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This stuff is getting old. I'm dreading Chronicles. From what I've seen/heard, it's a rehash of past events from the point of view of the exiled. Third person accounts always make for an accurate history <sarcasm>.
The second book of kings ends up pretty much how I expected it to. God hates his chosen people and they end up screwed and out of the promised land.
Even when someone does good in the eyes of the LORD (King Josiah), the almighty says 'Nice, but no cigar. Your relatives screwed up so YOU have to suffer the consequences.'
Loving god indeed. The is the ultimate example of an abusive relationship IMHO.
These books would actually make for good reading as a historical drama if you took all the God did this, and God said that out of it.
Anyway, we'll. at least I will suffer through Chronicles. Quickly. I plan on doing 5 chapters a day for 11 days and my comments will be pretty sparse.
If you don't have the stomach for it, check back in later.
2 Kings 16 thru 25 ... well, maybe all of 2 Kings, was a drawn out enumeration of the royal lineage. No compelling characters, lots of doing evil in the sight of the lord, and the lord slapping around his misbehaving people. A grind. No inspiration.
ReplyDeleteOn the bright side, when you see a reference to Sennacherib or Nebuchadnezzar (or other historical figures) it's always a fun diversion to look 'em up and compare the biblical account to what you find on the internets.
I took a peek at Chronicles, and ... shoot me now!
After how often God has gotten upset over people worshiping false idols, I'm getting pretty bored with Him blaming the people each time rather than hiring a better PR man.
ReplyDelete@Bruce,
ReplyDeleteLoving god indeed. The is the ultimate example of an abusive relationship IMHO.
Do i need to ask the loving question over again? Why is it that a covenant is made, man breaks covenant, man gets the consequences of that broken covenant, and yet somehow God is in the wrong? Why have you not seen that God is consistent? The people that the Hebrews kicked out had 400 years of God dealing with them to repent. And they didn't so He evicted them. And now the Israelites are doing the same thing, and they are receiving the same punishment. Yet God is not loving. Give me a break.
"Those who don't know history are destined to repeat it."
What happened to 2 Kings 16-20? Doesn't appear in blog archive. Surely Hezekiah merits some discussion; the whole notion of extended lifespan as curse...
ReplyDelete@Edward
ReplyDeleteDo i need to ask the loving question over again? Why is it that a covenant is made, man breaks covenant, man gets the consequences of that broken covenant, and yet somehow God is in the wrong?
Because the consequences fall on the innocent rather than the guilty.
2 Kings 23:25 and 23:26 show Josiah trying to get it right - and apparently getting it right - and arranging for the people to get it right too - and still... it's not good enough because Manasseh wasn't one of the good guys.
That's abusive. If you're going to give me a slap because somebody else didn't follow your orders, you can hardly be surprised that I think you're unreasonable. And while I might be enough of a nice person to follow your orders in order to prevent Bruce getting a slap later for whatever I've done, neither you nor Bruce would be well advised to count on it. I might just think that since I'm getting the slap anyway, I might as well do something to make it worth my while.
@Edward,
ReplyDeleteWhat showinginterest said.
And again I ask why does he resort to violence at all? God is "almighty and all powerful". He can do anything, but violence and the shunning of his creation are what he resorts to.
I believe it was Mark Twain who famously said "Show me a man that resorts to violence, and I'll show you a man who's run out of good ideas."
@Anagory
ReplyDeleteI neglected to write up a post for that section (and several others) because of work commitments. I don't have the strength or will to go back and do it!
Feel free to post your feelings about it thou.