August 16 - The Ultra-condensed Summary of World History

        Acts 27:24-31 - "The God who made the world and everything in it — He is Ruler of heaven and earth and does not live in shrines made by hands. Neither is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives everyone life and breath and all things. From one man He has made every nationality to live over the whole earth and has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they live. He did this so they might seek God, and perhaps they might reach out and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us. For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ Being God’s offspring then, we shouldn’t think that the divine nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image fashioned by human art and imagination. Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to change their minds, because He has set a day when He is going to judge the world in righteousness by the Man He has appointed. He has provided proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.” © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers

        That is the ultra-condensed version of history from creation to the end thereof, as we know it. There are obviously more details that we as the human race need to know to have a more-thorough knowledge of God, his ways, and his plan for humans. Nonetheless, these verses give you and me a glimpse into our own existence. I was born in Pennslyvania, in the USA, to a white family of European ancestry, in the 20^th century AD - on purpose. God planned the start of my earthly existence to be in that particular place on earth, to a particular family/nationality, and in that particular time in history. As a matter of fact, this is true for everyone living, and who has ever lived. As the text states, God did this, despite the fact that he is invisible, so that we could look for him and yet find him, wherever we were in time, place, and circumstance.

        The latter part of the text also differentiates between two separate historical timeframes, one before Jesus lived on the earth, and the one thereafter. So there are at least two measures of revelation from God to mankind, the latter perhaps carrying more responsibility for mankind in relation to the personal acceptance (embracing) of that revelation. (From an historical view of the Bible, one can conclude several different measures of revelation. The fleshing out of that concept is for another blog.) It may seem like God plays hide-and-seek (and I think he does sometimes on purpose), but he has given mankind enough reason for us to find him and know him.

August 15 – Face-book Irony

Psalm 105:14 – "Look to Yahweh and his strength; seek his face always."

Psalm 27:8, 9 – "My heart says of you, 'Seek his face'. Your face, Yahweh, I will seek.   Do not hide your face from me....." © NIV, 1973

       I try to not take anything for granted in God's word, which is sometimes easy to do after more than three decades of following Jesus. There is certainly much that I do not understand in the Old Testament prophets; there is much learning/living to do as life lines up with the New Testament teaching and experiences. To that point, I am always finding new things to ponder in God's word. There is a phrase that pops up now and then in the Old Testament that is ironic – "Seek his face".

       God, who remained mostly invisible in the Old Testament to Earth's inhabitants, told us not to worship images or idols, because he was so much bigger and so much more than a small material object – even so much bigger than his creation. Yet he remained unseen – invisible – to the physical eye. Then some Old Testament writers, such as Moses and the psalmists, come along and use some mystical phrasing in contrast to this invisible God. This passage from Numbers 6:22f is very interesting. Yahweh himself instructs Moses, "Tell Aaron and his sons, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites: Speak to them: " ' "May Yahweh bless you and keep you [safe]; may Yahweh make his face shine on you and be grace-giving to you; may Yahweh turn his face toward you and give you peace." ' "

       While Moses did speak with Yahweh "face-to-face", the rest of the Israelite community only saw God's glory in awesome, terrible, displays of fire, smoke, and loud rumblings/voices. Yet God uses the word "face" metaphorically in a positive, gentle way to convey his desire to love and bless us. Seeing someone's face is a very important aspect in knowing that person. Yet God says that we can know him, without seeing his face. There are other parts of creation that point to him, and to us knowing him. So, I see this interesting use of phrasing as a means of testing us. The resurrected Jesus told a "doubting" Thomas in John 20:29, "Because you have finally seen me, you now believe. Blessed are those who have not seen me and still believe." That promise holds true even two millenia after Jesus physically left this earth.