Isaiah has got everything!
There is that wonderful vision Isaiah has in Isaiah 6. It locates Isaiah firmly in the Southern Kingdom, in Jerusalem. It is in the Temple that he has that remarkable vision.
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty;
And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!’
Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. The seraph touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’
Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’
But that was not entirely the beginning. He had already had something to say while Uzziah had been alive. In 2 Kings Uzziah, King of the southern Kingdom of Judah gets only a qualified commendation. He did what was right … Nevertheless … Jotham reigned for 16 years and gets the same verdict – the tell-tale Nevertheless has an ominous ring to it. About Ahaz the former prophetic writers in II Kings 16 have no doubt – he did not do what was right in the sight of the Lord God.
It will come as no surprise that in Isaiah as in Amos and Hosea there is a rhythm of quite severe critique – the book opens in that ominous fashion as Isaiah speaks out against the wickedness of Judah
Hear, O heavens, and listen, O earth;
for the LORD has spoken:
I reared children and brought them up,
but they have rebelled against me.
In Isaiah 5, Isaiah sees the southern kingdom of Judah as a vineyard, it is much loved by God … and yet it is over-run with weeds.
Let me sing for my beloved
my love-song concerning his vineyard:
My beloved had a vineyard
on a very fertile hill.
He dug it and cleared it of stones,
and planted it with choice vines;
he built a watch-tower in the midst of it,
and hewed out a wine vat in it;
he expected it to yield grapes,
but it yielded wild grapes.
And now, inhabitants of Jerusalem
and people of Judah,
why did it yield wild grapes?
The reason is given from 5:8 – the social injustice of the people is condemned – the amass houses and fields, they squander all they earn on strong drink – people are bowed down, everyone brought low.
The Lord of hosts is exalted by justice,
And the Holy God shows himself holy by righteousness (verse 16)
But the people call what is evil good, and what is good they call evil, what is darkness they think of as light, and they regard the light as darkness.
Isaiah has an indictment to make against the people. And what is worse, something else is happening on the borders of the land. For it is in the reign of Uzziah, of Jotham and of Ahaz that the great Assyrian power is on the move. And by the time Hezekiah comes to reign in Jerusalem calamity has befallen the northern kingdom. The Assyrians have swept down, like a wolf upon the fold, and destroyed the northern kingdom, taking away its inhabitants to far off Assyria and populating its cities with Assyrians and other foreigners.
Hezekiah comes to rule in Jerusalem over the tiny rump of the southern kingdom, Judah, and things are under great threat. The verdict given by those prophetic historians in II Kings 18 is that he did what was right in the sight of the Lord.
But events on the world scene are moving quickly. Much remains that is wrong in Jerusalem and Judah. And King Sennacherib of Assyria turns his attention on the people of the southern kingdom of Judah.
This is the point at which we reach the first really incontrovertible archaeological evidence for what is described in the Bible. II Kings 18:13ff describes the Assyrian attack on Lachish. Lachish has been excavated … and even more remarkably, the Assyrians made a detailed record of their conquest of Lachish, of the overthrow of its people and of the way they herded them into exile. The reliefs that told the story were discovered in Nineveh, and in the 19th century removed to the British Museum … and in my book they are even more exciting than the Elgin marbles.
Under the Assyrian onslaught, the Southern Kingdom of Judah is forced back to little more than the area immediately around Jerusalem. This is a crucial time for the southern kingdom and Isaiah plays a crucial role. Anticipating the threat of a siege Hezekiah builds a tunnel to bring water from a spring just outside the city to the Pool of Siloam inside the city wall – and some of the group I was with three years ago walked the length of Hezekiah’s tunnel - discovered by the archaeologists.
The collapse of Jerusalem does not happen. Something else is going on instead. Assyria is facing the rise of another, even mightier empire … and they are beginning to be overstretched.
And so as Hezekiah’s final illness nears its end Isaiah comes up with his final words of warning.
II Kings 20:16-19
Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, ‘Hear the word of the LORD: Days are coming when all that is in your house, and that which your ancestors have stored up until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left, says the LORD. Some of your own sons who are born to you shall be taken away; they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.’ Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?’
So significant is this close-knit relationship between Isaiah and King Hezekiah that in the Book we know as Isaiah this narrative from II Kings is reproduced almost word for word in chapters 37,38, 39.
The final words of Isaiah 39 are the words I have just read … finishing with the commendation of the King
Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, ‘The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.’ For he thought, ‘There will be peace and security in my days.’
The Book of Isaiah has the same rhythm of stern warning and then the promise of hope that we have come to expect in the Books of the Prophets. The Book of Isaiah is akin to that Book of the Twelve in that within this one book, it would seem that there are the words of more than one prophet. Between Isaiah 39 verse 8 and Isaiah 40 verse 1 much happens. Hezekiah is succeeded by arguably the worst of all the kings of Judah, Manasseh, there is momentary respite under Josiah, but then the calamity happens. Babylon pushes Assyria out of the way, and the southern kingdom collapses.
Isaiah 40 is written after the fall of Babylon – and there is hope from that point on in the book, hope in exile. And that prophet we will come to later.
But for now I want to stick with Isaiah of Jerusalem.
For there is one thing more this prophet does. And what he does impacts on us as Christians immensely. And it impacts on what we do in our world today.
For Isaiah is not just negative. He presents the kings he speaks to with a pattern for their reign. Isaiah outlines in some of the most memorable passages in this first part of Isaiah what it takes to be King.
First, for a king to be worth his salt, God must be with him. Even in the reign of Ahaz, Isaiah has confidence that such a king would be born … indeed, arguably, Hezekiah fits the bill.
Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel
Immanuel, God with us – that’s the first thing you look for in a King.
The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who lived in a land of deep darkness—
on them light has shined.
For a child has been born for us,
a son given to us;
authority rests upon his shoulders;
and he is named
Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
His authority shall grow continually,
and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom.
He will establish and uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time onwards and for evermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
You recognise in a king worth his salt one who is a wonderful counsellor, in whom God’s presence is felt as Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. One with authority who brings real peace. And whose kingdom is built on those twin foundations of justice and righteousness.
The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,
In the words of Isaiah 11 he will have
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide by what his ears hear;
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist,
and faithfulness the belt around his loins.
And his kingdom will be a kingdom where the peacemakers are blessed …
The wolf shall live with the lamb,
the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
They will not hurt or destroy
on all God’s holy mountain;
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.
As Isaiah speaks he has so much to be critical of Judah, of the surrounding lands. But he is clear – this is what it takes to be King in the way God wills.
And he is confident it will come to pass.
Chapter 32:1
See, a king will reign in righteousness,
and princes will rule with justice.
Fleetingly kings were seen who rose to this challenge.
But not for long.
Calamity came with the destruction of Jerusalem by Babylon.
And even when the people return, they are under subjugation first to the Persians, then to the Greeks, then to the Syrian Seleucids, then to the Egyptian Ptolemies. Momentarily Mattathias and his sons most notably Judas Maccabaeus establish a kingship – but as you can see in the apocryphal books of I and II Maccabeus they do not have what Isaiah knows it takes to be king.
And then comes Jesus, whose birth we will before very long be celebrating …
And all this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet Isaiah,
Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and they shall name him Emmanuel. God is with us.
Jesus comes with a simple message – The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news (Mark 1:15).
And he knows full well what shape that kingdom will take, and what shape his kingship will take too.
It’s defined by those passages from Isaiah that come Christmas we will be reading once again.
But the words of the Prophet Isaiah speak through those Kings he was addressing way back in the 8th century BC, they speak through Jesus Christ 2000 years ago to our day and our age.
For this is what it takes to rule in God’s way in God’s world. These are the things we should be looking for in those who offer to rule over us.
We should look for those of whom it could be said God is with them, we should look for those in whom the wise counsel of a mighty God who is an everlasting father and a prince of peace can be seen.
The twin foundations on which any rule must be built are justice and righteousness.
Anyone seeking a position of authority, be it in government or any position of responsibility would do well to seek the spirit of the Lord, a spirit of wisdom and understanding, a spirit of counsel and might, a spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. It’s vital that you don not judge by what the eyes see or simply by what the ears hear, but with righteousness stick up for the poor, decide with equity for the meek, and use the power of the word, not the power of the sword.
Righteousness and faithfulness gives rise to a peace that is founded on justice and righteousness.
Sunday, 16 October 2011
Sunday, 9 October 2011
Facing the Consequences - Righteousness, Justice, Steadfast Love and Mercy - Hosea
This week I took a group of prospective parents around Pittville School.
They remarked, as have all the parents I have taken round in recent years, on the atmosphere of calm that pervades the school. Ten years ago when I started as a Governor it was not like that. Thanks to a very effective discipline policy, honed and developed over the years discipline is very strong.
It’s a system called Behaviour for Learning.
It is built around rewards and NOT punishment, but ‘consequences’.
Youngsters have built into them the notion that there is a consequence to wrong doing that they have to face.
I had offered to take parents round on Thursday as well, but that wasn’t possible as about half the school were at Drayton Manor Park – they were all those who had kept a clean sheet through the whole year.
That’s a pretty good record.
The writers of the Bible use a language of judgement, punishment and the wrath of God. What they are talking about, however, we would understand as ‘consequences’.
There is a framework within which God wants us to order our individual lives, our relationships, our family life and society at large. Break that pattern and we will face the consequences.
Understand the language of punishment, judgement and the wrath of God in that way and so much of the Bible makes such sense.
So much of it is about analysing carefully what’s gone wrong in individual lives, in relationships, in families and in society at large. And then identifying what needs to be done.
That’s the business the Prophets are in.
Prophets speak truth to power.
It’s such a shame that our English translations muddy the waters of the Hebrew sequence of books.
Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings – the four books of the former prophets are balanced in the Hebrew Scriptures by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve – the four books of the latter prophets.
Lamentations is not one of the Hebrew Prophetic Books, neither is the Book of Daniel.
The earliest of the twelve prophets who inspired the Book of the Twelve was Amos, from the South, but speaking truth to power in the Northern Kingdom.
The mantle of the prophets is taken up by Hosea after Amos. Hosea stands as the first of the Book of the Twelve.
You can intertwine the former prophets especially in II Kings and Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and at least six of the latter prophets – you make sense of the prophetic books by setting them against the background of the story that unfolds in II Kings.
Hosea’s work of prophecy spans the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, all Kings of Judah, but it is set in the Northern Kingdom initially when Jeroboam, son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
That’s the time of Amoz.
It’s a time of prosperity – but a time also of deceit and treachery, where the King disobeys God and abandons the ways of God. II Kings 14:23-25
Hosea speaks against a backdrop of prosperity, but prosperity that is marred by treachery –
Amos 2:8
Of that northern kingdom of Israel, under Jeroboam, Amos is quite clear: She would never acknowledge that I am the one who gave her the corn, the wine, the olive oil andall the silver and gold that she used in the worship of Baal.
The People of Israel were like a grapevine that was full of grapes. The more prosperous they were, the more altars they built. The more productive their land was, the more beautiful they made the sacred stone pillars of worship. The people whose hearts are deceitful must now suffer for their sins, for God will break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars. 10:1f
But Amos’s words reach beyond Jeroboam – “Hosea also lived through the turbulent time that followed Jeroboam’s reign, in which kings succeeded each toerh rapidly, often by intrigue and murder (2 Kings 15). The dynasty of Jehu came to an end with the short reign of Jeroboam’s son in 746-5 (2 Kings 15:8-12). This is recalled in Hosea 1:4 which refers to events recorded in 2 Kings 9-10.
Here Hosea proclaims punishment on the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel.
The last king of Israel, Hoshea, also came to the thone by conspiracy andmurder (2 Kings 15:30). Hosea’s comments in Hosea 7:7 and 8:4 probably reflect this. Gordon McConville Exploring the OT Volume 4: The Prophets p 135)
In the heat of their anger they murdered their rulers. Their kings have been assassinated one after another, but no one prays to me for help 7:7
My people chose kings, but they did it on their own. They appointed leaders, but without my approval. They took their silver and gold and made idols — for their own destruction.
What’s happening as all of this is taking place is going to prove calamitous for the northern Kingdom of Isrrael.
One of the great ancient empires is on the rise. Assyria is going from strength to strength. Their armies are amassing in this period. The threat is growing day by day. There is already something of an inevitability of the collapse of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
What Hosea has to say and the book that is associated with Hosea reflects this whole time.
He undertakes an analysis of the times and all that is wrong. He challenges first Jeroboam IInd and then those who in quick succession follow him. And he challenges the people.
It’s the same kind of indictment that Amos levels at the people.
There is a pattern.
It’s fascinating that in these books of the prophets there is a pattern.
One the hand, there is condemnation of the wrongs that are going on and of the way the rulers and the people abandon God’s ways of righteousness and justice.
But then there is a shaft of light in the midst of the darkness. A hope that God will remain with his people and restore and renew and revive them.
There is very much a rhythm to the Prophets that we can tune into.
If politics is about shaping the society you live in then what the proiphets have to say is intensely political.
Last week I found myself quoting Desmond Tutu. This moning he was on the radio, being interviewed about his powerful criticism of the ANC in South Africa. How can you turn on those you have supported he was asked? In his response he went straight to the Bible – and said this is where I take my stand and always have done. The Bible I read he says is on the side of the disposed, the poor, wherever they may be.
It was powerful stuff from Desmond Tutu. And this is where you see why he takes the stand he does.
Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Book of the Twelve are all about ordering society, how people live together. And time again we are confronted with the justice of God.
Nowhere is that more evident than here in the Book of the Prophet Hosea.
There is something tragic and yet moving in his personal story which is told in chapters 1-3. It involves marriage, divorce and marriage again. Exactly to whom and why and what is going on is the subject of debate among those who study these things. But one thing can be sure there is sadness and there is hope in his personal experience.
It is that personal experience that he then draws on in speaking of all that has gone wrong among the people of that Northern Kingdom.
And what he has to say comes to the fore in the most moving of ways in the second chapter.
This chapter encapsulates the rhythm of these Prophets.
In the first part of the chapter there is condemnation – awful consequences follow on from the abandonment of God’s ways of righteousness.
My children, plead with your mother — though she is no longer a wife to me, and I am no longer her husband. Plead with her to stop her adultery and prostitution. 3 If she does not, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will make her like a dry and barren land, and she will die of thirst. 4-5 I will not show mercy to her children; they are the children of a shameless prostitute.
2.4-5 the children of a shameless prostitute; or as shameless as their mother, a prostitute.
She herself said, “I will go to my lovers — they give me food and water, wool and linen, olive oil and wine.”
6 So I am going to fence her in with thorn bushes and build a wall to block her way. 7 She will run after her lovers but will not catch them. She will look for them but will not find them. Then she will say, “I am going back to my first husband — I was better off then than I am now.”
8 She would never acknowledge that I am the one who gave her the corn, the wine, the olive oil, and all the silver and gold that she used in the worship of Baal. 9 So at harvest time I will take back my gifts of corn and wine, and will take away the wool and the linen I gave her for clothing. 10 I will strip her naked in front of her lovers, and no one will be able to save her from my power. 11 I will put an end to all her festivities — her annual and monthly festivals and her Sabbath celebrations — all her religious meetings. 12 I will destroy her grapevines and her fig trees, which she said her lovers gave her for serving them. I will turn her vineyards and orchards into a wilderness; wild animals will destroy them. 13 I will punish her for the times that she forgot me when she burnt incense to Baal and put on her jewellery to go chasing after her lovers. The LORD has spoken.
The second part of the chapter then has the hope of restoration.
This is one of the finest statements of that covenant relationship that God has with his people and that he promises to restore. It is a wonderful vision.
So I am going to take her into the desert again; there I will win her back with words of love. 15 I will give back to her the vineyards she had and make Trouble Valley a door of hope. She will respond to me there as she did when she was young, when she came from Egypt.
2.15: Josh 7.24-26
16 Then once again she will call me her husband — she will no longer call me her Baal.
2.16 BAAL: This title of the Canaanite god means “Lord”; another meaning of the word is “husband”.
17 I will never let her speak the name of Baal again.
18 At that time I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and birds, so that they will not harm my people. I will also remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, and will let my people live in peace and safety.
19 Israel, I will make you my wife;
I will be true and faithful;
I will show you constant love and mercy
and make you mine for ever.
20 I will keep my promise and make you mine,
and you will acknowledge me as LORD.
21-22 At that time I will answer the prayers of my people Israel.
2.21-22 ISRAEL: The Hebrew text here refers to Israel as Jezreel (see 1.4, 11).
I will make rain fall on the earth,
and the earth will produce corn and grapes and olives.
23 I will establish my people in the land and make them prosper.
2.23: Rom 9.25; 1 Pet 2.10
I will show love to those who were called “Unloved”,
and to those who were called “Not-my-People”
I will say, “You are my people,”
and they will answer, “You are our God.”
Verses 19 and 20 go to the heart of the matter.
19 Israel, I will make you my wife;
I will be true and faithful;
I will show you constant love and mercy
and make you mine for ever.
20 I will keep my promise and make you mine,
and you will acknowledge me as LORD.
I will take you for my wife
In righteousness and in justice
In steadfast love, and in mercy
I will take you for my wife in faithfulness;
And you shall know the Lord.
NRSV
What is new and wonderful in Hosea is the way he links Justice and Righteousness. with steadfast love and mercy.
We sometimes do Jesus an injustice when we think of him as Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.
He didn’t get called a Prophet, one who speaks truth to power for nothing.
Look at what he has to say when the 70 return from their mission and you find there the very same pattern that you find in the Prophets.
There is intense analysis of what is wrong in his day and he outlines the consequences of what will follow on when people abandon God’s ways of righteousness and justice.
“How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would long ago have sat down, put on sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins!
10.13: Is 23.1-18; Ezek 26.1—28.26; Joel 3.4-8; Amos 1.9-10; Zech 9.2-4
14 God will show more mercy on Judgement Day to Tyre and Sidon than to you. 15 And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell!”
10.15: Is 14.13-15
16 Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
10.16: Mt 10.40; Mk 9.37; Lk 9.48; Jn 13.20
But then comes a real hope as the 70 return. And there is great joy. Because great things are happening. The kingdom is being proclaimed, people are being healed
The 72
10.17 72; some manuscripts have 70 (see verse 1).
men came back in great joy. “Lord,” they said, “even the demons obeyed us when we gave them a command in your name!”
18 Jesus answered them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Listen! I have given you authority, so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you.
10.19: Ps 91.13
20 But don't be glad because the evil spirits obey you; rather be glad because your names are written in heaven.”
Then Jesus rejoices in the Holy Spirit – this is the promise
22 “My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
10.22: Jn 3.35, 10.15
And then comes a very telling comment –
23 Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them privately, “How fortunate you are to see the things you see! 24 I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.”
Jesus recognises and echoes the rhythm of the prophets. But he is the one in whom the prophets are being fulfilled.
How many prophets and kings desired to see what those 70 had themselves seen – but they did not see it, and to hear what they hear, but did not hear it.
Jesus it is who shapes for us a way of being under God’s rule that looks to righteousness and justice, to steadfast love and mercy … and like Hosea he calls us to a life of faithfulness as we shape all we do according to his word.
They remarked, as have all the parents I have taken round in recent years, on the atmosphere of calm that pervades the school. Ten years ago when I started as a Governor it was not like that. Thanks to a very effective discipline policy, honed and developed over the years discipline is very strong.
It’s a system called Behaviour for Learning.
It is built around rewards and NOT punishment, but ‘consequences’.
Youngsters have built into them the notion that there is a consequence to wrong doing that they have to face.
I had offered to take parents round on Thursday as well, but that wasn’t possible as about half the school were at Drayton Manor Park – they were all those who had kept a clean sheet through the whole year.
That’s a pretty good record.
The writers of the Bible use a language of judgement, punishment and the wrath of God. What they are talking about, however, we would understand as ‘consequences’.
There is a framework within which God wants us to order our individual lives, our relationships, our family life and society at large. Break that pattern and we will face the consequences.
Understand the language of punishment, judgement and the wrath of God in that way and so much of the Bible makes such sense.
So much of it is about analysing carefully what’s gone wrong in individual lives, in relationships, in families and in society at large. And then identifying what needs to be done.
That’s the business the Prophets are in.
Prophets speak truth to power.
It’s such a shame that our English translations muddy the waters of the Hebrew sequence of books.
Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings – the four books of the former prophets are balanced in the Hebrew Scriptures by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve – the four books of the latter prophets.
Lamentations is not one of the Hebrew Prophetic Books, neither is the Book of Daniel.
The earliest of the twelve prophets who inspired the Book of the Twelve was Amos, from the South, but speaking truth to power in the Northern Kingdom.
The mantle of the prophets is taken up by Hosea after Amos. Hosea stands as the first of the Book of the Twelve.
You can intertwine the former prophets especially in II Kings and Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and at least six of the latter prophets – you make sense of the prophetic books by setting them against the background of the story that unfolds in II Kings.
Hosea’s work of prophecy spans the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah, all Kings of Judah, but it is set in the Northern Kingdom initially when Jeroboam, son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
That’s the time of Amoz.
It’s a time of prosperity – but a time also of deceit and treachery, where the King disobeys God and abandons the ways of God. II Kings 14:23-25
Hosea speaks against a backdrop of prosperity, but prosperity that is marred by treachery –
Amos 2:8
Of that northern kingdom of Israel, under Jeroboam, Amos is quite clear: She would never acknowledge that I am the one who gave her the corn, the wine, the olive oil andall the silver and gold that she used in the worship of Baal.
The People of Israel were like a grapevine that was full of grapes. The more prosperous they were, the more altars they built. The more productive their land was, the more beautiful they made the sacred stone pillars of worship. The people whose hearts are deceitful must now suffer for their sins, for God will break down their altars and destroy their sacred pillars. 10:1f
But Amos’s words reach beyond Jeroboam – “Hosea also lived through the turbulent time that followed Jeroboam’s reign, in which kings succeeded each toerh rapidly, often by intrigue and murder (2 Kings 15). The dynasty of Jehu came to an end with the short reign of Jeroboam’s son in 746-5 (2 Kings 15:8-12). This is recalled in Hosea 1:4 which refers to events recorded in 2 Kings 9-10.
Here Hosea proclaims punishment on the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel.
The last king of Israel, Hoshea, also came to the thone by conspiracy andmurder (2 Kings 15:30). Hosea’s comments in Hosea 7:7 and 8:4 probably reflect this. Gordon McConville Exploring the OT Volume 4: The Prophets p 135)
In the heat of their anger they murdered their rulers. Their kings have been assassinated one after another, but no one prays to me for help 7:7
My people chose kings, but they did it on their own. They appointed leaders, but without my approval. They took their silver and gold and made idols — for their own destruction.
What’s happening as all of this is taking place is going to prove calamitous for the northern Kingdom of Isrrael.
One of the great ancient empires is on the rise. Assyria is going from strength to strength. Their armies are amassing in this period. The threat is growing day by day. There is already something of an inevitability of the collapse of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.
What Hosea has to say and the book that is associated with Hosea reflects this whole time.
He undertakes an analysis of the times and all that is wrong. He challenges first Jeroboam IInd and then those who in quick succession follow him. And he challenges the people.
It’s the same kind of indictment that Amos levels at the people.
There is a pattern.
It’s fascinating that in these books of the prophets there is a pattern.
One the hand, there is condemnation of the wrongs that are going on and of the way the rulers and the people abandon God’s ways of righteousness and justice.
But then there is a shaft of light in the midst of the darkness. A hope that God will remain with his people and restore and renew and revive them.
There is very much a rhythm to the Prophets that we can tune into.
If politics is about shaping the society you live in then what the proiphets have to say is intensely political.
Last week I found myself quoting Desmond Tutu. This moning he was on the radio, being interviewed about his powerful criticism of the ANC in South Africa. How can you turn on those you have supported he was asked? In his response he went straight to the Bible – and said this is where I take my stand and always have done. The Bible I read he says is on the side of the disposed, the poor, wherever they may be.
It was powerful stuff from Desmond Tutu. And this is where you see why he takes the stand he does.
Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Book of the Twelve are all about ordering society, how people live together. And time again we are confronted with the justice of God.
Nowhere is that more evident than here in the Book of the Prophet Hosea.
There is something tragic and yet moving in his personal story which is told in chapters 1-3. It involves marriage, divorce and marriage again. Exactly to whom and why and what is going on is the subject of debate among those who study these things. But one thing can be sure there is sadness and there is hope in his personal experience.
It is that personal experience that he then draws on in speaking of all that has gone wrong among the people of that Northern Kingdom.
And what he has to say comes to the fore in the most moving of ways in the second chapter.
This chapter encapsulates the rhythm of these Prophets.
In the first part of the chapter there is condemnation – awful consequences follow on from the abandonment of God’s ways of righteousness.
My children, plead with your mother — though she is no longer a wife to me, and I am no longer her husband. Plead with her to stop her adultery and prostitution. 3 If she does not, I will strip her as naked as she was on the day she was born. I will make her like a dry and barren land, and she will die of thirst. 4-5 I will not show mercy to her children; they are the children of a shameless prostitute.
2.4-5 the children of a shameless prostitute; or as shameless as their mother, a prostitute.
She herself said, “I will go to my lovers — they give me food and water, wool and linen, olive oil and wine.”
6 So I am going to fence her in with thorn bushes and build a wall to block her way. 7 She will run after her lovers but will not catch them. She will look for them but will not find them. Then she will say, “I am going back to my first husband — I was better off then than I am now.”
8 She would never acknowledge that I am the one who gave her the corn, the wine, the olive oil, and all the silver and gold that she used in the worship of Baal. 9 So at harvest time I will take back my gifts of corn and wine, and will take away the wool and the linen I gave her for clothing. 10 I will strip her naked in front of her lovers, and no one will be able to save her from my power. 11 I will put an end to all her festivities — her annual and monthly festivals and her Sabbath celebrations — all her religious meetings. 12 I will destroy her grapevines and her fig trees, which she said her lovers gave her for serving them. I will turn her vineyards and orchards into a wilderness; wild animals will destroy them. 13 I will punish her for the times that she forgot me when she burnt incense to Baal and put on her jewellery to go chasing after her lovers. The LORD has spoken.
The second part of the chapter then has the hope of restoration.
This is one of the finest statements of that covenant relationship that God has with his people and that he promises to restore. It is a wonderful vision.
So I am going to take her into the desert again; there I will win her back with words of love. 15 I will give back to her the vineyards she had and make Trouble Valley a door of hope. She will respond to me there as she did when she was young, when she came from Egypt.
2.15: Josh 7.24-26
16 Then once again she will call me her husband — she will no longer call me her Baal.
2.16 BAAL: This title of the Canaanite god means “Lord”; another meaning of the word is “husband”.
17 I will never let her speak the name of Baal again.
18 At that time I will make a covenant with all the wild animals and birds, so that they will not harm my people. I will also remove all weapons of war from the land, all swords and bows, and will let my people live in peace and safety.
19 Israel, I will make you my wife;
I will be true and faithful;
I will show you constant love and mercy
and make you mine for ever.
20 I will keep my promise and make you mine,
and you will acknowledge me as LORD.
21-22 At that time I will answer the prayers of my people Israel.
2.21-22 ISRAEL: The Hebrew text here refers to Israel as Jezreel (see 1.4, 11).
I will make rain fall on the earth,
and the earth will produce corn and grapes and olives.
23 I will establish my people in the land and make them prosper.
2.23: Rom 9.25; 1 Pet 2.10
I will show love to those who were called “Unloved”,
and to those who were called “Not-my-People”
I will say, “You are my people,”
and they will answer, “You are our God.”
Verses 19 and 20 go to the heart of the matter.
19 Israel, I will make you my wife;
I will be true and faithful;
I will show you constant love and mercy
and make you mine for ever.
20 I will keep my promise and make you mine,
and you will acknowledge me as LORD.
I will take you for my wife
In righteousness and in justice
In steadfast love, and in mercy
I will take you for my wife in faithfulness;
And you shall know the Lord.
NRSV
What is new and wonderful in Hosea is the way he links Justice and Righteousness. with steadfast love and mercy.
We sometimes do Jesus an injustice when we think of him as Gentle Jesus, meek and mild.
He didn’t get called a Prophet, one who speaks truth to power for nothing.
Look at what he has to say when the 70 return from their mission and you find there the very same pattern that you find in the Prophets.
There is intense analysis of what is wrong in his day and he outlines the consequences of what will follow on when people abandon God’s ways of righteousness and justice.
“How terrible it will be for you, Chorazin! How terrible for you too, Bethsaida! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, the people there would long ago have sat down, put on sackcloth, and sprinkled ashes on themselves, to show that they had turned from their sins!
10.13: Is 23.1-18; Ezek 26.1—28.26; Joel 3.4-8; Amos 1.9-10; Zech 9.2-4
14 God will show more mercy on Judgement Day to Tyre and Sidon than to you. 15 And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell!”
10.15: Is 14.13-15
16 Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”
10.16: Mt 10.40; Mk 9.37; Lk 9.48; Jn 13.20
But then comes a real hope as the 70 return. And there is great joy. Because great things are happening. The kingdom is being proclaimed, people are being healed
The 72
10.17 72; some manuscripts have 70 (see verse 1).
men came back in great joy. “Lord,” they said, “even the demons obeyed us when we gave them a command in your name!”
18 Jesus answered them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 Listen! I have given you authority, so that you can walk on snakes and scorpions and overcome all the power of the Enemy, and nothing will hurt you.
10.19: Ps 91.13
20 But don't be glad because the evil spirits obey you; rather be glad because your names are written in heaven.”
Then Jesus rejoices in the Holy Spirit – this is the promise
22 “My Father has given me all things. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
10.22: Jn 3.35, 10.15
And then comes a very telling comment –
23 Then Jesus turned to the disciples and said to them privately, “How fortunate you are to see the things you see! 24 I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see, but they could not, and to hear what you hear, but they did not.”
Jesus recognises and echoes the rhythm of the prophets. But he is the one in whom the prophets are being fulfilled.
How many prophets and kings desired to see what those 70 had themselves seen – but they did not see it, and to hear what they hear, but did not hear it.
Jesus it is who shapes for us a way of being under God’s rule that looks to righteousness and justice, to steadfast love and mercy … and like Hosea he calls us to a life of faithfulness as we shape all we do according to his word.
Tuesday, 4 October 2011
Amos - a Prophet for our Time
Distance may lend enchantment, but in reading the Old Testament in our English translations it muddies the waters.
Read the story of Elijah and Elisha in I and II Kings and you see how their story is set against the background of a succession of Kings in The Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The stories of the Kings follow a set pattern – their reign is dated very precisely with reference to the king in the other kingdom. Turn to page 380 of the church Bibles and we have arrived at Jeroboam II of the Northern Kingdom of Israel – in these few verses you can see the set pattern.
alongside the reign of the king in the other kingdom, a verdict is given on their reign – practically all of the Kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel are condemned as doing evil in the sight of the Lord. And then,
Turn to page 380 of the church Bibles and we have arrived at Jeroboam II of Israel …
First the date …
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash as king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for 41 years.
Second, the verdict
24 He sinned against the LORD, following the wicked example of his predecessor King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.
It’s a qualified verdict in this instance because under Jeroboam II there are extensive conquests, the suffering of the people is alleviated and there is considerable prosperity.
And third, remembering that Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings are regarded as Prophetic writings in the Hebrew scriptures, those interested more in history than prophecy are directed to other works of history
Everything else that Jeroboam II did, his brave battles, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Israel, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel or as the NRSV puts it a little better – The Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel.
Then in II Kings 15 the prophetic historian moves on to King Uzziah of the Southern Kingdom of Judah …
Date in verse 1, much better verdict, though not without critisim in verse 3-5 and the cross references in verse 6
What a pity that these books are so far away from the later prophets of the Old Testament. In the Hebrew Scripture they are nicely balanced – the four books of former prophets Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings are followed by four books of later prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve.
What’s fascinating when you read through those later prophets is that Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and at least six of the Book of the 12 can be linked into the story.
Turn to page 363 of the church Bibles at the end and you can see this works in a time chart.
The first of the writing prophets is one of the best known names from the Book of the 12 shorter prophets, Amos.
Verse 1 gives us the precise location for Amos, the Prophet’s words.
These are the words of Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa.[which is in the Southern Kingdom of Judah} Two years before the earthquake, [which sadly cannot be dated, but with the Arabian tectonic plate sliding past the African tectonic plate on either side of the Jordan rift valley this is an area prone to moderate earthquakes] when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, God revealed to Amos all these things about Israel [that must be after the 27th year of the reign of Jeroboam II and so you can date these words of Amos somewhere between 756 and 743 BC]
Go to the British Museum and from that kind of period lavish ivories have been found that indicate a level of prosperity that is hinted at in II Kings and spelled out by Amos in 3:15 where Amos speaks of people having winter houses and summer houses and lining their walls with ivories.
No cost was spared as houses were furnished ostentatiously with luxurious couches (6:4, 3:12) and people indulged in feasting at every turn, feasting on veal and lamb (6:4) Obesity is a problem among the women as well as men and there is a major over-indulgence in alcohol (4:1) and as for perfume: an obscene amount of money is spent on cosmetics (6:6).
“On the other hand, the poor were really poor and were shamelessly exploited: they suffered from property rackets” and sexual abuse
They sell into slavery honest people who cannot pay their debts, the poor who cannot repay even the price of a pair of sandals. 7 They trample
down the weak and helpless and push the poor out of the way. A man and his father have intercourse with the same slave woman, and so profane my holy name. 2:6-7)
“they suffered from legal rackets (5:12)
know how terrible your sins are and how many crimes you have committed. You persecute good people, take bribes, and prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts. 13
“And they suffered from business rackets 8:5)
You say to yourselves, “We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our corn. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and tamper with the scales to cheat our customers
“Money-making and personal covetousness ruled all: the men lived for the offices, the women lived for excitement, the rulers lived for frivolity.”
The task of the prophet is to speak truth to power. He knows the society he is speaking to inside out. He does not hold back. More than that, he knows what’s going on in neighbouring countries. And he speaks out powerfully.
By now you cannot have avoided spotting the connections that it’s possible to make with society today. There is something un-nervingly up-to-date and relevant as you read the words of the Prophet Amos. In pointing the finger at the neglect of the poor at a time when the excessively wealthy get even wealthier he is pointing the finger at our society. These words speak across the centuries to us.
You people hate anyone who challenges injustice and speaks the whole truth in court. 11 You have oppressed the poor and robbed them of their grain. And so you will not live in the fine stone houses you build or drink wine from the beautiful vineyards you plant. 12 I know how terrible your sins are and how many crimes you have committed. You persecute good people, take bribes, and prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts. 13 And so, keeping quiet in such evil times is the clever thing to do!
14 Make it your aim to do what is right, not what is evil, so that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty really will be with you, as you claim he is. 15 Hate what is evil, love what is right, and see that justice prevails in the courts. Perhaps the LORD will be merciful to the people of this nation who are still left alive.
But lest we feel complacent, Amos turns his attention to those in his day that are religious. And what he identifies should give us pause for thought. He noticed that religious people were very religious. This was a period when people did attend worship, when they did carry out their sacrifices. But something was not quite right, for Amos it was significant that the worship was centred on shrines that had been put in place by the wicked Jeroboam 1st as the king had bent religion for his own purposes and power. But more un-nervingly for us he points the finger at a worship that uses all the right words but is not lived out.
The LORD says, “I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them!
22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24
Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.
That, for Amos, is the nub of the matter. That is what must make us sit up and take notice.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream
When Jesus lays claim to have fulfilled the whole law and the prophets this is what he is laying claim to. In his indictment of the religious in Matthew 23 he homes in on exactly the kind of justice envisaged by Amos as the very heart of the law …
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
The parable of the Rich fool gets to the nub of the matter and homes in on the selflishness that is concerned only to build up wealth.
The challenge is for us to live out our faith and put it into practice. But thee is another challenge too. There is still a place for ‘prophets’ in our day – who analyse the ills of society and appeal for justice and righteousness, and we in the church need to take those challenges very much to heart.
Read the story of Elijah and Elisha in I and II Kings and you see how their story is set against the background of a succession of Kings in The Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah. The stories of the Kings follow a set pattern – their reign is dated very precisely with reference to the king in the other kingdom. Turn to page 380 of the church Bibles and we have arrived at Jeroboam II of the Northern Kingdom of Israel – in these few verses you can see the set pattern.
alongside the reign of the king in the other kingdom, a verdict is given on their reign – practically all of the Kings of the Northern Kingdom of Israel are condemned as doing evil in the sight of the Lord. And then,
Turn to page 380 of the church Bibles and we have arrived at Jeroboam II of Israel …
First the date …
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah son of Joash as king of Judah, Jeroboam son of Jehoash became king of Israel, and he ruled in Samaria for 41 years.
Second, the verdict
24 He sinned against the LORD, following the wicked example of his predecessor King Jeroboam son of Nebat, who led Israel into sin.
It’s a qualified verdict in this instance because under Jeroboam II there are extensive conquests, the suffering of the people is alleviated and there is considerable prosperity.
And third, remembering that Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings are regarded as Prophetic writings in the Hebrew scriptures, those interested more in history than prophecy are directed to other works of history
Everything else that Jeroboam II did, his brave battles, and how he restored Damascus and Hamath to Israel, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel or as the NRSV puts it a little better – The Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel.
Then in II Kings 15 the prophetic historian moves on to King Uzziah of the Southern Kingdom of Judah …
Date in verse 1, much better verdict, though not without critisim in verse 3-5 and the cross references in verse 6
What a pity that these books are so far away from the later prophets of the Old Testament. In the Hebrew Scripture they are nicely balanced – the four books of former prophets Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings are followed by four books of later prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve.
What’s fascinating when you read through those later prophets is that Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and at least six of the Book of the 12 can be linked into the story.
Turn to page 363 of the church Bibles at the end and you can see this works in a time chart.
The first of the writing prophets is one of the best known names from the Book of the 12 shorter prophets, Amos.
Verse 1 gives us the precise location for Amos, the Prophet’s words.
These are the words of Amos, a shepherd from the town of Tekoa.[which is in the Southern Kingdom of Judah} Two years before the earthquake, [which sadly cannot be dated, but with the Arabian tectonic plate sliding past the African tectonic plate on either side of the Jordan rift valley this is an area prone to moderate earthquakes] when Uzziah was king of Judah and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel, God revealed to Amos all these things about Israel [that must be after the 27th year of the reign of Jeroboam II and so you can date these words of Amos somewhere between 756 and 743 BC]
Go to the British Museum and from that kind of period lavish ivories have been found that indicate a level of prosperity that is hinted at in II Kings and spelled out by Amos in 3:15 where Amos speaks of people having winter houses and summer houses and lining their walls with ivories.
No cost was spared as houses were furnished ostentatiously with luxurious couches (6:4, 3:12) and people indulged in feasting at every turn, feasting on veal and lamb (6:4) Obesity is a problem among the women as well as men and there is a major over-indulgence in alcohol (4:1) and as for perfume: an obscene amount of money is spent on cosmetics (6:6).
“On the other hand, the poor were really poor and were shamelessly exploited: they suffered from property rackets” and sexual abuse
They sell into slavery honest people who cannot pay their debts, the poor who cannot repay even the price of a pair of sandals. 7 They trample
down the weak and helpless and push the poor out of the way. A man and his father have intercourse with the same slave woman, and so profane my holy name. 2:6-7)
“they suffered from legal rackets (5:12)
know how terrible your sins are and how many crimes you have committed. You persecute good people, take bribes, and prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts. 13
“And they suffered from business rackets 8:5)
You say to yourselves, “We can hardly wait for the holy days to be over so that we can sell our corn. When will the Sabbath end, so that we can start selling again? Then we can overcharge, use false measures, and tamper with the scales to cheat our customers
“Money-making and personal covetousness ruled all: the men lived for the offices, the women lived for excitement, the rulers lived for frivolity.”
The task of the prophet is to speak truth to power. He knows the society he is speaking to inside out. He does not hold back. More than that, he knows what’s going on in neighbouring countries. And he speaks out powerfully.
By now you cannot have avoided spotting the connections that it’s possible to make with society today. There is something un-nervingly up-to-date and relevant as you read the words of the Prophet Amos. In pointing the finger at the neglect of the poor at a time when the excessively wealthy get even wealthier he is pointing the finger at our society. These words speak across the centuries to us.
You people hate anyone who challenges injustice and speaks the whole truth in court. 11 You have oppressed the poor and robbed them of their grain. And so you will not live in the fine stone houses you build or drink wine from the beautiful vineyards you plant. 12 I know how terrible your sins are and how many crimes you have committed. You persecute good people, take bribes, and prevent the poor from getting justice in the courts. 13 And so, keeping quiet in such evil times is the clever thing to do!
14 Make it your aim to do what is right, not what is evil, so that you may live. Then the LORD God Almighty really will be with you, as you claim he is. 15 Hate what is evil, love what is right, and see that justice prevails in the courts. Perhaps the LORD will be merciful to the people of this nation who are still left alive.
But lest we feel complacent, Amos turns his attention to those in his day that are religious. And what he identifies should give us pause for thought. He noticed that religious people were very religious. This was a period when people did attend worship, when they did carry out their sacrifices. But something was not quite right, for Amos it was significant that the worship was centred on shrines that had been put in place by the wicked Jeroboam 1st as the king had bent religion for his own purposes and power. But more un-nervingly for us he points the finger at a worship that uses all the right words but is not lived out.
The LORD says, “I hate your religious festivals; I cannot stand them!
22 When you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will not accept the animals you have fattened to bring me as offerings. 23 Stop your noisy songs; I do not want to listen to your harps. 24
Instead, let justice flow like a stream, and righteousness like a river that never goes dry.
That, for Amos, is the nub of the matter. That is what must make us sit up and take notice.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream
When Jesus lays claim to have fulfilled the whole law and the prophets this is what he is laying claim to. In his indictment of the religious in Matthew 23 he homes in on exactly the kind of justice envisaged by Amos as the very heart of the law …
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practised without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel!
The parable of the Rich fool gets to the nub of the matter and homes in on the selflishness that is concerned only to build up wealth.
The challenge is for us to live out our faith and put it into practice. But thee is another challenge too. There is still a place for ‘prophets’ in our day – who analyse the ills of society and appeal for justice and righteousness, and we in the church need to take those challenges very much to heart.
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Take up the mantle - pass it on!
I’ve stuck my neck out and signed us up … in the hopes that others will join me! To run alongside the Literature Festival in this 400th anniversary year of the King James Bible the churches are joining together for a week long Festival of the Book which will include a reading of the King James Bible. I have signed up for an hour and a quarter on Tuesday afternoon from 2-15 to 3-30 on Tuesday, 11th October.
Of all the books I have been reading for this anniversary year one of the most fun is Begat – the King James Bible and the English Language. David Crystal, a linguist, read through the King James Bible and noted phrases that have come down into the English language. There were 257.. He then looked up the half dozen earlier printed translations of the Bible and identified how many of those phrases were unique to the King James Bible – just 18. The indexes list them all, with all the comparative readings – if you like Ben Schott’s kind of Almanack you will be in your element dipping into this book. In the bulk of the book he then discusses these phrases – with the help of Google. He is interested not so much in the phrases that are used exclusively by Christians as the phrases that have become embedded in the English language …As he sums up … The idioms are to be found in all contexts in which language can be used – from ABC television to zoology, taking in basketball, comic strips, dentistry, engineering, pornography and social networking. The people implicated cover all walks of life: Shakespeare and Sinatra, Byron and Beckham, Osama and Obama. The sources range from the News of the World to Newsweek, from Henry IV to the Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
I have spotted one idiom that slipped through David Crystal’s net … it is in 2 Kings 2:14 Of Elisha it is said …
And he took the mantle of Elijah
I googled it and it wasn’t long before I found reference to
23 Nov 2005 – Erkki Tuomioja took the mantle as the most experienced EU foreign minister - Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland:
How mumsnet took on the mantle of nanny state – headline in January 2011.
But the one that took the biscuit was from Unreality TV …
Britain’s Got Talent 2011: Louis Walsh was baffled as he took the mantle from The Hoff
The kings of the northern Kingdom of Israel seem to go from bad to worse as Ahaziah dies another of Ahab’s sons, Jehoram, becomes king of Israel and the verdict of the prophetic historians is pretty grim – he reigned for twelve years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord … though fair play he wasn’t quite as bad as his dad!
It had been just after that visionary experience of the sound of sheer silence, the still small voice of calm that Elijah found Elisha, son of Shaphat, a farmer who was out in the fields ploughing. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. He left the oxen, ran after Elijah and asked first that he should go and say farewll to his mother and father and then he would follow Elijah. One last meal over, he set out and followed Elijah.
At the death of Ahaziah we find the aged Elijah walking with the younger Elisha from Jericho down towards the Jordan river. Elijah takes his mantle, rolls it up strikes the waters of the river and they part. And the two pass through. When they had crossed Elijah is talking about Elisha continuing his work, when he is taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire and a whirlwind.
Then it is that Elisha …
… took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
15And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
Elisha then begins his work – and what is striking about the way the story is told by these prophetic historians is that it is an echo of the work of Elijah. In 2 Kings 4 Elisha helps a widow by giving her oil that doesn’t ceasse to flow until she can pay off all her debts and look after her family. No sooner is she set up than her son dies and Elisha it is who raises the Shunnamite woman’s son.
Once again people are going hungry … and Elisha meets their needs, first purifying a pot of stew and then feeding one hundred men with a tiny amount of grain. He set it before them, they ate, and had some left.
Then it is that Elisha pushes the boundaries and does the unthinkable when he encounters Naaman the commander of the enemy Syrian army and heals him of leprosy.
Elisha as did Elijah, confronts the powers that be – challenging those in power to return to God, declaring the Word of God.
Elijah passes on the mantle to Elisha and the beginnings of a line of prophets is established.
When John the Baptist appears in the wilderness, wearing camel’s hair with a belt around his waist it is almost as if he is wearing the mantle of Elijah. He regularly takes people down beyond Jericho to the river Jordan where he baptises them. Some say that involved walking through the river and coming back again.
Jesus comes to John at that point in the Jordan to be baptised. I am not worthy, John says, it’s you I should be serving – but Jesus deliberately humbles himself to receive the baptism of John.
It is almost a re-enactiment of the point at which Elisha takes up the mantle from Elijah. Jesus takes up the mantle from John. John disappears from the scene.
And what do we find Jesus doing – he has a message which is nothing else than the Word of God, he brings healing to people who hurt. He raises a widow’s son at Nain. We catch a glimpse of him commanding the elements. He tells a story of farmer sowing seeds, just like Elisha at the plough. Jesus feeds a crowd not of 100 but first 5000 and then 4000 and they all are satisfied and there is some left over.
In our scientific age when we read those stories we ask how did he do that? What actually happened. Those weren’t the questions that interested Jesus and his contemporaries. They were asking why he was doing those particular things … and they could tell what was going on …
There are echoes here of Elijah and Elisha. No wonder people take him for another John the Baptist, another Elijah or one of the prophets.
And yet at the same time Jesus does not hesitate to bring something new – he says a marked ‘no’ to some of the things that Elijah and Elisha did. Elijah thought nothing of destroying the Prophets of Baal with fire, Elisha thought nothing of destroying youngsters who taunted him as baldy!
Jesus’ disciples recognise so much of Elijah and Elisha in Jesus that when a village refuses to welcome Jesus they know exactly what an Elijah or an Elisha would do – ‘Lord do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consumer them? But he turned and rebuked them and said, You do not know what spirit you are of, for the Son of Man has not come to destroy the lives of human beings but to save them.”
Jesus has taken on the mantle … but is also something so very new and different – opening up a new dimension on God.
The most telling moment of all is when he begins his ministry. In his home town of Nazareth he goes to the Synagogue reads words which shape all that he is going to do …
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
When he said,
‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
That delight, however, turned to rage – and it turned to rage when Jesus gave two illustrations. Who are the ones we should be helping? As far as the people in the Syngaogue were concerned it was our poor, our captives, our blind, our oppressed.
But Jesus had different ideas. He had come for everyone’s poor, everyone’s blind, everyone’s oppressed.
He pressed his point home by quoting two stories – one from Elijah – there were lots of widows in Israel, but it was an outsider, the widow of Zarephath that Elijah helped.
There were lots of leprosy sufferers in Israel – but it was Naaman, the enemy Syrian army commander that Elisha healed.
That’s what those people could not stomach it was when they heard this that they were filled with rage.
Jesus had come to take on the mantle from Elijah, from Elisha, from all the prophets, from John the Baptist … to bring God’s word to all people, to bring transformation into their lives, to bring healing where there was hurt.
And just like Elijah and just like Elisha he drew disciples to follow him. They took on the mantle from Jesus … and those disciples got other disciples to follow him … and they took up the mantle.
And we too have followed Jesus.
We are to take up the mantle.
We have a message of Good news to share with all people, to share healing where people hurt, to respond to people’s hunger by providing for their need.
That’s exactly what we are doing in our Harvest collection – supporting Highbury’s mission through the work of our children’s worker … but not stopping with the people we know. Our message is for all. Food to share through County Community Projects.
And this chimes exactly with the ethos of Send a Cow. Supporting individual farmers the principle at the heart of Send a Cow is to Pass it On … whatever someone receives, they are to pass on to someone else …
Receive the mantle … and pass it on!
Of all the books I have been reading for this anniversary year one of the most fun is Begat – the King James Bible and the English Language. David Crystal, a linguist, read through the King James Bible and noted phrases that have come down into the English language. There were 257.. He then looked up the half dozen earlier printed translations of the Bible and identified how many of those phrases were unique to the King James Bible – just 18. The indexes list them all, with all the comparative readings – if you like Ben Schott’s kind of Almanack you will be in your element dipping into this book. In the bulk of the book he then discusses these phrases – with the help of Google. He is interested not so much in the phrases that are used exclusively by Christians as the phrases that have become embedded in the English language …As he sums up … The idioms are to be found in all contexts in which language can be used – from ABC television to zoology, taking in basketball, comic strips, dentistry, engineering, pornography and social networking. The people implicated cover all walks of life: Shakespeare and Sinatra, Byron and Beckham, Osama and Obama. The sources range from the News of the World to Newsweek, from Henry IV to the Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.
I have spotted one idiom that slipped through David Crystal’s net … it is in 2 Kings 2:14 Of Elisha it is said …
And he took the mantle of Elijah
I googled it and it wasn’t long before I found reference to
23 Nov 2005 – Erkki Tuomioja took the mantle as the most experienced EU foreign minister - Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland:
How mumsnet took on the mantle of nanny state – headline in January 2011.
But the one that took the biscuit was from Unreality TV …
Britain’s Got Talent 2011: Louis Walsh was baffled as he took the mantle from The Hoff
The kings of the northern Kingdom of Israel seem to go from bad to worse as Ahaziah dies another of Ahab’s sons, Jehoram, becomes king of Israel and the verdict of the prophetic historians is pretty grim – he reigned for twelve years. He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord … though fair play he wasn’t quite as bad as his dad!
It had been just after that visionary experience of the sound of sheer silence, the still small voice of calm that Elijah found Elisha, son of Shaphat, a farmer who was out in the fields ploughing. Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. He left the oxen, ran after Elijah and asked first that he should go and say farewll to his mother and father and then he would follow Elijah. One last meal over, he set out and followed Elijah.
At the death of Ahaziah we find the aged Elijah walking with the younger Elisha from Jericho down towards the Jordan river. Elijah takes his mantle, rolls it up strikes the waters of the river and they part. And the two pass through. When they had crossed Elijah is talking about Elisha continuing his work, when he is taken up into heaven in a chariot of fire and a whirlwind.
Then it is that Elisha …
… took up also the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and went back, and stood by the bank of Jordan;
14And he took the mantle of Elijah that fell from him, and smote the waters, and said, Where is the LORD God of Elijah? and when he also had smitten the waters, they parted hither and thither: and Elisha went over.
15And when the sons of the prophets which were to view at Jericho saw him, they said, The spirit of Elijah doth rest on Elisha. And they came to meet him, and bowed themselves to the ground before him.
Elisha then begins his work – and what is striking about the way the story is told by these prophetic historians is that it is an echo of the work of Elijah. In 2 Kings 4 Elisha helps a widow by giving her oil that doesn’t ceasse to flow until she can pay off all her debts and look after her family. No sooner is she set up than her son dies and Elisha it is who raises the Shunnamite woman’s son.
Once again people are going hungry … and Elisha meets their needs, first purifying a pot of stew and then feeding one hundred men with a tiny amount of grain. He set it before them, they ate, and had some left.
Then it is that Elisha pushes the boundaries and does the unthinkable when he encounters Naaman the commander of the enemy Syrian army and heals him of leprosy.
Elisha as did Elijah, confronts the powers that be – challenging those in power to return to God, declaring the Word of God.
Elijah passes on the mantle to Elisha and the beginnings of a line of prophets is established.
When John the Baptist appears in the wilderness, wearing camel’s hair with a belt around his waist it is almost as if he is wearing the mantle of Elijah. He regularly takes people down beyond Jericho to the river Jordan where he baptises them. Some say that involved walking through the river and coming back again.
Jesus comes to John at that point in the Jordan to be baptised. I am not worthy, John says, it’s you I should be serving – but Jesus deliberately humbles himself to receive the baptism of John.
It is almost a re-enactiment of the point at which Elisha takes up the mantle from Elijah. Jesus takes up the mantle from John. John disappears from the scene.
And what do we find Jesus doing – he has a message which is nothing else than the Word of God, he brings healing to people who hurt. He raises a widow’s son at Nain. We catch a glimpse of him commanding the elements. He tells a story of farmer sowing seeds, just like Elisha at the plough. Jesus feeds a crowd not of 100 but first 5000 and then 4000 and they all are satisfied and there is some left over.
In our scientific age when we read those stories we ask how did he do that? What actually happened. Those weren’t the questions that interested Jesus and his contemporaries. They were asking why he was doing those particular things … and they could tell what was going on …
There are echoes here of Elijah and Elisha. No wonder people take him for another John the Baptist, another Elijah or one of the prophets.
And yet at the same time Jesus does not hesitate to bring something new – he says a marked ‘no’ to some of the things that Elijah and Elisha did. Elijah thought nothing of destroying the Prophets of Baal with fire, Elisha thought nothing of destroying youngsters who taunted him as baldy!
Jesus’ disciples recognise so much of Elijah and Elisha in Jesus that when a village refuses to welcome Jesus they know exactly what an Elijah or an Elisha would do – ‘Lord do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consumer them? But he turned and rebuked them and said, You do not know what spirit you are of, for the Son of Man has not come to destroy the lives of human beings but to save them.”
Jesus has taken on the mantle … but is also something so very new and different – opening up a new dimension on God.
The most telling moment of all is when he begins his ministry. In his home town of Nazareth he goes to the Synagogue reads words which shape all that he is going to do …
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
When he said,
‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’ All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his mouth.
That delight, however, turned to rage – and it turned to rage when Jesus gave two illustrations. Who are the ones we should be helping? As far as the people in the Syngaogue were concerned it was our poor, our captives, our blind, our oppressed.
But Jesus had different ideas. He had come for everyone’s poor, everyone’s blind, everyone’s oppressed.
He pressed his point home by quoting two stories – one from Elijah – there were lots of widows in Israel, but it was an outsider, the widow of Zarephath that Elijah helped.
There were lots of leprosy sufferers in Israel – but it was Naaman, the enemy Syrian army commander that Elisha healed.
That’s what those people could not stomach it was when they heard this that they were filled with rage.
Jesus had come to take on the mantle from Elijah, from Elisha, from all the prophets, from John the Baptist … to bring God’s word to all people, to bring transformation into their lives, to bring healing where there was hurt.
And just like Elijah and just like Elisha he drew disciples to follow him. They took on the mantle from Jesus … and those disciples got other disciples to follow him … and they took up the mantle.
And we too have followed Jesus.
We are to take up the mantle.
We have a message of Good news to share with all people, to share healing where people hurt, to respond to people’s hunger by providing for their need.
That’s exactly what we are doing in our Harvest collection – supporting Highbury’s mission through the work of our children’s worker … but not stopping with the people we know. Our message is for all. Food to share through County Community Projects.
And this chimes exactly with the ethos of Send a Cow. Supporting individual farmers the principle at the heart of Send a Cow is to Pass it On … whatever someone receives, they are to pass on to someone else …
Receive the mantle … and pass it on!
Sunday, 18 September 2011
Elijah - When all's well ... something always seems to happen!
It’s strange how things can sometimes go very badly wrong just when everything seems to be going just right. I guess it’s the nature of life and the way things are … but there is something tragic that can at times overwhelm in what happens.
That was the experience of the widow Elijah looked after and who looked after Elijah. Thanks to that cruse of oil, those grains of corn the widow came through the drought.
But then calamity struck.
Her son died.
And she could not begin to understand what had happened.
She railed at God.
She railed at Elijah.
And Elijah’s response was to go to the young man … and the upshot is that he is raised again to life.
And there is a wonderful phrase – Elijah returned him to his mother.
And all knew that Elijah was of God.
Elijah’s task as a Prophet was to bring God’s presence into people’s lives and to speak God’s word especially to the powers that be.
Ahab’s rule was a catastrophic one. Made far worse by Jezebel, the Queen. It was on Mount Carmel that things came to a head … Jezebel and Ahab had led the people after Baal – and the priests of Baal had got a stranglehold on the people and their thinking. Elijah stands his ground and there is the wonderful story of the way Elijah prevails.
But again – just as all has gone well, so catastrophe strikes.
At this moment of triumph Elijah has to flee from Jezebel.
And he fears for his life. More than that he despairs of his life. AS he sits under a solitary broom tree he asks that he might die.
In his sleep he has a dream.
And in his dream a ministering angel provides him with food.
And then that same ministering angel invites him to take a journey to the holy mountain.
And there he feels no better. He is on the run. Everything has fallen about his ears. He wants out.
‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
Elijah now gets second wind. And he finds it in that sound of sheer silence. In the still small voice. And that is what strengthens him.
He finds he can stand his ground.
And his task is to speak truth to power.
And he will not be alone. He casts his mantle on Elisha.
And he holds his ground against Ahab.
At Ahab’s death, Elijah’s task continues. And he finds himself speaking out against Ahaziah, and it is at the death of Ahaziah, King of the northern Kingdom, that Elijah’s days are done.
It is a remarkable story.
Though there had been prophets before, it is Elijah who is held up as the great ‘father-figure’ of the prophets. The archetypal prophet.
There is so much for us to take to heart in the story of Elijah.
In particular I want to hold on to the way his story has that ring of truth about it as he despairs of ever achieving what should be achieved.
It is at that moment when we are knocked for six that God’s presence comes … but not in the drama, in the stillness. And in the stillness comes that second wind to strengthen and inspire and to keep at it.
Is there any way in our praying that we can sense that presence of God with us?
When Jesus’ ministry begins he lines himself up with John the Baptist, whose very behaviour and all that he does marks him out as once more a prophet. There hadn’t been prophets on the scene in Israel for many a long year. But now in John the Baptist was one who recognisably stood in that tradition. Some even thought of him as another Elijah.
Jesus quite deliberately lines himself up with John the Baptist and then he sets about his task.
His message is a powerful one and it has authority – it is about the coming of the kingdom.
In Mark’s gospel Jesus message is simple, it is nothing less than the Good News of God: The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news.”
He calls those fishermen disciples to follow him … and then Mark gives us a typical day in the life of Jesus. It involves healing, it involves teaching … and it sets Jesus over against the powers that be.
So much so that by the end of that typical day the Pharisees and the Herodians, whose way of being Jewish was so very different came together in opposition to Jesus, determined somehow to destroy him.
There are echoes in what Jesus does and in the message he gives of that whole line of prophets going right back to Elijah.
That story of Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath is used by Jesus as he sets out his programme in the synagogue of Nazareth.
Before long he finds himself in a village only half a dozen miles away.
It is the village of Nain.
And what should happen to him.
He is confronted by a widow whose son has died.
She is over-wrought, devastated. And rails at God.
Jesus steps forward to the bier, touches the young man who is raised to life.
It fascinates our modern way of thinking to ask what exactly happened. But in Jesus’ day people just knew something remarkable had happened … but something else struck them.
And it doesn’t immediately strike us.
A widow distraught at the loss of her son.
An authoritative teacher who has taken up the mantle of a prophet,
The raising of the dead son.
And then comes that phrase. It’s just the same wording.
Jesus handed him back to his mother.
Not just a raising to life, not just a moment of restoration.
What Jesus is doing, is nothing less than what Elijah had done.
Here was a prophet come to hold the powers that be to account.
And so it was on his travels he comes to one of those cities that had only just been completed – the city that Philip, son of Herod the Great and ruler of the North East area beyond the Galilee, had built complete with it temple to the Roman Emperor. His father had named the harbour and city he had built on the Meidterranean, Caesarea after the emperor, the Caesar. His brother had named the city he built as a sign of Roman and Herodian power on the shores of the Sea of Galilee Tiberias after the Roman emperor. And so too Philip named his city after the Roman emperor Caesarea – but he had to differentiate it from his father’s Caesarea. And so he called it Caesarea Philippi.
Here it was that Jesus gathered with his disciples.
Not some out of the way place. But a place near to the seat of power of the powers that be.
Who do people say that I am? He asked.
John the Baptist? And others, Elijah. And still others ‘one of the prophets’.
They’ld got it.
Jesus smiled under his breath.
But there was more.
Who do you say that I am.
And Peter it was who said, You are the Messiah.
But they hadn’t got what that meant. When he started to speak of his suffering, of his death and resurrection, Peter would have none of it.
It was a week later, on the mountain top that it happened.
Jesus went up the mountain with his closest followers, Peter, James and John. And there on the mountain top, Jesus was transfigured before them and his clothes became dazzling white such as no one I on eartch could bleach them.
And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses who were talking with Jesus.
That’s it … it is if in that vision comes confirmation. Just as Jesus is another Moses, so too he is another Elijah. Just as Jesus has brought to its climax the Law and all it meant, so too he had brought to a climax the whole line of prophets.
And once again in Jesus we encounter the same thing.
When all is going well, everything falls apart.
They come down from the mountain straight into the suffering of the world … and their path takes them to confrontation with those powers that be, as Jesus is handed over, beaten, crucified.
And it is only through the darkness of that experience that he comes to resurrection.
In our praying let’s think ourselves into the story …
Do we fear something that lies ahead of us, something that we fear may overwhelm us?
Let’s see Jesus approaching us … just as he approached that son. And he lifts us and he restores us.
Let’s go up in our mind’s eye to the mountain top. Not in the wind, not in the flame, not in the earthquake, but in the sound of sheer silence, let’s sense the presence of God.
And as God in Jesus is with us when we have to go down from the mountain top let’s be sure he will be with us wherever we have to go
That was the experience of the widow Elijah looked after and who looked after Elijah. Thanks to that cruse of oil, those grains of corn the widow came through the drought.
But then calamity struck.
Her son died.
And she could not begin to understand what had happened.
She railed at God.
She railed at Elijah.
And Elijah’s response was to go to the young man … and the upshot is that he is raised again to life.
And there is a wonderful phrase – Elijah returned him to his mother.
And all knew that Elijah was of God.
Elijah’s task as a Prophet was to bring God’s presence into people’s lives and to speak God’s word especially to the powers that be.
Ahab’s rule was a catastrophic one. Made far worse by Jezebel, the Queen. It was on Mount Carmel that things came to a head … Jezebel and Ahab had led the people after Baal – and the priests of Baal had got a stranglehold on the people and their thinking. Elijah stands his ground and there is the wonderful story of the way Elijah prevails.
But again – just as all has gone well, so catastrophe strikes.
At this moment of triumph Elijah has to flee from Jezebel.
And he fears for his life. More than that he despairs of his life. AS he sits under a solitary broom tree he asks that he might die.
In his sleep he has a dream.
And in his dream a ministering angel provides him with food.
And then that same ministering angel invites him to take a journey to the holy mountain.
And there he feels no better. He is on the run. Everything has fallen about his ears. He wants out.
‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence.
Elijah now gets second wind. And he finds it in that sound of sheer silence. In the still small voice. And that is what strengthens him.
He finds he can stand his ground.
And his task is to speak truth to power.
And he will not be alone. He casts his mantle on Elisha.
And he holds his ground against Ahab.
At Ahab’s death, Elijah’s task continues. And he finds himself speaking out against Ahaziah, and it is at the death of Ahaziah, King of the northern Kingdom, that Elijah’s days are done.
It is a remarkable story.
Though there had been prophets before, it is Elijah who is held up as the great ‘father-figure’ of the prophets. The archetypal prophet.
There is so much for us to take to heart in the story of Elijah.
In particular I want to hold on to the way his story has that ring of truth about it as he despairs of ever achieving what should be achieved.
It is at that moment when we are knocked for six that God’s presence comes … but not in the drama, in the stillness. And in the stillness comes that second wind to strengthen and inspire and to keep at it.
Is there any way in our praying that we can sense that presence of God with us?
When Jesus’ ministry begins he lines himself up with John the Baptist, whose very behaviour and all that he does marks him out as once more a prophet. There hadn’t been prophets on the scene in Israel for many a long year. But now in John the Baptist was one who recognisably stood in that tradition. Some even thought of him as another Elijah.
Jesus quite deliberately lines himself up with John the Baptist and then he sets about his task.
His message is a powerful one and it has authority – it is about the coming of the kingdom.
In Mark’s gospel Jesus message is simple, it is nothing less than the Good News of God: The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news.”
He calls those fishermen disciples to follow him … and then Mark gives us a typical day in the life of Jesus. It involves healing, it involves teaching … and it sets Jesus over against the powers that be.
So much so that by the end of that typical day the Pharisees and the Herodians, whose way of being Jewish was so very different came together in opposition to Jesus, determined somehow to destroy him.
There are echoes in what Jesus does and in the message he gives of that whole line of prophets going right back to Elijah.
That story of Elijah and the Widow of Zarephath is used by Jesus as he sets out his programme in the synagogue of Nazareth.
Before long he finds himself in a village only half a dozen miles away.
It is the village of Nain.
And what should happen to him.
He is confronted by a widow whose son has died.
She is over-wrought, devastated. And rails at God.
Jesus steps forward to the bier, touches the young man who is raised to life.
It fascinates our modern way of thinking to ask what exactly happened. But in Jesus’ day people just knew something remarkable had happened … but something else struck them.
And it doesn’t immediately strike us.
A widow distraught at the loss of her son.
An authoritative teacher who has taken up the mantle of a prophet,
The raising of the dead son.
And then comes that phrase. It’s just the same wording.
Jesus handed him back to his mother.
Not just a raising to life, not just a moment of restoration.
What Jesus is doing, is nothing less than what Elijah had done.
Here was a prophet come to hold the powers that be to account.
And so it was on his travels he comes to one of those cities that had only just been completed – the city that Philip, son of Herod the Great and ruler of the North East area beyond the Galilee, had built complete with it temple to the Roman Emperor. His father had named the harbour and city he had built on the Meidterranean, Caesarea after the emperor, the Caesar. His brother had named the city he built as a sign of Roman and Herodian power on the shores of the Sea of Galilee Tiberias after the Roman emperor. And so too Philip named his city after the Roman emperor Caesarea – but he had to differentiate it from his father’s Caesarea. And so he called it Caesarea Philippi.
Here it was that Jesus gathered with his disciples.
Not some out of the way place. But a place near to the seat of power of the powers that be.
Who do people say that I am? He asked.
John the Baptist? And others, Elijah. And still others ‘one of the prophets’.
They’ld got it.
Jesus smiled under his breath.
But there was more.
Who do you say that I am.
And Peter it was who said, You are the Messiah.
But they hadn’t got what that meant. When he started to speak of his suffering, of his death and resurrection, Peter would have none of it.
It was a week later, on the mountain top that it happened.
Jesus went up the mountain with his closest followers, Peter, James and John. And there on the mountain top, Jesus was transfigured before them and his clothes became dazzling white such as no one I on eartch could bleach them.
And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses who were talking with Jesus.
That’s it … it is if in that vision comes confirmation. Just as Jesus is another Moses, so too he is another Elijah. Just as Jesus has brought to its climax the Law and all it meant, so too he had brought to a climax the whole line of prophets.
And once again in Jesus we encounter the same thing.
When all is going well, everything falls apart.
They come down from the mountain straight into the suffering of the world … and their path takes them to confrontation with those powers that be, as Jesus is handed over, beaten, crucified.
And it is only through the darkness of that experience that he comes to resurrection.
In our praying let’s think ourselves into the story …
Do we fear something that lies ahead of us, something that we fear may overwhelm us?
Let’s see Jesus approaching us … just as he approached that son. And he lifts us and he restores us.
Let’s go up in our mind’s eye to the mountain top. Not in the wind, not in the flame, not in the earthquake, but in the sound of sheer silence, let’s sense the presence of God.
And as God in Jesus is with us when we have to go down from the mountain top let’s be sure he will be with us wherever we have to go
Sunday, 11 September 2011
9/11 Ten Years on. Reflections on Psalm 139
Ten years ago this afternoon I heard the news on the radio as I was turning into Carlton Street.
It was difficult to believe.
I got in, saw more of what was happening on the TV.
I decided to visit a member of our congregation who was over here doing a three year stint with the NSA of America and working at GCHQ.
She was living on her own, I wanted simply to go and be alongside her.
We had a cup of tea, we shared in prayer … what else could we do?
She was going to be on her own that evening and so I invited her to join us at church.
We had a long-planned planning meeting for an Alpha Course that was about to begin.
We got together that evening … but going into a planning meeting did not seem right.
We moved into church.
Priory Lacemakers were meeting under Lis Forbes’ tutorship. I invited the lacemakers to join us for a quiet time of prayer in the church.
It was most moving.
But what could we say? What could we do?
I found myself re-visiting the Sunday Evening service of the previous Sunday, the 9th September.
It had been quite a special day for us as a church as at both our morning and evening services we welcomed Petra, our German Time Fpor God Volunteer who was just starting with us. I was just starting a series of sermons on Romans and had decided to do the Order of Service sheet a little differently. Instead of mapping out an order of service, I simply listed the hymns, and added a short summary of the sermon I was going to preach.
It wasn’t long since I had attended the first in a series of lectures at the University which is still going strong on the Interpretation of the Bible. It had been given by Tom Wright, one of this generation’s great Biblical scholars with a wonderful gift of being able to combine in-depth scholarship with a real popular touch.
His lecture had focused on Paul and the Epistle to the Romans.
It was powerful stuff.
I turned up the note I included in the Order of Service sheet. It gives a summary of the theme I explored in my preaching that night. It is a theme I have returned to a great deal since.
“Half a century before Paul began his letter to the Christians of Rome Augustus had been the first Roman Emperor to regard himself as Son of God. In that time the Cult of the Emperor had caught on. Paul gets straight to the point – he calls on the Christian community to believe and obey Jesus, not the Emperor as the Son of God. Christianity is an alternative way of loife which subverts the powers that be. And at its heart is the righteousness of God – not a judgemental God to be feared, but a God who sets people right and sets people free to follow a different way of life. That is an act of pure grace which is ours to share as we respond in faith. But it then turns our world uspdie down! Paul’s indictment of Roman society (18-32) has a disturbing contemporary ring about it.”
In retrospect, those comments have a great deal to say into all that happened on 9/11.
But those comments were not what stuck in my mind.
Something else occurred in that evening service that I will never forget. That evening, it was simply an interesting aside. By the Tuesday night, it spoke very powerfully to me.
The Psalm of the day from the lectionary was Psalm 139. The suggestion was that we read just the first part of the Psalm, as we have done this evening.
I felt at the time it was a bit of a cop-out.
I wasn’t sure whether I could do it or not. But then I decided I would. I decided to use the whole Psalm.
Psalm 139 is at the same time one of the most beautiful and wonderful of all the Psalms, and also one of the ugliest and most disturbing of them all.
Look it up in Congregational Praise, and it’s innocent enough. I had grown up singing the Psalms from Congregational Praise, and I hadn’t realised how abridged they were.
As our church bible is the Good News Bible, I did as I occasionally do and decided to invite people to read the Psalm antiphonally, section by section.
I decided that I would pause before my final reading and add in a comment, and for us, a Christian Congregation reading the Psalms a reminder that we have to read the Psalms through the eyes of Jesus.
Congregation
LORD, you have examined me and you know me.
2 You know everything I do;
from far away you understand all my thoughts.
3 You see me, whether I am working or resting;
you know all my actions.
4 Even before I speak,
you already know what I will say.
5 You are all round me on every side;
you protect me with your power.
6 Your knowledge of me is too deep;
it is beyond my understanding.
Leader
7 Where could I go to escape from you?
Where could I get away from your presence?
8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there;
if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there.
9 If I flew away beyond the east
or lived in the farthest place in the west,
10 you would be there to lead me,
you would be there to help me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
or the light round me to turn into night,
12 but even darkness is not dark for you,
and the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
Congregation
13 You created every part of me;
you put me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because you are to be feared;
all you do is strange and wonderful.
I know it with all my heart.
15 When my bones were being formed,
carefully put together in my mother's womb,
when I was growing there in secret,
you knew that I was there —
16 you saw me before I was born.
The days allotted to me
had all been recorded in your book,
before any of them ever began.
17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts;
how many of them there are!
18 If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.
It was at this point that I paused. Writing at a time when Israel had been devastated by the destructive forces of neighbouring countries, the psalmist put into words the gut reaction he had to such devastation. It is at points like this in the Psalms that we must bring to the forefront of our minds the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, from the end of Matthew 5. Nonetheless, there may be times when it is good to get the gut reaction we have out of the system and hurl our anger towards God. As we do that, however, we must forcibly bring to mind the words of Jesus.
19 O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked!
How I wish violent people would leave me alone!
20 They say wicked things about you;
they speak evil things against your name.
21 O LORD, how I hate those who hate you!
How I despise those who rebel against you!
22 I hate them with a total hatred;
I regard them as my enemies.
That’s the gut reaction … but we must bring to mind the words of Jesus …
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your friends, hate your enemies.’
44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven.
And now in the light of Jesus’ words we can all join together in the final prayer of the Psalm …
The Congregation
23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind;
test me, and discover my thoughts.
24 Find out if there is any evil in me
and guide me in the everlasting way.
As we gathered in church that Tuesday evening, with our American friend joining us, there must have been about 25 or 30 of us present, we met at the front of the church, it was already getting dark.
I wasn’t at all sure what on earth we could say.
There wasn’t a lot we could say.
What I found myself doing was returning to that Psalm 139 with the introduction I had shared with people on the Sunday evening. And I saw it in an entirely different light.
It was as ever moving … doubly so in the face of what had happened to read again those moving words at the start of the Psalm.
Wherever we go, to the ends of the earth - God is with us.
We needed to hear those words.
But then we approached those final, hateful words.
Aor the first time, I could feel the gut reaction of those words at the end of the Psalm. It was that kind of raw feeling that had captured. This was what people were feeling, this was in some measure how I felt. There was an awfulness that gripped us.
It was good to articulate those feelings. Not to bottle them up, It was good to get them out. To shout them in a rage at God.
But. And this is the enormous BUT.
How vital it was, how good it was, how moving too to come face to face with the words of Jesus. Tough words. But words stemming from his own experiences in a Jerusalem that was subject to the violence of the oppressive power of Rome, all too often at its worst.
Those words of Jesus we also needed to hear.
And then to join together in the final prayer … how powerful that prayer was.
I have recalled it many times since.
I felt I wanted to re-visit it again this evening, ten years on to the day when at this very time we gathered in this very place and shared that reading and those reflections.
Maybe God speaks to us down through the last decade His Word through those words.
There was for me a follow-on to that evening’s time of prayer. And those reflections prompted by Psalm 139.
That day Rowan Williams, currently Archbishop of Canterbury, then Archbishop of the Church in Wales, was at a conference in an adjacent tower block to the Twin Towers. He had to run through that cloud of dust. He was massively shaken by the experience.
A few months later he wrote a very small, handbag sized book, little more than a pamphlet. I think it is one of the finest works he has written.
He took the very thought provoking title, Writing in the Dust.
He recalled the occasion when Jesus was confronted by a crowd of hateful men bent on stoning to death a woman who had been caught in adultery. When they asked Jesus what should be done, he bent down and wrote in the dust, before straightening himself up and making a response. He then bent down and wrote some more in the dust before straightening himself up and giving his response to the woman.
Rowan Williams, reflecting on 9/11 suggested first of all that there was wisdom in the decision Jesus made to pause a moment, and not give an insight response. That was the wisdom he felt was needed on the part of the authorities at this juncture. Now was the time not for an instant response, but there was a call for a pause, time for reflection, careful thinking.
The next morning the Welsh-Speaking Rowan Williams received a phone call from a journalist, presenting a news programme for Radio Cymru, the Welsh language BBC channel He was asked to make a comment on all he had experienced from his hotel room in New York. The journalist spoke in Welsh.
In that instant he paused. And the thought flashed through his mind. If he responded in the same language then his comments would be broadcast only to the Welsh speaking people of Wales. If he spoke in a different language, then what he said would be broadcast to all the people of Wales. He chose to respond in a different language.
Rowan Williams suggested secondly, that the powers that be needed at that moment to take time to reflect, and then he urged the need to respond in a different language. To respond to the actions of hatred in the same language of hatred would add fuel to the flames.
This is the radically different response that Paul urged followers of Jesus to have that was so different to the powers that be as he was writing to Christians in Rome.
The kind of Christianity that calls for that kind of response is radically different …
Christianity is an alternative way of life which subverts the powers that be. And at its heart is the righteousness of God – not a judgemental God to be feared, but a God who sets people right and sets people free to follow a different way of life. That is an act of pure grace which is ours to share as we respond in faith. But it then turns our world upside down!
The tragedy of 9/11 is that the powers that be did not pause for thought and reflection.
The double tragedy of 9/11 is that the instant response they made returned like for like with the systematic bombing first of Afghanistan and then the war in Iraq.
The challenge remains.
How important it is that we respond to terror and hatred not in the same language of terror and hatred, but in a different tongue.
The words of Jesus speak powerfully to our times … and they are an enormous challenge.
Maybe we need to get the hatred out of ours system in our praying to God … but then we need that most wonderful of prayers that comes at the very end of Psalm 139, and we need to take that prayer to heart.
Examine me, O God, and know my mind;
test me, and discover my thoughts.
24 Find out if there is any evil in me
and guide me in the everlasting way.
It was difficult to believe.
I got in, saw more of what was happening on the TV.
I decided to visit a member of our congregation who was over here doing a three year stint with the NSA of America and working at GCHQ.
She was living on her own, I wanted simply to go and be alongside her.
We had a cup of tea, we shared in prayer … what else could we do?
She was going to be on her own that evening and so I invited her to join us at church.
We had a long-planned planning meeting for an Alpha Course that was about to begin.
We got together that evening … but going into a planning meeting did not seem right.
We moved into church.
Priory Lacemakers were meeting under Lis Forbes’ tutorship. I invited the lacemakers to join us for a quiet time of prayer in the church.
It was most moving.
But what could we say? What could we do?
I found myself re-visiting the Sunday Evening service of the previous Sunday, the 9th September.
It had been quite a special day for us as a church as at both our morning and evening services we welcomed Petra, our German Time Fpor God Volunteer who was just starting with us. I was just starting a series of sermons on Romans and had decided to do the Order of Service sheet a little differently. Instead of mapping out an order of service, I simply listed the hymns, and added a short summary of the sermon I was going to preach.
It wasn’t long since I had attended the first in a series of lectures at the University which is still going strong on the Interpretation of the Bible. It had been given by Tom Wright, one of this generation’s great Biblical scholars with a wonderful gift of being able to combine in-depth scholarship with a real popular touch.
His lecture had focused on Paul and the Epistle to the Romans.
It was powerful stuff.
I turned up the note I included in the Order of Service sheet. It gives a summary of the theme I explored in my preaching that night. It is a theme I have returned to a great deal since.
“Half a century before Paul began his letter to the Christians of Rome Augustus had been the first Roman Emperor to regard himself as Son of God. In that time the Cult of the Emperor had caught on. Paul gets straight to the point – he calls on the Christian community to believe and obey Jesus, not the Emperor as the Son of God. Christianity is an alternative way of loife which subverts the powers that be. And at its heart is the righteousness of God – not a judgemental God to be feared, but a God who sets people right and sets people free to follow a different way of life. That is an act of pure grace which is ours to share as we respond in faith. But it then turns our world uspdie down! Paul’s indictment of Roman society (18-32) has a disturbing contemporary ring about it.”
In retrospect, those comments have a great deal to say into all that happened on 9/11.
But those comments were not what stuck in my mind.
Something else occurred in that evening service that I will never forget. That evening, it was simply an interesting aside. By the Tuesday night, it spoke very powerfully to me.
The Psalm of the day from the lectionary was Psalm 139. The suggestion was that we read just the first part of the Psalm, as we have done this evening.
I felt at the time it was a bit of a cop-out.
I wasn’t sure whether I could do it or not. But then I decided I would. I decided to use the whole Psalm.
Psalm 139 is at the same time one of the most beautiful and wonderful of all the Psalms, and also one of the ugliest and most disturbing of them all.
Look it up in Congregational Praise, and it’s innocent enough. I had grown up singing the Psalms from Congregational Praise, and I hadn’t realised how abridged they were.
As our church bible is the Good News Bible, I did as I occasionally do and decided to invite people to read the Psalm antiphonally, section by section.
I decided that I would pause before my final reading and add in a comment, and for us, a Christian Congregation reading the Psalms a reminder that we have to read the Psalms through the eyes of Jesus.
Congregation
LORD, you have examined me and you know me.
2 You know everything I do;
from far away you understand all my thoughts.
3 You see me, whether I am working or resting;
you know all my actions.
4 Even before I speak,
you already know what I will say.
5 You are all round me on every side;
you protect me with your power.
6 Your knowledge of me is too deep;
it is beyond my understanding.
Leader
7 Where could I go to escape from you?
Where could I get away from your presence?
8 If I went up to heaven, you would be there;
if I lay down in the world of the dead, you would be there.
9 If I flew away beyond the east
or lived in the farthest place in the west,
10 you would be there to lead me,
you would be there to help me.
11 I could ask the darkness to hide me
or the light round me to turn into night,
12 but even darkness is not dark for you,
and the night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
Congregation
13 You created every part of me;
you put me together in my mother's womb.
14 I praise you because you are to be feared;
all you do is strange and wonderful.
I know it with all my heart.
15 When my bones were being formed,
carefully put together in my mother's womb,
when I was growing there in secret,
you knew that I was there —
16 you saw me before I was born.
The days allotted to me
had all been recorded in your book,
before any of them ever began.
17 O God, how difficult I find your thoughts;
how many of them there are!
18 If I counted them, they would be more than the grains of sand.
When I awake, I am still with you.
It was at this point that I paused. Writing at a time when Israel had been devastated by the destructive forces of neighbouring countries, the psalmist put into words the gut reaction he had to such devastation. It is at points like this in the Psalms that we must bring to the forefront of our minds the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, from the end of Matthew 5. Nonetheless, there may be times when it is good to get the gut reaction we have out of the system and hurl our anger towards God. As we do that, however, we must forcibly bring to mind the words of Jesus.
19 O God, how I wish you would kill the wicked!
How I wish violent people would leave me alone!
20 They say wicked things about you;
they speak evil things against your name.
21 O LORD, how I hate those who hate you!
How I despise those who rebel against you!
22 I hate them with a total hatred;
I regard them as my enemies.
That’s the gut reaction … but we must bring to mind the words of Jesus …
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your friends, hate your enemies.’
44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven.
And now in the light of Jesus’ words we can all join together in the final prayer of the Psalm …
The Congregation
23 Examine me, O God, and know my mind;
test me, and discover my thoughts.
24 Find out if there is any evil in me
and guide me in the everlasting way.
As we gathered in church that Tuesday evening, with our American friend joining us, there must have been about 25 or 30 of us present, we met at the front of the church, it was already getting dark.
I wasn’t at all sure what on earth we could say.
There wasn’t a lot we could say.
What I found myself doing was returning to that Psalm 139 with the introduction I had shared with people on the Sunday evening. And I saw it in an entirely different light.
It was as ever moving … doubly so in the face of what had happened to read again those moving words at the start of the Psalm.
Wherever we go, to the ends of the earth - God is with us.
We needed to hear those words.
But then we approached those final, hateful words.
Aor the first time, I could feel the gut reaction of those words at the end of the Psalm. It was that kind of raw feeling that had captured. This was what people were feeling, this was in some measure how I felt. There was an awfulness that gripped us.
It was good to articulate those feelings. Not to bottle them up, It was good to get them out. To shout them in a rage at God.
But. And this is the enormous BUT.
How vital it was, how good it was, how moving too to come face to face with the words of Jesus. Tough words. But words stemming from his own experiences in a Jerusalem that was subject to the violence of the oppressive power of Rome, all too often at its worst.
Those words of Jesus we also needed to hear.
And then to join together in the final prayer … how powerful that prayer was.
I have recalled it many times since.
I felt I wanted to re-visit it again this evening, ten years on to the day when at this very time we gathered in this very place and shared that reading and those reflections.
Maybe God speaks to us down through the last decade His Word through those words.
There was for me a follow-on to that evening’s time of prayer. And those reflections prompted by Psalm 139.
That day Rowan Williams, currently Archbishop of Canterbury, then Archbishop of the Church in Wales, was at a conference in an adjacent tower block to the Twin Towers. He had to run through that cloud of dust. He was massively shaken by the experience.
A few months later he wrote a very small, handbag sized book, little more than a pamphlet. I think it is one of the finest works he has written.
He took the very thought provoking title, Writing in the Dust.
He recalled the occasion when Jesus was confronted by a crowd of hateful men bent on stoning to death a woman who had been caught in adultery. When they asked Jesus what should be done, he bent down and wrote in the dust, before straightening himself up and making a response. He then bent down and wrote some more in the dust before straightening himself up and giving his response to the woman.
Rowan Williams, reflecting on 9/11 suggested first of all that there was wisdom in the decision Jesus made to pause a moment, and not give an insight response. That was the wisdom he felt was needed on the part of the authorities at this juncture. Now was the time not for an instant response, but there was a call for a pause, time for reflection, careful thinking.
The next morning the Welsh-Speaking Rowan Williams received a phone call from a journalist, presenting a news programme for Radio Cymru, the Welsh language BBC channel He was asked to make a comment on all he had experienced from his hotel room in New York. The journalist spoke in Welsh.
In that instant he paused. And the thought flashed through his mind. If he responded in the same language then his comments would be broadcast only to the Welsh speaking people of Wales. If he spoke in a different language, then what he said would be broadcast to all the people of Wales. He chose to respond in a different language.
Rowan Williams suggested secondly, that the powers that be needed at that moment to take time to reflect, and then he urged the need to respond in a different language. To respond to the actions of hatred in the same language of hatred would add fuel to the flames.
This is the radically different response that Paul urged followers of Jesus to have that was so different to the powers that be as he was writing to Christians in Rome.
The kind of Christianity that calls for that kind of response is radically different …
Christianity is an alternative way of life which subverts the powers that be. And at its heart is the righteousness of God – not a judgemental God to be feared, but a God who sets people right and sets people free to follow a different way of life. That is an act of pure grace which is ours to share as we respond in faith. But it then turns our world upside down!
The tragedy of 9/11 is that the powers that be did not pause for thought and reflection.
The double tragedy of 9/11 is that the instant response they made returned like for like with the systematic bombing first of Afghanistan and then the war in Iraq.
The challenge remains.
How important it is that we respond to terror and hatred not in the same language of terror and hatred, but in a different tongue.
The words of Jesus speak powerfully to our times … and they are an enormous challenge.
Maybe we need to get the hatred out of ours system in our praying to God … but then we need that most wonderful of prayers that comes at the very end of Psalm 139, and we need to take that prayer to heart.
Examine me, O God, and know my mind;
test me, and discover my thoughts.
24 Find out if there is any evil in me
and guide me in the everlasting way.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Multiculturalism and Elijah
It has to be one of the loveliest of places to have a picnic … each August Bank Holiday Sunday for the last twelve years Felicity and I have enjoyed that spot. High up on the Grandstand at the Race Course with that wonderful view of the hill. It was Greenbelt once again.
Our picnic lunch over, we settled down to listen to Baroness Elizabeth Berridge, the youngest female member of the House of Lords. She has been responsible in the last three or four years for building up the relationship between the Conservative party and the Black Christian community in Britain. She was asking whether a multicultural society was a bankrupt vision. In one sense she was a strong advocate of a multicultural society where people of different cultures, and different religions live together, but critical of some of what she regarded as artificial ways the state had adopted in our multi-cultural society.
It is an age old question – how do people of different cultures, and of different faiths live side by side in the same community? It is interesting that our Congregational part of the church has had a very specific contribution to make down through the centuries. We are absolutely clear about where we stand in our Christian faith with its distinctive values. But at the same time we will stand up for the right of others to follow their conscience in the faith they hold and the culture they belong to. That was what inspired the likes of John Milton in his tract the Areopagetica which is one of the bastions of the principle of Freedom of thought and freedom of speech in our country. It was what prompted the return of the Jewish people to this country after centuries of exile in the 1650’s. It was what prompted the Toleration acts of the end of the 17th century. And it was what inspired the Mayflower Pilgrims and the founders of the United States.
It is always a balancing act for someone of faith to hold firm the faith you have and at the same time show respect and tolerance for the faith of others.
The unfolding story told by the prophetic historians of the Hebrew Scriptures in Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings shows two contrasting responses to the problem, from which we have much to learn.
Looking back at a moment when all had collapsed around them and they were in exilie they resisted the temptation to look back with rose tinted spectacles. They pored over the story of their nation and told it ‘warts and all’.
Even Solomon in all his glory got it wrong at one particular point. Wise though he was, and revered for being the one to build the temple, he had a weakness that contributed to his major failing.
Proverbs is not the only biblical book from the last section of the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures to be associated with Solomon. The other is the Song of Songs, or the Song of Solomon. More than any other it is a book that has been ‘spiritualised’ by Jewish and Christian writers alike. That’s because it is a book about sex and love between a lover and his beloved. It is sensuous writing at its best that is nothing less than a celebration of sexuality. And I guess that’s why it has been given all sorts of spiritual meanings to avoid the blushes of devout readers of the Bible.
Solomon reigned as King over the United Kingdom of Israel at its greatest. But he was very conscious of the need to build friendly relationships with neighbouring kings with very different cultures and religions. He sealed those alliances often with relationships, At the beginning of chapter 3 he makes a marriage alliance with Egypt by marrying the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh. By chapter 10 he welcomes the Queen of Sheba and her retinue building relationships which added to his wealth.
It doesn’t stop there. In chapter 11 we read that King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian and Hittite women … among his wivers were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines.
This is beginning to get to excess. And the excess has a danger within it. That marrying in this way will lead you away from the faith that is yours and you will merge your faith in with lots of others. Solomon gets more and more involved actually presiding over many, many different religious practices, some of which have dimensions that are deeply offensive.
Inside this story is one response to ‘multi-culturalism’ and to living with different religions. It basically puts all different religions into a melting pot and merges them together.
That is something I am not drawn to. I believe we must be clear where we stand in our faith and in its values, and take a stand.
There is a strand in the Hebrew Scriptures – that at the point of the exile goes to an opposite extreme and forbids all mixing with people not of the faith – it is an exclusivism that tends at some points towards what can only be descibred as ethnic cleansing in an attempt to keep to the purity of faith and culture.
But there is another strand and we catch a glimpse of it as the story unfolds after the death of Solomon.
What happens then is a pretty tragic story. At Solomon’s death the fault line between the northern tribes and the tribe of Judah around Jeruselm in the south opens up and the kingdom divides into two.
From 1 Kings 12 onwards the story of those two kingdoms and their successive Kings is told. At the end of the reign of each king the prophetic historians give their verdict. This king obeyed God’s law and things went well. This king disobeyed God and things were pretty awful.
Solomon’s son Jeroboam succeeds his father and becomes King of the Northern Kingdom – and things are pretty awful as he turns against God. 12-14. Meanwhile another of Solomon’s sons Rehoboam reigns over Judah and does just as badly. Rehoboam is succeeded by his son Abijam and is condemned by the historians for getting it all wrong. And then his son Asa succeeded him and in Judah the people return to God and all goes well.
But in the northern kingdom things rapidly go from bad to worse. When Jeroboam dies he is succeded by his son Nadab who makes such an awful mess of things that there is a rebellion and an entirely different family: when Baasha reigns over Israel it is a brand new line of kings, a new dynasty. He too ‘did what was evil in the sight of the Lord’ and when his son Elah becomes King he is overthrown by another palace revolt and Zimri’s family takes over as a third dynasty, only to be overthrown by Omri – a fourth dynasty – Omri establishes Samaria as the new capital.
You can see in the north a decline … and the break with Solomon. What the prophetic historians say of Omri is typical of what they write on so many of the kings. They give a verdict – he disobeyed God. And they also give their references – it’s as if they had rescued the state archives and their readers could read up in those archives -
Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the power that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? Omri slept with his ancestors, and was buried in Samaria; his son Ahab succeeded him.
Things surely couldn’t get worse in that northern kingdom! Don’t be too sure. Ahab marries Jezebel and turns away from the God of Israel and worships Baal.
Something needs to be done. Something has to happen.
This is where we must remember that these are not thought of as history books. They are considered to be among the prophets of the Old Testament. This is the point at which the first of the two great prophets of I and II Kings is introduced. It is of course Elijah. It is interesting that all the way through from 1 Kings 17 to 2 Kings 13 the story of Elijah and Elisha are told. Prophets are the ones who hold the kings to account. They are the ones who challenge authority. Who speak the Word of God to the powers that be.
Now Elijah, the Tishbite of Tishbe in Gilead speaks to Ahab. But what is interesting about prophets is that they do not just deal in words. They also carry out often highly symbolic actions.
The word of the Lord comes to Elijah and sends him to a Wahdi, a dried up river bed where he finds water. But it quickly runs dry.
The word of the Lord then sends him somewhere totally unexpected. He is sent beyond the boundaries of Israel – to one of those neighbouring nations, to Sidon, to the city of Zarephath where he is to be looked after by a widow.
And there is this wonderful story of the way in which the widow has nothing but her supply of bread is sustained, and her jug of oil does not run out – God sustains the widow of Zarephath in this most wonderful of ways.
And of course it is this story of the care of the widow and the support that is shared and the Cruse of oil that does not run out that gives the inspiration for the foundation of the bereavement charity Cruse – where those who are widowed provide help and support to others.
There is here a different approach to other cultures and other religionis. It is not becoming part of them, not mixing them all together – but it is one of respect – maybe it is a relationship characterised by the sharing of love and concern.
And this story is highly significant for Jesus who came to fulfil the prophets among them the prophets we are reading in these books of the Bible.
AS his ministry opens in Nazareth at the synagogue he preaches a sermon that becomes the manifesto for his ministry. Here are the values that we take a stand on as Christians. He draws them from scroll of the propohet Isaiah – chapter 61
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
When he says ‘today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” everyone spoke well of him and were amazed at the words of grace that came from his mouth.
But something changed. By the end of the sermon they are filled with rage and the mob is prepared to stone him to death. Why?
Many are those among the people in that synagogue gathering who have bought into the narrow line that emerged after the exile of purity of race.
But in bringing to fulfilment the prophets Jesus draws on a different line of thinking. Jesus comes to this opening story of Elijah and he makes his own commentary on it. And what he draws out is the relationship between Elijah and the Gentile widow from beyond the bounds of Israel.
And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.
Jesus brings a love from God that reaches out to all and to everyone, and is not limited by a shared faith or a shared culture.
This is a very different kind of multi-culturalism – and this is where I want to take a stand.
I want to be true to Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour – that commits me to these values – of good news for the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, freedom for the oppressed. But that is accompanied by an open-armed love for all beyond my faith and my culture.
That’s the kind of principle I want to hold to and then seek to work out in practical ways.
Our picnic lunch over, we settled down to listen to Baroness Elizabeth Berridge, the youngest female member of the House of Lords. She has been responsible in the last three or four years for building up the relationship between the Conservative party and the Black Christian community in Britain. She was asking whether a multicultural society was a bankrupt vision. In one sense she was a strong advocate of a multicultural society where people of different cultures, and different religions live together, but critical of some of what she regarded as artificial ways the state had adopted in our multi-cultural society.
It is an age old question – how do people of different cultures, and of different faiths live side by side in the same community? It is interesting that our Congregational part of the church has had a very specific contribution to make down through the centuries. We are absolutely clear about where we stand in our Christian faith with its distinctive values. But at the same time we will stand up for the right of others to follow their conscience in the faith they hold and the culture they belong to. That was what inspired the likes of John Milton in his tract the Areopagetica which is one of the bastions of the principle of Freedom of thought and freedom of speech in our country. It was what prompted the return of the Jewish people to this country after centuries of exile in the 1650’s. It was what prompted the Toleration acts of the end of the 17th century. And it was what inspired the Mayflower Pilgrims and the founders of the United States.
It is always a balancing act for someone of faith to hold firm the faith you have and at the same time show respect and tolerance for the faith of others.
The unfolding story told by the prophetic historians of the Hebrew Scriptures in Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings shows two contrasting responses to the problem, from which we have much to learn.
Looking back at a moment when all had collapsed around them and they were in exilie they resisted the temptation to look back with rose tinted spectacles. They pored over the story of their nation and told it ‘warts and all’.
Even Solomon in all his glory got it wrong at one particular point. Wise though he was, and revered for being the one to build the temple, he had a weakness that contributed to his major failing.
Proverbs is not the only biblical book from the last section of the writings of the Hebrew Scriptures to be associated with Solomon. The other is the Song of Songs, or the Song of Solomon. More than any other it is a book that has been ‘spiritualised’ by Jewish and Christian writers alike. That’s because it is a book about sex and love between a lover and his beloved. It is sensuous writing at its best that is nothing less than a celebration of sexuality. And I guess that’s why it has been given all sorts of spiritual meanings to avoid the blushes of devout readers of the Bible.
Solomon reigned as King over the United Kingdom of Israel at its greatest. But he was very conscious of the need to build friendly relationships with neighbouring kings with very different cultures and religions. He sealed those alliances often with relationships, At the beginning of chapter 3 he makes a marriage alliance with Egypt by marrying the daughter of the Egyptian Pharaoh. By chapter 10 he welcomes the Queen of Sheba and her retinue building relationships which added to his wealth.
It doesn’t stop there. In chapter 11 we read that King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian and Hittite women … among his wivers were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines.
This is beginning to get to excess. And the excess has a danger within it. That marrying in this way will lead you away from the faith that is yours and you will merge your faith in with lots of others. Solomon gets more and more involved actually presiding over many, many different religious practices, some of which have dimensions that are deeply offensive.
Inside this story is one response to ‘multi-culturalism’ and to living with different religions. It basically puts all different religions into a melting pot and merges them together.
That is something I am not drawn to. I believe we must be clear where we stand in our faith and in its values, and take a stand.
There is a strand in the Hebrew Scriptures – that at the point of the exile goes to an opposite extreme and forbids all mixing with people not of the faith – it is an exclusivism that tends at some points towards what can only be descibred as ethnic cleansing in an attempt to keep to the purity of faith and culture.
But there is another strand and we catch a glimpse of it as the story unfolds after the death of Solomon.
What happens then is a pretty tragic story. At Solomon’s death the fault line between the northern tribes and the tribe of Judah around Jeruselm in the south opens up and the kingdom divides into two.
From 1 Kings 12 onwards the story of those two kingdoms and their successive Kings is told. At the end of the reign of each king the prophetic historians give their verdict. This king obeyed God’s law and things went well. This king disobeyed God and things were pretty awful.
Solomon’s son Jeroboam succeeds his father and becomes King of the Northern Kingdom – and things are pretty awful as he turns against God. 12-14. Meanwhile another of Solomon’s sons Rehoboam reigns over Judah and does just as badly. Rehoboam is succeeded by his son Abijam and is condemned by the historians for getting it all wrong. And then his son Asa succeeded him and in Judah the people return to God and all goes well.
But in the northern kingdom things rapidly go from bad to worse. When Jeroboam dies he is succeded by his son Nadab who makes such an awful mess of things that there is a rebellion and an entirely different family: when Baasha reigns over Israel it is a brand new line of kings, a new dynasty. He too ‘did what was evil in the sight of the Lord’ and when his son Elah becomes King he is overthrown by another palace revolt and Zimri’s family takes over as a third dynasty, only to be overthrown by Omri – a fourth dynasty – Omri establishes Samaria as the new capital.
You can see in the north a decline … and the break with Solomon. What the prophetic historians say of Omri is typical of what they write on so many of the kings. They give a verdict – he disobeyed God. And they also give their references – it’s as if they had rescued the state archives and their readers could read up in those archives -
Now the rest of the acts of Omri that he did, and the power that he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel? Omri slept with his ancestors, and was buried in Samaria; his son Ahab succeeded him.
Things surely couldn’t get worse in that northern kingdom! Don’t be too sure. Ahab marries Jezebel and turns away from the God of Israel and worships Baal.
Something needs to be done. Something has to happen.
This is where we must remember that these are not thought of as history books. They are considered to be among the prophets of the Old Testament. This is the point at which the first of the two great prophets of I and II Kings is introduced. It is of course Elijah. It is interesting that all the way through from 1 Kings 17 to 2 Kings 13 the story of Elijah and Elisha are told. Prophets are the ones who hold the kings to account. They are the ones who challenge authority. Who speak the Word of God to the powers that be.
Now Elijah, the Tishbite of Tishbe in Gilead speaks to Ahab. But what is interesting about prophets is that they do not just deal in words. They also carry out often highly symbolic actions.
The word of the Lord comes to Elijah and sends him to a Wahdi, a dried up river bed where he finds water. But it quickly runs dry.
The word of the Lord then sends him somewhere totally unexpected. He is sent beyond the boundaries of Israel – to one of those neighbouring nations, to Sidon, to the city of Zarephath where he is to be looked after by a widow.
And there is this wonderful story of the way in which the widow has nothing but her supply of bread is sustained, and her jug of oil does not run out – God sustains the widow of Zarephath in this most wonderful of ways.
And of course it is this story of the care of the widow and the support that is shared and the Cruse of oil that does not run out that gives the inspiration for the foundation of the bereavement charity Cruse – where those who are widowed provide help and support to others.
There is here a different approach to other cultures and other religionis. It is not becoming part of them, not mixing them all together – but it is one of respect – maybe it is a relationship characterised by the sharing of love and concern.
And this story is highly significant for Jesus who came to fulfil the prophets among them the prophets we are reading in these books of the Bible.
AS his ministry opens in Nazareth at the synagogue he preaches a sermon that becomes the manifesto for his ministry. Here are the values that we take a stand on as Christians. He draws them from scroll of the propohet Isaiah – chapter 61
‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to let the oppressed go free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.’
When he says ‘today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” everyone spoke well of him and were amazed at the words of grace that came from his mouth.
But something changed. By the end of the sermon they are filled with rage and the mob is prepared to stone him to death. Why?
Many are those among the people in that synagogue gathering who have bought into the narrow line that emerged after the exile of purity of race.
But in bringing to fulfilment the prophets Jesus draws on a different line of thinking. Jesus comes to this opening story of Elijah and he makes his own commentary on it. And what he draws out is the relationship between Elijah and the Gentile widow from beyond the bounds of Israel.
And he said, ‘Truly I tell you, no prophet is accepted in the prophet’s home town. But the truth is, there were many widows in Israel in the time of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up for three years and six months, and there was a severe famine over all the land; yet Elijah was sent to none of them except to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon.
Jesus brings a love from God that reaches out to all and to everyone, and is not limited by a shared faith or a shared culture.
This is a very different kind of multi-culturalism – and this is where I want to take a stand.
I want to be true to Jesus Christ my Lord and Saviour – that commits me to these values – of good news for the poor, release to the captives, sight to the blind, freedom for the oppressed. But that is accompanied by an open-armed love for all beyond my faith and my culture.
That’s the kind of principle I want to hold to and then seek to work out in practical ways.
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