The Ministry of the Prophet

A brief exposition of the following passage in Deuteronomy will go a long way toward helping us to understand why God sent Isaiah. Let's begin here:

Deuteronomy 18:9-14 “When you come into the land that the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the LORD. And because of these abominations the LORD your God is driving them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God, for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do this.

God knows the human heart better than anyone. He made it. And God knows how impatient we get with life, with our circumstances, and with Him. He also knows we are fickle, unfaithful, that we are easily led astray. God gave his people the Law, and the priesthood to teach the Law. It was the duty of the Levites to instruct the people in the Torah. God also anticipated what would happen years down the road when the people saw the false worship of those around them and desired to follow some of the methods of communication which those people had invented to converse with their false gods. Let's look at them: (1) appeasement of or purchase of favor through human sacrifice, (2) the attempt to tell the future through the reading of signs in nature, (3) the attempt to communicate with the dead for the same reason.

If the highest act of virtue is bringing proper praise and glory to God, then it follows that the highest crime that can be committed is to take that which properly and only belongs to God and give it to someone or something else. If we trust in God with all our heart, then we have no need of seeking any sort of divine or supernatural knowledge elsewhere. God had called them away from superstition and false worship and toward spiritual and theological truth. To go back was a slap in the face of the Holy.

But God, in his wisdom, gives them something more than just the priests to teach them the Law. God sends them prophets. Consider the very next verses of our passage:

Deuteronomy 18:15-19 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him.

Did you recognize the reference to our passage from the previous post? Here, however, Moses tells us more of what God said in that day. God made a promise to send a prophet like Moses to speak to them so that He would never again have to speak to them in the way that he did that day at Sinai. There is a two-fold fulfillment of this prophecy in Israel's history. Let us look at the first:

Deuteronomy 18:20-22 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?’—when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.

The first part of the fulfillment of this promise is in the many prophets God sent to Israel from Moses to Malachi of whom Isaiah was one. These spoke God's word to God's people. They were to be tested for authenticity and a method of discernment is given. These did not add to the Torah in the sense of changing it or contradicting it. Their prophecies were consistent with the Torah and could be tested by it. They pointed the people back to God and to God's Law and reprimanded them for breaking it. In this they were reminders of what Moses had been and they also typified the second and truest fulfillment of the promise which is found in Jesus Christ. Observe the words of Peter in Acts 3 from his sermon on Solomon's porch:

"But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The LORD God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

There's our passage again. God promised a Prophet. All of the pre-Prophet prophets spoke of him . . . including Isaiah. They pointed back to the Torah given through Moses, but also they pointed forward to the Prophet who would come after. What was it the author of Hebrews said again? We never did finish that quotation:

"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world."

And John echoes this as well in John 1:17--

"For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."

This is what Isaiah is to us. He is a bridge from Moses to Jesus. He links them together.

God is Coming (A Prelude to Isaiah)

As the desert sun sets over the distant land of Egypt a people sit and wonder at what has happened to them, what will become of them. They are being led out of bondage by one who was once a great prince, but has fallen into disgrace--one of their own. They are Hebrew, descendants of Israel. They are returning home. The man who is leading them is Moses.

They have followed Moses thus far because Moses has come and announced their deliverance and the fulfillment of promises made by God to their fathers. Now God has sent Moses to them with more promises, a covenant, and a new name--YHWH. It is the name by which God has chosen to be known to them in covenant with them and it means I AM, or the Ever-living One, the Eternal Self-Existent One.

They have believed this announcement and these promises because these promises have been accompanied by many signs and wonders. God has given these as proofs, to demonstrate that he is, indeed, really who he says he is, that he can do what he says he will do, and that he is worthy of awe and wonder. These people have been delivered from bondage, from plagues, and from the sword. They have passed through fire and water. It has been three months now since they left Egypt.

The skies are darkening, though it is early yet in the day. Moses has gone up into the mountain to meet with God. A strange feeling permeates the air, a sense of foreboding almost. Men speak together in hushed tones and women keep their children close. The wind blows and the darkness grows. Many silently wonder if they will ever see Moses again. Minutes pass into hours. Someone points at something on the mountain and a speck can be seen moving back toward them, climbing slowly down. It is Moses.

When Moses returns he calls together a meeting of the tribal elders. He tells them what God has said. If they will obey God's voice, he will be their God and they will be his people. It is an offer of conditional covenant. The elders agree. The people agree. Moses returns to God on the mountain.

Now he comes back. This time he has another announcement to make, a more frightening one. "Prepare yourselves," he says. "God is coming."

There is fear. Moses follows his announcement with a set of instructions--the people are to prepare themselves to meet with God. They have today and tomorrow. On the third day God is coming.

So now the camp has been very busy. The people are consecrating themselves, washing their garments. Barriers have been set up all around the mountain so that no one, not even an animal, can get close enough to touch it. Anyone who does so will die. The tension builds. People are nervous. Men are not even allowed to touch their wives. The third day comes.

And with it comes a thick cloud enveloping the mountain, along with a thick smoke. There are thunderings and lightnings. The people stand back, afraid. Now comes a long trumpet blast. This is the signal for the people to approach. God calls Moses up to the top once again, tells him to go back, get Aaron, and warn the people for the second time not to touch the mountain. Moses does so.

Now God speaks. His voice comes at them from the rumblings of the thunder. He gives them the ten commandments. The people tremble in fear. Let's let Scripture take this up briefly and finish it from here. In Deuteronomy 5 Moses says:

“These words the LORD spoke to all your assembly at the mountain out of the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice; and he added no more. And he wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me. And as soon as you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes, and your elders. And you said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire. This day we have seen God speak with man, and man still live. Now therefore why should we die? For this great fire will consume us. If we hear the voice of the LORD our God any more, we shall die. For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire as we have, and has still lived? Go near and hear all that the LORD our God will say and speak to us all that the LORD our God will speak to you, and we will hear and do it.’"

They had heard God speak and it was terrible and they never wanted to hear it again. They say to Moses, "You go up. You speak to God. You come tell us what he said. But we don't want God speaking directly to us again. It is frightening." How did God respond to this? What did he say? Moses continues:

“And the LORD heard your words, when you spoke to me. And the LORD said to me, ‘I have heard the words of this people, which they have spoken to you. They are right in all that they have spoken."

So God spoke directly only once to his people Israel. After that, he always spoke to them through proxies, through representatives--"holy men of old" Peter called them. The author of Hebrews wrote:

"Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,"

What has all of this to do with Isaiah? Wait and see.

On the Cusp of Isaiah's Prophecy

I am on the verge of beginning something that I cannot help but think will be life-changing.

Life-changing . . . what is that? Isn't it just an over-used hyperbolic expression of a self-indulgent age? Perhaps. No, certainly it is. Regardless, I believe it to be true in this case. Experience teaches us that all events, all journeys in life affect us, change us, for good or ill. If this be so, what of a journey through God's word? What of a journey through a book, a prophetic word given some 2800 years ago yet quoted more, perhaps, than any other ancient writing?

Words, words are very powerful things. Once written down they live, they breathe, they act, they survive, they do things. They effect change sometimes years and generations after they are spoken. The written word lives, and if this be true of any written word, how much more so of that which is written by inspiration of God? No wonder the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews said,

". . . the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)

It is God's Spirit, through his word, who transforms us into his image. Jesus confirmed this when he prayed to the Father for us:

"Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth." (John 17:17)

I, we, are going to read, to meditate, to memorize (and why not?), to study, to delve into, to think about, reason with, reflect upon one of the greatest documents ever penned by human hands. Imagine that! When you open this prophecy, think of the providential miracle it is that you even have this material in your hands today. And yet you do. You! The holy has somehow (by God's direction) fallen into the hands of the unworthy.

Treat it well. It is a gracious gift--a gift of love. See yourself in it. But more importantly, see God. For it is he who has condescended to reveal himself to us in our own language, in ways we can understand. Yes, we will be different, for no one comes to him without being changed.

I am trepidacious. Who wouldn't be who approaches the holy? I am naturally fearful of truth because truth exposes me. I would rather lie to myself and tell myself I am okay the way I am. But truth will show me otherwise. Truth will reveal me, confront me, demand things of me. How will I respond? How will you respond?

It is easy to go shallow is it not? We do this as a matter of habit. We hear a truth and we say, "Sure, sure, I know that, I've heard that, I believe that, what of it?" We hear, but we don't hear. We see, but we don't really look, do we? We don't delve. We don't question. We are content with who we are. Most of all we don't apply truth--not to ourselves. We don't really consider.

I am frightened because I am comfortable with being comfortable. God's word makes me uncomfortable.

I am being very honest with you when I say that I do not know where this study is going to take me--take us. I don't know because it is a journey upon which I have never gone. I have often wanted to go . . . and now we are here.

To God be the glory.

At Synagogue With Jesus / Part 3

First there were the benedictory prayers. Then there was the recitation of the Shema. Next came the eulogies of praise for God. Now for the reading of the Torah.

According to Edersheim, this would have been divided up into regular readings so that the entire Law would have been covered in a given time period. In Edersheim's day the custom was to read the entire five books aloud each year. However, in Jesus's day it was likely that it took three or three and a half years for an entire cycle to take place. This would only have amounted to a little more than a chapter a week.

A chosen individual, perhaps the ruler or one of the rulers of the synagogue, or maybe a member of the congregation, or even a guest would walk to the platform. The chosen scroll would be taken from the ark and handed to him. He would unroll it to the correct place and begin to read aloud . . . in Hebrew.

At the time of Christ Hebrew was no longer the spoken language of the Jews of Palestine. The language of the people was Aramaic--the language of the empire (Medio-Persian) they had served under during their captivity in Babylon. Although Aramaic was the spoken language (probably Jesus's first spoken words were in this language), the traditionalists of their ecclesiastical hierarchy were very slow to translate the Scriptures into it. Thus, the Law was still being read aloud in Hebrew and a translator would have been standing right beside the reader giving a running translation into the Aramaic.  Later, in the post-temple period following the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70 AD, these translations were done in writing and made official.  They were known as targummim or the Targum. Our translator could have been an official or, in a small town like Capernaum, may have been just a layman or even a boy.  As long as he was capable of the task he was qualified.

One at a time they came forward and read their portion.  The translator would translate each.  Then would come the reading from the Prophets.  This would be less methodical.  Sometimes a portion might be chosen which was connected somehow with the Torah readings of the day.  Sometimes a synagogue might be engaged in the systematic reading of them similar to that of the Torah.  Sometimes, as in the case of Jesus at the synagogue of Nazareth in Luke 4, the teacher would choose whichever portion he wished and expound upon that.  Observe:

Luke 4:[16] And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. [17] And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written,

[18] “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
[19] to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”

[20] And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. [21] And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 

That day Jesus was the one who stood up (on the platform) to read from the prophets. This would have been set up ahead of time, as Jesus was already an itinerant rabbi with a growing reputation. They brought him the Isaiah scroll and he reads his chosen portion. Observe that no translator is present. Reading from the Prophets was less formal than the reading of the Torah (influence of the Sadducees) so often the readers from the Prophets simply provided their own translation as they read, which is likely what Jesus did here. What we have, then, in our Lukan passage, is a translation into Greek of what Jesus had translated into Aramaic from what he was reading in Hebrew.

After he reads his portion he sits down in the seat next to the podium. Recall that all Scripture was read while standing, but teaching was always done from a sitting position. So Jesus sat and began to teach. Sermons would have been an exposition of any or even all of the passages that had been read that day with an application into everyday life. Jesus chooses to expound upon his own text from Isaiah. Observe that the teaching was perhaps a bit less formal than what we might think, for Jesus responds to some questions and remarks from the congregation.

So how does our service end? Perhaps we should end it in the way the service ended that day in Nazareth. The congregation, being offended by the words of Christ (not his manner, but his truth), left the service abruptly, carrying him out to the edge of a hill to be thrown off. They were attempting to stone him for pointing out that in previous times in the biblical narrative, when the Hebrews were in rebellion to God, God had shown grace to Gentiles. They did not want to hear this.

And so official Judaism rejected her Messiah. But true Judaism lives on, not in bloom, but in full flower, and those who are the children of Abraham by faith, both Jews and Gentiles, are among her congregants--including our friend Mr. Alfred Edersheim. And witness Paul's words in Romans 11:

11:[1] I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! For I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin. [2] God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? [3] “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” [4] But what is God's reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” [5] So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

Is Satan Stupid?

It came up in Sunday School during a discussion of the rift between Paul and Barnabas at the end of Acts 15. Our Sunday School teacher asked the question, "What was Satan doing, or trying to do?" What ensued was a discussion of God's sovereignty, our accountability for our actions, and how God always takes what Satan intends for evil and turns it into something good.

In the specific case at hand there is a sharp dissension between Paul and Barnabas. The implication, because his involvement is never stated explicitly, is that Satan sees the great work that has already been accomplished by the two and chooses this avenue of attack to keep it from happening again. But God takes the dissension and subsequent division and uses it to make two missionary teams and include two new men in the work. So what Satan intended for evil, God meant for good.

Now look at the last sentence in the preceding paragraph. It is similar to, but not quite the same as, the last sentence in the first paragraph. The difference is minor but important. Think about this: God never reacts. To react implies that something new or unexpected has happened. This would preclude God's omniscience. Further, the fact that something happens--anything happens--means that God knows it is best that it should be that way. If it weren't he would stop it. God always gets his way and to pretend otherwise would be a denial of his omnipotence. (If God does not always get his way, then we need to find out who does and worship him.) So if God knows all, can do all, and always acts in wisdom, then everything that happens is according to his wise purpose--everything. Does Scripture back this up? Certainly.

Daniel 4:[34] At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever,

for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,
and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
[35] all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
or say to him, “What have you done?”

With this in mind, the question then must be asked. Is Satan stupid? Does he not realize that everything he does contrary to God's plan winds up being used to further God's plan? Doesn't he know that he cannot defeat God? Does he think he can? Doesn't he know what his final destiny will be? Why doesn't he just give up and repent? These are some of the questions that were asked in class this morning. They were asked rhetorically. No answer was given.

I think I can shed some light. No, Satan is not stupid. Yes, he knows his destiny. Yes, he sees and realizes how God turns all Satan's works into His own glory and the furtherance of the divine plan. I don't think Satan is deluded at all. Satan is not stupid. Satan simply hates.

As humans we underestimate the depths of depravity in which we ourselves exist. We live in constant denial of what wickedness we ourselves are capable of. We see wickedness in others, but delude ourselves that we are better than that. Scripture says,

Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things,
and desperately sick;
who can understand it?

If we have such a hard time seeing our own depravity, it is no wonder we have a hard time conceiving of the depths of depravity and what that causes in another. Satan is not omniscient, but he knows. He's been around a long time. He can see. He simply doesn't care. He does what he does out of a motive of hatred for God. Period.

Apart from God's grace you and I would be no different. The fallen heart and mind will not repent, not unless God does a work of grace. For Satan there is no grace. So, no, Satan cannot repent, will not repent (it is the same thing). Neither would you or I had God not granted it (Acts 11:17,18).

Realizing this should make us bow in wonder that God should be so gracious to us. We deserve no better.

A Note on Pharisees and Sadducees

Don't think of the Pharisees as a religious sect so much as a religious party. Protestant Christianity has divided itself into so many little splinter groups that when we get to the New Testament and start reading about the Pharisees and Sadducees we start thinking of them like Methodists and Baptists--as if they were different Jewish denominations. But this is the wrong way to think about them. It makes more sense and comes a lot closer to reality to look at them as two separate political parties within a legislature. They differ on particulars but both alike support the institution. The majority party rules and gets to make more decisions, but the minority party still has a say and influence. In this respect the Pharisees are the majority party and the Sadducees the minority while the Jewish faith is the institution in which they vie for supremacy.

Now let's look at each a little bit more closely.

The Pharisees obsessed over purity and outward conformity to the Law. Theirs was a brotherhood zealous of the traditions of their fathers. There was no law they could not improve, expound, and expand upon. Because theirs was the majority position, their opinion was official. Therefore the synagogue worship service is strongly Pharisaical in its design and emphasis. We also see this in Jesus's words to his disciples concerning them:

Matthew 23:[1] Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, [2] “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, [3] so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice.

Jesus is pointing out that because they were the majority position on ecclesiastical matters they were in charge of the worship and religious judgment of Israel and as such they were the law. This is why Jesus tells the crowd they must submit to the Pharisees's opinions on religious observance. But then he goes on to expose them for what they really were.

Matthew 23:[4] They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. [5] They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, [6] and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues [7] and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others.

He expounds further, but this quotation will suffice for our purposes.

Now, about those Sadducees. The Sadducees were a brotherhood also, in some respects more liberal, and some more conservative than the Pharisees. While a Sadducee might roll his eyes at the pretense of the Pharisees, we might note that he had his own foibles. The Sadducee did not accept the Prophets to be as authoritative in spiritual matters as the Torah (the Law). To them, the Torah, (what we know of as the Pentateuch or the books of Moses) was the only certain source of spiritual knowledge and the rest of what we know of as the Old Testament were considered companion writings. For this reason they were either agnostic about or did not believe at all in an afterlife or a resurrection. These things could not be found in the Torah. Did you notice in our synagogue worship service that there is much to be said about the resurrection and a future life with God and those who have gone on and are now living with God? This is by design and a Pharisee would have emphasized it not just for the reason that he would have considered it an important point of worship, but also to let the Sadducees know whose opinion was supreme.

But the Sadducees still had their influence. We will see that the reading of the Torah was divided up and completed in a cycle covering a certain time period. At the time of Christ it is believed that this would have been once every three or three and a half years. The reading of the prophets, however, was more random and not systematic at all. Chalk one up for the Sadducees.

As for that question of the resurrection, Jesus answered them fully and finally during his last week on earth when all his enemies sought to trip him up and find occasion to have him arrested. Recall that the Sadducees came to him with a question about the resurrection:

Matthew 22:[23] The same day Sadducees came to him, who say that there is no resurrection, and they asked him a question, [24] saying, “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up children for his brother.’ [25] Now there were seven brothers among us. The first married and died, and having no children left his wife to his brother. [26] So too the second and third, down to the seventh. [27] After them all, the woman died. [28] In the resurrection, therefore, of the seven, whose wife will she be? For they all had her.”

Looks as if they clearly thought they had cornered him and asked him the question that showed the fallacy of his ways. But they were wrong. Note Jesus's response:

[29] But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. [30] For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. [31] And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: [32] ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.” [33] And when the crowd heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.

Jesus takes them to the Torah and shows them that God speaks to Moses about Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the present tense. He proved them wrong on their own turf, from their own texts.

Anyway, just thought I would point out a few things that might help you understand the New Testament a little better. Back to our synagogue service shortly.

Books, Books, and More Books!

I have a bad habit of reading several books at the same time. I'm not sure why I do this. I think maybe it's because I'm always eager to go on to the next book and so I start a new one before I finish the last one. I used to have the bad habit of not finishing books, but I've broken that one--for the most part.

Anyway, since I just finished Edersheim's Sketches of Jewish Social Life I am down to just one book. Truth be told, I haven't picked this one up in six months. In fact, I'm not sure where I last left it. But I am determined to go find it and finish it before . . . at least by July 4.

I'm talking about Samuel Adams: A Life by Ira Stoll. I was doing well in it, but somehow got sidetracked. The last I read he was instigating the Boston Tea Party.

There is another one I put down a long time ago intending to pick back up, just never have. That one was Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion. Dawkins comes across as such a raving fundamentalist that I found myself alternately entertained and appalled. I do want to get back to this one, mostly because Dawkins is so popular in atheist circles. For those of you unfamiliar with leading atheists, Dawkins isn't necessarily their best spokesman, nor most tutored, but he is certainly the most vocal and he is a skilled rhetorician. I posted some things on him ages ago on another blog and I may dredge one or two of those back up and do some more debunking if I get back to this one--which I will--but maybe not right now.

I also have my commentaries coming. I'll be reading all of the introductory and background notes in the first volume when it arrives, this so as to commence my series of devotional posts from Isaiah's prophetical writings.

But what shall I read for enjoyment, for pure pleasure? I have had it in my mind for some time now that I should actually read all the classics, or at least all those books I look at in the book store or in a library and say, "You know, one day I need to read that book." These always turn out to be better than I think when I'm first opening them up and in this way I have read some really cool stuff that no one really, actually reads any more.

For example, I have Moby Dick on my book shelf and have been intending to read it for some time. The very thickness of it seems daunting enough, but couple that with the fact that it was written a hundred and fifty years ago and it can be quite intimidating. On the other hand, Ray Bradbury loved this book and I love Ray Bradbury.  I know I am going to love the language and the story once I get into it. This may be next.

But I have also been thinking of reading all of the dystopias. I recently re-read two of Orwell's classics, Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four. A year or so ago I read Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged. That was a marathon. I may grab a hardback copy of Brave New World and re-read that one. It's been ten years or more since I read it before and it isn't that long a read. Another one I am going to re-read (and use as an excuse to buy and own in hardback) is Ray Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451. Along those lines I also want to get and read (for the first time) Machiavelli's The Prince, Catch-22 by Joseph Heller, and there's another one I have on a wish list somewhere but can't remember the name of it.

Three or four years ago I read The Odyssey and since I bought it and The Illiad at the same time I have been thinking about reading the latter ever since. Maybe I will get to it this year. Hmmm. So many books . . .

Addendum:

The preceding was written and published last night, after which I settled on and began reading two new books, both relatively short. The first is Captains Courageous by Rudyard Kipling. I am three chapters in and so far it is a pretty good yarn. The other is an introduction to the discipline of logic by Graham Priest called, aptly enough, Logic. One chapter into that one and I can tell it will be something to take in and think about one chapter at a time. -- James, Friday morning.