| | Note to all: Things do NOT get easier mentally or emotionally when the Bible is forgone because of being busy and then to get "rest."
Anyway, I'm gonna try to finish up Proverbs and Jeremiah here soon and move on. I didn't get around to doing it because of finals lately, and then I've been catching up on a semester's worth of sleep the past few days....but here we go. I'll probably be going a little faster through Proverbs now, just to get through it and to move on.
Proverbs 21:
5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to plenty,
But those of everyone who is hasty, surely to poverty.
- Hasty is an interesting choice of words here. I don't think that's been brought up before, though I guess it goes hand in hand with laziness. Just getting your job done as soon as possible instead of being diligent in your work will ensure you don't go far up the ladder.
6 Getting treasures by a lying tongue
Is the fleeting fantasy of those who seek death.
- This is cool wording. I can see the "Holy cow, it finally worked!"....then you die.
11 When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise;
But when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.
- Punish foolish people - not for their own good if they're beyond help, but as a message to those who just haven't learned yet. Once someone is dedicated to wisdom, instruction is all they need to grow.
13 Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor
Will also cry himself and not be heard.
- Ouch.
17 He who loves pleasure will be a poor man;
He who loves wine and oil will not be rich.
- If the goal of your working is to increase your pleasure...you will never have enough. You'll always want more pleasure, because it's never satisfied, and self-centered motivation is rarely enough to keep one going when things get tough.
19 Better to dwell in the wilderness,
Than with a contentious and angry woman.
- Hehe.
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Let's get started on finishing Jeremiah too, shall we?
We're at chapter 50, beginning a very long list of bad things that are going to happen to Babylon.
Babylon is going to be wiped out by invaders from the north - their idols and temples will be destroyed and the place will be uninhabited.
God then tells all the Israelites captive in Babylon that they're like lost sheep who have been led away, taken by their enemies because of their transgressions, but then tells them to high-tail it out of Babylon because it's about to get sacked.
An interesting exchange is laid out here... God delivered Israel into the hands of these people, but then the people caught on they were capturing them as punishment, and let themselves just go crazy on them, justifying it because it was God's punishment. God was none too happy about this, and told them that their destruction was because they took joy in the destruction of God's heritage. They didn't grasp the weight on God's end - of how much it hurts to chastise a child you love who has strayed from the path...they just took joy in the punishment. There are lots of applications to this...from the punishment of children, to the treatment of prisoners of war...know the weight that necessary punishment carries with it, and carry it with solemness and responsibility...or else.
But Israel's punishment has been carried out... after this is done, people will look for more sin to punish, more wrongdoings to bring against Israel...and will find none, because whoever makes it out of this will be considered pardoned by God; their punishment done, and their sins gone. Whether this was a reference to the near future meaning this captivity dealt with their past sin leading up to it, or a reference to the new covenant that was on its way, I'm not sure. Either way, it's cool.
The next part lays out more punishment, and its best summed up in this line - "How the hammer of the whole earth has been cut apart and broken! How Babylon has become a desolation among the nations!" - contrast is made to the pride and haughtiness of Babylon, and how it's just going to make their fall that much more disgusting to all who see it. It's very poetic.
Again, promise is made of restoration to Israel, and a sword against Babylon - against their soothsayers, their princes, their horses, their chariots, their people...everything. Every last piece of their empire they've built so strongly and with so much pride...all of it is now under attack from God.
It is also noted that ostriches will live there. So....um...yeah...take that
This was a cool chapter....
Anyway, that's all for now. It's good to be back.
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| | Posted 5/12/2009 10:35 AM - 2 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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