In the (Third or Fourth) Beginning

It's been a while since I've done anything blogwise. Things got busy and my priorities shifted, but going this long without writing is driving me slightly mad, and I feel like I don't understand life as well when I'm not writing about it. One of the most obvious areas for this is my Bible reading, which I feel has been unproductive this last semester when it comes to personal reading time.

So, I'm starting over. I've abandoned my "Bible in a year" plan and instead am starting from the beginning and blogging through it. I plan to do Old Testament on weekdays and New Testament on weekends, with probably some random thought articles thrown in when they come to me. I'll generally try for at least a chapter each time, but I will do more or less depending on how much commentary I get out of a given passage.
 Lakeshore is starting its 21-day New Years fast today, so I thought this would be as good a time as any to begin. So, during this fast period, I'll also be looking at the devotional for the day that Lakeshore is providing.

Anyway, let's begin. I used to copy and paste the entire passage I was talking about, but I don't really see the point of it in retrospect. I'll give the references, so read along if you so desire.

[Gen 1:1]
     I spent two years at Christ for the Nations bible college. One of the classes I took there was "Creation Science," where I was thrown headfirst into the whole creationism vs. evolution argument. Until then I had never given it a great deal of thought, being satisfied with knowing "God exists, He started it, and He's in charge." CFNI taught from a literal seven-day creation, 10,000-year-old Earth standpoint, of which I had never made a point of seeing the arguments. I lean that direction now, though I'm still not 100% sure where I stand.
     What I did take away from those studies was the ways in which your stance on this is important on a deeper, theological level. Not as much on the literal 7 days thing, but on the literal truth of the events in Genesis, specifically Adam and Eve. If the curse that Adam and Eve brought upon the Earth was not the appearance of death (Which is the only conclusion under the Theistic Evolution standpoint, since stuff needs to be dying for evolution to be happening) then it brings doubt on the verse in Romans that says Adam was the one man who brought death into the world, and thus also brings doubt on the second clause of that sentence, which is that the gift of grace and righteousness will also reign through one. Likewise, if Adam and Eve never existed and were merely a metaphor, then we have trouble with the passages that link Jesus' genealogy all the way back to Adam, and we have to ask ourselves when the Bible switched to real people. So while I still don't have things figured out, I no longer consider this a non-issue like I used to.

     Every pastor I've ever sat under has done long, flowery talks at some point about "In the beginning God..." so I feel a little silly dwelling on that, but it is a powerful beginning. I'm majoring in mathematics, so I don't claim to have much to say in the realm of the natural sciences and the areas this chapter usually causes arguments about, but I do appreciate this set-up of the logical basis for the rest of the Bible. No matter how rigorous your system of logic or your scientific method is, at some point you have to establish your axioms, which are, by definition, statements you accept without proof. You cannot prove your axioms, because without them you don't have a method of proof. In Geometry these axioms are statements like "the whole is equal to the sum of its parts," "a line can be drawn between any two given points," and "if a = b and b = c, then a = c." In formal argumentative logic, they are statements like "A is not not-A" and the like.
     The problem with many arguments over Creationism and such subjects is that both parties are beginning with different axioms. If you reject the axiom that a point can be drawn between any two lines, you can't use line-drawing as a step in your proof, and are going to have a really hard time arguing with someone who sees two points and automatically sees a possible line. Likewise when people are arguing over whether or not the Grand Canyon was made by a massive worldwide flood or over billions of years of water trickle, the problem is that one side starts with God and one side does not. Both sides say they're just "going where the evidence leads," but the evidence can only lead you along a path your internal logic system allows.
     The Bible starts with "In the beginning, God..." and thus immediately establishes Him as an axiom to everything that will be stated in the rest of Scripture. You can read it and test it for internal consistency, but it does not bother explaining itself because God's existence is where you start from. He cannot be explained because He is outside of our system entirely. Man can no better prove God exists than my Sims can prove I exist. So while these creation details are important, I don't stress out over it because I accept God as my axiom and leave the fine print to scientists who are also starting with that axiom.

Dang, that was a lot longer than I anticipated. I suppose that will do for Genesis commentary for the day. Told you I may not make it through a chapter. I would keep going but that was a good introduction and I need to get ready for work.
It's good to be back.

Deuteronomy 2 (it skipped 1 for some reason...I'll read that some other time.)

[1-12] - They went through several places where God had to say "Don't kill anyone, because you're not getting their land" because that land had been promised to other people. Sometimes, the stuff you're after is just not part of your inheritance, and you have to deal with it. God has stuff for you. Get that stuff. It'll be good stuff. Promise.

[13-15] - I imagine that period where they're waiting for the last generation to die off was very stressful, especially for those last few guys who were probably sleeping with an eye open. And it says that God's hand was against them, so I also imagine some crazy Final Destination stuff happening while they all try to avoid dying for as long as possible.

[16-25] - A little sidetrack with the history of these big Zamzummim folk. Mainly to say that they were to go through Moab and had to again be told not to kill anyone, which they complied with because it was on their way to Heshbon, whom they were allowed to kill as hard as they liked.

[26-37] - They sent a note to King Sihon asking if they could pretty please just pass by with no trouble. I really hope this was some sort of diversion tactic that was going to lead to an ambush, because it would be pretty lame if they had to be told not kill three different countries, and then, when they finally get to one that needs killing, they try to just walk on by. Wouldn't put it past them though.
Anyway, God is like "dangit guys, I said to fight them" so he hardens the king heart to not let them through and forces their hand. So they fight and they win.

Deuteronomy 3

[1-11] Not much to say here, other than they beat the snot out King Og and his country, even though Og's was so huge that his bed was 15 feet long.

[12-22]
Moses reminded Joshua to hold on to everything they had seen thus far when it came to future battles. You always have to remind those under you of what God has done, otherwise it gets easy to freak out.

[23-29]
Moses asked God to reconsider his not being able to enter the promised land, but God was like "Yeah, no."

Luke 6:12-38
[12-19]
Jesus calls the Disciples and heals some folks.

[20-26]
Then we go into the beatitudes. What I mainly take away from this whole speech is that any state you win for yourself won't last. Doing what God tells you to do isn't always glamorous, but it pays out in the end. Winning victory for yourself doesn't get you victory in the future. People use this to glorify poverty and being miserable, but I don't think that was the point.

[27-36]
Again, the point is that we don't play by the same rules. Where the world jockeys for the top of the "I have lots of stuff" leaderboard and is concerned with their own dignity, Kingdom life is about showing God's love to everyone. In a world that cheers for Western shootouts over disputes as a poetic way of death and exalts Asian culture for focusing on personal honor to the point of death, God's Kingdom is not about your personal honor. When people rob you of honor, you bless them back. Weird stuff.

[37-38]
And at the same time the point of it is not to be a miserable little wretch who is constantly stepped on. There are rewards to this lifestyle. God doesn't do this because He thinks it's amusing, but because He's smarter than us and knows this is the best way to live.

Keep it in the family

I totally started this yesterday, but then stuff happened, and I unstarted it, and....yeah.

Numbers 36
- Basically, one family had only women to inherit the land, so it got tricky because the land usually goes with the man, so if they married someone from a different tribe, the land allotments would get screwed up. So Moses declares that women who inherit land have to marry within their tribe so the land allotment stays with the tribe it was given to.
- The point being, as far as I can see, that God's promises to you are not negotiable. Don't give your inheritance to someone else.

Luke 5:29-39
[29-32] - The irony holds forever. Telling people who have screwed up that they can't go to God like they are is the same as telling sick people they can't go to a doctor. Come on....people...

[33-35] - While plenty of people will use this as an excuse to continue to lack discipline of any kind, there's something to be said about not feeling like you always have to be in a season of fasting or laborious wailing prayers. There are seasons for everything. Know where you are right now and what God wants you to do, and ignore the Pharisees who don't like that you're not on their schedule and don't get their newsletter.

[36-38] - The new covenant has been the plan all along. With a new body and a renewed soul, we can start living the way the Kingdom was originally intended. Forcing people to live according to the new modes of living when they have not yet been renewed is forcing new wine into old wineskins. People can't handle it. When they've been renewed, then they can be filled with the new stuff, and it will take some time to get used to.

Luke 6:1-11
- The Pharisees loved their rulebook so much that they would rather see people starve and languish in disease than break that rule. When traditions become so important that it becomes irrelevant whether or not they are fulfilling the reason they were started in the first place, it's time to shake things up.

Progress has been slowing on my daily Bible reading, so I need to journal again. This'll help. Right? Right.

Numbers 33:40-56
[50-56] - At Breadbreakers we're starting Judges, and it's ironic to now read the part where God tells them to completely wipe out everyone from the land and every trace that they were ever there, because, as Judges starts off telling us, they didn't do a great job of that. It's uncomfortable to wipe out every trace of your past sinful life; all of the imagery, the places, and everything that went with it. But...it comes back to bite you. Even if it's three books later.
- I always thought it was interesting that they divided the land by lot. When you get it in your head that God controls chance, then coin-flipping decisions are even more successful in dispute-settling than they are now. Not sure how accurate that is for decisions nowadays, but that's always interested me.

Numbers 34
- This one laid out the borders of the land and Moses delegated people to handle the dividing of the land. Not terribly exciting.

Numbers 35
[1-8] - The Levites get all kinds of neat, big cities. They also get the ones where people who accidentally kill someone can run and not get killed as well.
[16-21] - Kill on purpose though, and it won't help you. And the person who's avenging gets to carry out the death sentence. That's intense.
[17-28] - If it was an accident, you can come to the city of refuge. If you leave the city of refuge, the guy can take vengeance on you and get away scot-free. Interesting.
[29-34] - No bail for murderers either. They die. You need two witnesses though. They have to die because murder stains the land, and the only payment for it is the blood of the murderer. Reading the Old Testament makes me very thankful for Jesus.

Luke 5:12-28
[12-15] - I like the leper's way of saying it. "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." He's not really asking; he didn't even exactly say he wanted to be made clean. The way he said that feels half like an assertion of faith, and half like a challenge. Either way, Jesus heals him and the guy talks about it even though Jesus told him not to. It's funny that, when Jesus tells people to keep quiet, they go make a stir about Him. Then when He tells people to go spread the word, they clam up. Ironic.

[16] "so He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed." I guess Jesus was annoyed by the irregularity in people telling others about Him when He wants them to.

[17-26] Jesus told them that their sins were forgiven when he saw that they had enough faith to drop the guy through the roof to get a chance at Jesus. We put way too much effort on exact wordings and rituals for salvation. Jesus saw the faith, and proclaimed the guy forgiven. It's that simple.

Psalm 65:1-13
Verse 4 is my favorite here. "Blessed is the man You choose, and cause to apprach You, that he may dwell in Your courts."
David was probably talking about the priests, who could go into God's presence. He wasn't anticipating the new covenant, where that statement would apply to all of us. Aw yeah.