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2020, June 28~ Genesis 22:1-14; Jeremiah 28:5-9; and Romans 6:12-23

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During Pentecost Season 2020, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible.  Congregations may choose either track.

The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.

The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks. 

Genesis 22:1-14

Reading

1 God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains that I shall show you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac; he cut the wood for the burnt offering, and set out and went to the place in the distance that God had shown him. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place far away. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the boy and I will go over there; we will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. So the two of them walked on together. 7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “The fire and the wood are here, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them walked on together.

9 When they came to the place that God had shown him, Abraham built an altar there and laid the wood in order. He bound his son Isaac, and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to kill his son. 11 But the angel of the LORD called to him from heaven, and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him; for now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham looked up and saw a ram, caught in a thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.”

Commentary

Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek.  Genesis covers the period from Creation Stories to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical. The Abraham stories are set around 1750 BCE.

The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, and these sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.

At Sarah’s insistence, Abraham gave up his firstborn son, Ishmael, in the prior chapter, and the reader is told (v.1) that God then tested Abraham by asking him to give up his promised heir, Isaac.  Just as Abraham was asked by God in Chapter 12 to “go from your country,” in today’s reading he is asked to “go to the land of Moriah” to sacrifice his “only” (v.2) son, the son whom he loves.

It is difficult to know how old Isaac is in the story.  He is old enough to carry the wood for the burnt offering (v.6) and to ask about the lamb for the sacrifice (v.7).

The location of Moriah is not known, but 2 Chronicles 3:1 (written around 450 BCE) identified it as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a tradition that continues to today.

Although the Binding of Isaac (as the story is known in Jewish tradition) has been understood by some as a condemnation of child sacrifice, most scholars reject the idea that there was a general practice of child sacrifice in Ancient Israel, particularly because of the large number of verses in the Bible that condemn the practice as Canaanite idol worship.

Based on Surah 37 of the Quran, most Muslims believe that the son whom Abraham was asked to sacrifice is Ishmael.

Jeremiah 28:5-9

Reading

5 The prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the LORD; 6 and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the LORD do so; may the LORD fulfill the words that you have prophesied and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the LORD, and all the exiles. 7 But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. 8 The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. 9 As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the LORD has truly sent the prophet.”

Commentary

After the righteous and reforming King Josiah was killed in battle at Megiddo (from which we get the Greek word Armageddon) in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE.

The Babylonians deported most of the Judean leaders to Babylon in 597 and took most of the treasures from the Temple. In 586, the Babylonians deported a larger number (the beginning of the Babylonian Exile) and destroyed the Temple.  Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e. speaking for YHWH) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

Most Bible scholars agree that the Book of Jeremiah underwent substantial revisions between the time of Jeremiah (627 to 586 BCE) and the First Century. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there were different versions of the Book of Jeremiah.  The Ancient Greek Septuagint Translation (the LXX – dating from 300 to 200 BCE) has some chapters that are not in the Hebrew versions.

Jeremiah is largely a prophet of doom and gloom, and the English word “jeremiad” means a long, mournful complaint or lamentation, a list of woes.

Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were likely added later by writers whose theological outlook was closely aligned with the Deuteronomists. (In fact, Chapter 52 in Jeremiah is virtually word-for-word with 2 Kings 24:18 to 25:30 written by the Deuteronomists after the Exile.)

Today’s reading is in prose style and is set in the period from 597 to 594 BCE. A false prophet, Hananiah, prophesied that the treasures from the Temple that were taken as spoils by the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, would be returned soon (v.3) – even though Judah had not repented and Babylon was as strong as ever.

In today’s verses and the ones that follow, Jeremiah said he hoped Hananiah’s prophesies would come true (v.6), but then denied that Hananiah has a commission from God and asserted that the Babylonians would enslave the Judeans.

Romans 6:12-23 

Reading

12 Do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. 13 No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you since you are not under law but under grace.

15 What then? Should we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God that you, having once been slaves of sin, have become obedient from the heart to the form of teaching to which you were entrusted, 18 and that you, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to greater and greater iniquity, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness for sanctification.

20 When you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 So what advantage did you then get from the things of which you now are ashamed? The end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been freed from sin and enslaved to God, the advantage you get is sanctification. The end is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Commentary

Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among other messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.

The Roman Emperor Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome in 49 CE. His successor, Nero (54-68 CE), allowed Jews (including Jewish Jesus Followers) to return to Rome, and this created tensions about leadership and worship within the Jesus Follower Community.

Paul was a Jew who became a Jesus Follower and who saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism. As such, he continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ.  The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.

Today’s reading continues Paul’s discussion of the effects of Baptism (which joins us in the death of Christ Jesus and unites us with him in overcoming death through resurrection).

In speaking of “sin” (rather than “sins”), Paul was referring to the human propensity to assert our own ego and power rather than living as “instruments of righteousness” (v.13) i.e. living in right relationships with God and others.

When Paul referred negatively to “the law” (v.14), he expressed the view that mere obedience to rules will not bring about human wholeness or salvation or righteousness or Eternal Life, terms which Paul uses interchangeably.

 

 

2020, June 21 ~ Genesis 21:8-21; Jeremiah 20:7-13; and Romans 6:1b-11

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During Pentecost Season 2020, the Revised Common Lectionary offers two “tracks” of readings from the Hebrew Bible. Congregations may choose either track.

The first track of readings follows major stories and themes, read mostly continuously from week to week. The second track of readings thematically pairs the reading from the Hebrew Bible with the Gospel reading.

The readings from the Epistles are the same in both tracks.

Genesis 21:8-21

Reading

8 The child grew and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 But Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne to Abraham, playing with her son Isaac. 10 So she said to Abraham, “Cast out this slave woman with her son; for the son of this slave woman shall not inherit along with my son Isaac.” 11 The matter was very distressing to Abraham on account of his son. 12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be distressed because of the boy and because of your slave woman; whatever Sarah says to you, do as she tells you, for it is through Isaac that offspring shall be named for you. 13 As for the son of the slave woman, I will make a nation of him also, because he is your offspring.” 14 So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water, and gave it to Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, along with the child, and sent her away. And she departed and wandered about in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.

15 When the water in the skin was gone, she cast the child under one of the bushes. 16 Then she went and sat down opposite him a good way off, about the distance of a bowshot; for she said, “Do not let me look on the death of the child.” And as she sat opposite him, she lifted up her voice and wept. 17 And God heard the voice of the boy; and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven, and said to her, “What troubles you, Hagar? Do not be afraid; for God has heard the voice of the boy where he is. 18 Come, lift up the boy and hold him fast with your hand, for I will make a great nation of him.” 19 Then God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water. She went, and filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink.

20 God was with the boy, and he grew up; he lived in the wilderness and became an expert with the bow. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran; and his mother got a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Commentary

Genesis is the first book of the Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy). The Torah also called the Pentateuch (“five books”) in Greek. Genesis covers the period from Creation Stories to the deaths of Jacob and his 11th son, Joseph, in about 1650 BCE, if the accounts are historical.

The Book of Genesis (like the Torah as a whole) is an amalgam of religious traditions, some of which are dated to about 950 BCE and some of which were developed as late as 450 BCE. Since the late 19th Century, Biblical scholars have recognized four major “strands” or sources in the Torah, and these sources are identified (among other ways) by their different theological emphases, names for God, names for the holy mountain, and portrayals of God’s characteristics.

The first 11 Chapters of Genesis are called the “primeval history” which ends with the Tower of Babel story — an “etiology” (story of origins) relating to the scattering of humankind and the multiplicity of languages. The last chapter of the primeval history also traces Abram’s lineage back to Noah’s son, Shem (which means “name” in Hebrew and from which we get the word “Semites”).

The verses before today’s reading tell of the conception of Isaac by the 90+ year old Sarah and his birth when Abraham was 100 (v.5). Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave, gave birth to Abraham’s first son, Ishmael, 14 years before Isaac’s birth when Abraham was 86 (16:16). Hagar is presented as a person who speaks directly with YHWH (16:10-12) and names God as “El-roi” – God who sees (16:13).

Today’s account is another etiology – a story of the origins of the non-Jewish Semitic peoples who claim their ancestral fatherhood through Ishmael. In the story, God said, “I will make a great nation of him” to Abraham (v.13) and to Hagar (v.18).

God urged Abraham to acquiesce to Sarah’s demand that he cast out the slave woman, Hagar, and her son (v. 10). Although the passage refers to Ishmael as a “boy” and as a “child” (v.16), the chronology of the over-all story indicates that these events occurred after Isaac had been weaned (v.8), so it means two years had passed since his birth, and Ishmael would have been 16 years old. When Hagar and Ishmael ran out of water and food, God heard Hagar’s lament (“Ishmael” means “God hears”) and protected both Hagar and Ishmael.

Based on the Quran, Mohammed (who was from what is now Saudi Arabia) traced his hereditary roots to Abraham through Ishmael. Muslims trace their religious roots to Abraham.

Jeremiah 20:7-13

Reading

7 O LORD, you have enticed me, and I was enticed; you have overpowered me, and you have prevailed. I have become a laughingstock all day long; everyone mocks me.
8 For whenever I speak, I must cry out, I must shout, “Violence and destruction!” For the word of the LORD has become for me a reproach and derision all day long.
9 If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot.
10 For I hear many whispering: “Terror is all around! Denounce him! Let us denounce him!” All my close friends are watching for me to stumble. “Perhaps he can be enticed, and we can prevail against him, and take our revenge on him.”
11 But the L0RD is with me like a dread warrior; therefore, my persecutors will stumble, and they will not prevail. They will be greatly shamed, for they will not succeed. Their eternal dishonor will never be forgotten.
12 O LORD of hosts, you test the righteous, you see the heart and the mind; let me see your retribution upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
13 Sing to the LORD; praise the LORD! For he has delivered the life of the needy from the hands of evildoers.

Commentary

After the righteous and reforming King Josiah was killed in battle at Megiddo (from which we get the Greek word Armageddon) in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported most of the Judean leaders to Babylon in 597 and a larger number in 586 (the beginning of the Babylonian Exile). Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e. speaking for YHWH) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

Most Bible scholars agree that the Book of Jeremiah underwent substantial revisions between the time of Jeremiah (627 to 586 BCE) and the First Century. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there were different versions of the Book of Jeremiah. The Ancient Greek Septuagint Translation (the LXX – dating from 300 to 200 BCE) has some chapters that are not in the Hebrew versions.

Jeremiah is largely a prophet of doom and gloom, and the English word “jeremiad” means a long, mournful complaint or lamentation, a list of woes.

Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were likely added later by writers whose theological outlook was closely aligned with the Deuteronomists. (In fact, Chapter 52 in Jeremiah is virtually word-for-word with 2 Kings 24:18 to 25:30 written by the Deuteronomists after the Exile.)

Today’s reading is in “poetry style” and is the fifth (of six) of Jeremiah’s laments. In it, he claimed that YHWH exerted such irresistible power over him that he could not help but proclaim the unpopular message that unless the king and people reformed, they would be overcome by Babylon and be in captivity.

Notwithstanding his lament, Jeremiah expressed confidence in God’s protection for those who rely on YHWH (v. 13).

Romans 6:1b-11

Reading

1b Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For whoever has died is freed from sin. 8 But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Commentary

Paul’s letter to the Romans was his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) to a Jesus Follower community that Paul did not establish. Among other messages in the letter, Paul sought to encourage respectful and supportive relationships between the Gentile Jesus Followers and the Jewish Jesus Followers in Rome.

The Roman Emperor Claudius had expelled the Jews from Rome in 49 CE. His successor, Nero (54-68 CE), allowed Jews (including Jewish Jesus Followers) to return to Rome, and this created tensions about leadership and worship within the Jesus Follower Community.

Paul was a Jew who became a Jesus Follower and who saw the Jesus Follower Movement as part of a broader Judaism. As such, he continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah/the Christ. The term “Christian” had not been invented in his lifetime.

Today’s reading is a discussion by Paul of the effects of Baptism. In Baptism, we are united with Christ Jesus in his death, we will be united with the Christ in resurrection (v. 5), and we should consider ourselves “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v.11). For Paul, “sin” (as contrasted with “sins”) can be understood as our human propensity to put ourselves and our egos in first place rather than (as Jesus did) having the good of others as our primary focus.

2017, July 2 ~ Genesis 22:1-14, Jeremiah 28:5-9 & Romans 6:12-23

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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 22:1-14

Today’s reading is the story of the Near Sacrifice of Isaac, known to Jews as the Akedah (the Binding – based on verse 9). In the Quran, the same story appears, but the son whom Abraham was called to sacrifice was Ishmael, not Isaac.

Isaac’s age is not known. He is old enough to carry the wood (v.6) and discuss what will be sacrificed (v. 7). In some translations, he is called Abraham’s “only” son (vv.2 and 12), but in other translations, the word “only” is omitted and Isaac is referred to as Abraham’s “beloved” son. This recognizes that Abraham had another son, Ishmael, by Hagar (Sarah’s servant).

Abraham is described as having the “fear of God” (v.12). In the Hebrew Scriptures, this is generally understood as active obedience to the will of God (as one best discerns God’s will).

Jeremiah 28:5-9

After the righteous King Josiah was killed in battle in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported some Judean leaders in 597 and a larger number of them in 586 (the beginning of the Babylonian Exile). Jeremiah’s prophesying (i.e. speaking for Yahweh) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

Today’s reading is set in the period from 597 to 594 BCE. A false prophet, Hananiah, prophesied that the treasures from the Temple that were taken as spoils by the Babylonian King, Nebuchadnezzar, would be returned soon – even though Judah had not repented and Babylon was as strong as ever. In today’s verses and the ones that follow, Jeremiah says he hopes Hananiah’s prophesies would come true, but then denies that Hananiah has a commission from God and asserts that the Babylonians will enslave the Judeans.

Romans 6:12-23

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.

Today’s reading continues Paul’s discussion of the effects of Baptism (which joins us in the death of Christ Jesus and unites us with him in overcoming death through resurrection). In speaking of “sin” (rather than “sins”), Paul is referring to the human propensity to assert our own ego and power rather than living as “instruments of righteousness” (v.13) i.e. living in right relationships with God and others. When Paul refers negatively to “the law,” he expresses the view that mere obedience to rules will not bring about human wholeness or salvation or righteousness or Eternal Life, terms which Paul uses interchangeably.

2017, June 25 ~ Genesis 21:8-21, Jeremiah 20:7-13 & Romans 6:1b-11

/in /by

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 21:8-21

The word “Genesis” means “origin” and 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 some as late as 450 BCE.

The verses before today’s reading tell of the conception of Isaac by the 90+ year old Sarah and his birth. (Hagar, Sarah’s Egyptian slave, bore Abraham’s first son, Ishmael, 13 years earlier.)

Today’s account is part of an “etiology” – a story of origins – of non-Jewish Semitic peoples who claim their ancestral fatherhood through Ishmael. In the story, God says, “I will make a great nation of him” to Abraham (v. 13) and to Hagar (v.18).

Even though God urges Abraham to acquiesce to Sarah’s demand that he cast out the slave woman and her 15-year old son (v. 10), God hears Hagar’s lament (“Ishmael” means “God hears”) and protects both Hagar and Ishmael.

Muslims, based on the Quran, trace their religious roots to Abraham through Ishmael.

Jeremiah 20:7-13

After the righteous King Josiah was killed in battle in 609 BCE, the fortunes of Judea took a sharp downward turn. Babylon threatened Judea’s existence, and Judea had a series of hapless kings from 609 until Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. The Babylonians deported some Judeans in 597 and a larger number in 586 (the beginning of the Babylonian Exile). Jeremiah’s prophesy (i.e. speaking for Yahweh) began around 609 and continued until 586 BCE when he died in Egypt.

Today’s reading is one of Jeremiah’s laments in which he claims YHWH exerts such irresistible power over him that he cannot help but proclaim the unpopular message that unless the king and people reform, they will be overcome by Babylon and be in captivity. Notwithstanding his lament, Jeremiah expresses confidence in God’s protection for those who rely on YHWH (v. 13).

Romans 6:1b-11

Paul’s letter to the Romans is his longest, last and most complex letter. It was written in the late 50s or early 60s (CE) – about ten years before the first Gospel (Mark) was written.

Today’s reading is a discussion by Paul of the effects of Baptism. In Baptism, we are united with Christ Jesus in his death, we will be united with him in resurrection (v. 5), and we should consider ourselves “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v.11). For Paul, “sin” (as contrasted with “sins”) can be understood as our human propensity to put ourselves and our egos in first place rather than (as Jesus did) having the good of others as our primary focus.