Week 7: Esau and Jacob, Gideon, The Way of Holiness and The Transfiguration

     Week 7:  Esau and Jacob, Gideon, The Way of Holiness and The Transfiguration

     Paul begins to sum up his letter to the Romans by restating some fundamentals.  First, he states: "Owe no one anything, except to love one another;  for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law (Rom 13:8)."   Paul also assumes a certain sense of urgency, anticipating an imminent second coming of the Messiah: "For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers (Rom 13:11)."  In Chapter 14 Paul reminds us that love respects the beliefs and traditions of others: "Who are you to pass judgement on servants of another (Romans 14:4)" and "We do not love to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.  If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die we die to the Lord;  so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's (Rom 14:7-8)."  Finally, Paul reminds the members of the Roman church: "Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Rom 14:23)."

     Genesis gets "curiouser and curiouser."  In Chapter 24 Abraham doesn't want Isaac to marry a Canaanite woman.  He doesn't seem to trust Isaac, so he a servant is sent to find a wife from among Abraham's relatives.  The servant selects Rebekah.  The death of Abraham follows in Chapter 26  and God blesses Isaac.  Isaac and Rebekah have twin boys: Esau, the eldest and Jacob, the younger, who was born "grasping Esau's heel."  God reveals to Rebekah that the favored of the sons is Jacob and Rebekah helps Jacob deceive Isaac on his deathbed.  Isaac gives his blessing, traditionally given to the eldest son, to Jacob, thinking he is giving it to Esau.  Esau is legitimately angry about this turn of events, although he had already in fact disqualified himself as the recipient of God's blessing by marrying a Hittite woman (Judith).

   

Jacob deceives Isaac 

     The cycle of bad Israelite behavior followed by captivity and then deliverance continues in Judges this week.  First comes Gideon, who conquers the Midianites with a smaller army and then tells the Israelites: "I will not rule over you;  the Lord will rule over you (Judges 8:23)."  However, "As soon as Gideon died the Israelites relapsed and prostituted themselves with the Baals (Judges 8:33)."  Abimelech, the disinherited son of Gideon then seizes the royal dignity which Gideon had rejected, kills all of his rivals and assumes the throne, ruling for three years.  God sends an evil spirit and Abimelech is killed.  More bad behavior follows from the Israelites and they are "sold into the hands of the Philistines."  Then follows the story of Jephthah, a mighty warrior who was the son of a prostitute.  The Israelites select him to lead them.  Jephthah promises God to sacrifice the first living thing he sees leaving his home in exchange for a victory and, unfortunately for Jephthah, this winds up being his daughter, his only child.

     Psalm 18 has the distinction of being the longest of all 150 psalms.  In it a king gives thanks for victory in battle:  "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.  My God, my rock in whom I take refuge (Ps 18:2)."  Further: "It is you who light up my lamp;  the Lord, my God, lights up my darkness.  By you I can crush a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall (Ps 18:28)."  Psalm 19 praises God as the Creator: "The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the firmament proclaims his handiwork (Ps 19:1)."  Psalm 20 is another prayer for victory in battle.

     Job has had about enough of his friends advice.  In Chapter 13 Job makes a plea for the opportunity to present his case to God.  "But I would speak to the Almighty, and I desire to argue my case with God (Job 13:13)."  He lets off a bit of steam to his friends in Verse 13:12: "Your maxims are proverbs of ashes, your defenses are defenses of clay."  Job begins to despair: "See he will kill me;  I have no hope but I will defend my ways to his face. (Job 13:15)" but then rallies:  "I have indeed prepared my case;  I know that I shall be vindicated (Job 13:18)."  Chapter 14 is a statement or summary of the human condition, and concludes: "But the mountain falls and crumbles away, and the rock is removed from its place;  the waters wear away the stones;  the torrents wash away ther soil of the earth;  so you destroy the hope of mortals (Job 14:18)."

     The first portion of Isaiah concludes with a judgement of the nations: "For the Lord has a day of vengeance, a year of recompense for the cause of Zion (Is 34:8)" and "Behold you God will come with vengeance with the recompense of God.  He will come and save you (Is 35:4)."  In the eighth verse we are told: "And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the Way of Holiness;  the unclean shall not pass over it.  It shall belong to those who walk on the way."  The Assyrians then invade Judah and Hezekiah seeks help from Isaiah to overthrow them.  Hezekiah prays to God for deliverance from the Assyrians: "So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord (Is 37:20)."  Hezekiah becomes deathly ill, but the Lord makes him well and adds fifteen years to his life because of his prayer.  Hezekiah proclaims: "There will be peace and secruity in my days (Is 39:8)."

     Chapter 17 of Matthew contains the account of "The Transfiguration" of Jesus.  He takes Peter, James and John to a high mountain where they see a vision of Jesus with Moses and Elijah, securing Jesus' position as the Messiah.  This event is depicted in the stained glass window in the front of our church, First Presbyterian, Lynchburg, Virginia:

Following this we see Jesus heal an epileptic child after his followers have failed to do so.  In Chapter 18 Jesus discusses humility, reminding us that "Whoever becomes humble like a child is the greatest in heaven (Matt 18:4)."  This chapter also has the story of the shepherd who leaves 99 of his sheep untended while he searches for the one which is lost.  As an aside, I once belonged to a breakfast club in Richmond with my father-in-law which was known as "The Ninety and Nine Breakfast Club".  This chapter concludes with the familiar and often repeated admonition from Jesus: "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them (Matt 18:20)."    Chapter 19 has a fairly definitive statement on divorce: "Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate (Matt 19:6)."   What follows are Jesus' difficult statements regarding wealth.  The first is when he tells the rich young man "Go, sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven;  then come, follow me (Matt 19:21)."  Even more troublesome is Matt 19:24: "Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle then for someone who is rich to enter the Kingdom of God."  This chapter concludes with another of my father's favorite Scripture quotes (not confined to being repeated at funerals): "But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first (Matt 19:30)."