Thursday, October 31, 2013
Happy Halloween!
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Weird Bible Verses Part 2
"Eat, drink, and be merry."
This one really is in the Bible, actually in two places. It can be found in Isaiah 22:13 AND in Ecclesiastes 8:15. Yet this is one that is almost always taken out of context. Nowadays we often use sarcasm, saying something that we do not mean and our tone indicates that others should not take our words at face value. Sarcasm is not used in the Bible, but that doesn't mean that everything written there literally means what it says. The Virgin Birth of Jesus is to be taken literally. A dragon with ten heads is to be taken figuratively.
Once we read the entire chapters around each instance of "eat, drink, and be merry" we can see that this phrase is not written as advice to be followed. Rather, it is given as a way of throwing in the towel, of despairing and being hopeless. How do I know this? Check it out:
In the Isaiah passage read verses 13-21. The people talked about here are in deep trouble: something bad is coming. They have wealth, power, and position; yet there is a sin present, a debt owed so to speak, and the punishment for it is imminent. They know they will be in mourning (hence the talk of sackcloth and bald heads: they shave them in mourning). Knowing their city is about to be sacked they are desperate, hysterical. So they pull out the Biblical version of YOLO. They agree to do stupid, meaningless things, because they think death is the end. They forget the promises of life forever.
Obviously the book of Isaiah is in the Old Testament. Pre-Jesus Christ's atonement for everyone's sins, they don't have a Savior but instead try to fulfill all the Law as their part of keeping the covenant between God and themselves (Israel).
In the Ecclesiastes passage look at verses 14-16. Here the author flat-out admits that they had given up so they might as well party. Life is futile says the author, even good people have to suffer the misdeeds of the evil, so it is recommendation to those people that they might as well just party.
Yet this isn't true, the bad things in this life are actually fleeting because if we repent of our sins and believe that Jesus Christ died for all of our sins, we can have a second life that lasts forever. And in that one there won't be any bad things or evil misdeeds that others do that hurt us.
This one really is in the Bible, actually in two places. It can be found in Isaiah 22:13 AND in Ecclesiastes 8:15. Yet this is one that is almost always taken out of context. Nowadays we often use sarcasm, saying something that we do not mean and our tone indicates that others should not take our words at face value. Sarcasm is not used in the Bible, but that doesn't mean that everything written there literally means what it says. The Virgin Birth of Jesus is to be taken literally. A dragon with ten heads is to be taken figuratively.
Once we read the entire chapters around each instance of "eat, drink, and be merry" we can see that this phrase is not written as advice to be followed. Rather, it is given as a way of throwing in the towel, of despairing and being hopeless. How do I know this? Check it out:
In the Isaiah passage read verses 13-21. The people talked about here are in deep trouble: something bad is coming. They have wealth, power, and position; yet there is a sin present, a debt owed so to speak, and the punishment for it is imminent. They know they will be in mourning (hence the talk of sackcloth and bald heads: they shave them in mourning). Knowing their city is about to be sacked they are desperate, hysterical. So they pull out the Biblical version of YOLO. They agree to do stupid, meaningless things, because they think death is the end. They forget the promises of life forever.
Obviously the book of Isaiah is in the Old Testament. Pre-Jesus Christ's atonement for everyone's sins, they don't have a Savior but instead try to fulfill all the Law as their part of keeping the covenant between God and themselves (Israel).
In the Ecclesiastes passage look at verses 14-16. Here the author flat-out admits that they had given up so they might as well party. Life is futile says the author, even good people have to suffer the misdeeds of the evil, so it is recommendation to those people that they might as well just party.
Yet this isn't true, the bad things in this life are actually fleeting because if we repent of our sins and believe that Jesus Christ died for all of our sins, we can have a second life that lasts forever. And in that one there won't be any bad things or evil misdeeds that others do that hurt us.
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