October 18

Jesus the Christ - Mark 1:1; John 1:1-18; Luke 1:1-4

Hallelujah! We've Reached the New Testament.

Wow, it's quite illustrative-reading the Bible through in a year it takes you until October 18th to get to the New Testament. Nine and a half months for the Old. Two and a half months for the New. Is the message progressively simpler? More straight to the point? Or was it like a football team when they're not able to perform a complex playbook. The coach strips it down to the simplest plays and spends more time on executing a few things well than understanding the nuances of a complex play book. Did God strip down the playbook?

Or have our attention spans gotten progressively shorter. If he decided to add another section to the scriptures-the New, New Testament or Post-New Testament would it be one line that would fit on a t-shirt or be short enough to be a single blog post or USA Today piece complete with nifty chart? Would it be a :30 spot?

It's interesting and maybe I've written this before...I know I've said it to several people. The religious leaders and teachers of the day, the people who knew the scriptures, mistakenly interrupted scripture and just obviously and naturally thought that Jesus would be a political/military leader. And so most of them missed Him when He got here. Do we do the same things about judgement day? Do we take the scriptures regarding judgement and think they mean what they say at face value? God's view seems to be different then ours and He's always surprising us. I think we're in for a surprise on Judgement Day. What I read on the surface doesn't jive completely with what I've understood to be the true nature of God.

Can't wait for the surprise...Lord knows.

October 17

Historical Interlude - Influences on a Dispersed People, Hellenism and the Jews, Judaism Under Roman Rule

Not everyone is influenced by their culture....

I don't know if it's because we're reading the Bible chronologically and I have a greater sense of the history. Or I'm just concentrating more. Or I'm just older and I have a deeper more global perspective. Or it's the Holy Spirit working. Or something of all of the above. But the influence of other cultures throughout the Bible has been more evident to me. Israel wasn't just a slave to the Egyptians. They were touched and touched by that culture. Separate but a part. Joseph was a prince of Egypt and married an Egyptian. Moses grew up in the house of the Pharaoh. And as, I remember Egyptians were allowed to be a part of their worship. Daniel advises through the interpretation of dreams, like Joseph did, and becomes respected by the King of Babylonia. Esther marries the King and Nehemiah and Ezra also play important roles in the culture. They were part of the cultures yet separate. As we are in our modern world. A part of it and yet apart from it.

Here we read how the Jews become more mystic in their interpretation of God's word, influenced by the cultures they've been apart of. The rabbinical movement is on the rise, replacing or taking some of the authority of the priests. Synagogues arise and steal some of the luster of Temple worship. So Jesus walks into a Jewish culture far different than the one God instituted. But he doesn't spend His time condemning their tweaks and interpretations of God's instituted religion. Except in manners that related to how they dealt and treated others and in manners of their heart. He could have come as a reformer of the organization of the Jewish. Preached against the perversions to their method and mode of worship. Instead, he comes to free them and place importance on the heart of man.

The Roman rule at Jesus time is important. It becomes a conduit for the spread of the faith as does the Greek translation of the people. I've always pondered why Christ picked this time in history to arise. Why not now when transportation and communication are far easier. But maybe walking and really coming into contact with people was important to who He was and what He did. A broadcast wouldn't have done Jesus justice. His performance was best viewed live. And His teaching came so many times on the way, in the midst of a journey. Would He had as much time to teach in car? Could He have touched the people encapsulated and separated from the lands and people He passed by in a car or above it all in a plane.

I wonder if He would have been lost and we would have been lost had he waited until now.

Lord knows.

October 16

Historical Interlude - Writings of the Apocrypha

Ok, so when I did a search on Google Images for the word Apocrypha, this is one of the images that popped up. So I'm going with it. Seems really apocryphal as far as a Google Image search goes.

I know that discussions on how and why some books ended up in the Bible while other books didn't and are all of the right ones there-well, it can make some people really, really nervous. I just figure God made sure we got what we need. After all, we only use 10 percent of our brain and I imagine we're only able to live true to about an equal amount of scripture. As a rule, we're not good at using what we've been given. Thanks be to God and His Beloved Son for grace. I also think that as far as all the flavors of Christians goes-we're all a million miles from the truth arguing over who is two inches closer. Again, thanks be to God and His Beloved Son for grace.

So these books didn't make the cut. Any others we'd care to vote off the Biblical Island? Say, Song of Solomon? Ahhh, but you say, it's a beautiful metaphor for Christ's love of His church. Yeah, right.

I think I need and want to read the Apocrypha for the first time. I'll let you know how it goes.

October 15

Historical Interlude [Ca. 425-5 B.C.] - End of Old Testament Record

Was God really silent for 400 years? I don't think so. So why is the Bible silent? What is recorded in scripture is for all of our learning and benefit. But it's not all that God does or says. He is working. He was still working then and is still working now.

I wonder why the editor has thrown in a few days of repose from actual scripture and instead pumped us with editorial information? Is this suppose to be an intermission? Act I has concluded and now it's out to the lobby for snacks before we launch into Act II. Or after an 18-page mind-numbing sea of hard-to-pronounce Hebrew names has the editor graciously seen fit to be merciful and slip in a one-page palate-cleansing non-scripture, no-pressure read?

I suppose it's good to pause, catch our breath and prepare the way for the Messiah. The story is about to get really, really, really good. Can't wait to see how it turns out...because the story is still being written.

Lord knows.

October 14

Official Records of Israel (Continued) - 1 Chronicles 4:24-43, 5:1-9, 5:11-17, 6:1-81, 7:1-12, 8:1-40, 7:13-40, 9:1-34

They and their descendants were in charge of guarding the gates of the house of the LORD -- the house called the Tent. 1 Chronicles 9:23

I like that the house of God is called the Tent for reasons I know I've stated here, again and again. Life living in a tent puts you so in touch with the world around you. You're so much more aware of the weather, of storms and rain and wind and animals sniffing at the door. You're much more likely to pray to God in the middle of a storm when the tent is tossed in the wind. A tent doesn't separate and insulate you from nature and life like living in a more permanent structure does. The temporary nature of a tent also suggest that ones real home is somewhere else. And it is...even though we let our houses, a source for so much pride for so many, fool us.

Lord knows.

October 13

Official Records of Israel - 1 Chronicles 1:1-54, 2:1-24, 2:42-55, 2:25-41, 4:1-23, 3:10-24

Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, "I gave birth to him in pain." Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, "Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain." And God granted his request. 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

More genealogy...though the editor points out that genealogy will play an important part in proving the messiahship of Christ. So there is a purpose beyond the seemingly endless and tedious family records. Interesting that Noah's son Ham gives rise to the Philistine people that will plague the Jews. Makes you stop to consider that through Noah all of us rise and that we war against brothers.

Tucked into the genealogy is the two-verse story of Jabez. In my time, Jabez has been the popular focus of hot-selling, trendy, name-it-claim-it book called the "Prayer of Jabez." It time with so many lotteries and casinos, instant riches or a shortcut to wealth is always a popular topic.

God granted Jabez's request. But scripture doesn't go on to record how it all turned out for Jabez. I wonder to end up being a blessing or curse?

Lord knows.

October 12

Nehemiah's Religious Reforms - Nehemiah 13:4-11, 13:15-31; Dedication of the Wall - Nehemiah 12:27-47, 13:12-14, 13:1-3

One thousand wives. It sounds good but think about it. It didn't work for Solomon.

I rebuked them and called curses down on them. I beat some of the men and pulled out their hair. I made them take an oath in God's name and said: "You are not to give your daughters in marriage to their sons, nor are you to take their daughters in marriage for your sons or for yourselves. Was not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no king like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women." Nehemiah 13:25-26

Wow. Nehemiah really makes a violent demonstration that marrying out of the faith carries serious implications. And, of course, we know it does. Life tells us that even if we don't read scripture.

I've always wondered whether Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, will be in heaven because of his sin? Forget all the jokes about how smart Solomon really was if he married 1,000 women. Wisdom and knowledge isn't what guarantees us heaven in the first place, though among our brand of Christianity it stands in high regard. It's grace that gets us home.

Lord knows.