Gulf State Park, Gulf Shores, Alabama
Then Judah said to Onan, “Lie with your brother’s wife and fulfill your duty to her as a brother-in-law to produce offspring for your brother.” But Onan knew that the offspring would not be his; so whenever he lay with his brother’s wife, he spilled his semen on the ground to keep from producing offspring for this brother. What he did was wicked in the LORD’s sight; so He put him to death also. ~ Genesis 38:8-10 This is another one of those passages that I don’t fully understand. It’s the first mention of levirate marriage within Israel. Let’s look at Judah first. Here’s Jesus’s ancestor – the line all the prophets mention, who chose to walk away from his God-led family and spend time in the world. And now, God has taken away two of his sons. One of the commentators I read mentions that the fulfillment of prophecy was in jeopardy and that’s why God removed them, but I don’t know. God’s will wins out regardless of the stumbling blocks we, or Satan, put in His way. So what’s up with this levirate law? It’s actually included in The Law of Moses in Deuteronomy 25 many generations later. The question is, why? What I found, is that if a brother died and left no son, it was the obligation of his brother to marry the widow and continue to try to produce male offspring, who would receive the rights of his deceased father in rank and property. This was done to preserve the name of the deceased, and their property rights. The practice no longer takes place within the Israelite nation. I guess it was important to a fledgling nation whom God wanted to prosper and make as numerous as the stars in the sky (Gen 15:5). Most importantly, it was obviously important to God or He wouldn’t have commanded it in The Law.
Let’s begin the day with a laugh!
I’d love to know how much wood they have in these boardwalks in this Park! They’re long, and they’re everywhere! There are 28 miles of trails, and I’d bet more than half are wooden boardwalks. That’s a lot of wood! I didn’t take any pictures of them today.
Today, we biked to the town of Orange Beach to check out the city-sponsored Art Gallery. Part of the way was through the State Park, part was a paved path along the city streets. At times, it wasn’t very clear where we were to go. Near the end, we biked about a mile extra because, while the sidewalk/paved path went straight, it ended at a gas station, with no way to safely cross the street – and we could see the path over there. We turned around and, on the way back, stopped at an intersection where a city worker was waiting on the light, so Blaine asked him how to cross. We had to continue back in the direction we started from another half mile in order to cross. It was much less exciting going home. 😊
Including the fact that I didn’t fall on the way home.
What happens when I ride really slow (because I don’t know what Blaine’s doing – passing me, falling behind, etc.) and simultaneously attempting to take a picture? Yes, while I’m moving. And my legs are too short to touch the ground? I toppled over. At least it was away from the road! Anyway, the pedal scraped the front of my ankle area, you know, where your foot bends. It hurt and it was scraped and it had some kind of black dirt gouged into it, but it didn’t bleed. And I got back up, from a bent over position (I never hit the ground), took my picture and off we went. It burned a lot at first. Small price to pay when you’re a blogger trying to get a shot! 😊
I snapped this picture as I was going down. See Blaine’s shadow looking my direction? 
And that’s the picture I risked life and limb for.
I took it after I righted myself and stopped. : )
It seems many people in Alabama are getting into the Mardi Gras mood. There are decorations everywhere already, and it doesn’t start until March 1st! Do you remember that Mardi Gras actually began in Alabama? We learned that when we visited Mobile a few years ago.
This guy, JD, collects beach trash and creates art with it.
Now all he has to do is convince someone to actually buy it!
This one seemed the best choice. : )
About 5pm, we drove over to the pier to watch the sun set and the moon rise. It was waaay too cold and would be too dark to bike. It was beautiful, but not quite the beauty of the last one. I got to witness what I believe was a swordfish leaping out of the water! The entire thing! It had too long of a nose to be a dolphin. Exciting! I just wish Blaine had seen it too.
For the moon rise, we drove across the street to a parking area because all the tall buildings were in the way at the pier. It too, was an amazing sight! Unfortunately, our phones didn’t agree, and thus, refused to take the pictures we wanted. ☹ So imagine a huge, glowing, orange globe against a stark black background!
Sorta like this next picture I borrowed from the internet, but without all the buildings.
Stunning!