Destruction then Redemption 9-23-2010

Yesterday in class we discussed the book of Joel. I have honestly never read it until Monday. Anyways, yesterday we talked about how a lot of the Old Testament is in poetry and that you can get different meaning from one scripture. One thing that we I and others have to be careful with is taking scripture out of context. Reading before and after a scripture gives you more of a sense of the situation taking place. Professor Corrigan talked about how you can't take certain scriptures and live them out because some scriptures don't make any sense out of context. There is wisdom in this.

We also went outside yesterday to read the book of Joel to the World, I mean the lake and ducks and trees and you get the picture. I was skeptic at first but as I sat by the lake on the grass I began to read in a quiet voice the beginning of Joel. I looked around at the world around me and imagined what it would look like if locusts and fire had decimated everything in sight. The tree's would be burned and all the grass devoured, the lake would be dried up and nothing would be left but death and destruction. It's amazing how my imagination works because it what I was imagining looked so real. The image of Blood, fire and columns of smoke reminded me of sunsets. Then, I read the end of Joel where God was saying repent and I will save you from your enemies. The story of redemption. It's a reoccurring theme in the Old Testament; sin then redemption, sin then redemption. You can see God's master plan all throughout the OT. A Message of Hope.

Reading scripture out-loud helped me catch words or phrases that I might not have grasped if I read it to myself.