like their ancestors, turned their back on their Lord.

The chapter closes with possibly the most infamous number of all time:

¹⁸ This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.^[e] That number is 666.

You know with all the pop culture references to that number, I wasn't sure if it would actually appear in the Bible or not. Kinda like how "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" is thought to be from the Bible, but in fact is not. 

Psalm 141:1-10
Consider it pure joy, brothers...

⁵ Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
   let him rebuke me—that is oil on my head.
My head will not refuse it,
   for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

Proverbs 30:18-20
What?

 ¹⁸ “There are three things that are too amazing for me,
   four that I do not understand:
¹⁹ the way of an eagle in the sky,
   the way of a snake on a rock,
the way of a ship on the high seas,
   and the way of a man with a young woman.
 ²⁰ “This is the way of an adulterous woman:
   She eats and wipes her mouth
   and says, ‘I’ve done nothing wrong.’

Reading from Tuesday, December 21

Ten posts to go. 

Howdy. So how about those birds and fish mysteriously dying? Wasn't that in Revelation? Uh oh...is this the third woe?

I'm kinda kidding, but I'm also kinda terrified.

Reading for December 21
Zechariah 1:1-21
Zechariah is gonna take up the majority of the remainder of this project from the OT perspective. A relatively big book amongst very short books. Must be good. Let us see.

Oh yeah. This is like the Revelation of the Old Testament - complete with the four horsemen we read about a couple nights ago!

⁸ During the night I had a vision, and there before me was a man mounted on a red horse. He was standing among the myrtle trees in a ravine. Behind him were red, brown and white horses.

Except these aren't terrifying murder horsemen. Their task, according to Zech's vision, was to go throughout the earth and report what they saw. Here is that report:

“We have gone throughout the earth and found the whole world at rest and in peace.”

YEAH! KILL EVERYTHING! JUDGMENT FOR ALL...wait...what?

"at rest an in peace"? "the whole world at rest and in peace"? This is still the Bible, right? God must be cooking up something really scary for the next paragraph. He wouldn't let us get too comfortable.

¹⁶ “Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘I will return to Jerusalem with mercy, and there my house will be rebuilt. And the measuring line will be stretched out over Jerusalem,’ declares the LORD Almighty.  

Mercy? Where is the judgment? Where is the blood rain and fire hail and scorpions that torture us for five months but can't kill us?  It's not here. I'm not sure of the time differential between the end of the OT and the story of Christ, but if you assume they are relatively close, you can almost see God readying his heart for the eternal mercy which he will bestow upon his creation.

Revelation 12:1-17
Crazy. My friend Chris has been preparing me for this chapter, and I certainly wasn't fully ready for it. So there's a woman who gives birth to a male child who I don't think is Jesus. There's a super monster dragon waiting to eat the child as soon as its born, but God snatched up the child and brought it up to heaven with him.

The woman went to earth where she would be cared for for 1260 days - what is with that number? (Looked it up - it represents half of seven - 3 1/2 years) The dragon was hurled down to earth after a war in Heaven and pursued the woman and the rest of her offspring.

Here's my amateur-hour theory of what's going on here. The child actually is Jesus, but the "In the Beginning" version of Jesus that lived with God until he came to Earth on December 25th, 0000 AD. "The rest of her offspring" is Israel - and the dragon marched among them to tempt and torment them.

Psalm 140:1-13

¹² I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor
   and upholds the cause of the needy.
¹³ Surely the righteous will praise your name,
   and the upright will live in your presence.

Proverbs 30:17

 ¹⁷ “The eye that mocks a father,
   that scorns an aged mother,
will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley,
   will be eaten by the vultures. 

Reading from Monday, December 20

11 posts to go. Yay.

Reading for December 20
Haggai 1:1-2:23
These two chapters make up the entirety of the book of Haggai, and its a fairly dry two chapters. The majority of this book talks about God's temple and how it lies in ruin. I read through both chapters a couple times and still have nothing of any real substance to share with you. I hate to do this so late in the project, but this one comes in as a big skip.

Revelation 11:1-19
OK, let me see if I can get this right.

There are two dudes who will prophecy in God's name for 1260 days - which is about three and a half years. During their testimony they have the power to kill anyone who opposes them and inflict whatever plague or disaster on the earth that they want. After this time, they will be killed by what appears to be Satan - referred to here as "the beast that comes up from the Abyss".

Their bodies will lie in a public square for three and a half days and everyone will be super psyched that they're dead because they were condemning the people of the earth. After the three and a half days, God will bring them back to life and bring them up to heaven in front of everyone. This will be immediately followed by a devastating earthquake which will kill 7000 people.

 ¹⁴ The second woe has passed; the third woe is coming soon.  

Psalm 139:1-24
This is an idea of God that has remained consistent for me throughout the entire journey through the Bible.

  ¹ You have searched me, LORD,
   and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
   you, LORD, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
   and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
   too lofty for me to attain.

Not quite "all knowing" but certainly "all perceiving". 

Proverbs 30:15-16
 ¹⁵ “The leech has two daughters.
   ‘Give! Give!’ they cry.
   “There are three things that are never satisfied,
   four that never say, ‘Enough!’:
¹⁶ the grave, the barren womb,
   land, which is never satisfied with water,
   and fire, which never says, ‘Enough!’

Reading from Sunday, December 19

Hey dudes.

The last post generated a lot of feedback and comments from friends - for these I am truly grateful. While I still am struggling to figure out my own beliefs, it's inspiring to read your stories and statements of faith.

On to the reading...

Reading for December 19
Zephaniah 1:1-3:20
You know, I always get the sense that God's punishment on people, especially in the Old Testament, is due to some sort of perceived blasphemy. In other words - someone not following a ritual correctly or saying the wrong thing or whatever. But I think in most cases, God's punishment only comes in extreme circumstances.

Zephaniah, like all these other end-of-the-Old-Testament books, is filled with images of divine destruction on all nations. This book is written from God's perspective and he lays it out - again - for everyone, saving Jerusalem for last...

¹ Woe to the city of oppressors,
   rebellious and defiled!
² She obeys no one,
   she accepts no correction.
She does not trust in the LORD,
   she does not draw near to her God.
³ Her officials within her
   are roaring lions;
her rulers are evening wolves,
   who leave nothing for the morning.

Now most of that seems like they are being punished for simply rubbing God the wrong way, but look at the very first verse there. "City of oppressors". God cannot be oppressed - who can be? The weak? The poor? The outcasts? Yup.

I may be reading way too much into that singular word, but I think God was speaking up for the people who felt like outsiders in their own city - just like Jesus did only a short time later. God continues his rallying cry for these people at the end of the book.

¹⁹ At that time I will deal
   with all who oppressed you.
I will rescue the lame;
   I will gather the exiles.
I will give them praise and honor
   in every land where they have suffered shame.
²⁰ At that time I will gather you;
   at that time I will bring you home.
I will give you honor and praise
   among all the peoples of the earth
when I restore your fortunes^[l]
   before your very eyes,”
            says the LORD.

Revelation 10:1-11
This entire reading focuses on this one quote from one of the angels in this vision:

“There will be no more delay! ⁷ But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.”

I thought the mystery of God was the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. I certainly could be wrong though...

Psalm 138:1-8
Boom

 ⁶ Though the LORD is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly;
   though lofty, he sees them from afar.

Proverbs 30:11-14

 ¹¹ “There are those who curse their fathers
   and do not bless their mothers;
¹² those who are pure in their own eyes
   and yet are not cleansed of their filth;
¹³ those whose eyes are ever so haughty,
   whose glances are so disdainful;
¹⁴ those whose teeth are swords
   and whose jaws are set with knives
to devour the poor from the earth
   and the needy from among mankind. 

Once again speaking out for the outcasts...

Reading from Saturday, December 18

Hey. So as I've approached closer and closer to the end of this project, I'm starting to worry about my faith. Every time I look at the idea of God from an intellectual, scientific standpoint I cannot say that he is real. The more I think about answered prayer and miracles and other signs of "proof" of God existing the more I think these are all coincidences, placebos or the power of the mind convinced of the power of a God who can move mountains.

But just this week I asked for your prayers for something I spent the entire past week praying about. That's the thing - I can logically dismiss the existence of God, but I cannot faithfully dismiss him, or remove him from my heart, as corny as that sounds. When tragedy strikes, my knee-jerk reaction is "Dear God, please...". I can honestly say my life is better because of him, or at least the concept of him. The concept of a God who died for me and who would be disappointed in me if I screwed up is something that has kept me in check for most of my life. But how does this differ from deciding Gandalf from Lord of the Rings is real and following the ideas outlined in those novels?

I'm convinced that the idea of God is something that has a profound impact on this world - both good and bad. I'm just not convinced that God is a real actual thing that exists in the way the Bible declares he does.

...

I've been sitting here for the past five minutes trying to figure out what to say next. I think the reason my faith has been shaken so dramatically is because I have taken a severely critical eye to the Bible. I haven't shared all of the holes I've poked, and theories I've come up with, but ever since I started I've been trying to logically pick apart the supernatural elements of the Bible. And now that I'm getting closer to the end, I'm not finding that big moment of personal proof that I needed to make it sure for me.

I am a person who is easily swayed one way or another. I could hear a great sermon tomorrow and be totally convinced of God's existence and omniscience all over again.  I think I need to make this documentary I've been talking about making. I don't want to lose God from my life. I don't want to cast off his existence and remove his presence from my life. That's a weird thing to say about something that I used to be convinced was as real as my hands.

Maybe we can start here.

Believers - what makes God real to you?
Non-Believers - what makes you sure of God's non-existence?

Reading from December 18
Disclaimer: for the sake of the rest of the readings, I'm going to assume God is real and exists and these stories are true unless I find something that really sticks out.


Habakkuk 1:1-3:19
OK. Before I even go any further, this is person who is unsatisfied with God's customer service. "The problem of evil" in other words.

² How long, LORD, must I call for help,
   but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
   but you do not save?
³ Why do you make me look at injustice?
   Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
   there is strife, and conflict abounds.
⁴ Therefore the law is paralyzed,
   and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
   so that justice is perverted.

I have made this point before on this blog - this does not fix the problem of evil, but it shows that even the faithful writers of the Bible - who were perhaps the closest people to God in history - still had trouble with the idea of a God who loved his people and his creation and allowed injustice and destruction to occur on his watch. The next section is titled "The LORD's Answer". Let's see what he says.

God's response to Habakkuk is "Babylon is coming to kill you." That's his answer to "Why are you letting injustice happen?" His answer is "I'm sending Babylon to kill you." Rightfully, Habakkuk complains to God once more.

You, LORD, have appointed them to execute judgment;
   you, my Rock, have ordained them to punish.
¹³ Your eyes are too pure to look on evil;
   you cannot tolerate wrongdoing.
Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?
   Why are you silent while the wicked
   swallow up those more righteous than themselves?

Exactly! God is someone who cannot tolerate evil. I have speculated on the idea of pre-Jesus God being like a robot who only sees right and wrong. Sin = punishment...no matter the context. So why then, should he allow injustice to occur simply to make a point or to prove how big and powerful he is?

God's response to this is basically a statement of his values. A lecture on sin and the result that sin. One could read into that to mean that Babylon will receive the punishment he outlined, but then it would be using Babylon to punish Israel only to destroy Babylon - why even bother with any of it?

The book closes with Habakkuk's response. This literally brought me to tears just now. Behold this man's unrelenting faith...as he remembered God's terrifying punishment and history of anger here is what he said...

¹⁶ I heard and my heart pounded,
   my lips quivered at the sound;
decay crept into my bones,
   and my legs trembled.
Yet I will wait patiently for the day of calamity
   to come on the nation invading us.
¹⁷ Though the fig tree does not bud
   and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
   and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
   and no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸ yet I will rejoice in the LORD,
   I will be joyful in God my Savior.

How do I get that faith?

This is my new favorite book of the Bible.

Also, verse 16 is the most palpable verse in the whole scripture. This is a real dude who is telling it like it is.

Revelation 9:1-21

³ And out of the smoke locusts came down on the earth and were given power like that of scorpions of the earth. ⁴ They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any plant or tree, but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their foreheads. ⁵ They were not allowed to kill them but only to torture them for five months. And the agony they suffered was like that of the sting of a scorpion when it strikes. ⁶ During those days people will seek death but will not find it; they will long to die, but death will elude them.

SH*T!

 ¹² The first woe is past; two other woes are yet to come.

SH*T! SH*T! SH*T! SH*T! SH*T! SH*T! SH*T! SH*T! SH*T! SH*T!


Psalm 137:1-9

 ⁴ How can we sing the songs of the LORD
   while in a foreign land? 

How could you not?

Proverbs 30:10

 ¹⁰ “Do not slander a servant to their master,
   or they will curse you, and you will pay for it. 

Dear God, 

It's certainly been a while since one of these. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm having trouble believing in you right now. God, if your word has taught me anything its that going through a struggle or painful period is intentional - whether its from you, or fate or chance - its purpose is to strengthen its victim. If you are responsible for the hard times lately, thank you. I am trying to "consider it pure joy" as your word has taught me. 

God, please reveal yourself to me in whatever way is possible. I know I'm not supposed to ask you to do that, but I'm sure other have asked you. In fact I think a few dudes in the Bible asked you to do that. I don't remember how it turned out for them - maybe I should take it back just to be safe.


God, whether you're there or not, I love you. You have made my life what it is. You have shaped me as a person. You have made me who I am. My belief in you has made me who I am. Please don't let me dismiss you so easily. 

Brandon.

Reading from Friday, December 17

Hey ho. Hey ha. Fifteen posts to go.


Reading for December 17
Nahum 1:1-3:19
This entire book is dedicated to the condemnation of Ninevah. Ninevah is the city that Jonah went and preached against and on this city God had mercy. Now we see an entire book whose sole purpose is to describe how God will destroy it. The question is - when was this book written and by whom? If it was written by Jonah, we may have a different opinion, or if it was written before the events of Jonah supposedly took place it would also shed a different light on the text. However if it was written after the events of Jonah, it would make the mercy and grace afforded to Ninevah in that book meaningless - the whole story trivial.

Well, I did a little research and here's what I found. This book was written after the events of Jonah, and was written by a prophet named Nahum (funnily enough). Within my study Bible it has an explanation of this very topic of Jonah and the mercy that now seems to have expired for Ninevah. Here's what it says:

God's anger against Ninevah had not appeared overnight. Assyria had been the dominant world power for at least 300 years. Once before, Jonah had carried a message of condemnation to its chief city, Ninevah. As was always true with God's prophets, Jonah's condemnation sounded absolute. Actually, it included an escape clause. In Jeremiah 18:7-10, God spelled it out: "If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation I warned repents of its evil, then I will relent." Hearing Jonah, the Ninevites had repented, and God spared their city.

The repentance had not lasted, however. By Nahum's time, Ninevah had returned to her evil ways. God's anger, while slow to develop, was sure. 

So it's not a total reversal of his word, but its a bit disappointing that A) Ninevah couldn't hold it together and B) God's mercy ran out in a time that seemed so much like he was turning all of his other cheeks.

If anything though, reading Nahum has made me realize that Ninevah was actually a ruthless, awful nation. It wasn't just that they didn't like Jews. By the way, the city was completely destroyed shortly after this book was written, never to be fully rebuilt.

Revelation 8:1-13
Oh sh**. This is the scary stuff I was talking about. So the seventh seal was opened on this scroll thing and all sorts of terrifying stuff starts happening. A mountain and a meteor crash into the earth, the sea turns to blood and everything in the sea dies. The sun moon and stars all lose a third of their light so a third of the day and a third of the night are total blackness.

Eh...scary...

Psalm 136:1-26
 ²³ He remembered us in our low estate
            His love endures forever.
²⁴ and freed us from our enemies.
            His love endures forever.
²⁵ He gives food to every creature.
            His love endures forever.
 ²⁶ Give thanks to the God of heaven.
            His love endures forever.


Proverbs 30:7-9
What a brilliantly wise prayer

 ⁷ “Two things I ask of you, LORD;
   do not refuse me before I die:
⁸ Keep falsehood and lies far from me;
   give me neither poverty nor riches,
   but give me only my daily bread.
⁹ Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you
   and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’
Or I may become poor and steal,
   and so dishonor the name of my God.

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?