Archive for the ‘Isaiah 23’ Category
Above: Woods, Ben Burton Park, Athens-Clarke County, Georgia, October 29, 2017
Photographer = Kenneth Randolph Taylor
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READING SECOND ZECHARIAH, PART II
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Zechariah 9:1-11:17
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Zechariah 9:1-8 may be the original portion of Second Zechariah. This opening oracle names enemies of the Hebrews:
- Aram (Zechariah 9:1-2a; Amos 1:3-5; Isaiah 17:1-14; Jeremiah 49:23-27);
- Tyre and Sidon (Zechariah 9:2b-4; Amos 1:9-10; Isaiah 23:1-18; Ezekiel 26:1-28:26); and
- Philistia (Zechariah 9:5-7; Amos 1:6-8; Isaiah 14:28-32; Jeremiah 47:1-17; Ezekiel 25:15-17).
One may read about the Jebusites (Zechariah 9:7) in Judges 19:10; 2 Samuel 5:6, 8; 2 Samuel 24:16, 18; 1 Kings 9:20; 1 Chronicles 11:4.
The development of Zechariah 9:1-8 is complicated. The original version of it may predate the Babylonian Exile. The reference to the rampart of the fortress (9:3) may allude to a military campaign of Alexander the Great in 333 B.C.E. Zechariah 9:1-8 seems to have passed through various editorial hands before settling down into its current state.
Regardless of the number of editorial stages of development of all the segments of Zechariah 9:1-11:17, the final version is about an ideal future when the full-realized Kingdom of God is evident on the earth and when the Messiah, a descendant of King David, is triumphant and victorious. The arrangement of material is odd. YHWH is triumphant in chapter 9. The promise of restoration fills chapter 10. Chapter 11 concludes with the desperate situation extant in First Zechariah (chapters 1-8). The editing seems backward, from a certain point of view. Anyway, the present day of Second Zechariah, obviously far from ideal, has much in common with 2021.
Time passes. Technology changes. Social mores and norms change, also. Locations vary. Yet much remains the same. False prophets abound (10:2). [Note: The reference to teraphim in 10:2 is to household cultic objects, as in Genesis 31:19, 30-35; Judges 17:5. Deuteronomy 18:9-14 condemns divination. Also, Deuteronomy 13:6 and Jeremiah 23:25-32 are suspicious of dreams.] Many leaders–shepherds, metaphorically–are oppressors and predators (10:3; 11:4-17). In this case, prophets and leaders are the same. This makes sense; one is a leader if one has followers. The text is sufficiently ambiguous to apply to those who are false prophets or predatory political leaders without being both, though.
Zechariah 11 concludes on a hopeful note: Those leaders responsible for social ills will fall from power. This is good news the metaphorical sheep.
I, as a Christian, pay especially close attention to Zechariah 9:9-10. This is a vision of the Messiah, sometime in the distant future, approaching the glorious, restored Jerusalem after God’s victory. The image of the Messiah–“your king”–triumphant, victorious, and humble, riding on a donkey, occupies the background in accounts of Christ’s Triumphal Entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday (Matthew 21:1-9; Mark 11:1-10; Luke 19:28-40; John 12:12-15). Understanding Zechariah 9:9-10 helps one grasp the imagery of Christ’s self-presentation in the Gospels’ accounts of that event.
The placement of the oracles in Zechariah 9-11 in the future, without claiming,
Do x, and God will will do y,
in such a way as to date the prophecies, works. One may recall that Haggai made the mistake of being too specific (and objectively wrong) in Haggai 1 and 2. The prediction of the restoration of the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel of Israel (9:17-10:12), therefore of the restoration of the unity of Israel and Judah, remains unfulfilled. One may doubt that it will ever come to pass, but one cannot legitimately criticize the text for establishing a temporal marker already past (from the perspective of 2021) and being objectively wrong, by that standard.
Reality falls short of God’s ideal future. Yet we may legitimately hope and trust in God. Details of prophecies, bound by times and settings of their origin, may not always prove accurate. So be it. We moderns ought to read these types of texts poetically, not as what they are not–technical manuals for the future in front of us. We should focus on major themes, not become lost in the details. We ought not to try to match current events and the recent past to details of ancient prophecy. The list of books whose authors did that and whom the passage of time has proven inaccurate is long. One can easily miss the forest by focusing on the trees.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 17, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM WHITE, PRESIDING BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH
THE FEAST OF THE CARMELITE MARTYRS OF COMPIEGNE, 1794
THE FEAST OF BENNETT J. SIMS, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF ATLANTA
THE FEAST OF SAINT NERSES LAMPRONATS, ARMENIAN APOSTOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF TARSUS
THE FEAST OF R. B. Y. SCOTT, CANADIAN BIBLICAL SCHOLAR, HYMN WRITER, AND MINISTER
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Above: Ahriman (from Zoroastrianism)
Image in the Public Domain
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READING THIRD ISAIAH, PART II
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Isaiah 24:1-27:13
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Babylon is not mentioned even once. Rather, the eschatological focus of these chapters has raised their sights to the ultimate purpose of God in portraying the cosmological judgment of the world and its final glorious restoration. Moreover, the redemption of Israel is depicted as emerging from the ashes of the polluted and decaying world. Not just a remnant is redeemed , but the chapter recounts the salvation of all peoples who share in the celebration of God’s new order when death is banished forever (25:8).
–Brevard S. Childs, Isaiah (2001), 173
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INTRODUCTION
Isaiah 24-27 constitutes the Isaiah Apocalypse. They also constitute an early and not full-blown example of Biblical apocalyptic literature. Some books I read inform me that the Jewish apocalyptic form emerged in the wake of the fall of the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire–in the late sixth century (early 500s) B.C.E., to be precise. These books also teach that full-blown Jewish apocalypses emerged only in the second century (100s) B.C.E., as in the case of Daniel 7-12.
Isaiah 24, in vivid language, depicts the divine destruction of the natural order and the social order. I recommend the translation by Robert Alter, in particular. Regardless of the translation, we read that people have violated the moral mandates embedded in the Law of Moses:
And the earth is tainted beneath its dwellers,
for they transgressed teachings, flouted law, broke the eternal covenant.
Therefore has a curse consumed the earth,
and all its dwellers are mired in guilt.
Therefore earth’s dwellers turn pale,
and all but a few humans remain.
–Isaiah 24:5-6, in Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible: A Translation with Commentary, Volume 2, Prophets (2019)
The timeframe is sometime in the future, relative to both Third Isaiah and 2021. in this vision, high socio-economic status provides no protection against God’s creative destruction.
Within the Book of Isaiah, in its final form, chapters 24-27 follow oracles against the nations (chapters 13-23) and precede more oracles against nations (chapters 28-33). This relative placement is purposeful.
SWALLOWING UP DEATH FOREVER
Returning to the Isaiah Apocalypse, the establishment of the fully-realized Kingdom of God entails the defeat of the enemies of God’s people, the celebration of an eschatological banquet, and the swallowing up of death forever (See 1 Corinthians 15:54; Revelation 7:7-17). The divine swallowing up of death echoes the swallowing up of Mot (the Canaanite god of death) in mythology.
Isaiah 25:8 and 26:19 refer to divine victory over death. Given the temporal origin of the Isaiah Apocalypse, is this a metaphor for the divine vindication of the downtrodden, likened to the dead? Such language, in Book of Daniel (100s B.C.E.) and the Revelation of John (late 100s C.E.), refers to the afterlife. The operative question regarding Isaiah 25:8 and 26:19, however, is if the author knew about and affirmed the resurrection of the dead. We know that Ezekiel 37 (the vision of the dry bones) is a metaphor for the restoration of Israel after the Babylonian Exile. But what about Isaiah 25:8 and 26:19? Even the Jewish commentaries I consult do not arrive at a conclusion.
I understand why. The Isaiah Apocalypses comes from a time when Jewish theology was changing, under the influence of Zoroastrianism. Satan was moving away from being God’s employee–loyalty tester (Job 1-2) and otherwise faithful angel (Numbers 22:22-40)–and becoming a free agent and the chief rebel. The theology of Ahriman, the main figure of evil in Zoroastrianism, was influencing this change in Jewish theology. Jewish ideas of the afterlife were also changing under Zoroastrian influence. Sheol was passing away. Reward and punishment in the afterlife were becoming part of Jewish theology. By the second century (100s) B.C.E., belief in individual resurrection of the dead was unambiguous (Daniel 12:2-3, 12).
I do not know what Third Isaiah believed regarding the resurrection of the dead. I suppose that he could have affirmed that doctrine. The historical context and the symbolic language of the apocalypse combine to confuse the matter. So be it; I, as an Episcopalian, am comfortable with a degree of ambiguity.
DIVINE JUDGMENT ON ENEMIES OF THE COVENANT PEOPLE
Isaiah 25:9-12 singles out Moab, in contrast to the usual practice of not naming enemies in chapters 24-27. One may recall material condemning Moab in Amos 2:1-3; Isaiah 15:1-16:13; Jeremiah 48:1-47; Ezekiel 25:8-11.
In the divine order, the formerly oppressed rejoice in their victory over those who had oppressed them. Oppression has no place in the divine order.
Divine judgment and mercy remain in balance in Isaiah 24-27. Divine deliverance of the oppressors is frequently catastrophic for the oppressors. And the contrast between the fates of the enemies of God (27:11) and the Jews worshiping in Jerusalem (27:13) is stark. As Brevard S. Childs offers:
In sum, the modern theology of religious universalism, characterized by unlimited inclusivity, is far removed from the biblical proclamation of God’s salvation (cf. Seitz, 192),
—Isaiah (2001), 186
GOD’S VINEYARD
Neither do apostasy and idolatry have any place in the divine order. And all the Jewish exiles will return to their ancestral homeland. Also, the message of God will fill the earth:
In days to come Jacob shall take root,
Israel shall bud and flower,
and the face of the world shall fill with bounty.
–Isaiah 27:6, Robert Alter (2019)
The face of the world will be God’s productive vineyard, figuratively. The people and kingdom of God, figuratively, are a vineyard in the Old and New Testament. (See Isaiah 5:1-7; Matthew 20:1-16; Matthew 21:33-46; Mark 12:1-12; Luke 20:9-19).
CONCLUSION
Despite ambiguities in the texts, I am unambiguous on two germane points:
- Apocalyptic literature offers good news: God will win in the end. Therefore, faithful people should remain faithful.
- Apocalyptic literature calls the powers and leaders to account. It tells them that they fall short of divine standards when they oppress populations and maintain social injustice. It damns structures and institutions of social inequality. It condemns societies that accept the unjust status quo.
Regardless of–or because of–certain ambiguities in the Isaiah Apocalypse, chapters 24-27 speak to the world in 2021. Some vagueness in prophecy prevents it from becoming dated and disproven, after all. And structural inequality remains rife and politically defended, unfortunately.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 16, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF THE RIGHTEOUS GENTILES
THE FEAST OF CATHERINE LOUISA MARTHENS, FIRST LUTHERAN DEACONESS CONSECRATED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 1850
THE FEAST OF GEORGE ALFRED TAYLOR RYGH, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HENRY WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY IN NEW ZEALAND; HIS WIFE, MARIANNE WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY AND EDUCATOR IN NEW ZEALAND; HER SISTER-IN-LAW, JANE WILLIAMS, ANGLICAN MISSIONARY AND EDUCATOR IN NEW ZEALAND; AND HER HUSBAND AND HENRY’S BROTHER, WILLIAM WILLAMS, ANGLICAN BISHOP OF WAIAPU
THE FEAST OF SAINT MARY MAGDALEN POSTEL, FOUNDER OF THE POOR DAUGHTERS OF MERCY
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Above: Ezekiel, from the Sistine Chapel, by Michelangelo Buonaroti
Image in the Public Domain
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READING EZEKIEL, PART XIII
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Ezekiel 26:1-28:26
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I have written about oracles against Phoenicia in Amos 1:9-10 and Isaiah 23:1-18.
As in Ezekiel 25, the charge of rejoicing over the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.) applies against Tyre and Sidon, the two main cities of Phoenicia, and to the rest of Phoenicia.
Tyre, located on an island, was a Mediterranean port city and a center of commerce. Tyre had a monopoly on trade within its zone of commercial influence, which spread as far west as Spain. The city also allied itself with Egypt, and thereby survived a siege (586-573 B.C.E.) by the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. That siege ended with the city’s surrender, contrary to the prediction of conquest (26:8f). Tyre knew how to enrich itself, but was foolish (28:4-5).
These oracles use imagery of the geography and commerce to pronounce doom upon Phoenicia.
Do not trust in status and wealth, we read. Do not be arrogant:
Because you are haughty of heart,
you say, “I am a god!
I sit on a god’s throne
in the heart of the sea!
But you are a man, not a god;
yet you pretend
you are a god at heart!
–Ezekiel 28:26, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
The warnings against the commercial centers and major cities of Phoenicia remain relevant. Wealth and status continue to be popular idols for many people and peoples.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JULY 1, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF LYMAN BEECHER, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST AND PRESBYTERIAN MINISTER, AND ABOLITIONIST; HIS DAUGHTER, HARRIET BEECHER STOWE, U.S. NOVELIST, HYMN WRITER, AND ABOLITIONIST; AND HER BROTHER, HENRY WARD BEECHER, U.S. PRESBYTERIAN AND CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, AND ABOLITIONIST
THE FEAST OF SAINT ANTONIO ROSMINI, FOUNDER OF THE INSTITUTE OF CHARITY
THE FEAST OF CATHERINE WINKWORTH, TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS, AND JOHN MASON NEALE, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF JOHN CHANDLER, ANGLICAN PRIEST, SCHOLAR, AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS
THE FEAST OF PAULI MURRAY, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY AND EPISCOPAL PRIEST
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Above: Icon of Ezekiel
Image in the Public Domain
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READING EZEKIEL, PART XI
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Ezekiel 21:28-32 (Anglican and Protestant)
Ezekiel 21:33-37 (Jewish, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox)
Ezekiel 25:1-7
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Oracles of divine judgment against nations are staples of Hebrew prophetic literature. For example, they populate Isaiah 13-23; Jeremiah 46-51; Amos 1:3-2:3; and Ezekiel 25-32.
Since I began this long-term project of reading the Hebrew prophetic books, roughly in chronological order, I have read the material regarding Ammon in Amos 1:13-15; Jeremiah 49:1-16; and Ezekiel 21:28-32/21:33-37 (depending on versification).
Ammon was east of the River Jordan, and bordered the territory of the tribe of Gad (Joshua 13:8-10). Ammon’s capital was Rabbath-Amman (modern-day Amman, Jordan). Sometimes the Hebrews and the Ammonites were foes (Judges 3:13; Amos 1:13-15; Zephaniah 2:8; Judges 10:6-12:7; 1 Samuel 11; 2 Samuel 10; 2 Samuel 12:26-31). Sometimes they were allies (Jeremiah 27:3). After the Fall of Jerusalem, the Ammonites supported Ishmael, the Davidic claimant who rebelled against Gedaliah (Jeremiah 40:7-41:18). Before that, however, Ammon had occupied the territory of the tribe of Gad after the Fall of Samaria (722 B.C.E.).
Ammon, as a province of the Assyrian Empire, had a native ruler most of the time in the seventh century B.C.E. During the Assyrian civil war that started in 652 B.C.E., some of the remote peoples rebelled. They endangered the security of Ammon and other Assyrian vassals. With the fall of Nineveh (612 B.C.E.), Ammon briefly regained independence. Ammon allied with the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire against common foes, those pesky Arab tribes and the Kingdom of Judah. The alliance quickly turned into Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian domination of Ammon.
The Ammonite rebellion against their Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian overlords informed the material in Ezekiel 21. The Chaldeans/Neo-Babylonians struck Judah first then came back around for Ammon. After the failed Ammonite rebellion, the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire instituted mass deportations of Ammonites and, for a time, ended sedentary settlement in Ammon. Ammon became the abode of nomads until the Persian period.
Ezekiel 25:1-7 is consistent with this history. The text of the oracle condemns Ammon for opposing Judah and siding with the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. The fitting punishment, we read, is to fall to that empire, too.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 29, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES AND MARTYRS
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Above: Icon of Ezekiel
Image in the Public Domain
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READING EZEKIEL, PART I
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Ezekiel 1:1-3
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In 597 B.C.E., Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian forces invaded Judah. King Jehoiachin‘s brief reign ended. His uncle Mattaniah came to the throne as King Zedekiah. Jehoiachin and many others–members of the Judean elite–became exiles in the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire. The first wave of the Babylonian Exile had begun.
Ezekiel ben Buzi was one of these captives and exiles. Ezekiel, a priest in the community beside the Chebar Canal (next to the city of Nippur, southeast of the city of Babylon), received his commission as a prophet on the fifth day of Tammuz (on the Gregorian Calendar, in June), 593 B.C.E. He prophesied until 571 B.C.E.
Robert Alter describes Ezekiel as
surely the strangest of all the prophets
and as
an extreme case.
—The Hebrew Bible, Volume 2, Prophets (2019), 1049
The prophet, whose name meant, “God strengthens,” was, by modern standards, misogynistic, as in Chapters 16 and 23. He was not unique–certainly not in the company of Biblical authors. According to Alter, especially in the context of Chapter 16:
Ezekiel clearly was not a stable person. The states of disturbance exhibited in his writing led him to a series of remarkable visionary experiences, at least several of which would be deeply inscribed in the Western imagination, engendering profound experiences in later poetry and in mystical literature. At the same time, there is much in these visions that reminds us of the dangerous dark side of prophecy. To announce authoritatively that the words one speaks are the words of God is an audacious act. Inevitably, what is reported as divine speech reaches us through the refracting prism of the prophet’s sensibility and psychology, and the words and images represented as God’s urgent message may be sometimes distorted in eerie ways.
–1051-1052
Biblical scholars from a variety of times, theological orientations, and geographical origins have commented on Ezekiel’s pathological psychology. The prophet may not have been well-adjusted. “Touched by the gods” has been an expression for a long time, and for a good reason.
However much one accepts that much or most of the Book of Ezekiel comes from the prophet, a textual difficulty remains. The book includes evidence of subsequent editing after the Babylonian Exile. Any given passage, in its final form, may have more to do with Ezra or some other editor than with Ezekiel. Or that passage may be entirely from Ezeki8el. Or the editorial touch may be light.
I acknowledge these matters as I commit to my primary purpose in this Hebrew prophetic reading project: to read these passages in context and to ponder what they say to the world today. The ancient message, grounded in particular circumstances, continues to speak.
“The hand of the Lord” (Ezekiel 1:3) symbolizes divine power.
The Book of Ezekiel breaks down into three sections:
- Chapters 1-24, in their original form, date to between the Fall of Jerusalem (586 B.C.E.). This section divides into two subsections. Chapters 1-11 contain visions of divine presence and departure. Chapters 12-24 offer a rationale for and anticipate the destruction of Jerusalem.
- Chapters 25-32 contain oracles against the nations. The arrangement of these oracles is not chronological. Such a collection of oracles is also a feature of other prophetic writings, as in Amos 1:3-2:3; Isaiah 13:1-23:19; Jeremiah 46:1-51:64.
- Chapters 33-48 contain oracles from after the Fall of Jerusalem. This section breaks down into two subsections. Chapters 33-39 offer a rationale for and anticipate the transformation of the LORD’s people. Chapters 40-48 contain visions of the LORD’s return to the Second Temple (not yet built; dedicated in 516 B.C.E.) in a transformed land.
Tova Ganzel wrote, in the introduction to the Book of Ezekiel, in The Jewish Study Bible, Second Edition (2014):
Because of the central themes of the Temple, acts of leadership, sins of the people, and divine theophanies appear in both the predestruction and postdestruction oracles (1.3, 13-15, 22-24; 8.2-3; 10.11, 22-23; 40.1-2; 43.1-5), Ezekiel’s oracles merit both sequential and topical study.
–1034
I will study the Book of Ezekiel in a combination of sequential and topical organization of posts.
Major lectionaries ignore most of the Book of Ezekiel. The Roman Catholic lectionaries for weekdays, Sundays, and major feast days omit Chapters 3-8, 11, 13-15, 19-23, 25-27, 29-42, 44-46, and 48 entirely. The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) lists the Book of Ezekiel only five times:
- 34:11-16, 20-24 for Christ the King Sunday, Year A;
- 36:24-27 for the Easter Vigil, Years A, B, and C;
- 37:1-14 for the Easter Vigil, Years A, B, and C; the Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A; and (as an alternative reading), for the Day of Pentecost, Year B.
I understand the benefits and limitations of lectionaries. Any lectionary–even a narrow, one-year cycle with two readings and a Psalm each Sunday–is superior to ministers focusing on their favorite passages of scripture Sunday after Sunday. The orderly reading of scripture in communal worship has virtues. Lectionaries also help people to read the Bible in conversation with itself. Nevertheless, the parts of the Book of Ezekiel that even three-year cycles overlook are worth hearing and reading, in private, alone, in a study group, and in the context of worship.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 20, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 7: THE FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF JOSEPH AUGUSTUS SEISS, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER, LITURGIST, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF ALFRED RAMSEY, U.S. LUTHERAN MINISTER AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF CHARLES COFFIN, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF HANS ADOLF BRORSON, DANISH LUTHERAN BISHOP, HYMN WRITER, AND HYMN TRANSLATOR
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM JOHN SPARROW-SIMPSON, ANGLICAN PRIEST, HYMN WRITER, AND PATRISTICS SCHOLAR
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Above: Jeremiah
Image in the Public Domain
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READING JEREMIAH, PART XXV
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Jeremiah 46:1
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Jeremiah 46-51 consists of oracles against nations:
- Egypt (46),
- Philistia (47),
- Moab (48),
- Ammon, Edom, Aram, Arabia, and Elam (49), and
- the Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian Empire (50-51).
Such oracles are staples of Hebrew prophetic literature. They fill the Book of Nahum (against the Assyrian Empire), the Book of Obadiah (against Edom), Isaiah 13-23, Ezekiel 25-32, and Amos 1:3-2:16. The oracles in Jeremiah 46-51 are consistent with Jeremiah’s commission:
…a prophet to the nations I appointed you.
–Jeremiah 1:5, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
The Book of Jeremiah consists of material from various sources. Some of these oracles, therefore, come from Jeremiah himself. Others may come from a later stratum or subsequent strata of composition. This fits with the process of composing and editing other Hebrew prophetic books as late as after the Babylonian Exile. So be it.
We read, in the context of a particular scroll from 605 B.C.E.:
Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to his scribe, Baruch, son of Neriah, and wrote on it at Jeremiah’s dictation all the words contained in the scroll, which Jerhoiakim, king of Judah, had burned in the fire, adding many words like them.
–Jeremiah 36:32, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
I wonder how many other authors added
many words like them
elsewhere in the Book of Jeremiah, specifically in in Chapters 46-51.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 13, 2021 COMMON ERA
PROPER 6: THE THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST, YEAR B
THE FEAST OF SAINT SPYRIDON OF CYPRUS, BISHOP OF TREMITHUS, CYPRUS; AND HIS CONVERT, SAINT TRYPHILLIUS OF LEUCOSIA, CYPRUS; OPPONENTS OF ARIANISM
THE FEAST OF DAVID ABEEL, U.S. DUTCH REFORMED MINISTER AND MISSIONARY TO ASIA
THE FEAST OF ELIAS BENJAMIN SANFORD, U.S. METHODIST THEN CONGREGATIONAL MINISTER AND ECUMENIST
THE FEAST OF SIGISMUND VON BIRKEN, GERMAN LUTHERAN HYMN WRITER
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT, U.S. POET, JOURNALIST, AND HYMN WRITER
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Above: Map of the Assyrian Empire
Image Scanned from an Old Bible
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READING FIRST ISAIAH, PART XII
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Isaiah 14:28-20:6; 23:1-18; 30:1-26; 31:1-9
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INTRODUCTION
Some of this material may have originated with Isaiah ben Amoz, but other material (if not all of it) came from a later time. The First Isaiah (Chapters 1-23, 28-33) part of the Book of Isaiah came to exist in its final form of the Babylonian Exile. The editing of the older material and the addition of old material created a multi-layered collection of texts.
I acknowledge this historical and literary reality without reservation. I also focus on meanings. Contexts–especially historical ones–are crucial for establishing a text’s original meaning. One needs to do this before interpreting a text for today as effectively as possible. Unfortunately, determining original historical context is not always possible in First Isaiah. Still, I do the best I can.
If prophetic denunciations of Tyre/Philistia, Moab, and Aram/Damascus (Isaiah 14:28-17:14) seem familiar to you, O reader, you may be thinking of Amos 1:3-5; 1:9-10; and 2:1-3.
PHILISTIA
Isaiah 14:28 establishes a temporal marker:
In the year that King Ahaz died….
As I have written in previous posts in this series of posts about Hebrew prophetic books, establishing a coherent and consistent chronology on the Gregorian Calendar and the B.C./B.C.E.-A.D./C.E. scale for the period from King Azariah/Uzziah of Judah and King Hezekiah of Judah is notoriously difficult. If one consults three study Bibles, one may find three different sets of years for the reign of the same monarch. Although study Bibles disagree about when King Ahaz began to reign, they agree that he died in or about 715 B.C.E.
Circa 715 B.C.E., Philistine cities, Assyrian vassals, were trying to forge a regional united front against the Assyrian Empire. That empire had already swallowed up Aram and the (northern) Kingdom of Israel in 720 and 722 .C.E., respectively. The Kingdom of Judah, under King Hezekiah, did not join this alliance. Circa 715 B.C.E., the Assyrian Empire was experiencing a period of temporary decline.
Do not rejoice, Philistia, not one of you,
that the rod which struck you is broken;….
–Isaiah 14:29a, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
The rod was not broken, after all. The Assyrian Empire had a resurgence of power, and the anti-Assyrian rebellion failed.
Anyway, the snake in Isaiah 29:b is a call back to the seraphim (poisonous snakes) from Numbers 21:1-9 and Deuteronomy 8:15, and alluded to in Isaiah 6:1-13.
Philistia’s hopes of throwing off the Assyrian yoke were in vain.
PHOENICIA (TYRE AND SIDON)
The Phoenicians (who deserve much credit for the alphabet in which I write this post) were seagoing merchants. In fact, in the Bible, the association between Phoenicians and merchants was so strong that, in some texts, “Phoenicians” may refer to merchants, not ethnic-cultural Phoenicians. Anyway, many Phoenician merchants were fabulously wealthy.
Isaiah 23:1-18 may be either a prophecy or a text written after the failed Phoenician rebellion against the Assyrian Empire in 701 B.C.E. The text is, in any case, a mock lament. The text criticizes Phoenicians for relying on their wealth and being arrogant, not relying on YHWH. We read the Tyre, supposedly inviolable, fell. We may legitimately consider this as a warning that Jerusalem, also supposedly inviolable, could fall, too.
It did, in 586. B.C.E.
MOAB
The temporal origin of Isaiah 15:1-16:13 is uncertain. It may date to a time after Isaiah ben Amoz and refer to mourning after Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian military activity. A similar text, a dirge for events circa 650 B.C.E., exists in Jeremiah 48. There are also thematic connections with Numbers 21:27-30.
Moab, to the east of the Dead Sea, was where Jordan is today. Moab was a traditional enemy of the Jewish people. The (united) Kingdom of Israel controlled Moab. The (northern) Kingdom of Israel fought off Moabite resistance to its control until the reign (851-842 B.C.E.) of King Joram (Jehoram) of Israel. Then Moab regained its independence. Circa 735 B.C.E., Moab became a vassal state of the Assyrian Empire. In the middle of the seventh century B.C.E., Moab, as an autonomous state, ceased to exist. Moab traded Assyrian domination for Chaldean/Neo-Babylonian domination in 609 B.C.E. The last Moabite king’s reign ended circa 600 B.C.E. (Jeremiah 27:3).
Isaiah 16 encourages the Kings of Judah, part-Moabite (Ruth 1-4), to welcome Moabite refugees.
Isaiah 16 also includes some references that careful, attentive readers of the early prophets (Hosea, Amos, Micah, and First Isaiah) should find familiar. Verse 7 refers to raisin cakes offered to false gods (Hosea 3:1). The royal government of Judah had a divine mandate to act justly, consistent with the Law of Moses (verses 1-5). We read another condemnation of collective and official “haughtiness, pride, and arrogance” before God (verse 6). And the remnant of Moab will be “very small and weak,” we read in verse 14. The Moabite remnant contrasts with the Judean remnant.
E. D. Grohman wrote:
Archaeological exploration has shown that Moab was largely depopulated from ca. the beginning of the sixth century, and in many sites from ca. the eighth century. From the sixth century on, nomads wandered through the land until political and economic facts made sedentary life possible again in the last centuries B.C.
—The Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, Vol. 3, K-Q (1962), 418
ARAM/DAMASCUS
Aram (where Syria is today) was the main rival to the Assyrian Empire during the prophetic careers of Hosea, Amos, and Micah, and during the beginning of the prophetic career of First Isaiah. After the Syro-Ephraimite War (734-732 B.C.E.), both the Kingdom of Aram and the (northern) Kingdom of Israel lost territory to the Assyrian Empire and became vassal states of that empire. The Assyrian Empire conquered Israel in 722 B.C.E. and Aram in 720 B.C.E.
Truly, you have forgotten the God who saves you,
the Rock, your refuge, you have not remembered.
–Isaiah 17:10a, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
I will return to that theme before the end of this post.
ETHIOPIA AND EGYPT–REALLY CUSH/NUBIA
Modern place names do not always correspond to ancient place names. The references to Ethiopia in Isaiah 18:1-7 and 20:1-6 are to Cush (where the Sudan is today). On maps of the Roman Empire, the label is Nubia.
A Cushite/Nubian dynasty (the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty of Egypt) controlled Egypt at the time, so references to “Ethiopia” included Egypt. That dynasty had invited the Kingdom of Judah to join its coalition against the Assyrian Empire circa 715 B.C.E. Egypt/Cush/Nubia had replaced Aram as the main rival to the Assyrian Empire. Judah, under King Hezekiah, did join this alliance, much to divine disapproval (Isaiah 30:1-5; 31:1-9). Judean participation in this alliance was apparently an example of rebellion against God (Isaiah 28:14-22; 29:15-26; 30:6-7). God was prepared to act against the Assyrian Empire, but not yet (Isaiah 18:1-7).
Isaiah 19 refers to the Cushite/Nubian conquest of Egypt and asserts divine sovereignty over Egypt:
The idols of Egypt tremble before him,
the hearts of the Egyptians melt within them.
Verse 1b, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
The theological-geopolitical agenda in the Egyptian/Cushite/Nubian material was to rely only on God, not on powerful neighbors that did not have Judah’s best interests at heart. Trusting in God was the only way to maintain independence. Empires rose and fell, but God would never fall. And God was waiting to be gracious to Judah (Isaiah 30:18f).
For this said the Lord GOD,
the Holy One of Israel:
By waiting and by calm you shall be saved,
in quiet and trust shall be your strength.
But this you did not will.
–Isaiah 30:15, The New American Bible–Revised Edition (2011)
CONCLUSION
These passages reflect a particular geopolitical and historical set of circumstances. As with the Law of Moses, one ought to be careful not to mistake examples bound by circumstances for timeless principles do exist.
If one expects me to extrapolate these readings into a condemnation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (N.A.T.O.) or the United Nations (U.N.), for example, I will disappoint such a person. I live in the United States of America, not equivalent to any ancient kingdom, empire, or city-state. I do not accept American Exceptionalism either, so I may disappoint another group of readers. The same rules and moral standards that apply to other nation-states in 2021 also apply to the United States of America.
One timeless principle germane in this post is the imperative of trusting in God more than in people. This applies both collectively and individually. God is forever; people have relatively short lifespans. Nation-states come and go. Administrations come and go, also. Even the most capable and benevolent leaders are imperfect. They can still function as instruments of God, of course. May they do so. And may they know that they are “like grass.”
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
JUNE 1, 2021 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF SAINT JUSTIN MARTYR, CHRISTIAN APOLOGIST AND MARTYR, 166/167
THE FEAST OF SAINT PAMPHILUS OF CAESAREA, BIBLE SCHOLAR AND TRANSLATOR; AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS, 309
THE FEAST OF SAMUEL STENNETT, ENGLISH SEVENTH-DAY BAPTIST MINISTER AND HYMN WRITER; AND JOHN HOWARD, ENGLISH HUMANITARIAN
THE FEAST OF SAINT SIMEON OF SYRACUSE, ROMAN CATHOLIC MONK
THE FEAST OF WILLIAM ROBINSON, MARMADUKE STEPHENSON, AND MARY DYER, BRITISH QUAKER MARTYRS IN BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, 1659 AND 1660
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Above: Ruins of Capernaum, Between 1898 and 1946
Image Source = Library of Congress
Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-10654
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The Collect:
O God, you direct our lives by your grace,
and your words of justice and mercy reshape the world.
Mold us into a people who welcome your word and serve one another,
through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 40
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The Assigned Readings:
Jeremiah 18:1-11
Psalm 119:161-168
Matthew 11:20-24
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Lord, I have looked for your salvation
and I have fulfilled your commandments.
My soul has kept your testimonies
and greatly have I loved them.
I have kept your commandments and testimonies,
for all my ways are before you.
–Psalm 119:166-168, Common Worship (2000)
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The power and mercy of God can be frightening, for they challenge us to examine ourselves spiritually. They make abundantly clear the reality that we, most especially in the light of God, are wanting. We could admit this fact, embrace it, and welcome God’s act of reshaping us—or we could resist in stiff-necked fashion.
The reading for today are generally gloomy. The Psalm is affirmative, but the lections from Matthew and Jeremiah are darker. The Matthew lesson exists in a textual context of conflict. St. John the Baptist is imprisoned and about to die; can Jesus be far behind? A few verses later our Lord and Savior plucks grain and heals a man with a withered hand. Critics note that he does this on the Sabbath. Is Jesus supposed to have gone hungry and to have forgone committing a good deed? Later opponents accuse him of being in league with Satan. Our Lord and Savior’s healings were acts of power and mercy. Yet I read shortly after today’s Matthew lection that some people criticized him for committing such a powerful and merciful act on the Sabbath.
These are the kinds of negative responses to which Matthew 11:20 and 21 refer. The references to Tyre and Sidon reach back to Isaiah 23 and Ezekiel 27-28, where one reads condemnations of those wicked cities. And Jesus’ adopted hometown, Capernaum, is among the places where he experienced rejection. But, we read, even evil Tyre and Sidon will fare better on the day of judgment than will Chorazin, Bethsaida, and Capernaum.
He came to his own, and his own people would not accept him.
–John 1:11, The Revised English Bible (1989)
Why do we reject the love of God, which we see manifested around us via a variety of channels? And why do we quibble about when this love pours out generously, albeit inconvenient for us due to a fault within us? There are several reasons, but I choose to focus on one here: our preference for the status quo ante. We tend to prefer the predictable, so certain prompts prove to be threatening, not merely annoying. To acknowledge intellectually that God does not fit into our preferred theological box is one thing, but to experience that fact is another. And admitting error might call our identity into question. Furthermore, for those for whom religion is about certainty, one of the more popular idols, the element of uncertainty is profoundly disturbing.
May we—you and I, O reader—embrace the active love of God, permit it to reshape us, and not find such uncertainty disturbing. No, may we reject certainty in convenient lies and possess faith—active and living faith evident in attitudes, words, and deeds—in God, who refuses to fit into any theological box.
KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR
MAY 24, 2014 COMMON ERA
THE FEAST OF IDA SCUDDER, REFORMED CHURCH IN AMERICA MEDICAL MISSIONARY IN INDIA
THE FEAST OF EDWARD KENNEDY “DUKE” ELLINGTON, COMPOSER
THE FEAST OF JACKSON KEMPER, EPISCOPAL BISHOP OF WISCONSIN
THE FEAST OF MOTHER EDITH, FOUNDER OF THE COMMUNITY OF THE SACRED NAME
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Adapted from This Post:
http://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2014/05/24/devotion-for-wednesday-after-proper-8-year-a-elca-daily-lectionary/
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BLOGA THEOLOGICA 
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