Quick Thoughts

Three quick thoughts:
1. I was walking yesterday and was overwhelmed by the sky, the breeze, and the beauty of the creation. As I drank it all in I was reminded of a post of a bit ago where I mentioned that the frustration of creation (Romans 8) is that it can't fully show the glory of God. I wondered, "If creation can so captivate and amaze now when Christ returns and it fully reveals God's glory will we even be able to look at it or will it by like trying to gaze into the glory and beauty of God--so overwhelming that we can't take it in.

2. I do my Torah reading on Saturday. Today I'm reading about Jacob/Israel. God tells him to go to Bethel and build an altar there. Before he goes he tells his household to get rid of all of their gods. The text tells us in in Genesis 35.4 So they gave to Jacob all the foreign gods that they had, and the rings that were in their ears. Jacob hid them under the terebinth tree that was near Shechem. esv The NIV says that Jacob buried all this stuff under the terebinth tree. I wondered why Jacob didn't destroy the gods, what he planning on a recovery mission after his God visit? But when I checked out the Hebrew I discovered that the word for hid/bury means to "hide something so it cannot be found". Jacob, as head of the household hid the gods so they could not be recovered and so pollute his family.

3. Last thought: Soon after this Rachel dies giving birth to Benjamin. Jacob told Laban that whoever had stolen Laban's gods would be put to death. Did Jacob discover that Rachel had stolen Laban's gods when he demanded all the gods be given to him? Did God carry out Jacob's promised judgment because Jacob would not? Just something to think on.