I am stopping my daily posts on "what the Bible really says". I will continue my reading and taking my own notes, but I will not share publicly on this blog anymore. My hope was to start discussions with my friends, but all I got instead was mountains and mountains of spam from horrible horrible sources and hits from bots trying to generate traffic for porn sites.
The Bible deserves more respect than that. And since I can't stop the smut, I can stop it from filtering through me and my blogs.
If you are interested in partaking in a discussion on "what the Bible really says", I'm thinking about starting a facebook page. In spite of all the hype over privacy concerns and what not, facebook pages have much better controls for page owners over who sees and participates in your content. If you're interested, let me know.
Showing posts with label Bible Study. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bible Study. Show all posts
Day 21 - What the Bible Really Says
Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 32:48-Joshua 10:28
Moses' story ends and Joshua's begins. With a final blessing Moses dies and the nation takes it's first steps into the promised land.
Spies are sent to scout things out, a friendly prostitute protects them and keeps them from being caught. The people pack up and cross the Jordan river and set to take the city of Jericho. The fall of Jericho is a well known story, but what you don't often hear is that some jerkface kept some treasure that he wasn't supposed to and because he broke God's commands the whole nation was punished in their next battle and they lost. They rooted the guy out, stoned and burned him and his whole house and then everything was ok. They went back out and won the battle on the next try.
Tricked by some, conquering others, even making the sun stand still in the sky so there is enough daylight to fight... Israel is on the move.
The chosen people are entering their promised land, driving out those that were there. Why? Why is God allowing them to be executed to make way for another group of people?
Why did God flood the earth in Noah's time? God knows what He's doing. Do I understand it? Do I even LIKE it? No. But God is doing what he does.
Tomorrow's Reading: Joshua 10:29-20:9
Day 20 - What the Bible Really Says
Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 23:15-32:47
More rules? Yes, more rules.
Let escaped slaves remain free. Don't let girls or boys be cult prostitutes. Don't use the money earned from prostitution or selling a dog be used in the tabernacle as payment for a vow. Don't charge interest on anything to your own people, charge it to foreigners, sure, but not your own people. If you make a vow to God, stick to it, or just don't make a vow. If you visit a neighbor's field, have a snack, but don't take more than you eat. You can't remarry your ex wife after she had married someone else and divorced or become widowed....
You know what? I'm going to just stop re-writing what is in the text. You can read it for yourself. But needless to say, this is a long long list of rules.
In chapter 27 we find curses. These are like rules, but if you do said thing you are cursed. Not sure what that means...
Every resource I check describes "cursed" by using the word "curse". And the definition of curse is "to have harm befall", but I can't figure out exactly HOW one is cursed.
We first see the word "cursed" in Genesis, the serpent is "cursed" to crawl on his belly.
Then in chapter 28 we have blessings, but then more curses. Basically, follow the rules and stuff will go good. If you don't, it will go bad.
AH! Verse 21 starts describing the curses! And oh, yes, they are ugly and messy.
We end today's reading with an amazing song by Moses. Of course it's just the text. I often wish the original melodies of these songs could have been preserved.
So let me editorialize a bit.
All these rules. Yes, we have "the big ten" that seem to be set apart, but all these others seem to be given equal importance. Over and over and over again Moses pleads with the people to follow ALL the rules and statutes. All of them. Every one that has been given to them so far has been equal importance.
What does this mean for us in the 20th centurty? Are we to follow some and ignore others? Are we to make laws to make sure others are following these rules while ignoring others for our own convenience? Why do some seem so set on enforcing some of these rules and not all of them? Putting tassels on your cloak is just as important as not being a cult prostitute. Why aren't we out there making laws to force clothing manufacturers to put tassels on everything?
We'll see what Jesus says later on.
Monday's Reading: Deuteronomy 32:48-Joshua 10:28
Day 19 - What the Bible Really Says
Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 12:1-23:14
Moses is recounting the history of wandering in the desert and relaying the commandments.He's already mentioned the Ten Commandments, now we're getting into other rules and statutes.
First, burn everything. Specifically, the altars and idols in their new land.
Offerings. What to eat (especially as it pertains to what one offers). Kill those that entice you to follow other gods. A long list of 'clean' and 'unclean' animals that one may or may not eat. Tithes (giving a 10th of one's harvest to the priests). Every seven years creditors are to grant a release to the borrower. Do not allow anyone to become poor, lend them freely what is needed for survival, even if the seventh year is approaching and you won't get it back. If someone serves as a slave (because of debt) release them in the seventh year and give them what they need to survive on their own. Observe the Passover. The Feast of Weeks. The Feast of Booths. Appoint judges and observe justice. Anyone who practices forbidden forms of worship is to be killed. Judges and priests have the final say in legal matters. Rules for the king (when there is one). Priests and Levites are provided for by the offerings of the other tribes. Don't listen to wizards and fortune tellers. A new prophet will replace Moses. Cities of refuge. Property boundaries. More than one witness is needed to prove an accusation. False witnesses will be punished in the way they wanted the accused to be punished. Laws regarding war.Offerings for unsolved murders. Rules for marrying captive women. Rights of the firstborn, even in polygamous families. Rebellious sons to be stoned to death. A hanged man is cursed and should be buried before nightfall. Return a stray animal. A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God. If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long. When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it. You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited, the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together. You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself. Rules for proof of virginity of a new wife. If a guy sleeps with the wife of another, he and the woman will be stoned. How to handle the rape of young virgins. Those not allowed into the assembly. Keep uncleanliness out of the camp.
Whew. That's a lot. And there's MORE tomorrow!
Tomorrow's Reading: Deuteronomy 23:15-32:47
Moses is recounting the history of wandering in the desert and relaying the commandments.He's already mentioned the Ten Commandments, now we're getting into other rules and statutes.
First, burn everything. Specifically, the altars and idols in their new land.
Offerings. What to eat (especially as it pertains to what one offers). Kill those that entice you to follow other gods. A long list of 'clean' and 'unclean' animals that one may or may not eat. Tithes (giving a 10th of one's harvest to the priests). Every seven years creditors are to grant a release to the borrower. Do not allow anyone to become poor, lend them freely what is needed for survival, even if the seventh year is approaching and you won't get it back. If someone serves as a slave (because of debt) release them in the seventh year and give them what they need to survive on their own. Observe the Passover. The Feast of Weeks. The Feast of Booths. Appoint judges and observe justice. Anyone who practices forbidden forms of worship is to be killed. Judges and priests have the final say in legal matters. Rules for the king (when there is one). Priests and Levites are provided for by the offerings of the other tribes. Don't listen to wizards and fortune tellers. A new prophet will replace Moses. Cities of refuge. Property boundaries. More than one witness is needed to prove an accusation. False witnesses will be punished in the way they wanted the accused to be punished. Laws regarding war.Offerings for unsolved murders. Rules for marrying captive women. Rights of the firstborn, even in polygamous families. Rebellious sons to be stoned to death. A hanged man is cursed and should be buried before nightfall. Return a stray animal. A woman shall not wear a man’s garment, nor shall a man put on a woman’s cloak, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God. If you come across a bird’s nest in any tree or on the ground, with young ones or eggs and the mother sitting on the young or on the eggs, you shall not take the mother with the young. You shall let the mother go, but the young you may take for yourself, that it may go well with you, and that you may live long. When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, that you may not bring the guilt of blood upon your house, if anyone should fall from it. You shall not sow your vineyard with two kinds of seed, lest the whole yield be forfeited, the crop that you have sown and the yield of the vineyard. You shall not plow with an ox and a donkey together. You shall not wear cloth of wool and linen mixed together. You shall make yourself tassels on the four corners of the garment with which you cover yourself. Rules for proof of virginity of a new wife. If a guy sleeps with the wife of another, he and the woman will be stoned. How to handle the rape of young virgins. Those not allowed into the assembly. Keep uncleanliness out of the camp.
Whew. That's a lot. And there's MORE tomorrow!
Day 18 - What the Bible Really Says
Today's Reading: Deuteronomy 2:1-11:32
My apologies to those of your following my ramblings here. I left this post blank to do a test to see where my blog traffic was coming from, to see if people were really reading these or if I was just getting spam crawlers. The conclusion? Spam crawlers. That made me sad. But I'm going to keep posting anyway because in the end I am doing this for me.
So today we're looking at the nation of Israel as they are about to enter "the promised land". Chapters 2 and 3 recount their wanderings in the desert. In chapter 4 Moses starts reviewing "the law". He mentions the Ten Commandments.
They were first named "the Ten Commandments" in Exodous chapter 34. Moses had gone back to the mountain after the episode with the gold calf and with God made new tablets.
But Moses also mentions, in the same breath "statues and rules". So along with "the big ten" are other rules that need to be followed.
And as he starts talking about the commandments and rules, he doesn't start with the Ten, but rather gives guidance regarding idolatry. No statues, no carved images, nothing that takes the place of God. Moses pleads with the people to not forget the wonders they have seen, to not forget that they were taken care of by God and not some statue. To remember that they were CHOSEN in a way that no other God has done for any other people.
Then he says "ok, so here's what I'm talking about" (me paraphrasing, not actually what he said). And he lays down the law.
Can you name the Ten Commandments? Recite them from memory? I learned them a long time ago, but I can't recall them without looking them up.
- You shall have no other gods before me.
- You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
- You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
- Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you. You shall remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
- Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
- You shall not murder.
- And you shall not commit adultery.
- And you shall not steal.
- And you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
- And you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
But after giving these 10, Moses reminds them of the GREATEST COMMANDMENT, and it is this:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Bigger than anything else, more important than any other rule, Love God.
Moses continues, in very poetic words, telling the people to keep the commandments, rules, and statues because God loves them and loves them when they keep His commandments. And not to fear the people in the land they are about to enter. Also warning them that when the get fat and comfortable in their new homes not to forget the only reason they are fat and comfortable is because God took care of them. Pleads with them to stop being stubborn.
Over and over and over Moses says "Keep the commandments, keep all the commandments". It's as if he knows what will become of these people that he's led for so long....
Tomorrow's Reading: Deuteronomy 12:1-23:14
Day 17 - What the Bible Really Says
Today's Reading: Numbers 30:1-Deuteronomy 1:46
What's in today's reading: Battle, some more rules, and preparing to go home.
So the Midianites were a bad influence on the nation of Israel, teaching them to follow foreign gods. God says wipe them out, so they do. All the men, boys, and women who were not virgins. The virgins, 32 thousand in number, plus the livestock and anything else they wanted, were all theirs.
Why? Why would God do this? Whey would He wipe out an entire people (well, most of them, allowing a pretty large number to be absorbed into Israel)?
These things in the Old Testament scare and confuse me, but it tells me God hates sin. Hates it so much that it was necessary to cut it out of the world.
The rest of our reading is devoted to the final preparations for entering the promised land. Some final directions are given and two tribes offer to settle on 'this' side of the Jordan river, but still promising to help the rest take the land. And then their journey so far is recounted and recorded.
So we're ready to enter the promised land, right? Well, sort of. We end today by getting into the book of Deuteronomy. The word "Deuteronomy" means "second law" - in other words, before we end our 40 years of wandering, we're going to go over everything we've learned along the way. I know, to us who are reading, this might seem like "why are we saying this again", but you have to remember that what took us a few days to read actually took 40 years to write down, so having it all in one place before entering into battle and settling in a new place is a good idea.
So brace yourselves, we're talking about the law.
Tomorrow's Reading: Deuteronomy 2:1-11:32
What's in today's reading: Battle, some more rules, and preparing to go home.
So the Midianites were a bad influence on the nation of Israel, teaching them to follow foreign gods. God says wipe them out, so they do. All the men, boys, and women who were not virgins. The virgins, 32 thousand in number, plus the livestock and anything else they wanted, were all theirs.
Why? Why would God do this? Whey would He wipe out an entire people (well, most of them, allowing a pretty large number to be absorbed into Israel)?
These things in the Old Testament scare and confuse me, but it tells me God hates sin. Hates it so much that it was necessary to cut it out of the world.
The rest of our reading is devoted to the final preparations for entering the promised land. Some final directions are given and two tribes offer to settle on 'this' side of the Jordan river, but still promising to help the rest take the land. And then their journey so far is recounted and recorded.
So we're ready to enter the promised land, right? Well, sort of. We end today by getting into the book of Deuteronomy. The word "Deuteronomy" means "second law" - in other words, before we end our 40 years of wandering, we're going to go over everything we've learned along the way. I know, to us who are reading, this might seem like "why are we saying this again", but you have to remember that what took us a few days to read actually took 40 years to write down, so having it all in one place before entering into battle and settling in a new place is a good idea.
So brace yourselves, we're talking about the law.
Tomorrow's Reading: Deuteronomy 2:1-11:32
Day 14,15,16 - What the Bible Really Says
I'm going to try to catch up in one post. I hope you're cool with that.
Today's Reading: Numbers 4:29-11:35, Numbers 12:1-21:9, and Numbers 21:10-29:40
What's in today's reading: Some final rules, setting out from Sinai, checking out Canaan, wandering wandering wandering..., grumbling grumbling grumbling...
With some final commands, the nation if Israel sets out from Mount Sinai and almost immediately starts complaining. They miss the food they ate in Egypt, so God gives them quail. Still they complain.
And then they get to where they are going, the promised land. They send in spies, and the people panic. Instead of taking the land, they are set to wander for 40 years, until those who complained pass away. Moses' authority is challenged, and re-instituted. A few scuffles, and we end today with some rules regarding sacrifice.
One of the harder things to understand in this section is God's anger. He is leading these people out of slavery and to a land of milk and honey, but in chapter 11 when they complain He sets part of the camp on fire. They complained and asked for meat, so He buried them in quail and also gave them a plague. When Miriam challenged Moses, she was made leprous. The people complain more and he sends serpents to bite them. A man takes a wife from another nation and a plague is sent on everyone.
Why, if these are His people, is He killing so many of them off?
Honestly, I don't know. But it scares the heck out of me. God hates sin. He hates it so much that to preserve his chosen people He will kill of thousands to protect a few.
How much does He hate MY sin?
Tomorrow's Reading: Numbers 30:1-Deuteronomy 1:46
Today's Reading: Numbers 4:29-11:35, Numbers 12:1-21:9, and Numbers 21:10-29:40
What's in today's reading: Some final rules, setting out from Sinai, checking out Canaan, wandering wandering wandering..., grumbling grumbling grumbling...
With some final commands, the nation if Israel sets out from Mount Sinai and almost immediately starts complaining. They miss the food they ate in Egypt, so God gives them quail. Still they complain.
And then they get to where they are going, the promised land. They send in spies, and the people panic. Instead of taking the land, they are set to wander for 40 years, until those who complained pass away. Moses' authority is challenged, and re-instituted. A few scuffles, and we end today with some rules regarding sacrifice.
One of the harder things to understand in this section is God's anger. He is leading these people out of slavery and to a land of milk and honey, but in chapter 11 when they complain He sets part of the camp on fire. They complained and asked for meat, so He buried them in quail and also gave them a plague. When Miriam challenged Moses, she was made leprous. The people complain more and he sends serpents to bite them. A man takes a wife from another nation and a plague is sent on everyone.
Why, if these are His people, is He killing so many of them off?
Honestly, I don't know. But it scares the heck out of me. God hates sin. He hates it so much that to preserve his chosen people He will kill of thousands to protect a few.
How much does He hate MY sin?
Tomorrow's Reading: Numbers 30:1-Deuteronomy 1:46
Day 13 - What the Bible Really says
Today's reading: Leviticus 25:8-Numbers 4:28
What's in today's reading: Property rules, taking care of the poor, the first census.
We wind down our look at the rules set forth in the book of Leviticus. It ends with "These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai."
These are the commandments. All of them. Not just 10, but there are hundreds here regarding everything from what you eat to what you give to God to how you tend your fields. Why so many?
Because these people were like children. All they had known their whole lives, until now, was slavery. With their first taste of freedom they immediately turned their backs on the God that rescued them and worshiped a golden calf. So, obviously, they need to be kept in line or they are going to end up dead.
But how many of these commandments still apply today? All these rules were given to a group of people that had just left Egypt and didn't yet have the land that they were just given rules for, so should we still respect them today? And if so, which ones?
Honestly, I'm not sure any of them can be strictly applied to people today. These were the "commandments... commanded to Moses for the people of Israel". Those who take the Bible ultra-literal tend to ignore that part and then cherry pick from the commandments as to which should apply and which no longer apply.
I don't think you can do that. If you are going to follow these laws, you kind of have to follow all of them. I mean, sure, a lot of these are really great things you should be doing, and that's great if you choose to make them a part of your life. But to insist that others follow some of the laws while ignoring the whole in your own life isn't how it's supposed to work. If you're going to insist on making parts of this part of our modern legal code because "thus spaketh the Lord", then we really need to do all of it. Just my opinion.
Our reading end today with the first census. Now that we have our rules, we're going to count our people to see who is left before moving on. This gets really tedious and boring and I don't blame you if you read it the way I did, skimming over the names and numbers and just looking for any tidbits that continue our story.
And there are a couple things. The people were to redeem their firstborn children and animals. To do that would take an enormous number of sacrifices and possibly could have left them with a food shortage (I'm guessing). Instead, God accepted the family of Levi, the Levites, and put them in charge of the tabernacle. They became the priests, the ones that served God for a living. Then among the Levites, they were given specific duties regarding the tabernacle and it's care.
Tomorrow's reading: Numbers 4:29-11:35
What's in today's reading: Property rules, taking care of the poor, the first census.
We wind down our look at the rules set forth in the book of Leviticus. It ends with "These are the commandments that the Lord commanded Moses for the people of Israel on Mount Sinai."
These are the commandments. All of them. Not just 10, but there are hundreds here regarding everything from what you eat to what you give to God to how you tend your fields. Why so many?
Because these people were like children. All they had known their whole lives, until now, was slavery. With their first taste of freedom they immediately turned their backs on the God that rescued them and worshiped a golden calf. So, obviously, they need to be kept in line or they are going to end up dead.
But how many of these commandments still apply today? All these rules were given to a group of people that had just left Egypt and didn't yet have the land that they were just given rules for, so should we still respect them today? And if so, which ones?
Honestly, I'm not sure any of them can be strictly applied to people today. These were the "commandments... commanded to Moses for the people of Israel". Those who take the Bible ultra-literal tend to ignore that part and then cherry pick from the commandments as to which should apply and which no longer apply.
I don't think you can do that. If you are going to follow these laws, you kind of have to follow all of them. I mean, sure, a lot of these are really great things you should be doing, and that's great if you choose to make them a part of your life. But to insist that others follow some of the laws while ignoring the whole in your own life isn't how it's supposed to work. If you're going to insist on making parts of this part of our modern legal code because "thus spaketh the Lord", then we really need to do all of it. Just my opinion.
Our reading end today with the first census. Now that we have our rules, we're going to count our people to see who is left before moving on. This gets really tedious and boring and I don't blame you if you read it the way I did, skimming over the names and numbers and just looking for any tidbits that continue our story.
And there are a couple things. The people were to redeem their firstborn children and animals. To do that would take an enormous number of sacrifices and possibly could have left them with a food shortage (I'm guessing). Instead, God accepted the family of Levi, the Levites, and put them in charge of the tabernacle. They became the priests, the ones that served God for a living. Then among the Levites, they were given specific duties regarding the tabernacle and it's care.
Tomorrow's reading: Numbers 4:29-11:35
Day 12 - What the Bible Really Says
Today's reading: Leviticus 16:1-25:7
What's in today's reading: Day of Atonement, Place of sacrifice, rules rules and more rules?
Here's a holiday to celebrate, here's how to sacrifice, don't eat blood, here's who you're allowed to see naked, don't offer your children to Molech, don't lie with a man as with a woman, don't lie with animals, treat people fairly, love your neighbor as yourself.
Oh, and by the way, here's the list of punishments for those who don't follow those rules: death.
This section of the Bible gets a lot of attention these days, especially a couple of verses in the middle there. In two places it calls a man lying with another man an "abomination". In the second it says they shall be put to death.
Dude.
If you know me all, or have read any other posts on here you get the impression that I am pro "gay" rights. And I am. Why? How can I be when it so plainly shows here that "gay" sex is an abomination?
The short answer is: I'm too busy worrying about my sin to worry about someone else's and this country has too many other issues to worry about. Legislating morality is a waste of time of resources.
So we throw out the 10 commandments and the rest of the law based on the Old Testament? No, not saying that. There are laws there to protect the victims and those should be upheld. But why create a law for a victimless crime? We allow other things that are prohibited by this section of Leviticus to exist - pornography for example (some would argue it's not victimless, but alas, it exists and is easily available thanks to the Internet).
In a nutshell, let's not waste our time and money on worrying about how others are sinning. We need to focus on ourselves, our own lives, and the effects of our own sin. I'm not saying gay marriage or any of the related issues are right or wrong, that's for God to sort out. My job is to keep myself in check and to love my neighbor as myself. If I'm doing that, then I don't have time to worry about the sins of others.
So why legalize gay marriage? So we can move on.
Honestly, I really don't have it all worked out in my head, as I said before I'm kind of busy trying to work on my own sin.
Tomorrow's Reading: Leviticus 25:8-Numbers 4:28
Day 11 - What the Bible Really Says (or whatever the title is - I really need to settle on one...)
Today's Reading: Leviticus 8:1-15:33
What's in today's reading: Rules, rules, rule and ew, did we really need to talk about that?
We are reading lots and lots of rules. We start with the consecration of the priests and move on to rules about what to eat, illness, leprosy, mold in houses, and ew.... bodily discharges.
Why so many rules (which continue for the next 2 days of readings)?
As with any part of the Bible it is important to know who the things we are reading were written for. In this case, we are reading rules and laws given by Moses (or through Moses from God) to the newborn nation of Israel. At this time they are still in the wilderness, after having been in Egypt for generations, and they are encountering wild animals, water that has who knows what in it, and diseases. Lots of diseases. Many of the rules we have in today's reading are meant to help them avoid disease or to treat a disease before it spreads.
So what do these rules mean to us today? Well, honestly, not much. This is history we are reading now. This is the legal and moral code for Israel and not for everyone. Yes, it's kind of dry and boring, but it's history. If historians are right, these rules may be 7000 years old. Seven Thousand. The fact that we can see these things so many centuries later is an amazing testament to the importance of these writings to the people of Israel, for them to have preserved them into modern times.
Tomorrow's reading: Leviticus 16:1-25:7
Day 10 - What's in the Bible
Today's reading: Exodus 37:25-Leviticus 7:38
What's in today's reading: Wow, this stuff is really kind of boring, can't it just say "yadda yadda yadda" instead? And what's with all the blood? GROSS!
Today the people of Israel are cleaning up their act and finally getting things together. As directed by God, we see them building the things for the tabernacle and then getting down to the business of following God.
And then there are rules, lots of rules, regarding offering.
And here's a word we haven't discussed yet: sin. We first saw the word sin way back in Genesis chapter 4. God says to Cain "sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it." The Hebrew word for sin is hatah (and it's various forms), literally it means "miss the mark", like an archer shooting an arrow and missing his target. The target, in this case, is the new law that has been given to Moses.
All kinds of offerings. And lots of animals. Lots of blood. Lots of killing. Why so much killing? Well, we know that this practice started, or at least was first recorded, in Genesis, right where we are introduced to the word sin. Cain and Abel make offerings to God, Cain of the "fruit of the ground" and Abel from his flock. Some say the practice is from God making clothes of skins for Adam and Eve, and that kind of makes sense - animals sacrificed to cover their sin, but we aren't specifically told why this practice is put into effect. But it is an important part of lives of the people of Israel from this time forward.
Monday's reading: Leviticus 8:1-15:33
Day 9 - What the Bible Says
Today's Reading: Exodus 29:1-37:24
What's in today's reading: Wow... more rules...
Moses is still talking to God and God is still giving him some rules. Today he receives directions on:
Consecration of the priests
Alter of incense
More furnishing for the tabernacle
Making anointing oil and incense
Who should make everything
Finally, Moses is headed down the mountain with all this stuff, ready to share everything with everyone. Only to find that his brother and the rest of the people had made themselves a golden calf and were having a crazy party.
Everything Moses and God had talked about, God had written on 2 stone tablets, front and back. Upon seeing what was happening, Moses threw them down and they broke at the foot of the mountain.
Then things take a weird turn.
Moses punishes the people by burning the idol and making the people drink the ashes. Then he draws a line in the sand (figuratively) and says "who is on the side of God?" The sons of Levi, that is those directly descended from Levi, one of the 12 sons of Jacob, form up. Moses tell them to take their swords and kill their brothers, companions, and neighbors. And about 3000 people are killed. Those that survive are cursed with a plague.
Why would God allow Moses to order executions?
We can only guess, but I think it's logical to conclude that this was the first "carrying out" of the laws Moses had just been given. Those 3000 were the ones that had deserved execution under the Law. But we are not given exact details of why those 3000 were executed and not more .
And so the people set out on their wanderings again. We're given a glimpse of daily life with Moses and his "tent of meeting" where he would meet "face to face" with God. One of their conversations is recorded for us where Moses is pleading with God, asking Him to please please stay with His people. Pretty please.
Moses makes new tablets, as directed, and heads back up Mount Sinai to have them re-written. God renews his promise with His people, giving them a second chance. (Thank you Lord for second chances!) The tablets are rewritten with the covenant and the Ten Commandments. (Yes, it states the Ten Commandments separately from the Covenant. But are we really sure the 10 we are so familiar with are THE 10? Verses 34:11-26 give other rules that sound an awful lot like commandments... hmmm. But we'll see later...)
And so, after all that, the people finally settle down and start doing what God commanded them. Our reading ends as they get to work building the tabernacle and all it's furnishings.
Tomorrow's reading: Exodus 37:25-Leviticus 7:38
Day 8 - What the Bible says
Today's Reading: Exodus 20:1-28:43
What's in today's reading: Wow, that's a lot of rules...
When we last saw Moses he was headed up the mountain to talk to God while the rest of Israel waited below. And now we get to hear what God told him.
Almost everything in today's reading is the first laws, given directly by God, to Moses.
And the very first thing God says is what we have come to know as the Ten Commandments.
But God doesn't stop there. At the same time there are many other laws and rules given to Moses.
While we are still reading some history, this section deviates from that a bit and gives us the first glimpse of the legal code that is so important to the Israelites and Jewish people up to and including modern times.
Along with the 10 commandments are rules regarding:
Alter building
Slavery
Capital punishment
Restitution
Social Justice
Honoring the Sabbath and other holidays
Further, God talks about the "promised land".
Moses then comes down and tells the people all that was said. This becomes known as "The Book of the Covenant". Moses goes back and God talks some more, giving rules about:
Collecting offerings for the sanctuary
The Ark of the Covenant
Furnishings for the Sanctuary
Construction of the Sanctuary
The Alter
The priest's garments
As we leave today's reading, Moses is still on the mountain. Moses was up there 40 days, receiving all these instructions.We won't take that long to talk about them.
People make a big deal out of the 10 commandments. But there's more than just those 10 that were given to Moses. Why do we make more of those 10 and ignore the others? Why have these others been given less significance?
I don't really know. What do all these laws mean when we get to the New Testament and Jesus' teachings? We'll talk about that when we get there.
Tomorrow's reading: Exodus 29:1-37:24
Day 7 - What the Bible says
Today's reading: Exodus 9:13-19:25
What's in today's reading: The last of the plagues, Passover, leaving Egypt, into the wilderness
Seven, eight, nine, and ten. Finally pharaoh gets the hint. It takes the death of every "firstborn" to finally get it to sink in. The passage tells us that every house had someone who was dead. We're not given details as to whether someone in the palace died, though Moses did warn that this plague would include everyone from the "firstborn in Pharaoh's house to the slave girl behind the handmill".
This series is kind of a "high" overview of what the Bible says, but every now and then we have to stop and look at specifics because something comes up that is important. This time around we're looking at Passover.
The final plague is the death of the firstborn in every house, including livestock. To protect themselves, the Israelites were to take a "lamb without blemish" and kill it, take the blood and put it on the doorposts and the lintel of their doorway. Then take the lamb, roast it and eat it with bitter herbs and unleavened bread. When the plague struck it would "pass over" the houses that were marked with the blood.
A perfect lamb, sacrificed, the blood used to save the people. The Passover meal. This marks the first steps our newborn nation of Israel takes as it's own people. This is their identity. This is who they are. This annual rite would be an important part of who they are, the remembrance of their salvation.
"Go" says Pharaoh. And so they go. The people of Egypt wanted them gone and helped them leave with great haste. They were convinced that the next plague would be their own deaths. So, leaving Egypt behind, with it stinking piles of dead frogs, cattle, and, alas, people, they set out into the wilderness.
They wander for a bit, led by a pillar of cloud and fire to avoid war they aren't ready for. Pharaoh, suddenly, is having a change of heart. His free labor is gone! So he sets out after them.
Backed up against the Red sea, the Isrealites freaked. "Dude, you led us out here just to get us killed? Nice, bro". So God says to Moses, "Chill bro, just stick out your staff and see what I do".
So he did. Now, unlike the movie where the water separated (the special effect team used several dump trucks filled with water dumping at the same time, then reversed the film to simulate the parting) the Bible says that a wind "blew all night".
This is another miracle that people try to pick apart, prove that it couldn't be or figure out ways it could be with natural explanations. I've heard people say "the text doesn't say Red sea, it says Reed sea, people waked through reeds and the chariots got stuck in them." I've heard the underwater bridge theory, that Moses knew of a narrow strip of land that ran under the water and people could walk on it and only get wet up to their knees. Chariots on the other hand would slip off into the deeper water on either side.
But the words used here are very clear. Yabasah - dry ground. Not reeds, not mud, not wet. Dry. DRY ground. We're also told the "water were a wall on the left and right". Wall being the word homah - simply wall, the sides of a building or the walls of a city, not "deeper on either side" or anything to do with reeds. Wall of water.
This was a miracle.
God parted the sea and the people walked through on dry ground. Then the Egyptians followed and the water collapsed on top of them, killing them all. Moses could see their bodies washing up on shore.
They had done it, they were free. More miracles would follow - bitter water made safe to drink, water spontaneously erupting from a rock, and bread from Heaven every morning. The Israelites lived in a time of miracles during their time in the wilderness.
Today's reading ends with the people at mount Sinai. Moses is going up there to talk to God. The rest of the people are waiting below. What's going to happen now?
Tomorrow's reading: Exodus 20:1-28:43
Day 6 - What the Bible says
Today's Reading: Genesis 49:1-Exodus 9:12
What's in today's reading: The end of Joseph's story, the beginning of Moses's, the plagues on Egypt begin.
I didn't even get through a whole week before I started getting sentimental and lazy in these posts. For that I apologize. I really want to focus on what is written, to whom it was written, and why it was written.
So far we've been reading history. Whether or not the creation stories, the Ark, the tower of Babel, and the rest are literal stories or the telling of truths in a manner the people of the time could grasp, it's still history.
We are continuing our history lessons and are about to move from history of individuals to the history of a nation. But before we do, there's one more person who's story we get to share.
Moses.
Scholars and tradition tell us that Moses is the author of the first 5 books of the Bible, so in a sense the story of Moses is his autobiography.
Some scholars believe that the stories of creation, Noah, Abraham and so on from the first part of Genesis are from an earlier source that was probably handed down orally and not written down until compiled by Moses. Every people group has a similar oral tradition. Some claim that this waters down the facts and these oral histories can't be trusted. While it is true that storytellers sometimes embellish their stories to entertain their audiences, in every tradition that practices storytelling, they take great pride in preserving the truth and facts from one generation to the next. There is no reason to believe the stories written down by Moses are any different.
So the end of our story of Joseph is him bringing his brothers and father to Egypt to save them from the drought. The family of Israel is given their own land in Egypt and they make themselves at home. By the end of the drought, all of Egypt belongs to pharaoh (the people sold their land, and themselves into slavery, so they could eat. One could question is Joseph really 'saved' them from the drought if they paid so much to partake in the food stores, but this is a good example of why these stories can be trusted, they record the good along with the not so good about the people.
The drought ended. Jacob (Israel) passes away. Joseph passes away. And the nation of Israel is born. Happy in Egypt, they multiply. And multiply. And multiply. Pretty soon pharaoh is like "Dude, these sheep herders are going to over run the country! We should like put them to work so they'll stop making babies". Ok, that's probably not exactly what he said, but that's the idea.
So now our baby nation, before they could even figure out that that ARE a nation, are slaves. Put to work building the cities of Pithom and Raamses.
We are getting into some history that can be verified. While archaeologist disagree on where Pithom and Raamses are located, we are starting to see things in the Bible that we know to be true. Egypt did employ slaves. Some buildings were built in the manner described in Genesis (clay bricks made with straw). Sadly, some historians try to throw out anything that seems to confirm the Biblical record, claiming that those working on those projects are trying to confirm what is written rather than letting the facts speak for themselves. I am not an expert on such things, but we can't throw out the Bible as lies simply because it is a religious text.
So here's the descendants of Israel, now a people group unto themselves, slaves to Egypt. And then along comes Moses.
We learn all about Moses from the beginning, from his infancy, through his childhood being fostered by Pharaoh's daughter, murder, exile, and then a message from God.
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob talked to God all the time (as did Adam, Noah, etc.). Genesis doesn't tell us how much Moses knew about God before the burning bush. Being raised in the palace, we can imagine that probably not much. But he did marry the daughter of a priest...
Now we see something that we haven't seen this clearly before. Miracles. A bush that doesn't burn, a staff that can be turned into a snake, water turned to blood. Things that seem impossible because they defy the laws of the known universe. Some people throw out the Bible simply because these things "can't have happened, they're impossible". But God wrote the laws of the universe, He's above them. He can do what he likes. Miracles might defy the laws of the universe as we mere humans see them, but that's how we recognize them when we see them. That is what makes them 'miracles'.
Moses goes to Egypt and tells pharaoh "Let my people go!". Everyone knows this story. The movie is still among the most viewed films of all time. While maybe no 100% accurate to the Biblical text, Charlton Heston's portrayal of Moses is on one of the best known performances in modern history. So I won't rehash a story that you probably know.
Our reading ends today with the 6th plague. 4 more to go.
Tomorrow's Reading: Exodus 9:13-19:25
Day 5 - What the Bible says
Today's reading: Genesis 40:1-48:22
What's in today's reading: Joseph interprets some dreams, takes over Egypt, saves his family
I love Joseph's story. His brothers treat him like dirt by selling him into slavery, but he keeps his chin up and is promoted to head care-taker of his master's house. Then his master's wife accuses him of rape, so he's thrown in jail, but he keeps his chin up and the jailer puts him in charge of everything. Eventually he's put in charge of the entire country and saves everyone from a horrible drought.
No matter how bad bad can get, don't give up. Never ever ever ever give up. God's got plans.
Next Reading: Genesis 49:1-Exodus 9:12
Day 4 - What the heck are we reading now?
Today's reading - Genesis 31:1-39:23
What's in today's reading: Jacob leaves his father-in-law's house, gets a new name, Joseph and his adventures in Egypt.
I'm struggling coming up with something to say about these stories of Isaac and Jacob. It's personal history, the story of a family. Reading it is kind of like having a great uncle visit and hearing stories about second cousins that you've never met: sort of interesting, but overall kind of boring.If the Bible is the Word of God then there is a reason these stories have been handed down to us from so many thousands of years ago. But what is that reason?
Part of it is that these personal histories are part of a continuous story that starts with "let there be light" and ends in Revelation. I think God is showing us that He works in big ways and small ways, in the creation of the Universe, and in the lives of each one of these people.
But part of it is that we are building up to something. The stories of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the introduction, the preface if you will, to the story of the nation of Israel.
And why is it called "the nation of Israel"? Just as Abram was renamed Abraham by God, Jacob get a new name too. Jacob means "supplanter", or "one who wrongly takes the place of another". Jacob lived up to his name with his brother Esau. After a night of wrestling (so totally not sure if that was figurative or literal), God renames Jacob "Israel", which means "strives (argues, struggles, quarrels) with God". A name that would certainly be applicable to the nation of people that would be his descendants, as we will see later on.
Our reading today ends with the first part of the story of Joseph. This is one of my favorite stories from the Old Testament. Joseph is treated like crap by his brothers, ends up in Egypt. Is he mad? Maybe, but he does his job anyway and does it so well that he ends up the head servant of his boss's house. But then the boss's wife gets fresh and when Joseph scorns her advances she has him put in jail. Is he mad? Maybe, but he's a model prisoner and even though he's still a prisoner he's the right hand man to his jailers.
What happens next? And how does any of this relate to the nation of Israel that we were just talking about? Well that's tomorrow's reading.
Tomorrow's reading - Genesis 40:1-48:22
Day 3 - What the Bible really says
Today's reading: Genesis 24:1-30:43
What's in today's reading: Isaac and his wives, Jacob and Esau
Sometimes I find reading the Bible to be kind of boring (GASP!!) Much of what we call The Old Testament is history. Sometimes personal history, as is the case with today's reading, sometimes national history (Chronicles, Judges...) But history can be very boring.
But if the Bible is the Word of God, then everything that is in there is there for a reason. There's something God wants us to know about the people and events that we read about.
And that's the case here. Isaac is the son of Abraham, and the father of Jacob. These three names are often said together. God is sometimes called "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."
But in our reading today, Isaac is a young man and is about to seek a wife. What lessons can we learn from his story?
The first part of our story is a love story. Abraham wants a wife for his son before he dies, so he sends out a servant to find one. The servant asks God for a sign and lo-and-behold, there's Rebekah. Some explaining to her parents and yadda-yadda-yadda she's brought to Isaac and becomes his wife.
Ok, so it's not a GREAT love story, but Isaac has a wife. The Bible tells us "Isaac was comforted after his mother's death".
Now imagine Isaac, now a young man, maybe late teens, early 20s. His parents are OLD. His playmates are the children of their servants but he doesn't have any real friends (they are servant children after all), the only people he's close to are his parents. And his mom dies. I imagine he was very depressed. And then he looks over at his father and sees that Abraham isn't doing so great either.
He really did need comforting.
Our story continues...
Abraham, after re-marrying and fathering more children (with his wife and concubines) dies. He had a good long life! Isaac and Rebekah are left to carry on our story...
And they have kids. Jacob and Esau. Twins. Twins that are as different as night and day. And to make matters worse, the parents play favorites.
The story includes a lot of things that seem odd to us, like the selling of a birthright for a bowl of soup. But you need to remember that this was THOUSANDS of years ago. Things were handled differently. Later we see that mom helps Jacob trick his dad into getting the greater blessing before Isaac died. What all this boils down to is that (even though they were twins) even though Esau was the oldest and entitled to inherit everything, Jacob was granted the rights of the firstborn and Esau was now entitled to nothing.
So guess what? Esau is mad. And he wants to kill Jacob. Rebekah, having had a hand in the deception, does the only thing a mother can do to protect her favorite son: sends him packing.
Our reading for today winds down as we find Jacob finding a woman he wants to marry (a cousin, no less), but then being tricked into marrying her older sister first before marrying the one he loves.
Wow. Talk about a weird family. This is about as messed up as messed up can get.
What are we to learn from all this?
Remember Abraham and God's promise to make him a great nation? Guess who the children of Jacob are? They are the patriarchs of the 12 tribes of Israel. (We'll be reading about them soon.) Those 12 kids will have big families and those big families will become a people numbering in the thousands upon thousands.
God keeps his promises.
Tomorrow's reading: Genesis 31:1-39:23
Day 2 - What the BIble says
Today's reading: Genesis 12:1-23:20
What's in today's reading: Abram (Abraham), Lot, Sodom and Gomorrah, The sacrifice of Issac.
Whether or not you think the events in yesterday's discussion literally happened or not, they have led us to where we are now. The stage is set, the lights are down, and the play is ready to begin.We meet Abram. We were introduced to Abram at the end of chapter 11 while discussing a bit of genealogy. All we know about his is that is father's name is Terah and Terah moved his family from Ur to Canaan. Or rather that was the plan, but somewhere along the way they decided to stop and settle where they were. Terah has passed away. We also know that Sarai, Abram's wife, cannot have babies.
Act 1, scene 1...
...the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing...."
And so it begins. This event, God speaking to a man named Abram, leads to everything that will follow in the rest of the Bible. This is the seminal moment of the Nation of Israel, the conception if you will. Abram's descendants include prophets, kings, and the Messiah.
But he's an idiot.
Abram is already old. Abram is 75 when God speaks to him and gives him this news of becoming a great nation. We aren't told how old Sarai is at this point but we do know she's HOT! So good looking in fact that as they pass through Egypt the pharaoh, the king, sees her and says to himself (this is just how I see it) "Hubba hubba! I gotta get me that hottie!" (Long story short, Abram gets his wife back and they go on their way.)
Several times God talks to Abram and says "You and your hot wife are going to have babies, just trust me" (That's me paraphrasing again.) Finally Sarai says "here, sleep with my maid, that must be what God meant". And what does Abram do? Dude already has a hot wife and his hot wife says "sleep with my maid". So he does.
Idiot.
So now there's good news and bad news. The bad news is, the women Abram is sleeping with don't get along. Well, duh. Who didn't see that coming? The good news is, Hagar (the maid, now a second wife) is going to have a baby. Babies are always good news.
And God agrees. No longer is Abram the father of a great nation, but of a multitude of nations (chapter 17 verse 4). Ishmael, as the baby is named, will become a great nation himself.
But God still meant what He said. Even though Abram (as well as Sarai) was stupid, God's not going to let that mess up His plans. He even gives Abram (who's name meant "Exalted Father") a new name: Abraham (which means "Father of of a Multitude"). He even changes Sarai's name to Sarah (both mean "Princess" -why the change? He's God, that's why!)
Incidentally we find out now that Sarah, who we know from before was so hot that the king of Egypt tried to steal her away, is only 10 years younger than Abraham - who is now 100. That means when pharaoh was after her, she was in her 60s! She must have been amazing looking!
One more time God says "I'm going to give you a baby, you gotta trust me, dude!"
And sure enough, along comes Isaac.
There's another incident in here of yet another king chasing after Sarah! I mean, come on, Abraham! You wife is so hot that you have kings lusting after her and you're not trusting God when He says "make babies with her"? Idiot!
We've skipped over some things here, but we'll come back. Let's focus on Isaac for now.
Finally, Abraham has the child he was promised by God. But he's really made a mess of things. He's got 2 wives that don't get along and a son that his first wife now hates because she has her own child. Sarah even goes so far as tell her husband to kick the boy and his mother out. And what does Abraham do? Kicks them out! Idiot! But God took care of them and did as he promised and made Ishmael into a great nation in his own right.
So now it's just Abraham, Sarah, and Isaac. Hopefully Abraham has finally wised up and learned to trust God. So God is going to test him.
"Abraham, you know that boy I gave you? Well, I want him back, so go sacrifice him." (more paraphrasing) Don't worry, God's got his finger's crossed. He's not really going to let the boy die.
But the question is, does Abraham really trust God enough to do what he's told?
Yes. Yes he does.
Abraham takes the boy, ties him up, puts him on the wood for the fire and raises the knife! At possibly the last second God says "STOP! Ok! You passed the test! Finally you trust me! Thank you." (paraphrasing)
This part of our story ends with the death of Sarah. Tomorrow we'll see Isaac grow up and get married.
OK. Abraham finally learned to trust God! But there's more in this story.
We can't tell the story of Abraham without mentioning Lot.
Lot was there from the start. He's Abraham's nephew. And we learn at the start of the story that he lived with Abraham and his father Terah and was with them when they set out to move from Ur. And he was still there when Abraham set out to move again after his father died and God told him to.
So here they are, travelling along their way. Abraham had gotten a big payoff from pharaoh to make up for him trying to steal Sarah. He's got lots of livestock. It's to the point where there isn't enough land to keep both his flocks and Lot's flocks together. So Abraham says to Lot "You know, you really should go someplace else, I just have too much stuff and your stuff is just kind of in the way."(paraphrasing) He further says to Lot "You pick where you go, I'll go the other way." So Lot looks around and sees that one way has lots of water and grass. Maybe he was a little hurt, maybe he thought Abraham was rich enough, but for whatever reason he picks the way with better water and grass. And who can blame him!
So now Lot and his family are on their own.
But even though the way Lot chose looked ideal, he doesn't have an easy time. Pretty soon Lot get's caught in the middle of a war and Abraham has to come rescue him.
But that's just for starters.
Lot is living in the city of Sodom. God gives Abraham a head's up that he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. Thanks to Abraham's asking, Lot will be spared (so, in a way, Abraham saves Lot's skin again).
So here's Lot, chilling by the city gate when two angels show up. Of course Lot doesn't know that, he just sees strangers coming into what he knows is a dangerous place to be. He asks them to stay at his house. When they say 'no' Lot "presses them strongly" and finally they come home with him. In other words, there was no way Lot was going to let them stay out at night in this dangerous town.
Much is made of this section and the question of homosexuality. The men of Sodom want the strangers sent out so they can "know" them. In other words, have sex with them.
The word used in the original Hebrew is indeed the same word used previously in Genesis when we learn that Adam "knew" his wife and she became pregnant. But it's also the same word used by Cain when God asks "where is your brother" and Cain says "how should I know?"
The word used in the original Hebrew is indeed the same word used previously in Genesis when we learn that Adam "knew" his wife and she became pregnant. But it's also the same word used by Cain when God asks "where is your brother" and Cain says "how should I know?"
Given the context, the men at Lot's door certainly did not have the best intentions for Lot's guests. But homosexual rape? I'm not so sure.
It's important to remember, however, that whatever these men's intentions toward Lot's guests, God had already decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah before this event. It's not the mobs actions against the angels that sealed their fate, the angels were there to save Lot and his family. The men of Sodom were already doomed.
Sodom and Gomorrah are remembered throughout the rest of the Bible. The name 'Sodom' is used often as a warning. "You will become like Sodom". Or as a description of destruction "nothing shall grow there, it's like Sodom". Never ever, not once, is the name Sodom or Gomorrah associated with a homosexual act.
Some say the sin of Sodom was "lack of hospitality". And certainly, as Ezekiel 16:48-50 tell us, that was the case. They were fat and lazy and did not take care of the poor and needy. But was that "all" of their sin? Jude chapter 1, verses 6-8 mention the "sexual immorality" of Sodom in comparison to "angels who left their position of authority".
So which is it? It's both. One leads to the other. Being fat, rich, and lazy leads to thinking you can do as you please, which leads to all kinds of sin, including sexual sin.
But homosexuality? Well, maybe, but none of the verses here mention homosexuality by name. The concept isn't foreign as it is mentioned in other places in the Bible, but never in relation to Sodom and Gomorrah.
You, dear reader, know the rest of the story I'm sure. The men of the town press around Lot's door. Lot is going to do everything in his power to protect his guests, even going so far as to offer his daughters. The angels blind the men and tell Lot "GET OUT NOW!" They go, leaving his daughters' fiances behind. As they go, his Lot's wife looks back and is turned to a pillar of salt (dies).
Later, Lot and his daughters are hiding in a cave. The girls are convinced that the world has ended and that they and their father are the last people left alive. So they got him drunk and slept with him so they could have children.
Poor Lot. What a mess.
So here we have two men. One bound and determined to do things his way, and finally in the end trusting God. Things turned out pretty OK for him. The other, described as a righteous man, at least righteous enough to be saved from Sodom, had nothing but trouble.
Why did things go so good for the un-trusting one and not so good for the righteous one? Seems unfair.
But does God work under our human definition of 'fair'? God works in the lives of each of us. He sends the rain on the godly and the ungodly. Why exactly did God do what He did for Abraham while seeming to leave Lot hanging out in the wind? I don't know. The narrative of the Bible from this point does not mention what happened to Lot and his children. Some assumptions have been made by scholars as to which people groups encountered by the Isrealites may have been descended from Lot, but no one knows for sure.
What ever did happen to Lot we can only know that God was working in his life, as he did in Abraham's. As He does in our lives today.
And isn't that a great thing to know?
Tomorrow's reading: Genesis 24:1-30:43
Day 1 - What the Bible says
Today's reading: Genesis 1:1-11:32
Well, here we are, starting on our journey through the Bible. I don't know what is possessing me to take on such an ambitious task, but here we go!
The first 11 chapters of the Bible are very well known stories to anyone who has gone to Sunday School. Creation. Adam and Eve. Noah...
Creation vs. Evolution is a big debate in Christian circles. Some think that if The Bible is the word of God then evolution can't be true. Others point to verses where God says a day to Him is like a thousand years, and The Bible doesn't say "how" He did His creating, so maybe evolution is the means He used to reach his end.
To me, it doesn't really matter. God is God. He can do things how He wants. Was it seven literal days? Was it millions of years? I don't know. Nor do I really care.
An interesting thought, however. What if this isn't meant to be a literal creation story? What if, rather, it was meant as a prayer or mnemonic device to teach children about God? Look at your hand. Make a fist and look at knuckles. If you count your knuckles and the 'valleys' between them there are 7. Put your finger on the first knuckle and think "Day and night". Then move to the first valley and think "land and water". And so on.
What if the creation story in the first part of Genesis is really a nursery rhyme?
The Bible is made up of many types of literature. Not every part is meant to be taken literal. Psalms, for example, is made up of poetry and songs. If we take some of those literally, then we might assume God is a big chicken because there are verses that talk about the feathers in His wings.
Just my opinion, this isn't "thus spaketh the Lord", but the creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:3 reads more like a story told to a child than something to be taken 100% literal. So in that context the days are not literal days, but rather a way to teach a child about God in a form that can easily be remembered.
This makes sense when you look at Genesis 2:4 and following. It's like the writer is just starting over on his creation story and telling it differently.
Which brings us to the story of Adam and Eve.
This is where things get messy in my mind. Personally, I believe the science of evolution is accurate. While it is not perfectly (in some people's opinion) supported by the fossil record, there is certainly enough to convince me.
However, in my opinion, there is something about Man that defies evolution. There is something that OBVIOUSLY sets us apart from the animals.
Here the writer tells us that God formed Man from the dust and breathed life into his nostrils.
If God formed Adam from the dust and breathed His own breath into his nose, then how can we have evolved?
My answer, I don't know. My own personal theory is that Man is unique and the writer is trying to show us that that uniqueness stems from our relationship to God. That unlike the animals, even the apes that resemble us, we were uniquely designed and produced. Here is a point in history where we can say "here is where Man began". Regardless of whether Adam evolved from lower forms or was formed from the dust directly, there is something unique about him. And thus unique about us and our relationship to God.
Next comes the story of the Garden of Eden, of Eve and the fruit and the serpent and "original sin". I am never sure what to make of all that. Did all humans inherit the sin of Eve because she ate some apple?
There are many many commentaries on this and I won't go into it. But I do know that one thing is true. Humans are responsible for their own actions. And Jesus died to forgive all sins, even that first.
And so they left the garden. They had children. Cain murders Abel. And then Cain takes a wife. Wait, where did she come from? Well, probably his sister, or a niece. Not really all that important to me. And they have kids. And then there's more kids. And so on.
Which brings us to the story of Noah.
Was there really a guy named Noah? Did he really build a boat and save all species of animal from extinction due to a world-wide flood event?
The geologic record and the fact that a similar story exists in almost every culture of the world seems to support that there may, indeed, have been a huge flood and a Noah and an Ark. But again, is this a truly true story or is this another nursery rhyme? Is this a fact of history or is it a children's story meant to teach a certain lesson about obeying God?
I am torn. I tend to lean toward the view that yes, Noah was real as was the Ark. However I'm not sure the flood was global. Maybe (and again, this is "thus spaketh Allen" and not "thus spaketh the Lord") there are two stories here. A factual story of Noah that has been merged with a nursery rhyme retelling of the story.
So Noah saves the world and mankind continues....
And then we get to the Tower of Babel. The descendants of Noah's sons and their wives had made themselves at home in one corner of the world. They all speak the same language and are quite happy. So they start building a tower to God. So God messes up their language so they have to spread out.
Was there a literal tower? Is this how languages were actually formed?
When I look at today's reading, from "let there be light" to "the Lord dispersed them over the face of the Earth", I see several stories that are trying to explain "why". If God is so great, why do we have to tend the soil to grow food, why doesn't He just give it to us?", "Why is there a rainbow in the sky?", "Why are there so many different languages on earth if we all came from Adam and Eve?"
I know there are those that will flame me for this, saying that I don't believe the Bible is the Word of God. There are those that think that every single syllable should be taken at face value and completely literal. I do feel the Bible is the Word of God, but I do not feel that every single thing is meant to be taken totally literal. The Bible is made up of many different kinds of literature written by many different people to many different audiences.
In the first part of Genesis we have creation, recreation, and the spreading of man all over the world. What we have here sets the stage for everything that comes after. Is everything here meant to be taken 100% literal?
No. I don't think so.
Just as a mother teaches her child the story of Red Riding Hood to show the dangers of going into the woods alone, God has given us these stories to teach us where we came from and how things got to be the way they are. Sometimes the best way a parent has to describe "the way things are" is a story. Does that make the stories untrue? Is Red Riding Hood untrue? On the surface, maybe, but the lessons, the way things are under that surface are very real and true. Maybe that's what these Genesis stories are, stories that teach us why things are the way they are in terms we mere mortals can understand.
What's in today's reading: Creation. Adam and Eve and "forbidden fruit". Cain and Abel. Noah and his Ark.
Well, here we are, starting on our journey through the Bible. I don't know what is possessing me to take on such an ambitious task, but here we go!
The first 11 chapters of the Bible are very well known stories to anyone who has gone to Sunday School. Creation. Adam and Eve. Noah...
Creation vs. Evolution is a big debate in Christian circles. Some think that if The Bible is the word of God then evolution can't be true. Others point to verses where God says a day to Him is like a thousand years, and The Bible doesn't say "how" He did His creating, so maybe evolution is the means He used to reach his end.
To me, it doesn't really matter. God is God. He can do things how He wants. Was it seven literal days? Was it millions of years? I don't know. Nor do I really care.
Personally I think of the creation of the Universe and eventually Earth is kind of like a 4th of July firework shell. Fireworks makers pack everything that "will happen" in to that shell. They know that if they put this stuff in this way that when it explodes it will do that. God made the Universe, then BOOM - the Big Bang and everything that follows after. Just my opinion.
An interesting thought, however. What if this isn't meant to be a literal creation story? What if, rather, it was meant as a prayer or mnemonic device to teach children about God? Look at your hand. Make a fist and look at knuckles. If you count your knuckles and the 'valleys' between them there are 7. Put your finger on the first knuckle and think "Day and night". Then move to the first valley and think "land and water". And so on.
What if the creation story in the first part of Genesis is really a nursery rhyme?
The Bible is made up of many types of literature. Not every part is meant to be taken literal. Psalms, for example, is made up of poetry and songs. If we take some of those literally, then we might assume God is a big chicken because there are verses that talk about the feathers in His wings.
Just my opinion, this isn't "thus spaketh the Lord", but the creation story in Genesis 1:1-2:3 reads more like a story told to a child than something to be taken 100% literal. So in that context the days are not literal days, but rather a way to teach a child about God in a form that can easily be remembered.
This makes sense when you look at Genesis 2:4 and following. It's like the writer is just starting over on his creation story and telling it differently.
Which brings us to the story of Adam and Eve.
This is where things get messy in my mind. Personally, I believe the science of evolution is accurate. While it is not perfectly (in some people's opinion) supported by the fossil record, there is certainly enough to convince me.
However, in my opinion, there is something about Man that defies evolution. There is something that OBVIOUSLY sets us apart from the animals.
Here the writer tells us that God formed Man from the dust and breathed life into his nostrils.
If God formed Adam from the dust and breathed His own breath into his nose, then how can we have evolved?
My answer, I don't know. My own personal theory is that Man is unique and the writer is trying to show us that that uniqueness stems from our relationship to God. That unlike the animals, even the apes that resemble us, we were uniquely designed and produced. Here is a point in history where we can say "here is where Man began". Regardless of whether Adam evolved from lower forms or was formed from the dust directly, there is something unique about him. And thus unique about us and our relationship to God.
I've seen news reports from time to time that say all humans share a common "mother". And I"ve seen others that say we share a common "father". The "mother" is usually thousands of years older than the "father". This would make sense if Eve the common mother and Noah is the common father.
Next comes the story of the Garden of Eden, of Eve and the fruit and the serpent and "original sin". I am never sure what to make of all that. Did all humans inherit the sin of Eve because she ate some apple?
There are many many commentaries on this and I won't go into it. But I do know that one thing is true. Humans are responsible for their own actions. And Jesus died to forgive all sins, even that first.
There's a verse in here that is often used for "gay bashing". Chapter 2:23-24. Adam responds to this new creation that is Eve by saying she is "bone of his bone" and "flesh of his flesh". The writer of Genesis adds a commentary in verse 24 saying "man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh."
"See?", some say, "It's Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve!". But guess what? This verse says nothing about homosexuality. A definition for heterosexual relationships is not a condemnation of homosexuality.
And so they left the garden. They had children. Cain murders Abel. And then Cain takes a wife. Wait, where did she come from? Well, probably his sister, or a niece. Not really all that important to me. And they have kids. And then there's more kids. And so on.
Which brings us to the story of Noah.
Was there really a guy named Noah? Did he really build a boat and save all species of animal from extinction due to a world-wide flood event?
The geologic record and the fact that a similar story exists in almost every culture of the world seems to support that there may, indeed, have been a huge flood and a Noah and an Ark. But again, is this a truly true story or is this another nursery rhyme? Is this a fact of history or is it a children's story meant to teach a certain lesson about obeying God?
I am torn. I tend to lean toward the view that yes, Noah was real as was the Ark. However I'm not sure the flood was global. Maybe (and again, this is "thus spaketh Allen" and not "thus spaketh the Lord") there are two stories here. A factual story of Noah that has been merged with a nursery rhyme retelling of the story.
So Noah saves the world and mankind continues....
And then we get to the Tower of Babel. The descendants of Noah's sons and their wives had made themselves at home in one corner of the world. They all speak the same language and are quite happy. So they start building a tower to God. So God messes up their language so they have to spread out.
Was there a literal tower? Is this how languages were actually formed?
When I look at today's reading, from "let there be light" to "the Lord dispersed them over the face of the Earth", I see several stories that are trying to explain "why". If God is so great, why do we have to tend the soil to grow food, why doesn't He just give it to us?", "Why is there a rainbow in the sky?", "Why are there so many different languages on earth if we all came from Adam and Eve?"
I know there are those that will flame me for this, saying that I don't believe the Bible is the Word of God. There are those that think that every single syllable should be taken at face value and completely literal. I do feel the Bible is the Word of God, but I do not feel that every single thing is meant to be taken totally literal. The Bible is made up of many different kinds of literature written by many different people to many different audiences.
In the first part of Genesis we have creation, recreation, and the spreading of man all over the world. What we have here sets the stage for everything that comes after. Is everything here meant to be taken 100% literal?
No. I don't think so.
Just as a mother teaches her child the story of Red Riding Hood to show the dangers of going into the woods alone, God has given us these stories to teach us where we came from and how things got to be the way they are. Sometimes the best way a parent has to describe "the way things are" is a story. Does that make the stories untrue? Is Red Riding Hood untrue? On the surface, maybe, but the lessons, the way things are under that surface are very real and true. Maybe that's what these Genesis stories are, stories that teach us why things are the way they are in terms we mere mortals can understand.
Tomorrow's reading: Genesis 12:1-23:20
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