Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 17 December 2020

 Two weeks are remaining on the calendar for this year.  There are those who naively believe that the transition will herald a change to a better time.  I am not one of those, although of course we hope for better days.  I doubt such an outcome, but I've been wrong before.  We shall see.  

It is worthy to note that just a week hence marks Christmas Eve on our calendars.  And, yes, I realize that our Orthodox friends celebrate the matter on a different day, January 7, a result of the differences of the Julian and Gregorian calendars.  No one truly knows what day is the right one, and I for one am not going to get into a dispute over which it is.  Jesus has come, and that's enough for me.  

Nephew-in-law was going to swap some tires on our ancient chariot today, but the last I saw of him (early this morning) he was out plowing snow out of various driveways and parking lots, ours included.  Making money is so doing  So it appears that there will be a delay on this.  I don't know what is the fallback date, and really don't feel comfortable in upbraiding him over the issue.  So we shall see.  What I do know is that there is a prescription waiting at the pharmacy for Dear Wife, and that there is also some sort of food giveaway at a local church tomorrow at noon.  Both will require the chariot, so things are a bit disjointed.

Wife's new high-dollar med for the rheumatoid arthritis seems to be having some good effect.  But, as ever, there are side effects.  One of which is swelling in the ankles and a blood pressure rise, and very notable one, which leads to nasty headaches among other things.  She's grabbed a few of my BP pills, cut in half, to address the matter in the short run.  It's helping.  We shall see.

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MICAH 3

Unjust Leaders Judged

1Then I said, “Now listen,  leaders of Jacob,

you rulers of the house of Israel.

Aren’t you supposed to know what is just? 

2You hate good and love evil.

You tear off people’s skin 

and strip their flesh from their bones.

3You eat the flesh  of my people

after you strip their skin from them

and break their bones.

You chop them up 

like flesh for the cooking pot,

like meat in a cauldron.”

4Then they will cry out  to the Lord,

but He will not answer them.

He will hide His face from them at that time 

because of the crimes they have committed.

False Prophets Judged

5This is what the Lord says

concerning the prophets

who lead my people astray, 

who proclaim  peace

when they have food to sink their teeth into

but declare war against the one

who puts nothing in their mouths.

6Therefore, it will be night  for you —

without visions;

it will grow dark for you —

without divination. 

The sun will set  on these prophets,

and the daylight will turn black over them.

7Then the seers will be ashamed 

and the diviners disappointed. 

They will all cover their mouths  

because there will be no answer from God. 

8As for me, however, I am filled with power 

by the Spirit of the Lord,

with justice and courage,

to proclaim to Jacob his rebellion

and to Israel his sin. 

Zion’s Destruction

9Listen to this, leaders of the house of Jacob, 

you rulers of the house of Israel,

who abhor justice 

and pervert everything that is right,

10who build Zion with bloodshed 

and Jerusalem with injustice.

11Her leaders issue rulings for a bribe, 

her priests teach for payment, 

and her prophets practice divination for money.

Yet they lean on the Lord, saying,

“Isn’t the Lord  among us?

No disaster will overtake us.”

12Therefore, because of you,

Zion will be plowed like a field,

Jerusalem will become ruins, 

and the hill of the temple mount 

will be a thicket. 

MICAH 4

The Lord’s Rule from Restored Zion

1In the last days 

the mountain of the Lord’s house 

will be established

at the top of the mountains

and will be raised above the hills.

Peoples will stream to it, 

2and many nations will come and say, 

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, 

to the house of the God of Jacob.

He will teach us about His ways 

so we may walk in His paths.”

For instruction will go out of Zion 

and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

3He will settle disputes among many peoples 

and provide arbitration for strong nations

that are far away.

They will beat their swords into plows,

and their spears into pruning knives.

Nation will not take up the sword against nation,

and they will never again train for war.

4But each man will sit under his grapevine 

and under his fig tree

with no one to frighten him. 

For the mouth of the Lord  of Hosts

has promised this.

5Though all the peoples each walk

in the name of their gods, 

we will walk  in the name of Yahweh our God

forever and ever. 

6On that day —

this is the Lord’s declaration —

I will assemble the lame

and gather the scattered, 

those I have injured.

7I will make the lame into a remnant, 

those far removed into a strong nation.

Then the Lord will rule over them  in Mount Zion

from this time on and forever.

8And you, watchtower for the flock, 

fortified hill  of Daughter Zion,

the former rule  will come to you,

sovereignty will come to Daughter Jerusalem.

From Exile to Victory

9Now, why are you shouting loudly? 

Is there no king with you?

Has your counselor perished 

so that anguish grips you like a woman in labor?

10Writhe and cry out,   Daughter Zion,

like a woman in labor,

for now you will leave the city 

and camp in the open fields.

You will go to Babylon;

there you will be rescued; 

there the Lord will redeem you 

from the power of your enemies!

11Many nations have now assembled against you; 

they say, “Let her be defiled,

and let us feast our eyes on Zion.”

12But they do not know the Lord’s intentions 

or understand His plan,

that He has gathered them

like sheaves to the threshing floor.

13Rise and thresh,  Daughter Zion,

for I will make your horns iron

and your hooves bronze,

so you can crush many peoples. 

Then you  will set apart their plunder 

to the Lord for destruction,

their wealth to the Lord of all the earth.

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REVELATION 14

The Lamb and the 144,000

1Then I looked, and there on Mount Zion stood the Lamb,  and with Him were 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.  2I heard a sound  from heaven like the sound of cascading waters  and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was also like harpists playing on their harps.  3They sang  a new song  before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders,  but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed  from the earth. 4These are the ones not defiled with women, for they have kept their virginity.  These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were redeemed   from the human race as the firstfruits  for God and the Lamb. 5No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless. 

The Proclamation of Three Angels

6Then I saw another angel  flying high overhead,  having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth — to every nation, tribe, language, and people.  7He spoke with a loud voice:  “Fear God  and give Him glory,  because the hour of His judgment has come.  Worship the Maker of heaven and earth,  the sea and springs of water.”

8A second angel  followed, saying: “It has fallen, Babylon the Great  has fallen,  who made all nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality,  which brings wrath.” 

9And a third angel  followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger.  He will be tormented with fire and sulfur  in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever.  There is no rest   day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark  of his name. 12This demands the perseverance  of the saints,  who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.” 

13Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: The dead who die in the Lord from now on are blessed.” 

“Yes,” says the Spirit, “let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them! ”

Reaping the Earth’s Harvest

14Then I looked, and there was a white cloud, and One like the Son of Man   was seated on the cloud, with a gold crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. 15Another angel came out of the sanctuary, crying out in a loud voice to the One who was seated on the cloud, “Use your sickle and reap, for the time to reap has come, since the harvest of the earth is ripe.”  16So the One seated on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was harvested.

17Then another angel who also had a sharp sickle came out of the sanctuary in heaven. 18Yet another angel, who had authority over fire, came from the altar, and he called with a loud voice to the one who had the sharp sickle, “Use your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from earth’s vineyard, because its grapes have ripened.” 19So the angel swung his sickle toward earth and gathered the grapes from earth’s vineyard, and he threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath.  20Then the press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed out of the press up to the horses’ bridles for about 180 miles.