Genesis concludes this week in a flurry of activity surrounding the death of Jacob. In chapter 48 Jacob, sensing the nearness of death, accepts and blesses Joseph's two sons. He elevates the younger brother Ephraim over Manasseh, mirroring the similar situation with Isaac, Esau and Jacob. In chapter 49 Jacob blesses all of his sons individually: "All these are the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them when he blessed them, blessing each one of them with a suitable blessing (Gen 49:28)." In Chapter 50 Joseph and his brothers return Jacob's embalmed body back to Canaan to fulfill their father's wish to be buried next to Leah in the family tomb in Hebron. All of Jacob's sons return to Egypt after the burial and Joseph's brothers again worry that he will bring retribution after their father's death, but Joseph continues to reassure them. The book concludes with Joseph's death. Before he dies, however, he makes his brothers swear to return to Canaan saying: "But God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob (Gen 50:24)." Karen Armstrong, in In the Beginning, very concisely summarizes the themes of Genesis. She states that the Book of Genesis reminds us that there is no final certainty. Nobody is allowed to have the last word. Genesis offers few consistent doctrines. Its teachings are frequently contradictory. Genesis points out that we cannot understand or predict God's behavior. The sacred reality must always remain an "ineffable mystery." The one important theme of this book is survival. Armstrong states on page 118: "The authors do not seem to think that moral perfection is possible. Instead, the show us individuals struggling, like Jacob, for insight and the state which the call blessing." Armstrong also notes that in Genesis, the most memorable moments of blessing and revelation come from dynamic encounters with others.
 |
| 15th Century Depiction of the Burial of Jacob |
In Chapters 11 through 15 of 1 Samuel there is a continuing conflict between Samuel and Saul. In Chapter 11 Saul defeats the Ammonites and then was universally accepted as king of Israel. He was publicly acclaimed at Gilgal. Samuel tells the Israelites in Chapter 12, however, that they have displeased God by asking for a king and there is conflict over Saul's performance of priestly duties in the form of animal sacrifices. Saul tells the people "Do not be afraid, you have done all of this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart (1 Samuel 12:20); and "The Lord will not cast away his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you a people for himself (! Samuel 12:22)." Chapters 13 and 14 continue military victories for Saul and also his son Jonathon. Asimov points out that the persistent tension between Samuel and Saul reaches a climax regarding the battle with the Amalekites in Chapter 15. Samuel is angry that Saul spares both the king of the Amelakites (Agab) and many animals which Samuel feels should have been sacrificed to the Lord. Samuel then replaces Saul with a new king.
 |
| Saul in Conflict with Samuel |
Psalm 36 is a prayer of confidence in the Lord. Verses 5 and 6: "Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord." Psalm 37 extols the idea that virtue brings its own reward: "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday (Psalm 37:5-6)." In verse 28 the psalmist continues: "For the Lord loves justice; he will not forsake his saints." Psalm 38 to me is reminiscent of the Book of Job. The psalmist admits his sin, declares his guilt and looks for salvation in the Lord: "My friends and companions stand aloof from my plague (Psalm 39:11)" and "Do not forsake me, O Lord! O my God, be not far rom me! Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation (Psalm 39:21-22)!"
Job consists of two quick chapters this week. In Chapter 25 Bildad the Shuhite cries out that God is all powerful and man is basically wicked and weak and declares: "How then can a man be in the right before God? How can he who is born of a woman be pure (Job 25:4)?" Job retorts in Chapter 26 in a very poetic fashion. He defends God in all of his majesty and power: "The pillars of heaven tremble and are astounded at his rebuke. By his power he stilled the sea (Job 26L11-12)."
The Book of Jeremiah is an interpretation of the history of the fall of Jerusalem in the sixth century B.C. Israel's persistent failure to observe the covenant made with them by the Lord forced him to correct them by sending them into exile in Babylon. Asimov points out that Jeremiah is an unwilling prophet who carried on a mission which was to carry him through more than forty years of tragedy to the final fall of Jerusalem and beyond. Jeremiah is the second major prophet (Isaiah being the first) and there are several features unique to this book. First, there is a series of laments of the prophet which begin at Chapter 11, verse 18. Second, there is a wealth of detail concerning the various trials endured by Jeremiah during his career. The Book of Jeremiah has several themes: rewards and punishment (the recompense for good and evil), faithfulness and finally, disobedience. In Chapter one God calls Jeremiah who notes he is but a child. In Chapter two God states "My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living water ,and dug out cisterns for themselves, cracked cisterns that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13)." God chastises Israel and compares it to an unfaithful wife. The theme of unfaithfulness continues in Chapter 3 and the Lord implies in Chapter 4 that a nation from the north will invade Judah and destroy Jerusalem if the people do not return to him. The Lord continues in Chapter 5: "As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours (Jeremiah 5:19)." God continues to warn that Jerusalem will be besieged and destroyed in Chapter 6.
Mark recounts many of the stories and miracles already presented in Matthew. In Chapter 5 Jesus cures the Gerasene demoniac, casting out thousands of unclean spirits into swine who then dash into the water and drown. Jesus raises Jairus' daughter from the dead. Asimov points out that although this story appears in all three synoptic Gospels, Mark is the only one which presents Jesus' words to the girl (in Aramaic): "Talitha cumi", translated as I say unto thee, rise! (Mark 5:41)" In Chapter 6 Herod hears of Jesus' miracles and fears that John the Baptist has been raised. There is a recounting of Herod's execution of John the Baptist. Accounts of the loaves and the fishes and Jesus calming the stormy waters follows. Jesus and the apostles then go to Gennesaret and "wherever He went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that they might touch even the fringe of hHis cloak; ald all who touched it were healed. (Mark 6:56)."
 |
| Jesus Cures the Gerosene Demoniac |
No comments:
Post a Comment