365 Reflections

The narrative grows stranger as 2 Kings rolls on. The king of Syria is sick and he sends his commander to Elisha to ask if he will recover. The exchange between Elisha and Hazael is unique. 2 Kings 8:9–11 (ESV) So Hazael went to meet him, and took a present with him, all kinds of goods of Damascus, forty camels’ loads. When he came and stood before him, he said, “Your son Ben-hadad king of Syria has sent me to you, saying, ‘Shall I recover from this sickness?’ ” 10 And Elisha said to him, “Go, say to him, ‘You shall certainly recover,’ but the LORD has shown me that he shall certainly die.” 11 And he fixed his gaze and stared at him, until he was embarrassed. And the man of God wept. Why the doublespeak here from Elisha? Go tell the king he will recover but the Lord has shown me he will die? Strange. Why would the prophet feel it right to mislead someone? The truth is he is not misleading at all. The prophet Elisha knows what is in Hazael's thoughts. He knows this commander c...

So this may be my craziest interpretation of a text ever. But I was reading about Levarite marriage law in Deuteronomy and thought about how this is fulfilled in the New Testament people of God. Let's look at the law first: Deuteronomy 25:5–10 (ESV) “If brothers dwell together, and one of them dies and has no son, the wife of the dead man shall not be married outside the family to a stranger. Her husband’s brother shall go in to her and take her as his wife and perform the duty of a husband’s brother to her. 6 And the first son whom she bears shall succeed to the name of his dead brother, that his name may not be blotted out of Israel. 7 And if the man does not wish to take his brother’s wife, then his brother’s wife shall go up to the gate to the elders and say, ‘My husband’s brother refuses to perpetuate his brother’s name in Israel; he will not perform the duty of a husband’s brother to me.’ 8 Then the elders of his city shall call him and speak to him, and if he persists,...

Today I start in the book of Genesis. Having done the New Testament and Psalms, it seems logical. Only one verse to begin... appropriately: Genesis 1:1 (ESV)   In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Origins are significant. We ask people where they are "from." We want to know if someone is someone's father or mother. We like to find out people's "story." What brought you here? How did this family, business, industry, adventure start for you?  Companies love to put the year of their founding after the abbreviation: "est." Lawyers and Doctors talk about practicing since "x" year. We love the STORIES of others portrayed in movies, novels and plays. Consider the rise of the prequel in the movie industry. Star Wars spent millions of dollars producing 3 mediocre movies explaining where Anakin Skywalker came from. Someone's origins gives them meaning, purpose, dimension and depth that we previously didn't unde...