Tuesday 30 August

2 Chronicles 35:20-36:23

What a bunch of utter div-heads.  Even though this second version of Israel’s history (Chronicles 1 & 2) is much more discreet than the scandal and gossip-fueled version we have already read (Kings 1&2), one thing is still abundantly clear; the Israelites were useless.  Even their best three kings - David, Hezekiah and Josiah - were guilty of deceptive war-mongering (Josiah), horrid brash arrogance (Hezekiah) and adultery-induced assassination (David).  The other kings ranged from awfully pathetic to just plain pathetic.  So as we reach the closing points of the history of the Old Testament (there are really just the small books of Ezra and Nehemiah to go) we cannot help but reach a distressing verdict - we are “Not fit for purpose”.  People, even the most brilliant and most lucky ones, are not able to truly live well.  We all find ourselves trecking into exile - it’s as if we are rotten at the core.  And, before we start to suggest that things are different now, let us ask ourselves some painfully honest questions.  If the 1000 or so years of the Kingdom of Israel saw next to no human progression then what hope is there today?  Are there not uncanny parallels between the top 3 kings of Israel and 3 recent leaders of our nation and the USA?  Is it really likely that the centuries-long trend of human regression will suddenly be bucked and the future will be bright?  Many people promise that the human spirit will prevail but that’s not a promise its a curse - the human spirit is corrupt and if it prevails we’ll all be screwed.  So do we end this journey in failure?  Do we end this book with heads bowed low?  From one perspective -yes.  There is no hope of human progress.  But from another our hope remains.  This funny bloke Cyrus - an infidel and a tyrant - has shown up speaking about the Lord and planning to restore some worship to him.  There is hope for the world but its found in funny places and its source is God most High.  

2 Corinthians 3:7-18

You reflect the Lord’s glory.  Are you squirming?  Are you pushing that truth away as if its a mis-directed compliment?  You mustn’t.  We mustn’t.  We need to really dwell on these things.  We need to marinade ourselves in these truths.  This is the word of the Lord and it states as clear as day that anyone who turns to the Lord has a veil removed from their hearts.  And once this veil is removed the holy of holies is unleashed within.  We have the holy of holies let loose within us and it explodes out of every pore.  We reflect the glory of the most glorious being who has ever had any glory.  And day by day the glory in us grows.  Before you try to opt yourself out of this one, remember who Paul was writing to.  He was writing to the idiots in Corinth.  The ones who were bonking their mothers-in-law and being put to death by God for so abusing the Lord’s Supper.  Even these imbeciles were reflecting the glory of the Lord, even these numpties were being transformed into His likeness.  If Paul wants to tell us anything he wants to tell us our identity.  If the Spirit wants to convince us of anything he wants to convince us that we are different now we’re in Him.  We are deeply loved.  We are the recipients of glory.  We have an inheritance of greater glory yet to come.  It all hangs on this.  It all is built on this - an understanding that the awesome work of God has really and truly made a difference to who we are.  And so we should think on it, we should pray on it, we should meditate on it and we should fast on it.  We need to appreciate the depth of our glory.  We need to know who we really are.

Psalm 104:19-30

Even the animals look to God for food at the proper time.  I think I need to learn from the conies.