Well, friends, I'm ready to restart this "I'm bored at work and need something to do" project. Also known as my "working out my salvation" effort. You might think I never have anything to do and work at boring jobs, but no, I always have something in the fire and am very grateful to have time to work at each of them!
So, whoever you are, ("to an unknown audience,") since we last left off I am coming to you from work in a different city! Nashville, the Belt Buckle of the Bible Belt. Oh how joyous it is to be a Christian in this city. It's so much easier for me to be friendly here and unsuspicious. I'm spreading my wings here!
So back to the work at hand. Let's pick up where we left off on fake Bible Books - Chapter 17!
"Great are thy judgments and hard to describe; therefore uninstructed souls have gone astray."
I really like verse 1 - very interesting. His judgments are great and hard to describe on many levels - their magnitude, their purpose...and if we do not learn our lessons we are surely uncorrected in our evil courses. Though I would argue that the two parts should be switched, "Uninstructed souls have gone astray, therefore great are thy judgments and hard to describe." It is certainly interesting how the Lord corrects us in ways that we can understand if we choose. There are some however that are just plain terrible - those are just meant to get our attention, I think. I think we always know in some way what He really wants us to do - and leaves the rest up to our discretion. (Free will, baby!)
"For when lawless men supposed that they held the holy nation in their power, they themselves lay as captives of darkness and prisoners of long night, shut in under their roofs, exiles from eternal providence."
Sounds like what's going on in the Middle East with Israel. God bless the Holy Nation of Israel!
"For thinking that in their secret sins they were unobserved behind a dark curtain of forgetfulness, they were scattered, terribly alarmed, and appalled by specters. For not even the inner chamber that held them protected them from fear, but terrifying sounds rang out around them, and dismal phantoms with gloomy faces appeared."
Okay, could I have picked a better day than Halloween to restart this blog and have this passage in here about darkness, fear, weird sounds, ghosts, and phantoms?? Yes, the haunting of people outside of the protection of the Lord! If believers are tormented, how much more non-believers! And yet, many are not even aware of it.
"And no power of fire was able to give light, nor did the brilliant flames of the stars avail to illumine that hateful night. Nothing was shining through to them except a dreadful, self-kindled fire, and in terror they deemed the things which they saw to be worse than that unseen appearance. The delusions of their magic art lay humbled, and their boasted wisdom was scornfully rebuked."
Methinks this refers to the Roman occupation, although I'm no historian - I just gleaned that off a cutting of an article from Encyclopedia Britannica. Ironic last line about their wisdom being rebuked. Example of the separation between man's wisdom and God's referred to in this text. Although one (me) might argue, in too many places they overlap here.
"For those who promised to drive off the fears and disorders of a sick soul were sick themselves with ridiculous fear. For even if nothing disturbing frightened them, yet, scared by the passing of beasts and the hissing of serpents, they perished in trembling fear, refusing to look even at the air, though it nowhere could be avoided."
Make no promises to cure or heal! That's sound. Only God has that power. How frightening is that? Refusing to look at the air! Perishing in fear! Talk about a "dark night of the soul."
"For wickedness is a cowardly thing, condemned by its own testimony; distressed by conscience, it has always exaggerated the difficulties. For fear is nothing but surrender of the helps that come from reason; and the inner expectation of help, being weak, prefers ignorance of what causes the torment."
Thick and confusing here. Wickedness is indeed cloaked fear. Interesting connection to being distressed by conscience - sounds like Paul in Romans 2:15. This is a lot of great psycho-babble. Well, the Hellenistic Athenians were great philosophers. This is almost like a direct quote from Epicureanism! (I wonder if it is! HA!) Although the negating attitude is leaning toward Stoicism! I have an image of a British chap looking down his nose and down his pipe saying, "Really dahlin, if you'd just be reasonable, you'd stop being so fearful." Hehe :)
"But throughout the night, which was really powerless, and which beset them from the recesses of powerless Hades, they all slept the same sleep, and now were driven by monstrous specters, and now were paralyzed by their souls' surrender, for sudden and unexpected fear overwhelmed them. And whoever was there fell down, and thus was kept shut up in a prison not made of iron; for whether he was a farmer or a shepherd or a workman who toiled in the wilderness, he was seized, and endured the inescapable fate; for with one chain of darkness they all were bound. Whether there came a whistling wind, or a melodious sound of birds in wide-spreading branches, or the rhythm of violently rushing water, or the harsh crash of rocks hurled down, or the unseen running of leaping animals, or the sound of the most savage roaring beasts, or an echo thrown back from a hollow of the mountains, it paralyzed them with terror. For the whole world was illumined with brilliant light, and was engaged in unhindered work, while over those men alone heavy night was spread, an image of the darkness that was destined to receive them; but still heavier than darkness were they to themselves."
This reads like a Shakespearean prologue. Very descriptive and imaginitive, but where is it going? Perhaps we'll find out in Chapter 18! But seriously, we have changed tones here - another reason this is not a true prophetic book. We've gone from Proverby advice and prattlings about the importance of Wisdom to a history book! What's going on here? Be wise...but not too wise...what is Wisdom without action? Oh, yeah, this was written by a Stoic. Know all, do nothing! Oh, wait, don't get too passionate about that.
Ok folks, Happy Hallowed Eve and All Saints Day - I'm looking forward to rejoining you soon for our next installment! (I feel like I'm announcing Masterpiece Theatre...or is it Tales from the Crypt!!?!!?) *Insert Evil Laugh*
