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.
Showing posts with label Aaron. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aaron. Show all posts
Monday, February 27, 2012
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.
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.
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.
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...
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