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2020, March 22 ~ 1 Samuel 16:1-13 and Ephesians 5:8-14

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1 Samuel 16:1-13

Reading

1 The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2 Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ 3 Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” 4 Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5 He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is now before the LORD.” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” 10 Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” 11 Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” 12 He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.

Commentary

The authors of the Book of Samuel were also the authors of the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Kings, books that were given their final form around 550 BCE – long after the events they described.

The authors artfully wove together numerous sources. They used the stories in these books to demonstrate that that God controls history and to assert 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.)

The chronological dating of the stories in Chapters 15 and 16 (assuming David’s sole reign over Israel began around 1005 BCE) would be in the period from 1025 to 1015 BCE.

In Chapter 15, just before today’s reading, YHWH (through Samuel) directed Saul, the first king of a united Israel, to attack the Amalekites and kill every person and animal. Saul obeyed by killing all the Amalekites but brought back the King of the Amalekites and some of the best sheep and cattle which he said he would offer as a sacrifice to YHWH.

YHWH told Samuel he regretted that he made Saul king because Saul disobeyed Him. Some scholars see the story of YHWH’s displeasure at Saul as a later insert intended to reflect that only priests (not kings) oversaw sacrifices.

In today’s reading, YHWH told Samuel to go to Bethlehem to anoint a new king from among Jesse’s sons (v.1). Samuel realized this would be a treasonous act because Israel already had a king, Saul (v.2a). But YHWH told Samuel to engage in a subterfuge and pretend he was going to Bethlehem to offer a sacrifice for YHWH (v.2b and 3). The elders of the city met Samuel – a person of great influence – and were concerned to know if he came in peace (v.4).

Samuel met Jesse’s seven oldest sons, but none of them was approved by YHWH. Jesse finally called for his eighth and youngest son, the shepherd boy David, and YHWH told Samuel to anoint David as king. Samuel did so, and the spirit of YHWH came mightily upon David (v.13).

At this point, then, Israel had two anointed kings – Saul and David. Much of the rest of 1 Samuel reflects the tensions and conflicts between Saul and David. 1 Samuel ends with the death of Saul.

Ephesians 5:8-14

Reading

8 Once you were darkness, but now in the Lord you are light. Live as children of light— 9 for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true. 10 Try to find out what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what such people do secretly; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says,
“Sleeper, awake! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

Commentary

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 means to be a Jesus Follower. This letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples and was intended to unify the Ephesus community.

Because the letter contains many terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gave 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. The first three chapters are theological teachings and the last three chapters consist of ethical exhortations.

Today’s reading is part of a longer ethical exhortation which relied on apocalyptic imagery for the hostile spiritual powers (darkness) and God and Christ (light).

Scholars have speculated that verse 14 was part of a Baptismal hymn in use at the time.

2019, November 24 ~ Jeremiah 23:1-6 and Colossians 1:11-20

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Jeremiah 23:1-6

Reading

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore, thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD.
The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: “The LORD is our righteousness.”

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 a number of 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.

Sections in the book that are in “poetry style” are generally attributed to the prophet, and parts in “prose style” were 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 attacked the kings and priests (the “shepherds”). Consistent with the “do bad, get bad” theology of the Deuteronomists, YHWH (“LORD” in all capital letters) will “attend to” them for their “evil doings” (v.2). The writers then held up the promise that YHWH would raise up for “David” (Judea) a righteous king who would enable Israel to live in safety and righteousness (v.5). For the Deuteronomists, YHWH was in charge of everything, and caused the Exile, the end of the Exile through Cyrus of Persia, the return of the Judeans to Jerusalem and the relatively peaceful Persian Era (539 to 333 BCE).

If these “predictions” were in fact made after the Exile, the writers had “20/20 hindsight” that the “remnant” (a common designation for the Judeans who returned to Jerusalem after the Exile) would be “fruitful and multiply” – the command given by God to the humans in Gen. 1:28.

Colossians 1:11-20

Reading

May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers– all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Commentary

Colossae was a town in what is now western Turkey. A Jesus Follower community was founded there by Paul’s associate, Epaphras (1:7). The letter is short (three chapters) and expressed concern about apocalyptic and mystical practices that were inconsistent with Paul’s understanding of what it meant to be a Jesus Follower.

Scholars debate whether this letter was written by Paul or by his disciples in the decade after Paul’s death in 63 CE. It lacks many terms used in Paul’s authentic letters and its style is more liturgical than Paul’s other letters.

In today’s reading, the author adopted an apocalyptic theme by contrasting light and darkness (vv. 12-13). He expressed the theme that believers are redeemed and receive forgiveness of sin in the Christ (v. 14). “Redemption” conveys the sense of being bought back, the way something already owned is redeemed from a pawn shop. He described Jesus of Nazareth as the “image” (or symbol or manifestation) of the invisible God (v.15) and described the Cosmic Christ as the unifying force for all created things, the one who brings life to us even though we encounter our own deaths, and the force that reconciles all things in the God of Love.

2019, April 21 ~ Isaiah 65:17-25; Acts 10:34-43; and 1 Corinthians 15:19-26

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At the principal service on Easter Sunday, the Lectionary provides for a reading from Acts and a reading from either Isaiah or 1 Corinthians.

Isaiah 65:17-25

The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.

Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 20 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile.

Today’s reading is from “Third Isaiah” and has an apocalyptic tone – God (as creator) will intervene and create a New Jerusalem in which there will be Shalom (peace – even among animals (v.25) – and good order for all). There will be long life for everyone (v.20) and people will enjoy the fruits of their labors (v.22). The vision reverses the “curse” of unproductive labor expressed in the Garden of Eden story (Gen.3:18) by assuring the people of the New Jerusalem that their labors will not be in vain (v. 23).

Acts 10:34-43

The book called “The Acts of the Apostles” was written around 85 to 90 CE by the anonymous author of the Gospel According to Luke. The first 15 chapters of Acts are a didactic “history” of the early Jesus Follower Movement starting with an account of the Ascension of Jesus and ending at the so-called Council of Jerusalem where it was agreed that Gentiles did not have to be circumcised and keep all the Kosher dietary laws in order to become Jesus Followers.

Today’s reading is presented as a speech by Peter to the people of Caesarea after a Roman centurion, Cornelius (a Gentile), asked to be baptized. Peter’s speech is a synopsis of the entire Gospel According to Luke (the Gospel we are reading for most of this Lectionary Year).

In the verses that follow today’s reading, Peter saw that Cornelius and the others who heard him had received the Holy Spirit. Peter baptized Cornelius, even though he was a Gentile, along with the others who heard him (v.48). This story is presented in Acts as a turning point for the Jesus Follower Movement and as a basis for the decision at the Council of Jerusalem to accept uncircumcised Gentiles as part of the Jesus Follower Movement.

1 Corinthians 15:19-26

Corinth, a large port city in Greece, was among the early Jesus Follower communities that Paul founded. Its culture was diverse and Hellenistic. Corinthians emphasized reason and secular wisdom. In addition to Paul, other Jesus Followers taught in Corinth, sometimes in ways inconsistent with Paul’s understandings of what it meant to be a Jesus Follower. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians was written in the 50’s (CE) and presented his views on many issues that were controversial in this Jesus Follower Community.

Today’s reading is part of Paul’s extended discussion of “resurrection of the dead” in Chapter 15. In the verses just before today’s reading, Paul recognized that the Corinthians were Hellenists who generally accepted the Platonic division between the body and the “immortal soul.” Paul emphasized, however, that not only the body is resurrected, but the entire person, and Paul used the words “resurrection of the dead” to encompass the entirety of resurrection.

In today’s reading, Paul acknowledged that if there is no resurrection of the dead, Jesus the Christ could not have been raised. If there is no Resurrection of the Christ, Paul said there is no basis for salvation and that believers’ faith would be in vain (v.19).

But, Paul asserted, Jesus the Christ has been raised (v.20). As a First Century Jew, Paul believed that death itself was the result of Adam’s disobedience (v.22).

Because Jesus the Christ has been resurrected, death has been destroyed (v.26).

2018, November 25 ~ 2 Samuel 23:1-7; Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14; Revelation 1:4b-8

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In some denominations, two different readings from the Hebrew Bible are available, and one is chosen to be read.

Track 1 – 2 Samuel 23:1-7

The Book of Samuel is part of the “Deuteronomic History” that includes the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. These books emphasized that God controls history, and when the people (and their kings) worshiped YHWH properly, good things happened to them. When they worshiped false gods, however, bad events overtook them.

Samuel is the main character in the first part of 1 Samuel and acts as judge, prophet and kingmaker. The first king, Saul (1025 – 1005 BCE), is active in the middle part of 1 Samuel, and King David (1005 – 965 BCE) and his exploits (and follies) are the focus of the last half of 1 Samuel and all of 2 Samuel.

Today’s readings are presented as David’s “last words” – a poetic literary tradition similar to the “last words” of Jacob (Gen. 49 and Moses (Deut. 32). The reading alludes to the anointing of David as king (v.1) and the “everlasting covenant” (v. 5) that the House of David would rule forever (2 Sam. 7:16). Notwithstanding his flaws, David is consistently presented as the favorite of YHWH.

Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14

The Book of Daniel has two distinct parts. Chapters 1 to 6 are “folklore” stories of Daniel in the Court of the Babylonian Kings and the Persian Kings just before, during and just after the Babylonian Exile (587-539 BCE). Because the kings in these stories were presented as ignorant (but not malevolent), scholars date these six chapters to the 4th Century BCE when Judea was under the generally benevolent rule of the Persians (539-333 BCE) and the Greeks (333 to 281 BCE). Chapters 2 to 7 of the Book were written in Aramaic rather than in Hebrew.

Chapters 7 to 12 were written later – during the oppression of Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164 BCE) whose desecration of the Temple led to the Maccabean Revolt in 167 BCE.

These later chapters present an apocalyptic vision – a situation so dire that an external intervention (such as by God) was needed to put things right. Like other apocalyptic writings, the Book of Daniel used images to describe the conflict between good and evil.

Today’s reading is part of Daniel’s dream in which his vision of God (“the Ancient One”) bears strong similarities to the visions of God in the Books of Isaiah and Ezekiel. Daniel then saw (as part of the divine intervention) “one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven” who is presented before the Ancient One and given everlasting dominion over all.

“A human being” or “THE human being” (the fullness of being a human) in Aramaic is “bar adam” – which is translated literally as “son of a human” or the son of “adam” – the first earthling. It is also translated as “Son of Man,” a title attributed to Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospels.

Revelation 1:4b-8

The Book of Revelation is also known as the “Apocalypse” (from a Greek word meaning an “unveiling” or “disclosure” of a new age or heaven, or both). Apocalyptic writing describes a dire situation ruled by evil powers that can be overcome only by the “in-breaking” of a force (such as God) to bring about a new age. Like other apocalyptic writings in the Hebrew Bible (such as the last six chapters of Daniel), the Book of Revelation uses extreme images and metaphors to describe the conflict between good and evil.

The author identifies himself as “John” but most scholars conclude that the author was not John the Apostle because of the reference to the 12 apostles in 21.14. Most scholars date the book to the late First Century.

The author of Revelation knew the Hebrew Bible very well. His reference in today’s reading to Jesus as “coming with the clouds” ties back to today’s reading in Dan. 7:13. The reference to “those who pierced him” is derived from a Messianic oracle in Zech. 12:10. The statement that Jesus’ side was pierced appears only in the Gospel According to John, and John 19:37 explicitly refers to this verse in Zechariah.

2018, May 20 ~ Acts 2:1-21 and Romans 8:22-27

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Acts 2:1-21

The book called “The Acts of the Apostles” was written around 85 to 90 CE by the anonymous author of the Gospel According to Luke. The first 15 chapters of Acts are a didactic “history” of the early Jesus Follower Movement starting with the Ascension. The last 13 chapters describe Paul’s Missionary Journeys – not always consistently with Paul’s letters.

The Gospel According to Luke and Acts of the Apostles see the Holy Spirit as the driving force for all that happens. The events of today’s reading exemplify this.

Pentecost (also known in Judaism as Shavuot and the Feast of Weeks) celebrated the Spring Harvest 50 days after Passover. It was observed in Ancient Israel from at least the Fifth Century BCE and was one of three feasts in which Jews came to the Temple in Jerusalem to make offerings. It is therefore not surprising that Acts reports that there were large numbers of devout Jews in Jerusalem (v.5) for Pentecost.

After the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE, offerings could no longer be made there. The feast then became a celebration of the giving of the Torah 50 days after (according to the Book of Exodus) the Israelites celebrated the First Passover and left Egypt.

Today’s Pentecost Story contains images of fire and wind – common “descriptions” of the Spirit that knows no boundaries.

Many Bible scholars note that persons’ hearing the disciples speaking their own languages (v.11) is seen as the Spirit’s reversal of the Tower of Babel Story in which YHWH confused the languages of the earth (Gen.11:9). The Babel Story is generally considered an “etiology” (a myth-story of origins) rather than a literal account about the multiplicity of languages on earth.

Romans 8:22-27

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.

Paul died in 62 or 63 CE. Accordingly, the Temple in Jerusalem (which was destroyed in 70) was in full operation all during Paul’s life. As a Jew who was also a Jesus Follower, Paul continued to have expectations about the fullness of the Coming of the Messiah. This is the “glory about to be revealed to us” (v.18).

Paul’s views were “apocalyptic” (anticipating a breakthrough from the current time to a new and better age). In today’s reading, he used the image of “freedom of the glory of God” to represent the new age, and metaphors of labor pains (v.22) and waiting for adoption and redemption (v.23) as characteristics of the transitional time to this fullness.

Like most apocalyptic writers, Paul sees God as the moving force for this change (v.27) by God’s willing that the Spirit help us to pray (v. 26).

2017, December 19 ~ Isaiah 40:1-11; 2 Peter 3:8-15a

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Isaiah 40:1-11

The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Israel’s history. Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and were written in the 20 years before Jerusalem was under direct siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55 and brings hope to the Judeans during the time of the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they have suffered enough and will return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 and, for the most part, gives encouragement to the Judeans who returned to Jerusalem after the Exile.

Today’s reading sets the tone and essence of “Second Isaiah.” It was written during the ending years of the Babylonian Exile and analogizes the withered grass (v. 6-8) to the declining Babylonian Empire (which was conquered by the Persians in 539 BCE). The references to “preparing the way of the LORD/YHWH” (v. 3-5) refer to facilitating the Judeans’ return to Jerusalem so that YHWH would again be visibly present in Jerusalem. These verses were adopted by Mark (in today’s Gospel) and by the other Gospel writers to describe the ministry of John the Baptizer in preparing the way for Jesus of Nazareth.

2 Peter 3:8-15a

This letter is presented as if it were a first-person statement of the last words and advice of the apostle Peter, but was likely written long after Peter’s death by an unknown person to convey the understandings of the church in the late First Century. Scholars agree that the author was not Simon Peter or the author of 1 Peter because of the quality of the Greek used and the Hellenistic philosophy invoked.

The letter presents an “apocalyptic” vision of the world — one in which the situation is so dire that only an intervening event (the “Day of the Lord”) can change it. Refuting those who deny that there will ever be a Day of the Lord because it had not yet come, the author reminded his hearers that God’s time is not our time (v. 8-9). The author said the world as we know it will be transformed by fire (v.10,12) and there will be a new earth where right relationships (“righteousness”) prevail (v.13). The author urged the hearers of the letter to live blamelessly and at peace (v.14).