Amos was written during the divided kingdom, and was addressed to the northern kingdom of Israel (the southern kingdom was referred to as Judah). The first two chapters of Amos contain 8 announcements of judgement on different nations. Each one starts with “Thus says the LORD: ‘For three transgressions of [Enter nation here], and for four, I will not revoke the punishment, ‘” but then proceeds to only list one or two sins. The fact that each list gets cut off leaves the reader waiting to hear about another city that’s really gonna get it. Finally (so a Jewish reader would believe), we get to number 7, and the prophet Amos names Judah. The heart of Israel would leap inside them as they find out that this whole long section is building up to the judgement of Judah, their enemy. However, their list is also cut short. The 8th and final nation that Amos points to is Israel, giving a full list of 4 sins, as well as a hefty section on judgement.

All that is not the point of this post, but shows the main reason all these judgments were announced. Israel is painted as the worst offender, worse off than the pagan nations around them, and more deserving of judgement. However, in addition to this message, we get a glimpse of God’s character and desires.

Amos 1 and 2 is one of a handful of passages that shows God’s workings in other nations. Israel was God’s chosen people to be sure, but chosen for what? Through the covenant He made with Abraham, we can see that God’s purpose for Israel was to bring the entire world to Himself. They would be the example through whom the world could learn about God (unfortunately, as a result of Israel’s constant rebellion, they were only a bad example not to follow throughout most of the Old Testament). This passage shows that during all His workings with Israel, He was still at work in other nations, and held them accountable for their own actions, even when it had nothing to do with His chosen people.

In the New Testament we read that God loves the Gentiles, and Peter is called to minister to them. Since it’s so obvious here, and not so much in the Old Testament, we get the idea that God didn’t care about the Gentiles back then. Well, God is unchanging, and has always loved and pursued a relationship with the entire world, hoping to bring them all to Himself.

So I decided I’d download the NET Bible eBook and take the verse numbers out myself. It took me a little while to get started, but with some new understandings about how ePub’s worked, and the right free software, I was able to get it done lickety-split!

I thought man, it’d be great to be able to distribute this but upon checking, that would be a violation of the copyright on the NET Bible. However, after reading further, I found out that their heart was to not get in the way of ministry, and their copyright only existed because they had some issues with how public domain Bibles were being used, and wanted to avoid that. So I sent an E-mail out asking for permission to distribute my little “reader’s edition” of the NET Bible (I basically just removed verse numbers, chapter headings, and paragraph headings). 17 minutes later, the Executive Director (One David Austin) at Bible.org E-mailed me back saying I had permission to provide the free download! It’s the first time I’ve had any official kind of permission for anything!

So download it already! If you don’t have an E-reader you could use it on your computer (try Calibre). It’s great for reading through large chunks of scripture or reading a smaller chunk over and over again for study.

1. Whenever anyone sends an E-mail to my main E-mail address, a copy is sent to my text script.
2. The text script checks to see if it matches certain criteria (like being about craigslist or ebay)
3. If it gets past the filters, the E-mail is subjected to some more formatting/filtering
4. The freshly formatted E-mail is sent to my phone as a text (or pix message if it’s too long for a text)

This thing was crazy fun and exciting to get set up and I’m stoked about being able to get select E-mails on my phone without paying for any kind of data plan. So if you’re a friend of mine and want in on this, my script is set up to handle a bunch of different E-mail addresses/phone numbers, so if you ask nicely and I have time, I can totally set it up for you!

I think that everyone (myself included) seems to think that the Old Testament is full of laws and legalism, and that Grace only came after Christ died. Well after reading today in Leviticus, I’ve decided to read the rest of the OT from a new perspective: One of grace. I’m going to search my little portions of scripture each morning for how God’s grace is evident.

In particular I’m talking about Leviticus 25, where God hands down the law of the Year of Jubilee. Talk about grace! If you’re down and out and have to sell yourself into slavery, just wait until the 50th year, and everything gets reset. How’s that for security! All the land you’ve sold comes right back to you and everything. This is an idea of government that really beats welfare and unemployment benefits. What a great way for God to keep all his people fed while still keeping them honest (if it’s the 49th year, and someone wants to sell you a field, you know you’re only renting it for a year, and you’ll pay accordingly).

I just thought that was a cool example of God’s gracious love for His people, even in the midst of the book of laws and regulations.

Well, in my own finite and flawed mind, all I could come up with is “Familiarity.” We read and study the Old Testament to become familiar with Gods laws and Jewish culture, which brings about a better understanding of those parts of scripture that have active applications.

Plus, knowing what God spoke as law can help us to understand what God thinks is important. And regardless of whether or not that law is still in effect, it helps us to understand His character, which helps us to make decisions about things that aren’t directly addressed in scripture.

So go ahead… break out that Bible and read a nice lengthy chunk of Leviticus.

It seems to me that this is a freedom to serve God, without being worried about each individual commandment. It’s a freedom to make mistakes, without worrying about God turning His back on us. It’s a freedom to do what we think will please God, without consulting with a lawyer who has memorized the Torah. It’s the freedom of knowing that we are forgiven, and that nothing can take that away.

So how can you live today in this freedom? Who can you minister to without worrying about the rules?

So I’m holding this beautiful pie that Justin and I made. Justin pretty much handled the produce for me, and his wife Amber gave me a couple general baking tips, but that beautiful lattice weave was all me! The rhubarb was given to me by one of my parents’ friends from the mission field, and it came fresh out of her garden. That could be a big contributing factor to the fact that this pie was easily among the best I have ever tasted (and before you think I’m just stuck up, Justin, Rachel and Amber thought it was good too)! So maybe this will be the beginning of a pie-baking trend for me, or maybe I’ll be too lazy to do it again… but my taste buds are hoping for the former rather than the latter.

Justin and I and our creation

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