Book of Ezekiel 44-48

Ezekiel 44-48
The last big book of the Old Testament comes to an end.  Thank Jebus!

God shows Ezekiel around the new, improved temple and then says "You'll have to use the servants entrance."

Who's this prince their talking about?

The Levites get demoted from priests to usher.  I'm surprised God let's them participate at all!
God then gives us a rehash of the rules of the game*.  It's good that he's focusing on the important stuff like justice, kindness and helping others in need.  Oh... wait.

God hates wool and sweat!

44:17 And it shall come to pass, that when they enter in at the gates of the inner court, they shall be clothed with linen garments; and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within.

44:18 They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat.

Wool is naturally fire retardent so God didn't want to have his priests wearing anything that would protect them if he felt the need to spontaneously combust them for an infraction, ala Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu.

God gives really shitty gifts;

44:28 And it shall be unto them for an inheritance: I am their inheritance: and ye shall give them no possession in Israel: I am their possession. God then parcel out land, gives more measurements and tells us how to kill and prepare his meals. Chapter 47 tells us that there is a leaky pipe in the temple.  The robot with the tape measure is worthless when it comes to repairs. And the exciting conclusion to the Book of Ezekiel?  God redistributes land to the tribes. What a lame way to end a book!  Jeez. *Great movie.  Rent it if you get a chance.

Judges 17-21 The Final Judgement

Judges 17-21

Micah steals money from his mom but then cops to it and is then "Blessed by the LORD"  I think the storyteller is being sarcastic.
She wanted to use the money for graven and molten images.  Micah uses the rest to hire a Levite.

Chapter 19 is an obvious retelling of the story of Lot and Sodom & Gomorrah but with a grotest twist .

Chapter 20 is all about the Benjamins.  Still not exactly sure why they would go to war against the rest of the tribes (other then condoning the gang rape of chapter 19).  After the battle in which al the women were killed, only 400 Benjamin males remain.  What to do?  Wipe out another group and take their virgins.  But alas, we're 200 virgins short.  They pick up the remainder by kidnapping girls dancing in the fields.

You can't make this stuff up.  Or can you?

Joshua 21-24 I Shall Call This Alter... ED

Joshua 21-24

We reach the end of Joshua.  The book and the man.
This book has a satisfying ending (a sense of completion) unlike most of the previous books we've been thru.  


The Levites get their cities and everyone goes off happy to their own little piece of the Promised Land.
21:43-45 Tells us that the LORD has given the Israelites all the land he swore unto them, but the previous chapters give us several instances were he couldn't drive out the rightful owners of the land(16:10, 17:12).  He shouldn't have over-promised.


But wait!  The children of Reuben, the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh have built an alter in their land on the other side of Jordan.  Surely they must be up to no good!  The rest of the Israelites send an investigative party to find out why.  they're (rightly) afraid that God will punish everyone for the crimes of the few.
Turns out everyone was worried about nothing as the alter is for praising the LORD.


Here's a Hmmmm moment.  God asks the Israelites which of the many gods they will serve.  Him, the pre-flood gods or the god of the Amorites.
He seems to give them a choice here where, before they got to the promised land, he would have destroyed them .  Interesting.
24:15 And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.


We end with another recap of God mass killings before Joshua takes his final bows before the people.  


I'm curious.  Apart from the need to change the name, this book seems like it should be part of the Pentateuch.  It's a direct continuation of the story and bookends Exodus nicely.
Is the separation due only to being written AFTER the death of Moses?


Anyway, now that the Israelites are settled into the Promised Land, I'm guessing that the Book of Judges will be much more peaceful.

Numbers 5-9 God and the Levites

Numbers 5-9

God gives more rules to the Levites.

"Oh, did I mention?  Keep the Sabbath."

Numbers 1-4 The Counting Begins

Numbers 1-4

We're starting book 4!
I'm going to set an aggressive reading schedule so we can get thru this quickly
Monday - 1-4
Tuesday - 5-9
Wednesday - 10-14
Thursday - 15-19
Friday - 20-25
Saturday - 26-30
Sunday - 31-36

This is were I lost interest last year when I tried to read the Bible on my own.  I'm much more motivated to read on thanks to this blog and the commenters.

God is preparing the Israelites for war.  All the tribes take a census to determine the number of males eligible to serve in the army except for the Levites, who are the priestly cast.
Numbers is very much about numbers!