Dec 29

Reference links:

Zechariah 14:1-21 Revelation 20:1-15 Psalm 148:1-14 Proverbs 31:8-9

Overview of the Book of Zechariah Overview of the Book of the Revelation of John Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Last day of Zechariah. The day of the Lord is coming, and bad things will happen in Jerusalem. Half the population will be taken into captivity. Wait, didn't that already happen? So the day of the Lord is going to be a repeat of Babylon's conquering of the city? That's not very creative of Zechariah.

But this time the Lord jumps into the fray. Amongst other things, he will divide a mountain for people to flee through. Is that more or less impressive than splitting a sea? A mountain is harder to split, but a sea is harder to keep split.

After the Lord takes action, good things happen in Jerusalem: it will always be light without the aid of the sun and the moon (actually, I think that would be freaky, but it's meant to be taken as good), life-giving waters will flow from Jerusalem, and the Lord will be worshiped over all the earth. The population of Jerusalem will grow. And the nations which fought against Jerusalem will suffer from plague.

Their people will become like walking corpses, their flesh rotting away. Their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

Oh wait, that last one is only good if you believe that Israel is the only nation that is worth anything to God.

And people will panic and fight their neighbors and lose wealth and livestock... these continue to be things that are not good. The nations will eventually come to worship the Lord through blackmail: any nation that does not worship him will suffer from droughts and plagues.

And there, after a brief side note about how everything will be holy, ends Zechariah. His vision of the end times certainly strikes me as rather vengeful. The end times, in his view, are simply the time when his God chooses to tyrannically exert the power that he already posses. The only people who really matter are God's chosen people. All others are relevant only in so far as they relate to Jerusalem.

All in all, Zechariah was interesting but did not provide any insights.

New Testament

An angel throws the dragon (Satan) into a pit for 1000 years. For some reason, after that millennium, he must be allowed brief freedom once again. During this 1000 years, the martyred believers rule with Christ (but no one else is resurrected yet).

After the 1000 years, Satan is freed again and goes about to deceive that nations. He gathered an army to attack a city, but fire from heaven defeated them. At this point, Satan is thrown into the lake of fire with the beast and the false prophet.

That whole episode was rather pointless. Why not just throw Satan into the lake of fire in the first place? Obviously, it's because this is all symbolism that I don't get, but from a literary perspective, it's terrible story telling.

This is followed by an entertaining image of the earth and the sky fleeing from a being on a great white throne.

The being on the throne judges all of the dead and all whose name was not recorded in the Book of Life were thrown into the lake of fire with the devil, the beast, and the false prophet. This brings up the ever pertinent question: is it really just to prescribe eternal punishment and torture for the sins of any finite lifetime? I would say no.

Psalms and Proverbs

Today's proverbs contain the good advice to speak up for the poor and helpless:

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves;
ensure justice for those being crushed.
Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless,
and see that they get justice.

Dec 28

Reference links:

Zechariah 12:1-13:9 Revelation 19:1-21 Psalm 147:1-20 Proverbs 31:1-7

Overview of the Book of Zechariah Overview of the Book of the Revelation of John Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Today's reading contrasts a universal God with a partisan God. The opening of today's reading contains this statement:

This message is from the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit.

and continues with a lengthy discussion of how God will bless Judah and Jerusalem with military might, and they will defeat everyone else.

We also see what seems to be one of the inspirations for the story of Jesus:

They will look on me whom they have pierced and mourn for him as for an only son.

This is followed by a prediction of the restoration of peace in Israel. A fountain will cleanse all of the people from their sins and the Lord will erase idol worship. Sounds rather like Zechariah is not big on the whole free will thing, but I don't think free will is as Biblical a concept as many moderns make it out to be.

The Lord will also eliminate false prophecy by allowing murder for those who give false prophecy (with particular encouragement for parents to murder their children). Rather an extreme punishment for the crime, in my opinion. Also, one wonders how good life is when parents would murder their children. I certainly would not want to live in a world where the response to dissent was murder by family members. That sounds more like a dystopia than a utopia.

Today's reading ends with a bit of verse that may well have inspired Revelation. It talks of punishment and destruction. During that time, 2/3 of the people will die and 1/3 will live. These proportions should be familiar.

New Testament

Today's reading starts with a bunch of praise because God finally killed off all the evil people.

Then a white horse appears carrying a man who will be a dictator over all the nations. He will be called the

King of all kings and Lord of all lords

This is followed by a gruesome image where vultures are invited to feast on the bodies of humanity.

The man on the white horse defeats the beast and the kings of the earth. The beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into burning lakes, their followers were killed, and the vultures feasted.

One commonality in today's OT and NT readings is that they both present a time where God is reigning with his power, and they both sound like rather unpleasant times to be in. Not just the death and destruction; it is feasible to consider those are unavoidable side effects of getting to peace.

Rather, they sound unpleasant because they emphasize the dictatorial, unbending, restricted nature of those times. The people who are remaining in those times seem to be those who do not mind bending their will to that of an unforgiving leader, but, just in case their are dissenters, there are flaming lakes, vultures, and murderous families to take care of them.

It's as if the authors of these books do not really believe humanity can be reformed; rather, they seem to think the best that can be done is to select for the most obedient members and destroy all who do not toe the line.

Psalms and Proverbs

It's a long readings in proverbs today. According to the chapter heading, we are reading the sayings of King Lemuel. According to Wikipedia, no one really knows who King Lemuel was. Tradition equates him with Solomon, but that is just a hypothesis based on tradition and weak inferences from the meaning of the name Lemuel.

In any case, Lemuel claims that his mother taught him these sayings. The advice starts with a warning against wasting strength on women. If Lemuel was Solomon, he of many wives and concubines, he certainly did not listen to this advice from his mother.

Lemuel is also warned against drinking since it may prevent them from giving justice. Instead, only the dying and those in distress should drink. I am not sure I agree that it is good for those in poverty and distress to drink away their sorrows, but since this was targeted at a king, the point is: don't drink to excess.

Dec 27

Reference links:

Zechariah 10:1-11:17 Revelation 18:1-24 Psalm 146:1-10 Proverbs 30:33

Overview of the Book of Zechariah Overview of the Book of the Revelation of John Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

I did not get today's reading. It seems like there was a major mood shift, and I do not understand why. The common theme is shepherds.

The people are compared to lost sheep who have no shepherd. Those who should be their shepherds are corrupt, but God will become their shepherd. With God as their shepherd, the people of Israel and Judah will become mighty warriors and conquer their neighbors and grow numerous once again. As Israel and Judah are restored, Lebanon will be destroyed.

Then we have the shift. It is a shift in two ways. The style shifts from verse to prose and the tone shifts. In this part of the reading, the Zechariah seems to be implying that the leaders of the people of Israel and Judah are corrupt.

"Likewise, I will no longer have pity on the people of the land,” says the Lord. “I will let them fall into each other’s hands and into the hands of their king. They will turn the land into a wilderness, and I will not rescue them.”

This is in decided contrast to the previous verses talking about restoration under God's leadership.

To illustrate this new attitude it seems that Zechariah chooses to take care of some sheep intended for slaughter with two symbolic staffs, Favor and Union. He becomes impatient with the sheep and destroys Favor. Then Zechariah asks for his wages (the reading makes it sound like he asks the sheep for his wages; I don't know whether or not that's intentional). They pay him 30 pieces of silver which he then gives to a potter in the temple. This confusing episode is part of what the New Testament alludes to when Judas disposes of the payment for his betrayal of Jesus. After this, Zechariah breaks the other staff, Union, and then goes once again and acts as a worthless shepherd.

Maybe this is meant to be a reenactment of the historical relationship between God and the people. As a commentary on the author's present, it makes no sense given the preceding context.

New Testament

Today's reading is a denouncement of fallen Babylon.

Psalms and Proverbs

Stirring up anger causes quarrels as inevitably as hitting someone in the nose causes bleeding or churning cream yields butter. Which is to say, it's highly probably but not guaranteed.

Dec 26

Reference links:

Zechariah 9:1-17 Revelation 17:1-18 Psalm 145:1-21 Proverbs 30:32

Overview of the Book of Zechariah Overview of the Book of the Revelation of John Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Today's sounding more like good ol' doom and gloom for the enemies prophecy. One slightly novel bit is this proclamation:

Then the surviving Philistines will worship our God
and become like a clan in Judah.

That is oddly welcoming for a gloom and doom prophecy.

The rest of the reading is a prophecy about Zion's coming king. This contains the famous poetic parallel which some believe the author of Matthew misinterpreted when he implied that Jesus rode both a colt and a donkey into Jerusalem:

Look, your king is coming to you.
He is righteous and victorious,
yet he is humble, riding on a donkey—
riding on a donkey’s colt.

When this king returns, war will end, prisoners will be released, and the people will be blessed. The Lord will also battle in defense of his people.

Thus ends today's fairly standard reading.

New Testament

Babylon/maybe Rome/who knows what is compared to a prostitute who causes all of the nations to commit adultery. She rides a beast with seven heads; this beast represents nations. They will all go to war against the Lamb and lose. They also hate the prostitute and will eventually consumer her.

All in all, a rather gruesome day.

Psalms and Proverbs

Nothing of particular note.

Dec 25

Reference links:

Zechariah 8:1-23 Revelation 16:1-21 Psalm 144:1-15 Proverbs 30:29-31

Overview of the Book of Zechariah Overview of the Book of the Revelation of John Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

The thing about the one year Bible division is that the Christmas reading is not terribly Christmas like.

Today, Zechariah describes the benefits of the Lord's blessings coming once again to Jerusalem. The second, after the return of the Lord to Mount Zion, is that the streets of Jerusalem will once again be safe for old and young people. This emphasizes the danger that must have been always present for the returned exiles. It may also convey to us the fact that the returned exiles were, in many ways, settlers. They may well have consisted mostly of people in the prime of life, willing to take on the arduous task of restoring Jerusalem. Not until the community was well established could leisure and age diversity return.

Other benefits will be a return of the exiles, prosperity, and international respect of the wisdom and blessings of Israel.

In another message, Zechariah declares that the traditional fasts and times of mourning should become festivals of joy and celebration. In this time, people from around the world will visit Jerusalem to seek blessing.

One of the distinguishing characteristics of Zechariah has been its optimism and certainty that the time of restoration and blessing has come. It's a bittersweet read since we know that the return of the exiles did not result in lasting prosperity for Jerusalem and was, instead, only a prelude to a much longer and much more geographically dispersed exile of the Jews from the land of their origins.

New Testament

What a pity; I was wrong. We do have to read an angel by angel account of the pouring out of the plagues. As the angels pour their bowls, bad things inevitably happen. The details are not particularly interesting.

Before we get to the seventh angel, there is an interlude where "the kings of the east" march toward the west. Three evil spirits appear who gather the rulers of the world for a battle against God. Once everyone is gathered at Armageddon, the seventh angel pours from his bowl.

This causes a great earthquake which destroys Babylon. There were also giant hailstones.

And that ends today's craziness from Revelation.

Psalms and Proverbs

Four things strut about: the lion, the rooster, the male goat, and a king leading his army. Goody gum drops. What is the value of these proverbs?

Dec 24

Reference links:

Zechariah 6:1-7:14 Revelation 15:1-8 Psalm 143:1-12 Proverbs 30:24-28

Overview of the Book of Zechariah Overview of the Book of the Revelation of John Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Zechariah's vision from yesterday finishes with four chariots going to the north, south, east, and west. These chariots carry the spirits of heaven who stand before the Lord. They have been sent to patrol the earth.

Zechariah's next message is about a future priest-king of Israel. The exiled Jews will send gold and silver, and Zechariah is instructed to make a crown from this. He is to put the crown upon the head of the high priest and tell him that he (or perhaps someone else) will be called the Branch and build a new temple. He will then rule as both priest and king. I am guessing this is generally taken as a prophecy about some future unknown priest-king since Jeshua never actually fulfilled that role.

Zechariah receives another message in answer to a question from the people of Bethel. The messengers asked whether or not they should continue to mourn and fast and the day the temple was destroyed. Zechariah responds that this fasting and mourning was always more for themselves than for the Lord. Like the people of Jerusalem in the past, they ignored the Lord's desire for kindness and social justice and focused on empty ritual. For this they were punished. The returned exiles should take this as a lesson.

New Testament

More repetition of actions! At least this time we do not have to read about each one individually. The author sees seven angels holding the seven last plagues. Before they commence their destruction, the victors of the battle with the beast sing a song of praise. Once that is complete, the seven angels pour out the plagues.

And that's all that happens in today's rather short reading.

Psalms and Proverbs

Another set of four things! These things are small but unusually wise: ants, hyraxes, locusts, and lizards.

Dec 23

Reference links:

Zechariah 4:1-5:11 Revelation 14:1-20 Psalm 142:1-7 Proverbs 30:21-23

Overview of the Book of Zechariah Overview of the Book of the Revelation of John Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Gah! All this symbolism. I am going to start getting my OT and NT readings confused. Today Zechariah sees a lamp stand surrounded by seven lamps each with seven spouts and wicks and an olive tree to either side. These somehow represent the fact that Zerubbabel has God's favor for completing the rebuilding of the temple.

In particular, the lamps represent the searching eyes of the Lord, and the olive trees represent some heavenly beings. At least, compared to Revelation, Zechariah tells us what these different things represent.

After that Zechariah sees a giant flying scroll which contains a curse going over the land. The curse is against those who steal or swear falsely.

The next vision is a grain basket filled with the sins of the people and a woman named Wickedness. This basket will be worshiped in Babylon.

And that is the end of today's weird reading.

New Testament

The lamb and the faithful sing a song that only the small remnant of faithful can learn. An angel flies through the sky telling people to fear and worship God. Another angel declares that Babylon has fallen because of its immorality. A third angel promises God's anger and eternal punishment to any who accept the beast's mark.

Those who are to be punished are collected and pressed in the "winepress of God's wrath" until blood flowed in a deep stream 180 miles long. How horrid. Once again the Bible has led me to believe that even if there were reason to believe that the God of the Bible existed, he should not be worshiped. He should be despised as a terrible monster whose crimes exceed those of history's mass killings.

Psalms and Proverbs

Apparently, the earth can not bear reversals of fortune or status:

There are three things that make the earth tremble—
no, four it cannot endure:
a slave who becomes a king,
an overbearing fool who prospers,
a bitter woman who finally gets a husband,
a servant girl who supplants her mistress.

I did not realize the world was so uptight and lacking in understanding.

Dec 22

Reference links:

Zechariah 2:1-3:10 Revelation 13:1-18 Psalm 141:1-10 Proverbs 30:18-20

Overview of the Book of Zechariah Overview of the Book of the Revelation of John Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

Today, we continue the second of the 8 visions of Zechariah. I think. It's not completely clear yet whether the visions will be clearly demarcated.

Zechariah sees a man going to measure Jerusalem. This acts as a reason to reveal the fact that someday Jerusalem will grow populous enough that people will live outside the city walls. Then, the Lord will protect the city with a wall of fire.

This was probably a significant statement to people in a city that a disappointingly small number of exiles had returned to. This same sentiment probably motivated the next part of the vision where the Lord calls the exiles to return from Babylon. But someday, the Lord will live among the people of Jerusalem and many other nations will join the Israelites in worshiping their chosen god. A hopeful message.

Based on chapter breaks, we next start what may be the third vision. Or it may be part of the second still. In any case, this vision shows the high priest, Jeshua, standing accused by Satan. The Lord rejects Satan's accusations, but not, it seems, because they are wrong. Jeshua's dirty clothes and the comparison of Jeshua to a burning stick pulled from the fire imply that Jeshua is guilty as accused. However, in this vision God chooses to forgive that sin and purify Jeshua, promising that if Jeshua lives as he ought, he will gain authority over the Temple and its courtyards.

After that, God starts talking about how he is eventually going to bring his servant and remove all of the sins of the land in a single day. Of interest is that this promise is symbolized by a stone with seven facets. As we are seeing in Revelation, 7 is a very significant number, right up there with 12.

That's all for today!

New Testament

Remember from yesterday: a dragon (Satan) is attacking the people. Today the dragon gives his power to a beast from the sea with 7 heads and 10 horns and 10 crowns on the horns and on the heads were written names of those who blasphemed God.

The beast was wounded and then healed. This, apparently, was enough to get the world to pledge allegiance to it. The dragon and the beast were worshiped. The beast went on to blaspheme God and torture the faithful for 42 months. Those who worship the beast were those who were rejected by God.

Then another beast came from the earth. This beast required everyone to worship the first beast (weren't they doing so already?). The second beast impresses everyone with some miracles and then requires everyone to get a mark on their right hand or forehead. This became required to participate in commerce.

And that ends today's reading. A bit less coherent than yesterday's reading and, as such, not quite as entertaining.

Psalms and Proverbs

The author gives four random things he does not understand and then throws out a statement about adulterous women and their lack of guilt.

An adulterous woman consumes a man,
then wipes her mouth and says, “What’s wrong with that?”

Which leads to the obvious question: is consume meant canibalistically or euphemistically? The context implies the later, but our recent fantastical readings in Revelation bring the former to mind.

Dec 21

Reference links:

Zechariah 1:1-21 Revelation 12:1-17 Psalm 140:1-13 Proverbs 30:17

Overview of the Book of Zechariah Overview of the Book of the Revelation of John Overview of the Psalms Overview of the book of Proverbs

Old Testament

We'll be sticking with Zechariah for nearly the rest of the year which is, admittedly, not that long at this point. Harris says,

A contemporary of Haggai, Zechariah employs a series of eight visions to encourage his fellow returned exiles to rely on Yahweh, restore Jerusalem and the Temple, and await the reestablishment of the Davidic line. The second half of the book contains increasingly obscure oracles from a later prophet, known as Second Zechariah. 

Today's reading is very optimistic. The Lord was angry with the Israelites, but he hopes that the returned exiled can turn from evil and live as they should. Israel will be restored and the nations who punished them will be punished in turn.

We then see some imagery that should seem familiar: 4 horsemen patrolling the earth (although not bringing any destruction) and four horns representing nations that scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem. This imagery has been repeated elsewhere, often in apocalyptic settings.

Zechariah also mentions four blacksmiths coming to destroy the four horns/nations. This is to punish them for the excessive punishment they have shown to God's people.

During all this, we read the following statement:

This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: My love for Jerusalem and Mount Zion is passionate and strong. But I am very angry with the other nations that are now enjoying peace and security. I was only a little angry with my people, but the nations inflicted harm on them far beyond my intentions.

Only a little angry? Some of the language used by the other prophets was pretty strong. They must have been exaggerating or wrong. Or God is misremembering or misrepresenting himself. Either way, it certainly does not seem reasonable to call God's pre-exilic anger little. Time softens all memories, I suppose.

New Testament

Today's reading would make a great anime. A pregnant woman,

clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet, and a crown of twelve stars on her head

Almost has her baby snatched away by a dragon (Satan). God saves the baby (who was destined to rule all nations with an iron rod; sounds lovely). The woman flees.

Then there is a war in heaven between Michael and his angels and the dragon and his angels. The dragon loses and is hurled to earth. There he hunts down the woman, but she is saved, so he decides to pursue the rest of her children: the faithful.

Confounding but exciting!

Psalms and Proverbs

Eyes that mock their parents will be plucked out and eaten by vultures. Symbolically, I hope.