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)?

56…JEREMIAH - NOT ALL DOOM & GLOOM

Based on the Books of Jeremiah (JER) & Lamentations (LM)…Read more there. [1]

One of the greatest Prophets [2], JER was born near Jerusalem c. 650BC. JER is often called a ‘prophet of doom’ for warning leaders & people of doom if they don’t mend their ways. But he’s more positive than that. He has a strong empathy with & compassion for the people & their plight under rulers making foolish decisions in local & foreign affairs & equally blind religious leaders. Sometimes using symbolic actions to drive home his points, JER never tires of pleading YHWH’s case for ethics at the personal level as well as nationally, & beyond borders. For the most part leaders & people don’t want to hear this. JER in his times may be likened to today’s prophets speaking godly wisdom we don’t want to hear! 

JER stands for all that is best in Judaism, but this brings condemnation, not acceptance & reform. He is largely dismissed & scorned, put in the stocks, & at one point thrown down a well & left to die, only to be rescued by a sympathiser. Judea is eventually invaded by Babylon & many leading people deported. JER chooses to stay among the poor of the land. When a governor appointed by the Babylonians is assassinated, many flee to Egypt to escape retribution. JER & his loyal scribe, Baruch are kidnapped & taken with them. Legend has it JER is assassinated there. The book JER consists of verse & prose & has been edited in the making. Its chronology isn’t always consistent. 

Some ‘stand-out’ passages that may help us grasp JER’s message & its importance are as follows: 

2:13 lends itself later to Jesus’ & S. John’s theme of ‘living water’. 7:1-15 (cf MT21:12+) form a background to Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple. 13:1-14 contains one of JER’s symbolic actions or acted parables about a cloth, & a word-picture about wine flasks. 15:15+ is a reflection by JER on his sufferings relevant to some who question why they have to put up with things others don’t! 17:5-11 is a little group of wise sayings. 18 & 19 begin with acted parables, about pottery. 22:13+ is a plea for social concern, & much of 23 concerns good & bad shepherding reflected in Jesus’ use of shepherding as a metaphor for caring. 24 is a kind of acted parable about figs, but in the form of a vision. 25 begins with a vision about a cup, raises the threat of Babylon acting as God’s judgment on Israel & then introduces prophecies against nations. By some process, though, these have become placed later in the book (CH.46-51). In 26 JER is arrested & tried in a setting very reminiscent of that of Jesus, but escapes with his life. 27 starts with another acted parable, this time about yokes for rulers. Jesus (cf. MT11:28-9) makes a very different offer concerning a yoke. 30-33 offer consolation to the people like that offered by DT-IS (cf. IS 40-55, see Ep.54) to captives in Babylon about the same time. In 36 JER’s scribe, Baruch writes a scroll at JER’s dictation & then reads it in the Temple, getting JER into further trouble. 38 tells of the treatment of JER at the hands of enemies who throw him into a well only to have him rescued by supporters ordered to do so by king Zedekiah. 39 reports the taking of Jerusalem by the Babylonians (BC 587) which changes the Hebrew people for ever. 46-51 contain prophecies against various nations. 52 is a summary of history (cf. 2K24:18 - 25:30).        

[1] As so often the NJB has excellent notes. [2] cf MT 16:13-14 where some think Jesus may be Jeremiah returned.

LAMENTATIONS

We don’t know who wrote these five short poems, exactly what their title calls them, probably written after the fall of Jerusalem, & ever since associated with JER. Jewish folk may still chant them to commemorate the destruction of the Temple. Read - or chant - them aloud for best effect.

And there’s more to come…57…Ezekiel: Priest & Prophet

Q: How does Jesus manage to put a more positive ‘spin’ on repentance, reform, etc?   

55...THE THIRD MAN...'TRITO' ISAIAH

Based on Isaiah (IS) CH.56-65...Read more there

If you haven't done so already, it's suggested you read EP.52 for the background to the three 'Isaiah's & their unravelling. 'Trito' IS (TR-IS) may have been a collective figure, perhaps a group of small 'p' prophets who are or have been disciples of DT-IS. Like DT-IS, the setting is later than that of 1st IS. The passages selected for comment here are, as in EP.54, passages referred to in the Gospels. Here again we are dealing almost entirely with poetry, so let’s enjoy it, & perhaps try reading aloud for better effect?

In 56:7 [cf. MK 11:17] we find a widening of the scope of YHWH God's concern from the more narrowly Hebrew centred one we've become familiar with. Is this a development following the Hebrews' recent exposure to other nations, both for ill & good? It certainly stakes YHWH's claim beyond its former boundaries. History hasn't always shown this new attitude to be true, or fulfilled, any more than other peoples & other religions have widened their horizons to embrace others & their religions. The gist of 56:1-7 is re-stated in v.8 [cf. JN 10:16]. Then, in 59: 9-10 we have a prophetic foreshadowing of JN 8:12 & Jesus' (& John's) contrasting light with darkness.

The primary thrust of 60:6 [cf. MT 2] is a foreshadowing of a 'new Jerusalem', which will indeed arise after the return of exiles from Babylon. This is a follow-on from the theme of 'consolation' we've seen in DT-IS, with Jerusalem becoming a hub for trade & prosperity. In a longer-term sense it came to be seen as fore-telling gifts brought to the young child Jesus by visitors from afar. 61:1-2 picks up the theme of ‘consolation’ again, a theme we’ve already met in DT IS. The Prophet’s words echo down the years & are used by Jesus himself in the synagogue of his home town of Nazareth [cf. LK4:16+] to describe the kind of ministry he comes to bring. (Jesus leaves out the bit about vengeance!)

66:1-2 As well as reflecting Jesus’ own attitudes, provides Stephen with the basis for his defence when he is brought before the Sanhedrin [cf. AC7:49] In both cases it shows up the sharp differences between the ‘official’ Hebrew viewpoint & the new understandings of God Jesus & his followers build on older prophetic foundations [cf.JN16:1-4]. Still in 66, vv.18+ may well be a later addition in what is called an ‘apocalyptic’ [N.1] style centring on the end of the world [cf. REV]. Apocalyptic however has often been used as an   escape mechanism from the realities of living in God’s present time, whenever that is! God is always the God of Now, rather than Then, or When! And there’s more too come…56: Jeremiah - Not All Doom & Gloom. 

[N.1] Apocalyptic is about the revealing of things hidden from others.

Q: How conscious are we of the need for newer faith-understandings built on old? 

                                              54...A SECOND ('DEUTERO') 'ISAIAH'

Based on Isaiah CH. 40-55...Read more there 

 You will find background to DT-IS in Ep.52 if you haven't already visited there. It is now after 586BC when Jerusalem has been destroyed & many of its leading people deported to Babylon. DT-IS knows about Cyrus [CH.41] the Persian ruler who will defeat the Babylonians & set the Hebrews free to return to Palestine if they so wish (beginning in 538) so he's probably writing not long before that, maybe in the 540s.  It's not the original Isaiah continuing the story because of this dating; nor does his name appear as it has in earlier chapters. Like '1st' IS, DT-IS is a fine poet, & bequeaths us some of the finest poetry in the Scriptures. (Try reading it aloud.) The early  part of this new Prophet's work is known as the 'Book of Consolation' because of the hope he holds out for the captive Hebrews & their future. 40 tells of God's compassion for His displaced & long-suffering people. There are better things to come though this involves the people getting back on track in their understanding of God's greatness & their recognizing this in their behaviour towards God & each other. Though Cyrus remains unnamed till the end of 44, people surely come to know who is being referred to.

THE SERVANT SONGS 

Central to DT-IS' work are four 'Servant Songs' which we will look at more closely. 42:1-4 (some think to as far as v.9) brings us to the 1st of the Servant Songs.Who is this Servant? We don't know! Even DT-IS himself has been suggested, but it seems more likely the Hebrew people are to consider themselves a corporate servant of YHWH God & each other. These songs remain meaningful to our Hebrew friends in the light of their troubled journeyings down the years. Later, the Christian Church comes to see this Servant as pre-figuring Jesus because of the way so much of the prophecy is fulfilled in Him & by Him, not least in His Passion, Death, & Resurrection. To get the whole picture it helps to understand Jesus' 'portrayal' of this kind of Servant-Messiah is precisely what caused many not to believe in Him. They seem to have come to expect not a Messiah who is a Suffering Servant, but an all-conquering One on a charger rather than a miserable donkey! We find the 2nd Servant Song in 49:1-6 (or later), the 3rd in 50: 4-9 (maybe to v.11), & the 4th from 52:13 - 53:12. This last spells out in great detail the appearance & fate of the Servant, corporate or Personal. 53 ends on a note of Good News the Servant will not experience till he has fully undertaken & seen through to its end his role as chosen Servant of YHWH God.

In between & after these Songs & after they conclude we find a mixed bag of prophecies relating to the Hebrew people, their place in God's plan, their responsibilities as a result of that, & the place & fate of other nations too. During this period monotheism comes into sharper focus. YHWH is not, & is not to be just one among other gods on offer [see 43, 44, & 45:20+]. The Hebrews have faced & often faced-down the gods of neighbouring peoples over many years - yet YHWH hasn't always won out. Now in their experience of defeat & captivity, YHWH is their only hope. Not just in Egypt hundreds of years before, followed by the Exodus, but now, too, in their more recent predicaments of being at the mercy of & under the control of successive Assyrian, Babylonian, & Persian empires & their gods. There burns deep within them their being removed from & deprived of the Temple at the heart of Yahwism, & the very destruction of that Temple (by the Babylonians) 50 or so years earlier. 48:20-22, & 49 hold out the promise of another Exodus, with the blessings that will bring spelled out in what follows, climaxing in 55 with a magnificent outburst of invitation, praise, & the promise of renewal. DT-IS is both a realist & an optimist & through him God seeks to console, re-assure, re-shape & re-channel the Hebrew people during what's happening to them so that when they are freed by Cyrus they will become a more faithful servant nation than they have been before. And that's another story...55:THE THIRD MAN...'TRITO'-ISAIAHQ: Is servant-hood more a despised subservience or chore than a godly calling nowadays?  



             





 40:3 cf MK1:2-3   41:8-9 cf LK1:54   42:1-4 or 9?    42:1 cf MK 1:11 & 9:7   42:7 cf LK4:18-19    44:2 cf MK1:11 & 9:7   44:3 cf JN7:38-9     49:1-6(9)   50:4-9(10-11)   52:10 cf LK2:31   52:13 -53:12   53:1 cf JN 12:38    53:4 cf MT 8:17   53:12 cf LK22:37    54:13 cf JN6:45