6 hour drive to the happiest place on earth

So tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, but more importantly it is the day that I get to go home!  I am SO excited to see my family.  It will take about six hours to get home but there will be Full House marathons galore if my sisters have anything to do with how the week is going to go:)  I am most excited about Easter Sunday and the celebration that will take place!  Oh how I long for that day when I get to see my Savior face to face.  I can't even imagine the celebration that will be going on then!

I am also taking 11 books home with me for homework.  I know, it is insane!  I really do love it though.  I am doing a paper on the Kingship in Israel and how it contrasted with the ancient Near East.  It has been such a fun paper to write so far.  It has helped me understand and know who God is a little bit more.  Understanding that Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of His throne(Ps. 89:14),  provokes worship in the Psalms.  

In the ancient Near East, the kingship was oppressive, especially to the poor and the lower class.  The king owned all of the land and was a representation of the god of that land.  The king would then distribute(sold) the land to tenants who would take care of the land for the king.  If the people did not obey the king, they were severely oppressed.  This is completely opposite to what the Lord required of the king of Israel.  The people of Israel were directed by YHWH.  They were called and elected by YHWH.  Thus, their response to such grace was to be obedient.  YHWH describes the king's duties in Deuteronomy 17.  Verses 18-20 say:

    18"And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests.  19And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.  

The king was not to even let his heart be lifted up above his people.  He was to act in servanthood and humility to his people; he was never to take advantage of them.  Their kingship was designed to imitate their One True King over all.  They were to imitate the One who redeemed them and called them as His "treasured possession"(Exodus 19:5).  Chris Wright(Old Testament Ethics for the People of God) says that God required this righteousness and justice from them because that is what reflected Him.  When people fail to carry out justice, they do not have the true God as the object of their worship and devotion.  In this way, Israel(as a society and government) was to be a model for the nations around them.  Not only was the king to imbibe righteousness and justice, but so were the people.  The people were to know the Lord and fear the Lord.  He was their God and they were to reflect Him in the way that they lived.  Chris Wright explains that, "knowing the Lord means being committed to the things He most delights in: Kindness, Justice and Righteousness."

In Jeremiah it says that to know the Lord is to act justly and righteously:

22:15-16

"'Did not your father have food and drink?  He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.  He defended the cause of the poor and the needy, and so all went well.  Is that not what it means to know me?' declares the Lord!"

To live in a way that is Righteous and Just is to know God.

Furthermore, Wright comments that, "the one who would dare to come into the presence of God for worship must be the one whose life manifests the character of the God to be worshipped"(Wright).

Psalm 15:1-2

"Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?  Who may live on Your holy hill?  He whose walk is blameless and who does what is right..."

All that to say, I am thrilled to be writing this paper.  I am thrilled that the Lord has given me the opportunity to learn to know and fear Him in this way.  I can't begin to tell you how blessed I am and how much the Lord has graciously taught me this past year at CBU.  Just as Israel was called and chosen, so was I.  In the same way that they were to respond in obedience to that call, so am I to respond in obedience.  May we ever more abide in Christ and strive to imitate Him in Righteousness and Justice.

p.s. 

Chris Wright's Book is AMAZING.  I read it for my Old Testament Ethics class.  You really need to get it!