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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I…beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called….

Above:  The King Uzziah Stricken with Leprosy, by Rembrandt van Rijn

Image in the Public Domain

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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

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2 Chronicles 26:3-5, 16-21 or Joshua 6:16-21

Psalm 78:1-4, 9-18, 30

Ephesians 4:1-16

Luke 5:12-26

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–Ephesians 4:1, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

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That is the theme uniting the assigned readings.  The call is both individual and collective, and always in the context of community.

The righteous and the unjust suffer.  Does God afflict faithless people with physical ailments.  My theology answers, “no.”  Much of the Hebrew Bible disagrees with me, of course.  My disgust with bigoted televangelists who have have attributed diseases and natural disasters (such as Hurricane Katrina, 2005) to the wrath of God informs my opinion.  Sometimes people are merely unfortunate.  On other occasions. some people suffer the consequences of their actions.  I do not that interpret that as God smiting people.  No, I understand that as people smiting themselves.

We will suffer as surely as we breathe.  May we, by grace, not suffer because of our sins, individually.  Given that we live in community, each of us will suffer because of the actions and inaction of others.  Not one of us can change that reality.  Each one of us can, however, trust God and follow Jesus.  Each of us can use our spiritual gifts properly, for the glory of God and for the common good.  Each of us can be a conduit of divine love.  If we do not think doing so will prompt certain others to target us, we deceive ourselves, unfortunately.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 18, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT LEONIDES OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC MARTYR, 202; ORIGEN, ROMAN CATHOLIC THEOLOGIAN; SAINT DEMETRIUS OF ALEXANDRIA, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP; AND SAINT ALEXANDER OF JERUSALEM, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF SAINT CYRIL OF JERUSALEM, BISHOP, THEOLOGIAN, AND LITURGIST

THE FEAST OF ELIZA SIBBALD ALDERSON, POET AND HYMN WRITER; AND JOHN BACCHUS DYKES, ANGLICAN PRIEST AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT PAUL OF CYPRUS, EASTERN ORTHODOX MARTYR, 760

THE FEAST OF ROBERT WALMSLEY, ENGLISH CONGREGATIONALIST HYMN WRITER

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Adapted from this post:

https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/devotion-for-the-fifth-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-c-humes/

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https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2020/03/18/devotion-for-proper-3-year-c-humes/

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Above:  Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness, by James Tissot

Image in the Public Domain

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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

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2 Chronicles 10:1-11, 19 or Joshua 2

Psalm 75

Ephesians 1:1-14

Luke 4:1-13

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The Gospel reading for today is one account of the temptation of Jesus.  I have written of those temptations and their implications for people and institutions today in other blog posts.  (Just follow the germane tags, O reader.)  I am not included to repeat myself today–at least not regarding that point.

Perhaps the main temptation I face is to pretend to know more than I do.  This is an error of King Rehoboam of Israel/Judah in 2 Chronicles 10.  We read of the disastrous consequences for his realm in that chapter.  Perhaps one would judge a prostitute harshly.  Yet Joshua praises Rahab, who saved the lives of Israelite spies and won a place in Israelite society for herself and her family (Joshua 6:22-25).  We even read of her place in the family tree of Jesus (Matthew 1:5).

In God, in Christ, our pretenses prove to be worthless.  That which we know is inadequate, and we do not know as much as we imagine.  Besides, salvation is not a matter of knowledge.  If it were, learning would constitute a saving work.  God is sovereign.  God knows much more than we do.  If we approach God with humility, we will learn more than we can imagine.  We will certainly learn how little we know.  Perhaps this humility will lead us to become more cautious about judging others.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MARCH 15, 2020 COMMON ERA

THE THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT, YEAR A

THE FEAST OF SAINT ZACHARY OF ROME, BISHOP OF ROME

THE FEAST OF SAINTS JAN ADALBERT BALICKI AND LADISLAUS FINDYSZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIESTS IN POLAND

THE FEAST OF OZORA STEARNS DAVIS, U.S. CONGREGATIONALIST MINISTER, THEOLOGIAN, AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF VETHAPPAN SOLOMON, APOSTLE TO THE NICOBAR ISLANDS

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Adapted from this post:

https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2020/03/15/devotion-for-the-second-sunday-after-the-epiphany-year-c-humes/

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Above:  The Adoration of the Magi, by Albrecht Durer

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-ppmsca-40191

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FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY, ACCORDING TO A LECTIONARY FOR PUBLIC WORSHIP IN THE BOOK OF WORSHIP FOR CHURCH AND HOME (1965)

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We ask, Lord, that you mercifully receive the prayers of your people who call upon you,

and that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do,

and may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

–Modernized from The Book of Worship for Church and Home (1965), page 85

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Isaiah 60:1-3, 6b

Psalm 24

Ephesians 3:1-12

Matthew 2:1-12

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Isaiah 60 and Psalm 24 state that God is the King, a ruler superior to human rulers who shed the blood of the innocent, commit injustice shamelessly, and do not care about integrity.  God is not fully the King of the Earth yet, we read, but that will change.  God is certainly superior to the unstable and evil Herod the Great, a client ruler within the Roman Empire and a man fearful of a young boy.

Interestingly, Father Raymond E. Brown, author of The Birth of the Messiah (1977 and 1993) and An Introduction to the New Testament (1997), both magisterial works of Biblical scholarship, was dubious of the story in Matthew 2 (considering the account in Luke 2, despite its factual errors, more plausible) yet affirmed the Virgin Birth.  For a long time many scholars–even conservative ones–have struggled to reconcile the very different stories in Matthew 2 and Luke 2.  Nevertheless, would not visiting Magi have been more likely than a virginal conception and subsequent birth?

Regardless of the objective reality regarding that matter, the kingship of God remains.  Most of God’s subjects are Gentiles, whom He does not exclude from the potential for salvation.  This is an old theme in the Bible, given the faithful Gentiles who appear in the pages of the Hebrew Bible.  The narrative makes room for the civilly disobedient midwives Shiphrah and Puah (probably ethnically Egyptian) in Exodus 1, for Rahab the prostitute of Jericho and her family in Joshua 2 and 6, and Ruth in Ruth 1-4, for example.  The four chapters of Jonah, a work of fiction and a Jewish protest against post-Babylonian Exilic exclusionary attitudes among Jews, remain relevant in many settings.  We read of some Gentile Godfearers in John 12:20-36.  Faithful Gentiles, we read in epistles of St. Paul the Apostle as well as those texts others wrote in his name, join the Jews in the ranks of the Chosen People.  Are not the Chosen People–Jews and Gentiles–supposed to be a light to the nations, that is, Gentiles?

The message of God is for all people.  Not all will accept it, however; that is their decision.  The offer is on the table one way or another, however.  It is a generous offer and a gift.  The grace is free yet not cheap, for it makes demands of all its recipients.  So be it.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 1, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SUNDAR SINGH, INDIAN CHRISTIAN EVANGELIST

THE FEAST OF DAVID PENDLETON OAKERHATER, EPISCOPAL DEACON

THE FEAST OF SAINT FIACRE, ROMAN CATHOLIC HERMIT

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Show us, O LORD, Your faithfulness;

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POST XXXII OF LX

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The Book of Common Prayer (1979) includes a plan for reading the Book of Psalms in morning and evening installments for 30 days.  I am therefore blogging through the Psalms in 60 posts.

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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 everlasting 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 226

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grant us your deliverance.

–Psalm 85:8, TANAKH:  The Holy Scriptures (1985)

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Show us, O Yahweh, your kindness,

and give us your prosperity.

–Psalm 85:8, Mitchell J. Dahood translation

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Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,

and grant us your salvation.

–Psalm 85:7, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

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LORD, show us your love

and grant us your deliverance.

–Psalm 85:7, The Revised English Bible (1989)

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The act of comparing translations can yield much.  For example, the Hebrew word hesed can mean “faithfulness,” “kindness,” “love,” and “steadfast love.”  Likewise, another Hebrew word can mean “deliverance,” “salvation,” and “prosperity.”  In the context of Psalm 85 it is deliverance from the Babylonian Exile and prosperity that only God can provide.  Related to these matters is the fact that “righteousness” and “justice” are the same in the Bible.  I bring up this point because of Psalm 82, which tells us that God’s justice is universal.

The author of Psalm 83 assumes that enemies of ancient Israel are automatically enemies of God also.  Thus he has no hesitation to ask God to smite them.  Yet, as we read in Psalm 81, God has enemies in ancient Israel also.  Furthermore, a recurring theme in the Hebrew Bible is the faithfulness of certain Gentiles, including the prostitute Rahab and her family (Joshua 2 and 6) and the Aramean general Naaman (2 Kings 5), both from national enemies.  In the Book of Jonah, a work of satirical fiction from the post-Babylonian Exilic period, God recognizes the possibility that enemies of ancient Israel will repent and desires that they do so.   Reality is more complicated than the author of Psalm 83, in his understandable grief and anger, perceives it to be.

A faithful response to God includes both gratitude and obedience.  This segue brings me to Psalm 84, my favorite psalm, one which Johannes Brahms set to music gloriously in A German Requiem.  The psalmist writes as a pilgrim to the Temple at Jerusalem.  He approaches the Presence of God humbly and filled with awe.  The author delights to be in the Presence of God, which he understands to exist physically (via the Ark of the Covenant) at the Temple.

If Rahab and her family could become part of Israel, surely divine judgment and mercy crossed national barriers in antiquity.  If the Gentile Ruth could become the grandmother of David, YHWH was never just a national deity.  If the alien Naaman could recognize the power of YHWH, there was an opening to Gentiles at the time of the divided monarchy.

If divine justice is universal, as I affirm, we will do well to cease imagining that God is on our side and strive instead to be on God’s side.  We can succeed, by grace.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

AUGUST 14, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM CROFT, ANGLICAN ORGANIST AND COMPOSER

THE FEAST OF JONATHAN MYRICK DANIELS, EPISCOPAL SEMINARIAN AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF MATTHIAS CLAUDIUS, GERMAN LUTHERAN WRITER

THE FEAST OF SAINT MAXIMILIAN KOLBE, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST AND MARTYR

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Above:   Eyes

Image in the Public Domain

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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

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Joshua 6:1-5, 15-25

Psalm 135:1-7

Acts 10:1-28

Luke 11:34-36

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Hallelujah!

Praise the Name of the LORD;

give praise, you servants of the LORD.

–Psalm 135:1, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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The themes of light and of the liberation of Gentile people, present in the post for the previous Sunday, are obvious her also.  Rahab and her family find deliverance.  Also, St. Cornelius the Centurion and his household join the Christian fold formally.  In the same story St. Simon Peter learns the difference between separatism and holiness.

The reading from Luke 11 requires some explanation.  The erroneous physiological assumption at work is one common at the time.  That assumption is that the eyes allow the light of the body to go out, hence

Your eyes are the lamp of your body.  If your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but if it is not healthy, your body is full of darkness.

–Luke 11:34, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

(Jesus was the Savior of the world.  He was not an optometrist.)

Nevertheless, the issue of inner spiritual light and darkness is a true and timeless one.  Gentiles can have light within them, just as Jews can have darkness within them.  (Read Luke 11:37-54.)  Indeed, each of us has both inner light and darkness.  The question is, which one is dominant?  Just as good people commit bad deeds, bad people commit good deeds too.

May God liberate us from our inner darkness and our inability and unwillingness to recognize the light in others, especially those different from ourselves.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 3, 2017 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT MARIE-LEONIE PARADIS, FOUNDER OF THE LITTLE SISTERS OF THE HOLY FAMILY

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM WHITING, HYMN WRITER

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Adapted from this post:

https://adventchristmasepiphany.wordpress.com/2017/05/03/devotion-for-the-fifth-sunday-after-the-epiphany-ackerman/

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Above:  Parable of the Wicked Servant, by Domenico Fetti

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

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

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The Assigned Readings:

Deuteronomy 15:1-18 or 19:15-21

Psalm 129

Matthew 18:1-14 (15-20) or Luke 9:46-50; 17:1-4

2 Corinthians 9:1-15

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The reading for this Sunday, taken together, proclaim the mandate of economic and legal justice, condemn lying in court, command forgiving penitents, order valuing the powerless and the vulnerable, and extol the virtues of generosity of spirit and of giving.  On the other hand, we read a prayer for God to destroy Israel’s enemies and a permission slip to dun foreigners.  What are we supposed to make of all this?

First I call attention to the presence of both collective and individual sins and virtues.  My Western culture, steeped in individualism, understands individual sins better than collective and institutional ones.  I know that, as a matter of history, many professing Christians have obsessed over personal peccadilloes to the exclusion or minimizing of societal sins.

My second point is the value of foreigners who bear the image of God.  Focusing just on the Hebrew Bible for a few minutes, I recall certain passages that depict somegoyim favorably:  Rahab the prostitute (Joshua 2:1-24 and 6:17-25), Ruth (Ruth 1-4), and Naaman (2 Kings 5:1-19).  And, of course, as one turns to the New Testament, one should think of the controversy regarding St. Paul the Apostle’s mission to the Gentiles.

Finally, forgiveness can be difficult, but it is the best policy.  According to a rule common among Jews at the time of Jesus, one was perfect if one forgave three times daily.  As we read in the Gospel readings, Jesus more than doubled that number, increasing it to seven.  (He affirmed spiritual challenges.)  Even if forgiving someone does not affect that person it changes for the better the one who forgives.  We also read in Matthew 7:1-5 that the standard we apply to others will be the standard God applies to us.  One might also consult Matthew 18:23-34, the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant.

I understand the desire for God to smite one’s foes.  I have prayed for such results.  I have also learned that praying for their repentance–for their benefit and that of others–is a better way to proceed.  Even our foes bear the image of God, after all.  God loves them too, correct?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

OCTOBER 12, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF MARTIN DOBER, MORAVIAN BISHOP AND HYMN WRITER; JOHANN LEONHARD DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND BISHOP; AND ANNA SCHINDLER DOBER, MORAVIAN MISSIONARY AND HYMN WRITER

THE FEAST OF EDITH CAVELL, NURSE AND MARTYR

THE FEAST OF SAINT KENNETH OF SCOTLAND, ROMAN CATHOLIC MISSIONARY

THE FEAST OF SAINT NECTARIUS OF CONSTANTINOPLE, ARCHBISHOP

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Adapted from this post:

https://lenteaster.wordpress.com/2016/10/12/devotion-for-the-sixth-sunday-of-easter-year-d/

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Above:   World Map 1570

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

Almighty and most merciful God, your bountiful goodness fills all creation.

Keep us safe from all that may hurt us,

that, whole and well in body and spirit,

we may with grateful hearts accomplish all that you would have us to do,

through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

—Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 50

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The Assigned Readings:

2 Kings 5:15-19a (Monday)

2 Kings 5:19b-27 (Tuesday)

2 Kings 15:1-7 (Wednesday)

Psalm 61 (All Days)

Acts 26:24-29 (Monday)

Ephesians 6:10-20 (Tuesday)

Matthew 10:5-15 (Wednesday)

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So I will always sing he praise of your Name,

and day by day I will fulfill your vows.

–Psalm 61:8, The Book of Common Prayer (1979)

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In the assigned readings for these three days we read of people accepting and recognizing God or doing the opposite.  Jews and Gentiles alike accept and recognize God.  Jews and Gentiles alike do the opposite.  The standard of acceptability before God has nothing to do with national identity.

This principle occurs elsewhere in scripture.  Off the top of my head, for example, I think of the Book of Ruth, in which a Moabite woman adopts the Hebrew faith and marries into a Hebrew family.  I recall also that Matthew 1:5 lists Ruth as an ancestor of Jesus.  That family tree also includes Rahab the prostitute (Joshua 2:1-21 and 6:22-25), who sheltered Hebrew spies in Jericho.  I think also of St. Simon Peter, who, at the home of St. Cornelius the Centurion, said:

The truth I have now come to realize is that God does not have favorites, but that anybody of any nationality who fears God and does what is right is acceptable to him.

–Acts 10:34-35, The Jerusalem Bible (1966)

Nationalism is inherently morally neutral.  What people do with it is not morally neutral, however.  These applications can be positive or negative.  Nationalism seems to be a human concern, not a divine one.  As we seek to build up our communities and nations may we not label those who are merely different as dangerous because of those differences.  Many of them might be people of God, after all.  Others might become followers of God.  Furthermore, many within our own ranks might not be devout.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

MAY 31, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF MARY TO ELIZABETH

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2016/05/31/devotion-for-monday-tuesday-and-wednesday-after-proper-23-year-c-elca-daily-lectionary/

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Above:  The Harlot of Jericho and the Two Spies, by James Tissot

Image in the Public Domain

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The Collect:

O God, through suffering and rejection you bring forth our salvation,

and by the glory of the cross you transform our lives.

Grant that for the sake of the gospel we may turn from the lure of evil,

take up our cross, and follow your Son,

Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 47

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The Assigned Readings:

Joshua 2:1-14 (Thursday)

Joshua 2:15-24 (Friday)

Joshua 6:22-27 (Saturday)

Psalm 116 (All Days)

Hebrews 11:17-22 (Thursday)

James 2:17-26 (Friday)

Matthew 21:23-32 (Saturday)

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I will walk in the presence of the LORD

in the land of the living.

–Psalm 116:9, Book of Common Worship (1993)

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The readings from Joshua tell of Rahab, a prostitute, and her family, all of Jericho.  “Rahab” might not have been her name, as a note from The Jewish Study Bible–Second Edition (2014) informs me:

Rahab could be an actual name (compare Rehoboam), but probably indicates her profession, the house of Rahab meaning most likely “brothel.”  The Aram. Tg. and most medieval exegetes interpreted “zonah” as innkeeper, from the root “z-w-n,” yet the Rabbis also acknowledge the ordinary meaning, prostitute (b. Zevah. 116.2).

–Page 443

I refer to her as “Rahab,” for that is the label the text provides me.  The story in Joshua 2 and 6 starts with Israelite spies visiting her.  Why not?  Surely, given her profession, Rahab had heard much information the spies needed to know.  She sheltered these spies, helped them escape, and gained safety for herself and her family when the city fell.

Rahab might have seemed like an unlikely heroine, given her profession.  Yet Matthew 1:5 lists her as the mother of Boaz (as in the Book of Ruth) and an ancestor of Jesus.  We know that, given biology, many women were involved in the generations of reproduction which led to the birth of St. Joseph of Nazareth but the genealogy in Matthew 1 identifies only three:

1. Rahab (1:5),
2. Ruth (1:5), and
3. Bathsheba (“Uriah’s wife,” 1:6).

Two of these women were foreigners, and two had questionable sexual reputations.  When we add St. Mary of Nazareth to the list of women in the genealogy of Jesus, we raise the count of women with sexual scandal tied to their lives to three.  Furthermore, Hebrews 11:31 tells us:

By faith the prostitute Rahab escaped the fate of the unbelievers, because she had given the spies a kindly welcome.

—The Revised English Bible (1989)

And when we turn to James 2:25, we read:

Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road?

—The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

Our Lord and Savior, whose family tree included, among others, a prostitute, an unfaithful wife, Gentiles, and a young woman tainted by scandal, turned out well.  He was a figure of great authority who challenged the Temple system, which depended and preyed upon those who could least afford to finance it.  The Temple was also the seat of collaboration with the Roman Empire, built on violence and economic exploitation.  So, when Jesus challenged the Temple system, defenders of it, challenged him.  Jesus was, of course, the superior debater.  After trapping them in a question about the source of authority of St. John the Baptist, he went on to entrap them in a question (21:30), the answer of which condemned them.  Then he said to them:

Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.  For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him.

–Matthew 21:31b-32, The New Revised Standard Version (1989)

Jesus died a few days later.  Those he confronted had powerful economic reasons to maintain the Temple system, and the annual celebration of the Passover–or national liberation by God–was nigh.  The Roman authorities had law-and-order reasons for crucifying him.  It was a miscarriage of justice, of course.

Those chief priests and elders in Matthew 21 should have had the faith of Rahab, a prostitute.

JUNE 6, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF HENRY JAMES BUCKOLL, AUTHOR AND TRANSLATOR OF HYMNS

THE FEAST OF SAINT CLAUDE OF BESANCON, ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, MONK, ABBOT, AND BISHOP

THE FEAST OF WILLIAM KETHE, PRESBYTERIAN HYMN WRITER

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2015/06/06/devotion-for-thursday-friday-and-saturday-before-proper-19-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/

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Above:  Jericho, 1925

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-14127

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The Collect:

Gracious God, throughout the ages you transform

sickness into health and death into life.

Openness to the power of your presence,

and make us a people ready to proclaim your promises to the world,

through Jesus Christ, our healer and Lord.  Amen.

–Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006), page 47

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The Assigned Readings:

Joshua 6:1-21 (Monday)

Joshua 8:1-23 (Tuesday)

Isaiah 38:10-20 (Both Days)

Hebrews 11:29-12:2 (Monday)

Hebrews 12:3-13 (Tuesday)

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I twitter as if I were a swallow,

I moan like a dove.

My eyes are raised to heaven:

“Lord, pay heed; stand surety for me.”

–Isaiah 38:14, The Revised English Bible (1989)

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One principle of allegedly holy war in the Torah is to kill entire populations and to destroy all property–for the glory of God, not for one’s own gain.  This was the principle which Achan, a Hebrew warrior, violated when he claimed some souvenirs from Jericho, hence the trouble in Joshua 7.  That chapter tells us that the Israelites did not conquer Ai until they had executed Achan and his family (what had they done?) and burned the souvenirs.  The effect of these deeds, according to Joshua 7, was to nip the contagion of sin in the bud.

The author of Hebrews 11:29-12:13 seemed to have a mixed attitude toward violence in the name of God, for he glossed over the violence of the conquest of Canaan while condemning the violence of those who oppressed Jews and Christians.  That author invited his audience to follow the example of Christ in enduring trials.  We should, the author wrote, endure suffering for the sake of discipline–a nice tie-in to Isaiah 38, part of the story of King Hezekiah of Judah.  Nevertheless, discipline is not mass murder or the killing of innocent people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

I consider the example of Jesus and apply it to Joshua 6-8.  What would Jesus do?  Would he have impaled the King of Ai on a stake, as in Joshua 8:29?  Against which population would our Lord and Savior authorized genocide?

I am a realist.  Yes, some violence becomes necessary for positive purposes because some people have made it so.  Likewise, some violence becomes inevitable for the same reason.  Nevertheless, I suspect that most violence is both avoidable and needless.  It flows from sinful human nature, not the decrees of God, and many people seek to justify their sinful violence by dressing it up as righteousness.  May we–you, O reader, and I–prove to be innocent of that offense all our days.

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 5, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BONIFACE OF MAINZ, ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP

THE FEAST OF ANDERS CHRISTENSEN ARREBO, “THE FATHER OF DANISH POETRY”

THE FEAST OF OLE T. (SANDEN) ARNESON, U.S. NORWEGIAN LUTHERAN HYMN TRANSLATOR

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Adapted from this post:

https://ordinarytimedevotions.wordpress.com/2015/06/05/devotion-for-monday-and-tuesday-after-proper-18-year-b-elca-daily-lectionary/

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