123 Meme

A friend of mine, Michael Halcomb, just "tagged" me to participate in this interesting "meme" (a cultural item that is transmitted by repetition in a manner analogous to the biological transmission of genes. --dictionary.com).

What you're supposed to do is:

1. grab the nearest book that contains at least 123 pages (no cheating)


2. turn to page 123


3. read the first five sentences


4. then quote the next three sentences in a blog entry


5. and, finally, tag five more people to do the same.

So, when I got this message at school the nearest book was 4th Grade Spelling. Right now, I'm at home and the nearest book is my Bible.

Page 123 is in Exodus 18. The sixth through ninth sentences are as follows:

Moses went out to meet his father-in-law; he bowed down and kissed him; each asked after the other's welfare, and they went into the tent. Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharoah and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had beset them on the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. Jethro rejoiced for all the good that the LORD had done to Israel, in delivering them from the Egyptians.

I tag Darina Brackeen, Jessica Maples, Allison Brown, Joseph Bishara, and Helen Hickman

Side note: This "draft" has been sitting idle for almost 2 years!

Ideas Aplenty

I've really been blessed by the decision to read through my Bible this year. The problem is that in order to maintain the pace to finish this year, I need to read 4 chapters a day (if I read the Apocrypha as well, as I intend). Why is that a problem? Because there have been so many things that I'd like to look into more fully. Right now I'm in Leviticus. While many pass over this book, thinking it dull or irrelevant, I'm finding it to be a jewel. I hope to blog a bit about Leviticus this week.

Seeing as how time marches on (and I have a job and a family!), I don't think I'll get to blog about all the things I'd like to comment on. Therefore, I'm jotting them down here. Maybe someday...

• Beer-sheba is such a signifcant locale in Genesis. All of the patriarchs seem to have major encounters there. After Genesis, it just kind of falls off the map, becoming a reference for the southern boundary of Israel's inheritance. I'd like to study the occurrences at Beer-sheba more closely.
• Saved through water--how many times is this image going to crop up in the Bible? Noah's ark, Moses' basket, the Sea of Reeds (Red Sea exodus), baptism... It's amazing how God uses the vital, yet everyday elements of water, light, bread, etc. to speak and to act in the history of His people. The importance of water (it's cropping up again in Leviticus) and blood (Jesus' side) astounds me.
• Bridegroom of Blood--This incident in Exodus 4:24 is a mystery to me. Why was God going to kill Moses, and how did Zipporah's actions avert God's wrath? I've read a bit on this, but I definitely want to know much more.
• God shows up enshrouded in a dense cloud in Exodus 19:9, 19:18, and many other places. I'd like to look at these occurrences. Are they the same as the description used for God at Mt. Sinai, the Mount of Transfiguration, Psalm 18, etc.? What's the connection between a cloud (or smoke) and theophany? What does that tell us about God's nature?

I know there are other things that have intrigued me, but I can't find where I wrote them down at present. It's late--Giants just won the Superbowl!--and I should get to bed.

God is so good. Hope to blog a bit about Leviticus soon.