I spent a lot of time in the Bible today.
I have decided to go ahead and at least look into finding a lawyer to help me fight my unemployment appeal. No harm in trying. Ultimately, though, I just need to find a job. Which I'm working on, absolutely.
I did a lot of research on Moses today. It was fascinating, actually. I mean, we all know the main story. But the first few chapters, the stuff before he was all Charleton-Heston-Awesome... That's what I really find interesting. Exodus 1-5 is full of things I'd never thought about before.
I feel like I can really relate to Moses sometimes. We don't know what his relationship with his adoptive family was, but he was well aware that he was a Hebrew. Also, his adoptive father tried to kill him. It stands to reason that his relationship was, perhaps, not the best. On the other hand, I've always heard that Moses wrote Exodus. Yes, it was God-inspired, but you can't tell me that each writer's styles and prejudices don't shine through at times. It's possible that Moses truly, honestly believed that his adoptive grandfather tried to kill him, and was never able to get the real story because he ran away. Either way, he obviously never really fit in with the royal family that well, nor with the Hebrews.
We all know Moses had a temper problem. You can't kill a man and not have a bit of a temper problem. He wanted to save people, obviously, but he went about it all the wrong way. He truly loved his people, but they just made him so angry. We see examples of it throughout his time as judge. But it's interesting to see the immaturity inherent in this first recorded temper outburst. You have to wonder... Had his education included the Hebrew faith? Later, he asks for a name to give the Israelites. Though Hebrew, did he know anything about that culture or religion?
I've always wondered... If Moses hadn't killed that Egyptian, how would history have differed? I don't believe in predestination, and God does not tempt people. If the whole goal was for Moses to get adopted, kill a man, and then run off to the desert, why was it Pharaoh's daughter who picked him out of the river? Why not an Egyptian commoner who had recently lost a child and would be willing to adopt a Hebrew child to ease her broken heart? Why did God place Moses in such a place of authority, and what would He have done with Moses if Moses hadn't lost his temper?
I know some theorists talk about how he had a stutter, and that was why he didn't want to talk to Pharaoh. I wonder if it wasn't something a little more basic. He'd run away. He'd probably spoken a different language in Egypt, and he was out of practice. I don't know. I do know that I can read that line and totally relate. I don't quite stutter, but I do have a tendency to repeat things in funny ways without meaning to, particularly when I'm nervous or excited. Speaking to Pharaoh would surely be both exciting and nerve-wracking. Maybe Moses just wasn't confident in the language. Or was scared.
It's interesting to theorize. I'm only really going in-depth on the first five chapters, and I've only gotten through the first three so far, just writing down questions. I don't know what I'll do with what I find. But I'm fascinated by what I'm learning, and what I'm thinking about.
In other news, I just got back inside after dealing with the police. I had thought this was a fairly safe neighborhood, but I just spotted a man outside my window and he was... Er. Having a good time. To use a euphemism. I hope the police catch him, and he gets some help. And I think I need to move.
I have decided to go ahead and at least look into finding a lawyer to help me fight my unemployment appeal. No harm in trying. Ultimately, though, I just need to find a job. Which I'm working on, absolutely.
I did a lot of research on Moses today. It was fascinating, actually. I mean, we all know the main story. But the first few chapters, the stuff before he was all Charleton-Heston-Awesome... That's what I really find interesting. Exodus 1-5 is full of things I'd never thought about before.
I feel like I can really relate to Moses sometimes. We don't know what his relationship with his adoptive family was, but he was well aware that he was a Hebrew. Also, his adoptive father tried to kill him. It stands to reason that his relationship was, perhaps, not the best. On the other hand, I've always heard that Moses wrote Exodus. Yes, it was God-inspired, but you can't tell me that each writer's styles and prejudices don't shine through at times. It's possible that Moses truly, honestly believed that his adoptive grandfather tried to kill him, and was never able to get the real story because he ran away. Either way, he obviously never really fit in with the royal family that well, nor with the Hebrews.
We all know Moses had a temper problem. You can't kill a man and not have a bit of a temper problem. He wanted to save people, obviously, but he went about it all the wrong way. He truly loved his people, but they just made him so angry. We see examples of it throughout his time as judge. But it's interesting to see the immaturity inherent in this first recorded temper outburst. You have to wonder... Had his education included the Hebrew faith? Later, he asks for a name to give the Israelites. Though Hebrew, did he know anything about that culture or religion?
I've always wondered... If Moses hadn't killed that Egyptian, how would history have differed? I don't believe in predestination, and God does not tempt people. If the whole goal was for Moses to get adopted, kill a man, and then run off to the desert, why was it Pharaoh's daughter who picked him out of the river? Why not an Egyptian commoner who had recently lost a child and would be willing to adopt a Hebrew child to ease her broken heart? Why did God place Moses in such a place of authority, and what would He have done with Moses if Moses hadn't lost his temper?
I know some theorists talk about how he had a stutter, and that was why he didn't want to talk to Pharaoh. I wonder if it wasn't something a little more basic. He'd run away. He'd probably spoken a different language in Egypt, and he was out of practice. I don't know. I do know that I can read that line and totally relate. I don't quite stutter, but I do have a tendency to repeat things in funny ways without meaning to, particularly when I'm nervous or excited. Speaking to Pharaoh would surely be both exciting and nerve-wracking. Maybe Moses just wasn't confident in the language. Or was scared.
It's interesting to theorize. I'm only really going in-depth on the first five chapters, and I've only gotten through the first three so far, just writing down questions. I don't know what I'll do with what I find. But I'm fascinated by what I'm learning, and what I'm thinking about.
In other news, I just got back inside after dealing with the police. I had thought this was a fairly safe neighborhood, but I just spotted a man outside my window and he was... Er. Having a good time. To use a euphemism. I hope the police catch him, and he gets some help. And I think I need to move.
"I have seen the burden God has laid on men. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end." Ecclesiastes 3:10-11
"Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens." Psalm 68:19
"He established it as a statute for Joseph when he went out against Egypt, where we heard a language we did not understand. He says, 'I removed the burden from their shoulders; their hands were set free from the basket. In your distress you called and I rescued you, I answered you out of a thundercloud.'" Psalm 81:5-7
"Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God for His own sins!" Isaiah 53:4
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