Chapter 32 - The Restoration

I and II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, Third Isaiah, Ruth, Jonah... this might be a big chapter!

Even though they were free to return home, many stayed because of the prosperity of Babylon.

Life in the new Jerusalem: exclusive and nationalistic - how horrible.

The P version of history began while in exile.

Read and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the following sequence:

1. Ezra 1, 2:1-70 6. Neh 1:1-7:5

2. Neh 7:6-73a 7. Neh 11-13

3. Ezra 3:1-4:6 8. Neh 9:38-10:39

4. Ezra 4:24-6:22 9. Ezra 7-10

5. Ezra 4:7-23 10. Neh 8:1-9:37

Second Isaiah -> Cyrus "the annointed"
Haggai -> Zerubbabel, the Messiah
Apocalyptic Literature -> Messiah mysterious "a role no historical figure could possibly fill"
Zechariah -> Joshua receives the crown of the Messiah. Originally the name was almost certianly Zerubbabel. Not apocalyptic.

"Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Isaiah 58 - Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

Horrible text from Isaiah 63: I [YWHW] trampled them [Edomites] in my anger and trod them down in my wrath; their blood spattered my garments, and I stained all my clothing.

One of my favorite images: The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain," says the LORD. (Isaiah 65)

"The Jews to whom Third Isaiah was addressed might not have perceived an inconsistency between bloody triumphalism and a vision of peace" <- sounds like today's Israel, eh?

I keep seeing hints that the difference between Israelites and Gentiles must disappear in the fullness of Israel and yet it seem that, with the flourish of fundamentalism, the perceived differences between all peoples is being underlined. God help us all.

Isaiah 61: The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners.

Luke 4: Jesus went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Damn! This one gets me into trouble, eh? [Ezra] "You have been unfaithful; you have married foreign women, adding to Israel's guilt. Now make confession to the LORD, the God of your fathers, and do his will. Separate yourselves from the peoples around you and from your foreign wives." ... " All these had married foreign women, and some of them had children by these wives." I guess my name would have been on that list.

Is "narrowness of purpose" and "exclusiveness" acceptable (justifiable) if it saves the faith from syncretism?

Voices lamenting the exclusiveness: Ruth and Jonah

Chapter 31 - The Second Isaiah

Persian King Cyrus - Babylon god: Marduk
Nabonidus - moon-gad: Sin

Second Isaiah - hears news of Cyrus, the liberal ruler. Writes from 550-540 BCE

Finally: "Comfort, comfort my people, says your God."

Handel’s Messiah:
(1) Overture.
(2) Isaiah 40:1-3 “Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned ...“
“The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord) make straight in the desert a highway for our God”.
(3) Isaiah 40:4 “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain"
(4) Isaiah 40:5 “And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it”.

Error in the text: 48:18-20 should read 40:18-20 (page 538)

It's a fine line, eh? We were taken into exile not because their gods are greater than our God but because our God wanted it. Sounds suspicious to me. We went into exile because we were bad not because your armies were stronger. Because we were bad God made our armies weak and yours strong. Hmmm... yeah, yeah.

"Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see!" - reminds me of Jesus and some of the things he did. Were Jesus' acts to be taken literally or a continuation of this concept: we see and we hear but we don't get it... we don't understand.

I struggle with this: present circumstances reflect the righteous judgment of God. I look around me today and see bad things happening to good people and good things happening to bad people and I can't believe that this reflects the righteous judgment of God.

YHWH will give Egypt and Ethiopia and Seba in ransom for Israel. I struggle with this too. Unless, to the Egyptians, God says, "I will give Ethiopia and Seba and Israel in ransom for Egypt." ...and to the Ethiopians God says, "I will give Egypt and Seba and Israel in ransom for Ethiopia." ... and to the people of Seba God says, "I will give Egypt and Ethiopia and Israel in ransom for Seba." As, in my eyes, we are all part of God's creation. Get over yourselves Israel!

This is good: "It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth."

In Hebrew the word for "word" and the word for "deed" are the same. Well, this is significant. If I once new this I had forgotten it. So God's words are deeds.

The Servant. Establishing justice but gently. The Servant will establish a way of life and will provide teachings that will bring about life. (Sounds like Jesus)

Exiles, Servant, suffering, sin-offering, glorification because of suffering, bore the sin of many... WOW. This language is familiar.

Suffering: a medium of salvation. Only through the suffering of the righteous. The unrighteous cannot be the means of salvation for themselves. Interesting...

It is only by reading the Old Testament that we begin to understand the New Testament.

More Servant: Servant's task is given by God, Servant's task may involve suffering, this suffering will be for the many, Servant is a light to the nations.

The Messiah (kingly) and the Servant (intercessory) are separate images. It is Jesus who brings them together: Who do you say that I am? The Messiah. The Son of Man must undergo great suffering and be rejected.

Chapter 30 - Ezekiel

More gloomy oracles? More destruction? Can't wait...

Individual Responsibility: revolutionary concept.

Part I - 1-24: visions/prophecies against Jerusalem
Part II - 25-32: oracles against foreign nations
Part III - 33-48: oracles of hope for return and reconstruction

This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

He is given pastoral responsibility for God's people. He must warn others or he is guilty.

This is some strange stuff:
"Then lie on your left side and put the sin of the house of Israel upon yourself. You are to bear their sin for the number of days you lie on your side. I have assigned you the same number of days as the years of their sin. So for 390 days you will bear the sin of the house of Israel. After you have finished this, lie down again, this time on your right side, and bear the sin of the house of Judah. I have assigned you 40 days, a day for each year."

Although the elders remain PUBLICLY loyal to YHWH, in SECRET, perhaps within an actual secret sanctuary, these leaders of Israel worship the animal-like gods of Egypt. - perhaps the "secret sanctuary" is their hearts, their minds. But YHWH has access to everything.

Wonderful story (parable):
"Your ancestry and birth were in the land of the Canaanites; your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day you were born your cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water to make you clean, nor were you rubbed with salt or wrapped in cloths. No one looked on you with pity or had compassion enough to do any of these things for you. Rather, you were thrown out into the open field, for on the day you were born you were despised. Then I passed by and saw you kicking about in your blood, and as you lay there in your blood I said to you, "Live!" I made you grow like a plant of the field. You grew up and developed and became the most beautiful of jewels. Your breasts were formed and your hair grew, you who were naked and bare. Later I passed by, and when I looked at you and saw that you were old enough for love, I spread the corner of my garment over you and covered your nakedness. I gave you my solemn oath and entered into a covenant with you, declares the Sovereign LORD, and you became mine. I bathed you with water and washed the blood from you and put ointments on you. I clothed you with an embroidered dress and put leather sandals on you. I dressed you in fine linen and covered you with costly garments. I adorned you with jewelry: I put bracelets on your arms and a necklace around your neck, and I put a ring on your nose, earrings on your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. So you were adorned with gold and silver; your clothes were of fine linen and costly fabric and embroidered cloth. Your food was fine flour, honey and olive oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be a queen. And your fame spread among the nations on account of your beauty, because the splendor I had given you made your beauty perfect, declares the Sovereign LORD. But you trusted in your beauty and used your fame to become a prostitute. You lavished your favors on anyone who passed by and your beauty became his. You took some of your garments to make gaudy high places, where you carried on your prostitution. Such things should not happen, nor should they ever occur. You also took the fine jewelry I gave you, the jewelry made of my gold and silver, and you made for yourself male idols and engaged in prostitution with them. And you took your embroidered clothes to put on them, and you offered my oil and incense before them. Also the food I provided for you—the fine flour, olive oil and honey I gave you to eat—you offered as fragrant incense before them."

Big OUCH: "So in your prostitution you are the opposite of others; no one runs after you for your favors. You are the very opposite, for you give payment and none is given to you." (a whore who pays her tricks)

New mood for the community that returns: penitential, concern for atonement for sin: sin-offerings, guilt-offerings. Sacrifice: pain and loss.

Individuals experienced their worth and followed out their destiny only as members of a family, tribe, clan, or nation. Guilt of the individual could become the corporate guilt of the nation.

The soul who sins is the one who will die. The son will not share the guilt of the father, nor will the father share the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous man will be credited to him, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against him.

The change in the direction determines: turning from one to the other (from righteousness or to righteousness)

Those in Jerusalem not taken into exile cannot depend on the righteousness of previous generations. Those in exile complaining about the actions of previous generations that have resulted in their exile should look to their own lives.

Why will you die, O house of Israel? For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Reconstruction of the new temple - the new temple should be the human heart.

Ezekiel 34:11-16:
I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

I was reminded of Psalm 23 as I read the above:
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me....

The Valley of the Dry Bones: the resurrection/restoration of a dead community.

Detail plans for the temple: "I saw a wall completely surrounding the temple area. The length of the measuring rod in the man's hand was six long cubits, each of which was a cubit and a handbreadth. He measured the wall; it was one measuring rod thick and one rod high. Then he went to the gate facing east. He climbed its steps and measured the threshold of the gate; it was one rod deep. The alcoves for the guards were one rod long and one rod wide, and the projecting walls between the alcoves were five cubits thick. And the threshold of the gate next to the portico facing the temple was one rod deep. Then he measured the portico of the gateway; it was eight cubits deep and its jambs were two cubits thick. The portico of the gateway faced the temple.... . . . . . . " I was very disappointed when I read this. It shows me that they still didn't get it. It's not a physical temple made out of stones that counts it is the human temple in the hearts of the people.

A legal code was read to the people but it was not Ezekiel's code. Ezekiel differs from the norm of the Torah. Censorship... regulations forbidding anyone under 30 from reading the book. Hmmm...

Chapter 29 - Jeremiah and the Fall of Jerusalem

More doom... *heavy sigh*

Jeremiah lived during the reign of Josiah...

From wikipedia: "Nebuchadnezzar engaged in several military campaigns designed to increase Babylonian influence in Syria and Judah. An attempted invasion of Egypt in 601 BC was met with setbacks, however, leading to numerous rebellions among the states of the Levant, including Judah. Nebuchadnezzar soon dealt with these rebellions, capturing Jerusalem in 597 BC and deposing King Jeconiah, then in 587 BC due to rebellion, destroying both the city and the temple, and deporting many of the prominent citizens along with a sizable portion of the Jewish population of Judea to Babylon.[6] These events are described in the Prophets (Nevi'im) and Writings (Ketuvim), sections of the Hebrew Bible (in the books 2 Kings and Jeremiah, and 2 Chronicles, respectively)."

Ishmael and the rebels kill the governor, flee into Egypt taking Jeremiah, and flourish eventually responsible for the creation of the Septuagint.

The abuse of Jeremiah: in stocks, behind bars, down a cistern, sent to Egypt.

Why has the way of the wicked prospered? Why are all those who deal in treachery at ease? (assuming that God inevitably brings a curse to disobedience and a blessing to obedience)

Jeremiah lets it all come out: "Therefore, give their children over to famine
and deliver them up to the power of the sword; and let their wives become childless and widowed. Let their men also be smitten to death, their young men struck down by the sword in battle. May an outcry be heard from their houses, when You suddenly bring raiders upon them; for they have dug a pit to capture me and hidden snares for my feet. Yet You, O LORD, know all their deadly designs against me; do not forgive their iniquity or blot out their sin from Your sight but may they be overthrown before You; Deal with them in the time of Your anger!" (ouch)

Interesting opportunity here: The people are being hauled off to Babylon (now I have Bob Marley running through my head - oh well...). The people have become very attached to their land (country and city) and their temple. They should be attached to their God. The exile forces them to understand this: YHWH is not restricted to a place. YHWH will go with them and be with them wherever they go... even into Babylon.

The Law will be an inner reality, instead of an external code. ...an inner reality ...an external code. ...and external code: In God We Trust? ...an inner reality: respect the dignity of every person.

"Israel would never again be coterminous with any political unit or geographical area." -> until post-WWII when the new Israel is created. (I may sound anti-Israeli but I am more frustrating with their actions than anything)

Chapter 28 - The Deuteronomic Reform

Micah and the Book of Deuteronomy

Micah and Isaiah contemporaries. Micah from the country and Isaiah from the city.

The evil is in the cities: Samaria was responsible for the fall of Israel and Jerusalem is responsible for the sin of Judah.

Micah could be talking about the people of Wall Street: big business USA.

to do justice, to love kindness, to walk humbly with your God... sounds so simple.

Chapters 12-26 - archaeological discovery? The Book of the Law. It speaks to current conditions.

The speaking of an oracle versus the written word. The Lord was in the moment and now said to be in the written words. "Shattering significance"

Passover - ceased to be observed. Hard to imagine this. Passover is reestablished.

Book of Deuteronomy:
1. introduction 1-11
2. Deut. Code 12-26
3. appendix 27-30
4. continuation of the story of Israelite's march to Canaan 31-34

Probably from the north (displaced Israelites) into Judah. Probably based on older material.

Deuteronomy, "the gospel of the Old Testament" - often quoted in the New Testament.

Moses is speaking to the people of today: the covenant is not an event long past but a present relationship.

Sabbath: because of creation or because of redemption? Judaism becomes a religion in which social justice, equity, and decency occupy a central position (except when dealing with Palestinians in their own country)

6:4-5 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָד - Shema Yisra'el YHWH Eloheinu YHWH Echad

The Gospel of Mark 12:29 mentions that Jesus considered the Shema the beginning exhortation of the first of his two greatest commandments: "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." (NIV).

Necessity for purity: Israel must not be contaminated with the religions of other lands. Israel is commanded to destroy utterly the nations she finds in the land of Canaan (modern Israel is doing its best to carry this out - how sad)

Older law is stated in its original form and then amended to fit the new Deut. scheme.

The monarchy in ancient Israel was 'constitutional' where the Torah was the constitution and God was the King of Kings.

Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach... No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction.

Chapter 27 - Isaiah of Jerusalem

Amos and Hosea in the northern kingdom and, somewhat later, Isaiah and Micah in the southern kingdom.

Moral decay, oppression of the poor, arrogance of the wealthy...

Historical context: II Kings 15:1-20:19 (In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel, Azariah son of Amaziah king of Judah began to reign...)

Syro-Ephraimitic War - war between Judah and the allies, Syria and Ephraim (Israel)

Ahaz (Judah) asks for Assyria's assistance against the Syro-Ephraimitic alliance and becomes a vassal of Assyria. Hoshea (Israel) wants an alliance with Egypt but Assyria (Shalmaneser) takes out Israel first... puts an end to Israel as a separate nation forever.

The Samaritans become a symbol to Jews of all that is vile, polluted, and contemptible and yet Samaria was the capital of Israel. Samaritans are neither Israelites nor pagans.

Hezekiah does a cleaning... religious reforms, high places torn down, Canaanite symbols destroyed, etc.

Isaiah: chapters 1-39, 40-55, 56-66 = I Isaiah, II Isaiah, III Isaiah

I Isaiah - pre-exilic writings

1st major division:1-12, 2nd major division: 13-23, 3rd major division: 28-31 - 24-27 an apocalyptic section from later, 34-36, 36-39 a Deut. history that duplicates II Kings 18:13-20:19.

...The ox knows his master, the donkey his owner's manger, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand. Stupid people!

Ah, sinful nation, a people loaded with guilt, a brood of evildoers, children given to corruption! Bad people!

Why should you be beaten anymore? <- I've been whacking on you for some time now but it ain't getting through.

Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

parthenos versus almah - virgin versus young woman

The gift of a son - this one, unlike the one who was born of the "young woman," is a messianic figure. Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace - God made flesh? No.

Interesting to read this through Jewish eyes instead of Christian eyes.

YHWH is the reason for being and YHWH is the one whom we should trust.

No reference to the covenant with Moses. All attention directed to the covenant with David.

Chapter 26 - Amos and Hosea

I keep reading the title and wanting to say "Amos and Andy" ...oh well.

The role of prophecy - an ethical dimension - denouncing social injustices.

Religious syncretism. Religious syncretism!

God's justice demands the destruction of the people, but God's love for them invigorates a hope for their salvation.

Israel gets a major slap in the face: oppressions of the poor, violation of the family, wholesale social immorality... profanation of religious acts.

There are showy displays of religiosity for all to see... worship for the glorification of the people... scrupulously correct worship done in a spirit of blasphemy...

To seek YHWH means to seek justice and righteousness...

Some things never seem to change: let's put the word GOD on our money and in our public lives and let's put scripture here and there but justice and righteousness? Pffft.... as long as I have my health care I don't want to pay more taxes for someone else to have health care.

Prepare to meet you God! It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear!

I cannot stand your assemblies... I will not accept your offerings... I will have no regard for your offerings... I will not listen to the music of your harps...

But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Pretty harsh stuff here.

Amos doesn't hold back anything: 'Your wife will become a prostitute in the city, and your sons and daughters will fall by the sword. Your land will be measured and divided up, and you yourself will die in a pagan country. And Israel will certainly go into exile, away from their native land.'

As I read this I was reminded of how much we like to quote scripture that proves our point and how much we tend to ignore scripture that might actually have something to tell us.

Amos slams the Capitalists: "When will the New Moon be over that we may sell grain, and the Sabbath be ended that we may market wheat?" — skimping the measure, boosting the price and cheating with dishonest scales, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat.

The above makes me think of recent Wall Street activities.

So YHWH will tear it all down in order to build it all back up again.

"The days are coming," declares the LORD, "when the reaper will be overtaken by the plowman and the planter by the one treading grapes. New wine will drip from the mountains and flow from all the hills. I will bring back my exiled [g] people Israel; they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them. They will plant vineyards and drink their wine; they will make gardens and eat their fruit. I will plant Israel in their own land, never again to be uprooted from the land I have given them," says the LORD your God. <- although these are not the words of Amos.

* * * Hosea * * *

Idolatry is evil not simply because it is idolatry but because of the moral BLINDNESS it produces in the people.

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
...it was I who healed them...and bent down to feed them...all my compassion is aroused...
I will not carry out my fierce anger, nor will I turn and devastate Ephraim. For I am God, and not man — the Holy One among you. I will not come in wrath.

God's grace.

Chapter 25 - Elijah and Elisha

...brought to Judah by Israelites fleeing from the Assyrians.

Micaiah - oracle (inquire) "religious sanction for a political move"

Call
Speech
Action
Inspiration

Elijah, ranked second only to Moses.

YHWH is to come to the people to reclaim them, to establish himself as God and to turn their hearts back (repentance).

Elijah and Fire.

Elisha as Elijah's successor.

YHWH reaching outside of Judah and Israel to other nations: Syria.

Elijah & Elisha: prophets of the 9th century
Amos & Hosea: prophets of the 8th century

Hmmm... I expected more from a chapter about these two guys. I confess I am disappointed.

Chapter 24 - The Divided Kingdom

"In reading the book of Kings, we encounter an interpretation of events which sees all that happens to the nation as the result of its faithfulness or unfaithfulness to YHWH."


Solomon...

- breaks down tribal loyalties
- defines twelve administrative districts
- builds national structure
- imposes unbearable burdens on the people for the support of the royal court

Contrast: David versus Solomon

"The narrator cannot imagine that anything as important as ... could occur for merely political reasons or because of the foolishness of one imprudent individual."

IT MUST BE GOD'S WILL!

North - tribal - conservative. South - monarchy or "royal theology" - novelty.

What kinds of changes are necessary and permissible to preserve religious heritage in the face of changing circumstances?

Chapter 23 - David The King

(I have fallen behind on my reading and posting)

I am "enjoying" this chapter. I can relate the concepts of Father & Son and King and People to Christian meanings. YHWH & David and the YHWH & Solomon. Interesting to watch how the realities of life (politics - monarchy) interfere with the theology.

Love the physical temple versus temple in the hearts of the people discussion. God's people on the march versus Israel, the preservers of an immovable and changeless shrine. Is this modern Israel's current problem?

The house was wrong for David but it is in order for Solomon: theological shifts.

Good reading