Reference links:
Old Testament
Moses is finally getting around to dying. Now, it is not that I am happy to see Moses die. It is just that he has been on the verge of dying for over a month now. Genesis covered pre-historical mythology plus hundreds of years of history. Exodus covered a good part of the next 40 years. Numbers covered the rest. But part of Numbers, all of Leviticus, and all of Deuteronomy have been covering, in terms of narrative advancement, a matter of weeks, or something along those lines. It’s like Zeno’s paradox; we keep getting closer and closer to the end, but we will never arrive.
The rest of today’s reading includes a statement from Moses that he knows the Israelites will become corrupt sometime after he dies.
Now summon all the elders and officials of your tribes, so that I can speak to them directly and call heaven and earth to witness against them. I know that after my death you will become utterly corrupt and will turn from the way I have commanded you to follow. In the days to come, disaster will come down on you, for you will do what is evil in the Lord’s sight, making him very angry with your actions.
He then recites a long poem to the same effect (and by long, I mean that it takes up more than half the lines in today’s reading and is continued tomorrow).
New Testament
A repeat of the passage that “proves” I shall not be forgiven. Yay blasphemy!
I tell you the truth, everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on earth, the Son of Man will also acknowledge in the presence of God’s angels. But anyone who denies me here on earth will be denied before God’s angels. Anyone who speaks against the Son of Man can be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven.
Also, a number of lessons about not worrying about money because God will take care of the needs of believers. It is good to encourage people to worry about possessions and status less. However, I feel that these are also lessons that could be used to denigrate the hungry and the homeless and the poor.
Psalms and Proverbs
Today’s psalm is a continuation of yesterday’s. Today’s fragment tells more about ways the Israelites rebelled during their years of wandering. It then reviews the plagues God sent against Egypt as a way of illustrating how forgetful the Israelites are.
Today was definitely not the day to not be in the mood for poetry.