Today's Readings and Stuff -- Friday, 29 December 2017

We're getting there.  Slowly, but getting there.  Almost to the end of the month, almost to the end of the calendar year.  One more day closer to Spring and to at least half-decent weather.  Yesterday was 26 seconds of "day" longer than the previous.  Today is set to be 29 seconds more.  We're now at 9 hours 13 minutes (seconds not shown) so we're picking up speed, albeit slowly.  Tomorrow is said to be 33 seconds longer.  Picking up speed, slowly, but picking up.
Right now, we're showing 20° ( the forecast high was 19°).  But don't get too excited:  The forecast over the next 10 days shows NOTHING above freezing,  several nights with a low around +2°, and several days of predicted snowfall.  Several days with a "high" in the low teens.  Indeed, we had a bit of that awful stuff last night, and there have been a bunch of nasty accidents on the nearby Interstate highways as well as on the other roads.
Where's that "global warming"???  We could certainly use it around now.



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Our reading in the Old Testament is chapters 10. 11. and 12 in the book of Zechariah.

Zechariah 10

1 Ask ye of the LORD rain in the time of the latter rain; so the LORD shall make bright clouds, and give them showers of rain, to every one grass in the field. 2 For the idols have spoken vanity, and the diviners have seen a lie, and have told false dreams; they comfort in vain: therefore they went their way as a flock, they were troubled, because there was no shepherd. 3 Mine anger was kindled against the shepherds, and I punished the goats: for the LORD of hosts hath visited his flock the house of Judah, and hath made them as his goodly horse in the battle. 4 Out of him came forth the corner, out of him the nail, out of him the battle bow, out of him every oppressor together. 5 And they shall be as mighty men, which tread down their enemies in the mire of the streets in the battle: and they shall fight, because the LORD is with them, and the riders on horses shall be confounded. 6 And I will strengthen the house of Judah, and I will save the house of Joseph, and I will bring them again to place them; for I have mercy upon them: and they shall be as though I had not cast them off: for I am the LORD their God, and will hear them. 7 And they of Ephraim shall be like a mighty man, and their heart shall rejoice as through wine: yea, their children shall see it, and be glad; their heart shall rejoice in the LORD. 8 I will hiss for them, and gather them; for I have redeemed them: and they shall increase as they have increased. 9 And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again. 10 I will bring them again also out of the land of Egypt, and gather them out of Assyria; and I will bring them into the land of Gilead and Lebanon; and place shall not be found for them. 11 And he shall pass through the sea with affliction, and shall smite the waves in the sea, and all the deeps of the river shall dry up: and the pride of Assyria shall be brought down, and the sceptre of Egypt shall depart away. 12 And I will strengthen them in the LORD; and they shall walk up and down in his name, saith the LORD.

Zechariah 11

1 Open thy doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour thy cedars. 2 Howl, fir tree; for the cedar is fallen; because the mighty are spoiled: howl, O ye oaks of Bashan; for the forest of the vintage is come down. 3 There is a voice of the howling of the shepherds; for their glory is spoiled: a voice of the roaring of young lions; for the pride of Jordan is spoiled. 4 Thus saith the LORD my God; Feed the flock of the slaughter; 5 Whose possessors slay them, and hold themselves not guilty: and they that sell them say, Blessed be the LORD; for I am rich: and their own shepherds pity them not. 6 For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the LORD: but, lo, I will deliver the men every one into his neighbour's hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall smite the land, and out of their hand I will not deliver them. 7 And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock. 8 Three shepherds also I cut off in one month; and my soul lothed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9 Then said I, I will not feed you: that that dieth, let it die; and that that is to be cut off, let it be cut off; and let the rest eat every one the flesh of another. 10 And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. 11 And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD. 12 And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. 13 And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD. 14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel. 15 And the LORD said unto me, Take unto thee yet the instruments of a foolish shepherd. 16 For, lo, I will raise up a shepherd in the land, which shall not visit those that be cut off, neither shall seek the young one, nor heal that that is broken, nor feed that that standeth still: but he shall eat the flesh of the fat, and tear their claws in pieces. 17 Woe to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock! the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye: his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened.

Zechariah 12

1 The burden of the word of the LORD for Israel, saith the LORD, which stretcheth forth the heavens, and layeth the foundation of the earth, and formeth the spirit of man within him. 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. 3 And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it. 4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with astonishment, and his rider with madness: and I will open mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the people with blindness. 5 And the governors of Judah shall say in their heart, The inhabitants of Jerusalem shall be my strength in the LORD of hosts their God. 6 In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 7 The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem do not magnify themselves against Judah. 8 In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the LORD before them. 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. 11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family apart; the family of the house of David apart, and their wives apart; the family of the house of Nathan apart, and their wives apart; 13 The family of the house of Levi apart, and their wives apart; the family of Shimei apart, and their wives apart; 14 All the families that remain, every family apart, and their wives apart.

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The New Testament reading here is chapter 20 of the Revelation.


Revelation 20

1 And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, 3 And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. 4 And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. 10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

Today's Readings and Stuff -- Tuesday, 19 December 2017

And another day dawns.  Well, that was several hours ago that it did, but now I'm back at it.

Fun day, of course.  Thankfully, the Social Security check that we live on hit the bank this morning.  The phone bill was overdue, the gas bill was overdue, and they've been paid.  Wife sent me to the nearby grocery store to pick up a few items on "sale" that will be a big part of our diet for the next month.  And I was able to get some gas, finally.  (When I left the house, the gauge said just over 1/4.  Two miles later, or so, it was a gnat's eyelash above E.  Not good).  Set the pre-pay for $40 (21 gallon tank, remember).  It took $32.  They refunded the remainder.  So we have some gas, anyway, and a questionable fuel gauge.
Niece next door told us we could use her clothes dryer, rather than haul half a ton of wet clothes to the laundromat.  So I started laundry when heading to grocery, two done and one in washer now.  Another load in the dryer now with one other over there waiting.  And at least two, probably three more loads to go.
And, more fun.  Problem with the washer, the little "dogs" that cause the upper part of agitator to turn are, suddenly, worn out.  Cheap to buy, and I replaced them about 5 years ago, so doable.  But a delay in getting them, that's the issue.  But we shall get through it.  Both my grandmothers used a washboard when my parents were growing, and thought they "were in tall cotton" when they acquired wringer-type washers.  Which my mom used for most of her life.  So it's not so bad, better than beating things on rocks and hanging long johns out on a line in sub-freezing weather.

Dear Wife has just gone next door to "watch" the great-niece and great-nephew while she heads out to her part-time job.  Her husband will be a bit later than normal (normally home by 6:30 or so) so Wife will have the urchins for a few hours.

I've been thinking on some things (gasps of astonishment, I know).
In the Old Testament readings for several months now, we've been going over prophecies of judgment, doom, and disaster in response to the sins of the nation and the rulers thereof.  Some of those sins are given in detail. and sound all too much like what goes on in our nation and culture as well.  No, America is not Israel nor Judah.  But, while history doesn't necessarily repeat itself, it often rhymes, as one sage put it.  A culture that. like ours, has rotted from within, can't survive forever.  It can't go on.  And, if it can't go on, at some point, it will stop.  Not good.
I have, unfortunately, enough imagination and awareness to have a glimpse of what that could mean for the world, and the neighborhoods and daily lives of people around us, and for our own descendants.  It's not a pretty sight.  And it would take less than you realize, believe me.

For whatever reasons, we have perhaps a sense of what we imagine "justice" looks like.  In a retail sense, perhaps that is true.  There are penalties, known ones, for everything from overstaying a parking meter to murder for hire, and quite a lot in between.  What does justice and judgment against a culture look like?  Well, we have some records, some  pretty awful stuff, when the descendants of Jacob went astray.  Can we expect better?  Keep in mind the verse or verses that I sometimes refer to as being the scariest ones in all the Bible:  "My Name is blasphemed daily among the heathens, because of you!".   Not quite what we want to hear, is it?  No, not at all.
Go back to the theories of justice.  The retail level, against an offending individual or small group, we understand I think.  What happens when an entire nation or culture is under the Lord's judgment?
Inevitably, in such a case, there is a lot of what I sometimes call the "splash effect".  When the dam breaks, the good are swept away, just as are the wicked.  That makes us uncomfortable.  One of the oldest cries in human history is along the lines of "why do the 'righteous' suffer?".  Sometimes, there just is no good answer.  And perhaps, sometimes, the righteous suffer because, while personally righteous (and that is a rabbit I don't want to chase right now), they ceased (or refused, or failed) to be salt and light in their world.  It happens.  I'm guilty, certainly. 
Ray Vanderlaan  pointed out something that we sometimes overlook in this matter.  Our timeline is too short.  Suffering in this life does not necessarily imply the Lord's eternal condemnation.  Look, for example, at the martyrs.  Look at the episode we call "Herod's slaughter of the innocents".  Look at the experiences of Job.  And, clearly. look at the Crucifixion.  Those martyrs were in Paradise that very day.  What scares us,  rightfully perhaps, is that we fear that such a reception is not to be ours, that we are suffering for unconfessed sins or the like.  And, likewise, church members are all too prone to judging their fellows, imagining that the tribulations another member suffers were their just desserts.  I've seen it,  perhaps you have too.  Sometimes, close up.
I have believed my whole life that I will hear the Trumpet.  I believe it today.  And, yes, I could be wrong.  I could die a "normal" death, as others have for centuries.  That's OK.  He has a plan.  But, likewise, I can't , I dare not, be blind to the sufferings of others, and should not be.

Thoughts for the day.


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Our reading portion from the Old Testament today is chapters 1, 2, and 3 in the book of Micah.
To break a rule of mine, I will quote from Wikipedia on the text

It records the sayings of Micah, whose name is Mikayahu,(Hebrew: מִיכָיָ֫הוּ ) meaning "Who is like Yahweh?",^[2] an 8th-century B.C. prophet from the village of Moresheth in Judah (Hebrew name from the opening verse: מיכה המרשתי).^[3] The book has three major divisions, chapters 1–2, 3–5 and 6–7, each introduced by the word "Hear," with a pattern of alternating announcements of doom and expressions of hope within each division.^[4] Micah reproaches unjust leaders, defends the rights of the poor against the rich and powerful;^[5] while looking forward to a world at peace centered on Zion under the leadership of a new Davidic monarch.

Micah 1

1 The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. 2 Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the LORD from his holy temple. 3 For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. 4 And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place. 5 For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem? 6 Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof. 7 And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot. 8 Therefore I will wail and howl, I will go stripped and naked: I will make a wailing like the dragons, and mourning as the owls. 9 For her wound is incurable; for it is come unto Judah; he is come unto the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem. 10 Declare ye it not at Gath, weep ye not at all: in the house of Aphrah roll thyself in the dust. 11 Pass ye away, thou inhabitant of Saphir, having thy shame naked: the inhabitant of Zaanan came not forth in the mourning of Bethezel; he shall receive of you his standing. 12 For the inhabitant of Maroth waited carefully for good: but evil came down from the LORD unto the gate of Jerusalem. 13 O thou inhabitant of Lachish, bind the chariot to the swift beast: she is the beginning of the sin to the daughter of Zion: for the transgressions of Israel were found in thee. 14 Therefore shalt thou give presents to Moreshethgath: the houses of Achzib shall be a lie to the kings of Israel. 15 Yet will I bring an heir unto thee, O inhabitant of Mareshah: he shall come unto Adullam the glory of Israel. 16 Make thee bald, and poll thee for thy delicate children; enlarge thy baldness as the eagle; for they are gone into captivity from thee.

Micah 2

1 Woe to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds! when the morning is light, they practise it, because it is in the power of their hand. 2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence; and houses, and take them away: so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage. 3 Therefore thus saith the LORD; Behold, against this family do I devise an evil, from which ye shall not remove your necks; neither shall ye go haughtily: for this time is evil. 4 In that day shall one take up a parable against you, and lament with a doleful lamentation, and say, We be utterly spoiled: he hath changed the portion of my people: how hath he removed it from me! turning away he hath divided our fields. 5 Therefore thou shalt have none that shall cast a cord by lot in the congregation of the LORD. 6 Prophesy ye not, say they to them that prophesy: they shall not prophesy to them, that they shall not take shame. 7 O thou that art named the house of Jacob, is the spirit of the LORD straitened? are these his doings? do not my words do good to him that walketh uprightly? 8 Even of late my people is risen up as an enemy: ye pull off the robe with the garment from them that pass by securely as men averse from war. 9 The women of my people have ye cast out from their pleasant houses; from their children have ye taken away my glory for ever. 10 Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest: because it is polluted, it shall destroy you, even with a sore destruction. 11 If a man walking in the spirit and falsehood do lie, saying, I will prophesy unto thee of wine and of strong drink; he shall even be the prophet of this people. 12 I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee; I will surely gather the remnant of Israel; I will put them together as the sheep of Bozrah, as the flock in the midst of their fold: they shall make great noise by reason of the multitude of men. 13 The breaker is come up before them: they have broken up, and have passed through the gate, and are gone out by it: and their king shall pass before them, and the LORD on the head of them.

Micah 3

1 And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment? 2 Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; 3 Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron. 4 Then shall they cry unto the LORD, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings. 5 Thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that make my people err, that bite with their teeth, and cry, Peace; and he that putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him. 6 Therefore night shall be unto you, that ye shall not have a vision; and it shall be dark unto you, that ye shall not divine; and the sun shall go down over the prophets, and the day shall be dark over them. 7 Then shall the seers be ashamed, and the diviners confounded: yea, they shall all cover their lips; for there is no answer of God. 8 But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the LORD, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin. 9 Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity. 10 They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. 11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us. 12 Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of the forest.

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The day's New Testament passage is chapter 10 in the Revelation

Revelation 10

1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:  

2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,  

3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.  

4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. 

5 And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,  

6 And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer:  

7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.  

8 And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.  

9 And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the little book. And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.  

10 And I took the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey: and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.  

11 And he said unto me, Thou must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and kings.