According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Elijah in the Wilderness, by Washington Allston

Image in the Public Domain

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1 Kings 19:4-8

Psalm 34:1-8

Ephesians 4:30-5:2

John 6:41-51

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Almighty and everlasting God,

you are always more ready to hear than we are to pray,

and to give us more than we either desire or deserve. 

Pour upon us the abundance of your mercy,

forgiving us those things of which our conscience is afraid,

and giving us those good things for which we are not worthy to ask,

except through the merit of your Son,

Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 26

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Almighty and everlasting God,

always more ready to hear than we to pray

and always ready to give more than we either desire or deserve,

pour down upon us the abundance of your mercy,

forgiving us the good things we are not worthy to ask

but through the merits and mediation

of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 74

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Just as the Kingdom of God is simultaneously present and future in the Synoptic Gospels, eternal life is present for those who follow Jesus.  “Eternal” carries a range of meanings in the Bible, depending upon the author one reads.  In the Johannine tradition, it means “of God,” and eternal life is knowing God via Jesus.  This definition differs from the Pauline tradition of eternal life–a blessed afterlife.   Yet consider, O reader, that the present tense of eternal life in the Gospel of John is consistent with the Realized Eschatology of the Johannine Gospel.

Amen, Amen, I say to you,

one who believes has eternal life.

I am the bread of life.

–John 6:47-48, The Revised New Jerusalem Bible

Ephesians 5:1 tells us–collectively, in context–to “become imitators of God.”  The textual context, flowing from chapter 4, is mutuality under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Forgiveness is a key feature of this model of communal life (4:32).  This is bold living.  In the historical context of the Epistle to the Ephesians, this is bold living amid a hostile culture.  So, amid hostility and persecution, the faith community could pray, in the words of Psalm 34:3:

In the LORD do I glory.

Let the lowly hear and rejoice.

–Robert Alter

Boldness had defined Elijah’s actions as recently as 1 Kings 18.  Yet, not surprisingly, Elijah’s massacre of the prophets of Baal Peor had displeased Queen Jezebel of Israel.  So, Elijah had abandoned all boldness, started hiding out in the wilderness, and commenced a pity party.  The prophet forgot about the one hundred prophets of YHWH safely hidden and supplied with food and drink in two caves (1 Kings 18:4).  If Queen Jezebel had succeeded in having Elijah killed, one hundred prophets of YHWH would have carried on his work.

Fear and ego may blind us to a key fact:  Although each of us has work from God, that work will continue via other people (agents of God) if we move away, chicken out, et cetera.  God’s work does not depend solely on you, O reader, or on me.  Nevertheless, you and I have an obligation to God to fulfill faithfully the work God has assigned us.

I lived in Athens, Georgia, for sixteen years and two months.  While there, I became so active in St. Gregory the Great Episcopal Church that I became part of the woodwork, so to speak.  Immediately before I left, I had been teaching a lectionary discussion class, serving as the parish librarian, and scheduling the lectors and the money counters for a few years.  The COVID-19 pandemic had abruptly terminated the sixth year of my parish movie series in March 2020.  The film series had not resumed when I left Athens in October 2021.  Before I left, more than one person asked me how the work I did in the parish would continue.  I reassured them that the work would continue.  After I left, four people replaced me within short order.  Then a fifth person started a new movie series.

God is central.  Also, in faith community, each person is important, yet nobody is irreplaceable.  God grants spiritual gifts as necessary.  So, lest we forget this, we may need to get over ourselves.  Eternal life is her; may we–as faith communities and as individuals–frolic in it and in so doing, become imitators of God, like beloved children.  May we not grieve the Holy Spirit.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

APRIL 12, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE FOURTH DAY OF EASTER

THE FEAST OF HENRY SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR; AND HIS NEPHEW, WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND SOCIAL ACTIVIST

THE FEAST OF CARL F. PRICE, U.S. METHODIST HYMNOLOGIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF SAINT DAVID URIBE-VELASCO, MEXICAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1927

THE FEAST OF SAINT JULIUS I, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF SAINT TERESA OF JESUS OF THE ANDES, CHILEAN ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN

THE FEAST OF SAINT ZENO OF VERONA, BISHOP

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Adapted from this post

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According to the Inter-Lutheran Commission on Worship (ILCW) Lectionary (1973), as contained in the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) and Lutheran Worship (1982)

Above:  Good Shepherd

Image in the Public Domain

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Acts 4:23-33

Psalm 23

1 John 3:1-2

John 10:11-18

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God of all power,

you called from death our Lord Jesus Christ,

the great shepherd of the sheep. 

Send us as shepherds to rescue the lost,

to heal the injured,

and to feed one another with knowledge and understanding;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

OR

Almighty God,

you show the light of your truth to those in darkness,

to lead them into the way of righteousness. 

Give strength to all who are joined in the family of the Church,

so that they will resolutely reject what erodes their faith

and firmly follow what faith requires;

through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Book of Worship (1978), 22

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Almighty God, merciful Father,

since you have wakened from death the Shepherd of your sheep,

grant us your Holy Spirit that we may know the voice of our Shepherd

and follow him that sin and death may never pluck us out of your hand;

through Jesus Christ, our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and forever.  Amen.

—Lutheran Worship (1982), 52

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The Fourth Sunday of Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday on more than one lectionary.

• YHWH is the Good Shepherd in Psalm 23.  In that text, only divine goodness and steadfast love either pursue or accompany the psalmist.  The enemies, not invited to the divine banquet, do not harm the psalmist.
• Jesus is the Good Shepherd in John 10.   He knows his sheep, who, in turn, recognize him.  And the Good Shepherd sacrifices himself for his sheep.
• Yet many in the “the world”–kosmos, in Greek–fail to recognize God and Jesus.  These spiritually blind people live according to the values which the Beatitudes (Matthew 5) and the Beatitudes and Woes (Luke 6) contradict.  Many of these spiritually blind people are conventionally religious, by the standards of their cultures or subcultures.

“Sacred violence” is a value of the kosmos, the morally disordered world.  Notice the absence of “sacred violence” in Psalm 23 and John 10, O reader.  God does not smite the psalmist’s foes.  God does, however, force them to watch a grand banquet to which God did not invite them.  And the perpetrators of the violence in John 10 are not acting out of divine love.  These two readings contradict some disturbing stories of violence committed in the name of God and allegedly in obedience to divine commands.  Elijah’s massacre of the prophets of Baal Peor (1 Kings 18:40-41) comes to my mind immediately.

I, having read the full canon of the Bible–all 73 books–reject the stereotype of God changing character between Testaments.  Divine judgment and mercy exist in balance in both the Old and the New Testaments.  Beautiful passages about divine mercy exist in both Testaments.  Likewise, so do harrowing passages about divine judgment.

I am a Christian.  Therefore, my concept of God hinges on Jesus of Nazareth.  I read stories about Jesus dying violently, not having people killed.  I read about Jesus expressing righteous anger, something everyone should do.  Yet I read no stories about Jesus ordering hatred or violence.  So, God, as I understand God, does not order hatred and violence either.  No, God is love.  God triumphs over hatred and violence with love.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 21, 2023 COMMON ERA

THE TWENTY-FOURTH DAY OF LENT

THE FEAST OF JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH, CARL PHILIPP EMANUEL BACH, AND JOHANN CHRISTIAN BACH, COMPOSERS

THE FEAST OF SAINT LUCIA OF VERONA, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC TERTIARY AND MARTYR, 1574

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARK GJANI, ALBANIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR, 1947

THE FEAST OF SAINT NICHOLAS OF FLÜE AND HIS GRANDSON, SAINT CONRAD SCHEUBER, SWISS HERMITS

THE FEAST OF SAINT SERAPION OF THMUIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

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Adapted from this post

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READING HOSEA, PART II

Above:  Hosea and Gomer

Image in the Public Domain

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Hosea 1:2-2:1 (Anglican, Protestant, and Eastern Orthodox)

Hosea 1:2-2:3 (Jewish and Roman Catholic)

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When I began my preparation for writing this post, I read the text aloud.  While doing so, I got theological whiplash.  Late in the reading, I also detected evidence of subsequent, Judean editing of the text, as in 1:7 and 1:10-2:1/2:3.  (I wrote about reasons for subsequent, Judean editing in the original text of the Book of Hosea in the previous post.)

Adultery and prostitution, in the Bible, are sometimes simply adultery and prostitution.  On other occasions, they are not literal references, but metaphors for idolatry.  And, on other occasions, they are both literal and metaphorical.  Regarding Gomer, the third option is germane.

Idolatry was widespread in ancient Israel.  Polytheism was ubiquitous in the ancient world, so monotheism was an outlying theological position.  Canaanite religion was popular in ancient Israel, much to the consternation of God, God’s prophets, and pious priests.  Pious priestly religion and folk religion were quite different from each other.  The cult of Baal Peor, the Canaanite storm and fertility god, entailed shrine prostitution, to ensure continued fertility and productivity of the soil, officially.  Gomer (“to complete,” literally) was probably one of these prostitutes.

A competing scholarly opinion in commentaries holds that Gomer was a different type of prostitute.  Some books I consulted suggested that she may have resorted to prostitution out of economic necessity, that her alternatives may have been starvation and homelessness.  These scholars write accurately that many women in patriarchal societies have found themselves in this predicament, and that, in Gomer’s society, women lacked property rights.

Gomer being a shrine prostitute fits the metaphor in the Book of Hosea better.

Metaphorically, God’s covenant with the Jews was a marriage.  Worship of Baal Peor, therefore, constituted infidelity.  God was, metaphorically, her husband, and the Jewish people were God’s wife.

The marriage of Hosea and Gomer dramatized the divine indictment of Israel.  The prophet played the role of God, and Gomer took the role of Israel.  The children of Hosea ben Beeri and Gomer bath Didlaim bore names that revealed God’s terse messages.

1. The first son was Jezreel, literally “God sows.”  Jezreel was a city (as in Joshua 15:56) and a valley (as in Judges 6:33).  Apart from the Book of Hosea, this place name occurred in Joshua 15, 17, and 19; Judges 6; 1 Samuel 25, 27, 29, and 30; 2 Samuel 2, 3, and 4; 1 Kings 4, 18, and 21; 2 Kings 8, 9, and 10; 1 Chronicles 4; and 2 Chronicles 22.  The city of Jezreel had a bloody past.  There, for example, Queen Jezebel had plotted the murder of Naboth (1 Kings 21).  And, when King Jehu founded the dynasty to which King Jeroboam II belonged, Jehu did so by assassinating the entire royal court at Jezreel.  What had come around was coming around, God warned.  In 747 B.C.E., King Zechariah, son of Jeroboam II, died after reigning for about six months.  His life and the House of Jehu ended violently when King Shallum staged a palace coup.  About a month later, King Shallum died in another palace coup (2 Kings 15:11-15).  Hosea, by the way, disagreed with the perspective of 2 Kings 9-10, the author of which held that God had authorized Jehu’s revolution.
2. Lo-ruhamah was the daughter of Hosea and Gomer.  The daughter’s name meant “not accepted” and “not shown mercy.”  (Poor girl!)  God refused to accept or pardon the House of Israel.
3. Lo-ammi was the second son.  His name meant “not My people.”  (Poor boy!)  The House of Israel had ceased to be God’s people.

Pronouncements of divine judgment continued after 1:9.  But first, in 1:10-2:1/2:1-3 (depending on versification), came an announcement of divine mercy.  Those God had just condemned as not being His people would become the Children of the Living God, shown mercy and lovingly accepted.  This passage may have been a subsequent insertion into the Book of Hosea.

The juxtaposition of material serves a valuable theological purpose.  It reminds us that divine judgment and mercy exist in balance.  Therefore, do not abandon all hope or presume on divine mercy; God both judges and forgives.  I recognize this balance without knowing where judgment gives way to mercy, and mercy to judgment.

The marriage of Hosea and Gomer also dramatized God’s continued yearning for Israel.  R. B. Y. Scott wrote:

Hosea speaks of judgment that cannot be averted by superficial professions of repentance; but he speaks more of love undefeated by evil.  The final words remain with mercy.

—The Relevance of the Prophets, 2nd. ed. (1968), 80

History offers a complicating factor.  John Adams, while defending the accused British soldiers charged in the so-called Boston Massacre, said,

Facts are stubborn things.

Consider the following stubborn facts, O reader:

1. The Assyrian Empire absorbed the (northern) Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.E.  A mass deportation followed.  This was not the first mass deportation.  A previous one had occured in 733 B.C.E., when that empire had claimed much of the territory of the (northern) Kingdom of Israel.
2. Many refugees from the (northern) Kingdom of Israel fled south, to the Kingdom of Judah after these events.  These refugees merged into the tribes of Judah and Simeon.
3. Many other Israelites remained in their homeland.  Many who did this intermarried with Assyrian colonists, producing the Samaritans.
4. The Ten Lost Tribes assimilated.  Their genetic and cultural heritage spread throughout the Old World, from Afghanistan to South Africa, over time.
5. The two kingdoms did not reunited, contrary to Hosea 1:11/2:2.

Nevertheless, I like what R. B. Y. Scott wrote:

The final word remains with mercy.

I hope so.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 13, 2021 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST

THE FEAST OF HENRI DOMINIQUE LACORDAIRE, FRENCH ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, DOMINICAN, AND ADVOCATE FOR THE SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

THE FEAST OF FRANCES PERKINS, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF LABOR

THE FEAST OF SAINT GEMMA OF GORIANO SICOLI, ITALIAN ROMAN CATHOLIC ANCHORESS

THE FEAST OF SAINT GLYCERIA OF HERACLEA, MARTYR, CIRCA 177

THE FEAST OF UNITA BLACKWELL, AFRICAN-AMERICAN CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST

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READING JONAH

Above:  Israeli Stamp of Jonah

Image in the Public Domain

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PART IV

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Jonah 4:1-11

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Jonah 4 contains an echo of Elijah in 1 Kings 19:4.  One may recall that Elijah, on the run from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel after the events of 1 Kings 18, fled to the wilderness and prayed for death.  One may also recall the tree under which Elijah sat in 1 Kings 19:4.  One may recall, furthermore, that God told Elijah to stop whining and to get back to work.

Jonah was no Elijah.  Jonah was a petty, resentful character.

Many of us may be more like Jonah that we like to admit.  We may become angry at God for forgiving our enemies, or at least those different from us.  We may want to see those sons of so-and-sos get what they deserve, or at least what we think they deserve.  And we may be sufficiently oblivious to our own faults not to realize what we deserve.  We may identify ourselves primarily by who we are not.  Therefore, when those against whom we constitute our identities repent, we may experience a psychological crisis.

God’s words in Jonah 4:10-11 end the book.  The contents of those two verses challenge us who read the Book of Jonah.  Replace Nineveh with a contemporary reference, O reader.  Ask yourself,

Which group of people would I not want to see repent?”

When you have your answer, you will have identified another reason you need to repent.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

NOVEMBER 12, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT JOSAPHAT KUNTSEVYCH, ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF POLOTSK, AND MARTYR, 1623

THE FEAST OF JOHN TAVENER, ENGLISH PRESBYTERIAN THEN ORTHODOX COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF RAY PALMER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM ARTHUR DUNKERLEY, BRITISH NOVELIST, POET, AND HYMN WRITER

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  Bears Destroy the Mocking Children

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LXXXI

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2 Kings 2:19-25

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With all your might love your Maker,

and do not forsake his ministers.

–Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 7:30, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

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A spiritual mentor of mine in the 1990s has continued to influence me.  Whenever Gene analyzed any Bible story, he did so based on the question,

What is really going on here?

One barrier to determining what is really going on here is thinking differently than the people who originally told the stories.  I do not propose to forsake science and other categories of knowledge–far from it!  The ignorance of ancients should not limit the intellectual horizons of anyone who has a pulse.  However, I, as one trained in history, seek to crawl inside the heads of dead people, so to speak.  Then, maybe, I can learn what the text says, what is really going on.

I focus on the story of Elisha and the spring first.  Competing scientific theories offer to explain the problem with that spring.  One theory points to the existence of radioactive springs in the region of Jericho.    This is a geological explanation; water passes through radioactive rock strata.  The water, therefore, becomes radioactive.  Sterility is one side effect of drinking the water.  A competing theory points to the presence of freshwater snails in come springs in the region.  The snails carry a disease that causes high rates of infant mortality.

Regardless of the natural scientific explanation of the problem with the spring, one ought to ponder the difference between the mindset that seeks to explain the problem and the mindset from which the Biblical text emerged.  Ancient Hebrews cared more about the question, “Who?” than the question, “Why?”  A modern, scientific, rationalistic mindset points to the logical problem of making water drinkable by adding salt to it.  I sympathize with that modern, scientific, rationalistic mindset.  I also know that this mindset was alien to the tradition that repeated this story.  The ancient Hebrew mindset assumed that God made the spring water drinkable via Elisha.  That was enough, in that context and from that perspective.   Also in context, the reference to a new dish indicated a magical ritual to symbolize a complete break with the past–with the curse of Joshua (Joshua 6:26), to be precise.

2 Kings 2:23-25 is a disturbing story.  As much as I discourage insulting people for being bald, I disapprove more of the ideas that Elisha cursed rude children and that God sent two bears to maul them.  A note in The Jewish Study Bible indicates that the story emphasizes the importance of treating the man of God with respect.

So, what is really going on here?  The story tells us that Elisha, en route to Mount Carmel (from 1 Kings 18), had full prophetic authority.  Elisha’s ministry offered, in the words of Choon-Leong Seow, writing in Volume III (1999) of The New Interpreter’s Bible,

the possibility of blessings or curses, life or death.

God, acting through Elisha, blessed and worked for life in verses 19-22 and cursed and caused death in verses 23-25.  Elisha called upon God.  God had the power to decide how to act then to act.  Elisha had no control over God.

Nobody controls God.  Fine.  I accept that.  I take comfort in that.  I still reject the suggestion that God sent bears to mangle children.  Then again, I think differently than those who told this story originally.  Their perspectives do not define my point of view.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 28, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINTS SIMON AND JUDE, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above: Map of the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LXXV

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1 Kings 20:1-43

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God is the opposite of evil,

and life is the opposite of death;

so the sinner is the opposite of the godly.

–Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 33:14, Revised Standard Version–Second Catholic Edition (2002)

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King Ahab of Israel (Reigned 873-852 B.C.E.)

King Ben-Hadad I of Aram (Reigned 880-842 B.C.E.)

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Ben-Hadad I was the King of Aram from prior to 1 Kings 15:18 through 2 Kings 8:15.  His realm (roughly modern Syria) sat between Israel and Assyria.  Aram also contained precious trade routes.  In the name of protecting these commercial caravan routes, Ben-Hadad I attacked Israel sometimes.  Ben-Hadad I’s campaign in 1 Kings 20:1-22 was an attempt to force King Ahab of Israel to join an alliance against Assyria, forces of which attacked Aram annually.  Ahab also had closed Aramean bazaars (in Samaria since the days of King Omri of Israel, Ahab’s father).

Ben-Hadad I, not dissuaded by defeat at Samaria the first time, attacked again months later.  He lot again.  The text made clear that that God, not Ahab, therefore, had no right to spare the life of Ben-Hadad I, which he did.

A recurring theme repeats in 1 Kings 10:  Disobedience to God’s instructions leads to death.  This death may not occur immediately, but it will happen.

One acculturated to Reformation theology may consider this teaching too close to the works side of the faith-works debate.  We need to acknowledge an irrefutable historical fact:  Hebrews of the 800s B.C.E. were not Protestants.  Also, works matter, not that I object to King Ahab sparing the life of King Ben-Hadad I.

As Amy-Jill Levine says of the Hebrew Bible, people did things differently then.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 27, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JAMES A. WALSH AND THOMAS PRICE, COFOUNDERS OF THE MARYKNOLL FATHERS AND BROTHERS; AND MARY JOSEPHINE ROGERS, FOUNDRESS OF THE MARYKNOLL SISTERS OF SAINT DOMINIC

THE FEAST OF DMITRY BORTNIANSKY, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF HARRY WEBB FARRINGTON, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above: Elijah in the Desert, by Washington Alllston

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LXXIII

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1 Kings 19:1-18

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The voice of the LORD makes the oak trees writhe

and strips the forests bare.

–Psalm 29:8, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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King Ahab of Israel (Reigned 873-852 B.C.E.)

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Except when the voice of God is a soft, murmuring sound.

There is much going on in 1 Kings 19.  For example:

1. Let us not forget the hundred unnamed prophets hiding from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel in two caves in 18:4.
2. If Elijah had died in Chapter 19, the prophetic tradition would have continued.
3. God provided for Elijah in the wilderness, as God had done for Moses and the former Hebrew slaves in Exodus.
4. Elijah sheltering in the rock calls back to Moses sheltering in the rock (Exodus 33:13-33) when God passed by.
5. The depiction of God in 1 Kings 19:1-18 is opposite of that of Baal Peor, a storm god.
6. God told Elijah in so many words, “Stop whining!  Get back to work!”  Then God gave Elijah three tasks to complete.
7. Elijah completed only one of those tasks.  Elisha completed the other two tasks in 2 Kings 8:7-15 and 9:1-15, after the assumption of Elijah into Heaven.  
8. Elijah selecting his successor (Elisha) echoes Moses choosing his successor (Joshua son of Nun) in Numbers 27:15-23.

Germane texts offer a mixed critique of Elijah.  As with King David, his record in scripture is more ambiguous than his standard historical reputation.  Such overblown reputations result from the excesses of nostalgia.

Yet such ambiguity should comfort us.  If there was hope for Elijah, for example, there is also hope for us.  Heroic figures were human beings with great flaws and great virtues.  These heroes did much for God.  So can we mortals.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 27, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF JAMES A. WALSH AND THOMAS PRICE, COFOUNDERS OF THE MARYKNOLL FATHERS AND BROTHERS; AND MARY JOSEPHINE ROGERS, FOUNDRESS OF THE MARYKNOLL SISTERS OF SAINT DOMINIC

THE FEAST OF DMITRY BORTNIANSKY, RUSSIAN ORTHODOX COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF HARRY WEBB FARRINGTON, U.S. METHODIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  Elijah on Mount Carmel

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LXXII

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1 Kings 18:1-46

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As for the gods of the nations, they are but idols;

but it is the LORD who made the heavens.

–Psalm 96:5, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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King Ahab of Israel (Reigned 873-852 B.C.E.)

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Prophets of God were plentiful in the northern Kingdom of Israel.  A hundred of them were hiding in two caves in 1 Kings 18:4.  They were hiding from Queen Jezebel, who would have killed them otherwise.  Obadiah the palace steward deserved much credit for his faith, courage, and resourcefulness.

Elijah took a great risk when he went to confront King Ahab.  Nevertheless, Ahab had been sending agents to search for Elijah, to stay put was also risky.

The description of the contest on Mount Carmel is vivid.  We read of 450 prophets of Baal Peor performing a hopping dance.  We read of Elijah euphemistically suggesting that Baal Peor may be in the bathroom.  We read of prophets of Baal Peor slashing themselves with knives.  We also read of the dramatic consumption of Elijah’s sacrifice, followed by the slaughter of the prophets of Baal Peor.  We read, furthermore, of the end of the drought, which lasted about three years.

King Ahab and Queen Jezebel were livid.  Elijah was on the run from them.

I wonder how Obadiah the palace steward fared.  He dropped out of the narrative after 1 Kings 18:16.

Elijah was bold and courageous.  Then he was not (1 Kings 19).  He trusted God then he went into hiding and sulked.

Each of us may be like Elijah in that respect.  We have work to do.  God has given it to us.  God has empowered us to perform it.  May we fulfill our vocations from God by grace.  May we fulfill them boldly and faithfully.  And may we refrain from sulking when we should be working for God.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 26, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ALFRED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WEST SAXONS

THE FEAST OF ARTHUR CAMPBELL AINGER, ENGLISH EDUCATOR, SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF FRANCIS POTT, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF HENRY STANLEY OAKELEY, COMPOSER

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath, by Bartholomeus Breenbergh

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LXXI

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1 Kings 17:1-24

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And now, you kings, be wise;

be warned, you rulers of the earth.

Submit to the LORD with fear,

and with trembling bow before him;

Lest he be angry and you perish;

for his wrath is quickly kindled.

Happy are they all

who take refuge in him!

–Psalm 2:10-13, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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King Ahab of Israel (Reigned 873-852 B.C.E.)

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For a while, kings have occupied the forefront in the narrative.  From this point to 2 Kings 13, they will continue to do so much of the time.  However, monarchs will occupy the background instead from this point to 2 Kings 13.  Stories of Elijah start in 1 Kings 17 and terminate in 2 Kings 2.  Stories of Elisha begin in 1 Kings 19 and end in 2 Kings 13.  Some of the most famous Biblical stories come from 1 Kings 17-2 Kings 13.  Some of them are also repetitive, given the overlapping traditions regarding Elijah and Elisha.  1 Kings 17, for example, bears a striking resemblance to 2 Kings 4, the story of Elisha, the Shunammite woman, and her son.

The sneak preview is over.  Now I focus on 1 Kings 17:1-24.

The deification of nature is one of the oldest patterns in religion.  The multiplicity of gods and goddesses with specific portfolios (rain, the Moon, the Sun, et cetera) for thousands of years and in a plethora of cultures proves this assertion.  Old habits can be difficult to break, and monotheism is a relative latecomer to the party.  Also, attempting to appease the gods and goddesses or some of them, at least, without the strictures is relatively easy.  Lest we monotheists rest on our laurels, Psalm 14, Psalm 53, the Law of Moses, the testimony of Hebrew prophets, and the New Testament warn us not to mistake God for an absentee landlord.  The Gospels, for example, contain many cautions to the self-identified insiders that they may actually be outsiders.  

Baal Peor, a storm god, was powerless against a severe, multi-year drought.  Of course he was; Baal Peor was a figment of many imaginations.

The drought of 1 Kings 17:1-18:46 contains a call back to Deuteronomy 11:13-17.  (I like connecting the dots, so to speak, in the Bible.)  Speaking of connecting the dots, Jesus referred to God sending Elijah to the widow of Zarephath in the synagogue in Nazareth, to the great displeasure of his audience, in Luke 4:26.  The Gospel of Luke, addressed to Gentiles, included that reference, absent from parallel accounts of the rejection at Nazareth in Mark 6:1-6a and Matthew 13:54-58.

Zarephath was in Phoenician–Gentile–territory.  King Ahab of Israel had no jurisdiction there, but Queen Jezebel may have been familiar with the territory, given her origin.  The widow was especially vulnerable, given her precarious economic status.  Her faith contrasted with the evil Queen Jezebel and with the faithlessness of many Hebrews.

Whenever I read a text, I seek first to understand objectively what it says.  Then I interpret it.  The text describes Elijah as a wonder-worker.  The refilling jar of flour and jug of oil may stretch credulity, from a post-Enlightenment perspective.  The resurrection of the widow’s son does, certainly.  Yet, in the cultural context of 1 Kings 17, those elements fit in and give Elijah his bona fides.  If we understand that much, we grasp objectively what the text says.

Happy are all they who take refuge in God.  They may even include Gentiles and other alleged outsiders.  And many alleged insiders may really be outsiders.  The grace of God is for all people, although not everyone accepts it.  These are also themes prominent in both the Old and New Testaments.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 26, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF ALFRED THE GREAT, KING OF THE WEST SAXONS

THE FEAST OF ARTHUR CAMPBELL AINGER, ENGLISH EDUCATOR, SCHOLAR, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF FRANCIS POTT, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER AND TRANSLATOR

THE FEAST OF HENRY STANLEY OAKELEY, COMPOSER

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READING 1-2 SAMUEL, 1 KINGS, 2 KINGS 1-21, 1 CHRONICLES, AND 2 CHRONICLES 1-33

Above:  King Ahab of Israel

Image in the Public Domain

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PART LXX

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1 Kings 16:21-34

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For they sow the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind….

–Hosea 8:7a, The Holy Scriptures (1917)

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King Omri of Israel (Reigned 882-871 B.C.E.)

King Ahab of Israel (Reigned 873-852 B.C.E.)

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These verses bring us to the cusp of the stories of Elijah and Elisha, set against the backdrop of the House of Omri.

The account of the 12-year reign of King Omri is succinct and negative.  The author seems not to have had much interest in this monarch, rated as being worse than the five preceding Kings of Israel.  On a historical note, if anyone finds the lost Annals of the Kings of Israel, that person will recover a priceless historical resource.

King Ahab, son of King Omri, was worse than his father, according to 1 Kings 16:30.

The text unpacks that generalization somewhat.  It mentions idolatry and name drops Queen Jezebel.  Subsequent chapters (17-22) reveal more about King Ahab and Queen Jezebel.

On a related issue, Psalm 45 may refer to the marriage of Jezebel to King Ahab.  If it does, the text drips with irony.  For example, the line,

he is your master,

rings hollow, given how much King Ahab did Queen Jezebel’s bidding.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 25, 2020 COMMON ERA

PROPER 25:  THE TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF PHILIPP NICOLAI, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT PROCLUS, ARCHBISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE; AND SAINT RUSTICUS, BISHOP OF NARBONNE

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