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At last

It took me 4 1/2 months... but I finally finished reading the Old Testament from start to finish. After Daniel, it was the minor prophets and felt like a downhill ride! The overriding message for me is that God is patient and will put up with our sins to a point, but there comes a time when he has to take drastic measures! Even so, the drastic measures are for our own good. God is forgiving, but there are consequences!

It makes me wonder if there are prophets around us these days that I'm missing? If not prophets... there are probably signs from God that totally pass me by. I should pay more attention! For example, has God ever given me an assignment like he gave to Jonah, and I didn't even realize it? How much have I missed?

The one verse that really hit me in these last few books of the OT was "Return to me, and I will return to you" in Zechariah 1. It really does boil down to that! God is ready whenever we are!

Ok, now, on to the New Testament!

Hosea

I guess before God let Assyria invade Israel, He was thinking of various ways to get the Israelites' attention so that they would turn their ways. One of the most unusual was having Hosea marry a prostitute to illustrate the unfaithfulness of Israel. It didn't work, though, because Israel did not get the message!

The rest of the book of Hosea is all about God pleading to the Israelites through Hosea that they should return to the time of the wilderness when Israel totally depended on God. God mixes in hope, throughout however. It really shows us that God can at the same time be so exasperated with us, yet so full of love. How does he do it?

My favorite verse of Hosea has always been Hosea 6:6 - "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings."

I'm looking forward to the rest of the Old Testament: lots of short books, the only one of which I've read is Jonah.

Daniel

Daniel was a lot easier to read this time, than it was several years ago when I tried to get through it. I remember giving up when Daniel started having all the visions. For some reason, this time around, the visions were pretty easy to understand.

Even so, the best part of the book is the first few chapters when Daniel and his friends are so bold! What I would give to be so bold! I love what Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego say to King Nebuchadnezzar when he threatens to throw them into the burning furnace for not worshiping the graven image: "If the God we serve is able to deliver us, then he will deliver us from the blazing furnace and from Your Majesty's hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." God is still God, no matter what!

How about the admission of King Nebuchadnezzar in chapter 4, when he realizes that God is Supreme? Sure enough God "does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth."

Ezekiel

Ezekiel was bold! He'd do anything for God. Were we all that bold! God told Ezekiel to lie on one side for 390 days, and then God told him to lie on the other side for 40 days... during both times Ezekiel was to bear the sins of Israel. I wonder if I would have done that if God had asked me.

God gives Ezekiel a lot more commands.. mostly to tell the Israelites about why they are in exile (It's punishment for their wicked ways in Judah) and then later in the book, Ezekiel tells the Israelites to have hope because the Lord is going to bring them back to the land of Israel. So, the message for me was that God punishes us for sinning, but he also gives us tremendous hope if we repent!

God says, "You will know that I am Lord" (through the prophet Ezekiel) dozens of times in the book of Ezekiel. The message is that God is sovereign!

The most famous passage from Ezekiel is "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36: 26) God is saying this to the Israelites who will be restored to Jerusalem. For me, it's comforting that God can take my hardened heart and make it new again!

Besides the living creatures and the wheel that Ezekiel saw at the beginning of his call to prophecy, the most vivid imagery in Ezekiel is God bringing the dry bones to life. Imagine seeing that!

Jeremiah

Jeremiah much easier to understand than Isaiah! In spite of the gloominess of God having to punish the people of Judah for their disobedience, there is still so much hope in Jeremiah! Even while God is exiling the Israelites, he promises to redeem them in 70 years. God gives the Israelites advice to obey the Babylonians... another example of God getting us "through" troubled times, yes, even the troubling times that we bring on ourselves!

Isaiah

Isaiah was a hard book for me to read. It made me realize how many kings there were in the history of Israel, and how few of them I could recall. I will definitely have to re-read both Kings and Isaiah!

My favorite parts of Isaiah, probably typical of many, are the ones that foretell the coming of Jesus, especially Isaiah 9. (Wonderful Counselor, Prince of Peace!) Isaiah 53 is pretty powerful too, foretelling in stunning detail the death of Christ. "Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer." That makes my heart pound because it's so terrible what Jesus had to go through just to save us.

Isaiah 61, where Isaiah tells us that this is the year of the Lord's favor. I read that at least once a year. And, every year it's true!  Every year, faithfully, God does give us beauty for ashes, the oil gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.

Maybe I'll pick up more understanding the next time through Isaiah!

Proverbs

Proverbs makes me want to act less foolishly, be more honest, kinder & wiser... and refrain from being a quarrelsome wife! Proverbs says at least a couple of times that it is better for a man to live on the corner of a roof than with a quarrelsome wife!

There are so many beautiful Proverbs:
 - Truthful lips endure forever.
 - A soft answer turns away wrath.
 - A happy heart makes the face cheerful.
 - How good is a timely reply!
 - Commit to the Lord whatever you do.
 - A wise man's heart guides his mouth.

There's a nice prayer in Proverbs chapter 30. I'd heard it before but never realized it was from that particular book: "Two things I ask of you Lord: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches but give me only my daily bread..." It goes on for another verse or two and really is a meaningful little prayer, much like the now famous prayer of Jabez.

Psalms

The Psalms are emotional! All the top emotions are covered: joy, sadness, sorrow, hope, and fear. But  through every emotion, one theme prevails: "Give thanks to the Lord for He endures; His love endures forever!"

I had forgotten how much of the Book of Common Prayer was based on scripture, especially Psalms. "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be always acceptable in thy sight O Lord, my strength and my redeemer." (from Psalm 19)

Lots of praise music too is straight out of Psalms:
    You are My hiding Place - Psalm 32:7
    Create in me a Clean Heart - Psalm 51
    As the Deer Panteth for the Water - Psalm 42
    Glorify Thy Name - Psalm 86
and one of my faves:
    Be Exalted, O God, above the Heavens" - Psalm 57 - except it is a hard one to sing!

Does anyone know of other songs that come straight out of Scripture? I'm building an iTunes playlist of Scripture songs.

 

Job

Job was not that bad. I was expecting a lot more dismal of a book, but instead it reminded me of how awesome and powerful and mighty is God. Despite all the sufferings of Job, even though he did nothing to deserve them, God is still God. Job basically understood the concept, although at times he was terribly discouraged, as any human being would be. He "got it", for the most part that God is big and we are small. One of my favorite verses in the book is when Job said, "But he stands alone and who can oppose him? He does whatever he pleases?" (Job 23:13) The three friends were not that much of a help to Job, and I didn't really understand at all the fourth friend.  I liked toward the end when God speaks. He asked Job,"Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation?" It's a good question!

But my favorite verse of the whole book is when Job quotes God in verse 28:28: "The fear of the Lord - that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding."

Good stuff!

Esther

Esther was a very interesting book to read. It was like a short story that you could have read in 8th grade Literature! Is Esther the only book in the Bible with no direct mention of God? Even so, the hand of God definitely plays a major role! Imagine: a Persian king chooses a Jewish queen; and a Jewish queen is able to thwart the plot of Haman by throwing a couple of banquets to expose his evil.

What did I pick up from the book? I liked the respectful way that Esther spoke to her husband. It definitely worked! I liked Mordecai's steadfastness and conviction; his classic question to Esther is the best: "And who knows but that you have come to a royal position for such a time as this?" - Esther 4:14... And last, and probably least, Haman being hanged on a 75-foot gallows is quite a visual!