but when he awakens, behold

Reading through 1Kings, and as I read through the list of people who reigned over this and that and walked in the sins of their fathers, a word kept appearing in reference to what their behaviors were doing to the Lord: the word "provoke". A quick con search lets me know that 53 instances of that word appear in the NASB -- with the vast majority of them being used in the context of people doing things to irritate a patient God. I get the picture of a sleeping lion with a dumb kid and a stick and a death wish.

I can't open up a newspaper or browse CNN or turn on the TV without reading or seeing someone irritate me with their bad decisions. If it's not another state going against majority wishes to allow sodomy, it's another fool claiming to present the real truth of the historical Jesus. And sure, they can keep kicking religion when its down, and I keep thinking to myself, "Keep at it. Keep at it. That stick is this close to complete provocation." And trust me, when the the Lion of the Tribe of Judah is provoked, that death wish is about the dumbest wish in all of history.