The glory of God

I read a footnote in my bible that discussed the four faces found on the heavenly beings that Ezekiel saw.  The lion, ox, eagle, and human all represent something in particular: the lion is the king of the wild animals; the ox is the strongest of all domestic animals; the eagle is the king of the air; and the human is set on top of all creation.  I also read in this website (click here for the whole article) that these animals represent something of Jesus Christ.  This idea may be reading a little too much into the text, but it said that Christ came as king, as servant (like an ox), as an intellectual (perceptive like an eagle), and as ruler over all things.
What I was really curious about was the wheel within the wheel, and what that means.  As far as I can tell, they simply represent another aspect of the glory of God, and how he is forever watching (the eyes on the wheels) and he never stops looking out for us.  Some people would like to think that these wheels represent some sort of UFO, but I thought that was a poor reading of the text in the eyes of the author.
Basically Ezekiel was blown away by these visions in which he saw the glory of God, and could barely find words to describe his experience.

Implicit trust

Key verse
Job 2:10 - "Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?"

I've done some background reading on the new books we're looking at in my Archaeological study bible.   Here are some things I learned, along with my own thoughts I'd like to share.

Job
I've learned something new about the book of Job.  Apparently, when it was written, the popular idea about suffering was that if you were going through bad times, it must be because you had sinned or your ancestors had sinned.  The story of Job shows that people can suffer even though they are righteous.  This new view presents a whole different picture of what God is like, and how little we can understand of him in our finite world.  Implicit trust and faith in the ultimate goodness of God is required.

How do you reconcile the problem of suffering in this world with the belief in a good God?

Ezekiel
This book was written for the exiles to Babylon.  Ezekiel was preparing them (in 593 BC) for the destruction of Jerusalem so that they wouldn't live in the false hope that the city would somehow be spared.  The city was destroyed in 586 BC.

A great reminder

Peter's exhortation to make our calling and election sure is a great reminder, and what a list to work on.  It's so easy, though, to fall into a rut and forget about what Christ has done for us, forget about being 'cleansed from our past sins'.  Again we see that our true faith in Christ should lead us to work on our character, increasing in goodness, kindness, self-control, godliness, love, and more!

Reading the bible

Key verse

Lamentations 5:19 - You, O Lord, reign forever; your throne endures from generation to generation. 

_________

 I must admit, after reading some books about the bible, I have found that this current approach to reading the bible (four different snippets a day) is really not that effective for actually gaining anything from the bible study.  In order to get a true sense of the text, it's better to read larger chunks or entire books at a time, rather than select verses here and there.  For getting through the entire bible in 9 months, this is certainly a good way to do it, because you won't get 'bored' with a book, as you're reading four different ones at a time.

However, I will continue with this reading plan and once I am done, I will likely go back through book by book at a slower pace and have more time to study specific passages.

Humble yourself

Humble yourself before God, and he will lift you up.  That's often where we stop reading that verse.  Be humble, and we'll be raised up!  Except we're missing a vital part of that verse.  In due time.  When you've grown from the experience, God will lift you up.  Perhaps even after you've matured a little bit, and really understand what it means to be humble, you'll be lifted up, as Peter was speaking to the young men at this point.  The main point, however, is that we be humble.

It is hard for the righteous to be saved

It is hard enough for Christians to follow the way of Christ, let alone those who do not believe in Jesus.  After some study, that is what I get from 1 Peter 4:18, which states the following:
And, "If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?"

If you're curious in reading a little more on that yourself, click here.

Ekhah! (Oh How!)

And so begins the book of Lamentations, a series of poems outlining the Jews' mourning for the destruction of Jerusalem.  It will be interesting to see whether this book ends in hope or sadness.

John 6:68 - Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."
-The Twelve Disciples couldn't bear to leave Jesus, even if his teachings were hard, because they knew the truth about his message.  He truly was the Messiah, and promised eternal life and forgiveness of sins for all who believe in him.  There's no where else to turn.