June 24

OT – 2 Kings 6:1-7:20
In today’s reading, the king of Aram asks where Elisha is and his men answer “Dothan”. Have you ever stopped and thought about how many places in the South are named after Bible places? Hey, they don’t call us the Bible belt for NOTHING!
Dothan, Alabama Shiloh, TN Bethlehem, GA Calvary, TN Mt Zion, GA Bethsaida, MD
The list goes on and on. Why are we so obsessed that we name places after the Bible? Do we want to recreate Israel here?

In our scripture, there are some incredible miracles that Elisha performs. My favorite is the one where Elisha asks God to open the eyes of his servants so that they can see the heavenly hosts that is surrounding them.
Paul alludes to this with his ‘now we see dimly’ and scientists also say that we see/perceive very little of the KNOWN universe, much less the unknown. If you had told an 18th century person about germs, you would have been burnt at the stake for witchcraft. Now, even our 3 and 4 year olds know about germs and hand sanitizers. I don’t really want to be morbid, but think of the death and destruction of bacteria that takes place on a daily basis as a result of hand washing and sanitizers!

When my son showed me the video “10 Questions that Christians must answer” last year – click here if you want to see it


-- , I thought about this for a long, long time. By the way, I have no answer to any of the questions but I don’t think I am delusional. I think I just don’t see all things.
What I do know is that miracles do happen and things that would have been considered a miracle 100 years no longer are. Just think about it. If someone showed up with an IV antibiotic even in 1912, someone at death’s door would almost immediately break their fever and in a few hours be able to get out of bed and make dinner (Peter's mother-in-law). A miracle. To them. To me, I just assume when they stuck the needle in Matt’s arm, ran the antibiotic in his bloodstream, it would work. Not to say that I didn’t pray, but certainly not at the rate that someone in 1912 whose child had red streaks running up his leg would have done. I KNEW Children's Healthcare could fix it. And they did. A miracle in 1912, reality in 2012.
What if we are surrounding by beings that are not visible to our naked eyes but are if we just had the right ‘glasses’? Wouldn’t that be miraculous to us? Especially, if they were on ‘our’ side in a brutal war.

I have a theory as to why we name our towns, roads, and cities after Bible names. WE WANT TO KNOW THAT GOD IS CLOSE TO US JUST AS HE WAS CLOSE TO PEOPLE LIKE ELISHA SO WE CAN TAP INTO HIS POWER. But forgive me, I don’t want to live in Dothan.

NT – Acts 15:36-16:15
In my youth, I think you could say with impunity, “Sylvia hates Paul”. I still disagree with him mightily but the hate has really mellowed out to respect for his accomplishments and the trials and tribulations that he underwent for our benefit.
Today’s scripture was one of my favorite weapons against Paul and one that you should think about and decide where you stand on it.
After all that nonsense with the apostles in Jerusalem over whether or not the Gentiles had to be circumcised, Paul circumcises Timothy before he will take him with him on the road. I know the immediate response, it takes away the initial criticism that Timothy will certainly encounter and makes him ‘clean’ to enter the synagogues. But it surely, surely points out Paul’s duplicity in the matter. When it mattered to him, Paul wields the knife. As for me, I consider that Paul chose the non-circumcision side of the debate as it would win him more converts. And truthfully, that is a valid argument. Sorry, youthful Sylvia.

You will also notice the change in the pronouns starting in vs. 16:10 from them to us. My study Bible and Bible teachers point out that this must be when the author of Luke/Acts joined Paul.

Much love and peace to you all.