Today's "Stuff"

 Happy Saturday to all.  We're getting around a little bit better here, a Good Thing after the last few weeks of misery and illnesses.

I had to make a "run" for Dear Wife this afternoon, down to our local grocery.  Needed -- and Right Away Too -- a couple things I'd not gotten the other day (hadn't been on the list I was given) so off I went.  OK.  Couldn't help notice that the very air looked grey and sad.  I tend to pick up on that, it matches my general doleful outlook.

We -- meaning I -- have a bad habit of letting our surroundings and our circumstances to govern our outlook on life.  I'm more prone to that than most.  One of my earliest memories is the death of my father's sister; I couldn't have been more than 4 or so.  Another of those outlook-shaping memories is being, age around 4-1/2 of so, at home with Dad at work, when my mother suffered a miscarriage.  I was the one who had to grab a phone and start calling people to come get her and take her to hospital.  Grim.  Several more similar situations as I say my parents' world collapse and their dreams die.  An attitude reinforced as I, and later Wife and I, went through a whole series of life-shattering situations.

And, yet, our circumstances should not be the only criteria.  We, particularly those who claim Christ, are supposed to, called to, and blessed to call that eternal relationship with the Lord as being our real sense of joy and of happiness.  (and they are not the same thing).  That gray sky won't be there forever.  The bumps in the road are not hidden from the Lord.  Sometimes they serve His purpose.

Seeing the Lord's hand in the clouds is something I'm supposed to be pursuing.  Perhaps tomorrow I'll do it better.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 02 December 2022

 Apologies for a really discombobulated year with gaps of awful length.  We've had some issues, among which is that Dear Wife and I have been down sick for the last two weeks.  I am not quite to 100% yet, but a lot better than where I was a few days ago.  Wife has had a truly rough time, and is still in it though perhaps a teeny bit that she was a day or so ago.  It appears that we've both been hit with the truly nasty version of influenza that is making the rounds this year.  What's aggravating is that at the doctor appointment I had a few weeks ago, I took the doctor's advice and took the flu shot.  And now have that flu.  So forgive my skepticism towards the expert advice.

I want to write some, a great deal in fact, about the collapse we're seeing all around us.  Not up to it tonight, but it's coming.  People, I've been watching crushed hopes, collapsed dreams, the rug pulled out, for my entire life.  So much of what we built our hopes upon, other than the Lord, collapsed.  And it's going to get far worse, I fear.

More to come.

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Hosea 3

1  Then the Lord said to me, “Go again; show love to a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, just as the Lord loves the Israelites though they turn to other gods and love raisin cakes.”

2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and nine bushels of barley.[a][b] 3 I said to her, “You are to live with me many days. You must not be promiscuous or belong to any man, and I will act the same way toward you.”

4 For the Israelites must live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or sacred pillar, and without ephod or household idols. 5 Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come with awe to the Lord and to his goodness in the last days.

Footnotes

1. 3:2 LXX reads barley and a measure of wine
2. 3:2 Lit silver, a homer of barley, and a lethek of barley

Hosea 4

1   Hear the word of the Lord, people of Israel,
for the Lord has a case
against the inhabitants of the land:
There is no truth, no faithful love,
and no knowledge of God in the land!
2 Cursing, lying, murder, stealing,
and adultery are rampant;
one act of bloodshed follows another.
3 For this reason the land mourns,
and everyone who lives in it languishes,
along with the wild animals and the birds of the sky;
even the fish of the sea disappear.
4 But let no one dispute; let no one argue,
for my case is against you priests.[a][b]
5 You will stumble by day;
the prophet will also stumble with you by night.
And I will destroy your mother.
6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I will reject you from serving as my priest.
Since you have forgotten the law of your God,
I will also forget your sons.

7 The more they multiplied,
the more they sinned against me.
I[c] will change their[d] honor into disgrace.
8 They feed on the sin[e] of my people;
they have an appetite for their iniquity.
9 The same judgment will happen
to both people and priests.
I will punish them for their ways
and repay them for their deeds.
10 They will eat but not be satisfied;
they will be promiscuous but not multiply.
For they have abandoned their devotion to the Lord.
11 Promiscuity, wine, and new wine
take away one’s understanding.

12 My people consult their wooden idols,
and their divining rods inform them.
For a spirit of promiscuity leads them astray;
they act promiscuously
in disobedience to[f] their God.
13 They sacrifice on the mountaintops,
and they burn offerings on the hills,
and under oaks, poplars, and terebinths,
because their shade is pleasant.
And so your daughters act promiscuously
and your daughters-in-law commit adultery.
14 I will not punish your daughters
when they act promiscuously
or your daughters-in-law
when they commit adultery,
for the men themselves go off with prostitutes
and make sacrifices with cult prostitutes.
People without discernment are doomed.

Warnings for Israel and Judah

15 Israel, if you act promiscuously,
don’t let Judah become guilty!
Do not go to Gilgal
or make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven,[g]
and do not swear an oath: As the Lord lives!
16 For Israel is as obstinate as a stubborn cow.
Can the Lord now shepherd them
like a lamb in an open meadow?
17 Ephraim is attached to idols;
leave him alone!
18 When their drinking is over,
they turn to promiscuity.
Israel’s leaders[h] fervently love disgrace.[i]
19 A wind with its wings will carry them off,[j]
and they will be ashamed of their sacrifices.

Footnotes

1. 4:4 Text emended; MT reads argue, and your people are like those contending with a priest
2. 4:4 Hb obscure
3. 4:7 Alt Hb tradition, Syr, Tg read They
4. 4:7 Alt Hb tradition reads my
5. 4:8 Or sin offerings
6. 4:12 Lit promiscuously from under
7. 4:15 = House of Wickedness
8. 4:18 Lit Her shields; Ps 47:9; 89:18
9. 4:18 Hb obscure
10. 4:19 Lit wind will bind it in its wings

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Revelation 2

1  “Write to the angel[a] of the church in Ephesus: Thus says the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your works, your labor, and your endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil people. You have tested those who call themselves apostles and are not, and you have found them to be liars. 3 I know that you have persevered and endured hardships for the sake of my name, and you have not grown weary. 4 But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first. 5 Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you[b] and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent. 6 Yet you do have this: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.

7 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in[c] the paradise of God.

The Letter to Smyrna

8 “Write to the angel of the church in Smyrna: Thus says the First and the Last, the one who was dead and came to life: 9 I know your[d] affliction and poverty, but you are rich. I know the slander of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will experience affliction for ten days. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown[e] of life.

11 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will never be harmed by the second death.

The Letter to Pergamum

12 “Write to the angel of the church in Pergamum: Thus says the one who has the sharp, double-edged sword: 13 I know[f] where you live—where Satan’s throne is. Yet you are holding on to my name and did not deny your faith in me,[g] even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness who was put to death among you, where Satan lives. 14 But I have a few things against you. You have some there who hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block[h] in front of the Israelites: to eat meat sacrificed to idols and to commit sexual immorality. 15 In the same way, you also have those who hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans.[i] 16 So repent! Otherwise, I will come to you quickly and fight against them with the sword of my mouth.

17 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, I will give some of the hidden manna.[j] I will also give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name is inscribed that no one knows except the one who receives it.

The Letter to Thyatira

18 “Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira: Thus says the Son of God, the one whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze: 19 I know your works—your love, faithfulness,[k] service, and endurance. I know that your last works are greater than the first. 20 But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives my servants to commit sexual immorality and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality. 22 Look, I will throw her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great affliction. Unless they repent of her[l] works, 23 I will strike her children dead.[m] Then all the churches will know that I am the one who examines minds and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who haven’t known “the so-called secrets[n] of Satan” —as they say—I am not putting any other burden on you. 25 Only hold on to what you have until I come. 26 The one who conquers and who keeps my works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations—

27 and he will rule[o] them with an iron scepter;
he will shatter them like pottery[p] —

28 just as I have received this from my Father. I will also give him the morning star.

29 “Let anyone who has ears to hear listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.

Footnotes

1. 2:1 Or messenger, also in vv. 8,12,18
2. 2:5 Other mss add quickly
3. 2:7 Other mss read in the midst of
4. 2:9 Other mss add works and
5. 2:10 Or wreath
6. 2:13 Other mss add your works and
7. 2:13 Or deny my faith
8. 2:14 Or to place a trap
9. 2:15 Other mss add which I hate
10. 2:17 Other mss add to eat
11. 2:19 Or faith
12. 2:22 Other mss read their
13. 2:23 Or with a plague
14. 2:24 Or the secret things
15. 2:27 Or shepherd
16. 2:27 Ps 2:9