Week 5: Faith, Abram/Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah, Eschatology and Parables

 

"The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah" by John Martin

 Week 5:  Faith, Abram/Abraham, Sodom and Gomorrah, Eschatology and Parables

      This week's Chapters in Romans (9 and 10) continue with the concept of salvation through faith in the Risen Christ.  Paul asserts that it is God who determines who is saved, not us.  Citing passages from Malachi and Exodus, Paul tells us (in 9:16) "so then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy" and (in 9:18) "So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills."  Again, we should pursue righteousness by faith, not by works (following the letter of the Law).  Paul becomes even more emphatic about this in Chapter 10 (10:9): "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  Further (10:12): "For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him."  He concludes this chapter by declaring the importance of evangelism (10:14): "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed?   And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?  And how are they to hear without someone preaching?"

     In Chapter 15 of Genesis God affirms his covenant with Abram.  In 15:1 Abram has a vision of God who states: "Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great."  Abram can't help pointing out that he still has no heir, that he and Sarai remain childless.  God continues to reassure (15:5): "And he brought him (Abram) outside and said, 'Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.'  The he said to him ' So shall your offspring be.'"  Sarai comes up with a solution in Chapter 16, giving her servant Hagar to Abram "as a wife."  Hagar conceives and bears Abram a son named Ishmael.  Things get complicated, Sarai resents Hagar and "dealt harshly with her."  Hagar and Ishmael are eventually sent packing by Abram, dispatched into the dessert with just one water container to sustain them.  In Chapter 17 God again promises many descendants to Abram and makes circumcision a sign of this covenant.  Abram then becomes Abraham "For I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. (Genesis 17:5)"  God promises an heir through Sarai (Sarah) who will be Isaac.  Chapter 18 begins with "the apparition of Mamre."  Abraham is visited by three strangers which Karen Armstrong in In the Beginning states is an early manifestation of God as the Trinity (p. 63).  Indeed, Abraham addresses the three visitors: "O Lord, if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by your servant."  The Lord assures Abraham that Sarah will soon be pregnant with his heir and then travels on to Sodom and Gomorrah because "the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is grave."  Abraham tries to intercede with God for the innocent citizens of Sodom and Gomorrah, indicating to Armstrong  that even though Abraham had his faults (throwing out Hagar and Ishmael for one) "he was capable of the disinterested love for his fellow human beings that all the great world religions have shown to be the ultimate test of true spirituality."   "Then the Lord raised on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. (Gen 19:24)"  Asimov wonders if this could have been a volcanic eruption or, more likely, some change in the level of the Dead Sea which wiped out these cities.  Lot is spared by the Lord, but Lot's wife is turned into a pillar of salt when she turns back to witness the destruction.  Lot escapes to a cave with his two daughters.  The daughters, thinking that the entire world has come to the same fate as their hometown, make Lot, their father "drink wine."  Each daughter conceived a child with their father.  Armstrong sees Lot as being drawn in contradistinction to Abraham, a man of faith.  Lot was not a man of faith, was therefore not blessed by the Lord and was paralyzed with fear.  The lesson from Lot is that the superficially attractive things of this world (the sinful life in Sodom and Gomorrah) can prove to be very, very dangerous.  

     The Book of Joshua concludes this week, first with further distribution of land.  Chapter 21, verse 43 states  "Thus the Lord gave Israel all the land that he swore to their fathers.  And they took possession of it, and they settled there."   Joshua tells the tribes that they received the land because "You have kept all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded you (Joshua 22:1)."  In Chapter 23 Joshua gives a charge to Israel's leaders, reminding them "you may not mix with those nations remaining among you or make mention of the names of their gods."  He concludes this passage with the famous quote (which I have hanging in our living room): "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15)."   He also warns them that "the Lord will bring upon you all the evil things...  if you transgress the covenant of the Lord your God."  Joshua dies and is buried in Ephraim.  The bones of Joseph, having been brought up from Egypt, are also buried at Shechem and Eleazr (son of Aaron and nephew of Moses) also dies and is buried at Gibeah.  In Joshua 24:31 we are reminded that "Israel served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua and had known all the work that the Lord did for Israel."

     In Psalm 12 we are warned (PS 12:8): "On every side the wicked prowl, as vileness is exalted among the children of man."  The psalmist asks God in Psalm 13: "How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?"   We then look to God for protection and in Psalm 14:7: "Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!  When the Lord restores the fortunes of his people, let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad."

     Job replies to his friend Bildad in Chapter 9.  In verse 15 he states: "Though I am in the right, I cannot answer him.  I must appeal for mercy to my accuser."  Later he notes (verse 22): "He (God) destroys both the blameless and the wicked."  This is particularly relevant this week after our Genesis readings where Abraham tried to intercede on behalf of the innocents in Sodom and Gomorrah who were to be consumed in the destruction along with the sinners.  In Chapter 10 Job continues his pitiful pleas to God, noting in verse 1: "I loathe my life."  Later, in verse 8 he states: "Your hands fashioned and made me, and now you have destroyed me altogether."  Finally, in verse 20, he pleads: "Then cease, and leave me alone, that I may find a little cheer."  Rough patch for old Job.

     Chapters 23 through 28 are known as "Isaiah's Apocalypse."  Asimov notes that the study of the "end of times" is known as eschatology.  In this section of Isaiah the earth had grown so wicked that it was part of God's scheme to bring all the earth to destruction from which only a few of the faithful would be saved.  God would judge between the good and the evil in that final day of destruction;  even the dead would come back to life if they were worthy.  It states in Isaiah 24:1 "Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down."  According to Asimov there are veiled allusions to Antioch as a "city of confusion" (Is 24:10).  Apparently future generations would think of Rome when reading these passages.  This part of Isaiah sets the stage for future apocalyptic writing which can be summarized as follows:  At the end of time, 1) The powerful are punished, 2) the oppressed faithful are uplifted and 3) the dead faithful will be resurrected.  God will then put an end to all evil and establish a new order.


    Chapter 11 of Matthew has John the Baptist's followers wanting to know if Jesus "is the one who is to come" (11:3) and Jesus claims His special relationship to God: "All things have been handed over to me by my Father;  and no one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him (11:27)."   In Chapter 12 Jesus is challenged on following the laws of the Sabbath and He proclaims "It is lawful to do good on the sabbath (12:12)."  Verse 12:34 reminds me of seventh grade.  Our homeroom teacher stepped out of the room for a few minutes and general chaos ensued.  She returned to the classroom pretty steamed at us and proclaimed (as Jesus does here): "You brood of vipers!"  To her credit, however, she did not follow with "How can you speak of good things, when you are evil?"  Chapter 13 contains many familiar parables (Jesus speaking metaphorically): The Parable of the Sower, the Weeds in the Wheat, the Mustard Seed, Yeast, etc...  "The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which someone found and hid; then in his joy he gives and sells all that he has and buys that field (13:44)."  Asimov reasons that Jesus taught in parables was because "the very murkiness of the parables acts to sift the hearts of men.  Those who honestly want to enter the Kingdom will make the effort to understand, while those who are insufficiently eager will not do so."

The Parable of the Mustard Seed

         

Week 4: Abraham, Levites and Lepers

Week 4: Abraham, Levites and Lepers

      Paul continues in Romans Chapters 7 and 8 to hone the definition of salvation, moving away from salvation through strict adherence to the Law of Moses to salvation through belief in the Risen Christ.  In Chapter 7 he compares the Christian to a widow who has been released from the law of marriage by the death of her husband.  Rom 7:4: "Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God...; and 7:8:  "But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code."  Paul goes further in Chapter 8 (8:2): "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death."  He concludes this chapter with the very familiar "If God is for us, who is against us? (8:31)."  Human weakness is sustained by the Spirit's intercession and by the knowledge of God's loving purpose.

   Genesis 12 begins with God's call to Abram, telling him (12:1): "Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.  And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing."  So aged Abram, acting in faith in his Lord, takes his wife, his nephew Lot and all of his possessions and heads off to Canaan, a land which them God tells him "To your offspring I will give this land."  As soon as Abraham gets there, though there is a famine, so he picks up again and moves to Egypt.  Then follows a curious story where Abram tells his wife Sarai to act like they are sister and brother so that the pharaoh won't kill him.  Sarai, apparently very beautiful, becomes part of the pharaoh's harem. The Lord doesn't react well to this, sending a plague on the Pharaoh.  God then tells Abraham to take Sarai, Lot and all of his accumulations back where he came from.  Upon re-entering Canaan, Abraham gives Lot first choice of land and Lot takes the more fertile land which, unfortunately for Lot, is near some seedy characters in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Lot is taken prisoner by armies invading from the East and is then rescued by his Uncle Abram.  In Chapter 15 God again promises Abram (who still has no heir) that his descendants shall inherit the land of Canaan and that the people living there then will be displaced.  Karen Armstrong in her book In the Beginning explains this part of Genesis as a story of faith.  In the story of Abram, faith requires bold new starts ("Go from your country..."), a reliance upon God and a constant questioning.  Armstrong states that "Genesis indicates that it is the role of faith to make us more productive and more at ease with the world."

     The next four chapters of Joshua (16-20) relates the division of the land according to tribe.  Asimov notes that these allotments are very small in most cases and were made according to instructions which Joshua recorded as having received from God.  Asimov also points out the importance of the fact that the tribe of Levi received no actual land grant.  Their central role was that of serving as a priesthood and for that purpose it was considered enough that its members be granted a number of towns scattered through the tribal areas.

     Psalm 9 is one of thanksgiving and in verse 9 we read: "The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble."  In Psalm 10 the psalmist praises God: "O Lord, you hear the desires of the afflicted, you will strengthen their heart;  you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that the man who is of the earth may strike terror no more."  In Psalm 11: "In the Lord I take refuge."   Further, "The Lord tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence."  

   Job continues his lamentations in Chapter 7, becoming even more pitiful (Job 7:3): "So I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me."  Job's buddy Bildad then gives the first of his three speeches in the Book of Job, this one calling on Job to repent (Job 8:6): "If you are pure and upright, surely then he will rouse himself for you and restore your rightful habitation."  As if this couldn't make Job feel bad enough, Bildad continues (8:13): "Such are the paths of all who forget God.  The hope of the godless shall perish."   Incidentally and totally unrelated, Bildad is also the name of one of the owners of The Pequod, Ahab's whale ship in Melville's Moby Dick.

The Pequod

     Isaiah chapters 18 through 22 predicts the fall of many nations.  Asimov points out that the following chapters (24 through 28) are referred to as "The Apocalypse of Isaiah" (more on this next week) and that these chapters are a forecast of a more generalized destruction for Earth.  In Chapter 18 Isaiah uses the figure of the harvest to remind us that God determines the course of earthly events and that we must wait for God to decide what happens when.  In Chapter 19 Isaiah predicts disaster for Egypt.  God's judgement is seen as civil turbulence and that "The Nile will dry up."  He notes unrest between Egypt and Assyria and that Israel will become a mediator and a blessing for these troubled nations.  Isaiah feels so strongly about this that in Chapter 20 he walks around barefoot and naked for three years as a portent and a sign to Egypt and Assyria.  In Chapter 22 readers are reminded that military preparedness does not replace faithfulness to God.

    Chapter 8 of Matthew contains many familiar stories of Jesus' ministry in Galilee.  His fame is spreading as a healer.  Matthew relates the stories of the leper, the Centurion's paralytic servant and the demoniacs.  The story of Jesus in the boat with his disciples during a storm also appears here.  Jesus calming the storm evokes this memorable observation from the disciples: "What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?"  (Matt 8:27).  Chapter 9 has Jesus being accused of blasphemy and his challenge of contemporary religious views: "I have come to call not the righteous, but sinners." (Matt 9:13).  Matthew 10 has Jesus commissioning and instructing his disciples: "Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel."  (Matt 10: 6),  He also gives them specific guidelines for how to conduct their mission work.