Dec. 10 – Thoughts on Hosea 1-4 & Rev. 1

I’m very excited to be in Revelation finally for a number of reasons.  First, it’s one of my favorite books of the bible.  Second, there is A LOT to write about so the rest of this year should be pretty easy to comment on.  But third, it means we’re almost done!  A year and we’ve read the whole bible yet haven’t missed a day!

Today, however, I’d like to take a look at Hosea.  This is one of the hardest books for me to stomach.  My whole life, family has held a respected position.  We’ve not only had a great family but have valued each other and the relationships we’ve enjoyed.  So to hear God using family to make a metaphorical point to His people is hard to bear.  It is good to see Hosea and Gomer love one another despite Gomer’s promiscuity, but I still have this basic urge to tell God, “Hand’s off the family!” no matter how sacrilegious that is.

Another piece of this book is the naming of their children.  Names in the Old Testament were very important.  People were named to describe them, to set their destiny, and to tell their story.  They are not named until they have a very good reason to, and names are often changed to fit a new destiny, whether Abram, Jacob, or Simon.  Here, God sets the names of the children, but not as descriptions of the children.  These children are named quite horrible names to describe Israel itself.

I’ve often said that God can ask most anything of me as long as it doesn’t affect my children.  I guess that’s not my call.

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Dec. 10 – Thoughts on Hosea 1-4 & Rev. 1

I’m very excited to be in Revelation finally for a number of reasons.  First, it’s one of my favorite books of the bible.  Second, there is A LOT to write about so the rest of this year should be pretty easy to comment on.  But third, it means we’re almost done!  A year and we’ve read the whole bible yet haven’t missed a day!

Today, however, I’d like to take a look at Hosea.  This is one of the hardest books for me to stomach.  My whole life, family has held a respected position.  We’ve not only had a great family but have valued each other and the relationships we’ve enjoyed.  So to hear God using family to make a metaphorical point to His people is hard to bear.  It is good to see Hosea and Gomer love one another despite Gomer’s promiscuity, but I still have this basic urge to tell God, “Hand’s off the family!” no matter how sacrilegious that is.

Another piece of this book is the naming of their children.  Names in the Old Testament were very important.  People were named to describe them, to set their destiny, and to tell their story.  They are not named until they have a very good reason to, and names are often changed to fit a new destiny, whether Abram, Jacob, or Simon.  Here, God sets the names of the children, but not as descriptions of the children.  These children are named quite horrible names to describe Israel itself.

I’ve often said that God can ask most anything of me as long as it doesn’t affect my children.  I guess that’s not my call.

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Dec. 9 – Thoughts on Daniel 11-12 & Jude

Any time someone complains about a public official, from president to governor to mayor, I try not to join in.  I left Facebook for that very reason – I was finding it too depressing to look at the posts of some of my closest friends.  Their hatred toward others in the political world was just too hard to stomach.  I tried first hiding certain posts, then certain kinds of posts, then certain people who posted all the time.  But no matter how wide I cast that net, I was still getting post after post of vitriol and slant.  So, I finally had to drop out of Facebook altogether.  Recently I started a whole new account that is only connected to certain groups who decided to communicate solely through Facebook.

Having cut that cord, I then found that attending family gatherings was just as bad.  And quick conversations at church, and with friends, and… the belief that we were in “the very worst time ever politically” was everywhere.

It only takes one quick read through the prophets to see that we are NOT in the worst time ever politically.  In fact, we are in pretty good company when it comes to our political leaders.  Today’s reading alone has titles like, “The King who Exalts Himself,” and I think I’ve seen almost that exact headline in the last few months.  Our political leadership has always been like this, with varying degrees of self-exaltation, misuse of amassed wealth and power, unethical alliances, and self-promotion.  And today is no different.

As Christians, our answer to this needs to be, “It doesn’t matter.”  Our salvation, peace, joy, and hope will NEVER come from our political leaders.  Whatever they do, God is in control and He’s got this.  As it has been, so it is and so it will ever be.  Amen.

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Dec. 9 – Thoughts on Daniel 11-12 & Jude

Any time someone complains about a public official, from president to governor to mayor, I try not to join in.  I left Facebook for that very reason – I was finding it too depressing to look at the posts of some of my closest friends.  Their hatred toward others in the political world was just too hard to stomach.  I tried first hiding certain posts, then certain kinds of posts, then certain people who posted all the time.  But no matter how wide I cast that net, I was still getting post after post of vitriol and slant.  So, I finally had to drop out of Facebook altogether.  Recently I started a whole new account that is only connected to certain groups who decided to communicate solely through Facebook.

Having cut that cord, I then found that attending family gatherings was just as bad.  And quick conversations at church, and with friends, and… the belief that we were in “the very worst time ever politically” was everywhere.

It only takes one quick read through the prophets to see that we are NOT in the worst time ever politically.  In fact, we are in pretty good company when it comes to our political leaders.  Today’s reading alone has titles like, “The King who Exalts Himself,” and I think I’ve seen almost that exact headline in the last few months.  Our political leadership has always been like this, with varying degrees of self-exaltation, misuse of amassed wealth and power, unethical alliances, and self-promotion.  And today is no different.

As Christians, our answer to this needs to be, “It doesn’t matter.”  Our salvation, peace, joy, and hope will NEVER come from our political leaders.  Whatever they do, God is in control and He’s got this.  As it has been, so it is and so it will ever be.  Amen.

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Dec. 8 – Thoughts on Daniel 8-10 & 3 John

Reading Daniel is much like reading Revelation, primarily because both belong to the same type of literature.  For millennia, people have argued over Revelation, whether it is literal, metaphorical, future prophecy or past history.  But the problem is that we once again put our modern assumptions upon the bible.  We do not read the book in its context or as it’s style requires.

Like reading a poem as historical fact, or a fantasy book as a medical textbook, we read Revelation and put our own assumptions upon it.  Revelation is written in a form of literature called Apocalyptic literature.  In it, the writer is using symbols and images to portray what he sees and knows and experiences.  An example follows:

“In the last days, the spider roamed the land, devouring everyone before it. It attacked God’s people who found
no refuge and were killed by the spiders poison breath. From the edge of the sea, the dragon arose and joined the spider in its conquest. The Dragon rose and attacked the mighty Eagle, wounding it’s talon. But the Eagle rallied the people of the world who fought back against the spider and the dragon. The eagle blew fire from its mouth and seared the dragon into submission, then turned its eye toward the spider. The people of the world rose up and slew the spider but the world knew no peace ever again.”

Obviously, this bit of made-up Apocalyptic literature tells the story of WWII.  The swastika looks like a spider, Japan is the Dragon, etc.  Reading it again it all makes sense, but without the context, it is a strange story.  So it is with Apocalyptic literature, whether Revelation or Daniel’s visions.

Before we attempt to define the future based on apocalyptic visions, we need to understand the style of the writing.  And before we proclaim our superiority or that of our particular interpretation, lets remember that whatever we believe about it, the future, like the past and the present, is in God’s hands.  We are witness to it, but not in control of it.  And when reading any type of Apocalyptic literature, a whole lot of humility is in order.

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