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Week 37  Matthew 2

Starting to read the NT I get a reminder of the big information gap between Malachi & Matthew.
In Matthew 2 foreign astrologers arrive in Jerusalem and ask King Herod: where is the newborn king of the Jews?
Herod had no idea. But he’d heard rumours about a mysterious hero called The Messiah that Jewish people talked about. That’s why he asked the Jewish religious specialists: where did the prophets say the Messiah would be born?’ (not where is the newborn king of the Jews?)
The religious leaders quoted Micah: a ruler of Israel will come from (Bethlehem), one whose origins are from the distant past…He will be highly honored around the world. And he will be the source of our peace.
Over the centuries Jewish people had developed Micah’s ‘Ruler’ into a man they started to call The Messiah. So Herod had heard about the mysterious – and worrisome – Messiah and knew enough to ask where The Messiah would be born. (The religious teachers didn’t correct Herod…didn’t say “oh, Micah did not say anything about a Messiah! He just said a ruler”.) In the years between Micah & Matthew Micah’s Ruler had expanded and evolved into The Messiah.
So anyway Point #1 is that during the silent years Micah’s Ruler had been transformed & enlarged & renamed. He was the NT’s Messiah.
And Point #2 is a personal reminder that I’ve missed out on several centuries of information about how that – and other changes – came to be.

Note: quotes from Matthew 2:2-3 & Micah 5:2 (NLT)

Week 35  Ecclesiastes 10

A little folly outweighs wisdom.
It’s something to keep in mind: Stupid is heavier than Smart. A little idiocy outweighs a whole lot of wisdom – which is a little troubling if it’s true (unless I’m a wickedly-dangerous or morally-defective idiot and I prefer & promote & endorse crass or dangerous or evil or corrosively moronic action. If that’s what I’m after then I have a definite advantage).
Foolishness carries more weight than Wisdom. As far as I know there’s no lab that has a Foolish-Wisdom Scale. But if one did I could put a small volume of Foolish on one pan and a big chunk of Wisdom on the other and Foolishness would tip the beam down. Pound-for-Pound Wisdom can’t complete.
In the regular run of things this is surprising. I’d have thought that Foolishness & Wisdom would be in roughly the same weight category. That way when I look at the two I’d have to think about which to choose.
But Solomon seems to be saying ‘No No No! It’s not difficult at all because Foolish action is way more attractive than Wisdom’.
That might be because it’s preferable. Being a fool is more compelling. Forceful. Fulfilling. Desirable. Self-promotional. Publicly acceptable.
Before I bother taking my first look at a Foolish-Wisdom Scale I’ve maybe already decided what my pre-test preference is. Maybe I just prefer Foolishness. Maybe I even see a sort of wisdom in being in a fool.

Note: quote from Ecclesiastes 10:1 (NIV)

Week 35  Ecclesiastes 1

Ecclesiastes begins: vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
I checked a few other versions to see if they used a word other than vanity. I was surprised. Six versions used the same phrase: vanity of vanities, all is vanity. But a couple said something different:
Pointless! Utterly meaningless! Nothing matters!
Everything is so meaningless…It is all a waste of time!
Absolute futility. Everything is futile
Smoke, nothing but smoke…There’s nothing to anything—it’s all smoke
Futility of futilities! All is futility
Meaningless! Everything is meaningless.
So the alternate words to Everything-is-Vanity are:
Everything is meaningless
Everything is a waste of time
Everything is futile
Everything is smoke.
[The Amplified Bible added a couple of word pictures:
Everything is a wisp of smoke
Everything is a vapour that vanishes
Everything is merely chasing the wind.]
Ecclesiastes reduces everything to a very low-value level. It doesn’t say that everything is nothing. There’s still something to everything (a very small something). But nothing carries too much weight.
To me Solomon conveys the idea that if I draw a big circle around everything then what I’ll have is a huge collection of all kinds of negligible things. Everything is lightweight.
There are comparative weight differences – some things lighter and some heavier. But even the heavyweight things are lighter than drifting smoke. Vanity.

Note: I compared the New King James. English Standard. New Catholic Bible. RSV. World English. Young’s Literal. The Message. Easy-to-Read. Complete Jewish Bible. Holman Christian Standard. NASB. NIV.

Week 34  Zechariah 5

Zechariah has eight visionary experiences. Vision #5 is a flying scroll. It’s dimensions are 30’ x 15’ – so it’s a big scroll. It’s up in the air and it doesn’t seem to be falling. It must have an internal propulsion drive – it stays afloat and its mobile – going out over the entire land.
The scroll is imprinted with a written message – two messages actually. One on each side. Both curses:
Side #1 says those who steal will be banished from the land
Side #2 says those who swear falsely will be banished from the land (the next verse says false swearing specifically means to swear falsely by the Lord’s name (which I think is roughly equivalent to lying)).
Anyway there are two groups of people:
Group #1: thieves (Side #1 of the flying scroll will be delivered to their houses)
Group #2: liars (Side #2 of the flying scroll will be delivered to their houses)
Every person who is either a thief or a liar will get this specially delivered scroll (people who are both thieves & liars will likely get two deliveries).
There might be other scrolls to cover a range of other evils but these are the only ones mentioned here.
Theft and lying seem like penny ante offenses. Hardly worth the bother. But here in Zechariah they get personalized and pretty serious attention

Note: quotes from Zechariah 5:3 (NLT)

Week 34  Habakkuk 2

This vision is for a future time…If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently…It will not be delayed.
I can’t say for sure but my suspicion is that there are more people who think that the Lord’s timing is slightly skewed than there are people who think his timing is exactly on schedule.
I think about drawing two timelines (the lifespan lines of two guys). Short Guy’s line is roughly 70-years. Long Guy’s line is – let’s just make it – a billion years. (I decide not to draw the lines. If they were to scale I’d need a page about 10,000 kilometres long.)
There’s no doubt that Short Guy & Long Guy will have different approaches & attitudes to time & to getting things done. Short Guy’s got 70 years – which is independently long but comparatively short when contrasted with a billion. So for instance Short Guy isn’t going to wait a hundred years to finish school or get a job or get married or travel to Tahiti. With Long Guy it’s quite a bit different – flying across the Pacific in 2524 might be perfect timing for him.
Mentally & emotionally Short Guy would likely be impatient with Long Guy. Think he’s lackadaisical. Apathetic. Not on-the-ball. Indifferent. Too easy-going. Listless.
Short Guy would always be a hurry-up mode compared to Long Guy. So when he reads that the plan will not be delayed he’s thinking maybe one-to-five years.
But on Long Guy’s calendar? Maybe a thousand.

Note: quote from Habakkuk 2:3 (NLT)

Week 34  Habakkuk 1

The books begins: this is the message that the prophet Habakkuk received from the Lord in a vision.
Since I assumed that all the prophets were prophets I wondered why that phrase was used – the prophet Habakkuk.
I decided to do a quick survey of the introductions to the Short Prophets to see whether the others followed the pattern – “the prophet _________”.
In the process I found a couple of other things:
Three of the books say the message came in a vision: Amos Obadiah & Habakkuk
Hosea Joel Jonah & Zechariah identify the prophets’ father
Half of them name the king at the time: Hosea Amos Micah Zephaniah Haggai Zechariah (which is a useful tip for telling the date)
Micah & Nahum say where they came from
Four say who the message was for: Obadiah > Edom. Jonah > Nineveh. Micah > Samaria & Jerusalem. Malachi > Israel
I think only Amos is identified by his regular job – shepherd
I just found one thing repeated in all twelve books: the Lord gave them their message. So the source was important.
Anyway – the question I started with was who-were-called-prophets? The answer: Haggai Zechariah & Malachi (along with Habakkuk).
The rest were prophets too but for some reason weren’t called prophets up front.

Note: quote from Habakkuk 1:1 (NLT). This was a hurry-up exercise so if I missed a couple of things I’m blaming the hurry.

Week 33  Micah

This week I read Hosea Joel Amos Obadiah Jonah Micah & Nahum. Seven days…seven books (actually it sounds like a bigger accomplishment than it is. But sometimes big-seeming-accomplishments give me a nice emotional boost).
Anyway one thing I noticed reading Micah was the actions he said would eventually contribute to Israel being punished.
[Sidenote: if someone asked: “can you name one thing that the prophets said Israel would be punished for?” I think I’d say: “worshipping idols” (I don’t know for a fact that every single prophet pointed a finger at worshipping false gods. But that’s my suspicion.]
They caught my attention because even though he did mention idols he also mentioned other things too. Here’s a couple that I found:
Expropriating & foreclosing on people’s property
Evicting renters when they can’t afford the rent
Manipulating the legal system so that injustice becomes – presto! – justice
Cheating & dishonesty in business practices
Extortion corruption & bribery
Influence-peddling & graft.
I don’t think that going to a temple to worship an idol is too common in Canada these days.
But the things in this list? Things where people who are wealthy & powerful use their wealth & power to take advantage of the poor & the weak? Check. Check. And check again. All of them are common practices in Canada today.
Which means they’re likely worth thinking about.

Note: see Micah 2:1-2 8-9 3:9-11 6:10-12 7:2-3 for the list of injustices. I didn’t quote the bible but I think my words give the right idea.

Week 33  Jonah

Yesterday I was thinking about Amos’ Three-Step Process:
1) Israel sins
2) the Lord sends prophets to warn people
3) then disaster will (or won’t) strike.
I guess that technically-speaking another item should be added to the list (even though Amos didn’t explicitly say it):
1) Israel sins
2) the Lord sends prophets
3) the people then get to choose one way or the other
4) the Lord acts (one way or the other).
Anyway today I read Jonah and it looks like Jonah was very familiar with Amos’ process. In his specific case:
1) Nineveh had sinned
2) he had to go & warn them
3) Nineveh would then get to choose one way or the other
4) the Lord would act (one way or the other).
Jonah’s preferred outcome (what he wanted to have happen) was this:
1) I know Nineveh has sinned
2) I’ll go & warn them
3) Nineveh won’t pay any attention to me
4) the Lord will bring disaster on them.
But Jonah was worried and he was thinking “hold on a second. Something else might happen (something I don’t want)”:
1) Nineveh has sinned
2) I’ll go & warn them
3) But…Nineveh might listen & be sorry
4) so then the Lord won’t bring disaster on them!
That was a terrible outcome for Jonah. So he modified the plan:
1) Nineveh has sinned
2) but I won’t go & warn them
3) Nineveh won’t get warned. Won’t get to choose. Won’t repent.
4) then the Lord will bring disaster.
I don’t really think Jonah was written to illustrate Amos 3:7. But today that’s just what it did for me.

Week 33  Amos 3

Yesterday I was thinking & wondering about the seven questions Amos asked. I decided that the point of his questions was: first of all Something happens…and then second of all a connected follow-up Something-else happens (I called it ‘first is followed by second’). It was a pretty basic idea that most people would accept and I wondered why Amos went to the trouble of making it.
But I realized that with his seven questions Amos was only making a Preliminary Point – a kind of lead-in point.
His Main Point was the next verse: the Lord does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
At the beginning of the chapter the Lord had already told Israel & Judah pretty decisively: I will punish you for all your sins. So: 1) Something had happened (Israel had sinned) and then the follow-up – the result – was that 2) Something-else would now happen (Israel was going to be punished). But Amos’ additional point was that the Lord would first tell people what he planned to do (and he’d use the prophets to do it).
So yesterday I started by figuring there were just two things going on (and based on Amos’ Seven Questions that made sense). But now there’s this third factor added in – wedged between 1) and 2):
1) Israel had sinned
2) the Lord would (helpfully) send prophets to warn the people about impending disaster
3) only then would disaster would strike.

Note: quotes from Amos 3:7 2 (NIV)

Week 33  Amos 3

Amos asks seven questions.
They’re a bit vague and I skim them. Then I go back and sit mulling them over for a bit (using time I don’t really have).
Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?
Does a lion ever roar in a thicket without first finding a victim?
Does a young lion growl in its den without first catching its prey?
Does a bird ever get caught in a trap that has no bait?
Does a trap spring shut when there’s nothing to catch?
When the ram’s horn blows a warning shouldn’t the people be alarmed?
Does disaster come to a city unless the Lord has planned it?
I decide that the point of the questions is that something happens because something happened.
People agree on the destination – they go
Prey is located – lions roar
Prey is killed – lions growl
No bait in the trap? – no birds caught
Bait in the trap? – birds are caught
Animals avoid the trap – nothing is caught
Alarms sound – people are warned.
So a first thing happens…and then a second.
After his questions Amos says: the Lord never does anything until he reveals his plans to the prophets. It occurs to me that that’s the point of the questions.
In general terms a Something #1 happens…then a Something #2 happens as a result.
But a critical part of the Two Somethings is that the Lord reveals his plans to the prophets…who convey them.

Note: quotes from Amos 3:3-7 (NLT)