The reading - day 298 - Luke 4-5
Yes, this is the first post in two months.
Yes, this post is 17 books later in the canonical order.
Yes, this blog-a-day thing is harder than it sounds (or I'm just much, much worse at it than I thought).
Moving on.
Luke has always been one of my favourite books in the entirety of the Bible, which is maybe why it's the first one since early September to drag me out of the last stretch of writing doldrums. It appeals to me as a person with theology and English lit. degrees - Luke (yes, yes, making authorial assumptions - deal with it) is just great at the subtle elements of good storytelling, much moreso than the authors of any of the other Gospels.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Lam 3-5 - so... that's that...
The readings - Day241 - Lamentations 3-5
I guess I should have known that grief like Lamentation have a limited run - as it should - but I didn't expect/remember/whatever that it was such a short book. Shows how much I've been paying attention, I suppose.
Anyway, here in the second bit of Lamentations we get another "alternate view" of something we often hear about, but (I think) usually fail to grasp the actual horror of: the siege.
I was really struck in Jeremiah when it talks about the eventual conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, in that it was far from a quick slash-and-burn affair, but rather a 2-year siege. It's a tactic that's been used for millennia, and continued well into the modern era, with shocking stories of what people went through in WWII in the Siege of Leningrad and others.
I guess I should have known that grief like Lamentation have a limited run - as it should - but I didn't expect/remember/whatever that it was such a short book. Shows how much I've been paying attention, I suppose.
Anyway, here in the second bit of Lamentations we get another "alternate view" of something we often hear about, but (I think) usually fail to grasp the actual horror of: the siege.
I was really struck in Jeremiah when it talks about the eventual conquest of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, in that it was far from a quick slash-and-burn affair, but rather a 2-year siege. It's a tactic that's been used for millennia, and continued well into the modern era, with shocking stories of what people went through in WWII in the Siege of Leningrad and others.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Lam. 1-2 - sad
Wow, so here we are. First post since June...
I suppose I should preface this by offering something by way of explanation for the huge absence. Well, it was a combination of a lot of things, including a horrendously unreliable Internet connection at home, various trips, etc, getting in the way of keeping on time with readings and finding time to post and other sundry things.
Most of all, though, it was because I could not for the life of me figure out what to do about blogging through the Psalms at such a quick rate. Anyway, the stagnation continued through Proverbs... and Song of Solomon... and Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah...
They're all good books. You should read them. No, I'm not going to try to offer any sort of post/summary on any of them. They're gone. The only way this blog will continue to live is if I just pick up from here and try to make another run at it.
Now, on to matters at hand: Lamentations.
I suppose I should preface this by offering something by way of explanation for the huge absence. Well, it was a combination of a lot of things, including a horrendously unreliable Internet connection at home, various trips, etc, getting in the way of keeping on time with readings and finding time to post and other sundry things.
Most of all, though, it was because I could not for the life of me figure out what to do about blogging through the Psalms at such a quick rate. Anyway, the stagnation continued through Proverbs... and Song of Solomon... and Ezekiel, Isaiah and Jeremiah...
They're all good books. You should read them. No, I'm not going to try to offer any sort of post/summary on any of them. They're gone. The only way this blog will continue to live is if I just pick up from here and try to make another run at it.
Now, on to matters at hand: Lamentations.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Job 40-42 - With a pink ribbon...
The readings - Day 164 - Job 40-42
Although Job has spent dozens of chapters moaning and whining and making all manner of wild accusations about God's character, there is the silver lining that shows up at the end.
Job, unlike some other books so far, actually has a fairly satisfying and summarized ending. After God's awesome summary of His own rad-ness, Job actually does as God says, mans up (God actually said to do this - it's awesome!) and just admits that he was wrong all along, he doesn't know everything, God's still the best and he's very sorry for being such a twit.
It's good stuff.
Then God takes a second to tell Job's friends that they're a bunch of jerks, restores all of Job's wealth (gives him new kids, too!) and land and livestock, and everyone lives happily ever after.
I still don't quite know what to make of God's willingness to just give Satan free reign over Job's life, or what exactly Satan was doing at a Heaven's Council meeting in the first place, but at least Job's story ends on an up note, and everything's back the way it was.
Although Job has spent dozens of chapters moaning and whining and making all manner of wild accusations about God's character, there is the silver lining that shows up at the end.
Job, unlike some other books so far, actually has a fairly satisfying and summarized ending. After God's awesome summary of His own rad-ness, Job actually does as God says, mans up (God actually said to do this - it's awesome!) and just admits that he was wrong all along, he doesn't know everything, God's still the best and he's very sorry for being such a twit.
It's good stuff.
Then God takes a second to tell Job's friends that they're a bunch of jerks, restores all of Job's wealth (gives him new kids, too!) and land and livestock, and everyone lives happily ever after.
I still don't quite know what to make of God's willingness to just give Satan free reign over Job's life, or what exactly Satan was doing at a Heaven's Council meeting in the first place, but at least Job's story ends on an up note, and everything's back the way it was.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Job 24-39 - God pays a visit...
The readings - Days 159-163 - Job 24-39
Job is a pretty great book, but it just got a whole lot better once I hit chapter 38.
You know those scenes in movies/TV shows where somebody (usually an underling of either a major superhero or a major supervillain) is ranting on and on about their superior only to eventually be confronted by their incredible bad-assness and look utterly, miserably foolish? Well, when that superior is God, it's a good show.
Job is a pretty great book, but it just got a whole lot better once I hit chapter 38.
You know those scenes in movies/TV shows where somebody (usually an underling of either a major superhero or a major supervillain) is ranting on and on about their superior only to eventually be confronted by their incredible bad-assness and look utterly, miserably foolish? Well, when that superior is God, it's a good show.
Thursday, June 14, 2012
Job 17-23 - Wherein I admit that I dislike Job, and economics and politics rear their heads...
The readings - Day 157 & 158 - Job 17-23
I'm starting to come to a sort of uncomfortable realization about this book, and the character what gives it its name... I don't know that I even like Job.
The character, that is. The book is actually proving to be quite a bit more interesting than I'd given it credit for. It's also a lot more cerebral and theological than I'd thought as well. Maybe I just hadn't given it enough thought at all.
No matter.
Job.
The man.
He's a bit of a whiner, isn't he?
I'm starting to come to a sort of uncomfortable realization about this book, and the character what gives it its name... I don't know that I even like Job.
The character, that is. The book is actually proving to be quite a bit more interesting than I'd given it credit for. It's also a lot more cerebral and theological than I'd thought as well. Maybe I just hadn't given it enough thought at all.
No matter.
Job.
The man.
He's a bit of a whiner, isn't he?
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Job 1-16 - How does this keep happening?
The readings - days 152-156 - Job 1-16
I'm not at all sure how this keeps happening, but here we are with another whopping 'catch-up' post.
I'm actually very surprised by Job. I really thought it was just a tiny little book, and now that I actually look at it, it's immense. I'm pretty excited to work my way through it, since it's obviously a much more in-depth piece of work than popular summaries would lead/have led me to believe.
It's still a very weird book, though. Satan showing up at God's angelic council meeting, God bragging about one of his best buds and then granting Satan permission to destroy his life (without actually destroying his life, mind you)... It's a bit of a trip, to say the least.
I'm not at all sure how this keeps happening, but here we are with another whopping 'catch-up' post.
I'm actually very surprised by Job. I really thought it was just a tiny little book, and now that I actually look at it, it's immense. I'm pretty excited to work my way through it, since it's obviously a much more in-depth piece of work than popular summaries would lead/have led me to believe.
It's still a very weird book, though. Satan showing up at God's angelic council meeting, God bragging about one of his best buds and then granting Satan permission to destroy his life (without actually destroying his life, mind you)... It's a bit of a trip, to say the least.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Esther - maybe not about Esther? Maybe not such a great morality tale...
The readings - Days 150 and 151 - Esther 1-10
Esther is an interesting story. Weighing in at only 10 chapters, it's a pretty easy story to read in one sitting, which is why I thought I'd combine posts to include both halves of it at once.
However, unlike many of the other short, punchy books bearing a specific name throughout the Bible (Ruth, Job, Philemon, etc) it's actually a bit hard to tell whose story Esther really is.
Esther is an interesting story. Weighing in at only 10 chapters, it's a pretty easy story to read in one sitting, which is why I thought I'd combine posts to include both halves of it at once.
However, unlike many of the other short, punchy books bearing a specific name throughout the Bible (Ruth, Job, Philemon, etc) it's actually a bit hard to tell whose story Esther really is.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Neh 8-11 - a short note on short-term housing
The readings - Days 147-148 - Nehemiah 8-11
Short post today.
A lot of people complain about sermons in church, and I suspect that that's been the case for quite some time. Maybe that's why it's so striking to me that the people of the newly-rebuilt Jerusalem call Ezra in to do nothing but read and comment on ("translate" according to the NASB) the books of the law - for days on end.
I also like the fact that so much significance is placed on the Feast of Booths. People essentially go camping on their rooftops in booths that the made themselves, and just live there instead of at home.
I'm not really a back-to-the-land-and-eschew-all-this-newfangled-technology-crap-dagnabbit type of people, but it is interesting that there seems to be something lastingly important about the temporary/transient nature of Israel's formation as a nation. Starting as a nomadic, desert-wandering tribe seems like it's foundational, and I can't help but notice that a lot more problems showed up when they got a king and a temple, etc, than when those things weren't actually there...
Told you it'd be a short post.
Short post today.
A lot of people complain about sermons in church, and I suspect that that's been the case for quite some time. Maybe that's why it's so striking to me that the people of the newly-rebuilt Jerusalem call Ezra in to do nothing but read and comment on ("translate" according to the NASB) the books of the law - for days on end.
I also like the fact that so much significance is placed on the Feast of Booths. People essentially go camping on their rooftops in booths that the made themselves, and just live there instead of at home.
I'm not really a back-to-the-land-and-eschew-all-this-newfangled-technology-crap-dagnabbit type of people, but it is interesting that there seems to be something lastingly important about the temporary/transient nature of Israel's formation as a nation. Starting as a nomadic, desert-wandering tribe seems like it's foundational, and I can't help but notice that a lot more problems showed up when they got a king and a temple, etc, than when those things weren't actually there...
Told you it'd be a short post.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Neh 7 - Not (personally) interested
The readings - day 146 - Nehemiah 7
The thing is, when a census is released in Canada, I'm actually genuinely interested in the data. This time around, I was working on writing something up for my day job that allowed me to pore over the details with a nerdy, yet, useful/productive glee. I find it fascinating to look at the zoomed-out version of day-to-day life in Canada - who lives where, who left where, how many of whom stay where, etc.
See? I have nothing against the collection/publication of census data.
Census data collected and published from thousands of years ago in the ancient near-east, however...
The thing is, when a census is released in Canada, I'm actually genuinely interested in the data. This time around, I was working on writing something up for my day job that allowed me to pore over the details with a nerdy, yet, useful/productive glee. I find it fascinating to look at the zoomed-out version of day-to-day life in Canada - who lives where, who left where, how many of whom stay where, etc.
See? I have nothing against the collection/publication of census data.
Census data collected and published from thousands of years ago in the ancient near-east, however...
Friday, June 1, 2012
Neh. 1-6 - From a certain point of view
The readings - Days 144 & 145 - Nehemiah 1-6
This is pretty cool. I knew the basic story/history surrounding Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, but I don't know that I've spent much time actually reading it, as is the case with large swaths of the rest of the OT. I like it.
For starters, despite the fact that the nation of Israel and the People of God could, at this point, as near as makes no difference not possibly get any worse off (they've been divided, then conquered, then exiled, and everything they held most dear - Jerusalem and the Temple of God - have been absolutely laid waste by the invading Babylonian and then Persian hordes), the book strikes a decidedly hopeful, optimistic and - I hesitate to use a word like this when talking about anything other that fruits/veggies - fresh tone.
This is pretty cool. I knew the basic story/history surrounding Nehemiah and the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, but I don't know that I've spent much time actually reading it, as is the case with large swaths of the rest of the OT. I like it.
For starters, despite the fact that the nation of Israel and the People of God could, at this point, as near as makes no difference not possibly get any worse off (they've been divided, then conquered, then exiled, and everything they held most dear - Jerusalem and the Temple of God - have been absolutely laid waste by the invading Babylonian and then Persian hordes), the book strikes a decidedly hopeful, optimistic and - I hesitate to use a word like this when talking about anything other that fruits/veggies - fresh tone.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Ezra 1-10 - Caught up
The readings - Days 141-143 - Ezra 1-10
So I now have an official answer to give people who try to act like never having read the Bible cover-to-cover is somehow anathema to being Christian. (Yes, I have been told that before, by both crazy Christians and crazy Atheists alike)
It was never meant to be read this way.
I'm not saying that I'm regretting doing it, or that I'm planning on stopping, or even that it's not (at times, at least) incredibly rewarding and enlightening to do it this way. What I'm saying is there's no way that this book was intended to be read through like a novel.
The only alternative to that conclusion is that whoever compiled it had absolutely zero concept of how stories work, and how people would like to read things in order to actually comprehend them effectively.
As if the complete discord of reading through the summarized history of Israel (the single and split kingdoms) - twice - in Samuel, Kings and Chronicles wasn't enough to convince you that this is not a linear collection of episodes/chapters, here we are in Ezra, which opens with a reference to a prophesy that will not actually be made (according to the way the books of the Bible are laid out) for quite some time.
Cyrus lets the Israelites go home and rebuild stuff, and he does so, according to the text, to fulfill the prophetic words of Jeremiah. For those keeping score, we still have to go through Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon and Isaiah before we get to Jeremiah. Anyway, rant over.
Anyway, so the exiles are on their way home to rebuild the Temple and Jerusalem, but because nothing can ever be straightforward, the neighbours had to go and cause trouble, resulting in a three-king delay before the construction can actually finish. Artaxerxes gets a letter from Judah's enemies, who point to Jerusalem's "rebellious past" and successfully convince him to put a stop to the rebuilding process, and it's not until Darius takes over that Cyrus's original "send them back" decree was dug out of the archives and followed.
And then, as soon as they're back on home soil, what happens? The good ol' intermarriage things starts up again... This time, though, there's a twist. We get a sense of Ezra maybe being a fair shake more attentive to God's wants for His people than previous rulers - and by a remarkable coincidence, he's not actually a king, but instead is acting as Israel's leader from the office of priest. Funny how the whole "king" thing never took off all that well, eh?
Oh well.
This post is another in an alarmingly long list of posts that are shorter than usual for the somewhat counterintuitive reason that it tries to cover too much stuff, but I'm happy to say that we're now completely caught up. Tomorrow should bring another post that's more focused and, therefore, likely a lot longer and more in-depth.
So I now have an official answer to give people who try to act like never having read the Bible cover-to-cover is somehow anathema to being Christian. (Yes, I have been told that before, by both crazy Christians and crazy Atheists alike)
It was never meant to be read this way.
I'm not saying that I'm regretting doing it, or that I'm planning on stopping, or even that it's not (at times, at least) incredibly rewarding and enlightening to do it this way. What I'm saying is there's no way that this book was intended to be read through like a novel.
The only alternative to that conclusion is that whoever compiled it had absolutely zero concept of how stories work, and how people would like to read things in order to actually comprehend them effectively.
As if the complete discord of reading through the summarized history of Israel (the single and split kingdoms) - twice - in Samuel, Kings and Chronicles wasn't enough to convince you that this is not a linear collection of episodes/chapters, here we are in Ezra, which opens with a reference to a prophesy that will not actually be made (according to the way the books of the Bible are laid out) for quite some time.
Cyrus lets the Israelites go home and rebuild stuff, and he does so, according to the text, to fulfill the prophetic words of Jeremiah. For those keeping score, we still have to go through Nehemiah, Esther, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon and Isaiah before we get to Jeremiah. Anyway, rant over.
Anyway, so the exiles are on their way home to rebuild the Temple and Jerusalem, but because nothing can ever be straightforward, the neighbours had to go and cause trouble, resulting in a three-king delay before the construction can actually finish. Artaxerxes gets a letter from Judah's enemies, who point to Jerusalem's "rebellious past" and successfully convince him to put a stop to the rebuilding process, and it's not until Darius takes over that Cyrus's original "send them back" decree was dug out of the archives and followed.
And then, as soon as they're back on home soil, what happens? The good ol' intermarriage things starts up again... This time, though, there's a twist. We get a sense of Ezra maybe being a fair shake more attentive to God's wants for His people than previous rulers - and by a remarkable coincidence, he's not actually a king, but instead is acting as Israel's leader from the office of priest. Funny how the whole "king" thing never took off all that well, eh?
Oh well.
This post is another in an alarmingly long list of posts that are shorter than usual for the somewhat counterintuitive reason that it tries to cover too much stuff, but I'm happy to say that we're now completely caught up. Tomorrow should bring another post that's more focused and, therefore, likely a lot longer and more in-depth.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
2 Chron 1-36 - yup: one whole book...
The readings - days 130-140 - 2 Chronicles 1-36
So this post, once again, will be far too short, and more than a little meta.
I thought for sure that I was caught up, or at least very far along to road to being caught up, but Chronicles had other plans, so here we are - first post in ten days and a full book behind me.
Chronicles, part deux, was better than the first, but only slightly. It had more ups than the last one did in terms of kings actually behaving themselves, and there were a few points that, while I was reading them, did actually leap out at me as being interesting. However, since I was reading through the entire book in a matter of days, and desperately trying to catch up, they were sacrificed to the god of necessary expediency, and were lost.
Speaking of idolatry, these Israelites sure were good at it. Even kings that were mostly good at not worshipping small wooden statues didn't often go all the way and disassemble other temples, home shrines, and "the high places," like they were supposed to.
Whether it's intentional or not, the Bible sure is setting up a repetitive, cyclical rhythm of Israel screwing up and then waking up, then repeating over and over again.
And then Babylon comes, destroys the Temple, along with Jerusalem, and takes everybody into captivity.
And then Persia destroys Babylon and Cyrus says to the Israelites, "yeah - you guys should probably just go ahead and head home to rebuild your temple and your city. Sorry about Nebuchadnezzar..."
Reading the closing bits of 2 Chronicles is a little like spending an hour looking through a microscope, and then to have the room bulldozed around you. The story is so wrapped up in the goings on of these two comparatively minuscule kingdoms that when a few real local superpowers come barreling through it's a pretty harsh reminder that even at the best of times, the kingdom of Israel was in a pretty precarious spot. Shame they didn't seem to really grasp that either...
And that brings us to Ezra, which will have us caught up on posts and readings by tomorrow.
So this post, once again, will be far too short, and more than a little meta.
I thought for sure that I was caught up, or at least very far along to road to being caught up, but Chronicles had other plans, so here we are - first post in ten days and a full book behind me.
Chronicles, part deux, was better than the first, but only slightly. It had more ups than the last one did in terms of kings actually behaving themselves, and there were a few points that, while I was reading them, did actually leap out at me as being interesting. However, since I was reading through the entire book in a matter of days, and desperately trying to catch up, they were sacrificed to the god of necessary expediency, and were lost.
Speaking of idolatry, these Israelites sure were good at it. Even kings that were mostly good at not worshipping small wooden statues didn't often go all the way and disassemble other temples, home shrines, and "the high places," like they were supposed to.
Whether it's intentional or not, the Bible sure is setting up a repetitive, cyclical rhythm of Israel screwing up and then waking up, then repeating over and over again.
And then Babylon comes, destroys the Temple, along with Jerusalem, and takes everybody into captivity.
And then Persia destroys Babylon and Cyrus says to the Israelites, "yeah - you guys should probably just go ahead and head home to rebuild your temple and your city. Sorry about Nebuchadnezzar..."
Reading the closing bits of 2 Chronicles is a little like spending an hour looking through a microscope, and then to have the room bulldozed around you. The story is so wrapped up in the goings on of these two comparatively minuscule kingdoms that when a few real local superpowers come barreling through it's a pretty harsh reminder that even at the best of times, the kingdom of Israel was in a pretty precarious spot. Shame they didn't seem to really grasp that either...
And that brings us to Ezra, which will have us caught up on posts and readings by tomorrow.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
1 Chronicles 18-29 - I really can't believe how boring Chronicles is...
The readings - Days 127-130 - 1 Chronicles 18-29
This is unbelievable. I was really within a day of actually getting caught up, but Chronicles is (so far, anyway) so abjectly uninspiring that it's very, very difficult to muster the motivation to post something, since I'm essentially (as I said before) trying to find something interesting to write about a boring recap of stuff that's already happened.
*sigh*
HOWEVER, there is something that shows up in the latter half of 1 Chronicles that hinges on the fact that this is a re-run.
This is unbelievable. I was really within a day of actually getting caught up, but Chronicles is (so far, anyway) so abjectly uninspiring that it's very, very difficult to muster the motivation to post something, since I'm essentially (as I said before) trying to find something interesting to write about a boring recap of stuff that's already happened.
*sigh*
HOWEVER, there is something that shows up in the latter half of 1 Chronicles that hinges on the fact that this is a re-run.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
1 Chronicles 1-17 - yawn
The readings - Days 120-126 - 1 Chronicles 1-17
Step two in the overly long process of catching up from wayyyyy behind...
Welcome to Chronicles.
It's funny - before doing this, and having already read Chronicles (or, at least, most of it), I would have answered the question "what's the single most tedious book in the Bible?" with either Numbers or Leviticus, having never read either of them.
I would have been wrong. This book, in a nutshell, is boring.
The first nine chapters are entirely composed of genealogies.
Nine. Chapters.
Of names.
Yes, it's that boring.
Step two in the overly long process of catching up from wayyyyy behind...
Welcome to Chronicles.
It's funny - before doing this, and having already read Chronicles (or, at least, most of it), I would have answered the question "what's the single most tedious book in the Bible?" with either Numbers or Leviticus, having never read either of them.
I would have been wrong. This book, in a nutshell, is boring.
The first nine chapters are entirely composed of genealogies.
Nine. Chapters.
Of names.
Yes, it's that boring.
Sunday, May 13, 2012
2 Kings 2-25 - A desperate attempt to catch up
The readings - days 113-119 - 2 Kings 6-25
So it's come to this...
When I started this blog I wasn't anywhere near convinced that it was going to be a project I could keep up with, and I'm surprised it took me more than 30 per cent of the way through the Bible to really hit a giant lag. In my defense, it was the result of my being on the opposite side of the planet without reliable or consistent Internet service for more than a week, but still... here we are.
So I'm now epically behind, and as far as I see it, the only way I'm ever catching up is if I break one of my initial rules, which was to always limit posts to just a handful of chapters, ideally no more than two days' worth of readings per post, regardless of how far behind I was.
Up till now that's been serving me fairly well, since I've managed to keep up with readings and not actually get all that far behind on postings, but now that I'm well over an entire book behind, I'm going to have to do a grave disservice to 2 Kings (and to 1 Chronicles, but that's for tomorrow...) and just give a brief, not-at-all-sufficient, summary of the book with some specific thoughts and then move on.
So here we go: a short post covering almost all of 2 Kings...
So it's come to this...
When I started this blog I wasn't anywhere near convinced that it was going to be a project I could keep up with, and I'm surprised it took me more than 30 per cent of the way through the Bible to really hit a giant lag. In my defense, it was the result of my being on the opposite side of the planet without reliable or consistent Internet service for more than a week, but still... here we are.
So I'm now epically behind, and as far as I see it, the only way I'm ever catching up is if I break one of my initial rules, which was to always limit posts to just a handful of chapters, ideally no more than two days' worth of readings per post, regardless of how far behind I was.
Up till now that's been serving me fairly well, since I've managed to keep up with readings and not actually get all that far behind on postings, but now that I'm well over an entire book behind, I'm going to have to do a grave disservice to 2 Kings (and to 1 Chronicles, but that's for tomorrow...) and just give a brief, not-at-all-sufficient, summary of the book with some specific thoughts and then move on.
So here we go: a short post covering almost all of 2 Kings...
Sunday, April 29, 2012
2 Kings 1-5 - Bears!
The readings - Days 111 and 112 - 2 Kings 1-5
If you had to assign different musical genres the various Biblical characters, I'm pretty sure that heavy metal would be a not-bad fit for Elijah. He commands respect, dresses funny, plays (from the perspective of the crappy kings of the time, at any rate) by his own rules, and has a particular love for pyrotechnics.
This time, he follows up on his Mount Carmel hit by calling on God to torch two successive groups of soldiers who have been sent to fetch him by the king. The king was irritated at Elijah for telling him that he was going to die because he sent for word from another god in a neighbouring land instead of consulting with God about it.
If you had to assign different musical genres the various Biblical characters, I'm pretty sure that heavy metal would be a not-bad fit for Elijah. He commands respect, dresses funny, plays (from the perspective of the crappy kings of the time, at any rate) by his own rules, and has a particular love for pyrotechnics.
This time, he follows up on his Mount Carmel hit by calling on God to torch two successive groups of soldiers who have been sent to fetch him by the king. The king was irritated at Elijah for telling him that he was going to die because he sent for word from another god in a neighbouring land instead of consulting with God about it.
1 Kings 21-22 - sniveling kings and Godly staff meetings
The readings - Day 110 - 1 Kings 21-22
Remember that time when I referred to Ahab as one of the most unlikable people ever? I was actually doing a bit of foreshadowing, looking forward to this story.
Don't get me wrong, he's never been a peach, but at least in the past he was despicable for being out-and-out malevolent, and acting entirely outside of the established rules for a king of Israel. He was a villain all the way, but he at least had a sort of internal consistency. He was a little bit like a well-cast movie villain; you love to hate him, but that in itself is a sort of psychologically mitigating factor on your opinion of him.
Then we get to the final two chapters of 1 Kings, and all of that goes out the window, because Ahab becomes genuinely pathetic.
Remember that time when I referred to Ahab as one of the most unlikable people ever? I was actually doing a bit of foreshadowing, looking forward to this story.
Don't get me wrong, he's never been a peach, but at least in the past he was despicable for being out-and-out malevolent, and acting entirely outside of the established rules for a king of Israel. He was a villain all the way, but he at least had a sort of internal consistency. He was a little bit like a well-cast movie villain; you love to hate him, but that in itself is a sort of psychologically mitigating factor on your opinion of him.
Then we get to the final two chapters of 1 Kings, and all of that goes out the window, because Ahab becomes genuinely pathetic.
Friday, April 27, 2012
1 Kings 15-20 - Jumpin' Jehoshaphat!
The readings - days 108 and 109 - 1 Kings15-20
Kings continues with a few chapters the various lines of succession in the two kingdoms (Israel and Judah), and descriptions of the various nefarious characters that take over the thrones.
Well... the nefarious characters that take over one of the thrones, anyway. A good general rule of thumb seems to be that Israel sucks, while Judah tends to be alright. Time and time again, the kings of Israel fall in with idols, false gods, bad business of all kinds, and generally prove to be quite an irritant for God. Down in Judah, however, things seem to trend towards God, rather than away from Him.
Pop quiz! Anyone remember which kingdom David's line continued in? Anyone? Anyone?
Kings continues with a few chapters the various lines of succession in the two kingdoms (Israel and Judah), and descriptions of the various nefarious characters that take over the thrones.
Well... the nefarious characters that take over one of the thrones, anyway. A good general rule of thumb seems to be that Israel sucks, while Judah tends to be alright. Time and time again, the kings of Israel fall in with idols, false gods, bad business of all kinds, and generally prove to be quite an irritant for God. Down in Judah, however, things seem to trend towards God, rather than away from Him.
Pop quiz! Anyone remember which kingdom David's line continued in? Anyone? Anyone?
1 Kings 10-14 - Solomon screws up
The readings - Days 106 and 107 - 1 Kings 10-14
So it turns out that seven months of sleep deprivation is about the limit that my brain can handle. That's my story for why these posts have ground to a bit of a halt, and I'm sticking to it. It's also an explanation as to why I can't even type a few words in sequence without having to correct a whole mess'o'typos...
Anyway.
The Queen of Sheba! She's come to visit Solomon!
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure why this particular story is in here, but maybe I'm trying too hard to relate everything together. Kings is a history book (fine - two history books), and it's quite self-aware of itself as a recording of events (particularly a bit later on when it keeps trailing off and telling its readers that if they really want to know more they should just read Chronicles), so maybe the whole point is just to tell the story.
It's an impressive story, after all. This foreign dignitary arrives positively blinged out and is duly blown away by the extravagant wealth, power and wisdom of Solomon. Quite a feather in Solomon's already considerably decorated hat.
---
It's a well-known story, and (as I said) I'm super tired, so I'm not really going to get into Solomon's idiocy, what with letting a few of his 700-odd wives convince his sorry self to screw things up for everybody. Stuff sucks.
So then the kingdom gets divided, and that's pretty much that until 1948. It's pretty much Israel vs. Judah from here on out.
So it turns out that seven months of sleep deprivation is about the limit that my brain can handle. That's my story for why these posts have ground to a bit of a halt, and I'm sticking to it. It's also an explanation as to why I can't even type a few words in sequence without having to correct a whole mess'o'typos...
Anyway.
The Queen of Sheba! She's come to visit Solomon!
To be honest, I'm not entirely sure why this particular story is in here, but maybe I'm trying too hard to relate everything together. Kings is a history book (fine - two history books), and it's quite self-aware of itself as a recording of events (particularly a bit later on when it keeps trailing off and telling its readers that if they really want to know more they should just read Chronicles), so maybe the whole point is just to tell the story.
It's an impressive story, after all. This foreign dignitary arrives positively blinged out and is duly blown away by the extravagant wealth, power and wisdom of Solomon. Quite a feather in Solomon's already considerably decorated hat.
---
It's a well-known story, and (as I said) I'm super tired, so I'm not really going to get into Solomon's idiocy, what with letting a few of his 700-odd wives convince his sorry self to screw things up for everybody. Stuff sucks.
So then the kingdom gets divided, and that's pretty much that until 1948. It's pretty much Israel vs. Judah from here on out.
Monday, April 23, 2012
1 Kings 6-9 - architecture and priorities
The readings - days 104 and 105 - 1 Kings 6-9
If I had a TARDIS, one of the places I would definitely like to visit would be the original Temple in Israel. Chapter six and most of chapter seven are dedicated to describing it in detail, and the level of luxury and beauty described here is incredible. It's a fitting successor to the Tabernacle, and correspondingly more ornate, since this one gets to have actual walls, and doesn't need to be portable.
It's no wonder that the construction of the first temple is, after the generic "he was wise" thing, the thing that Solomon is most known for. Seven years in the making, with tens of thousands of workers involved at every step of the process, and an intentionality and reverence (workers hewing the stone had to do all their carving off-site so that even while it was being built, the inside of the Temple was undisturbed by excessive noise) that is truly inspiring.
Then we find out that Solomon spend nearly twice as long working on his own palace, which was almost twice as big as the Temple. Huh.
Still, God doesn't seem to sweat it, and Solomon seems to be keeping on the up-and-up on other fronts - making his proper dedicative sacrifices and instructing the people to remember/keep God's commandments, etc, so maybe it's not so big a deal.
If I had a TARDIS, one of the places I would definitely like to visit would be the original Temple in Israel. Chapter six and most of chapter seven are dedicated to describing it in detail, and the level of luxury and beauty described here is incredible. It's a fitting successor to the Tabernacle, and correspondingly more ornate, since this one gets to have actual walls, and doesn't need to be portable.
It's no wonder that the construction of the first temple is, after the generic "he was wise" thing, the thing that Solomon is most known for. Seven years in the making, with tens of thousands of workers involved at every step of the process, and an intentionality and reverence (workers hewing the stone had to do all their carving off-site so that even while it was being built, the inside of the Temple was undisturbed by excessive noise) that is truly inspiring.
Then we find out that Solomon spend nearly twice as long working on his own palace, which was almost twice as big as the Temple. Huh.
Still, God doesn't seem to sweat it, and Solomon seems to be keeping on the up-and-up on other fronts - making his proper dedicative sacrifices and instructing the people to remember/keep God's commandments, etc, so maybe it's not so big a deal.
Sunday, April 22, 2012
1 Kings 1-5 - Solomon = good people
The readings - Days 102 and 103 - 1 Kings 1-5
Here we are, playing catch up again. Things were going so well, too. It's funny how the books/passages that are more boring (IE the dry philosophical/statistical/historical bits) often actually end up being better fodder for writing/reflection that the faster-paced narrative stuff...
Not that the book(s) of Kings starts off at a particularly riveting clip, but still - it's story, and stuff's happening, but maybe that's what makes it a bit harder to write about. The stuff happens, you read about it, and that's pretty much that.
On to Solomon.
Here we are, playing catch up again. Things were going so well, too. It's funny how the books/passages that are more boring (IE the dry philosophical/statistical/historical bits) often actually end up being better fodder for writing/reflection that the faster-paced narrative stuff...
Not that the book(s) of Kings starts off at a particularly riveting clip, but still - it's story, and stuff's happening, but maybe that's what makes it a bit harder to write about. The stuff happens, you read about it, and that's pretty much that.
On to Solomon.
Thursday, April 19, 2012
2 Sam 22-24 - Census taking and forgetfulness...
The readings - Day 101 - 2 Samuel 22-24
And so the pair of Samuels draws to a close, and befitting David, who held by far the pre-eminent place in the books, it ends (almost) with a song/psalm.
I'll admit, I've always found reading songs to be fairly boring. I'm pretty sure that's why I've still never made it all the way through The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien loved him some ballads, etc, and I just end up getting bored and finding something shiny to look at instead.
And so the pair of Samuels draws to a close, and befitting David, who held by far the pre-eminent place in the books, it ends (almost) with a song/psalm.
I'll admit, I've always found reading songs to be fairly boring. I'm pretty sure that's why I've still never made it all the way through The Lord of the Rings - Tolkien loved him some ballads, etc, and I just end up getting bored and finding something shiny to look at instead.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
2 Sam 19-21 - Dear David, stop sniveling...
The readings - day 100 - 2 Samuel 19-21
There's a trend emerging with David. First, he was pursued all over the country by Saul, who desperately wanted him dead. Then Saul died, and David was grief-stricken. Then Saul's kids started dying, and David was grief-stricken.
Then Absalom comes along, plans a revolt, conspires (successfully) to usurp the throne, and sends David fleeing into the countryside east of the Jordan River. Then Absalom dies. And David is grief-stricken.
There's a trend emerging with David. First, he was pursued all over the country by Saul, who desperately wanted him dead. Then Saul died, and David was grief-stricken. Then Saul's kids started dying, and David was grief-stricken.
Then Absalom comes along, plans a revolt, conspires (successfully) to usurp the throne, and sends David fleeing into the countryside east of the Jordan River. Then Absalom dies. And David is grief-stricken.
Monday, April 16, 2012
2 Sam 13-18 - What?
The readings - days 98 and 99 - 2 Samuel 13-18
It's funny how Biblical history so resembles the rest of history - moments (all too infrequent, unfortunately) of incredible brilliance, examples of humanity at its best and brightest, followed almost immediately by harsh reminders that a lot of people, a lot of the time, suck.
It had to happen, but it's still sad to see it - the rise and reign of David at the heights of reverence and upstandingness have now fallen flat on their faces in the wake and midst of his almost impressively dysfunctional family.
It's funny how Biblical history so resembles the rest of history - moments (all too infrequent, unfortunately) of incredible brilliance, examples of humanity at its best and brightest, followed almost immediately by harsh reminders that a lot of people, a lot of the time, suck.
It had to happen, but it's still sad to see it - the rise and reign of David at the heights of reverence and upstandingness have now fallen flat on their faces in the wake and midst of his almost impressively dysfunctional family.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
2 Sam 4-12 - David's great! And crappy.
The readings - Days 96-97 - 2 Samuel 4-12
Remember that time when I was in awe of how different our world is from that of the Bible, in terms of the abundance and ubiquitousness of violence on an epic scale?
Yeah, I'm there again. These chapters open up with a hapless and, if we're honest, fairly sniveling/sycophantic pair of guys who sought out and murdered Saul's son Ishbosheth in his sleep, and then brought his head to David's camp, having either never heard, or completely ignored, the story of what happened to the hapless guy who brought the "good news" of Saul's death to David, expecting to be rewarded.
David himself is a little taken aback by the lack of memory or knowledge displayed by these two guys, and he promptly has them killed. And then he cuts off their hands and feet and strings them up by the pool like so many patio lanterns.
Remember that time when I was in awe of how different our world is from that of the Bible, in terms of the abundance and ubiquitousness of violence on an epic scale?
Yeah, I'm there again. These chapters open up with a hapless and, if we're honest, fairly sniveling/sycophantic pair of guys who sought out and murdered Saul's son Ishbosheth in his sleep, and then brought his head to David's camp, having either never heard, or completely ignored, the story of what happened to the hapless guy who brought the "good news" of Saul's death to David, expecting to be rewarded.
David himself is a little taken aback by the lack of memory or knowledge displayed by these two guys, and he promptly has them killed. And then he cuts off their hands and feet and strings them up by the pool like so many patio lanterns.
Yeah... guess whose voice you're going to be hearing in your head all night now... You're welcome.
Friday, April 13, 2012
2 Sam 1-3 - Altruism and Politics
The readings - Day 95 - 2 Samuel 1-3
When we last left Saul and Jonathan, they were dead.
They're still dead.
But what I wanted to bring up again was how that happened. At the end of 1 Sam, Saul's sons are killed in battle, and the enemy's coming for him, too, so he asks his armour bearer to kill him so that he's not killed by his enemies. His armour bearer declines, so Saul offs himself. His enemy, deprived of the opportunity to actually kill him, instead parades his bits all over their kingdom.
When we last left Saul and Jonathan, they were dead.
They're still dead.
But what I wanted to bring up again was how that happened. At the end of 1 Sam, Saul's sons are killed in battle, and the enemy's coming for him, too, so he asks his armour bearer to kill him so that he's not killed by his enemies. His armour bearer declines, so Saul offs himself. His enemy, deprived of the opportunity to actually kill him, instead parades his bits all over their kingdom.
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
1 Sam 28-31 - On seers and faith
The readings - Day 94 - 1 Samuel 28-31
So in case anybody hasn't noticed, it turns out the Middle East (and particularly Israel/Palestine) has pretty much always been a bloodbath region. Here in the closing chapters of 1 Samuel, we get a couple of snapshots of that - the picture painted by the Bible shows a land of nearly constant conquest and re-conquest. Not only are the Philistines still causing problems for Saul and the Israelites, but while David is on campaign with the Philistine king (and he wasn't even gone that long, since he was sent back before the fighting even started) the Philistine region (as well as chunks of Judah) were ransacked and pillages by Amalekite armies, who carry off David's wives and stuff, along with the wives, children and stuff of all the others who are away at the time trying to carry off the wives and stuff of other cities and countries.
So in case anybody hasn't noticed, it turns out the Middle East (and particularly Israel/Palestine) has pretty much always been a bloodbath region. Here in the closing chapters of 1 Samuel, we get a couple of snapshots of that - the picture painted by the Bible shows a land of nearly constant conquest and re-conquest. Not only are the Philistines still causing problems for Saul and the Israelites, but while David is on campaign with the Philistine king (and he wasn't even gone that long, since he was sent back before the fighting even started) the Philistine region (as well as chunks of Judah) were ransacked and pillages by Amalekite armies, who carry off David's wives and stuff, along with the wives, children and stuff of all the others who are away at the time trying to carry off the wives and stuff of other cities and countries.
1 Sam 25-27 - meals and marriage
The readings - Day 93 - 1 Samuel 25-27
The nice thing about actually keeping up with the readings and posting with them on time is that I have the luxury of much more bite-sized posts, at least for now.
I'm a big, big fan of the storylines that are involved with David's rise to power, as you may have gleaned from yesterday's post.
In the "times have changed" department, I should mention that one of the things I'm most looking forward to in life is getting to tell youngsters (grandchildren and the like) that I'm older than the Internet, and watching their tiny brains smolder and spin as they try to grapple with the very notion of a world without it.
The nice thing about actually keeping up with the readings and posting with them on time is that I have the luxury of much more bite-sized posts, at least for now.
I'm a big, big fan of the storylines that are involved with David's rise to power, as you may have gleaned from yesterday's post.
In the "times have changed" department, I should mention that one of the things I'm most looking forward to in life is getting to tell youngsters (grandchildren and the like) that I'm older than the Internet, and watching their tiny brains smolder and spin as they try to grapple with the very notion of a world without it.
Monday, April 9, 2012
1 Sam 21-24 - Good stuff.
The readings - Day 92 - 1 Samuel 21-24
It's still sort of difficult to find something interesting-seeming to write about when the whole story your reading is so well-known, but such is life.
This story of David, though... It's quite the tale. I think the biggest loss from David becoming such a well-known character is that the sheer drama and excitement of this bit of the Bible can get lost in the shuffle. It becomes a sort of glossed-over cliche, in a way. It's a little like the way people talk about Casablanca or The Godfather - they're so well-known for being tremendous movies that you often only think about them; there's almost no need to watch them anymore. Yes, they're great. Everyone knows that. Let's watch Zoolander instead! (And then maybe we can take turns stabbing ourselves in the eyes with razor-sharp knives made out of vinegar-soaked lemons...)
It's still sort of difficult to find something interesting-seeming to write about when the whole story your reading is so well-known, but such is life.
This story of David, though... It's quite the tale. I think the biggest loss from David becoming such a well-known character is that the sheer drama and excitement of this bit of the Bible can get lost in the shuffle. It becomes a sort of glossed-over cliche, in a way. It's a little like the way people talk about Casablanca or The Godfather - they're so well-known for being tremendous movies that you often only think about them; there's almost no need to watch them anymore. Yes, they're great. Everyone knows that. Let's watch Zoolander instead! (And then maybe we can take turns stabbing ourselves in the eyes with razor-sharp knives made out of vinegar-soaked lemons...)
Sunday, April 8, 2012
1 Sam 15-20 - For tonight's performance, the role of Samuel will be played by Sir Ian McKellen
The readings - Days 90 & 91 - 1 Samuel 15-20
We're rapidly approaching what is (now that we're out of the drudgery of Leviticus/Numbers) becoming one of the hardest types of passage to write about - the "all-too-familiar" story.
Within these five chapters, we encounter what is quite possibly the most famous story in the entire Old Testament: David and Goliath. Its message is one of faith, hope and triumph against seemingly hopeless odds, and two out of three of those have been gladly co-opted by modern society, almost ad nauseum (guess which one tends to get left out?), and with good cause. It's a great story - you've got the enormous, lifelong-trained warrior (a whopping nine-and-a-half feet of him at that) against the puny talks-big-for-his-britches shepherd boy who has rocks and a strip of leather, and the 'underdog' wins. Perfect.
We're rapidly approaching what is (now that we're out of the drudgery of Leviticus/Numbers) becoming one of the hardest types of passage to write about - the "all-too-familiar" story.
Within these five chapters, we encounter what is quite possibly the most famous story in the entire Old Testament: David and Goliath. Its message is one of faith, hope and triumph against seemingly hopeless odds, and two out of three of those have been gladly co-opted by modern society, almost ad nauseum (guess which one tends to get left out?), and with good cause. It's a great story - you've got the enormous, lifelong-trained warrior (a whopping nine-and-a-half feet of him at that) against the puny talks-big-for-his-britches shepherd boy who has rocks and a strip of leather, and the 'underdog' wins. Perfect.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
1 Sam 9-14 - That Saul, folks!
The readings - Days 88 & 89 - 1 Samuel 9-14
Two important lessons can be learned from these six chapters of First Samuel.
1) Saul, as generally vilified and derided as he remains, was at the beginning a chosen God-picked superstar.
and
2) Kings (dictators, tyrants, etc) are more often than not undone (at least initially) by their own irrepressible arrogance and stupidity.
Two important lessons can be learned from these six chapters of First Samuel.
1) Saul, as generally vilified and derided as he remains, was at the beginning a chosen God-picked superstar.
and
2) Kings (dictators, tyrants, etc) are more often than not undone (at least initially) by their own irrepressible arrogance and stupidity.
Thursday, April 5, 2012
1 Sam 1-8 - The king and I... srael...
The readings - Days 86 and 87 - 1 Samuel 1-8
If Judges is any indication, the fact that 1 Samuel starts with a man who is from the hill country in Ephraim is hardly the most optimistic sign... Hopefully this one turns out better.
A couple of interesting things about the opening chapters of 1Sam struck me over the course of this run-through.
The first is that I find it somewhat bizarre that people blindly throw out a phrase like "traditional Biblical interpretation of marriage" without, apparently, much of a fleshed-out idea of what that might mean. Samuel himself is the son of a second wife. Anyway... moving on.
If Judges is any indication, the fact that 1 Samuel starts with a man who is from the hill country in Ephraim is hardly the most optimistic sign... Hopefully this one turns out better.
A couple of interesting things about the opening chapters of 1Sam struck me over the course of this run-through.
The first is that I find it somewhat bizarre that people blindly throw out a phrase like "traditional Biblical interpretation of marriage" without, apparently, much of a fleshed-out idea of what that might mean. Samuel himself is the son of a second wife. Anyway... moving on.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Ruth - A breath of fresh air
The readings - Day 85 - Ruth (all four chapters)
Well we're finally out of the book of Judges. Sweet.
The relationship between Judges and Ruth is interesting to me. In Judges, we got a very macro-level view of the goings-on in Israel, and for the most part, they were appalling. Covenants broken, punishments doled out left, right and centre, and generally terrible people doing terrible things. There were glimmers of hope, etc, to be sure, but few and far between. I don't think anyone would try to argue that Judges is an optimistic book.
That's why reading Ruth immediately afterwards is such a refreshing experience. After the bloodshed, idolatry, treachery and violence of the nation as a whole, we get zoomed in to an intimate series of snapshots in the life of a single family. Make no mistake, there's still tragedy here, and not all is rosy, but the story as a whole just can't help but be uplifting.
Well we're finally out of the book of Judges. Sweet.
The relationship between Judges and Ruth is interesting to me. In Judges, we got a very macro-level view of the goings-on in Israel, and for the most part, they were appalling. Covenants broken, punishments doled out left, right and centre, and generally terrible people doing terrible things. There were glimmers of hope, etc, to be sure, but few and far between. I don't think anyone would try to argue that Judges is an optimistic book.
That's why reading Ruth immediately afterwards is such a refreshing experience. After the bloodshed, idolatry, treachery and violence of the nation as a whole, we get zoomed in to an intimate series of snapshots in the life of a single family. Make no mistake, there's still tragedy here, and not all is rosy, but the story as a whole just can't help but be uplifting.
Judges 17-21 - The dregs
The readings - days 83 and 84 - Judges 17-21
I had a professor once named Ephraim. He remains the only man I've ever met (or really even heard of) by that name.
Not that many of the names Jacob gave to his sons has really caught on through the centuries, other than Joshua, Benjamin (I'm pretty sure that most Dans are actual Daniels, so that doesn't count) and the occasional Levi. You don't meet a lot of Manessehs or Naphtalis these days, and as much as I'd love to, I'm pretty sure I'll never meet anyone named Zebulun.
I had a professor once named Ephraim. He remains the only man I've ever met (or really even heard of) by that name.
Not that many of the names Jacob gave to his sons has really caught on through the centuries, other than Joshua, Benjamin (I'm pretty sure that most Dans are actual Daniels, so that doesn't count) and the occasional Levi. You don't meet a lot of Manessehs or Naphtalis these days, and as much as I'd love to, I'm pretty sure I'll never meet anyone named Zebulun.
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Judges 13-16 - Samson's got more than 99 problems...
The readings - Days 82 and 83 - Judges 13-16
So in the interest of full disclosure, I'm veering away from the actual reading chunks delineated by my reading program, which has chapters 13-15 on day 82 and 16-18 on day 83. Since 13-16 is the story of Samson, and an ending of sorts within the book of Judges, it just makes more sense to be to break it up this way.
Anyway, moving on.
If you run a Google image search for "Samson," here are three images that show up at the top of the list:
So in the interest of full disclosure, I'm veering away from the actual reading chunks delineated by my reading program, which has chapters 13-15 on day 82 and 16-18 on day 83. Since 13-16 is the story of Samson, and an ending of sorts within the book of Judges, it just makes more sense to be to break it up this way.
Anyway, moving on.
If you run a Google image search for "Samson," here are three images that show up at the top of the list:
Judges 8-12 - on civil wars and kids as collateral
The readings - Days 80 and 81 - Judges 8-12
Hooray! All caught up!
*one small note, because it may give insight into why I get behind in this thing. When I started this post (yes, the one link and that one line) it was around 10:45 p.m. and I was ready to go. I then spent the next two hours reading about pirates on the Internet. I will now type a sentence that is simultaneously genuine/heartfelt and bitter/sarcastic. Thanks a lot, Internet.
So... Judges, eh? Israel still generally sucks at remembering/following the rules, which by now shouldn't come as a huge surprise. However, what does come as something of a surprise (although maybe this shouldn't either) is how bad they seem to be at just getting along with each other. Once you get borders and factions involved in a nation, there's bound to be conflict, I suppose, but it just seems like the whole country is one or two tequila shooters away from ripping itself to pieces in a civil war.
Hooray! All caught up!
*one small note, because it may give insight into why I get behind in this thing. When I started this post (yes, the one link and that one line) it was around 10:45 p.m. and I was ready to go. I then spent the next two hours reading about pirates on the Internet. I will now type a sentence that is simultaneously genuine/heartfelt and bitter/sarcastic. Thanks a lot, Internet.
So... Judges, eh? Israel still generally sucks at remembering/following the rules, which by now shouldn't come as a huge surprise. However, what does come as something of a surprise (although maybe this shouldn't either) is how bad they seem to be at just getting along with each other. Once you get borders and factions involved in a nation, there's bound to be conflict, I suppose, but it just seems like the whole country is one or two tequila shooters away from ripping itself to pieces in a civil war.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Judges 1-7 - Times have changed. Or not.
The readings - Days 77-79 - Judges 1-7
I suppose there's something worth addressing, now that we're in the books of the Old Testament normally categorized under the heading of "history."
While these works contain decidedly more detailed and intentionally historical documentation of events, etc, and therefore ought to be treated as more accurately depicting events/people/places/etc than other portions of the OT (IE the Psalms or bits of the Pentateuch), there's something that still strikes as odd about using these books in the same way that we would use a modern history text.
I suppose there's something worth addressing, now that we're in the books of the Old Testament normally categorized under the heading of "history."
While these works contain decidedly more detailed and intentionally historical documentation of events, etc, and therefore ought to be treated as more accurately depicting events/people/places/etc than other portions of the OT (IE the Psalms or bits of the Pentateuch), there's something that still strikes as odd about using these books in the same way that we would use a modern history text.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Joshua 16-24 - Of altars and over-reactions...
The readings - Days 74-76 - Joshua 16-24
And the catch-up continues... We're just going to close out Joshua, because the first two of the remaining three days were more geographical specifications, which would normally interest me, but not really knowing any of these places gives no frame of reference. I'm sure it's all fascinating though. Maybe.
Chapter 22, however, is interesting.
And the catch-up continues... We're just going to close out Joshua, because the first two of the remaining three days were more geographical specifications, which would normally interest me, but not really knowing any of these places gives no frame of reference. I'm sure it's all fascinating though. Maybe.
Chapter 22, however, is interesting.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Joshua 9-15 - Take my Worf... please!
The readings - days 72 and 73 - Joshua 9-15
Allow me to begin, as many good things do, with Worf talking.
Now, I'm not wanting to sound too over-the-top or anything, but in this clip, Worf reminds me a lot of God.
Allow me to begin, as many good things do, with Worf talking.
Now, I'm not wanting to sound too over-the-top or anything, but in this clip, Worf reminds me a lot of God.
Joshua 1-8 - Water and other hazards
The readings - days 70 and 71 - Joshua 1-8
Look at me, just ripping along with the readings and neglecting the tens of readers that are following along. Shame on me. Apologies to everyone, and I'll try to keep up a bit better.
In fact, when I started writing this post, I had intended to just catch up, but 15 chapters is just too many, so I'm going to take it two days' readings at a time until I'm caught up. Hope that's okay.
Look at me, just ripping along with the readings and neglecting the tens of readers that are following along. Shame on me. Apologies to everyone, and I'll try to keep up a bit better.
In fact, when I started writing this post, I had intended to just catch up, but 15 chapters is just too many, so I'm going to take it two days' readings at a time until I'm caught up. Hope that's okay.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Deut 24-34 - And that, as they say in France, is that
The readings - Days 66-69 - Deuteronomy 24-34
Is it fair to just clump the entire last 10 chapters of Deuteronomy - indeed, the closing chapters of the epic Pentateuch - into one post, and a comparatively short one at that?
Probably not.
But, as I tell myself to further justify the decision that has already been made to do just that, that's the way it is. I have never been overly concerning myself with the notion of making exhaustive commentary on every little thing in each reading, so I feel like giving a cursory nod to the conclusion of a book that has been itself largely focused on reiterating the message and details of previous books is probably acceptable.
Is it fair to just clump the entire last 10 chapters of Deuteronomy - indeed, the closing chapters of the epic Pentateuch - into one post, and a comparatively short one at that?
Probably not.
But, as I tell myself to further justify the decision that has already been made to do just that, that's the way it is. I have never been overly concerning myself with the notion of making exhaustive commentary on every little thing in each reading, so I feel like giving a cursory nod to the conclusion of a book that has been itself largely focused on reiterating the message and details of previous books is probably acceptable.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Deut 21-23 - I guess it's a good book that can make you this mad...
The readings - Day 65 - Deuteronomy 21-23
Without wanting to sound tired and make people bored, can I just say how inexpressibly thankful I am that society does not follow Old Testament laws as a model for how 21st-century Canada should run?
That may sound overly broad, but I have never been more convicted in that statement than I am today. Yes, there are many laws in the OT that would greatly benefit people in this day and age (regular forgiveness of debts, obligatory help for the underprivileged, respecting the property of those around you, not murdering each other, etc)... Then there's this one:
Without wanting to sound tired and make people bored, can I just say how inexpressibly thankful I am that society does not follow Old Testament laws as a model for how 21st-century Canada should run?
That may sound overly broad, but I have never been more convicted in that statement than I am today. Yes, there are many laws in the OT that would greatly benefit people in this day and age (regular forgiveness of debts, obligatory help for the underprivileged, respecting the property of those around you, not murdering each other, etc)... Then there's this one:
Monday, March 12, 2012
Deut. 17-20 - Occupy Ancient Israel
The readings - Day 64 - Deuteronomy 17-20
So we're still trucking away with all the laws, etc, but there remain those merciful gems of interest scattered here and there.
Take, for instance, the stuff about setting up a king, talked about in chapter 17. Having spent a lot of time reading Judges over the years, I always had the impression that the whole "Israel wants to have a king" thing was a fairly new phenomenon - something that had arisen at around the time that the events in Judges were taking place.
Seems that (and for the record I'm not surprised by this) God saw it all coming. He outlined for Israel what type of king they should have, and the details are fascinating:
So we're still trucking away with all the laws, etc, but there remain those merciful gems of interest scattered here and there.
Take, for instance, the stuff about setting up a king, talked about in chapter 17. Having spent a lot of time reading Judges over the years, I always had the impression that the whole "Israel wants to have a king" thing was a fairly new phenomenon - something that had arisen at around the time that the events in Judges were taking place.
Seems that (and for the record I'm not surprised by this) God saw it all coming. He outlined for Israel what type of king they should have, and the details are fascinating:
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Deut 11-16 - FACT: God loves a party
The readings - Days 62 and 63 - Deuteronomy 11-16
...And the dilemma continues. I'm still more or less enjoying Deuteronomy, and the chapters are just whizzing by, largely because they're a little like deja vu, with a lot of repetition.
Now, though, it seems that we're getting into the meat of the book. That's good.
However, the "meat" of the book is starting to closely resemble Leviticus, what with all the laws, regulations and details. That's bad. Well... not bad... I think you know what I mean.
There were two things that struck me over the past two days of reading, though.
...And the dilemma continues. I'm still more or less enjoying Deuteronomy, and the chapters are just whizzing by, largely because they're a little like deja vu, with a lot of repetition.
Now, though, it seems that we're getting into the meat of the book. That's good.
However, the "meat" of the book is starting to closely resemble Leviticus, what with all the laws, regulations and details. That's bad. Well... not bad... I think you know what I mean.
There were two things that struck me over the past two days of reading, though.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Deut. 5-10 - so far, so good
The readings - Days 60-61 - Deuteronomy 5-10
So Deuteronomy is progressing...
I'm in an interesting position, because I can't think of a time over the last 60 days when I've felt less motivated to actually make a new post.
It's not because I'm not enjoying the book itself, mind you, because I am, but it's mostly just because so far the book has consisted of nothing but recap from Moses to Israel, so apart from the occasional minor discrepancy between the original account and Moses' retelling, there's just not a lot of new ground to cover.
So Deuteronomy is progressing...
I'm in an interesting position, because I can't think of a time over the last 60 days when I've felt less motivated to actually make a new post.
It's not because I'm not enjoying the book itself, mind you, because I am, but it's mostly just because so far the book has consisted of nothing but recap from Moses to Israel, so apart from the occasional minor discrepancy between the original account and Moses' retelling, there's just not a lot of new ground to cover.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Deut 1-4 - Wait... what?
The readings - Days 58-59 - Deuteronomy 1-4
I hope I don't jinx it by speaking too soon or anything, but Deuteronomy's not half bad... But yeah, I know I'm done 4 of 34 chapters, so a lot can still happen.
It's got a different... feel... about it than Numbers or Leviticus had. It's somehow (so far) more conversational and less "all-business". We get a four-chapter re-cap to open the book, but it doesn't feel like you're just re-reading things you've already read, because it's Moses speaking. He's telling the Israelites' story back to them. And fair enough, considering how, unlike the preceding two books, this one starts after they're already done their time in the wilderness. He's speaking to the brand new generation that's finally allowed to go in to the Promised Land, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua.
The question of authorship in the Bible has rarely interested me, really. I usually just find it a distraction, and rarely actually contributes to any deeper understanding of the text itself.
I hope I don't jinx it by speaking too soon or anything, but Deuteronomy's not half bad... But yeah, I know I'm done 4 of 34 chapters, so a lot can still happen.
It's got a different... feel... about it than Numbers or Leviticus had. It's somehow (so far) more conversational and less "all-business". We get a four-chapter re-cap to open the book, but it doesn't feel like you're just re-reading things you've already read, because it's Moses speaking. He's telling the Israelites' story back to them. And fair enough, considering how, unlike the preceding two books, this one starts after they're already done their time in the wilderness. He's speaking to the brand new generation that's finally allowed to go in to the Promised Land, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua.
The question of authorship in the Bible has rarely interested me, really. I usually just find it a distraction, and rarely actually contributes to any deeper understanding of the text itself.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Num 53-36 - It's finally over
The readings - Day 57 - Number 35-36
Well, that's it - Numbers is done. I will say this for it: it defied expectations, and that is meant in both positive and negative lights...
On the plus side, there actually were some narrative interludes which I wasn't expecting, so that was good - provided a good break from the statistical ramblings in the rest of the book, and some of the stories were genuinely interesting and well worth reading.
On the other hand, a book of statistics and figures, while boring, is likely to be fairly middle-of-the-road and not hugely incendiary or offensive. Numbers wasn't. It was occasionally boring, to put it mildly, but it was an incredibly challenging read in places, on a variety of levels.
Well, that's it - Numbers is done. I will say this for it: it defied expectations, and that is meant in both positive and negative lights...
On the plus side, there actually were some narrative interludes which I wasn't expecting, so that was good - provided a good break from the statistical ramblings in the rest of the book, and some of the stories were genuinely interesting and well worth reading.
On the other hand, a book of statistics and figures, while boring, is likely to be fairly middle-of-the-road and not hugely incendiary or offensive. Numbers wasn't. It was occasionally boring, to put it mildly, but it was an incredibly challenging read in places, on a variety of levels.
Num 31-34 - what is it good for?
The readings - Days 55-56 - Numbers 31-34
I heard on the radio not too long ago an interview with an author who was expounding on a theory that humans as a species were getting less and less violent as time goes by.
My initial reaction was to think that considering the last century was the bloodiest in history he may not be entirely right about that, but on a deeper level I think he's on to something.
These chapters in Numbers suck, and maybe they do so because I am a product of an inherently less violent age where the idea of a people of God mercilessly slaughtering an entire civilization, and then being told off for sparing the women and children, is one that steadfastly refuses to sit well.
It's interesting what that says about society as I experience it - safe, secure and utterly peaceful. It's not that academically I don't know that war and violence have not, at other times in history and in other places around the world today, been inextricably linked to everyday life. Neither do I necessarily subscribe to a blanket pacifism that writes off any potential need for acts of violence or war.
However, this story just doesn't jive with anything I believe about God. It's this kind of thing that, I think, offers one of the very, very few justifications for the still-weird dualistic belief in an Old-Testament-God and a New-Testament-God.
I heard on the radio not too long ago an interview with an author who was expounding on a theory that humans as a species were getting less and less violent as time goes by.
My initial reaction was to think that considering the last century was the bloodiest in history he may not be entirely right about that, but on a deeper level I think he's on to something.
These chapters in Numbers suck, and maybe they do so because I am a product of an inherently less violent age where the idea of a people of God mercilessly slaughtering an entire civilization, and then being told off for sparing the women and children, is one that steadfastly refuses to sit well.
It's interesting what that says about society as I experience it - safe, secure and utterly peaceful. It's not that academically I don't know that war and violence have not, at other times in history and in other places around the world today, been inextricably linked to everyday life. Neither do I necessarily subscribe to a blanket pacifism that writes off any potential need for acts of violence or war.
However, this story just doesn't jive with anything I believe about God. It's this kind of thing that, I think, offers one of the very, very few justifications for the still-weird dualistic belief in an Old-Testament-God and a New-Testament-God.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Num 26-30 - In which I compare Van Halen to God
The readings - Days 53-54 - Numbers 26-30
Funny how when I fall behind in posting about Numbers, it tends to correspond with the times when Numbers decides to completely abandon narrative and story and revert back to that which earned it its name...
I swear it's not on purpose - it just happens that way.
Anyway, on days 53 and 54, Numbers did just that, and we're back with *drum roll* another census!
Funny how when I fall behind in posting about Numbers, it tends to correspond with the times when Numbers decides to completely abandon narrative and story and revert back to that which earned it its name...
I swear it's not on purpose - it just happens that way.
Anyway, on days 53 and 54, Numbers did just that, and we're back with *drum roll* another census!
Sure, traditionally it was Moses, but I say the author(s) of most of Numbers were these guys...
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Num. 23-25 - So about Balaam...
The readings - Day 52 - Numbers 23-25
In the early days of this particular scriptural adventure, one of the things that kept leaping out at me was the difficulties I saw in attempting to fit the Bible into a box that seems to be particularly favoured by the more fundamentalist gatherings of Christians.
I know I'm not making them up, because I grew up with some of them. I knew people growing up who steadfastly refused to believe that dinosaurs existed because they weren't specifically mentioned in the Bible.
In the early days of this particular scriptural adventure, one of the things that kept leaping out at me was the difficulties I saw in attempting to fit the Bible into a box that seems to be particularly favoured by the more fundamentalist gatherings of Christians.
I know I'm not making them up, because I grew up with some of them. I knew people growing up who steadfastly refused to believe that dinosaurs existed because they weren't specifically mentioned in the Bible.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Num. 18-22 - On keeping clean, fetching water and talking to donkeys
The readings - Days 50-51 - Numbers 18-22
Well, I'm only just reaching the two-thirds mark of Numbers, and I have to say, it's not so bad. Don't get me wrong, it started off with an almost unbelievable lack of pace, but this has been several sustained chapters of actual story - something I wasn't expecting at all.
It also turns out that I did know some stories from Numbers, I just didn't know they were from Numbers. Huh.
That said, however, there are still some dry bits, but even those tend to not be so bad. 18 starts off with, shades of Leviticus, instructions for priests as far as their duties, roles and dinner portions following sacrifices, but what struck me about this was not any of the particulars, but rather the downright casual approach to the concept of "unclean" demonstrated throughout.
Well, I'm only just reaching the two-thirds mark of Numbers, and I have to say, it's not so bad. Don't get me wrong, it started off with an almost unbelievable lack of pace, but this has been several sustained chapters of actual story - something I wasn't expecting at all.
It also turns out that I did know some stories from Numbers, I just didn't know they were from Numbers. Huh.
That said, however, there are still some dry bits, but even those tend to not be so bad. 18 starts off with, shades of Leviticus, instructions for priests as far as their duties, roles and dinner portions following sacrifices, but what struck me about this was not any of the particulars, but rather the downright casual approach to the concept of "unclean" demonstrated throughout.
Monday, February 27, 2012
Num 14-17 - "I don't want to go -- YOU CAN'T STOP ME!!!"
The readings - Days 48 & 49 - Numbers 14-17
When we last left the Israelites, they had sent a team of spies into the Promised Land. They saw an awesome spot in general, but one that was occupied by people who clearly appreciated what an awesome spot they had and had built up some pretty solid defenses, etc.
Which, and I believe I'm quoting the original Hebrew here, sucked.
When we last left the Israelites, they had sent a team of spies into the Promised Land. They saw an awesome spot in general, but one that was occupied by people who clearly appreciated what an awesome spot they had and had built up some pretty solid defenses, etc.
Which, and I believe I'm quoting the original Hebrew here, sucked.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Num. 11-13 - On oases and annoyances
The readings - Day 47 - Numbers 11-13
Well, it's been a long road, but it's finally happened. Ladies and gentlemen, we have narrative!! (Insert Price is Right or Wheel of Fortune winning music here now...)
And almost immediately we get a sort of sense as to maybe why the day-to-day episodes of Israel were less important than precisely where they set up their tents in camp.
Long story short: they're still incredibly annoying, collectively.
Well, it's been a long road, but it's finally happened. Ladies and gentlemen, we have narrative!! (Insert Price is Right or Wheel of Fortune winning music here now...)
And almost immediately we get a sort of sense as to maybe why the day-to-day episodes of Israel were less important than precisely where they set up their tents in camp.
Long story short: they're still incredibly annoying, collectively.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Num. 1-10 - On meeting expectations...
The readings - Days 42-46 - Numbers 1-10
I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that despite being 10 chapters into Numbers now, I'm still sticking with this reading-a-day plan, and it's looking good for me to actually follow through on something for once.
The bad news is that Numbers is exactly as excruciatingly boring as I had originally thought it would be.
I have good news and bad news.
The good news is that despite being 10 chapters into Numbers now, I'm still sticking with this reading-a-day plan, and it's looking good for me to actually follow through on something for once.
The bad news is that Numbers is exactly as excruciatingly boring as I had originally thought it would be.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Lev. 22-27 - on jubilation, priests and prophets
The readings - Days 39-41 - Leviticus 22-27
Yes, I'm behind. No, I'm not catching up today. Yes, I'm over it.
The final chapters of Leviticus, by and large, fall into the same category of the rest of the book - rules and laws, particularly concerning the spiritual/religious matters for the new and burgeoning nation of Israel. So far, the book has been, not to put too fine a point on it, dry.
There were two things that leapt off the page at me, however, in these final passages. The first is the fact that Moses is even part of this book at all, and the second is the concept of the Jubilee.
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Lev 18-21 - Good, bad and ugly
The readings - Day 38 - Leviticus (18) 19-21
So, you rightly ask, what's with the (18) up there?
Well, it turns out that when I was doing yesterday's post I completely forgot about chapter 18. Not one for the easily blushed, that one. It's also quite socially problematic, because here's where we get the first explicit proscription against homosexuality. Well, specifically, homosexual sex. That sounds redundant... Is "homosex" a word? Is it offensive? It's easier to say, but that tends not to matter in cases like this...
Anyway, the problem here (as I see it) is that not only is it explicit, but we as a society generally accept just about every other sex statute (sextute?) listed here - don't sleep with your parents, your cousins, your sisters/brothers, don't marry a woman and her sister/mother, don't have sex with animals, whether you're a man or a woman. These are all things that we as a society - secular or religious - more or less agree on.
So, you rightly ask, what's with the (18) up there?
Well, it turns out that when I was doing yesterday's post I completely forgot about chapter 18. Not one for the easily blushed, that one. It's also quite socially problematic, because here's where we get the first explicit proscription against homosexuality. Well, specifically, homosexual sex. That sounds redundant... Is "homosex" a word? Is it offensive? It's easier to say, but that tends not to matter in cases like this...
Anyway, the problem here (as I see it) is that not only is it explicit, but we as a society generally accept just about every other sex statute (sextute?) listed here - don't sleep with your parents, your cousins, your sisters/brothers, don't marry a woman and her sister/mother, don't have sex with animals, whether you're a man or a woman. These are all things that we as a society - secular or religious - more or less agree on.
Lev. 11-17 - of scapegoats and crappy old laws...
The readings - Days 35-37 - Leviticus 11-17
It figures that the time I would fall three days behind in postings (not the readings, though - I've managed to do those each day...) would be the time when I come across some actually interesting stuff in Leviticus.
By way of quick recap before we dive in, here are some of the topics covered by these seven chapters:
It figures that the time I would fall three days behind in postings (not the readings, though - I've managed to do those each day...) would be the time when I come across some actually interesting stuff in Leviticus.
By way of quick recap before we dive in, here are some of the topics covered by these seven chapters:
- what to (and not to) eat
- childbirth
- loads on leprosy
- a bit more on health in general
- making up for stuff (atonement)
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Lev. 5-10 - all dressed up and nowhere to go but the slaughterhouse
The readings - Days 33-34 - Leviticus 5-7, 8-10
Leviticus is hard enough to read, but five months (and counting) of moderate-to-severe sleep deprivation makes it impossible some nights. Last night was one of those, so here we are with two days in one post again.
Chapter five starts us off with a discussion about guilt offerings, in fairly significant detail. There's a lot of clean/unclean talk, as tends to be expected and presented as typical in the Old Testament discussions of law and order.
What's less typical, and I don't quite know why, is the fact that despite attempts by people who don't know any better (as well as by some people who ought to ) to portray the Old Testament as ruthlessly legalistic in every way, and to counterpoint the "everyone dies no matter what" picture with the "merciful-God-of-the-New-Testament" idea, this whole chunk of text begins with the depiction of a sliding scale of justice that flies in the face of the typically presented Old Testament view.
Leviticus is hard enough to read, but five months (and counting) of moderate-to-severe sleep deprivation makes it impossible some nights. Last night was one of those, so here we are with two days in one post again.
Chapter five starts us off with a discussion about guilt offerings, in fairly significant detail. There's a lot of clean/unclean talk, as tends to be expected and presented as typical in the Old Testament discussions of law and order.
What's less typical, and I don't quite know why, is the fact that despite attempts by people who don't know any better (as well as by some people who ought to ) to portray the Old Testament as ruthlessly legalistic in every way, and to counterpoint the "everyone dies no matter what" picture with the "merciful-God-of-the-New-Testament" idea, this whole chunk of text begins with the depiction of a sliding scale of justice that flies in the face of the typically presented Old Testament view.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Lev. 1-4 - Well, that explains that...
The readings - day 32 - Leviticus 1-4
Remember yesterday? When I said something about Exodus really not having much of an ending?
I'm not so sure it actually ended... Based on the "beginning" of Leviticus (how many books really begin with the word "Then" anyway?) I've actually got several questions about how these book divisions really came about. I know that the chapter/verse splits were arbitrary and done much later, and I know that the way the text was actually recorded was very different (ALTHOUGHWITHNOREALEVIDENCETHATANYOFTHETEXTSTHATCAMEDOWNTOUSTODAYWEREACTUALAUTOGRAPHEDMANUSCRIPTSITSHARDTOSAYWHETHERTHEALLCAPSANDNOPUNCTUATIONPHENOMENONWASHOWTHEORIGINALTEXTWASLAIDOUTEITHERITCOULDJUSTASEASILYHAVEBEENALATERINNOVATIONLIKETHECHAPTERANDVERSEDIVISIONSALTHOUGHTHATRAISESAQUESTIONOFWHYANYONEWOULDTAKEAPASSAGEWITHSPACESANDPUNCTUATIONANDTURNITINTOAJUMBLEDMESSOFLETTERSTHATAREREALLYHARDTOREADBUTIDIGRESS)
Remember yesterday? When I said something about Exodus really not having much of an ending?
I'm not so sure it actually ended... Based on the "beginning" of Leviticus (how many books really begin with the word "Then" anyway?) I've actually got several questions about how these book divisions really came about. I know that the chapter/verse splits were arbitrary and done much later, and I know that the way the text was actually recorded was very different (ALTHOUGHWITHNOREALEVIDENCETHATANYOFTHETEXTSTHATCAMEDOWNTOUSTODAYWEREACTUALAUTOGRAPHEDMANUSCRIPTSITSHARDTOSAYWHETHERTHEALLCAPSANDNOPUNCTUATIONPHENOMENONWASHOWTHEORIGINALTEXTWASLAIDOUTEITHERITCOULDJUSTASEASILYHAVEBEENALATERINNOVATIONLIKETHECHAPTERANDVERSEDIVISIONSALTHOUGHTHATRAISESAQUESTIONOFWHYANYONEWOULDTAKEAPASSAGEWITHSPACESANDPUNCTUATIONANDTURNITINTOAJUMBLEDMESSOFLETTERSTHATAREREALLYHARDTOREADBUTIDIGRESS)
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Ex. 39-40 - So that's that...
The readings - Day 31 - Exodus 39-40
Well would you look at that - the end of Exodus already...
And I've got to say, it seems to go out with a whimper rather than a bang, as these last two chapters are, with only a minor exception at the very, very end, more of the same schematic-recapping of the preceding three.
To be perfectly honest, there's not all that much here - the robes are done, and the rest of the priests' garments, and the tabernacle has all of its component parts finally put into place. Sort of.
Well would you look at that - the end of Exodus already...
And I've got to say, it seems to go out with a whimper rather than a bang, as these last two chapters are, with only a minor exception at the very, very end, more of the same schematic-recapping of the preceding three.
To be perfectly honest, there's not all that much here - the robes are done, and the rest of the priests' garments, and the tabernacle has all of its component parts finally put into place. Sort of.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Ex. 36-38 - "It's okay, you've given more than enough to the church. You can stop now..."
The readings - Day 29 - Exodus 36-38
Going into this project, I knew that there would be some pretty seriously mundane sections as I plodded through the doldrums of the Old Testament (I can practically hear the shudders that might've emerged from the shocked faces of some of my more fundamentalist friends back in the day - if it weren't for the fact that a goodly portion of modern fundamentalists are also somehow convinced that the Old Testament is largely ignorable, that is...) but I hadn't pondered the possibility that there would be pretty seriously mundane sections that were basically word-for-word repeats of previous seriously mundane sections.
With that in mind, this post is probably going to be A) somewhat shorter and B) somewhat more meta than previous entries, since Ex. 36-38 is just that: a repeat and sort of summary of the stuff in and around Ex. 25 where God's issuing his specifications for the tabernacle and other religious accoutrements.
Going into this project, I knew that there would be some pretty seriously mundane sections as I plodded through the doldrums of the Old Testament (I can practically hear the shudders that might've emerged from the shocked faces of some of my more fundamentalist friends back in the day - if it weren't for the fact that a goodly portion of modern fundamentalists are also somehow convinced that the Old Testament is largely ignorable, that is...) but I hadn't pondered the possibility that there would be pretty seriously mundane sections that were basically word-for-word repeats of previous seriously mundane sections.
With that in mind, this post is probably going to be A) somewhat shorter and B) somewhat more meta than previous entries, since Ex. 36-38 is just that: a repeat and sort of summary of the stuff in and around Ex. 25 where God's issuing his specifications for the tabernacle and other religious accoutrements.
Ex. 33-35 - making up
The readings - Day 29 - Exodus 33-35
I had a fair number of expectations going in to this project, but needing to set aside the reading for a while until I stopped laughing was, if I'm honest, not on my list.
Then I started Exodus, chapter 33. Specifically, I arrived at verse 3.
That is how annoying the Israelites are. God doesn't trust Himself not to just destroy them all out of sheer frustration before He's carried out His own plan for them.
Amazing.
Turns out, the Israelites didn't find it all that funny, which I suppose is to their credit - they knew, sort of, what they'd done by this point, and seem to have had the glimmer of understanding regarding just how they'd manage to survive in the desert without a constant supply of food materializing in front of them every morning.
Luckily, here's another example of the sort of unique relationship featured in the Old Testament. Moses is in such a close relationship with God that the two regularly speak "as friends" according to the text.
From this relationship we get Moses directly interceding and changing God's mind, convincing Him to continue to be a physical presence with the Israelites,
I recently was involved in a discussion on Facebook about God, the existence of God, the ridiculousness of some attempts at disproving that existence and other things, when someone piped up with a series of random, unrelated and blatantly wrong points he felt it necessary to make, starting with the notion that the relational aspect of the Christian faith was a later innovation and wasn't actually part of the Bible.
As this passage, and the vast majority of the rest of scripture as well, proves, this is mercifully not the case.
I had a fair number of expectations going in to this project, but needing to set aside the reading for a while until I stopped laughing was, if I'm honest, not on my list.
Then I started Exodus, chapter 33. Specifically, I arrived at verse 3.
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, "Depart, go up from here, you and the people whom you have brought up from the land of Egypt, to the land of which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying, 'To your descendants I will give it.' 2 "I will send an angel before you and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite. 3 "Go up to a land flowing with milk and honey; for I will not go up in your midst, because you are an obstinate people, and I might destroy you on the way."
That is how annoying the Israelites are. God doesn't trust Himself not to just destroy them all out of sheer frustration before He's carried out His own plan for them.
Amazing.
Turns out, the Israelites didn't find it all that funny, which I suppose is to their credit - they knew, sort of, what they'd done by this point, and seem to have had the glimmer of understanding regarding just how they'd manage to survive in the desert without a constant supply of food materializing in front of them every morning.
Luckily, here's another example of the sort of unique relationship featured in the Old Testament. Moses is in such a close relationship with God that the two regularly speak "as friends" according to the text.
From this relationship we get Moses directly interceding and changing God's mind, convincing Him to continue to be a physical presence with the Israelites,
I recently was involved in a discussion on Facebook about God, the existence of God, the ridiculousness of some attempts at disproving that existence and other things, when someone piped up with a series of random, unrelated and blatantly wrong points he felt it necessary to make, starting with the notion that the relational aspect of the Christian faith was a later innovation and wasn't actually part of the Bible.
As this passage, and the vast majority of the rest of scripture as well, proves, this is mercifully not the case.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Ex. 25-32 - settling
The readings - Days 25-28 - Exodus 25-32
As it turns out, this wasn't a half-bad section to fall a bit behind on, post-wise. I'm glad that I managed to keep up with the readings every day, though, because slogging through these eight chapters in one go could bog a fella down.
Taken all together, and viewed from a bit of a more distanced perspective, this is a cool chunk of text.
As it turns out, this wasn't a half-bad section to fall a bit behind on, post-wise. I'm glad that I managed to keep up with the readings every day, though, because slogging through these eight chapters in one go could bog a fella down.
Taken all together, and viewed from a bit of a more distanced perspective, this is a cool chunk of text.
Friday, February 3, 2012
Ex. 22-24 - someones vs. somethings.
The readings - Day 25 - Exodus 22-24
This will be a comparatively short post tonight, because A) it's late, B) I'm not likely to get much sleep anyway and C) lists of laws are, for the most part, pretty dry stuff.
A few of them did stand out, however.
First off, despite what Christopher Hitchens would have had you believe, many (most, in fact) of these laws make perfect sense, and are both equitable and benevolent, despite being from The Bible.
This will be a comparatively short post tonight, because A) it's late, B) I'm not likely to get much sleep anyway and C) lists of laws are, for the most part, pretty dry stuff.
A few of them did stand out, however.
First off, despite what Christopher Hitchens would have had you believe, many (most, in fact) of these laws make perfect sense, and are both equitable and benevolent, despite being from The Bible.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Ex. 19-21 - woman, mountain... it's all the... same?
The readings - Day 24 - Exodus 19-21
Well, it had to happen. I'm not sure that I realized it started this early, but I guess we are halfway through Exodus now, so the law had to come in at some point.
We were all having such a nice time, too, what with our adultery, idol-collecting, mass murder, etc, etc...
Oddly enough (or maybe not even remotely oddly...) before we actually get codified law, we get an example of very bizarre interpretation of law by a judge (Moses, in this case).
Well, it had to happen. I'm not sure that I realized it started this early, but I guess we are halfway through Exodus now, so the law had to come in at some point.
We were all having such a nice time, too, what with our adultery, idol-collecting, mass murder, etc, etc...
Oddly enough (or maybe not even remotely oddly...) before we actually get codified law, we get an example of very bizarre interpretation of law by a judge (Moses, in this case).
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Ex. 16-18 - Makin' it RAIN! (only, awesomely enough, not)
The readings - Day 23 - Exodus 16-18
I firmly believe that there is something inherent about the ability of the Bible to stand up to translation. I think that the whole point, from the very beginning with God's promise to bless the entire world through Abraham's descendants, was that there should be no impediment to people's relating to God, and translation is a huge part of that. I think it's right that the Bible should be read in English, Spanish, Farsi, Japanese, Cree and everything else, because I think God's bigger than language differences and linguistic quibbles.
I firmly believe that there is something inherent about the ability of the Bible to stand up to translation. I think that the whole point, from the very beginning with God's promise to bless the entire world through Abraham's descendants, was that there should be no impediment to people's relating to God, and translation is a huge part of that. I think it's right that the Bible should be read in English, Spanish, Farsi, Japanese, Cree and everything else, because I think God's bigger than language differences and linguistic quibbles.
Ex. 13-15 - "...But what have you done for us lately?"
The readings - Day 22 - Exodus 13-15
Remember that thing about the main characters (heroes, sometimes) of the Bible often being so human it hurts just to hear about them? And how that tends to fly in the face of the weird theory that the Bible was written by the people (or their descendants) who "star" in it so that they'll gain something from it?
Yeah, that really starts to pick up here in Exodus. In Genesis, we had flip-flopping, faithless, gutless and/or shameful behaviour on an individual level, because that's the level that, by and large, Genesis worked on. Now that we're in Exodus and we've zoomed out to a more corporate, societal level, we start to get a handle on just how old that axiom about mob mentality ("to determine the overall intelligence of a large group of people, take the IQ of the stupidest people in that group and divide by the number of people present") might be.
Remember that thing about the main characters (heroes, sometimes) of the Bible often being so human it hurts just to hear about them? And how that tends to fly in the face of the weird theory that the Bible was written by the people (or their descendants) who "star" in it so that they'll gain something from it?
Yeah, that really starts to pick up here in Exodus. In Genesis, we had flip-flopping, faithless, gutless and/or shameful behaviour on an individual level, because that's the level that, by and large, Genesis worked on. Now that we're in Exodus and we've zoomed out to a more corporate, societal level, we start to get a handle on just how old that axiom about mob mentality ("to determine the overall intelligence of a large group of people, take the IQ of the stupidest people in that group and divide by the number of people present") might be.
Monday, January 30, 2012
Ex. 10-12
The readings - Day 21 - Exodus 10-12
This is a hard chunk of scripture to get through. Not that it's not a good read - if it were a Neil Gaiman novel, there'd be no problem, and it'd be captivating stuff. The problem is that God's still at His "I've made sure he'll say no, now go to the Pharaoh and tell him if he says 'no' you'll do _____" thing, which bugs me - not that that matters particularly, I know...
There are other things that I find somewhat interesting about the interaction between God and Pharaoh (through Moses and Aaron), but this thing with God seemingly forcing Pharaoh to keep Israel in Egypt...
Although now that I think about it, hardening Pharaoh's heart isn't precisely the same as forcing him to say no. It does make it more likely that he will, though. Or, at least, it makes it less likely that he'll feel compassion for the Israelites' plight and have that be the reason for their release.
However, there are loads of other reasons why Pharaoh could have (and probably should have) relented far, far earlier than he did. Even his servants thought so, and eventually actually summon the nerve (or just overflow with exasperation) enough to flat out tell him to let Israel go because this whole thing is destroying Egypt. They're right, of course, but Pharaoh will have none of it, so it comes down to one of the most painful-to-read passages in the Bible, best summed up in a single, horrifying line:
So, 430 years after Joseph welcomes the other sons of Israel to Egypt, they leave in the wake of horror, death and incredible destruction.
This is a hard chunk of scripture to get through. Not that it's not a good read - if it were a Neil Gaiman novel, there'd be no problem, and it'd be captivating stuff. The problem is that God's still at His "I've made sure he'll say no, now go to the Pharaoh and tell him if he says 'no' you'll do _____" thing, which bugs me - not that that matters particularly, I know...
There are other things that I find somewhat interesting about the interaction between God and Pharaoh (through Moses and Aaron), but this thing with God seemingly forcing Pharaoh to keep Israel in Egypt...
Although now that I think about it, hardening Pharaoh's heart isn't precisely the same as forcing him to say no. It does make it more likely that he will, though. Or, at least, it makes it less likely that he'll feel compassion for the Israelites' plight and have that be the reason for their release.
However, there are loads of other reasons why Pharaoh could have (and probably should have) relented far, far earlier than he did. Even his servants thought so, and eventually actually summon the nerve (or just overflow with exasperation) enough to flat out tell him to let Israel go because this whole thing is destroying Egypt. They're right, of course, but Pharaoh will have none of it, so it comes down to one of the most painful-to-read passages in the Bible, best summed up in a single, horrifying line:
30 Pharaoh arose in the night, he and all his servants and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was no home where there was not someone dead.
So, 430 years after Joseph welcomes the other sons of Israel to Egypt, they leave in the wake of horror, death and incredible destruction.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Ex. 7-9: Moses' school of witchcraft and wizardry
The readings - Day 20 - Exodus 7-9
You know what I find weird? How many people think that being Christian automatically precludes belief in ghosts, aliens, the paranormal, the occult, witchcraft and all those other things. Well actually, it's not that people think that that confuses me, but rather that people think that because so many Christians will tell them things like it.
Even if I didn't think it was just a waste of time to protest things like Harry Potter or Ouija Boards, and that all that ends up happening is you look a bit silly and are somewhat less likely to be taken seriously next time around, I sort of see it as a sign that Christians who rail against the existence of actual magic and powerful, non-Godly supernatural forces haven't really been paying attention to the Old Testament.
You know what I find weird? How many people think that being Christian automatically precludes belief in ghosts, aliens, the paranormal, the occult, witchcraft and all those other things. Well actually, it's not that people think that that confuses me, but rather that people think that because so many Christians will tell them things like it.
Even if I didn't think it was just a waste of time to protest things like Harry Potter or Ouija Boards, and that all that ends up happening is you look a bit silly and are somewhat less likely to be taken seriously next time around, I sort of see it as a sign that Christians who rail against the existence of actual magic and powerful, non-Godly supernatural forces haven't really been paying attention to the Old Testament.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Ex. 4-6 - Moses: the shy murderer
The readings - Day 19 - Exodus 4-6
Rightly or wrongly, there's a certain type of image that pops into your head when you hear about a guy whose on the run, being hunted down for killing a man as vengeance for an injustice.
Being so shy that you become a distinct irritant to the Creator of patience Himself usually doesn't fit in to this picture...
Rightly or wrongly, there's a certain type of image that pops into your head when you hear about a guy whose on the run, being hunted down for killing a man as vengeance for an injustice.
Being so shy that you become a distinct irritant to the Creator of patience Himself usually doesn't fit in to this picture...
Ex. 1-3 - Zooming out
But for all the carry-over from Genesis 50 to Exodus 1, there are some fairly significant shifts that happen in these chapters that mark Exodus as an entirely different entity than Genesis.
"Zooming out" is a pun I couldn't resist, but it also just fits with what's going on at the very beginning of the book. In Genesis, one main, overarching theme could be described as God's relationship with people: Adam, Cain, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob...
Exodus seems to be setting itself up, in a very clever way, as a story of God's relationship with a people: the people of Israel. By starting the book with a recap of the basic genealogy of Jacob, the author draws a direct line, without actually tracing direct lines, as it were, from the individual God-human relationships of Genesis to the corporate God-human relationship that will become the theme of... well, the rest of the Bible, really.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Gen. 48-50 - The end of an era
The readings - Day 17 - Genesis 48-50
The account of Jacob's last days is interesting on a number of levels.
Although Isaac and Jacob (especially Isaac) don't really occupy nearly the place of reverence and generally accepted importance that Abraham does, they still represent the completion of the trio of founding generations for the people of Israel (and, by extension, the means of blessing for the whole of humanity), so there's a strong sense of closure when Jacob is finally "gathered to his people" (one of my absolute favourite euphemisms for death, by the way).
The account of Jacob's last days is interesting on a number of levels.
Although Isaac and Jacob (especially Isaac) don't really occupy nearly the place of reverence and generally accepted importance that Abraham does, they still represent the completion of the trio of founding generations for the people of Israel (and, by extension, the means of blessing for the whole of humanity), so there's a strong sense of closure when Jacob is finally "gathered to his people" (one of my absolute favourite euphemisms for death, by the way).
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Gen. 46-47 - Life as sojourn
The readings - Day 16 - Genesis 46-47.
Figuring out how numbers work in the Bible is tricky, even when things seem like they ought to be fairly straightforward. I'm hoping that when I get to Numbers, some of them start to make more sense, but I've got a feeling that that's not the way it's going to pan out...
When I come to tallies like the one that basically kicks off chapter 46, I always feel like I'm missing some vital puzzle pieces, and that if I had a better grasp on the culture of the time that it'd all come together and make sense.
Figuring out how numbers work in the Bible is tricky, even when things seem like they ought to be fairly straightforward. I'm hoping that when I get to Numbers, some of them start to make more sense, but I've got a feeling that that's not the way it's going to pan out...
When I come to tallies like the one that basically kicks off chapter 46, I always feel like I'm missing some vital puzzle pieces, and that if I had a better grasp on the culture of the time that it'd all come together and make sense.
Monday, January 23, 2012
Gen. 43-45 - "I love them, I love them not..."
The readings - Day 15 - Genesis 43-45.
I've got two sons, and they're currently 3 years old and 4 months old. I wouldn't say that I necessarily lose track of them, but then again, I wouldn't say that I have a particularly large family either.
I can, however, see how letting kids outnumber parents is a risky endeavour at best, and that chaos can't help but ensue at some level, particularly when you get into the double digits.
Jacob had 12 sons. Sons. Daughters didn't count for as much back then, but they definitely would have been there... All this is to say that I have no doubt that the household of Jacob was likely incredibly complex and chaotic, with people running here and there, descendants and ancestors everywhere you look, and I'm sure that if I were in his position, I'd have a lot of trouble keeping everything straight, too.
However...
I've got two sons, and they're currently 3 years old and 4 months old. I wouldn't say that I necessarily lose track of them, but then again, I wouldn't say that I have a particularly large family either.
I can, however, see how letting kids outnumber parents is a risky endeavour at best, and that chaos can't help but ensue at some level, particularly when you get into the double digits.
Jacob had 12 sons. Sons. Daughters didn't count for as much back then, but they definitely would have been there... All this is to say that I have no doubt that the household of Jacob was likely incredibly complex and chaotic, with people running here and there, descendants and ancestors everywhere you look, and I'm sure that if I were in his position, I'd have a lot of trouble keeping everything straight, too.
However...
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Gen. 41-42 - "Has it been two years already?"
The readings - Day 14 - Genesis 41-42.
A note about timing, since it's easy to forget how these things actually go, according to the text. It's a relatively recent phenomenon that people are interested in the mundane, day-to-day aspects of historical figures, and most ancient histories skip vast swaths of time, often without much notice at all, in order to get to the good stuff. Seems the Bible is no exception.
A note about timing, since it's easy to forget how these things actually go, according to the text. It's a relatively recent phenomenon that people are interested in the mundane, day-to-day aspects of historical figures, and most ancient histories skip vast swaths of time, often without much notice at all, in order to get to the good stuff. Seems the Bible is no exception.
Gen. 38-40 - "Ask not, er, ah, what you can do for your daughter-in-law..."
The readings - Day 14 - Genesis 38-40.
To anyone who is reading this who doesn't know me personally, I have a disclaimer. I'm technically 30 years old, but I'm 76% sure that I'm still 17.
That said, I have a challenge for you.
First, look at this picture:
To anyone who is reading this who doesn't know me personally, I have a disclaimer. I'm technically 30 years old, but I'm 76% sure that I'm still 17.
That said, I have a challenge for you.
First, look at this picture:
Friday, January 20, 2012
Day 12 - Genesis 35-37
*NOTE: I just spent five minutes trying to find a YouTube clip that has Mr. Smee saying "I've just had an apostrophe" to Captain Hook in the 1991 film Hook. Thought you'd like to know.
Day 11 - Genesis 32-34
A weird thing happens at the beginning of chapter 32.
Turns out that by this time, visits from/with angels are so common that, while they're still worth mentioning, they're really not that interesting any more...
1 Now as Jacob went on his way, the angels of God met him. 2 Jacob said when he saw them,"This is God's camp." So he named that place Mahanaim.
Turns out that by this time, visits from/with angels are so common that, while they're still worth mentioning, they're really not that interesting any more...
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Day 10 - Genesis 30-31
It's funny how, despite the penchant of certain sectors of Christian society to point to the Bible when it comes to figuring out issues of family and relationships, scripture is chock full of stuff that most people would scoff at, even if they were fans of the daytime talk shows that would be salivating to feature during Sweeps Week.
Strangely enough, it may be that people with family troubles should look to the Bible's famous families, although it may be more of a "look what these people got up to - feel better" type of approach rather than a "let's be more like them" thing. One can only hope.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Days 8 and 9 - Genesis 25-29
So, I'm not just cramming these two days' readings into one post because I know deep down that it's the only way I'll ever catch up and not lag hopelessly behind for ever more.
At least, not exclusively.
The chapter and verse divisions in the Bible are arbitrary enough. I'd look up when they were first introduced, but Wikipedia is down right now in protest of SOPA, so I'm out of luck. They're old though. Really old. Just not as old as the text itself, and that's important.
You can tell, even without Wikipedia's help, that they were fairly arbitrary, because every now and then you find a place where somebody just simply got it wrong. The ending of chapter 27 is one of those places, but more on that a little later.
At least, not exclusively.
The chapter and verse divisions in the Bible are arbitrary enough. I'd look up when they were first introduced, but Wikipedia is down right now in protest of SOPA, so I'm out of luck. They're old though. Really old. Just not as old as the text itself, and that's important.
You can tell, even without Wikipedia's help, that they were fairly arbitrary, because every now and then you find a place where somebody just simply got it wrong. The ending of chapter 27 is one of those places, but more on that a little later.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Day 7 - Genesis 22-24
For the longest time, my general response to the "God-testing-Abraham-by-telling-him-to-kill-his-son" story was that it must have been excruciating for Abraham to go through something like this, and must have been an unspeakable relief for him when God stopped him and said "don't worry about that, here's a sheep instead."
Many people will point to this episode as proof of God's cruelty, insensitivity and arbitrary authoritarianism, but I've never believed that. I just don't see a way that this story could possibly have ended with Isaac dying.
Many people will point to this episode as proof of God's cruelty, insensitivity and arbitrary authoritarianism, but I've never believed that. I just don't see a way that this story could possibly have ended with Isaac dying.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Day 6 - Genesis 19-21
So yes, this post is a day late, and the next one will be too, most likely. I'll catch up eventually, though.
By way of explanation, the Interwebs are broken at my house right now, or were until this morning, apparently, and this weekend is a swamper at work, so time and brain power are at a premium.
Also, the Internet breaking makes me irritated, and irritated is not the frame of mind to try and reflect in any sort of coherent way on some of the most nauseating passages of the entirety of scripture.
By way of explanation, the Interwebs are broken at my house right now, or were until this morning, apparently, and this weekend is a swamper at work, so time and brain power are at a premium.
Also, the Internet breaking makes me irritated, and irritated is not the frame of mind to try and reflect in any sort of coherent way on some of the most nauseating passages of the entirety of scripture.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Day 5 - Genesis 16-18
Names are interesting things in the Bible.
These days, apart from souvenir key chains and schmaltzy plaques/posters, people (North Americans, at any rate) don't really ascribe too much significance to names, but names – of people or places – tend to be incredibly important in the Bible, so much so that God Himself, now and then, lays down the law and throws a name out there, as a promise or a signifier of some larger plan.
Ishmael, for example. "God will hear." What a promise to a pregnant woman who has run away into the desert after being used in perhaps the most profound way, only to be reviled and, in all likelihood, severely beaten for her trouble.
These days, apart from souvenir key chains and schmaltzy plaques/posters, people (North Americans, at any rate) don't really ascribe too much significance to names, but names – of people or places – tend to be incredibly important in the Bible, so much so that God Himself, now and then, lays down the law and throws a name out there, as a promise or a signifier of some larger plan.
Ishmael, for example. "God will hear." What a promise to a pregnant woman who has run away into the desert after being used in perhaps the most profound way, only to be reviled and, in all likelihood, severely beaten for her trouble.
Day 4 - Genesis 12-15
Every now and then, in an argument about the veracity/relevance/truth of scripture/Christianity, someone will assert that the faith, and particularly the Bible is a collection of wishful thinking and self-congratulatory, self-aggrandizing tales, written to make the protagonists look awesome.
I both like and dislike when this happens. First, it generally means that I'm talking with someone who's never read the Bible, and second, because one of my favourite aspects of the Bible is that it is absolutely nothing if not realistic in its portrayal of people - all people, almost especially the "heroes."
Abram, who will later become Abraham, (shh... spoilers) is one of the Bible's most revered heroes, and is, of course, one of the most important characters in history, since three of the world's most influential religions look at him as a historical father figure.
But, particularly at the beginning, he's sort of a dick, isn't he?
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Day 3 - Genesis 8-11
I like this project already.
So Genesis 8-9 sees the dwindling of the flood and its aftermath, and brings us up to the death of Noah at the ripe old age of damn-near-a-thousand.
Two things occurred to me when reading through these chapters this time, and I have a feeling it'll be a recurring theme for me (not that I'll necessarily subject you to it every time I notice it. No fear.):
The first is that it absolutely astounds me that anyone can get anything at all out of the Bible by approaching it from the aforementioned literalist interpretation. I just don't get it. The language, imagery and symbolism is so rich, and the story so beautifully laid out that I just feel like it'd be highway robbery to boil it down to mere documentation.
So Genesis 8-9 sees the dwindling of the flood and its aftermath, and brings us up to the death of Noah at the ripe old age of damn-near-a-thousand.
Two things occurred to me when reading through these chapters this time, and I have a feeling it'll be a recurring theme for me (not that I'll necessarily subject you to it every time I notice it. No fear.):
The first is that it absolutely astounds me that anyone can get anything at all out of the Bible by approaching it from the aforementioned literalist interpretation. I just don't get it. The language, imagery and symbolism is so rich, and the story so beautifully laid out that I just feel like it'd be highway robbery to boil it down to mere documentation.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Day 1 and 2 (Genesis 1-3, 4-7)
So as you've no doubt noticed, I'm doubling up today, since I started reading yesterday and only started writing today. I'll mash my thoughts together for this one, but they'll roughly occur in chronological order. This'll also hopefully be the last time I include an editorial-ish opening to the post itself. Most of the time I hope to just leap right in.
Like now...
Genesis 1-3, 4-7
It's funny how hard it actually is to really read something that you're so familiar with as the opening chapters of Genesis. It's almost like you just automatically shift into 'skim' mode because your brain just assumes that you can fill in the blanks on your own, which you can - in a way.
In another more accurate way, this is a great method of getting nothing out of the experience other than what your brain provides by dipping into the murky waters of prevailing cultural interpretation of what's said, rather than what's actually there.
Like now...
Genesis 1-3, 4-7
It's funny how hard it actually is to really read something that you're so familiar with as the opening chapters of Genesis. It's almost like you just automatically shift into 'skim' mode because your brain just assumes that you can fill in the blanks on your own, which you can - in a way.
In another more accurate way, this is a great method of getting nothing out of the experience other than what your brain provides by dipping into the murky waters of prevailing cultural interpretation of what's said, rather than what's actually there.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
By way of introduction...
So I recently rediscovered a Bible app on my phone (after an update or something it decided to pop up and ask if I wanted to do some reading, so I said "sure!"
I then discovered that it'll actually follow a "read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year" program that it sets up, following a number of different schemes, and serve up the readings piping hot right to the phone, so I thought I'd try it out.
For shiggles, I decided I'd follow the "canonical" program, which goes through the Bible in the order that it is currently assembled (as opposed to thematically or historically, which were among the other options) so I've started at Genesis 1 and will carry on right through to the end of Revelation by next January.
Since this seems like something that'll prompt me to do daily reading, and because I have for some reason decided that between writing several articles a day for work and keeping up my other blog I need more writing to do on a daily basis, I figured I'd try to at least jot down some thoughts on each section of reading.
These sections are completely arbitrary, from what I understand, so it'll be interesting to see what I can think up or what hits me whilst in the middle of the doldrums of Deuteronomy or Chronicles, but we'll deal with that when we get there.
So that's what I'm doing. Feel free to tag along, check back from time to time, and please do post comments if you disagree/agree with what I'm saying, think I'm dumb (please don't think I'm dumb) or think I'm brilliant (come to think of it, you probably shouldn't do that either) or just to say hi.
Onwards!
I then discovered that it'll actually follow a "read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year" program that it sets up, following a number of different schemes, and serve up the readings piping hot right to the phone, so I thought I'd try it out.
For shiggles, I decided I'd follow the "canonical" program, which goes through the Bible in the order that it is currently assembled (as opposed to thematically or historically, which were among the other options) so I've started at Genesis 1 and will carry on right through to the end of Revelation by next January.
Since this seems like something that'll prompt me to do daily reading, and because I have for some reason decided that between writing several articles a day for work and keeping up my other blog I need more writing to do on a daily basis, I figured I'd try to at least jot down some thoughts on each section of reading.
These sections are completely arbitrary, from what I understand, so it'll be interesting to see what I can think up or what hits me whilst in the middle of the doldrums of Deuteronomy or Chronicles, but we'll deal with that when we get there.
So that's what I'm doing. Feel free to tag along, check back from time to time, and please do post comments if you disagree/agree with what I'm saying, think I'm dumb (please don't think I'm dumb) or think I'm brilliant (come to think of it, you probably shouldn't do that either) or just to say hi.
Onwards!
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