Exodus Thoughts

So I'm catching up after all my moving and general slacking. I finished the Prince of Egypt, I mean Exodus, tonight. Condensing all of my quick Exodus notes into one post:

• Exodus 4:24-26: This was a shock to read. For whatever reason, I had never read this before. God "sought to kill him" (Moses) presumably because of uncircumcision. But the way it is interjected into the overall story is a bit of cold water. My Bible talks about comparisons to Jacob's brush with death in Genesis.
• One thing I've always struggled to answer is the punishment of all of Egypt for one man's (Pharaoh's) refusal to comply. One time the reader even notices Pharaoh's advisers saying that it is truly the work of God, yet they are still punished for Pharaoh's sin. One possible exception may be Ex. 9:20, where "those of Pharaoh's servants who feared the word of the LORD hurried to bring their servants and livestock into the houses." Even so, Ex. 12:30 says that "there was no house in which there was not someone dead." This is something that has always bothered me.
• Reading the plagues in succession made for a neat, albeit imperfect, picture of God's forgiveness. No matter how many times Pharaoh said that Moses' people could be let go then reneged, Moses still gave him a chance. Rather, I guess God gave him a chance through Moses.
• Ex. 12:38 - a "mixed multitude" left with the Israelites. Interesting to think that maybe these were Egyptians that believed after what they had seen. Is that even possible -- were non-Israelites allowed to go to the promised land?
• I particularly like how God describes himself as a "jealous" God. I think this happens twice. It gives a cool picture of how much God really cares about our direction in life.
• Don't you wish you got as specific instructions for your life as Moses got for the temple?
• I love God's description of himself in Ex. 34:6-7: "The compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in loyal love and faithfulness, keeping loyal love for thousands [of generations], forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin. But he by no means leaves the guilty unpunished, responding to the transgressions of fathers by dealing with children and children's children." It is almost like a self-defense on how a loving God can punish people. The single period in there is a perfect logical break, and his way of speaking turns. It actually reminds me of a way C.S. Lewis would describe Aslan.
  

How holy are these guys, really?

I haven't been able to escape this feeling reading through Genesis that most of these revered forefathers of our faith are generally kind of jerks. Does anyone else feel that way? They play favorites (Abraham with Sarah/Isaac, Jacob with Rachel/Joseph), they deceive each other (Abraham & Isaac with all the lying about their wives being their sisters; Jacob with Esau x2; Jacob & Laban's sheep), they mistreat women (lots of examples, but most notably Judah in Gen 38; I know this was the "culture" or whatever, but still...), and there are very few references to any of them actually practicing their faith - worshipping, repenting, praying, even the vague "walking with God" isn't there. How are we supposed to understand this? Is it enough to say that God had made promises to them, so they were used by Him in spite of their blatant, public, unrepented sin? Or are their stories in there for the reason pastors sometimes like to say, so that we can be encouraged that they were sinners too and we don't have to be perfect? Something about that doesn't sit right with me...

Lifespans in Genesis & a Timeline

While reading about Abraham recently, I started thinking "where did all these people come from?" Not only does Abraham keep running into new people, but cities have also been founded.

Turns out Abraham is born 1,948 years after creation, judging purely on the accounts of lifespans. It's interesting how large that distance is, especially when they feel so connected and close in Genesis.

Full link & timeline here.

What do you think? Is it fair to do things like this? Are the lifespans meant to be taken literally? And -- of course -- what enabled them to live so long? Are the years solar years?

If you want to see an interesting discussion on Google Answers (I don't know if I endorse any particular opinion), check this out. Spoiler alerts though -- maybe you want to form your own opinion first?

For future reference:
Timeline URL: http://www.practicalchristianliving.org/timeline.htm
Google discussion on lifespans: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview/id/538112.html

Catching Up on a couple missed days

So I did a little cramming today, doing tuesday and Wednesdays readings this morning. I was most struck by one of Petie's fav passages.

John 6:63 - The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.

I pray that verse resonates in my heart for a few weeks to come, and that God reveals the truth about it. I get caught up sometimes in the flesh. I pray I can be convinced that the flesh counts for nothing.

love you all,

-camel

Final Job Thoughts

I've read pieces of Job before, but never read it straight through like this. I really enjoyed it; it was very much like reading a drama. I could definitely picture people performing this as a means of passing the story down (especially if it is as old as our chronology puts it).

It really is a literary work, and I like that the Bible shows itself not only as a book of wisdom, but one of literary acumen as well.

1. What's the deal with Elihu? This read through, his entrace was pretty dramatic and this reader thought "ah-ha -- here comes the real wisdom and correction." Turns out he said some pretty wrong stuff (example below), and furthermore, he's never even acknowledged by God. In the epilogue, God addresses Job and his three friends, but says nothing to or about Elihu.
2. Previously, I asked about this line of thinking seen again in Job 35:8 ... Elihu speaking -- "Your [Job] wickedness affects only a person like yourself, and your righteousness only other people." Before, I was unsure of the logic of this. Is it true that our acts don't affect God at all? This didn't sit with me, and I wanted to share my Bible's note.. I highlighted the part important to me: "According to Strahan, Elihu exalts God's greatness at the cost of His grace, His transcendence at the expense of His immanence. He sets up a material instead of a spiritual stand of profit and loss. He does not realize that God does gain what He desires most by the goodness of men, and loses what He most loves by their evil."
3. Behemoth & Leviathan: As a kid, I re-read this part so much (because I was in love with dinosaurs). My Bible (which focuses on the process of translation - rather than a devotional Bible) says that these two parts don't fit with any of the present material and are likely a later addition. I wonder why? What are the animals described? Often people say the Behemoth is a hippo, but it's funny to describe a hippo as ranking "first among the works of God." I've also heard they could be mythological animals -- mythologized by pagan writers or receivers?
4. God's entrance: So cool -- so dramatic. God is often accompanied by a storm in the OT, yes?
   

Question and Answer on Works

As I was reading John 5, Jesus talks about being the ultimate Judge.  He says, "a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out--those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned."

To me, that sounded an awful lot like judgement is based on works, which doesn't jive with other Scripture indicating faith as the basis of salvation.  Why did Jesus state it this way?

Then, I think my question was answered in Luke 6: "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.  Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. ... The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart."

Faith will produce works.  

This also raises the issue of works of nonbelievers seeming "good," but ultimately not being altruistic.  I'll leave that for another day.

Kingdom of God

A word on the "kingdom of God" that Jesus often refers to. For a long, long time, my mind just equated "kingdom of God" with "heaven." In the last several years, I have since come to have the opinion that it is an already-present kingdom.

Luke 6:20
"The kingdom of heaven BELONGS to you." (present tense)
6:21
"You WILL BE satisfied." (future tense)

It seems to be a kingdom that has already begun, one that has not yet come to complete fruition, but will. Thoughts?