62: POISON (!) & PARABLE (?)

Based on the books of Obadiah (Ob) & Jonah (Jon)…Read more there

OBADIAH

The Edomites whom Ob attacks with such vitriol in this short (only 21 vv.) book that bears his name are descendants of Esau, Jacob’s (Israel’s) twin brother. Though the two had ‘made up’  [GEN  Ch.33] there were always ongoing tensions between their descendants. When the Babylonians over-ran Judea & took many of the Jews into captivity (BC. 586-7) instead of coming to their distant relatives’ aid the Edomites joined with the Babylonians! PS 137, from the days of captivity, ends with a burst of raging hatred. This is the back-ground against which Ob spells out the bad things he believes YHWH will do to the Edom-ites before & after Judgment Day! Many of these predictions come to pass. The infamous N.T. Herod dynasty were Edomites! Still at it frustrating what God was doing among the Hebrews, but for everyone, in the Person of His Son, Jesus.

JONAH

It’s most likely Jon is a ‘parable’ & like Daniel to be read imaginatively, not literally. Let’s look at it that way now.Ch.1: Jonah is sent by God as a ‘missionary’ to Nineveh, once the capital of the Assyrian empire. Jon, though, is probably from the 4th C. BC, & Nineveh was destroyed in 612 BC! But the memory of the Assyrians destroying the old Northern Kingdom, Israel is still strong even after the eventual return from exile in Babylon. The ‘half-caste’ (as the Jews saw them) Samaritans were one legacy of the Assyrian conquest. Instead of going to Nineveh as God requires of him, Jonah takes passage on a boat sailing for Spain to avoid his mission. When a storm blows up & the ship is in danger of sinking, Jon is eventually thrown overboard by the crew. That the storm calms & they survive impresses the sailors, who are deeply shocked at Jonah’s running away, & they are ‘converted’ to YHWH who can catch up like this with those who go AWOL as Jonah does [1].

Ch.2 relates the biggest & hardest to swallow ‘fish’ story of all time. Note Jonah’s psalm-like & prayerful meditation in the belly where he expects to die. After three days & nights, on YHWH’s instruction the ‘fish’ vomits Jonah up onto dry land! Jesus makes much of this [MT 12: 39-41 & 16:4] as He foretells his own incarceration in a tomb & resurrection.

Ch.3: YHWH again directs Jonah to go to Nineveh & preach to its people. He goes this time & the result is a mass-conversion leading YHWH to have compassion on the Ninevites. Ch.4 ends the saga with Jonah being angry at such compassion on God’s part. (Jon’s a recruit-in-waiting for today’s hard-line religious right!) But God has his measure & by using a castor-oil plant & the shade it temporarily gives Jonah shows him how he needs to look at things God’s way & not his own way. The tale ends with Jonah still not getting it!

While Jon is primarily a ‘parable’ about the Hebrews & their captivity by Assyria & Babylon, & being freed by the latter, ‘coming to life’ again, other possible scenarios include: being  compassionate towards all peoples; responsibility for outreach to others; & not trying to run away from God! And still they come…63: Micah…Gospel in a Nutshell.

Notes: [1] In its introduction to Jon [p.1189) the NJB likens the succession of ills that befall him to a series of practical jokes played by YHWH God!

Q. Are we ever guilty of going AWOL from God by looking at things the wrong way? 

61: AMOS…ONLY A HERDSMAN

Based on the Book of Amos (Am)…Read more there [1]

Amos, an animal herder is called by YHWH God to be a Prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel during the reign of Jeroboam 2nd (783-743 BC). This is a time when that part of David’s & then Solomon’s once united kingdom is doing incredibly well, thank you very much! Well, the rich & powerful are, but not the poor, & not YHWH! [2] Amos’ message surely speaks of & to today’s society divided into haves & have-nots & without a ‘spiritual compass’. Motyer, quoted in the notes below, thinks what we have in the book that bears Amos’ name may in effect be his abbreviated ‘sermon notes’ & not a complete coverage of all he addresses to his hearers.

Ch.1 & the first part of Ch.2:1-3 are tirades against neighbouring countries & their treat-ment of the Hebrews. But from Ch.2:4 to the end of Ch.6 Amos turns a similarly blistering & unwelcome spot-light first, briefly, on the Southern Kingdom of Judea, then on the people of Israel for dallying with foreign ‘gods’. Israel also cops it for failing to care for the vulnerable (the ones Jesus later refers to as ‘little ones’) in society as YHWH God has always expected of His people. Perhaps at this point we might note the three brief hymns of praise interspersed through-out Amos. They occur at Ch.4:13, Ch.5:8-9, & Ch.9:5-6, the last not unlike a psalm. 

Starting with Ch.7, & featuring a series of visions, the language towards Israel softens a little & offers hope once more - providing the things God is complaining of are put to rights. But in Ch.7:10 Amaziah ‘priest of Bethel’ - there shouldn’t have been any priests of Bethel; the true Temple is in Jerusalem - hijacks the series by reporting Amos to the king. It is interesting that Amaziah  doesn’t accuse Amos of being a false prophet (that might be a pot calling a kettle black!) & strangely, we’re not told the king’s response. Amaziah, needless to say, cops a blast from Amos & writes himself into history as an example of church leaders who prefer the status-quo, secular or religious, to godly reform! By the way, it’s highly likely this section of the book, in prose unlike the poetry of the rest of it has been contributed by supporters of Amos. We aren’t told Amos’ fate, but he seems to have just slipped quietly back to his former calling of herdsman.

After being interrupted by the Amaziah incident, it’s time to return to the rest of the book! Beginning at Ch.7:1 the visions are all fairly easy to come to terms with. The 1st of them is of another plague of locusts; the 2nd, of a drought; the 3rd, of a plumb line; & the 4th, after  the Amaziah incident, of a basket of fruit. Ch.9 starts with a 5th & final vision, the bringing down of a sanctuary (probably that at Bethel) & others set up to worship idol-gods. Hot on the heels of this last vision comes a hymn of praise to YHWH (see para.2 above) & then the book concludes with a fine Isaiah-like ‘vision’ of hope.  

 And still they come…62: Obadiah & Jonah…Poison(!) & Parable (?)

Notes: [1] Some scholars think Amos has been added to in parts. [2] ‘Amos saw a society & church on its last legs, but nobody else did. It was a time of affluence, political strength & national stability & expansion.’ (J.A. Motyer, The Day of the Lion, p.16, IVP, London, 1974) 

Q: Does it take much to imagine Amos speaking to our day rather than to almost 3000 years ago?

60…ON LOCUSTS’ WINGS…JOEL

Based on the book of Joel (Jl)…Read more there.

The ‘Minor’ Prophets are no more in chronological order than much of the rest of the Bible, & we don’t know when Jl lived or wrote the book bearing his name. Between the 8th & 4th centuries BC has been suggested, with c. 400 BC a ballpark in some scholars’ eyes. Some think Jl may be from the pen of ‘the Chronicler’ responsible for the books of Chronicles (muchly based on the books of Kings). However, the contents are more important than any date!

The book begins with locusts in plague proportions attacking northern Israel. Likening these locusts to an invading army, Jl uses them to warn against a coming day of judgment, ‘the day of the Lord’ [Ch.1:15]. This is a theme Jl develops & that will later feature in the N.T. Jl seizes on this plague of locusts to attack the people’s disobedience to YHWH with a spray of ‘Repent’! Offerings of produce in the Temple have dropped off, maybe as a result of crop devastation by the locusts & this in itself concerns Jl who seems to be Temple oriented, though seemingly not a priest [1]. This kind of imagery & theme continues to Ch.2:17 after which the ‘flavour’ changes to one of hopeful expectation on God’s part & for the people. (Not unlike the hope held out by (2nd) Isaiah.

The trumpet blast at the beginning of Ch.2 imitates the terror such a warning would cause should an actual attack or invasion be imminent. It’s a bit scary, but Jl clearly means it to be! Taylor calls Ch.2:12-14 ‘one of the finest passages in the prophets’ [2]. It is a ‘hinge’ opening the promise & expectation of better things ahead if the people do indeed turn to God. It is well worth taking on board!

As Moses had once prophetically willed God’s Spirit to inhabit all His people, not just those called & recognised as Prophets [Num.11:29] now Jl foretells this will actually happen as a feature of the afore-mentioned ‘day of the Lord’. Peter latches onto this passage [Ch. 2:28 or 3:1 depending on how the version of the Bible we use has been edited] to interpret Pentecost to the crowd (& to his fellow Apostles, probably) [Acts 2: 16-21 of the N.T.] This same passage has been a keystone of the ‘pentecostal’ & ’charismatic’ movements in the Church. ‘This may be another instance of the O.T. prophet being inspired to speak better than he knew’ [3]. 

After the good news of Ch. 2:28 - Ch. 3, for the Hebrews who’ve repented, the rest of Ch. 3, or, Ch. 4 end (depending on your editing) comes with another serve for nations that have mis-treated YHWH God’s people. They will suffer the same fate as they have meted out to others as punishment for the way they’ve been implicated in ill-treating Israel & its people! Jl echoes the famous words of (1st) Isaiah & Micah about turning swords into ploughshares ….The passage & the book end with a glorious YHWH-God-centred future in a Jerusalem-centred Day of the Lord.

And still there’s more to come…61: Only a herdsman…Amos

Notes: [1] John B. Taylor suggests ‘temple prophet’ as a description of Joel. (The Minor Prophets, S.U., London, 1970.) I take this to mean he thinks of him as operating in the Temple precinct. [2] Taylor, op. cit. p.23. This passage is set as a reading for Ash Wednesday in APBA. [3] Taylor, op. cit. p.24.

Q:  Is there anything / anyone we turn to with all our heart more than YHWH God?

59…HOSEA…(IN)FIDELITY

Based on the Book of Hosea (Hos)…Read more there.

In Hosea, a Prophet from the old northern kingdom, the clock is turned back a couple of hundred years to the middle of the 8th C. BC. (Ezekiel of Ep. 57, was from the 6th C. BC; & Daniel of Ep. 58, though set in that same 6th C. actually stems from the 2nd.) Like other books of the Hebrew Bible the Minor Prophets are not in chronological order! 

Hos. emerges about 750BC at a time when Hebrew religion is at a low ebb because of apostate (unfaithful) rulers & disinterested people. Hos. confronts this in a most personal way [1]. His wife, Gomer, proves to be unfaithful, & he likens this to Israel’s unfaithfulness to YHWH God. Though Hos. is regarded as a ‘Minor’ or ‘Lesser’ Prophet, there’s nothing minor or lesser about his message. (This collection of books is so-called simply because they’re all much shorter than the ‘Greater’ Prophets!) As others in this collection, Hosea’s message remains as confronting to us in our world & in our personal lives as it must have been to the people of his own day. We’ve seen examples of different approaches taken by Prophets; now Hos. breaks new ground again, & very personal ground at that!

It needs to be said that the whole ‘plot’ may simply be constructed as an allegory of Israel’s un-faithfulness to YHWH. But the personal intensity in Hos’ feelings is likely evidence he’s ‘telling it as it is’, at two levels…personal, & national. In either case the content sits happily as a foretaste of the message of loving forgiveness & restoration Jesus later brings.

The book begins explosively (& puzzlingly?) with YHWH instructing Hos to marry Gomer. She is either a prostitute or later going to act like one in her unfaithfulness. The name of their children are highly symbolic too. The scene is thus quickly set for the likening of Hos’ marriage to Gomer to YHWH’s ‘marriage’ to Israel. Their symbolically named children represent the consequences of the fall-out when Gomer / Israel is unfaithful to her ‘husband’, Hosea / YHWH! (For whatever reason a second version of this marriage is given in Ch.3.)

Ch.2 consists of a prophecy of Israel’s future expansion & prosperity; the consequences of Gomer's / Israel’s unfaithfulness; & ends with reconciliation seemingly between Hos & Gomer & therefore Israel & YHWH God! In Ch.4 & 5 Israel gets a tongue-lashing from YHWH administered by Hos. Ch.6 begins with a resolution by the people to return to God. The rest of the book consists mainly of good intentions that often seem to be purely window-dressing. Ch.7-10 consist mostly of examples of further unfaithfulness by Israel intermingled with YHWH lamenting Israel’s continuing unreliability.

Ch.11 to 14:1 more or less follow the same course as Ch. 7-10, but at Ch.14:2 the tide eventually turns more promisingly & YHWH covenants a better relationship with & better outcomes for Israel. (14:10 was probably added later by someone wanting to emphasise the same point YHWH & Hos are making.) There’s more to come…60: On Locusts’ Wings…Joel

[1] ‘Hosea’s uniqueness as a prophet lies in the fact that he learnt his message out of his own personal sufferings.’  [John B.Taylor, The Minor Prophets, p.3, Scripture Union, London, 1970.]

Q: Does the imagery of a marriage relationship between God & us still speak to us today?

58: ’Tis a Puzzlement!

Based on the Book of Daniel (Dn)…Read more there.

Supposedly set in the time of the Hebrew captivity in Babylon the evidence is clearly that Dn is the product of a time when the Hebrews are under a new threat from a different direction. Dn himself, not a real person, may be based on a character from pre-history named ‘Danel’. Danel appears in the old Jewish book of Jubilees (not in the O.T.) & is reputed to be the great-great-grandfather of Noah! One noted scholar offers good advice when he says, ‘The wisest course is to take Dn as a distinctive piece of literature …which borrows from & is coloured by earlier prophetic literature, Wisdom literature & Psalms.’ [1]

Dn was written about 164 BC, to strengthen Jewish faith during persecution by Antiochus Epiphanes. After the break up of Alexander the Great’s empire, Palestine fell to rulers known as the Seleucids. One of these, Antiochus, waged a ruthless religious persecution against the Jews for resisting Hellenisation. Dn is written to encourage Hebrews to stand firm during this time with heroic stories of how faithful people like Dn & his companions miraculously survived persecution in earlier days of trial. Dn comes into the category of ‘apocalyptic’ (as does Revelation in the N.T. which borrows from it.) Part of Dn is written in Aramaic & part in Hebrew, but this need not concern us.

The curtain rises in Ch.1 focussing on the behaviour of certain young Hebrew men at the court of King Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon regarding dietary practices - a key issue for observant Jews. Dn takes a stand & gains brownie points. In Ch.2 the king has a frighten-ing nightmare concerning a statue, & like Joseph long ago in Egypt, Dn is able to interpret this & gain more brownie points. Ch.3 has the king setting up a great statue  commanding people to worship it. Three young Hebrews refuse & are thrown into a fiery furnace but miraculously survive. (At this point NRSV ends Ch.3 & includes the rest in Additions to Dn in the Apocrypha. However NJV includes in the chapter the Song of Azariah & the Song of the Three Young Men. (The latter may remind us of the hymn celebrating the crossing of the Sea of Reeds in EX.) Ch.4 begins with the king having another dream. Dn interprets again but the king does his mind. There’s a lot of confusion over kings & their names in all these goings on, but let’s not go there! Ch.5 begins with a feast given by the next king at which a hand writes a message on the wall. Dn comes to the rescue again! The brownie points are still piling up! We reach the heart of the book in Ch.6 where enemies engineer Dn’s being thrown into the (in)famous pit of lions, whence he emerges unscathed & YHWH God gets the glory. Ch.7 -11 are a collection of prophecies, prayers & visions with, in some cases, interpretations by the Archangel Gabriel. Archangel Michael also appears on the scene & begins to feature. Half-way through Ch.11 The arch-villain Antiochus himself be-comes the focus. Depending upon which version of the Bible we use, Dn either ends then in Ch.12 (NRSV) with a mystical looking into the future featuring Michael again, or (NJB) extends for 2 more chapters that NRSV consigns to The Apocrypha along with the earlier-mentioned remainder of Ch. 3 [2].

One way of understanding Dn is as a kind of imaginary ‘parable’ to appreciate irrespective of its real or supposed historical features. Next: 59: Hosea…Marital (In)Fidelity. 

Q:  Where do Faith, Fact, & Imagination cross paths?

[1] Porteous, Daniel, SCM, London, 1979. [2] See ‘A song of Creation’, APBA p.427 

57…EZEKIEL: PRIEST, PROPHET, VISIONARY

Based on the Book of Ezekiel (Ezk)…Read more there

After Moses (c.1250BC), Isaiah (‘1st’ IS from c.740BC), & Jeremiah (from c.627BC) the next ‘major’ Prophet we come to is Ezekiel (from c.586BC). Ezk ‘overlaps’ Jeremiah. However, when what’s left of Israel succumbs to the Babylonians, while JER remains behind with those who survive in the homeland, Ezk joins the deportees to Babylon & exercises his call there. But he’s in a bind! He can’t function as earlier priests did (there’s now no temple anyway) so he lives out his call in a tension between his priesthood & his new role as Prophet [1].

In Babylon Ezk is exposed to a new situation, personally & as part of a community of displaced Jews forcedly living abroad. Contemplating what’s happened to them, their homeland, & their Faith. In a very real sense, Jewish faith ‘comes of age’ as the community as a whole, led by people like Ezk wearing his ‘two hats’, face new frontiers & new challenges in an often hostile international scene now. Bear in mind, too, that many of the books from the O.T. take shape in the form we know them during this time of exile. None of those Jews can miss the connection between their predicament & that long-ago time of captivity in Egypt.

In his often quite startling prophecies & visions, the issues Ezk addresses are grounded in the present moment, even when visionary in form. Ezk has influenced the next book, Daniel, & also the N.T. book of Revelation in which much has been borrowed from his visions. More than half of Ezk consists of warnings to the Jews [2] about their relationship with YHWH, & other nations - not least Egypt - about their behaviour towards the Israelites & YHWH. Ch.33 begins a series of passages of encouragement reminiscent of (2nd) Isaiah & his messages of better times ahead for the Hebrews. In Ch.34 Ezk highlights ‘shepherding’. Later this will be a theme & an identity Jesus personalises in His incarnation. Ezk also several times uses ‘acted parables’ to make prophetic points, as in Ch.3: 22-27, 4, 5, & 6. , 

At the very heart of this book are several visions: YHWH’s ‘chariot’ (Ch.1); a scroll (Ch.2-3);  ‘One like a human being’ (Ch.8); a valley of dry bones (Ch.37); a new Temple (Ch.40+). What did Jews of Ezk’s day make of them? What do we make of them? Before simply discarding them as ‘too difficult’ might they help open us up to reading the Scriptures imaginatively rather than literally? Admittedly that can become ‘dangerous’ for some with mental, emotional, or spiritual issues still to be worked through. But with sound, balanced, guidance & support in exploring them, perhaps we could enter into them as an adventure & see where they might lead us in the light of the Gospel.

 And so the story continues…..Next time: 58: Daniel: ’Tis a Puzzlement!

[1] Eichrodt (Ezekiel, SCM, 1970, London, p.22.)  [2] Controversy continues about whether these are Jews remaining in Judea, those in Babylon, or elsewhere; it’s just not clear. 

Q. Has ‘faith’ become a matter of too many words & not enough vision(s)?