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2019, June 23 ~ 1 Kings 19:1-15a and Galatians 3:23-29

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1 Kings 19:1-15a

The authors of the Book of Kings were also the authors of the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Samuel. These books were given their final form around 550 BCE – long after the events they described. The authors used the stories in these books to demonstrate that it was the failures of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judea to worship YHWH and obey God’s commands that led to the conquest of Northern Israel in 722 BCE by the Assyrians and the conquest of Judea by the Babylonians in 597 BCE. (The conquests were not seen as the result of the Assyrians’ and Babylonians’ greater wealth and more powerful armies.)

After Solomon’s death in 928 BCE, the nation divided in two. The Northern Kingdom consisted of 10 tribes and was called “Israel.” The Southern Kingdom had two tribes, Judah and Benjamin and was called “Judea.” For the most part, the Deuteronomists portrayed the Kings of the North as unfaithful to YHWH, and Ahab (873-852 BCE) was one of the worst. His wife was the Baal-worshiping foreigner, Jezebel.

The prophet Elijah is the subject of today’s reading. Just prior to these verses, Elijah invoked the power of YHWH to overcome the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel in the Northern part of Israel. He brought fire upon a huge sacrifice, rain to end a drought, and then killed all the prophets of Baal. (1 Kings 18)

Ahab told Jezebel what Elijah had done (v.1). Jezebel swore to kill Elijah, so he ran away as far south in Israel as he could – first to Beer-sheba and then to the Wilderness where he hoped to die (v.4). YHWH’s angels provided food to Elijah so he could journey to Horeb and continue his ministry. (For the Deuteronomists, the holy mountain is called “Horeb” rather than Sinai. “Sinai” is the name used by the authors of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers.)

When Elijah was at Horeb, the voice of YHWH came to him in the silence (v.12-13) and told him to anoint Hazael as king of Aram (modern Syria). In the verse after today’s reading, Elijah was told to commit treason by anointing Jehu as King of Israel even when Ahab was still alive (v.16).

This is not the first instance of this treasonous activity in the Deuteronomists’ accounts. Samuel was told by YHWH to anoint David as King even when Saul was still alive. (1 Sam.16:13).

Galatians 3:23-29

Galatia was a large Roman province in what is now western Turkey. This letter was likely written by Paul in the late Galat40’s or early 50’s (CE), and deals in part with controversies between Jewish Jesus Followers and Gentile Jesus Followers regarding the continuing importance of Torah (Law) to Jesus Followers. In particular, did Gentiles have to be circumcised and follow the Kosher dietary law to become Jesus Followers? If not, what was the role of Torah for both Jewish and Gentile Jesus Followers?

These issues are also described in Chapter 15 of Acts of the Apostles and in Paul’s letter to the Romans (written in the early 60’s).

Galatians is a “transitional” letter in that – when compared to Paul’s last letter (Romans) — it shows an evolution in his views on the relationship between the Torah and the Gentile Jesus Followers.

In today’s reading, Paul spoke of the Jewish Law as “guarding and imprisoning” us until Christ came and so that “we might be justified by faith” (vv. 23-24). This is a key phrase for Paul and is also used in other epistles.

Understanding these terms in Paul’s context is often challenging for modern readers. As a devout Jew, Paul recognized the value of the Law, but his conversion enabled him to see that justification was no longer a matter of obeying specific laws, but of living a life of faithfulness. “Justified” is to be understood as “being in right relationships with God, others, the world and oneself.” (A page of type in which the right and left margins are straight is described as “justified.”)

The term “faith” also needs to be understood in context. “Faith” is a translation of the Greek word “pistis” – a word that conveys an active quality. The word is perhaps better understood as “faith-ing” or “active faithfulness.” For Paul, “faith” was not a matter of intellectually assenting to a series of doctrines (as many Christians today think of “Faith”). Instead, “faith” is living a life of loving faithfulness as Jesus of Nazareth lived his life, and trusting – as he did — that death will not have the final victory. For Paul, the Resurrection allowed him (and allows us) to encounter the Risen Christ.

Faithfulness to the Christ and a life of loving others also enables us to recognize our essential unity in which there is no Jew or Greek (Gentile), slave or free, male or female (v.28), for we are all one in the Christ.

2018, August 12 ~ 1 Kings 19:4-8 and Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2

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1 Kings 19:4-8

The authors of the Book of Kings were also the authors of the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Samuel. These books were given their final form around 550 BCE – long after the events they described. The authors used the stories in these books to demonstrate that it was the failures of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judea to worship YHWH and obey God’s commands that led to the conquest of Northern Israel in 722 BCE by the Assyrians and the conquest of Judea by the Babylonians in 597 BCE. (The conquests were not seen as the result of the Assyrians’ and Babylonians’ greater wealth and more powerful armies.)

Elijah and his successor, Elisha, were two of the great prophets (speakers for YHWH) in Jewish History. They opposed the (mostly) Baal-worshiping kings in Northern Israel for 90 years (from approximately 873 to 784 BCE), and their stories comprise about 40% of the Book of Kings.

Just prior to today’s reading, Elijah invoked the power of YHWH to overcome the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel in the Northern part of Israel. He brought fire upon a huge sacrifice, rain to end a drought, and then killed all the prophets of Baal.

The evil King of Northern Israel at the time was Ahab (873-852) and his wife was the Baal-worshiping foreigner, Jezebel. After Elijah’s deeds, Jezebel swore to kill Elijah, so he ran away as far south in Israel as he could – first to Beer-sheba (about 100 miles) and then to the wilderness where he hoped to die. In today’s reading, YHWH’s angels provided food to Elijah so he had strength to journey to Horeb and continue his ministry.

For the Deuteronomists, the holy mountain is called “Horeb” rather than Sinai. “Sinai” is the name of the holy mountain used by the authors of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. The location of the holy mountain in the Sinai Peninsula has never been determined.

Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2

Ephesus was a large and prosperous city in what is now western Turkey. In the Acts of the Apostles and 1 Corinthians, Paul is said to have visited there. In Ephesus, there were Jesus Followers who were Jews and Jesus Followers who were Gentiles, and they didn’t always agree on what it meant to be a Jesus Follower.

Because the letter contains a number of terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gives new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms, most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus.

Because of the verses just before today’s reading, this passage appears mostly directed at the Gentile Jesus Followers. The author urged them to put away falsehood, not speak evil of others, and to put away bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling and slander (v.4:31). He urged them live in love as Christ loved us. Describing Christ as a “fragrant sacrifice” (v.5:2) is a reference by the author to burnt offerings in the Hebrew Scriptures which are described as giving off an odor that was pleasing to YHWH, for example, Noah’s sacrifice in Gen. 8:21.

2017, August 13 ~ Genesis 37:1-4,12-28; 1 Kings 19:9-18; & Romans 10:5-15

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During the 2017 Pentecost Season, alternative readings from the Hebrew Bible are offered. Scripture in Context will discuss both readings and the reading from the Christian Scriptures.

Genesis 37:1-4, 12-28

The Book of Genesis starts with Creation and concludes with the death of Joseph (Jacob’s son) in Egypt. The Book is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and others as late as 450 BCE.

Today’s reading begins the long and remarkably cohesive story of Joseph and his brothers in Chapters 37 to 50. Joseph was Jacob’s 11th son; his mother was Rachel, Jacob’s favorite wife. His older brothers’ antipathy and resentment arose from a “bad report” Joseph gave to Jacob (v. 2) and Jacob’s giving Joseph a robe with sleeves (not many colors), a sign of royalty.

Joseph was sold into slavery, and saved from death by the oldest brother, Reuben (v.22) and the fourth oldest brother, Judah (v.27). Judah later took the leadership role in dealing with Joseph in Egypt. Judah’s tribe will eventually inhabit Jerusalem and the area around it.

1 Kings 19:9-18

The Book of Kings is part of the “Deuteronomic History” that includes Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. These books are a didactic history of Ancient Israel from the time in the Wilderness (c. 1250 BCE) to the Babylonian Captivity (587 BCE). They emphasize that God controls history, and when the people (and their kings) worship Yahweh properly, good things happen to them. When they worship false gods, however, tragic events overtake them.

Today’s reading is set during the reign of the evil King Ahab of Israel (the northern 10 tribes) from 873 to 852 BCE. Ahab’s wife was Jezebel, and she was a Baal worshiper. Just before today’s reading, the prophet Elijah demonstrated that YHWH’s power was greater than the priests of Baal. When Ahab told Jezebel what Elijah had done, she vowed revenge on Elijah, and Elijah fled to a cave in the holy mountain, Horeb (the name used by the Deuteronomists).

There, Elijah heard the still voice of YHWH and was directed to anoint Hazael as King of Aram (Syria), Jehu as king of Israel (an act of treason) and Elisha as his own successor (v. 16).

Romans 10:5-15

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last, and theologically most complex letter, written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written. One of Paul’s goals was to reduce tensions and eliminate distinctions between the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome and Gentile Jesus Followers there (v.12).

Paul was a Jew all his life, and the Temple was active all during Paul’s life. (Paul died in 63 and the Temple was destroyed in 70 CE.) In Romans, Paul continued to use terms that need to be unpacked such as “righteousness” (right relationships with God and others), the “law” (the Torah), and “faith” (faithfulness). Paul emphasized that “belief” is a matter of the heart (v.10), not the intellect.