02/09/10

Leviticus 1-4

The Books of Moses that make up the Pentateuch continue in Leviticus. Exodus described how the LORD led the people of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, and how he handed down to them the law. In Leviticus, much of that law is described. Today's reading, the first four chapters, all deal with specific details for various offerings. Chapter one describes, in detail, the process for making a burnt offering. Chapter two describes the grain offering and chapter three, the "fellowship" offering. Chapter four describes the steps for making the sin offering.

Thoughts, questions, issues

• There's a tremendous amount of repetition in this section, as the instructions for the various offering are very similar, and each is repeated for minor variations in circumstances.
• The burnt offering, whether from the herd or the flock, must be a male. The "fellowship" offering can be either male or female.
• "It is a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, an aroma pleasing to the LORD" is in chapter one three times. The "aroma pleasing to the LORD" is repeated a couple more times in chapter three.
• Jesus is often referred to as the "lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world." Chapter four of Leviticus describes the sin offering process. "If a member of the community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the LORD's commands, he is guilty. When he is made aware of the sin he committed, he must bring as his offering for the sin he committed...If he brings a lamb as his sin offering, he is to bring a female without defect. He is to lay his hand on its head and slaughter it for a sin offering at the place where the burnt offering is slaughtered."

Psalms 9

Psalm 9 comes with an interesting note, in that a tune is specified. Apparently, there are eleven psalms with tunes specified, number 9 is the first. I have no idea what the tune is, obviously, nor do I suspect that it would be of much use with the English words. But it seems to me to be one more foreshadowing in the Old Testament of the pivotal events of the New. In reality, is not the whole story of the Bible, start to finish, about "the Death of the Son," and the redemption accomplished through it?

And just to acknowledge the cluelessness which this exercise involves, as I read this tonight it occurs to me, for the first time, that the story of Abraham and Isaac is, in miniature, the story of redemption which God has writ large upon the earth. He asked of Abraham no more than he then provided for us - the sacrifice of his son as an atonement for sin.


This is also a praise psalm, albeit one with a more martial air than the one which precedes it. Much of the praise is for not only protecting againd, but destroying, "the enemy."

Psalm 9
For the director of music. To the tune of "The Death of the Son." A psalm of David.
1 [a]I will praise you, O LORD, with all my heart;
I will tell of all your wonders.

2 I will be glad and rejoice in you;
I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.

3 My enemies turn back;
they stumble and perish before you.

4 For you have upheld my right and my cause;
you have sat on your throne, judging righteously.

5 You have rebuked the nations and destroyed the wicked;
you have blotted out their name for ever and ever.

6 Endless ruin has overtaken the enemy,
you have uprooted their cities;
even the memory of them has perished.

7 The LORD reigns forever;
he has established his throne for judgment.

8 He will judge the world in righteousness;
he will govern the peoples with justice.

9 The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed,
a stronghold in times of trouble.

10 Those who know your name will trust in you,
for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.

11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion;
proclaim among the nations what he has done.

12 For he who avenges blood remembers;
he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted.

13 O LORD, see how my enemies persecute me!
Have mercy and lift me up from the gates of death,

14 that I may declare your praises
in the gates of the Daughter of Zion
and there rejoice in your salvation.

15 The nations have fallen into the pit they have dug;
their feet are caught in the net they have hidden.

16 The LORD is known by his justice;
the wicked are ensnared by the work of their hands.
Higgaion. [b] Selah

17 The wicked return to the grave, [c]
all the nations that forget God.

18 But the needy will not always be forgotten,
nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.

19 Arise, O LORD, let not man triumph;
let the nations be judged in your presence.

20 Strike them with terror, O LORD;
let the nations know they are but men.
Selah

01/12/10

Genesis 33-36

In Genesis 33, Jacob returns home.  He meets with his brother Esau, and they throw their arms around one another and reconcile.  Esau doesn't want the gifts of sheep and cattle, but Jacob insists.  They settle back into Canaan, with Jacob buying land from "Hamor, the father of Shechem."  "There he set up an altar and called it El Elohe Israel."

I said yesterday that Dinah had disappeared from the narrative, but she returns in chapter 34.  She is raped by Shechem, the son of Hamor.  His claims to be in love with her, and tells his father that he wants her for his wife.  Hamor tells Jacob, but Jacob's sons have found out what happened and are furious.  They deceitfully agree to intermarry with Hamor's people if, and only if, the men are all circumcised.  The "Hamorites" agree and all the men are circumcised.  Three days later, while the men are all recovering from the procedure, "still in pain," Simeon and Levi take their swords and kill every male in the city.  Then "the sons of Jacob" loot and plunder the city.  Jacob is upset, feeling that this will make it much harder and more dangerous for them to live there, but his sons think that doing otherwise would have meant allowing that their sister be treated as a prostitute.

Genesis 35 - God appears to Jacob and tells him to return to Bethel and settle there, and build an altar.  So he has his family give up all of their "foreign gods" and "rings in their ears" and he buries them "under the oak at Shechem."  The return to Bethel and Jacob builds an altar "and called the place El Bethel."  God again tells him that his name shall be Israel and that "a nation and a community of nations will come from you, and kings will come from your body.  The land I gave to Abraham and Isaac I also give to you, and I will give this land to your descendants after you."

As they moved on from Bethel, Rachel went in to labor and struggled to give birth.  As she was dying, she named her new-born son Ben-Oni (son of my struggle) but Jacob called him Benjamin (son of my right hand.)  Rachel was buried.  Eventually, they return to Hebron.  Isaac "died and was gathered to his people, old and full of years."  Esau and Jacob buried him.

Chapter 36 lists the descendants of Esau, sometimes called Edom.  First, he and Jacob separated, much as Abram and Lot had done earlier, because the land could not support all of their wealth (livestock).  Then we get "the account of Esau the father of the Edomites."  Notable descendants are mentioned, as well as chiefs and kings of his line.

Thoughts, questions, issues
• Jacob deceived his father to get his older brothers blessing on the belief that his father was on his deathbed.  He then left the area and spent 20 years in Laban's service.  But when he comes back, not only does Esau greet him, Isaac is still alive.
• To save myself from repetitively apologizing for repeating myself, I'm going to define an acronym.  Whenever you see MSW, that's a "Modern Sensibilities Warning."  That means, "yes, I know that I'm looking at this particular issue through the lens of my chronological snobbery, and I'm aware of the potential for misunderstanding, or just plain missing, the point."
• The reference to Israel ("Shechem had done a disgraceful thing in [or against]] Israel") in 34:7 seems anachronistic.  That same chapter refers in every instance to "Jacob's sons" and "Jacob's daughter."
• MSW:  If he wants to marry the girl, why did Shechem "violate" here first?  Wouldn't it make more sense to wait?
• What is there in what has gone before to make anyone thing that the kind of behavior exhibited actually warranted retribution?  Lot offered his daughters to a mob.  Simeon and Levi were sons of Leah, but several of their brothers were the product of (MSW) rape.  (Certainly there's no reason to think that Bilhah and Zilpah had any input whatsoever in their bearing Jacob's children.)
• Sly and clever, I suppose, to deal with the Hamorites the way they did, but dishonest, too.
• There's an odd statement in the middle of chapter 35, saying that "Reuben went in and slept with his father's concubine Bilhah, and Israel heard of it."  There's no obvious connection between that comment and what precedes and follows it.  Presumably, there's a reason for it being there, but the placement seems very strange.
• There are, I believe, five sons listed by three wives.  Most of which are not names that I recognize.  And presumably, many, if not most, are not to be heard from again.
• The one notable name (to me) from the Esau genealogy was Amalek, who I presume was the father of the Amalekites.

We've now been introduced to the 12 tribes of Israel:

Sons of Leah
• Reuben
• Simeon
• Levi
• Judah
• Issachar
• Zebulun
Sons of Rachel
• Joseph
• Benjamin
Sons of Rachel's maidservant Bilhah
• Dan
• Naphtali
Sons of Leah's maidservant Zilpah
• Gad
• Asher

Proverbs 11:1-15

The themes continue to repeat.  Wisdom, following wisdom, righteous vs. wicked, speaking wisely, plainly and truthfully - it's difficult to summarize a set of 16 proverbs.  To the extent that they have a common theme, well, they don't.  There are some extolling honesty in this set.  Some extolling humility.  Others condemning gossip and praising the man of understanding who "holds his tongue."

1/10/10

Genesis 27-29

In Genesis 27, Isaac, aging and blind, wants to bless his elder son (and favorite) Esau.  He sends Esau out to hunt, telling him to return and prepare a meal for him, and receive his blessing.  Esau goes out hunting, but Rebekah, having overheard, encourages Jacob (her favorite) to kill a goat, prepare a meal, and receive Esau's blessing.  He protests that Isaac won't be fooled, as Esau is hairy and Jacob isn't, but Rebekah prepares the goatskins and hangs them on Jacob's neck and arms.  Jacob feeds Isaac and receives the blessing intended for Esau, including "be lord over your brothers, and may the sons of your mother bow down to you."  Esau returns, prepares a meal for Isaac and prepares to receive his father's blessing, only to find that his younger twin has already received it.  Isaac blesses him, but not with the same blessing.  Esau determined that he would kill has brother as soon as the days of mourning for their father had passed.  Rebekah hears this and encourages Jacob to leave for Haran, to escape his brother's wrath, and also to look for a non-Canaanite, non-Hittite wife.

Genesis 28 features the story of Jacob's journey to Haran.  He actually goes at the behest of his father, as Isaac wants him to find a wife from his own people.  He stops and sleeps in Bethel, and has a dream.  In his dream, he sees a ladder (or staircase) reaching to heaven, with Angels traveling up and down upon it.  At the top, God stands and tells him

Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. 15 I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.

In Genesis 29 Jacob arrives in Haran where he meets his mother's brother Laban, and Laban's daughters (Jacob's cousins) Leah and Rachel.  He stays and works for Laban, who agrees to give him Rachel as a wife after 7 years.  When the 7 years ends, there's a wedding feast and Laban brings his daughter in to Jacob, but he discovers the following morning that it was Leah rather than Rachel.  Laban explains that they don't give the younger daughter in marriage until the older is wed.  The upshot is that Jacob remains for seven more years, and then marries Rachel.  He loves her, but Leah, who is unloved, begins having children, while Rachel remains barren.  At least, that's the case through the end of chapter 29.

Thoughts, questions, issues
• "The Wilkes' always marry their cousins." 
  

  - Gone With The Wind

  
  There's a lot of that going on here, but I guess it lasted a lot longer than I was really thinking earlier in the week.
• One of the striking things about the patriarchal stories is how dishonest they are.  From the repeat denials of the identity of wives to Jacob's lie to get Isaac's blessing, we actually see very little in the way of admirable behavior.
• The issue of the "stolen" blessing is another one that doesn't sit well with our modern sensibilities.  Why is it that Isaac cannot just bless Esau the same way?  If there is some kind of essential or mystical quality to the blessing, why can't he withdraw it from Jacob?  It's an odd passage, and it reads very oddly now.
• "We are ... climbing ... Jacob's Ladder ... Children of the cross..."
• I've lost track, already, of how many times the LORD has promised the "promised land" to Abraham and his sons.
• And the dishonesty shows itself again, with Laban sending Leah rather than Rachel in to Jacob.
• How old is Rachel?  If she's of a marriageable age when promised to Jacob, well, she's 14 years older before the wedding.  That seems...unfair.  Unrealistic.  Yet another example of a time scale that seems questionable.
• Obviously, bigamy wasn't a concern.  Polygamy was a realistic and acceptable practice.

Proverbs 10:1-6

Whereas the first several chapter of Proverbs, most of which focused on the benefits of wisdom, read best in paragraph form, with themes and "thought units" that are more than a line or two, chapter 10 begins a new style or form of text.  Here are what we generally think of as proverbs, aphorisms of advice or information or wisdom.

The verses in this section express ideas using a poetic technique of parallelism,

proverbial sayings in poetry of two lines each (distichs).  The parallelism [in this section] is almost always antithetical¹.

That is, a positive quality is described as a producing a positive result, but ("but" being the key word to an antithetical parallelism) the absence or opposite of that good quality brings about a negative result.

e.g., Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up dissension,

but love covers over all wrongs.

¹ - Arnold, Bill T., Beyer, Bryan E. - Encountering the Old Testament, 1999, Baker Books, Grand Rapids, MI, p. 318

01/09/10

Genesis 24-26

Chapter 24 features the familiar story of Isaac and Rebekah.  Abraham wants to find a wife for his son Isaac from among his own people.  He sends a servant to "Aram Naharaim," to the town of Nahor, where the servant finds Rebekah drawing water from the well.  After some discussion with Rebekah, in which she responds in the way that the servant had prayed to the Lord that she would, she agrees to go back and become Isaac's bride.

In chapter 25, Abraham, having taken a new wife, fathers more children (including Midian), but still "left everything he owned to Isaac" when he died.  He was buried (by his sons Isaac and Ishmael) in the cave in Hebron with Sarah.  The rest of the chapter gives genealogies, at least for one generation, for Ishmael and Isaac.  As for Ishmael, "His descendants settled in the area from Havilah to Shur, near the border of Egypt, as you go toward Asshur. And they lived in hostility toward all their brothers."  Isaac and Rebekah have twins, Esau and Jacob.  Esau is the older, but sells his birthright to his brother Jacob in exchange for a meal, for "some bread and some lentil stew."

Chapter 26 features the third iteration of the "she's my sister, not my wife" story.  First it was Abram and Sarai in Egypt with Pharoah (GEN 12).  Then it was Abraham and Sarah in Gerar with Abimelech (GEN 20).  Now it's Isaac and Rebekah in Gerar with Abimelech.  And there's more echoing in the second half of the chapter, as Isaac and Abimelech (and Phicol the commander of his forces) negotiate a pact over a well, much as Abraham and Abimelech (and Phicol the commander of his forces) did at Beersheba (GEN 21).

Thoughts, questions, issues
• Isaac and Rebekah are cousins, as her grandfather Nahor was Abraham's brother.
• We've seen a lot of tribal intermarriage in this book.
• It's not clear to me what Rebekah's motivation would be.  If the Lord has told her to go, we don't hear about it.
• The end of the last verse in chapter 24 is, to our modern sensibilities, odd.  Isaac marries Rebekah and "was comforted after his mother's death."  That isn't what we would normally consider to be an important outcome of a marriage.
• Abraham took another wife and had more children, but was buried with Sarah after his death.
• I commented earlier that I'm not sure I understand exactly what "despise" means in the Old Testament.  We see it again in chapter 25, as Esau "despised" his birthright.  There seems to be a "turned away from" or "rejected" kind of connotation.
• It's not clear how cheaply he sold it.  If he was actually dying of hunger, well, it was the price of life.  The passage doesn't seem as if his situation were desperate, but again, it's not clear.  At least not to me.
• I'm starting to feel very stupid about this "sister not wife" story.  How is that I've read Genesis at least a couple of times and never realized that it came over and over again?¹  And if it appears over and over again, there must be a point, right?  Why don't I see it?
• The story of the treaty between Isaac and Abimelech in chapter 26 is so similar to the story of the treaty between Abraham and Abimelech in chapter 21 that I wonder (again) if this isn't one story, corrupted and told twice.  To emphasize two of the points of similarity, in both stories, Abimelech is accompanied by Phicol, and in both stories are we given a variant of "to this day the name of the town has been Beersheba."

Proverbs 9

Thoughts, questions, issues
• "The fear of the LORD" in verse 10 is an echo of chapter 1.  Indeed, it's really the central point of the book.  If one came out of Proverbs with nothing else, it seems to me that it's been of value.
• There is some practical wisdom in this chapter.  "Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult" is not debatable.  Anyone who has spent any time on the internet has seen this section in action many times.

¹ - I suppose that if you aren't reading it, start to finish, in a fairly short time period, it's actually not hard to miss.  And most Bible reading, at least in my experience, tends to be in small chunks from different books.  Certainly, the act of commenting as I go is forcing me to notice things that I've never really noticed before.

² - Chapter 9 in paragraph form:

Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn out its seven pillars. She has prepared her meat and mixed her wine; she has also set her table.  She has sent out her maids, and she calls from the highest point of the city.  "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.  "Come, eat my food and drink the wine I have mixed.  Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of understanding. 

"Whoever corrects a mocker invites insult; whoever rebukes a wicked man incurs abuse.  Do not rebuke a mocker or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man and he will love you. Instruct a wise man and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man and he will add to his learning. 

"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.  For through me your days will be many, and years will be added to your life.  If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer." 

The woman Folly is loud; she is undisciplined and without knowledge.  She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way.  "Let all who are simple come in here!" she says to those who lack judgment.  "Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!"  But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of the grave.

01/08/2010

Genesis 21-23

Chapter 21 begins with the birth of Isaac, just as God had promised.  Abraham was a 100 year old new dad, and Sarah was a 90-something new mom.  But as Isaac was weaned, the friction between Sarah and Hagar increased.  Sarah begged Abraham to send them away, and God told Abraham to do what Sarah wanted, because it was "through Isaac that your offspring [b] will be reckoned."  Hagar and Ishmael went off through the desert, and when the water was gone, she left him under a bush to die.  But an Angel appeared and led them to water, so they survived and lived in the desert.  "God was with the boy as he grew up."  Abraham and Abimelech formed a treaty that Abraham (who had God's support) would "not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants."

In chapter 22 God tested Abraham.  He instructed Abraham to take his son Isaac, through who he had promised to make a great nation, into the mountains and sacrifice him.  When Abraham was just about to do so, the Lord provided a ram to take his place, but Abraham had demonstrated his willingness to sacrifice his son.  The chapter ends with a couple of incongruous verses of genealogy about the sons borne to Milcah and Nahor.

Chapter 23 sees the death of Sarah at 127 years old, in Hebron in Canaan.  Abraham negotiated for the rights to the field of Ephron the Hittite in which to bury her, and "Ephron's field in Machpelah near Mamre...was deeded to Abraham as his property in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of the city."  He buried Sarah in the cave, and "the field and the cave in it were deeded to Abraham by the Hittites as a burial site."

Thoughts, questions, issues
• Here's another thing about the Abraham/Abimelech story from chapter 20 - it feels out of place.  It seems as if it is stuck in to the middle of the Isaac story.  There's no reference to Hagar or Ishmael, no mention of God's promise.  It just doesn't seem to go between 19 and 21.
• I continue to think that the God of Abraham, as portrayed in these middle chapters of Genesis, does not come across as a God of love that created the universe and wants us to love and honor him.
• This is going to sound silly, but when I read God's demand that Abraham sacrifice his son, I'm reminded of James T. Kirk's question, "what need has God of a starship?"
• Abraham talked to God, saw visions of God, heard the word of God.  But when a message is as contrary to what you believe God to be as the message to sacrifice Isaac was, how do you trust it?  Human sacrifice was a pagan activity.
• I have no idea what the Milcah/Nahor genealogy is there for.  I have to assume that some of those names are going to come up again.
• There's a lot of emphasis in the last chapter about the land being Abraham's, being deeded to him, and the Hittites acknowledging it.

Proverbs 8

Thoughts, questions, issues

• Interesting to have "wisdom" speaking in first person, anthropomorphized.
• Fascinating to have wisdom predating creation, as "the LORD brought me forth as the first of his works."
• Other than that, there's not much of practical value here.  The passage is largely metaphorical, symbolic and poetic. 

¹ - Proverbs 8 in paragraph form:

Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice?  On the heights along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gates leading into the city, at the entrances, she cries aloud:

"To you, O men, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind.  You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, gain understanding.  Listen, for I have worthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.  My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness.  All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse.  To the discerning all of them are right; they are faultless to those who have knowledge.  Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.

"I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion.  To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have understanding and power. By me kings reign and rulers make laws that are just; by me princes govern, and all nobles who rule on earth.  I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.  With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity.  My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver.  I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing wealth on those who love me and making their treasuries full. 

", before his deeds of old; I was appointed from eternity, from the beginning, before the world began.  When there were no oceans, I was given birth, when there were no springs abounding with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth, before he made the earth or its fields or any of the dust of the world.  I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.  Then I was the craftsman at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind. 

"Now then, my sons, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways.  Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not ignore it.  Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway.  For whoever finds me finds life and receives favor from the LORD.  But whoever fails to find me harms himself; all who hate me love death."