Archive for the ‘Genesis 46’ Category
Above: Map of the Assyrian Empire and Its Neighbors
Image Scanned from an Old Bible
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
READING MICAH, PART I
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Micah 1:1
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The prophet was an individual who said No to his society, condemning its habits and assumptions, its complacency, waywardness, and syncretism. He was often compelled to proclaim the very opposite of what his heart expected. His fundamental objective was to reconcile man and God. Why do the two need reconciliation? Perhaps it is due to man’s false sense of sovereignty, to his abuse of freedom, to his aggressive, sprawling pride, resenting God’s involvement in history.
–Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel, The Prophets, Vol. 1 (1962), xiii
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The superscription of the Book of Micah identifies the prophet as Micah, from Moresheth, a village southwest of Jerusalem. “Micah” is abbreviated from “Micaiah,” literally, “Who is like Yah[weh]?” The superscription also specifies the prophet’s mission (to prophecy regarding the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah) and timeframe (during the reigns of Kings Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah of Judah).
With a few exceptions (such as in the First Book of the Maccabees, which dated events according to the Hellenistic calendar), when authors of the Old Testament dated events, the usually used relative dating, such as “in the third year of king _____.” Converting these ancient dates to fit onto the Gregorian calendar and the B.C./B.C.E.-A.D./C.E. scale has long proven challenging and with inconsistent results. Perhaps you, O reader, have noticed that when you have consulted two different study Bibles for when a certain King of Israel or King of Judah reigned, you found two different answers.
For the record, as much as possible, I take dates from The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014). It tells me that the four listed kings reigned accordingly:
- Azariah, a.k.a. Uzziah (785-733 B.C.E.); see 2 Kings 15:1-7 and 2 Chronicles 26:1-23;
- Jotham (759-743 B.C.E.); see 2 Kings 15:32-38 and 2 Chronicles 27:1-9;
- Ahaz (743/735-727/715 B.C.E.); see 2 Kings 16:1-20; 2 Chronicles 28:1-27; and Isaiah 7:1-8:15; and
- Hezekiah (727/715-698/687 B.C.E.); see 2 Kings 18:1-20:21; 2 Chronicles 29:1-32:33; Isaiah 36:1-39:8; and Ecclesiasticus/Sirach 48:17-22 and 49:4.
Jotham and Azariah/Uzziah had a co-regency. Did Ahaz and Azariah/Uzziah also have a co-regency? Trying to answer that question accurately is difficult, given that relative dating for the same monarchs is not always consistent, due to factual contradictions in sources.
Scripture does mention “Micah the Morashite” outside of the Book of Micah. Jeremiah 26:17-19, in the context of Jeremiah’s trial and death sentence, quotes some Jewish elders recalling Micah as having prophesied during the reign of King Hezekiah and not having received the death penalty. Jeremiah 26:18 quotes Micah 3:12.
The Book of Micah, like the Books of Hosea and Amos before it, has layers of authorship and editing between the original version and the final version, from after the Babylonian Exile. This reality does not trouble me in the Books of Hosea and Amos. Neither does it disturb me in the Book of Micah.
The timeframe of the prophetic career of Micah, as established in 1:1, was very difficult.
- The Assyrian Empire menaced the (northern) Kingdom of Israel and the (southern) Kingdom of Judah.
- The Kingdoms of Israel and Aram had formed an anti-Assyrian alliance. King Ahaz of Judah refused to join that alliance. Therefore, during the Syro-Ephraimite War (734-732 B.C.E.), Israel and Aram waged war on Judah and sought to replace Ahaz with a monarch who would join that alliance. Ahaz allied himself with the Assyrian Empire, not God. In 732 B.C.E., the Assyrian Empire seized territory from Aram and Israel and reduced those kingdoms to vassalage.
- The Assyrian Empire conquered the (northern) Kingdom of Israel in 722 B.C.E.
- The Assyrian Empire conquered the Kingdom of Aram in 720 B.C.E.
- In 701, during the reign of King Hezekiah, Assyrian King Sennacherib (r. 705-681 B.C.E.) invaded Judah.
- On the domestic front, wealthy landowners were forcing peasant farmers into debt and seizing their land, in violation of the common good and the Law of Moses. Corruption, injustice, and oppression of Judeans by Judeans was endemic.
The superscription (1:1) refers to “Samaria and Jerusalem,” the capitals of the (northern) Kingdom of Israel and the (southern) Kingdom of Judah, respectively. I mention this because the use of language matters. If, for example, I write, “x” and have one meaning in mind yet you, O reader, read “x” and have another definition in mind, I have not communicated with you, and you have missed the point.
- The Book of Micah, in its final form, generally uses “Israel” in the generic sense–the people of the covenant, not the subjects of any Jewish kingdom. This explains why, in Micah, Israel continues to exist after the Fall of Samaria (722 B.C.E.).
- “Jacob” refers to Judah. The use of “Jacob” recalls the infamous trickster (Genesis 25:19-34; 27:1-35:37; 37:1-36; 42:29-43:14; 46:1-47:12; 47:28-48:22). “Jacob,” of course, is also the original name of Israel, after whom the people of Israel took their name. The use of “Jacob” to refer to Judah indicates the importance of divine promises to the Patriarchs and foreshadows restoration to a state of grace after punishment for sins.
The Book of Micah holds divine judgment and mercy in balance. Much of the prophecy, in its final, edited form, is doom and gloom.
Yet faith in God does not conclude on a note of despair. Hope is the last word, then as now. But the hope which prophetic religion exalts is born of faith in God and in his love of man.
–Harold A. Bosley, in The Interpreter’s Bible, Vol. 6 (1956), 901
Another detail interests me. Most English translations begin:
The word of the LORD that came to Micah….”
Focus on “came to,” O reader. The Hebrew text literally reads:
The word of the LORD that was Micah….
This leads me back to Rabbi Abraham J. Heschel:
The prophet is a person, not a microphone. He is endowed with a mission, with the power of a word not his own that accounts for his greatness–but also with temperament, concern, character, and individuality. As there was no resisting the impact of divine inspiration, so at times there was no resisting the vortex of his own temperament. The word of God reverberated in the voice of man.
The prophet’s task is to convey a divine view, yet as a person he is a point of view. He speaks from the perspective of God as perceived from the perspective of his own situation. We must seek to understand not only the views he expounded but also the attitudes he embodied: his own position, feeling response–not only what he said but also what he lived; the private, the intimate dimension of the word, the subjective side of the message.
–The Prophets, Vol. 1 (1962), viii
The inspiration of scripture included a human element. The authors and prophets were not secretaries of the Holy Spirit, taking dictation, as in “Put a comma there.” No, the people thanks to whom we have the Bible put themselves into the book. They were the message. They were people, not microphones.
What does the Book of Micah have to proclaim to the world of 2021? Let us find out.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 24, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF NICOLAUS SELNECKER, GERMAN LUTHERAN MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JACKSON KEMPER, EPISCOPAL MISSIONARY BISHOP
THE FEAST OF EDITH MARY MELLISH (A.K.A. MOTHER EDITH), FOUNDRESS OF THE COMMUNITY OF THE SACRED NAME
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIA GARGANI, FOUNDRESS OF THE SISTERS APOSTLES OF THE SACRED HEART
THE FEAST OF MARY MADELEVA WOLFF, U.S. ROMAN CATHOLIC NUN, POET, SCHOLAR, AND PRESIDENT OF SAINT MARY’S COLLEGE, NOTRE DAME, INDIANA
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Jesus and the Rich Young Man
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
For the Eighth Sunday after the Epiphany, Year 2, according to the U.S. Presbyterian lectionary of 1966-1970
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Grant, we beseech thee, merciful God, that thy church,
being gathered together in unity by thy Holy Spirit,
may manifest thy power among all peoples, to the glory of thy name;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with thee and
the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
—The Book of Common Worship–Provisional Services (1966), 120
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Genesis 45:1-15
1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13
Luke 18:18-30
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Whenever we ponder destiny, we must, if we are to be thorough, contemplate at least three factors: God, other people, and ourselves. The Joseph Epic in Genesis (Chapters 37, 39-50) shows all three. It demonstrates that God works through the decisions of others, sometimes contradicting the desires of those others. The Joseph Epic also shows that God works independently.
The greatest spiritual gift, we read in 1 Corinthians, is love. It builds people up, laughs with them, weeps with them, endures with them. Love forgives. It seeks the best for others and is sad when they reject the best.
St. Augustine of Hippo defined sin as disordered love. He understood that God deserved the most love, and that loving people, objects, wealth, et cetera more than one should constituted idolatry. St. Augustine must have been contemplating the reading from Luke 8, among other texts, for the story of the man overly attached to his wealth fits easily into the theologian’s definition of sin.
For many people attachment to wealth is not an option, but all of us have attachments. Our attachments may be to the tangible or to the intangible or to both, but they are no less at risk turning into idolatry, if they have not already done so, than the rich man’s attachment to his wealth.
He made his choice. He chose his destiny.
What choice will I make? What choice will you, O reader, make?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 18, 2019 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF ADOLPHUS NELSON, SWEDISH-AMERICAN LUTHERAN MINSTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF JOHANN FRANCK, HEINRICH HELD, AND SIMON DACH, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITERS
THE FEAST OF RICHARD MASSIE, HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM BINGHAM TAPPAN, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, POET, AND HYMN WRITER
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: The Seduction of Dinah, Daughter of Leah, by James Tissot
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Genesis 34 or Isaiah 29:13-24
Psalm 18:1-15
1 Corinthians 5:1-13
Matthew 10:34-11:1
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We have some unpleasant content this week–rape, deceit, and murder in Genesis 34 and incest in 1 Corinthians 5.
The rape of Dinah is one of those stories that makes people squirm. Dinah is the only completely sympathetic character. Jacob, her father, is indifferent to her plight. Her brothers Simeon and Levi are sympathetic until they entrap and massacre Canaanite men still recuperating from circumcision. Shechem the rapist is not sympathetic at all; neither is his father Hamor. Still, Simeon and Levi, avengers of their sister, are somewhat sympathetic characters.
At least they cared about what had happened to her, what was happening to her, and might happen to her.
As for Dinah, given the realities of her situation in a patriarchal culture that shamed raped women, her future seemed bleak. Who would marry her now? And marrying her rapist was not a good option either. She almost dropped out of the narrative; her name recurred in the census in Genesis 46. She had no descendants.
Her brothers’ vengeance brought them material gain and ego boosts, but wounded their souls and diminished them as human beings. It made a bad situation worse.
Trust in God, most of the assigned readings tell us. Trust in God when doing so is difficult. Trust in God and live accordingly. Trust in God, take up one’s cross, follow Jesus, and take care of each other. Trust in God when one’s family abandons one.
Trusting in God can prove challenging during the best of times, especially if one insists on self-reliance. Trusting in God when one is in dire straits can therefore be more difficult. Yet I know from experience that trusting in God might be easier in times of dire straits if, for perhaps no other reason, one is acutely aware of one’s dependence on God and of God’s presence. God is always with us. If one likens God to a lamp turned on, one might understand my point. One might notice the light during daylight, but the light is more noticeable at night.
Trusting in God also entails leaving desires for revenge unfulfilled. Vengeance might prove satisfying in the short term, but it devours those who have committed it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 30, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF CLARENCE JORDAN, SOUTHERN BAPTIST MINISTER AND WITNESS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
THE FEAST OF SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF RAVENNA AND DEFENDER OF ORTHODOXY
THE FEAST OF SAINT VICENTA CHÁVEZ OROZCO, FOUNDRESS OF THE SERVANTS OF THE HOLY TRINITY AND THE POOR
THE FEAST OF SAINT WILLIAM PINCHON, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2018/07/30/devotion-for-proper-14-year-a-humes/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Give Us This Our Daily Bread Print, Currier & Ives, 1872
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-USZC2-2453
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Blessed Lord, who caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning:
Grant us so to hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them,
that we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of life,
which you have given us in our Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
—The Book of Common Prayer (1979), page 236
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Genesis 41:9-40
Psalm 37:23-28a
Acts 6:1-7
Mark 8:14-21
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Depart from evil, and do good,
so you shall abide forever.
For the LORD loves justice;
he will not forsake his faithful ones.
The righteous shall be kept safe forever,
but the children of the wicked shall be cut off.
–Psalm 37:27-28, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
David Ackerman omits the second part (the passage contrasting the righteous and the children of the wicked) in Beyond the Lectionary (2013).
On another topic, the Psalmist might not have seen the children of the righteous begging for bread, but I have. I am not alone in this.
The Joseph of the Book of Genesis bears little resemblance to the figure of whom I have read in many a book of Bible stories retold for children. I read Genesis 37 and 39-50 (the Joseph Epic) and encounter a spoiled brat who grew up because he had no choice. I also meet an interpreter of dreams who rose to a position of prominence, reunited his family, and in Chapter 47, fed the Egyptian population during a time of severe drought by returning their food (which he had ordered confiscated) to them in exchange for serfdom. Joseph is an imperfect protagonist.
The surviving Apostles (plus St. Matthias) feed the hungry then decide to focus on preaching and teaching. So they appoint deacons to wait tables. This is the origin of the Christian diaconate. There is no insistence upon serfdom here. No, we find quite the opposite.
When we turn to the reading from Mark 8 it is useful to understand that we pick up immediately following Jesus feeding “about four thousand people” with seven loaves and a few small fish. There are many leftovers. Then some Pharisees demand, of all things, a sign. Jesus warns his Apostles against the yeast–a metaphor for diffused or veiled evil (see Luke 12:1; 1 Corinthians 5:6; and Galatians 5:9) of the Pharisees. The literal-minded Apostles, confused, think that Christ refers to bread. Jesus is angry with them.
The depiction of the Apostles in the Gospel of Mark is interesting and part of a larger theme. The earliest canonical Gospel argues that those who think they are insiders might not be that. There are the condemnations of the religious establishment, of course. Furthermore, those closest to Jesus do not understand him. To the contrary, evil spirits recognize him immediately. This depiction of the twelve Apostles as being clueless is stronger in Mark than in Luke-Acts, for narrative reasons.
A sufficient supply of food is essential to sustaining life. Too little food leads to starvation, just as an excess of it leads to obesity. Furthermore, the wrong type of food leads to health problems. Likewise, improper spiritual nutrition leads to negative consequences. Do we not yet understand this?
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 16, 2018 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF GEORGE BERKELEY, IRISH ANGLICAN BISHOP AND PHILOSOPHER; AND JOSEPH BUTLER, ANGLICAN BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN
THE FEAST OF JOHN FRANCIS REGIS, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST
THE FEAST OF NORMAN MACLEOD, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER; AND HIS COUSIN, JOHN MACLEOD, SCOTTISH PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, LITURGIST, AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF RUFUS JONES, QUAKER THEOLOGIAN
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2017/06/16/devotion-for-proper-7-ackerman/
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: A Good Shepherd Mosaic from Ravenna, Italy
Image in the Public Domain
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
O Lord Christ, good shepherd of the sheep,
you seek the lost and guide us into your fold.
Feed us, and we shall be satisfied;
heal us, and we shall be whole.
Make us one with you, for you live and reign with the Father
and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 33
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Assigned Readings:
Genesis 30:25-43 (Thursday)
Genesis 46:28-47:6 (Friday)
Genesis 48:8-19 (Saturday)
Psalm 23 (All Days)
Acts 3:17-36 (Thursday)
Acts 4:1-4 (Friday)
Mark 6:30-34 (Saturday)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The LORD is my shepherd;
I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me to water in places of repose;
He renews my life;
He guides me in right paths
as befits His name.
Though I walk through a valley of deepest darkness,
I fear no harm, for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff–they comfort me.
You spread a table for me in full view of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
my drink is abundant.
Only goodness and steadfast love shall pursue me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for many years.
–Psalm 23, TANAKH: The Holy Scriptures (1985)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The theme for these three days is shepherds.
Shepherds functioned as interesting metaphors. They were essential to the economy yet were far from respectable and pleasant smelling. Nevertheless, monarchs were metaphorical shepherds of their kingdoms. And Jesus, of course, became known as the Good Shepherd.
Jacob/Israel was a shepherd and a trickster. Laban, his father-in-law, tricked him, so Jacob/Israel returned the favor, won his independence from Laban, and became wealthy. The patriarch, due to a lie most of his sons told him, mourned one son, Joseph, whom he thought was dead. Happily, Joseph was alive in Egypt. Jacob/Israel, reunited with Joseph, blessed his grandchildren via that son, surprising Joseph by announcing that the second grandson’s descendants would be more prominent than those of the first. The name of Ephraim became synonymous with the Kingdom of Israel (northern), which, like the Kingdom of Judah (southern), had plenty of bad kings.
Many earthly “shepherds,” Biblical prophets proclaimed, fell short of the divinely set standards of proper governance. A proper “shepherd,” they said, opposed idolatry, economic injustice, and judicial corruption. He looks after the interests of people who have nobody else to protect them, the prophets said.
A shepherd needs the sheep at least as much as the sheep need him. What is a shepherd without sheep? Who is a leader without followers? What is a creator without a creation? Such an interpretation troubles some, I know, but I did not create the metaphor. No, I merely explore its implications faithfully and intellectually honestly.
Jesus, our Good Shepherd, has pity on us, for we are like sheep without a shepherd. We are inclined to go astray easily, so we need the proper guidance. May we heed it.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 18, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF MARC BOEGNER, ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF DOROTHY SAYERS, NOVELIST
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
http://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2014/12/18/devotion-for-thursday-friday-and-saturday-before-the-fourth-sunday-of-easter-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Above: Christ in Majesty, from a Gospel Book, Circa 1220
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Holy Women, Holy Men: Celebrating the Saints (2010), of The Episcopal Church, contains an adapted two-years weekday lectionary for the Epiphany and Ordinary Time seasons from the Anglican Church of Canada. I invite you to follow it with me.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Genesis 46:1-7, 28-30 (An American Translation):
So Israel set out with all that belonged to him. On reaching Beersheba he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. In a vision by night God spoke to Israel.
Jacob! Jacob!
he said.
Here I am,
he said.
I am El, the God of your father,
he said;
do not be afraid to go down to Egypt; for there I will make you a great nation. I will myself go down to Egypt with you–yes, and I will bring you up again, when Joseph’s hand shall close your eyes.
Then Jacob set out from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel conveyed their father Jacob, with their little ones and their wives, in wagons which Pharaoh had sent to convey him. Taking their live stock and the property which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, Jacob and all his family migrated to Egypt; his sons and his grandsons accompanied him, as well as his grand-daughters; he brought all his family with him into Egpyt.
…
Israel sent Juday ahead of him to Joseph in Goshen, to appear before him. On their arrival in the land of Goshen Joseph hitched the horses to his chariot, and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. When he presented himself to him, he fell on his neck, weeping again and again on his neck.
Now at last I may die,
Israel said to Joseph,
after having seen from your very self that you are still alive.
Psalm 37:3-4, 19-20, 28-29, 41-42 (1979 Book of Common Prayer):
3 Put your trust in the LORD and do good;
dwell in the land and feed on its riches.
4 Take delight in the LORD,
and he shall give you your heart’s desire.
19 The LORD cares for the lives of the godly,
and their inheritance shall last for ever.
20 They shall not be ashamed in bad times,
and in days of famine they shall have enough.
28 Turn from evil, and do good,
and dwell in the land for ever.
29 For the LORD loves justice;
he does not forsake his faithful ones.
41 But the deliverance of the righteous comes from the LORD;
he is their stronghold in time of trouble.
42 The LORD will help them and rescue them;
he will rescue them from the wicked and deliver them,
because they seek refuge in him.
Matthew 10:16-23 (An American Translation):
[Jesus continued to address his disciples,]
Here I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. So you must be wise as serpents, and guileless like doves. But be on your guard against men, for they will give you up to their courts, and have you flogged in their synagogues, and you will be brought before governors and kings on my account, to bear your testimony before them and the heathen. But when they give you up, you must have no anxiety about how to speak or what to say, for you will be told at the very moment what you ought to say, for it is not you who will speak, but it is the Spirit of your Father that will speak through you. One brother will give up another to death, and a father his child, and children will turn against their parents, and have them put to death. You will be hated by everybody on my account, but the man who holds out to the very end will saved. But when they persecute you in one town, make your escape to another, for I tell you, you will have not gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man arrives.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Collect:
O God, you have taught us to keep all your commandments by loving you and our neighbor: Grant us the grace of your Holy Spirit, that we may be devoted to you with our whole heart, and united to one another with pure affection; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
God is with the faithful, a fact that does not mean bad things will not happen to them because of this faithfulness. So fidelity to God is not the road to Easy Street. Jesus died as a criminal. Almost all of his Apostles died painfully, as martyrs. St. Paul died of decapitation. St. Stephen died of stoning. And, throughout the generations since the time of Jesus, countless saints have entered heaven through the gates of martyrdom and persecution. Those gates remain open today.
The Gospel of Matthew comes from a time and place of religious persecution. So the words placed in the mouth of Jesus were as contemporary in 85-90 as they were before the crucifixion. Most of these sayings are straight-forward and easy to understand, but one does require some explanation. In Matthew 10:23, the author makes Jesus say, “…for I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man arrives.”
Compare this to Matthew 16:28, in which the author makes Jesus say that some standing in his presence will not die before the coming of the Son of Man in his Kingdom. And consider Mark 9:1, which quotes Jesus as saying that some in his presence will not die before seeing the coming of the Kingdom of God with power. Luke 9:27 is quite similar to Mark 9:1. I write these devotions in a series, so I refer now to an entry from a few days ago: The Gospel of Matthew establishes that the Kingdom of God/Kingdom of Heaven predates the beginning of the ministry of Jesus. By the time of the writing of the Gospels the Christian message had begun to take root. So this was the Kingdom of God coming with power. It is also true that many Christians of the first generation expected Jesus to return within their lifetimes; even the Apostle Paul did. So the persecuted Church during the 85-90 timeframe grasped at this hope, and this is the best explanation as to why Matthew (or whoever wrote this gospel) quotes Jesus as he does.
Now, for the Hebrew Scriptures….
Joseph did not get into trouble because of his faithfulness, but the Joseph Epic tells of how God used the evil plans of most of his brothers to help Joseph, those brothers, the people of Egypt, and many people in neighboring lands. The faithful person on whom I focus now is Jacob/Israel, who suffered for years under the lie that his son Joseph was dead. So imagine his joy when he learned that Joseph was alive and when he met his long-lost son again. This is an emotional and beautiful scene.
The Bible’s treatment of Gentiles varies from text to text. Sometimes they are the undesirable people, and frequently persecutors of the Jews. But many Gentiles receive favorable treatment in both Testaments. Consider Cyrus the Great of Persia and Cornelius the Centurion, for example. And think about the unnamed Pharaoh who welcomed Joseph’s family into Egypt, even sending the ancient equivalents of moving vans.
Sometimes Gentiles are allies of the Hebrews/Jews, and sometimes they are pagans and heathens. By the way, the English words “pagan” and “heathen” have fascinating etymologies. “Pagan” comes from the Latin word for villager. And “heathen” is related to “heath,” or field. So pagans lived in villages and heathens in the boondocks. Nascent Christianity spread most rapidly in urban centers, and occupants of rural areas tended to cling to old religous ideas. (Here ends the word history lesson.)
The ultimate good news to take away from these readings is that, through it all and despite how our ordeals end, God is ever-present. We cannot escape from the presence of God. So, are we on God’s side? If we are, God will be on ours. We will not suffer alone.
I write this devotion on Christmas Eve 2010, so the Navitity of Our Lord is very much on my mind. This is a joyous occasion, but one not unmarred by foreshadowing of terrible events. Christmas leads to Good Friday, which yields to Easter. God was with Jesus, of course. The Trinity defies human logic (perhaps one purpose of it), but Jesus was God. (Just appreciate and enjoy the mystery.) If fidelity to God were the road to Easy Street, the life of Jesus would have been quite different, not including an execution. But God was with him, just as God was with Jacob/Israel and Joseph, his son.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
DECEMBER 24, 2010 COMMON ERA
CHRISTMAS EVE
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Adapted from this post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2010/12/24/week-of-proper-9-friday-year-1/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
You must be logged in to post a comment.