Zantar_Black's Xanga

Peter wasn't done Denying.

Sat, 23 May 2009 14:51:48 GMT

(Xanga was acting weird on my computer the past few days, so I've skipped a few Bible entries here and just put them on my Facebook. I'll backdate them later now that we're running again.)

You know, for not really sleeping at all last night, I'm surprisingly awake. I've already been up, showered, eaten, and read all of my boring Saturday Morning RSS feeds (No webcomics on Saturday except for Explosm and SMBC = sad). I don't know why I can't get a normal sleep schedule going, and I just can't wake up when I want to...I need to beat this. Half the time I'm not even all that tired when I hit snooze or reset the alarm, I just...want sleep, or I'm in the habit of it, or something, and that's a dangerous place to be.

Anyway, Proverbs 25. We're back to Solomon's writings again, so they're back to the one-liners.

According to verse 1, Hezekiah wrote these down. So I guess this was a Greatest Hits collection published a long time after his death.

2 It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
- Right off the bat, we get this really interesting verse. I have two possible interpretations I get from this. The first is that it's a reference to God's desire to forgive and blot out our sins, but that it's the job of kings and government to discover and punish wrongdoing, but I don't know if that's really what it could mean, because it doesn't really line up with where the Covenant was at the time, and doesn't match up with other themes in the Bible.
The other interpretation is a little more abstract, but I think that God placed the desire to explore, discover, invent, and create inside of all of us. People who climb mountains, who go on safaris, who become scientists, who become inventors, all of them are doing it because of a desire that God programmed into us. When he told us to have dominion over the Earth, it meant that we were supposed to explore every facet of it; make use of every item in it; learn everything we can about it, because, as a creation of God, He expresses Himself through every detail of His creation. I think God hid things all over the universe, even within the laws of physics and mathematics (and other such abstract fields of study) for us to find, and I think He loves it when we learn about it and find it.
It's His glory that He's made plants, animals, fish, and bugs that we haven't discovered yet; that he put water on Mars; that the square of a hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the square of the other two sides, and it's our glory when we find it.
Not that it helps "smart Bible people," in an argument, but the Message seems to agree with me:
"2 God delights in concealing things;
scientists delight in discovering things. "

4 Take away the dross from silver,
And it will go to the silversmith for jewelry.
5 Take away the wicked from before the king,
And his throne will be established in righteousness.
- Another one with a few different possible meanings - I'm not sure if it means take away the wicked from the king himself (which makes sense as wisdom, but doesn't work with the language), from the presence of the king in general (which I can kind of see, but it seems weird coming from Solomon, who judged matters in his throne room), or from his counsel and staff (Which makes the most sense, but makes the verse oddly worded).
I dunno. Maybe we should just do all three.

6 Do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king,
And do not stand in the place of the great;
7 For it is better that he say to you,
“ Come up here,”
Than that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom your eyes have seen.
- Let your work and life do the talking for you about how great you are. If you don't try yourself, then you get accepted at face value; if you publicly declare your greatness, and have to then be publicly corrected...you look like an idiot.

8 Do not go hastily to court;
For what will you do in the end,
When your neighbor has put you to shame?
9 Debate your case with your neighbor,
And do not disclose the secret to another;
10 Lest he who hears it expose your shame,
And your reputation be ruined.
- Similar advice, different application. Before making a public spectacle of it, make sure you know what you're talking about. If you're so quick to go talk to other people and have them decide who's right and just love disproving people in public, you'll eventually do it for something in which you're dead wrong, and you'll look like a [donkey].

12 Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold
Is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear.
- Reach the place where you're so hungry for wisdom, that even rebuke by someone smarter than you is a great experience.

15 By long forbearance a ruler is persuaded,
And a gentle tongue breaks a bone.
- Screaming and yelling and arguing will not get your way. Being patient and making your case when you get the opportunity and acting like a civil human being will eventually convince just about anyone.
And break their knees in the process. Good times.

16 Have you found honey?
Eat only as much as you need,
Lest you be filled with it and vomit.
17 Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house,
Lest he become weary of you and hate you.
- The practical, blunt honesty of some of Proverbs' observation makes me laugh sometimes. There are a few people who will be allowed "just walk in" best friend privileges, but, for the majority of people, going over to people's houses too much, even if they like you, will eventually make them sick at the sight of you. As Strong Bad once said, "Too much of a good thing...is an awesome thing. But too much of an awesome things is...really really dumb...and bad."
Incidentally, these two verses are rarely shown grouped, but I think the effect of them is heightened together.

19 Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble
Is like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint.
- Again, I just love these observations.

20 Like one who takes away a garment in cold weather,
And like vinegar on soda,
Is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
- Is anyone else getting how awesome these comparisons are? We've all seen it - we've been upset or down about something, and some well-meaning person with a heart of gold starts trying to make you feel better by telling you what a great person you are, and all the great things God has for you, and all the good things you've done for them, and everything they say is heartwarming and so sweet....and yet you just want to punch them in face.
Don't just vomit happy thoughts all over someone who's hurting, because you'll only cause them more pain and there will probably be an outburst that hurts even more people.
Also, did anyone catch that they did the vinegar and baking soda thing in Old Testament times? Never knew that. It probably wasn't baking soda proper, but...still. Your science fair project is literally ancient. That's why you don't win.

24 It is better to dwell in a corner of a housetop,
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.
- I'll end it with another amusing comparison about how horrible it is to have a bad wife.

---
I read Galatians 2 earlier, actually, but didn't commentate. So here's my summary.

Galatians 2

Fourteen years after the visit to Peter previously mentioned, Paul was compelled by God to visit Jerusalem again, and he took Titus and Barnabas with him. His belief in the Gospel that salvation came by faith in Jesus, not the works of the law, was so great that even among the leaders of the Christian movement, who walked and talked with Jesus, he and his group (Even Titus, who was a Gentile) were not circumcised, which is the most basic entry-level act into the Mosaic law. The only people who tried to convince them to be circumcised were a few people who weren't really Christians and were just trying to see who this guy Paul was that was telling people to stop obeying the law.
I find it interesting that, about these people, Paul said "to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you." While it's certainly no sin to circumcise, Paul and his company (More specifically his company; Paul almost certainly already was, since he was a Pharisee), refused to be circumcised for the sake of the Gospel. If they had went ahead and submitted to it just to appease people, the chance of preaching salvation by faith instead of works would have basically gone kaput. Bowing to the whims of these legalistic people who were really actively attacking the Gospel would have killed the very message of Grace they were preaching.
This is interesting to me because I always wonder how much should be avoided for sake of reputation and "avoiding the appearance of evil" (especially as far as clothes, activities, and certain works of fiction that are considered by some to be penned by Satan), and how much caving to just promotes a legalistic perversion of the Gospel by making it conditional according to works and hurting the effectiveness of it to preach to people in general. I don't know...maybe we'll read more and find out.

I also find it entertaining that Paul refers to the apostles - the mighty, amazing, holy apostles that almost everyone holds on a pedestal and certain denominations pray to and sometimes worship - as basically "the guys there that looked important, even though I really don't care because God doesn't see them as any better." Even to me, it takes guts to so casually refer to the Apostles as those guys who people seemed to think were important.
Anyway, Paul makes the point that, after laying out the salvation by Grace message, he got the approval of the Apostles and they "commissioned" him to go preach to the Gentiles just like they've been preaching to the Jews. Paul said this to show the Galatian church that even the Apostles agreed with his Gospel that these false teachers have been turning the Galatians away from.

In typical Paul-like fashion, he then gets in a fight with Peter. Apparently Peter was fine with eating with Gentiles, which was previously forbidden in the law. But when James and some of his people came, Peter wouldn't eat with Gentiles while they were around, and thus the majority of the Jewish community, even Barnabas, followed suit. Paul was none too pleased with this display of cowardly hypocrisy (Poor Peter...just can't escape that reputation) and told Peter to his face.
Again, we should avoid the appearance of evil and try to live above reproach, but if it gets to a point where we're making the Gospel appear to be on the condition of works, we just need to stand up to these people perpetuating this and lay the Gospel out to them fresh. Which, coincidentally, is exactly what Paul did to Peter.

The next little paragraph is so full of awesome statements I have to take it bit at a time. Keep in mind that what's being addressed here is that Peter would eat with Gentiles when James wasn't around, but pretended to be a good little Jew when James came.

"But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel..."
- Note that they weren't "preaching" anything; this is all their actions. By "cleaning up their act" when certain people came around, they were skewing the message of the Gospel, which was that the Jewish law was no longer the condition for salvation. What had probably started as a desire to not start an argument had become a perversion of the entire meaning of what Jesus did.

"I said to Peter before them all, “If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?"
- Paul just completely outed Peter here. In Acts and some other of Paul's letters, we learn that when Peter preached to the Gentiles, he tried to tell them to start following Jewish law. While it was most likely not out of a legitimate attempt to subvert the Gospel, and just out of what he was culturally conditioned to believe to be right and wrong, he was still wrong. Paul throws down the Gauntlet and accuses him of blatant hypocrisy - he'll eat with Gentiles, which is against the Jewish law, which shows that he believes the law is no longer the condition for salvation. If Peter is then "living like a Gentile," why is he telling the Gentiles to live as Jews?
Poor Peter right now is probably shrinking into his chair, wishing the ground would swallow him up, because I imagine Paul said this in front of the people that Peter was "shaping up" around. This works entertainingly well with Proverbs 25:6-7 that I talked about at the top of the entry.

"We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified."
- Three times in a row Paul says we are justified by faith, not by works, and that works will justify no one. This is the foundational statement of the Gospel, that the Apostles (Peter included, presumably) all agreed on and sent Paul out to preach. Paul is repeating it over and over to assure everyone around the room that this is what Peter agreed to, and to dig Peter's grave a little deeper.

"“But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!"
- If the Gospel we believe enables us to do things that we have to cover up when "big shot Christians" come around, then has Jesus made us sin?
This is really heavy wording, because this is in reference to Peter's activities, which were blatantly against the law of Moses. The law of Moses, until Jesus, defined what sin was, because the law was the foundation of the covenant they had with God. Jesus made a new covenant, and thus the law is no longer the deciding factor of what sin is. If this is not true, then by Paul preaching that you did not have to become Jewish to be a Christian, he is preaching that Jesus made sinners out of all of us, which is not the case.

"For if I build again those things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor."
Falling back on the law as what determines your behavior is rebuilding that which was destroyed, and breaking the covenant. Why? becuase...

"For I through the law died to the law that I might live to God."
The law kept people from God, because it ensured their sinfulness never stopped. Jesus, by being the Sacrifice demanded of it, fulfilled all of the laws requirements, and made it possible for us to die to that covenant. Since, through what Jesus did in compliance with the law, we can die to the law, we can live for God, because the sinfulness that was keeping us from Him is dead.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me;"
As useful as this verse is for preaching how much you have to beat yourself up to be a Christian, that's not what it's talking about. Saying that you have been crucified with Christ means that the death the law pronounced over you happened with Jesus on the cross - as far as the law is concerned, you died that day and your sentence has been carried out. When Christ resurrected, He began life under a new covenant, and now you live with Him under that one, not the old one.

"and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Instead of walking by the law and what our flesh can do that's good enough, you now live by faith in what Jesus did, because he gave Himself for you.

"I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.”"
In light of that, for you to start acting with false holiness to appease people that appear to be important (even though to God, they're no more important than you or me), then you are putting down the grace of God and rebuilding the old covenant again. If you're ashamed of what you're doing, you're declaring that Jesus made you a sinner, instead of setting you free.
Don't pretend that acting right makes you righteous in the sight of God, because if it does, Jesus died for nothing.

YES.

Bible...Bible...oh yeah, the Bible!

Tue, 12 May 2009 14:35:08 GMT

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.

---

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.

Saturday, April 04, 2009

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 16:08:42 GMT

I did, in fact, do Bible reading over the last couple days, but it was during my lunch breaks at work and I wasn't reading in Proverbs or Jeremiah and wasn't really keeping notes.

Anyway, I was going to try to get to the end of Jeremiah today, but I'm really just in a Proverbs mood, and I only have about an hour before heading off to work, so I'm just sticking with Proverbs.
Chapter 16:

³ Commit your works to the LORD,
      And your thoughts will be established.
- Different translations seem to change this meaning from "Your thoughts will be stable" to "What you think will happen." The Hebrew word there is used both ways in other places. Either way, commit works to God and good will come in some form.

⁵ Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD;
      Though they join forces,^[a] none will go unpunished.
- "No, see, look at how big of a support group we have, look at our TV commercials and pamphlets, look at our man power!" - The size of a movement has nothing to do with whether or not it's correct.

⁷ When a man’s ways please the LORD,
      He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
- This has always been a household favorite verse, because it's rather comforting. It should be noted that the Hebrew word for peace here doesn't necessarily mean "no anger, lots of tranquility" - this word means sound judgment, equal pay, requit, finish, etc. It doesn't mean that no one will ever be mad at you or want to pick a fight, but they'll treat you fairly and give you notice (The word is translated "Reward" in Genesis), even though they don't like you.
In another odd step of accuracy for the Message, it was the only one that got this right - all others just said "be at peace" or something similar, while the Message said:
⁷ When God approves of your life,
   even your enemies will end up shaking your hand.
That's actually way more accurate to what that word is most likely meaning there. Go figure.

⁸ Better is a little with righteousness,
      Than vast revenues without justice.
- This is a rather poignant verse for today, with all the stuff falling apart like it is. The people who have made big money unjustly (Madoff, anyone?) are losing it all, but there are a lot of people with decent little jobs who are suddenly the ones who are employed and keeping most of their stuff.

⁹ A man’s heart plans his way,
      But the LORD directs his steps.
- I'm taking a class at CFNI on Proverbs, and we talked a lot about this verse. The word "plan" is like making a strategy, devising, crunching the numbers, where "direct" means more "make indisputable." What I take from that, is that God will tell you what direction you're supposed to be taking in life - make your path indisputable, but it's up to you to plan the way and get it done. You figure out the degree plans you take, your study plans, where you go, all of that - just make sure it's heading to where God said you should go.

¹⁰ Divination is on the lips of the king;
      His mouth must not transgress in judgment.
- Woo. The NIV is good for this one:
¹⁰ The lips of a king speak as an oracle,
       and his mouth should not betray justice.
- When you're in a high position, people look to you as an example and a mouthpiece for Christianity and for God. So if you're a leader somewhere, watch your mouth, because people look to you as an oracle. The Message takes some of the punch out, but gets the message out clearly:
¹⁰ A good leader motivates,
   doesn't mislead, doesn't exploit.

¹¹ Honest weights and scales are the LORD’s;
      All the weights in the bag are His work.
- Deal fairly, because God is there doing business with you. God cares about how we conduct ourselves in financial dealings. The weights are His - when you deal fairly, you're doing things God's way, and when God is working with the weights, you know you'll get the best. Once again, the Message takes out the entire image, but says the point really well (The Message is on a roll in chapter 17):
¹¹ God cares about honesty in the workplace;
   your business is his business.

¹³ Righteous lips are the delight of kings,
      And they love him who speaks what is right.
- It's amazing how far you'll get in a workplace just by being one of the only honest people there. Leaders will value those who will just talk straight.

       ¹⁶ How much better to get wisdom than gold!
      And to get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver.
Here's this phrase again...I REALLY think he means it.

¹⁸ Pride goes before destruction,
      And a haughty spirit before a fall.
       ¹⁹ Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly,
      Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
- Goes with verse 8 pretty well - better to be lower and be doing things right, than to be doing it wrong and have a lot, because you're eventually losing it all if you do it wrong.

²⁰ He who heeds the word wisely will find good,
      And whoever trusts in the LORD, happy is he.
- That's just good...repeat that in your head often.

²¹ The wise in heart will be called prudent,
      And sweetness of the lips increases learning.
- NIV time:
²¹ The wise in heart are called discerning,
       and pleasant words promote instruction.
- Be smart, speak kindly. You'll be respected and people will actually learn from you.

²³ The heart of the wise teaches his mouth,
      And adds learning to his lips.
- That's a really cool phrase - "The heart of the wise teaches his mouth." You get it in your heart first, and you train your mouth to talk accordingly. There are times you'll understand something deep down, but you still find yourself talking like you used to before you realized what God had to say about stuff. Let your heart teach your mouth.

²⁶ The person who labors, labors for himself,
      For his hungry mouth drives him on.
- This one is interesting. The King James and the New King James said it basically like that (King James said "craveth it of him" where the NKJV said "drives him on" but the NIV, NASB, NLT, and the Message said it more like:
    ²⁶A worker's appetite works for him,
         For his hunger urges him on. (NASB)
- These made the entire thing focus on how the appetite is driving the word. Instead of just "Whoever labors is doing it for himself, becuase he's hungry" like the KJs, the others make the point "Being hungry is good, because it makes you work." I looked this one up in the Hebrew, and it's only a five-word sentence (Nephesh amel amal peh akaph.) so it's weird that we have all of these long translations of it.
I think the KJs just kind of missed the point here, because it seems like the point here really is that a hungry worker will always work harder than one who is not.
I'm not sure why this verse is sticking out to me so much...I'm gonna have to come back to this one and look at it more. Anyone else have any thoughts about what lesson this verse is trying to teach us? Leave me comments.

³¹ The silver-haired head is a crown of glory,
      If it is found in the way of righteousness.
I love the Biblical reverence towards old age. You get to live to an old age by living a wise life - if you've made it that long, and still have enough hair to be gray, you've done something right and deserve a little more respect.

³² He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty,
      And he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
- I don't think much more needs to be said. Just take that in.

That's all for now. See you later.

Finishing up...

Tue, 31 Mar 2009 03:42:47 GMT

I said I would finish, and I will.
By the way, my small group (long live the guild!) is going to have the best flag ever - it has the power of math behind its transference from the computer to the flag. We spent over an hour working on it and all we had to show was a penciled in grid and five dots along the edges at various points, but those became the guidelines to filling in a perfectly proportioned version of our logo. We rule.
Anyway, today was good - I'm thoroughly enjoying our discipleship meetings, then me and Whitney watched Dancing with the Stars. This is a really good season; my loyalties are spread between Shawn Johnson (She did better than the judges gave her credit for. Only Bruno showed her the 9 she deserved), Melissa, and the naked guy from Sex and the City (though his tango brought the house down tonight).
Anyway, enough of my reality shows; onto the Bible.

Finishing up Proverbs 15:

¹⁴ The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,
      But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.
I love how much this is drilled in. It's all about your love of wisdom; your love of living a right life. The Message actually nailed this one:
¹⁴ An intelligent person is always eager to take in more truth;
   fools feed on fast-food fads and fancies.
There are those who study everything, retain what they see as the truth from, and constantly seek to build. Others follow whatever fad craze of the moment is for "smart" people and really have no idea what's going on behind it ("OMG DR PHIL WAS SO RIGHT ABOUT THIS THING THAT OPRAH WAS RIGHT ABOUT THE OPPOSITE A MONTH AGO"). Love the truth, don't love the excitement behind being "up to speed"

The NIV wins for verse 15:
¹⁵ All the days of the oppressed are wretched,
       but the cheerful heart has a continual feast.
A life of sin is never satisfied; getting success by crooked means carries with it the fear of getting caught the rest of your life. Constant scheming, planning, and fearing for the loss of everything your works have built. A cheerful heart lived with God, however, has assurance even if everything does fall apart, because they have a broader perspective.

¹⁷ Better is a dinner of herbs^[c] where love is,
      Than a fatted calf with hatred.
Family first. Always.

¹⁹ The way of the lazy man is like a hedge of thorns,
      But the way of the upright is a highway.
Self-explanatory; I just really like that one. If you're lazy, everything you do is a struggle to expend as little energy as possible; if something higher is the motivation, the path itself is not the problem.

²² Without counsel, plans go awry,
      But in the multitude of counselors they are established.
Whoever was collecting Solomon's Proverbs has thought this one was worth writing down four times by now (I think it's four...not going back to check right now). This must have been an important one to their culture, and should be important to ours.

²³ A man has joy by the answer of his mouth,
      And a word spoken in due season, how good it is!
It's good to see the power of the tongue referred to positively for once. Lots of doom and gloom is spoken over controlling your tongue, forgetting that the reason it's given such power is because of how great the right words can be. Be careful with your tongue, but use it for good instead of just not talking.

²⁴ The way of life winds upward for the wise,
      That he may turn away from hell^[d] below.
This one is very oddly worded, and I've definitely never heard it cited before. I was confused until I saw the NLT's take on it -
²⁴ The path of life leads upward for the wise;
      they leave the grave^[c] behind.
Walking with God takes you further and further away from the life you lived when you were dead in sin. A perfect sign of if your attempts to walk in Wisdom are working or not. If your way seems to be leading back towards your dead works, then it's not a good sign. I like this one; it's not used enough.

²⁶ The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD,
      But the words of the pure are pleasant.
You know those people who you can just look at them, know the stupid things they're thinking about what's going on, and you get pissed without them even saying anything because you just know they're being stupid? Yeah...God doesn't like them either.

²⁸ The heart of the righteous studies how to answer,
      But the mouth of the wicked pours forth evil.
Studying how to answer...outside of apologetics and prepping for interviews, you don't hear much about this - taking different scenarios in life, and studying how to conduct yourself in each one. Hm. Maybe we should integrate this into our culture more. I dunno.

³¹ The ear that hears the rebukes of life
      Will abide among the wise.
Learn from your mistakes; you'll end up in good crowds.

Monday, March 30, 2009

Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:18:13 GMT

Had some fun with Jeremiah (well, with Baruch and a bunch of doomed nations) last time, so let's go back to Proverbs. Chapter 15.

¹ A soft answer turns away wrath,
      But a harsh word stirs up anger.
Jeez. One of the best lessons you will ever learn, and one that is responsible for my having any friends at all. If an argument is starting, and you resist the urge to raise your voice and retaliate with something snappy, even if what they said was horrible and you have the perfect comeback to their obviously flawed criticism of you, you will save yourself from a nasty exchange. You can almost see their wrath deflate when you don't retaliate; there will be disappointment, because deep down both of you were probably looking forward to this fight that had been building for ages, but in the long run, it's so worth it.
For the record, I like the NLT's translation of this:
" ¹ A gentle answer deflects anger,
      but harsh words make tempers flare."
"Deflecting anger" is a perfect term for what that does. They get pissed, snap at you, you calmly answer back, anger over.
Also, if you answer gently and peacably (without sarcasm lacing your phony gentleness) and they still flare up and keep wanting a fight...they're dangerously close to falling into "Fool" territory that you may just want to walk away from.

⁵ A fool despises his father’s instruction,
      But he who receives correction is prudent.
Once again, this is about your attitude when you're criticized; not whether or not you do what they say.

⁷ The lips of the wise disperse knowledge,
      But the heart of the fool does not do so.
After talking with a wise person, you just feel smarter. There are also those who you just feel like your brain hurts from comprehending their stupidity after spending five minutes around them. Watch how people react to you.

⁸ The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD,
      But the prayer of the upright is His delight.
If someone's not living right, but is doing all the right stuff...God doesn't care. But someone who is in right standing with God, God loves just talking to them. I actually like the Message version of this:
⁸ God can't stand pious poses,
   but he delights in genuine prayers.
Not quite the same, but I like "God can't stand pious poses." If you're living like a heathen, just be one.

   ¹¹ Hell^[a] and Destruction^[b]are before the LORD;
      So how much more the hearts of the sons of men.
God even knows what's going on in Hell - do you really think you're fooling anyone?

¹² A scoffer does not love one who corrects him,
      Nor will he go to the wise.
This one works better in NLT...
¹² Mockers hate to be corrected,
      so they stay away from the wise.
Stupid, arrogant people want to go their own way. If you start trying to pour into their lives, they'll get mad and start avoiding you. Watch out though - you may just be a dick and they don't want to be around you - watch who they also avoid; if they avoid all the decent people, it's them; if it's just you...it's probably you.

--
that's all I have right now; I have to work on my small group's flag. I'll finish this later.

Dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow...

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 16:39:40 GMT

Now that I'm done talking about bagpipes, let's continue reading the Bible, shall we? Since I got some really good Proverbs reading done last time, let's check in on Jeremiah.

Chapter 45 is only five verses, and goes all the way back to when Jeremiah told Baruch to write down the stuff God had said so far. Baruch freaked out over it, mainly because of all the destruction told in the stuff he was writing down, but probably also because now he'd be killed too for being an accomplice to Jeremiah by writing this down. God tells him "Don't worry, lots of stuff is going to die, so much that you should probably put your dreams of starting that pet store on hold, but don't worry, I'm giving you your life as a reward for doing what I said."
I like that...the exact wording in the NKJV is "I will give your life to you as prize in all places, wherever you go." - God watches out for you when you do what He asks.
Not bad encouragement for a 5-verse chapter.
Anyway, then the book starts being excerpts of the judgment God proclaimed against various nations involved throughout the whole Jeremiah story - not sure exactly when in the timeline these all happened, but let's check them out...
Against Egypt: (chapter 46)
Okay, so 46:3-12 is, in my red-blooded male violence-saturated mind, one of the coolest pronounciates of judgment I think God has ever done. Instead of speaking directly to Egypt, this is a battle cry to all the other nations who have been sacked by Egypt over the years, telling them to get ready for battle because Egypt is finally going to fall to them. You just have to read that to get the sense of vengence it brings - you can almost feel the downtrodden people rising up with an epic warcry to finall go take their homelands back. The manly pride is almost too much - it's like Return of the King and Braveheart rolled into one.
"⁹ Come up, O horses, and rage, O chariots!
      And let the mighty men come forth:
      The Ethiopians and the Libyans who handle the shield,
      And the Lydians who handle and bend the bow.
       ¹⁰ For this is the day of the Lord GOD of hosts,
      A day of vengeance,
      That He may avenge Himself on His adversaries.
      The sword shall devour;
      It shall be satiated and made drunk with their blood;
      For the Lord GOD of hosts has a sacrifice
      In the north country by the River Euphrates."
YEAH! (The sacrifice in the north is Egypt)
>_>
Seriously though, I love the language there, and it's just comforting - there are times you feel like the enemy is just whipping up on you like there's no tomorrow, but eventually he'll get his and you'll get back everything that was stolen from you.
Anyway...man moment over. Let's read on.
God taunts Egypt a little more for the rest of the chapter, then ends with some quick assurance to Israel, letting them know that they'll get blasted in this punishment too, but even though God will bring a complete end to the other nations, they'll survive. When God punishes the enemy, He obliterates them, but when He punishes His people, it's to make them better. So, if you're being disciplined by God...you'll live.

Judgment on Philistia: (chapter 47)
Pretty straightforward judgment here, with lots of cool flood imagery. Basically, they'll be attacked from the north with such overwhelming power that people will retreat without even looking back for their kids. Not fun.

Judgment on Moab: (chpater 48)
(These chapters are short and make me feel like I'm doing a ton of Bible reading.)
This chapter starts with "Woe to Nebo!" which I think would be a good band name. Anyway...
Similar destruction. God tells them to flee for their lives, but then tells them no one will escape. That's mean.
An interesting verse in the reasons of their destruction: " ¹⁰ Cursed is he who does the work of the LORD deceitfully, And cursed is he who keeps back his sword from blood."
Don't have ulterior motives when working towards the Kingdom of God, and when God gives you something, don't use it for things it's not used for, and make sure you use it. God seems to not be happy when that occurs.
God compares Moab to wine that has never left its vessel, because they have never gone into captivity - like wine keeps its taste and smell, Moab kept their people and culture. I'm not sure whether this itself is the bad thing, or God's just highlighting exactly how good they have and how messed up they're going to become, becuase He then says He's sending people to tip over their barrels and spread them around. I guess the lesson here would be to not get complacent in your current situation. Or something. I don't know, I'd have to know more about the Moabite culture at this time. I'll look that up more at a later time,
Ah, nevermind, here it is (I type as I read, if you can't tell) - ²⁶ “ Make him drunk,
      Because he exalted himself against the LORD.
      Moab shall wallow in his vomit,
      And he shall also be in derision."
They had it good their whole existence, and so they started to think they were hot stuff. Watch yourself.
It goes on to explain that Moab shook their head in derision whenever Israel and their recent sacking was mentioned, and they're told they will be scorned in exactly the same way.
So watch your attitude when people aren't doing right and their lives are sucking because of it - none of us are perfect, and you'll blow it eventually too.

Anyway, maybe I should start reading it, then type it up after I've read the whole chapter to avoid the weird rambling like that. Would've saved a couple of paragraphs. I dunno, we'll see.

I think that's enough for today. All I can say is...I'm glad we're under a new covenant now and God doesn't kill us like this anymore. Yay for Jesus.

The manliest instrument...

Sat, 28 Mar 2009 15:59:52 GMT

Recently on the Mancouch, the question was posed "What is the manliest instrument?" For the most part, the argument was between different types of guitars, drums, and few brass instruments such as the trumpet or the tuba. All of these instruments do allow one to express manliness fairly easily, but one instrument was sorely overlooked; one instrument is so manly, that it carries manliness in its being; one instrument is so manly than those who are not worthy simply do not understand.

That instrument...is the bagpipes.

Upon reading that, a select few let out manly shouts of agreement, but many others just laughed and rolled their eyes, for their knowledge of bagpipes only goes as far as the soul-destroying noise they are capable of producing that sounds like an accordian got into a car accident. For those who have only experienced this sound of the bagpipe, my suggestion is laughable indeed.
But there are those who have experienced a moment that changed their lives - they were going about their business, whether walking in the streets, flipping TV channels, or listening to music online, when suddenly they were greeted with a sound travelling through the air that, if they were male, spoke directly to everything inside of them that makes them a man, and if they were female, made them realize that every man that had ever been a part of their life was lacking whatever this sound was carrying. This sound carries upon it the essence of the greatest of victories, the feeling of conquest of one's enemies, the nobility of protecting, providing, and leading, and the raw adrenaline of the chase, the fight, and the kill. Many of these people, having experienced the horrendous sounds of a poorly-played bagpipe, were astonished to turn and see that very same instrument turning testosterone into sound waves. That astonishment did not last long, however, when they looked upon the man playing it. In every case of this - EVERY CASE - the man who was capable of coercing this sound from this instrument was a burly, hairy, kilt-wearing, haggis-eating, caber-tossing Scot.
The reason is simple - the bagpipes are an instrument so manly, they are the only one that has a minimum threshhold of manliness one must cross before being allowed to make a desirable noise come out of it. From my observations of good and bad bagpipe playing, I believe that the sound that comes from a bagpipe has nothing to do with your breath or technical skill, but is merely translating your manliness into sound. For whenever you hear the sound of war being carried upon the wind, it is the manliest of men playing the bagpipes; whenever you hear the sound of a hundred poorly tuned instruments squaking that makes you want to pummel whoever is responsible, odds are you are hearing a scrawny, pale, boarding school student pretending to have honor by attempting to play this instrument.

So, if you must argue, argue only for second place, or for the manliest instrument that you are worthy of playing, for the battle of the manlinest instrument was won hundreds of years ago by the bagpipes

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:49:38 GMT

http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"> name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"> name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"> name="Originator" content="Microsoft Word 12">I actually did this entry yesterday at Starbucks, but I forgot my wi-fi screen name so I couldn't get online. So here's what I did yesterday - today's to come tonight. This one was long, so I just put the verse number there instead of copying the whole verse, just for the sake of length. If you're interested, read along.

Also, I'm thinking about possibly starting something of a study group over the summer to go through Proverbs - I'm loving this trip through Proverbs and the class I'm taking on it has been fantastic, and I think it would be a lot of fun to get a few people together, meet once a week or so, and just read a couple chapters and talk about what we read. Basically, it would be a meeting of sharing stories of stupid things we've done - I think it would be a good time. Is anyone interested in this? Let me know.

I don’t think this is said in a way of “Hey women, if you want to be wise, don’t tear down your house with your bare hands.” No one in their right mind would tear down their house, and everyone wants to build it. What this is saying is to look at the fruit – if your house is deteriorating, you’re foolish; if it’s being built up, you’re wise.

We need hard workers. Areas prosper because there are people there with work ethic, and cities/companies/families fail because no one there will work.

Hm. This one is fairly personal. I didn’t notice it at first, I just went to look up the Hebrew word they used for “Scoffer,” because that verse seemed kind of weird, but it turned to really mean “scoffer, mocker, etc.”. Imagine that.

At first that didn’t make sense, but in studying Proverbs you have to realize that true Wisdom, while it has a large part of life experience, knowledge, and understanding, is also separate from things that man can figure out on his own – Wisdom, above all, is a characteristic of God, and is given by God. Proverbs (and the rest of the Bible for that matter) are very plain that God is not happy with arrogant, scornful people. If wisdom is a gift from God, then He is going to withhold it from those who mock others in their pride. Even though these people may claim to love wisdom and want to find it, God’s not going to allow it when they live in an attitude of mockery.

But there’s also another side of this – someone who is a “scoffer” has to then take a certain attitude towards other people’s ideas. If, when someone disagrees with you to a certain extent or in certain areas, your first instinct is to mock and ridicule them, that shows that you have completely shut yourself off to that line of thought – there is a kind of person or thoughtline you have deemed unworthy of attention, and worthy of ridicule. Having that attitude towards ideas that disagree with yours hinders your ability to explore other ideas, and thus limits your capacity for wisdom. Meanwhile, “he who understands,” I take to mean someone who looks to understand where everyone is coming from, regardless of how ludicrous/stupid/offensive their line of thought is. This kind of person will gain knowledge easily, not only because they are more ready to admit their mistakes, but because their attitude towards others and themselves pleases God, which He will reward with wisdom.

That being said, then this being said, I am approaching the point where, if there are certain traits making themselves evident, I will just leave a discussion. There are certain types of people that you will never get any fruit from debating them. I’m still trying to find the line between knowing a fool when I see one and withdrawing from conversation, and staying out of becoming a scoffer myself. This is where wisdom comes into play, which is why I’m trying to grow in it.

What a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive. Live on deceit, you’ll eventually get confused yourself and not know what you’re doing. Ponder your path, as we’ve learned.

Fools mock at sin…Wow, how much do we do this in the church? Not all sin, but a few specifically (Homosexuality, anyone?) are made sport of frequently. According to Proverbs, this is why the church is losing favor with the world. Hm.

This is a famous verse, but I love coming to it during this study – get counsel, seek God’s help. Seriously.

13.

Go deeper with your relationships – people are hurting even when they don’t look like it.

15.

Get counsel, but don’t take what everyone says. Sometimes one person will be right over another, other times you were right to begin with – just get the facts and multiple opinions, and act on what you think is best after that is gathered.

20.

(We were on a good run there – then five verse without comment. Aw.)

This one made me recoil a bit – that seemed a little harsh and…uncaring. On top of that, that didn’t even seem to be wisdom, just…mean.

But, it’s clear all throughout Proverbs that a person who lives by will not be poor. Further incentive to be wise, I guess. I dunno, there’s probably more to this verse than I’m seeing. If anyone has a comment, feel free to add on.

21.

Duh, Sam, read the next verse. A poor person is despised by his neighbors, but if you partake in that, you’ve sinned. Have mercy on the people who no one else will, and blessings come.

23.

Don’t just talk about your dreams, ambitions, businesses, and inventions you “know would sell” and things you “really think would work” and all those things God has in you…do them. Talking about them alone will keep you poor. It’s better to work towards something puny than to only talk about your big dreams.

24.

Wise people are well off, and everyone can tell they’ve lived smartly – a fool, on the other hand, has life blow up in his face and everyone knows they’re stupid. There’s no shame in being well off for your labors – it testifies of the power of living life like God intended.

27.

Sound familiar? The end of this verse is the exact same wording as in 13:14. The Fear of the Lord, and the law of the wise are both fountains of life that will turn you away from death. Does this logically proceed that the fear of the Lord is heeding the commands of God, and the commands of Wisdom? I think so.

28.

Here’s this principle again. Solomon says this a lot. I think it may be true. For the common people, as well as kings.

29.

Exalts folly – interesting wording. Impulsive, hot-headed people often get their way out of sheer intimidation and just wanting to shut them up. Living like this makes living like a fool seem like a good idea.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 21:36:56 GMT

I'm doing this at the library. Good times.

I did some reading in Proverbs 13 awhile ago and never got around to updating about it, so I'll do that first before moving on to 14, because there was some good stuff in 13.

For the first few verses, there's a lot of contrasting going on between a righteous vs. wicked, lazy vs. diligent, and such with the proverbs being something about one, then something about the other. This one jumped out at me-
"10 By pride comes nothing but strife,
      But with the well-advised is wisdom. "
Normally when you think of the opposite of pride, you think of humility. In this chain of comparisons, however, Solomon places "the well-advised" as the opposite of pride. I had to mull this over for a little while to get why those would be the opposite of each other, and how the opposite result of strife is wisdom.
What I concluded, was that a well-advised person is one who has taken the advice of several different people he respects at least enough to get advice from on the matter - a person who is prideful is incapable of holding someone's idea in higher esteem than what he can think of, and thus will go with whatever he thinks is best. This kind of person in any sort of leadership role will result in strife, while a person humble enough to get advice will result in the wise decisions being made.

¹¹ Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished,
      But he who gathers by labor will increase.
- You can find out what's making money right now, and do "whatever it takes" to make money from it, but eventually stuff goes down in value and market fads pass. Someone who can put his nose to the grindstone though will always have enough because labor and work ethic is something that is always valuable.

This one was just kind of curious...
"¹³ He who despises the word will be destroyed,
      But he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.
       ¹⁴ The law of the wise is a fountain of life,
      To turn one away from the snares of death."
Nothing unusual about the content itself, but this is the only proverb in this chapter, and possibly in all of the ones Solomon himself wrote for sure (I haven't gone through all of them so I'm not sure) that explains itself - most just say the result, and move on; this one says you will be rewarded because it's a fountain of life, and will be destroyed because its purpose is to turn you away from death. I dunno, I just thought it was interesting to have this one with a different format.

¹⁷ A wicked messenger falls into trouble,
      But a faithful ambassador brings health.
- I like the contrast here between a messenger and an ambassador - a messenger is just giving a message from someone else, while an ambassador is someone who represents an entire people group and what they stand for. A faithful ambassador will bring health to a situation, while a wicked person can't even bring a message without causing trouble. I think this is becuase of the respect of what another person stands for - if you have the proper attitude towards others and respect what they say and stand for, you can go represent them without fear, but a person with no respect for others' ideas over his own can't even go say something for someone without his own slant on the person coming through in the delivery and screwing things up.

¹⁸ Poverty and shame will come to him who disdains correction,
      But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.
- I want to note that "disdain" and "regard" are about attitude, not action. The way you receive correction is the issue here, not whether or not you make the changes the correction suggested. A person who rolls their eyes, sighs, and does the correction in a huff will reap poverty and shame, and someone who listens to the rebuke, takes note of it, and even decides to not apply the rebuke will be honored.

---

That's all I really have time for. I'm doing this on my "lunch" break (Working 1 to 10 gets your break at 5, which isn't really lunch or dinner) otherwise I'd do more. We're reading John 15 every day for a month in my discipleship group and I've got some really cool stuff out of that, and I just want to keep going through Proverbs, finish Jeremiah, and get some New Testament stuff going (Maybe Acts, maybe one of Paul's letters, I dunno, I'll see when I finish Jeremiah).
Gah, the Bible is cool.

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:32:54 GMT

Yesterday was quite lovely. I slept until noon, which I haven't done in ages (I didn't get to bed until almost 3, but still, that's a lot of sleep), I cleaned out my car (Well, I took the junk out of it. It's still "dirty"), hung out at my parent's house, then Whitney came over and we watched the season premiere of Dancing with the Stars (Go Shawn Johnson!) and played Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney, which I'm pretty sure is one of the coolest games I've ever played.
I didn't do my Bible reading though. For shame.
But here it is. We left off halfway through Proverbs 12.

¹¹ He who tills his land will be satisfied with bread,
      But he who follows frivolity is devoid of understanding
- I looked this one up in a few translations. NIV and NLT said he who follows "fantasies" instead of frivolity, where the NASB said "Worthless things." I had to look further into that, because one seemed to mean "Wild dreams" where the other meant "things not worth your time." The Hebrew word there just means "empty, vain" and seems like improper grammar - "He who chases empty lacks sense...". I know nothing of Hebrew grammar, but the translation of "Worthless things" and "Frivolity" seems to make a lot more sense. Working at something that will grant return will help you, while picking stupid life goals will not.

¹² The wicked covet the catch of evil men,
      But the root of the righteous yields fruit.
When you're living without God, the best you can do is get what you can, and always want what other people are getting by your same dirty methods, but living for God, you produce fruit - which always grows back and will satisfy as long as the plant lives. Gotta give props to the NIV for their great translation of this -
" ¹² Thieves are jealous of each other’s loot,
      but the godly are well rooted and bear their own fruit."
It even rhymes. Awesome. Also, the NASB...
^"12The ^(L)wicked man desires the booty of evil men..."
*snicker*

---
That's all that really jumped out at me from Proverbs 12. Let's check on Jeremiah.
When we last left our heroes, Jeremiah had just built a picture out of rocks to help more efficiently communicate that God was, indeed, going to kill them for doing what He said He would kill them if they did.

At this point, God is what some biblical scholars refer to as "Royally pissed." God says they've forgotten what He did to their ancestors when they turned to other gods, and rips them a new one for not only disobeying Him about turning to Egypt, but starting to offer incese to pagan gods. God lays out in detail exactly how completely they're going to die, basically saying that every single one of them will be killed except for a lucky few who have the sense to run back to Judah. I can't do the fury justice in any sort of summary. Read it for yourself - it's intense.
All the men whose wives had offered sacrifice retaliate, saying Jeremiah's a liar and they're not going to listen to what he said - they have already sworn to offer incense and drink offering to "the queen of heaven," and things have gone just fine for them while they've been doing it. In fact, they stopped doing it, and it brought them here. The women also pipe in and say that they did it all with their husband's permission...which I fail to see how that pertains to anything, but sure, whatever...
Jeremiah reminds them that Judah is currently a wasteland, and questions how "Well off" everything was during those incense burnings, and re-iterates that the place has been wrecked because they were pissing God off with those sacrifices.
God then says "Fine, you don't want me, watch me leave." He says that His name will be completely gone from them, and He's now turning on them. Just to get at them, He's giving Egypt into their enemy's hands to do all the killing He referred to previously, except for the select few who get the picture and go back home.

So yeah...don't mess with God.