Old Testament for February 12, 2023

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Moses addresses the people of Israel with the “Second Law” (the literal meaning of Deuteronomy). This law is a copy of the original law delivered decades earlier at Sinai, with some augmentations.

We are reminded that the people of Israel have been a nomadic nation for forty years in the Wilderness of Sinai after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt.  Now, they have fought their way through hostile nations to the east bank of the Jordan River, in the shadow of Mount Pisgah.  They are on the eve of entering into the promised land of Canaan.

The term “Deuteronomic Theology” is relevant to our lectionary passage.  Part of this theological understanding is that Israel has been chosen by Yahweh as his covenant people.  This covenant means that Yahweh will be their God, and they will be his people, and will keep his law and commandments.  Another aspect of this Deuteronomic Theology is the notion that if Israel faithfully obeys the law, they will be blessed; if they don’t, they will be cursed.

There is a polarizing, binary set of alternatives that are presented to Israel:

Behold, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and evil.

The choice for life and prosperity requires this:

to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.

There are a series of interconnecting steps in this process toward blessing:

• Love Yahweh.
• How are they to love Yahweh? Walk in his ways.
• How are they to walk in his ways? Obey his law.
• What will result? Life, fertility, land and blessing.

On the other hand, if their heart turns away from loving Yahweh and walking in his ways, it seems presupposed that they will be worshiping something — and that something will be other gods.  The result will be the reverse of all the blessings that are promised — they will perish and their days will be short.

Moses is invoking heaven and earth as witnesses to this solemn covenant.  Heaven and earth signifies the complete realm of creation, visible and invisible, spiritual and material.  Moses implores his people:

Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants; to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

This covenant, and the possession of the land of Canaan, is the fulfillment of the ancient promises that Yahweh had originally made to Abraham some 600 years earlier (Genesis 12:7).

APPLY:  

God’s covenant with his people is peculiar.  God is almighty, and holds all the cards.  Human beings, and our very existence, are contingent upon God’s favor and mercy.

God owes us nothing; we owe God everything.  And yet, God condescends to make covenants with human beings, and makes promises that if we are faithful and obedient to him, we will be blessed.

And if we are disobedient to God, we will suffer the consequences.  Again, I think that this is not because God is a capricious, punitive dictator.  Rather, we are blessed — or cursed — because God knows what is best for us.

If we love God, and we choose to walk in his ways, our lifestyle conforms to what we might call God’s “best practices” for our lives.  Chances are very good that if our lifestyle is “Biblical,” we will be faithful in our relationships, honest, healthy, and good stewards of our resources.

Conversely, a life that resists God’s laws and commandments is far more likely to experience unfaithfulness in relationships, the fruits of dishonesty, and other serious consequences.

A life that is devoted to loving God, walking with God, and obeying his commandments is more likely to be more fulfilled and at peace, internally and externally.

RESPOND: 

One of the prayers from my own tradition is known as John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer.  This prayer is especially precious to me, and I repeat it often.

It is a reminder to me that God is holy, transcendent, and has absolute power; and that I am a sinner saved by grace, and that my very existence is contingent upon him.  So, in this prayer, I surrender completely to God, with the confidence that God loves me and cares for me.

This relationship between God and ourselves is at the heart of the concept of covenant.  I can think of no more appropriate closing prayer than Wesley’s prayer:

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

PHOTOS:
“John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer”

Old Testament for January 9, 2022

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Isaiah 43:1-7 
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage is a word of hope to Israel in a time of duress.  But for the modern reader, it does pose a few questions.

The references that Isaiah makes in this passage seem to relate to a time after Judah has been conquered by the Babylonians, and are in exile.

Many Old Testament scholars believe that this passage was written by an author they call “Second Isaiah,” who was writing these oracles after the exile of Judah following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.  They believe that this prophet wrote Isaiah 40-55, based on the descriptions of the exile and the hope for a return.

But the original Isaiah lived and wrote beginning about 740 B.C., two centuries prior to the exile.

This isn’t the place for a debate about the claims of modern scholarship and the conflict with traditional views of Scripture.  However, we might want to pose one question to consider — if we presuppose that God is capable of communicating future events by means of oracles to a prophet, is it conceivable that the same Isaiah who wrote the first 39 chapters also wrote Isaiah 40-55, as well as Isaiah 56-66?  Disbelief in such predictions of the future presupposes that prophecies about the future are impossible — which undermines the very foundation of belief in a supernatural God.

The modern scholar might respond this way — what difference does it make who wrote the oracles, and when?  What matters is the content of the oracles, they might say.

As an analogy, the modern scholar might argue that it doesn’t matter whether the plays attributed to Shakespeare were really written by him, or by Christopher Marlowe or someone else.  What really matters is the substance of the plays themselves.

The reader must decide these issues for him/herself.  As we read today’s Scripture, what ultimately matters is that the Lord is reaffirming his promises to his people.

The people of Israel have been brought into existence by the Lord, beginning with the origin stories of the patriarchs like Jacob in Genesis.

What is most significant about this is the personal nature of the relationship between the Lord and his people:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.

In the Hebrew world-view, naming conveys a personal sense of identity and recognition.  Israel’s identity is closely related to their intimate relationship with their God.

And the Lord promises protection from all threats:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.

There is a sense of national exceptionalism in this passage, meaning that Israel is uniquely special to the Lord. Egypt and Ethiopia and Seba are given in ransom for the children of Israel.  Israel is precious in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord declares:

I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.

And, once again, we see the theme of the return from exile:

Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
 I will say to the north, “Give them up,”
and to the south, “Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

One thing is quite true — whenever the prophecy was made, and whoever made it, it did come to pass.  Cyrus, the king of Persia, passed an edict in 538 B.C., permitting the Jews to return from their exile.

APPLY:  

This seems a curious passage for the lectionary Scripture on Baptism of Our Lord Sunday in the liturgical year.

Water and fire here are not symbols of cleansing and purification — they are perils through which Israel must pass:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.

This is a caution to us that we shouldn’t sanitize baptism too much.  It isn’t merely applying a little water to the head of an infant for the pleasure of adoring family members.  Baptism is a sign of death — death to sin that we might be raised to life.

The same water that can cleanse us can also drown us!  Ironically, God delivers us from the threat through the threat.

RESPOND: 

I read these words from Isaiah and they remind me of one of my favorite hymns — How Firm a Foundation. 

These verses seem to be a direct parallel:

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

It strikes me that we are not guaranteed that there will be no deep waters, rivers of woe, or fiery trials.  Those experiences will come in our lives.  However, we are assured that God will use those experiences to sanctify and purify us.

Lord, I am aware that my baptism is not a magical talisman that protects me from the perils of life.  It is my reminder that you will be with me no matter what happens, and that ultimately you will bring me home.  Thank you for your promises!  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Isaiah 43:1a-2a” by Sapphire Dream Photography is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for February 16, 2020

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Moses addresses the people of Israel with the “Second Law” (the literal meaning of Deuteronomy).  This law is a copy of the original law delivered decades earlier at Sinai, with some augmentations.

We are reminded that the people of Israel have been a nomadic nation for forty years in the Wilderness of Sinai after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt.  Now, they have fought their way through hostile nations to the east bank of the Jordan River, in the shadow of Mount Pisgah.  They are on the eve of entering into the promised land of Canaan.

The term “Deuteronomic Theology” is relevant to our lectionary passage.  Part of this theological understanding is that Israel has been chosen by Yahweh as his covenant people.  This covenant means that Yahweh will be their God, and they will be his people, and will keep his law and commandments.  Another aspect of this Deuteronomic Theology is the notion that if Israel faithfully obeys the law, they will be blessed; if they don’t, they will be cursed.

There is a polarizing, binary set of alternatives that are presented to Israel:

Behold, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and evil.

The choice for life and prosperity requires this:

to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.

There are a series of interconnecting steps in this process toward blessing:

• Love Yahweh.
• How are they to love Yahweh? walk in his ways.
• How are they to walk in his ways? Obey his law.
• What will result? Life, fertility, land and blessing.

On the other hand, if their heart turns away from loving Yahweh and walking in his ways, it seems presupposed that they will be worshiping something — and that something will be other gods.  The result will be the reverse of all the blessings that are promised — they will perish and their days will be short.

Moses is invoking heaven and earth as witnesses to this solemn covenant.  Heaven and earth signifies the complete realm of creation, visible and invisible, spiritual and material.  Moses implores his people:

Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants; to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

This covenant, and the possession of the land of Canaan, is the fulfillment of the ancient promises that Yahweh had originally made to Abraham some 600 years earlier (Genesis 12:7).

APPLY:  

God’s covenant with his people is peculiar.  God is almighty, and holds all the cards.  Human beings, and our very existence, are contingent upon God’s favor and mercy.

God owes us nothing; we owe God everything.  And yet, God condescends to make covenants with human beings, and makes promises that if we are faithful and obedient to him, we will be blessed.

And if we are disobedient to God, we will suffer the consequences.  Again, I think that this is not because God is a capricious, punitive dictator.  Rather, we are blessed — or cursed — because God knows what is best for us.

If we love God, and we choose to walk in his ways, our lifestyle conforms to what we might call God’s “best practices” for our lives.  Chances are very good that if our lifestyle is “Biblical,” we will be faithful in our relationships, honest, healthy, and good stewards of our resources.

Conversely, a life that resists God’s laws and commandments is far more likely to experience unfaithfulness in relationships, the fruits of dishonesty, and other serious consequences.

A life that is devoted to loving God, walking with God, and obeying his commandments is more likely be more fulfilled and at peace, internally and externally.

RESPOND: 

One of the prayers from my own tradition is known as John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer.  This prayer is especially precious to me, and I repeat it often.

It is a reminder to me that God is holy, transcendent and has absolute power, and that I am a sinner saved by grace, and that my very existence is contingent upon him.  So, in this prayer, I surrender completely to God, with the confidence that God loves me and cares for me.

This relationship between God and ourselves is at the heart of the concept of covenant.  I can think of no more appropriate closing prayer than Wesley’s prayer:

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

PHOTOS:
“John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer”

Old Testament for January 13, 2019

START WITH SCRIPTURE:
Isaiah 43:1-7 
CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

This passage is a word of hope to Israel in a time of duress.  But for the modern reader, it does pose a few questions.

The references that Isaiah makes in this passage seem to relate to a time after Judah has been conquered by the Babylonians, and are in exile.

Many Old Testament scholars believe that this passage was written by an author they call “Second Isaiah,” who was writing these oracles after the exile of Judah following the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.  They believe that this prophet wrote Isaiah 40-55, based on the descriptions of the exile and the hope for a return.

But the original Isaiah lived and wrote beginning about 740 B.C., two centuries prior to the exile.

This isn’t the place for a debate about the claims of modern scholarship and the conflict with traditional views of Scripture.  However, we might want to pose one question to consider — if we presuppose that God is capable of communicating future events by means of oracles to a prophet, is it conceivable that the same Isaiah who wrote the first 39 chapters also wrote Isaiah 40-55, as well as Isaiah 56-66?  Disbelief in such predictions of the future presupposes that prophecies about the future are impossible — which undermines the very foundation of belief in a supernatural God.

The modern scholar might respond this way — what difference does it make who wrote the oracles, and when?  What matters is the content of the oracles, they might say.

As an analogy, the modern scholar might argue that it doesn’t matter whether the plays attributed to Shakespeare were really written by him, or by Christopher Marlowe or someone else.  What really matters is the substance of the plays themselves.

The reader must decide these issues for him/herself.  As we read today’s Scripture, what ultimately matters is that the Lord is reaffirming his promises to his people.

The people of  Israel have been brought into existence by the Lord, beginning with the origin stories of the patriarchs like Jacob in Genesis.

What is most significant about this is the personal nature of the relationship between the Lord and his people:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.

In the Hebrew world-view, naming conveys a personal sense of identity and recognition.  Israel’s identity is closely related to their intimate relationship with their God.

And the Lord promises protection from all threats:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.

There is a sense of national exceptionalism in this passage, meaning that Israel is uniquely special to the Lord. Egypt and Ethiopia and Seba are given in ransom for the children of Israel.  Israel is precious in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord declares:

I give people in return for you,
nations in exchange for your life.

And, once again, we see the theme of  the return from exile:

Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
 I will say to the north, “Give them up,”
and to the south, “Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made.”

One thing is quite true — whenever the prophecy was made, and whoever made it, it did come to pass.  Cyrus, the king of Persia, passed an edict in 538 B.C., permitting the Jews to return from their exile.

APPLY:  

This seems a curious passage for the lectionary scripture on Baptism of Our Lord Sunday in the liturgical year.

Water and fire here are not symbols of cleansing and purification — they are perils through which Israel must pass:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;
when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,
and the flame shall not consume you.

This is a caution to us that we shouldn’t sanitize baptism too much.  It isn’t merely applying a little water to the head of an infant for the pleasure of adoring family members.  Baptism is a sign of death — death to sin that we might be raised to life.

The same water that can cleanse us can also drown us!  Ironically, God delivers us from the threat through the threat.

RESPOND: 

I read these words from Isaiah and they remind me of one of my favorite hymns — How Firm a Foundation. 

These verses seem to be a direct parallel:

When through the deep waters I call thee to go,
The rivers of woe shall not thee overflow;
For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless,
And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

It strikes me that we are not guaranteed that there will be no deep waters, rivers of woe, or fiery trials.  Those experiences will come in our lives.  However, we are assured that God will use those experiences to sanctify and purify us.

Lord, I am aware that my baptism is not a magical talisman that protects me from the perils of life.  It is my reminder that you will be with me no matter what happens, and that ultimately you will bring me home.  Thank you for your promises!  Amen. 

PHOTOS:
“Isaiah 43:1a-2a” by Sapphire Dream Photography is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic license.

Old Testament for February 12, 2017

Start with Scripture:

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

CLICK HERE TO READ SCRIPTURE ON BIBLEGATEWAY.COM

OBSERVE:

Moses addresses the people of Israel with the “Second Law” (the literal meaning of Deuteronomy).  This law is a copy of the original law delivered decades earlier at Sinai, with some augmentations.

We are reminded that the people of Israel have been a nomadic nation for forty years in the Wilderness of Sinai after they were delivered from slavery in Egypt.  Now, they have fought their way through hostile nations to the east bank of the Jordan River, in the shadow of Mount Pisgah.  They are on the eve of entering into the promised land of Canaan.

The term “Deuteronomic Theology” is relevant to our lectionary passage.  Part of this theological understanding is that Israel has been chosen by Yahweh as his covenant people.  This covenant means that Yahweh will be their God, and they will be his people, and will keep his law and commandments.  Another aspect of this Deuteronomic Theology is the notion that if Israel faithfully obeys the law, they will be blessed; if they don’t, they will be cursed.

There is a polarizing, binary set of alternatives that are presented to Israel:

Behold, I have set before you today life and prosperity, and death and evil.

The choice for life and prosperity requires this:

to love Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, that you may live and multiply, and that Yahweh your God may bless you in the land where you go in to possess it.

There are a series of interconnecting steps in this process toward blessing:

• Love Yahweh.
• How are they to love Yahweh? walk in his ways.
• How are they to walk in his ways? Obey his law.
• What will result? Life, fertility, land and blessing.

On the other hand, if their heart turns away from loving Yahweh and walking in his ways, it seems presupposed that they will be worshiping something — and that something will be other gods.  The result will be the reverse of all the blessings that are promised — they will perish and their days will be short.

Moses is invoking heaven and earth as witnesses to this solemn covenant.  Heaven and earth signifies the complete realm of creation, visible and invisible, spiritual and material.  Moses implores his people:

Therefore choose life, that you may live, you and your descendants; to love Yahweh your God, to obey his voice, and to cling to him; for he is your life, and the length of your days; that you may dwell in the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

This covenant, and the possession of the land of Canaan, is the fulfillment of the ancient promises that Yahweh had originally made to Abraham some 600 years earlier (Genesis 12:7).

APPLY:  

God’s covenant with his people is peculiar.  God is almighty, and holds all the cards.  Human beings, and our very existence, are contingent upon God’s favor and mercy.

God owes us nothing; we owe God everything.  And yet, God condescends to make covenants with human beings, and makes promises that if we are faithful and obedient to him, we will be blessed.

And if we are disobedient to God, we will suffer the consequences.  Again, I think that this is not because God is a capricious, punitive dictator.  Rather, we are blessed — or cursed — because God knows what is best for us.

If we love God, and we choose to walk in his ways, our lifestyle conforms to what we might call God’s “best practices” for our lives.  Chances are very good that if our lifestyle is “Biblical,” we will be faithful in our relationships, honest, healthy, and good stewards of our resources.

Conversely, a life that resists God’s laws and commandments is far more likely to experience unfaithfulness in relationships, the fruits of dishonesty, and other serious consequences.

A life that is devoted to loving God, walking with God, and obeying his commandments is more likely be more fulfilled and at peace, internally and externally.

RESPOND: 

One of the prayers from my own tradition is known as John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer.  This prayer is especially precious to me, and I repeat it often.

It is a reminder to me that God is holy, transcendent and has absolute power, and that I am a sinner saved by grace, and that my very existence is contingent upon him.  So, in this prayer, I surrender completely to God, with the confidence that God loves me and cares for me.

This relationship between God and ourselves is at the heart of the concept of covenant.  I can think of no more appropriate closing prayer than Wesley’s prayer:

I am no longer my own, but thine.
Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt.
Put me to doing, put me to suffering.
Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee,
exalted for thee or brought low for thee.
Let me be full, let me be empty.
Let me have all things, let me have nothing.
I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal.
And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
thou art mine, and I am thine.
So be it.
And the covenant which I have made on earth,
let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.

PHOTOS:
“John Wesley’s Covenant Prayer”