Week Six: Abraham and Isaac, Ehud the Left-Handed Judge, Zophar the Naamathite, Loaves and Fishes and Peter
Genesis give us tough stuff to ponder this week. In Chapter 20 Abraham is again in a foreign land and passes Sarah off as his sister so as not to be executed by the ruler, this time a King named Abimelech. Finally we get to the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham when Sarah conceives a son who is named Isaac. God tells Abraham "through Isaac your offspring will be named (Gen 21:12)." No longer needed as an heir, Ishmael and Hagar are given the boot, but God protects them in the dessert and provides water for them. God assures Hagar about Ishmael: "I will make him into a great nation (21:18 )." What follows in the next two chapters is the story of God telling Abraham to make a sacrifice of his only son Isaac on Mount Moriah. After thoroughly testing Abraham's faith, God spares Isaac and provides a lamb for sacrifice instead. This story has always bothered me. Why would a loving God test your faith by telling you to kill your only child? Why would God do this now, after such a long and anxious wait for Abraham's promised heir? Karen Armstrong summarizes this story of Abraham and Isaac and reminds us that living in God's presence requires an arduous struggle that can bring us to the brink of despair.
 |
| Giovanni's "Abraham and Isaac" |
This week we start the Book of Judges. This book covers the time after Joshua's death until the rise of the monarchy under Samuel (about 1050 B.C.) - a period of 125 to 150 years. There is a repetitive pattern to the stories in this book. First, the people abandon the Lord. Second, God punishes them by raising up a foreign power to oppress them. Third, the people cry out to God for deliverance from their oppressor. Finally, God raises up a deliverer (or Judge) for them. The author of the Book of Judges is traditionally thought to be Samuel. In Chapter 1 the tribes of Judah and Simeon are the first to attack the Canaanites but achieve an incomplete conquest. In the following chapters we see the Israelites repeat the pattern noted above and come under the control of a series of peoples. They are rescued by a series of Judges, the first of whom is Othniel and then Ehud. Ehud happens to be left handed and cleverly hides a sword on his right thigh when he visits an unsuspecting Eglon, King of Moab. There is a brutal victory in Verse 20 where Ehud tells Eglon ""I have a message from God for you' and took a sword from his right thigh and thrust in into his belly." The only female Judge is Deborah, a prophetess, who teams with Barak, a military leader to defeat the Canaanites.
 |
| Ehud, before he plunges the sword into the belly of Eglon, King of Moab |
The Psalms this week are all prayers. In Psalm 15 the psalmist asks: "O Lord, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy hill? (Verse 1)." The conclusion of Psalm 16 is: "You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy (Verse 11)." Psalm 17 is a prayer for deliverance from personal enemies.
Job's second friend, Zophar the Naamathite, chimes in in Chapter 11. He appears twice (here and in Chapter 20) and is the first to accuse Job directly of wickedness: "Know then that God exacts of you less than your guilt deserves (Job 11:6)." Job replies in Chapter 12 that the Lord himself has done this and that he does this kind of thing to many people (again resonating the story of Sodom and Gomorrah from last week): "He deprives of speech those who are trusted and takes away the discernment of the elders (12:20)." Job needs to find a more supportive group of friends it seems.
 | |
| Job and His Three Friends from the Kiev Psalter (1397) |
Isaiah returns to the challenges of his times after his foray into eschatology in chapters 23 through 28. Asimov explains that these chapters deal with the Judean rebellion against Assyria in about 705 B.C. He assures us that the "Ariel" referred to in Chapter 29 is most certainly Jerusalem and the siege referenced here is retold later in Isaiah (chapters 36 through 39) as well as in the Second Book of Kings. Isaiah encourages the Judeans to rely on God ("For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him (Is 30:18)." He also reminds them that relying on humans (in this case, Egyptians) as their main ally (as opposed to the Lord): "For Egypt's help is worthless and empty (Is 30:7)" and "The Assyrians will be terror-stricken at the voice of the Lord, when he strikes with his rod (Is 30:31)." In Chapter 32 complacent women are warned of disaster and in Chapter 33 they come around to this thinking : "O Lord, be gracious to us; we wait for you. Be our arm every morning, our salvation in the time of trouble... For the Lord is our judge; the Lord is our lawgiver; the Lord is our King; he will save us (33:2 and 33:22)."
Matthew has a lot of familiar stories this week as well as, for me anyway, one surprise. I never realized there were two "loaves and fishes" stories! Chapter 14 begins with the murder of John the Baptist in prison. Jesus then travels and preaches to a large crowd who need to be fed. He multiples a few fish and loaves of bread and 5,000 people are fed. Jesus walking on water comes next, along with Peter's panic attack when he tries the same feat. In Matt 14:31 "Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, 'You of little faith, why did you doubt?'" In Chapter 15 the Pharisees chastise Jesus regarding the law of cleanliness and Jesus replies: "And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? (Matt 15:3)" Lines of conflict are being drawn. Jesus then tells his disciples: "Let them alone; the are the blind guides of the blind (Matt 15:14)." Jesus then cures the daughter of a Canaanite woman (not a Jew) because of her great faith. The second loaves and fishes story comes at the end of Chapter 15. This time 4,000 people are fed and seven baskets of left-overs are collected. In Chapter 16 Jesus reveals more of his true identity. In 16:15-16 Jesus responds to this question from his disciples with "But who do you say I am?" Simon replies "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus goes further: "Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you, but my father in heaven." Asimov finds the story of the loaves and the fishes intriguing in that it is unique. It is the only miracle narrative that is described in similar terms in all four gospels. Asimov also feels that the interchange between Jesus and Peter in Chapter 16 is "the turning point of the gospel. Jesus greeted the assurance joyfully. After all, Peter's confidence in his Messiah-hood could not come from his mission's worldly success, which was, at the moment nonexistent. It could only be inspired by heaven."
Also of great significance, particularly for Roman Catholics, is that Jesus tells Peter in this chapter that "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt 16:18)." Peter later becomes bishop of Rome and the line of succession in that role became the Papacy. The Roman Catholic doctrine of Papal Supremacy follows from this and later, the doctrine of the Infallibility of the Pope.
 |
| Jesus and Peter |
Also of great significance, particularly for Roman Catholics, is that Jesus tells Peter in this chapter that "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt 16:18)." Peter later becomes bishop of Rome and the line of succession in that role became the Papacy. The Roman Catholic doctrine of Papal Supremacy follows from this and later, the doctrine of the Infallibility of the Pope.
No comments:
Post a Comment