Blood of the covenant — Exodus 22-24

Posted on February 8, 2011 by parklinscomb

Welcome! As usual there are so many good things to think about comment on here in today’s reading, and we won’t be able to get around to everything, but there are some really great things that really strike me as I read through.

First, I hope you didn’t just scan through the many laws that you read here. Although we could be tempted to write them off as unworthy of our time, because they are part of the old covenant and have specific application to an ancient agrarian society; don’t be fooled. There are, first, a lot of great principles that continue to apply to modern times, too. And secondly, these laws demonstrate again how fair and just the Lord really is. He is concerned, for example, about the underdogs of society — widow, orphans, strangers, the poor. And his concern for them issues forth in not only His command to not oppress them, but even provide for them.

But what really struck me is the ceremony and feast that God called for to establish the Mosaic covenant. Covenants are for two parties and God had made covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob already in previous centuries. But God’s requirements had been pretty vague. Now, Abraham’s Isaac’s, and Jacob’s children’s children were on the verge of receiving the promise God had made so long ago and the specifics of Israel’s side of the covenant needed to be established.

So, a ceremony and feast were called for by the Lord. He invited Moses, Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and the 70 elders of Israel. A sacrifice was made, the blood was collected, the “words of the covenant” were read to the people, the people were called upon to affirm that they would keep this covenant (“Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people; and they said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient!” Exodus 24:7, NAS95.), and Moses was required to sprinkle the people with the “blood of the covenant” (“Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.”” Exodus 24:8, NAS95.)

The next time you see this phrase “blood of the covenant” is when Jesus is establishing the Lord’s Supper — a ceremony and “feast”, too. As Jesus takes the cup, He describes what it’s meaning is to be when we partake, “for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28, NAS95. Though it is not often mentioned as an important part of our weekly communion, Jesus is clearly trying to connect these two events — the establishment of covenant. How important it is to reminded of our covenant and to say in our hearts as we partake of the cup, “All that the LORD has spoken I will do, and I will be obedient!”

What part of this passage struck you?

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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God is holy; He is real; He is fair — Exodus 19-21

Posted on February 5, 2011 by parklinscomb

Today’s reading is about the famous giving of the Ten Commandments. Perhaps as you’ve read through you’ve noticed that different from the general notion that the Ten Commandments were first known as Moses came down the mountain with the stone tablets, God actually spoke in the hearing of the people His commands to them. How truly awesome that must have been!

Although there are a lot of important details to be found in these chapter, I’d like to focus today on the three broad messages that we see here. That God shows Himself to be holy, real, and fair.

Chapter 19 emphasizes the holiness of God. The people were to consecrate themselves; boundaries were to be placed around the mountain so that no one would trespass and “break through” to the Lord to gaze; God descends onto Sinai in a cloud with fire and smoke and lightning and thunder; heavenly trumpets and thunder fill the air with sound; and touching the mountain (whether you’re an animal or a human) is to be punishable by swift death. God is different than anything that we know and it is emphasized over and again that He must be treated as holy in attitude, deed, and word. Different than any monarch or president, different than men’s pagan notions of the gods, God is holy. And how should that translate to our worship? And how blessed should we feel that He calls us, invites us to pray, to give our burdens to Him, and that we should be rescued from our own sins against Him by Him.

God is also real. The Lord could have merely allowed His commandments to be carried down the mountain by Moses; after all, could there really be any doubt about God’s reality after the show of power in Egypt? But God wanted the people to know, really know, that He was real; so, He speaks to them directly. By doing so, God short circuits any foolish notions that Moses was pulling all these commands out of his own back pocket — God really did say this stuff. But the direct speaking of the commands terrified the people — so much so that they ask Moses to tell God to please never do it again; speak through Moses or someone else! Our God is real, let there be no doubt! He’s spoken through His creation; He’s spoken through His miracles; He’s spoken through His prophets; He’s spoken through the Scripture; He’s spoken through His Son, and He’s spoken through His answers to prayer and His providential care for us. The question is whether we’re listening — as we’ll see later, Israel wasn’t listening too carefully even at this amazing (and that’s really too tame a word) event!

And God is fair. Every time I read through the law God gave — starting with the Ten Commands and running through the rest of them in Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy — I’m struck by God’s fairness to mankind. Some folks take issue with the slavery laws, but it’s important to remember that slavery was not the same thing as American slavery of the 17th through 19th centuries; in a world without a social safety net, it was a matter of survival in many cases. And the same could be said for other things that 21st century western minds sometimes wrestle with. But the laws are eminently

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Grumbling against the Lord — Exodus 16-18

Posted on February 5, 2011 by parklinscomb

So, Israel is finally out of Egypt. They had witnessed the 10 plagues of Egypt, most of them effecting Egyptians only, not the Israelites at all. They’d watched the destruction of the Egyptian army, including the Pharaoh who had made their lives hard in the extreme. They’d celebrated the great victory of the Lord. They’d experienced a liberation like no nation had ever known before or after — without lifting a finger. And they left with the wealth of Egypt! Could there be any doubt about God’s loving kindness toward Israel.

Apparently, Israel thought so. They got hungry, and in the barren wilderness of western Arabia (Midian) they couldn’t image where their next meal might come from for the hundreds of thousands of Israelites, now away from the comparatively lush Egyptian Nile. They grumbled against Moses. “Would that we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread to the full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” Exodus 16:3, NAS95. It’s all your fault, Moses!

Later, when the nation got thirsty, they grumbled again — actually, the text says that they quarreled with Moses.

In both cases, the Scripture says that they despite the fact that they were specifically and technically complaining and grumbling against Moses; they weren’t really grumbling against Moses (at least from God’s perspective — which is the one that really matters), they were grumbling against the Lord. Talk about chutzpah! Grumbling against the God who had just rescued them with a mighty hand. The ingratitude and lack of faith are amazing.

But wait! Isn’t this a little — a lot — like us. How much grumbling do we do? How much grumbling against leaders? (“Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.” Romans 13:1, NAS95). Against husbands, parents, church leaders, and sometimes even God Himself. Even after all the multiplied ways God has taken care of us. What chutzpah!

Of course, God in his great kindness and grace provided for them what they needed — manna and, later, water from a stone. He continues to take good care of us, too.

It took years for Israel to “get it” — some of them never did. Let’s not let it take us that long.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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The Song of Moses — Exodus 13-15

Posted on February 3, 2011 by parklinscomb

I’m so glad that joined me again; I hope you are keeping up in your readings. You know, Satan is going to be doing his best to discourage it, to crowd it out, to get you to leave it out of your busy schedule. I hope you’re fighting back and if you’ve missed some you’ve been quick to get back with the program.

This passage is about the Exodus proper. Moses and Israel leave Egypt, lure Pharaoh out to chase them, and cross the Red Sea safely while Pharaoh and his army drown. By the way, a lot of liberal scholars discount these miracles as, for example, wading across a reedy swamp; but (a) their god is too small and (b) they haven’t read other passages that clearly identify the Red Sea as the body of water crossed. Egyptian chariot wheels at the bottom of the Gulf of Aqaba bring strong evidence to the truth of the biblical record.

The thought that I wanted to bring up here is today is the song of Moses, the song of triumph and praise and thanksgiving that Miriam and the other women sang at the conclusion of this great event. Can you imagine the celebration? Imagine the relief going from sheer fear and panic at the Egyptian attack to blow-your-mind wonder at walking through the Red Sea, to the catastrophic collapse of the sea’s walls on the Egyptians, defeating them in a moment in a giant roar of the water!!

What makes this interesting to me is that this song is mentioned again in Revelation as God’s people are rescued completely and finally and the end of time — the ultimate liberation of God’s people. God’s people, on the ragged edge of defeat, fearing the worst, yet in the blink of an eye caught up in blow-your-mind wonder at the mighty coming of Jesus and the resurrection, and finally singing the triumphant Song of Moses at the crushing defeat of Satan, sin, and death!! Who knows how long the celebration will last; who knows how long we’ll want to sing?! It will be your wedding day, birth of your firstborn child, winning the Super Bowl, winning the World Series (ala Red Sox 1004), getting big raise and promotion, and more all rolled into one — on steroids!!

No wonder we sing of Heaven with such longing.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing!

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Passover Lambs — Exodus 10-12

Posted on February 2, 2011 by parklinscomb

Today’s reading includes some of the more interesting Old Testament reading: regulations for the final plague on Egypt (death of the firstborn), regulations of the Passover, and the liberation of Israel after 430 years (to the day) of living in Egypt.

I thought it might be interesting to compare the Passover (liberation of Israel) and the parallels to Christ’s death (and our liberation).

  • A lamb was to be killed / Jesus was called “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
  • The lamb was to be killed on the day of preparation / Jesus was killed on the day of preparation of Passover (John 19:14).
  • The was a sacrifice / Jesus was also a sacrifice for us (Heb. 10:12).
  • The sacrifice was a “peace offering” / We are also told that He is our peace (Eph. 2:14).
  • A “peace offering” is a meal eaten with God (Lev. 3) / every week we partake in a fellowship meal called the Lord’s Supper or Communion (Matt. 26:26).
  • The lamb was to be an unblemished male / Jesus was without sin (Heb. 4:15).
  • The blood of the Passover lamb was placed on the doorposts to mark homes where the plague of death would “pass over” / it is the blood of Jesus the Lamb of God that rescues us from death (1 Peter 1:9).
  • Not a bone was to be broken on the sacrificial lamb (Exo. 12:46) / not a bone of Christ was broken (John 19:36).
  • The power of Pharaoh was broken over Israel / the power of Satan was broken at the cross (Heb. 2:14).
  • The children of Israel were no longer slaves / we were liberated, because of Christ’s sacrifice (Rom. 6:17).
  • The consequence of unbelief was death of the firstborn / the consequence of our sin and unbelief was taken away by the death of God’s firstborn (Heb. 12:23).

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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Moses v. the Egyptian Magicians — Exodus 7-9

Posted on February 1, 2011 by parklinscomb

Welcome back, glad to have you here. We’re in a really exciting portion of Exodus currently: the 10 plagues of Egypt.

As a side note here, there is good evidence to conclude that the Pharaoh of this Egyptian disaster was not Rameses as is commonly thought. The Rameses-is-the-Pharaoh-of-the-Exodus notion derives most of it’s support from “The 10 Commandments” with Charlton Heston. But the dates of Rameses the Great (c. 1200BC), a number of details found in the story (e.g., that the city of Rameses was a storehouse city in Exo. 1:11, not a capital, as in the times of Rameses the Great), and secular archaeology notes that Israel was known to be dwelling in Canaan before the time of Rameses the Great (see the Merneptah Stela, in which Pharaoh Merneptah, father of Rameses the Great, boasts of a victory over Israel already in Canaan). The Pharaoh who most like the Pharaoh of Egypt during the plagues and the destruction of Egypt is Amenemhep IV who disappeared from history without a trace, without a tomb, without an heir about 1486BC. And as an additional side note a poet of this era Ipuwer writes a lamentation of Egypt that describes a number of disasters that sound very much like the biblical 10 plagues.

The thing I really wanted to point out and talk about was the matter of the magicians of Egypt and their ability to duplicate some of the signs that Moses demonstrated by the power of God to Pharaoh to convince him to let the people go. The magicians managed through their secret arts to mimic the sign of the staff that turned into a serpent, the water turning to blood, and the plague of the frogs. Their mimicry enabled Pharaoh to more easily disregard God’s command and believe what he wanted to believe — that he was at least equal to, if not superior to, any god. Now, of course, later the magicians couldn’t conjure up anything even close to God’s great signs and had to confess that this was the “finger of God” (Exo. 8:19) — but the damage was already done, Pharaoh’s heart was decidedly hardening already (a course from which, ultimately, he would not deviate, even as he charged into the Red Sea).

I’m caused to wonder about other false signs and wonders from today. Fellowship, “miracles”, quotes from Scripture, or some transcendent experience have all been a part of drawing people into false teachings, false groups, false practices, and false beliefs. How do you tell the difference? You have to check the Bible — the sum of the Bible, not just some of it. Satan has been known to quote Scripture to his own advantage sometimes (Matt. 4), produce false signs (Matt. 24:24), a false fellowship, and treacherous emotional experiences. The one real compass is God’s word.

In time Egypt’s magicians couldn’t keep up; God’s signs far outstripped them. And in time that which is false becomes evident by the fruit it bears, the false signs can’t keep up with true signs, a superficial fellowship descends into division, and the emotions wear off or out — but the damage is often already done, hearts are decidedly hardened and unwilling to deviate from their courses, even as they charge straight off into their own Red Sea.

That’s why your daily Bible reading is really important. See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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What it takes — Exodus 4-6

Posted on January 31, 2011 by parklinscomb

We pray for things from God. Sometimes God says, “Yes.” Sometimes He says, “No.” And sometimes He says, “Wait.” It is the “wait” that we often chafe at the most. But maybe there’s a good reason for the “wait”. Of course, sometimes it’s because we’re not ready for what we’re asking for, a lot like a 14 year old asking to drive. But sometimes the things that we ask — barring a miracle that God is quite capable of, but which God has chosen not in modern times (see 1 Cor. 13:8-10) — take time.

God could have just strategically nuked Pharaoh and his army and let Israel walk out of Egypt in a stroll. But God had in mind to accomplish the same thing in style to make a point to the world, then and today. God knew from the start that Pharaoh was going to be a “hard sell” on letting Israel go,

“Then the LORD said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land.”” Exodus 6:1, NAS95.

And so followed a series of plagues that broke the back of the mighty empire of Egypt, the division of the Red Sea (probably the Gulf of Aqaba), and a spectacular destruction of Pharaoh and his entire army! It was a catastrophe of a such a caliber that the whole pagan region was terror struck for centuries afterward (“The Philistines were afraid, for they said, ‘God has come into the camp.’ And they said, ‘Woe to us! For nothing like this has happened before. Woe to us! Who shall deliver us from the hand of these mighty gods? These are the gods who smote the Egyptians with all kinds of plagues in the wilderness.'” 1 Samuel 4:7, 8, NAS95.).

So next time that you want to kick dirt about having to wait, keep in mind that God may just have something in mind that you wouldn’t believe if you were told (Hab. 1:5). Remember: “… those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.” Isaiah 40:31, NAS95.

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Israel’s first savior — Exodus 1-3

Posted on January 30, 2011 by parklinscomb

Glad you joined me again. I’m writing this on Sunday evening; my Sunday was pretty great (most of them are, I love the encouragement of my brothers and sisters in Christ), hope yours was, too.

Today’s reading is pretty famous stuff: the birth, early childhood, escape from Egypt, and calling of Moses. As usual there are a lot of interesting things in these chapters that I’ll not be able comment on — at least without writing a small book. Instead, I’ll just focus on the larger story of the two attempts that Moses made to lead Israel to freedom — once without God and once with God.

Moses, of course, after being hidden by his parents and ultimately adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, was raised in Pharaoh’s palace with all of the advantages of power, education, and position. To Moses’ credit, however, he never forgot his real family roots; and as time wore on, the suffering of Israel became an increasingly important concern to him. And as he became increasingly concerned and possibly outraged at the cruelty of the slavery imposed on his people, Moses decided at age 40 to take matters into his own hands — a temptation that sometimes can come to any of us, but especially those who come from power, education, and position. As he witnessed the cruel beating of a Hebrew slave, Moses’ outrage finally overflowed into murderous vengeance. Stephen, in his sermon to the Sanhedrin that led to his death, tells us that Moses’ intentions were beyond just an isolated incident of revenge:

“And when he saw one of them being treated unjustly, he defended him and took vengeance for the oppressed by striking down the Egyptian. And he supposed that his brethren understood that God was granting them deliverance through him, but they did not understand.” Acts 7:24, 25, NAS95.

But the children of Israel did not understand, and Moses had to flee to Midian. By the way, Midian was the western border of what is today Saudi Arabia, just to the east of the Gulf of Aqaba (the eastern fork of the Red Sea, at the top) — not in the Sinai peninsula. The Sinai peninsula, during this and many other periods of history, either belonged to or was largely controlled by Egypt — the government of which Moses wanted to escape. It was in Midian, on the northwest corner of Arabia, that Moses spent the next 40 years as a shepherd. Until.

Until God called. Of course, we know that this call ultimately led to a real liberation of Israel. It’s a stark contrast and — from a worldly perspective — counter-intuitive. Moses, the prince of Egypt, failed; but Moses, the Midianite shepherd succeeded. What was the difference? God. Moses’ first attempt to be Israel’s savior didn’t include God in any way; it was Moses’ idea, Moses’ way, and about Moses’ strength. Moses’ second attempt to be Israel’s savior was certainly different; it was God’s idea, it was God’s way, and it came when Moses was an 80-year-old Midianite shepherd.

This ought to give us pause for thought. What’s the saying? Man proposes and God disposes? On the other hand, “Commit your works to the LORD And your plans will be established.” Proverbs 16:3, NAS95. This not to say, of course, that we need to merely sit back and wait for God to do everything — anymore than we should not go to work and merely let the Lord provide for our families. The Lord has given us skills, intelligence, strength, health, and more; and He expects us to use them. He, however, expects us to use them for His cause, His way, and in faith.

See you tomorrow, Lord willing.

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Sweet Forgiveness — Genesis 49,50

Posted on January 29, 2011 by parklinscomb

I’m really glad to see that you’ve continued your reading with me through God’s word. Today we’ll finish the book of Genesis. I hope you’ve enjoyed the read and my comments.

In today’s reading, chapter 49, Jacob gives blessing appropriate to each of his sons, gives some final instructions as to his burial, and dies. Some of the “appropriate” blessings seemed to be explanations for his withholding the leadership of the family from some of the sons, some of them prophecies about their inheritance in Canaan, and one of them Messianic (in the case of Judah).

“Judah, your brothers shall praise you; Your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; Your father’s sons shall bow down to you. “Judah is a lion’s whelp; From the prey, my son, you have gone up. He couches, he lies down as a lion, And as a lion, who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. He ties his foal to the vine, And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine; He washes his garments in wine, And his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes are dull from wine, And his teeth white from milk.” Genesis 49:8-12, NAS95.

Already we’re finding out that the Messiah will (1) crush the serpent’s head (fatal blow) while receiving a bruised heel (a temporary wound), (2) come from the family of Abraham, and (3) come from the tribe of Judah.

But the final chapter of Genesis is also important as an example of forgiveness and looking at the events of life from an eternal perspective. Forgiveness is such an important principle to understand and practice. As long as human beings are here on this earth, there’s going to be a need for forgiveness, because we all somehow manage to sin, offend, mess up, or make mistakes. Without learning forgiveness we can come to a rather miserable end in life — lonely, depressed, and hypocritical — and that’s not even to speak of the spiritual imperative of it. How many families and the dearest connections of life have corroded over time through unforgiveness.

If anyone had a reason to refuse to forgive, it would have been Joseph. How deep had the betrayal been? How terrible had been the years of separation from his father and younger brother? How miserable had his years of slavery been, and after that the years of prison? But after seeing his brothers’ guilt, sorrow, and repentance, Joseph granted forgiveness, treating them well, as if all those years of suffering had never happened. Was Joseph able to really forget all those years of suffering that had happened? No, nor was God expecting it. Although our society has married “forgive and forget” together in a phrase, this is not a biblical notion. Despite remembering what others have done, when our offenders have repented, we are to treat them as if it had never happened. This was now the second time that we have it recorded that Joseph forgives them, they still feared retribution and an evening of the score — especially now that Jacob had died. They seemed to have feared that Joseph’s forgiveness was only temporary and really only based on not displeasing their father, Jacob. But Joseph demonstrates that his forgiveness wasn’t feigned, but genuine.

Do yourself a favor, for the “here and now” and also for your eternity; forgive your offenders. Treat them as if it never happened, and watch the flowers of relationship bloom again where before there was only desert. And feel secure in God’s forgiveness of you.

Tomorrow, Lord willing, we’ll start reading through the book of Exodus. See you then.

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Israel comes to Egypt — Genesis 46-48

Posted on January 28, 2011 by parklinscomb

The story of Joseph continues to be a fascinating one. There are so many important principles to learn about doing good, suffering endured in a godly way, forgiveness, family relations, avoiding temptation, and more. But there is also things to file away in your brain for understanding other things. There’s even a little bit of historical and archaeological mystery to ponder.

We left Joseph and his brothers in a long overdue reunion and reconciliation. But the next hurdle to overcome would be going home to tell Jacob. Years of deceit, guilt, grief, and family dysfunction now had to all be dealt with; the brothers had to tell dad. No wonder Joseph told them, “Do not quarrel on the journey.” Genesis 45:24, NAS95.

Jacob could scarcely believe his ears that Joseph was still alive; it took the caravan of Egyptian wagons to convince him. But once he was convinced, he was overjoyed — though it still may have been an awkward and uncomfortable series of conversations between father and sons as they journeyed to Egypt with their entire family (68 people in all). The final reunion of Joseph and Jacob in the land of Goshen — the eastern side of the Nile delta — was profoundly moving; Joseph wept on his father’s neck a long time. Years of pent-up emotions came flooding out in a moment.

It’s important to see such great heroes of faith not as granite figures who never flinched at pain or suffering, who never shed a tear of sorrow. What’s important to see is that they did flinch at pain, they did cry out in sorrow; but they did so continuing to do what is right. Joseph bled just like you and me; he doubtlessly cried at the time of his kidnapping, at the time of his being sold as a slave to Potiphar, at the moment he was accused by Potiphar’s wife and he saw in Potiphar’s eyes that he believed her, at the moment he heard the door his prison cell close, at the long years of being forgotten by the cupbearer — all without support, without a friend to encourage him, and without any tangible reason to have any hope at all. Find courage in Joseph’s story!

Israel, now settled in Goshen with Pharaoh’s blessing, fared well as a family and fledgling nation. They were fed by Joseph’s and Pharaoh’s largess, while prospering well enough to buy land and quickly grow in number. The rest of Egypt wasn’t as blessed. The famine took an enormous toll and the Egyptians had to, first, buy grain from Pharaoh (Joseph) until their money was gone, then, second, sell their lands to Pharaoh (Joseph), and lastly, sell themselves to Pharaoh (Joseph). In spite of the hardship of the Egyptians, they were still blessed by having Joseph in charge, storing up grain for 7 years against the day of this terrible catastrophe. Other regional societies apparently did not fare as well. Joseph essentially made the Egyptians Pharaoh’s tenant farmers, but even so, he was generous with them allowing them to keep 80% of the product they grew for themselves and their animals — not a bad cut for slaves.

By the way, for any of your Egyptological researchers, we find in Genesis 47:26 a marker for finding Joseph, Joseph’s Pharaoh, and ultimately the Pharaoh of the Exodus — the date of the statute of a 20% tax on Egypt. There are many specious claims that Joseph is the famous Imhotep, and there are some parallels to Imhotep’s history and biblical records; but the parallels and evidences provided are not convincing and the details of “Imhotep and Pharaoh Djoser” era don’t fit the rest of the biblical or historical records. I’ll recommend, on the other hand, Solving the Exodus Mystery by Ted Stewart. It is excellent.

Lastly, let me point out how Joseph does get the birthright of the family after all. Jacob (48:5) takes Joseph’s two sons Manasseh and Ephraim as his own sons! As you’ll remember, neither Manasseh nor Ephraim were sons of Jacob — so, how did they become tribes to inherit land in Canaan? And how come there’s not a tribe of Joseph? It all happens right here in Genesis 48. And you’ll also notice that Ephraim was given the greatest blessing (being deliberately touched by Jacob’s right hand in the blessing, even though he was on Jacob’s left-hand side). It is for that reason that the tribe of Ephraim often assumed leadership among the other tribes of Israel.

You just never know how things are going to turn out, do you? You just have to continue to do right — slog through the suffering and disappointment and heartache — and wait for God to make gold out of lead.

See you again tomorrow, Lord willing.

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