The Day of the Lord (v. 1-11)
The lord will come like a thief in the night and bring destruction down on people who mistakenly think they are safe and secure. But we are children of the light, not of the darkness, God has not destined us for wrath, but for salvation through Jesus.
I think that is a fair summary, although I must admit this section was pretty confusing. It's also terrible, God is bringing destruction to people because they are not destined for salvation through Jesus. How is this acceptable? Does this sound like the infinitely just God you have heard about?
Also, this is still speaking as if this is going to happen soon. The lord will come and destroy people who think they are safe, but we will not be among those. That certainly sounds to me like they think it will happen in their lifetime, not thousands of years later.
Final Instructions and Benediction (v. 12-28)
I must say this is mildly frustrating, this book was largely content free, and here in the end there are a bunch of instructions crammed into a few short verses. Most of it is good, although some of it is a bit simplistic. Let's see what we have.
Respect those who are above you in the church, even when they admonish you.
Not such a good start, and it seems self serving.
Be at peace, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient.
There is some good stuff
See that no one repays evil for evil.
So basically no eye for an eye. This is good, although it seems hollow coming from a wrathful God.
Abstain from evil.
This makes sense, I'm not exactly sure what evil is, but whatever it means, if you think something is evil, not doing it is a good idea.
For the overview post (If you think I should add or remove stuff from this list please let me know, I think it would make good conversation)
Good:
5:14 encourage, help, be patient
"And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle,encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all."
5:15 no eye for an eye
"See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone."
5:22 avoid evil
"Abstain from every form of evil."
So was the previous eye for an eye stuff a mistake God made then overturned? I thought the Old Testament Guy was all for that.
ReplyDeleteThe funny thing is, the new testament god seems to be a bit of a flip flopper. Just wait for tomorrow's post, it turns out eye for an eye is a good thing.
DeleteI wonder if the OT was anthropomorphized, if that person would even get elected.. I think he/she'd first be branded a hero to some, a socialist for a communist to others. I think much of the media would be on him/her for the malicious stuff.. And whether or not the news organization liked them, their contradictions stances on almost everything as well. Just a thought I guess.
DeleteYou mean the OT is running for office? It would be way to easy to go negative, I don't think he'd have a chance.
DeleteI meant the NT. Typo. >_<
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