...thus it took me over an hour and a half to get home from work tonight. And Thursday promises to be another such nightmare.
One thing I will say for living in small towns and the boonies...the winter weather isn't nearly so bad because a few inches on a country road is nothing in comparison to even a half inch in a city.
And after my hour-and-a-half drive home, after which I collapsed in gratefulness, I opened my bag to set my books out so I could work on my paper. And it wasn't there. Because I'd taken my course notes out of my bag at work during a discussion with a co-worker who is also in the IPT program. And when I left work I forgot to place it back in my bag.
And I can't do a thing on my paper without this bound book containing the information provided by the professor....the framework for the paper.
* sigh *
So I've been re-reading Kings, Joshua, Judges, and now I'm doing word searches with concordances....which is mostly useless. I'm supposed to write a 3 (min) page single-spaced paper about God's mercy in the Old Testament. I can find some of the themes, but keep in mind; this is a synthesis of similar themes and passages, not an explanation. I can "flesh out" just a little, but overall, right now I have about 20 notations which would give me less than a page.
This is so not cool.
What is the Hebrew word for "Without Hope" and "Not Pitied by God"?
9 comments:
Hosed? Like in: Hosea? :-)
Well, what can I say? I'm happy your Mom is fine and you made it home safely. It took me nearly 3 hours to get home. The good news: I prayed the Rosary, a DM Chaplet, the Angelus and numerous other prayers. Good prayer time. Bad news: I missed my scheduled Adoration hour.
Hosed? Hosea?
What would we do without Cathy?
Two-Car Ray
I am now working on my fourth attempt to master the "word" so I can leave this comment.
Cathy LOL! Although "hosed" doesn't come from "Hosea", especially considering that this particular book is all about how God taught this prophet about His love for his Bride, the chosen people; explaining that He is a jealous God because His people have divided hearts, like an adulterous wife. I believe this was the first time in the OT that God revealed the spousal relationship between He and His people.
Ray ~ 2 car?
What we discussed in the historical books is how much leeway God gives to His people. You rarely find the people meeting the letter of the law, but God often accepts their best efforts or even ratifies the interpretation they apply to His Law. For example, the promise to the people of Gibeon or to Rahab. Both of these go against the explicit word of God. Nonetheless, Joshua is considered faithful. He cuts them (and us) way more slack than we realize.
Theocoid ~ If you were to actually look for the theme of mercy in the Old Testament, you would actually see some very strong words. God reveals Himself to His people through His mercy; and via the prophets he points out the disasters happening to the other people who worship false gods. Then once the people know Him, God also reveals the consequences for continued rejection. And the lesson: Do NOT presume upon God's mercy. Do NOT take His mercy for granted!
It's amazing what I'm learning through this study, but it's really tough. I got a lot done on it this morning, and this recurrant theme is really amazing.
So from what I can see, (speaking only of the OT peoples at this point as I cannot use the NT for this class), yes, God cuts slack, but only in order to reveal who He is and his love for His people. But repeatedly the consequences are revealed when the people fall away and worship idols, etc. And the consequences to the chosen people are far worse than any consequences ever suffered by those who never knew God in the first place.
But another theme is also recurrant; even as God's judgment fell upon the chosen people, judges or other righteous people would discover God's teachings, and return with a contrite heart; and God ALWAYS spared the repentant individual and blessed him. God did not once ever reject someone's request for mercy.
Wow. Hmm...I might be ready to write this paper.....
:-)
Yes, I've been reading many of the same books, but we're taking a different approach. God's mercy and favor is always tied to obedience. The question is whether it's always easy to know what the law means and how it is to be implemented. If you notice, the ban (complete and utter destruction of a people in a city) is rarely enforced. You have people who were supposed to be "utterly destroyed" showing up later on, which suggests they weren't utterly destroyed. Anyhoo, it's clear that no matter what, the people of Israel had a pretty lousy track record of obedience.
I agree it is tied to obedience, yet the fact that they were supposed to be destroyed and weren't speaks very clearly to God's mercy. It also speaks to intercessory prayer, as often individuals prayed on behalf of others, but most of what I've found indicates God honored the prayers of those of pled, but not for those for whom the individual pled. In other words, God held the people responsible for themselves. In other words...do not take God's mercy for granted. He allowed a great deal....but when they ultimately hardened their hearts, God allowed their enemies to overtake them.
"...God honored the prayers of those of pled, but not for those for whom the individual pled."
Huh?
Um...yeah...that came out wrong.
I found several passages where someone interceeded for mercy for the people. That individual was contrite and pled for mercy. God did not withhold his judgment upon the unrepentant in spite of the intercession of the contrite.
But God never spurned a truly contrite heart; even as he let a nation fall, he raised individuals and spared them in some way.
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