Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 26 Dcember, 2013

day after Christmas.  Had a wonderful time yesterday, being around family for the first in a real long time, with this group.  Our oldest has been married since 2007 now, the younger since 2009, and both were out on their own even before then.  And the older in particular has been located hundreds of miles (around 640 miles even before our recent move) away, and is further now.  The younger is now around 900 miles distant.  It has been a very long time since "our" immediate family was all gathered in one place for Christmas, or indeed for any holiday.  Yes, we were all together a few years ago when my dad passed over, but that was hardly the same, and all of us had to leave very shortly after the funeral.  In our case, the next morning.  So for us, Dear Wife and I, the chance to have a family gathering means much to us.  We enjoyed it and are grateful for it.
Yet, when we got home, we were barely inside the door before Dear Wife was in the bathroom throwing up everything she'd eaten all day.  Spiking a real high fever, and with horrible aches in the head and body.  One of those instances where, in "normal" circumstances, I'd probably be hauling her to the nearest urgent care clinic or an E.R.  Can't now.  With "thanks" to the abomination of Obamacare, we now have absolutely no medical insurance whatsoever.  We have the grand total of $20 and a little loose change to tide us over the next three weeks, until mid-January. We've been reluctant to do any traveling whatever, including attendance at church services, just because the outlay for gasoline is out of the budget.  $25/month for gas is about all we've got.  And, again, "thanks" to Obama and his co-thieves, gasoline is priced more than TWICE what it was just prior to his inaguration in 2009. 
No too bitter, am I?  Wife sick and in pain and desperate for money and resources.  Thanks to the forces of the "progressives" in our midst.  I know that this blog primarily covers matters of faith, but we also get into the issues of the culture and the world, and the ramifications of bad policy and stupid beliefs.  When Obamacare was passed, many employers looked at the cost structure, and some determined that they would be better off, sometimes FAR better off, paying the penalties and dropping medical coverage for their employees, or in some cases reworking the employee's 'contribution' by a large amount.  That last describes my recent employer, who were maintaining some coverage, for now, but with LARGE increases in deductibles,, LARGE increases in employee contribution, and the like.  Particularly as that contribution was assessed towards older employees (like me) and/or those whose family history showed a lot of use.  Which , primarily due to Dear Wife's conditions, also applies.  Right now I have three broken teeth that I can't afford to be treated, Dear Wife is running out of anything to chew with, and we have no coverage whatever for that either.  I'd tried to get that taken care of for me, for more than a year, but the company kept changing my assignments so often and so abruptly, that we had to cancel several appointments, including one for three hours after a sudden change in plans.  And I had no one to take Dear Wife to dentists and again, sudden schedule changes shot us down on that as well.
So we are in a Bad Way on all of this.

Elder daughter is a school teacher and a fan of the Progressives (yes, I failed) and when she called last night I told her the above.  She got mad and hung up on me.  Guess I said something about Obumble that she didn't like.  Oh, well.

And this too shall pass.
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The Old Testament reading for the day is chapters 1, 2, and 3 of Zechariah.  This is generally considered to have been written after the return from exile, around 518-520 B.C.  Zechariah himself have may been a priest.

Zechariah 1

1	In the eighth month, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
2	The LORD hath been sore displeased with your fathers.
3	Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts.
4	Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD.
5	Your fathers, where are they? and the prophets, do they live for ever?
6	But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the LORD of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us.
7	Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Sebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of the LORD unto Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet, saying,
8	I saw by night, and behold a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle trees that were in the bottom; and behind him were there red horses, speckled, and white.
9	Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will shew thee what these be.
10	And the man that stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, These are they whom the LORD hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth.
11	And they answered the angel of the LORD that stood among the myrtle trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.
12	Then the angel of the LORD answered and said, O LORD of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years?
13	And the LORD answered the angel that talked with me with good words and comfortable words.
14	So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy.
15	And I am very sore displeased with the heathen that are at ease: for I was but a little displeased, and they helped forward the affliction.
16	Therefore thus saith the LORD; I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies: my house shall be built in it, saith the LORD of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth upon Jerusalem.
17	Cry yet, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; My cities through prosperity shall yet be spread abroad; and the LORD shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
18	Then lifted I up mine eyes, and saw, and behold four horns.
19	And I said unto the angel that talked with me, What be these? And he answered me, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.
20	And the LORD shewed me four carpenters.
21	Then said I, What come these to do? And he spake, saying, These are the horns which have scattered Judah, so that no man did lift up his head: but these are come to fray them, to cast out the horns of the Gentiles, which lifted up their horn over the land of Judah to scatter it.

Zechariah 2

1	I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a measuring line in his hand.
2	Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof, and what is the length thereof.
3	And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him,
4	And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein:
5	For I, saith the LORD, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
6	Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the LORD: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the LORD.
7	Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.
8	For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
9	For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me.
10	Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD.
11	And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
12	And the LORD shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
13	Be silent, O all flesh, before the LORD: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.

Zechariah 3

1	And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2	And the LORD said unto Satan, The LORD rebuke thee, O Satan; even the LORD that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3	Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel.
4	And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
5	And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the LORD stood by.
6	And the angel of the LORD protested unto Joshua, saying,
7	Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
8	Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH.
9	For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10	In that day, saith the LORD of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.

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The New Testament reading for today is chapter 17 of the Revelation.

Revelation 17

1	And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
2	With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
3	So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
4	And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
5	And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
6	And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
7	And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
8	The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.
9	And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
10	And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
11	And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
12	And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
13	These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
14	These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
15	And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
16	And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
17	For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
18	And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.