Divine Patience

In the last few weeks I have had to read through the books of Joshua and Judges for my Hebrew Prophets class. I must say that there are some crazy things that happen in theses books. To be honest, if I didn't know any better I would not think this stuff would be found in the Bible. Have you read these books lately? War, genocide, scandals, apostasy, etc... It is phenomenal just how raw and uncut the Bible really is.

The difficulty that I wrestle with is that some of what I read seems to contradict the words and teachings of Jesus. It is hard to make sense of the stories we read and the journey that God has the early Israelites on. In the end I guess we just have to realize that God's ways are beyond our understanding.

Another thing that just completely baffles me is how unfaithful the Israelites are. Time after time God gives them second chance after second chance, yet they still turn aside and worship "Baal" and "Asherah" who were gods of the Canaanites. Why? Why does God remain so faithful despite Israel's prostitution?

For class I am also reading a book called Deuteronomic History by Terence Fretheim. In it he shares some great insights into God's judgment of Israel and what Fretheim calls the divine patience of God. Here are some quotes:

"It becomes apparent quickly in this text [Judges] that God's purposes are not annihilation, but that on the far side of the experience of judgment there might be restoration of relationship which God intended."

"...what comes through is the divine patience: God continues to save them from the hands of their enemies in spite of continued apostasy."

"This makes it very clear that the divine judgment is not considered to be an end in itself, as if God had no concerns beyond judgment. Judgment there must be; evil must not be allowed to go unchecked in the world. But judgment is not the end of things for God. Once that judgment has been experienced, and indeed in the midst of the very experience of judgment, God is working graciously for deliverance. Deliverance is what God truly desires for the people. But, finally, it is only in and through the experience of oppression and death, that the experience of deliverance is possible. There can be no direct move from apostasy to deliverance, except through judgment. And so the judging activity og God is finally motivated by gracious purposes. And the degree to which one discerns repetition in these texts with regard to the sin-judgment-deliverance cycle is finally a witness to the incredible mercy of God in desiring life, and not death, for the people."

"God's people, again and again, exhibit patterns of life which threaten their existence. God's response is remarkable in its variety and flexibility, in order to accomplish salutary purposes. A highly personal divine response is revealed, which values mercy above retribution; we see a God who chooses to experience suffering rather than visit the people with the finality of death; we are surprised by a God who finds ways of working in, with, and under very compromising situations in which people have placed themselves in order to bring about good. In the midst of unfaithfulness, the faithfulness of God is revealed, a God who never breaks covenant. Only in such a God is hope to be found."

Imperial History of the Middle East

This is pretty stinkin' cool! If you like history, you will really like this. It is a map of who controlled the Middle East from 3000 BC to 2006 AD. You can find more timeline maps at http://www.mapsofwar.com

Incredible Resource

I stumbled across www.worldwide-classroom.com today and it is an incredible resource for anyone who wants some in depth teaching on theology, ministry, and biblical studies. These are literally seminary classes that are made available to anyone who is interested. And best of all, it's absolutely FREE! It doesn't get much better than this.

My favorite thing about college were my Bible classes. I had some amazing professors that would challenge the typical gun-ho, "know-it-all" Christian college student. Their wisdom of the Bible and their hands-on experience in ministry provided me a well balanced biblical worldview. Oftentimes I have missed the classroom environment and learning in this way, which is why worldwide-classroom.com is such a gem. Well, actually it has the potential to be a gem. I guess I can't speak too soon as I haven't actually listened to any of the lectures yet, but it seems to be top notch.

I love learning about the past. My favorite areas of interest are Old Testament history and Church history. I'm excited because there are courses for both of those. I am going to start with the OT History course and see how it goes. It will make for great commuting material! Check out what they have to offer. Maybe you'll find something that really interests you.

Doom and Gloom

I recently finished studying the book of Matthew and wanted to turn next to the part of the Bible I least understand - The Hebrew Prophets. When I have read books like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Habakkuk etc. I find myself lost. This is manly due to the fact that these are mostly filled with prophetic speeches (sermons basically) to a specific group of people long ago in a land far, far away. It is impossible to read these prophets and understand them unless you look into the history of what was going on at the time. I have only ever barely scratch the surface of this history and never taken the time to really know the context. With that said, I have decided that it is finally time to do that and I am going to start with study the book of Jeremiah. And oh, I am excited!

One of the most famous verses people memorize from the Bible is Jeremiah 29:11.

"'For I know the plans I have for you', declares the LORD. 'Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.'"

Not only is this one of the most famous, it's also a verse that is usually taken way out of context. Yes, I am sure that God has plans and a purpose for you and me, but this verse was not written to us individually. It was actually written in a very dark time to a nation, Israel, who was God's nation. That nation happened to be in exile, taken captive because of their massive disobedience. Jeremiah spoke these words to encourage God's people that there was still hope even though the judgement had came. Oh, and you know that hope and prosperous future that he talks about? Yeah, that will come after 70 years in Babylonian captivity, so hold on Israel. I bet they didn't tell you that in Sunday school when you memorized that one.

There are some pretty crazy things that happened in Israel's history during the time of Jeremiah. In the midst of this, God calls Jeremiah while he's still a youth to be his mouth piece to the people. The only problem is that God's message is not a pretty one. It's a warning of doom, gloom, destruction, and judgement. How's that for a purpose and plan for your life? Sucks to be that guy.

I could go on and on, for there is a ton of detail to Jeremiah and the times he was living in, but if you are interested I have a few quotes from some of my preliminary reading that I found to be rather insightful. Enjoy some history if you choose. There will be many more posts to come about Jeremiah and the history of Israel.

From John Bright's History of Israel

"The persecution that such words earned Jeremiah, and the agony it cost him to utter them form one of the most moving chapters in the history of religion. Jeremiah was hated, jeered at, ostracized (chs.15:10f, 17; 18:18; 20:10), continuually harassed, and more than once almost killed (chs.11:18 to 12:6; 26; 36). In thus dooming state and Temple, he had, as the official theology saw it, committed both treason and blasphemy: he had accused Yahweh of faithlessness to his covenant with David (ch. 26:7-11)! Jeremiah's spirit almost broke under it. He gave way to fits of angry recrimination, depression, and even suicidal despair (chs. 15:15-18; 18:19-23; 20:7-12, 14-18). He hated his office and longed to quit (chs. 9:2-6; 17:14-18), but the compulsion of Yahweh's word forbade him to be silent (ch.20:9); always he found strength to go on (ch15:19-21) - pronouncing Yahweh's judgment. Yet when that judgment came, it brought him the deepest agony (chs.4:19-21; 8:18 to 9:1; 10:19f)."

From Elmer Marten's JEREMIAH: Believers Church Bible Commentary

"We read a book like Jeremiah for its message and insights. This book has a weighty message. It may shock us into reassessments and realignments; it will almost certainly change our values. The story in this book may strike us as dark and dismal. We shall hear about Israel's failures, her fascination with substitute deities, her disregard for just dealings. We will hear passionate appeals for change, admonitions, laments, exhortations, and threats. We will also hear promises. The underlying message has two faces: God disciplines people and punishes them; yet there is also forgiveness - the promise of new covenant. The gospel of Jeremiah reads: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love' (31:3)."

"For all its difficulty, the book of Jeremiah has great charm and power. 'No Old Testament prophet used a wider variety of literary forms or showed more artistic skill than Jeremiah' (LaSor: 418). The book touches issues of life and death. It depicts the love of God in the face of the sin of the people; it shows the sin of a people in the face of the love of their God. It is a book of exclamation marks. Like a Picasso painting, it yields its contents slowly - but with what force!"

Happy St. Patty's Day!

One thing I love is history - especially Church history. Though there is a lot of myth and legend connected to St. Patrick's Day, the story of this man is incredible. If you don't know anything more about March 17th other than that you're supposed to wear green and run from the leprechauns, then let me tell you. St. Patrick was captured by Irish raiders in Great Britain when was he was a young lad - 16 years old. He became a slave and after six years he escaped. He later received a vision from God calling him to be a missionary to his former captors. Though it was a bit rocky at first, Patrick eventually had great success, baptizing people by the droves. Soon after, monasteries began sprouting up all over Ireland. Ireland then began to send out many missionaries to other countries. And it was started by one man - good ole' St. Patrick. Here is a insightful article (Who Was St. Patrick) I found on historychannel.com if you care to know more about this great man of God. If you don't have time to read it, you may enjoy this short video - click here.

PS. I wonder what method of evangelism Pat used? Was is street evangelism? Did he hand out tracts? Was it friendship evangelism? Haha, just kidding....bad joke :-)

Medieval Christmas

First off, Merry Christmas! Hope everyone had a great day celebrating our Lord's birth.
I found this Medieval Christmas quiz and it was a fun little history lesson. I didn't do that well on it, but it was interesting. Check it out if you have some time.




Medieval Christmas Quiz




Also, Tim Hughes wrote a fantastic blog about adoration. He uses Gentile Da Fabriano's "Adoration of the Magi" painting (the picture above) to illustrate the great point that we need to love and serve Christ out of adoration, not duty. Check it out here

The Legend of Hood

I absolutely love reading fiction books. I mean, who doesn't love a great story that draws you in as you get lost in the adventure? A few years ago one of my professors, Dr. Baloian, recommended a book called, Byzantium by Stephen Lawhead. Intrigued, I read it and it immediately became my favorite fiction book (One of the easiest ways to judge how good a fiction book is that you have to keep reading to find out what happens). Its about an Irish monk named Aidan, who sets out on a journey to Constantinople to deliver an important manuscript to the Byzantine Emperor. Aidan experiences many trials and through his unfortunate circumstances he loses His faith in God. God, however, does not give up on him, but rather floods Aidan's life with grace, compeling him to rekindle his faith.

Since Byzantium I have read other books by Lawhead that have just been alright. One that I was extremely excited about was Hood. I just finished it last week, but was sorely disappointed with it. It is the first book in a trilogy that gives a retelling of the legend of Robin Hood. I have always loved the story of Robin Hood, yet Lawhead's story is lacking good action. It is mostly filled with character development. In other words, this book was hard NOT to put down and I had to push through it. I was really bummed with this book and I seriously doubt I will be finishing the trilogy.

And I Think I'll Go to Boston...

Yesterday I spent the whole day in the heart of Boston and I must say it is a fine city indeed! I started the day out by walking the famous historical Freedom Trail. This trail is a 2.5 mile path marked by red brick and paint. It takes you around to 17 different historical sites throughout the city. For more info about the different sites click here.

Here are some pictures from my walk:

Park Street Church, where William Lloyd Garrison gave his first antislavery address on the Fourth of July 1829.



The Old Granary, right next to Park Street Church where Paul Revere, Samuel Adams and John Hancock are buried. This isn't the only Sam Adams I saw this day :-)




Paul Revere's House



Bunker Hill, where the first battle took place between the Patriots and the Red Coats.



Some other interesting sites I saw include The Old South Meeting House, where on December 16, 1773 Samuel Adams gave his famous nonimportation speech that started the Boston Tea Party. Also, The Old State House, where just outside the Boston Massacre took place.

And to top off this eventful day I retired to a place "where everyone knows your name" - Cheers! Although I am pretty sure no one had a clue who I was :-)