31 December 2018

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Monday, 31 December 2018

This be-blasted "system" just knocked out half an hour's typing.  Including the backup version. 

Oh, well.


Today's reading marks the year's end. 
For more than ten years, the entries here followed the schedule that my old friends in the Gideons put out.  Old Testament passage in morning, New Testament passage in the evening.  Not a bad system.  This last year, we've followed a different schedule, with Old Testament passages every day, 1 chapter of the "poetry" section of the OT every weekday, 1 chapter of New Testament every weekday.  I like it, and intend to follow it again this next year.
I have found that every time I read a section, I see something not seen before, or a new tie-in or emphasis not previously considered. 

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Malachi 3

1Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
2But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
3And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.
4Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
5And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.
6For I am the Lord, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.
7Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return?
8Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
9Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation.
10Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lordof hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
11And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord of hosts.
12And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts.
13Your words have been stout against me, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, What have we spoken so much against thee?
14Ye have said, It is vain to serve God: and what profit is it that we have kept his ordinance, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts?
15And now we call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up; yea, they that tempt God are even delivered.
16Then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another: and the Lord hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord, and that thought upon his name.
17And they shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
18Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not.



Malachi 4

1For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.
2But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.
3And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of hosts.
4Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.
5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.


30 December 2018

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Sunday, 30 December 2018

Very definitely into the tail end of the year.  Hasn't been the best.  Hasn't been the worst either.  Not sure that making it to 2019 is the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams, but it's looming upon us.  We hope for better.  Perhaps it will happen.

This is a stay-at-home day.  Wife was pretty sick in the night.  A teeny bit of a reprieve this morning, very teeny.  So I dodged church services this morning to stay with her.  Hate to do that, but felt it to be necessary.  We shall see what tonight and the morning bring.  What with the New Year upon us, chances of getting her into a doctor office are slim but non-zero as well.  If that effort fails, I suspect a visit to an "Urgent Care" facility may be necessary.  We shall see:  I've seen these things veer suddenly and strongly in opposite directions.  My Tarot cards are at the shop right now, so we shall see.  (that is a joke, please).

Not feeling terribly wise this morning.  (or any other time, really).  Just trying to get through.

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Today and tomorrow, the book of Malachi.
Not much is really known of the author, seems to be one of those cases where there indications one way or another, but no one seems to be sure who the author (or authors) was.  Or even a specific time.  The work seems to be, well, to quote one commentator

 written to correct the lax religious and social behaviour of the Israelites – particularly the priests – in post-exilic Jerusalem. Although the prophets urged the people of Judah and Israel to see their exile as punishment for failing to uphold their covenant with God, it was not long after they had been restored to the land and to Temple worship that the people's commitment to their God began, once again, to wane. It was in this context that the prophet commonly referred to as Malachi delivered his prophecy.

Perhaps.

Malachi 1

1The burden of the word of the Lord to Israel by Malachi.
2I have loved you, saith the Lord. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the Lord: yet I loved Jacob,
3And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.
4Whereas Edom saith, We are impoverished, but we will return and build the desolate places; thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall build, but I will throw down; and they shall call them, The border of wickedness, and, The people against whom the Lordhath indignation for ever.
5And your eyes shall see, and ye shall say, The Lord will be magnified from the border of Israel.
6A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
7Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible.
8And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the Lordof hosts.
9And now, I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious unto us: this hath been by your means: will he regard your persons? saith the Lord of hosts.
10Who is there even among you that would shut the doors for nought? neither do ye kindle fire on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand.
11For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the Lord of hosts.
12But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the Lordis polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible.
13Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the Lord of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the Lord.
14But cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing: for I am a great King, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is dreadful among the heathen.




Malachi 2

1And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you.
2If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart.
3Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.
4And ye shall know that I have sent this commandment unto you, that my covenant might be with Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
5My covenant was with him of life and peace; and I gave them to him for the fear wherewith he feared me, and was afraid before my name.
6The law of truth was in his mouth, and iniquity was not found in his lips: he walked with me in peace and equity, and did turn many away from iniquity.
7For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
8But ye are departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble at the law; ye have corrupted the covenant of Levi, saith the Lord of hosts.
9Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, but have been partial in the law.
10Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us? why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers?
11Judah hath dealt treacherously, and an abomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem; for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord which he loved, and hath married the daughter of a strange god.
12The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar, out of the tabernacles of Jacob, and him that offereth an offering unto the Lord of hosts.
13And this have ye done again, covering the altar of the Lordwith tears, with weeping, and with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not the offering any more, or receiveth it with good will at your hand.
14Yet ye say, Wherefore? Because the Lord hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: yet is she thy companion, and the wife of thy covenant.
15And did not he make one? Yet had he the residue of the spirit. And wherefore one? That he might seek a godly seed. Therefore take heed to your spirit, and let none deal treacherously against the wife of his youth.
16For the Lord, the God of Israel, saith that he hateth putting away: for one covereth violence with his garment, saith the Lordof hosts: therefore take heed to your spirit, that ye deal not treacherously.
17Ye have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet ye say, Wherein have we wearied him? When ye say, Every one that doeth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delighteth in them; or, Where is the God of judgment?


29 December 2018

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Saturday, 29 December 2018

Last Saturday in 2018.  Lord willing, in just a few days we will say a farewell to the year 2018.

We are now more than a week into official Winter.  A long way until official Spring, and longer still until decent weather.  But it could be worse.  Been through worse, so I know.  Tomorrow will be a whole 32 seconds of "day" better than today has been, so right now we are gaining an additional 4 seconds + the amount gained yesterday.  Meaning today was 28 seconds more than yesterday was, tomorrow will be 32 more than today, etc.  So, I guess, in the not too distant future, we'll be gaining more than a minute per day, and that "more" will be increasing in amount.  Long way until 12 hours of "day", but we're heading in the right direction.  But from a mere 9 hours 13 minutes today, we have a very long way to go.

The morning was interesting.  Generally, over the last few years, my sister and her husband come through the area twice per year, and grant me a whole hour or so to meet with them.  Today, this very morning, was that occasion.  Wife was too sick to come along.  They came, and brought middle brother with them.  They just retired, that brother is still about two years away from it.
We spent about 80 minutes talking, then off they went.  Tomorrow morning the plan is to head back to Virginia.  So much for family time for the year.  Better than running into them at funerals, as was too often the case.

I made a stop for Wife, then home.  Then across the yard to next door.  Niece & husband had a sudden errand that could not be delayed, HAD to be done today, without fail, and end-of-the-year thing.  So ....  we "watched" the 6-year-old great-niece and the 18-month-old great-nephew for a couple of hours.   The errand was successful, much more so than they'd expected or even dared to hope, so all is good on that front.

I had to go with Wife on this detail.  She was, and is, in bad shape.  If she's not better by Monday morning, it's time to try to get into doctor.  Failing that, we hear that there is some sort of doc-by-email option.  I think she's been battling yet another of her frequent sinus infections.  All too frequent.  But we shall see:  I've seen instances where she was in good (for her) condition in 36 hours, others where she was in the ER in 36 hours.    Just another day.

Ends of the year like this are not a great time for me.  I don't do the big drunken parties, never have.  Have seen, in my various roles, the less than wonderful results that too often occur.  And the combination of weather, darkness, my own somewhat less than sunny disposition, and the regrets of wasted days and wasted nights, in conjunction with a less than rosy future, don't make for a great atmosphere.  But we shall see.

My sincere wish that all have a safe and wonderful New Year and that 2019 is a wonderful one for all.

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Today, the completion of the book of Zechariah, chapters 13 and 14.

Zechariah 13

1In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
2And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of hosts, that I will cut off the names of the idols out of the land, and they shall no more be remembered: and also I will cause the prophets and the unclean spirit to pass out of the land.
3And it shall come to pass, that when any shall yet prophesy, then his father and his mother that begat him shall say unto him, Thou shalt not live; for thou speakest lies in the name of the Lord: and his father and his mother that begat him shall thrust him through when he prophesieth.
4And it shall come to pass in that day, that the prophets shall be ashamed every one of his vision, when he hath prophesied; neither shall they wear a rough garment to deceive:
5But he shall say, I am no prophet, I am an husbandman; for man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.
6And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
7Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones.
8And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.



Zechariah 14

1Behold, the day of the Lord cometh, and thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee.
2For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
3Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle.
4And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south.
5And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azal: yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah: and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee.
6And it shall come to pass in that day, that the light shall not be clear, nor dark:
7But it shall be one day which shall be known to the Lord, not day, nor night: but it shall come to pass, that at evening time it shall be light.
8And it shall be in that day, that living waters shall go out from Jerusalem; half of them toward the former sea, and half of them toward the hinder sea: in summer and in winter shall it be.
9And the Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one Lord, and his name one.
10All the land shall be turned as a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem: and it shall be lifted up, and inhabited in her place, from Benjamin's gate unto the place of the first gate, unto the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananeel unto the king's winepresses.
11And men shall dwell in it, and there shall be no more utter destruction; but Jerusalem shall be safely inhabited.
12And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.
13And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold every one on the hand of his neighbour, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbour.
14And Judah also shall fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the heathen round about shall be gathered together, gold, and silver, and apparel, in great abundance.
15And so shall be the plague of the horse, of the mule, of the camel, and of the ass, and of all the beasts that shall be in these tents, as this plague.
16And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.
17And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain.
18And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the Lord will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
19This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
20In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, HOLINESS UNTO THE Lord; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls before the altar.
21Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts: and all they that sacrifice shall come and take of them, and seethe therein: and in that day there shall be no more the Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.