It's been a couple weeks (?) since I last wrote to check in on the Bible reading. After wrapping up with Genesis 4-11, we jogged over to the Book of Job, read through that in its entirety, and are now back in the next segment of Genesis.
[A caveat: unlike most of my posts (aside from the sermon notes), this post is going to be rather casual compared with what I typically write when it involves the Bible. The brief reason is that the readings go by fast. I may come across something profound in one Biblical book, and if I have a busy week (which I have had), by the time I'm ready to write about it, my Bible reading program is already into the next book or two after. So, there may be times when my posts are Bible passage dumps and casual thoughts, rather than the serious thoughts which I still hope to put forth.]
The Book of Job is still not one of my favorites, due to the history it records, but I do at least come away having gotten something from it. This time, as I read through it, I found myself soak it in when God yelled at Job. The truth is, none of us are God. None of us created the heavens or the earth. (And even though the events in the Book of Job way preceded Jesus' crucifixion and death (and resurrection), one could argue that, in the same way we didn't create the heavens or the earth, we didn't have to endure our own son dying on a cross with the full weight of all humanity's sins on him -- but God did. Or to take it a step further, since Jesus is also God the Son, we didn't ourselves die on a cross with the full weight of all humanity's sins on ourselves.)
[I have to add the above for myself, because, I confess I still want to wrestle with God sometimes, even though I know that I know better. One of my lines I've taken to yelling is "don't make me die on a cross for everyone's sins! I'm not God, you know! Just because I choose to follow Jesus, doesn't mean I want to die on a cross just like He did!" ... But the truth is that that's my insanity, believing a chain of lies that began with a twisting of something true. And Jesus never said for us to pick up His cross in order to follow Him; only our own. (Matthew 16:24) At the same time, He also offers us to take on His yoke and His burden, for His yoke is easy and His burden is light. (Matthew 11:30) And to be clear, His burden is not the same as His cross. .... But I say "my insanity" also because in those moments I still want to live for myself. But the truth is, every time I've tried to live for myself it not only hasn't worked out very well, but I've never felt close to God in those times. True joy and true relationship means laying those dreams down -- surrendering daily -- and then trusting God that He will do something better, even if 1.) it makes no sense, and 2.) it ends up being the complete opposite of what I want. When I actually spend time in the Bible, and pray, and do these things earnestly, it really does make a difference, and instead of yelling what I mentioned above, I'm thanking Him and praising Him and being quiet because I'd rather read and listen instead of making Him hear what I "have" to say.]
I digress. Enough about me. The most impactful passage from the Book of Job was the following:
25 I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
with my own eyes—I, and not another.
How my heart yearns within me!
I love it because, in his pitiful state (and I don't just mean his circumstances -- as his friends continue accusing him, even his faith erodes), he still holds on to hope and a belief that God will redeem him, even though circumstantially it appears unlikely.
In the section of Genesis since wrapping up with Job, the passage that has stood out to me the most has been one that I've been very vaguely familiar with since I was a child, but have never, ever heard a sermon preached on it in any church I've ever been to. In a previous blog post I mentioned about some churches I went to in the past tending to avoid sermons about "uncomfortable" passages. I think this would qualify. It's the story of Lot and his family fleeing Sodom. Maybe it's because it's an uncomfortable thing to preach on (or for a congregation to listen to), or maybe it's because, for a long time we haven't really had to worry about cities as wicked as these. Frankly, I think that either is beginning to change, or has already changed. Nonetheless, here is the passage:
4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.
[Yes, I'm aware that Lot's wife became a pillar of salt for turning around. That was explained in verse 26. I didn't include it because I felt like the meat of the story -- what captivated me -- about the wickedness of Sodom and why God needed to destroy it, was from verses 4 through 25. As for why the destruction against Sodom (and Gomorrah), check out verse 13 from the above passage. Don't forget, many people were crying out to God for justice against whatever it was that the people of Sodom were doing to them. My sense is they had been crying out to Him for a while. What the people of Sodom were guilty of doing, I'm not entirely sure, although verses 5 and 9 seem to give a decent snapshot of what these people were like.]
My first Bible study is this Friday. I'm starting to pray over this meeting (and the following meeting over Zoom the following week). Looking forward to seeing more of what God will highlight!