January 8

OT- I love the story of Abraham negotiating with God but tonight, because I am so tired from my busy, busy day, it struck me differently. Do you think God was willing to negotiate with Abraham because he KNEW there wasn’t 50, 45, 40,30, 20 or even 10 good men? That there was only one and he planned on saving him? Aren’t there times when we deliberately set up a system for our children when we KNOW they will fail so it really doesn’t matter if they negotiate? We will never have to provide the new car because we know they will never get all As. Or am I just sticking a bad parent strategy on God?
I continue to think that this whole story, the one that started yesterday with Abraham’s all day feast and end with the destruction of Sodom is about hospitality or lack thereof. Either Abraham had taught Lot well or the customs of the men of Ur were just so much more gracious than the norm. Is the moral of the story – bad manners will get you killed? Isn’t that what our Proverb says? “Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men.” Or the very last two verses of NT today, “…For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, not only a few find it. “
The Pearls before swine allusion made me go info hunting. Here are some tidbits I found:

“Aphrodite's tears of joy, dew drops filled with moonlight, Krishna's wedding gift to his daughter, Cleopatra's love potion. The legends abound but one fact is undeniable, pearls are the oldest known gem, and for centuries were considered the most valuable. So valuable that the Roman General Vitellius allegedly financed an entire military campaign with just one of his mother's pearl earrings.
The Romans were particularly enamored of this gem of the sea and Rome's pearl craze reached its zenith during the first century BC when upper class Roman women (the lower ranks were forbidden from wearing them) wore their pearls to bed so they could be reminded of their wealth immediately upon awakening. They also upholstered couches with pearls and sewed so many into their gowns that they actually walked on their pearl-encrusted hems. The famously excessive Emperor Caligula, having made his beloved horse a consul, decorated it with a pearl necklace.
Pearls have long been considered ideal wedding gifts because they symbolize purity and innocence.”
http://www.generousgems.com/i/education/pearl-information/
“The pearl in Judeo-Christian recordings refer to the pearl as symbol of Purity, Harmony, and Humility St. Augustine... after realizing that the pearl was not among the gems which signified the twelve apostles... declared that the pearl was reserved in this manner by God for Jesus Christ Himself”. http://www.karipearls.com/symbol.html
Does this mean we aren’t supposed to cast Jesus before non-believers? I am making the assumption that swine means non-believers since Jesus in Matthew was talking to a Jewish audience who would know that pigs were not to be anywhere near a good Jewish person. Sounds a little non-inclusive to me… How would non-believers ever learn about Jesus if we didn’t cast him before them? Aren’t we supposed to have thick skins when it comes to spreading the Gospel???
******If you have made it this far, we are 1/52 done with the Bible. Give yourself a big round of applause and know that you are doing good work. Do you know someone that could use a daily dose of the Bible? Please forward the link. They don’t have to catch up. They can start right where we are. God will honor all their work in the vineyard just as he does yours. A Blessed Sabbath to you all.