A Tradition Of Wells (part 9)

Wading into the deep, deep waters of the wisdom/poetic literature of the Hebrew Scriptures, it should be first noted with interest, and honestly, with a great deal of surprise, that there is no mention of wells within the Psalms.  This is surprising, especially considering that there are a number of occasions in which Israel’s history (or at least a part of it) is recounted in Psalmic form.  When reflecting on the routine placement of wells, and their connection with every patriarch as well as Moses and the nation of Israel itself, one is only left to wonder at such an omission.  Nevertheless, wells are mentioned on three occasions in the book of Proverbs. 

In the fifth chapter the author writes “Drink water from your own cistern and running water from your own well.  Should your springs be dispersed outside, your streams of water in the wide plazas?  Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you.  May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in your young wife” (5:15-18).  This is presented in the context of the first two verses of the same chapter, where one finds “My child, be attentive to my wisdom, pay close attention to my understanding, in order to safeguard discretion, and that your lips may guard knowledge.  For the lips of the adulterous woman drip honey, and her seductive words are smoother than olive oil, but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword” (5:1-4). 

Not as a means of casting aspersions upon the Samaritan woman at the well in John, but it is certainly not beyond the realm of probability to hear in these verses some potential background for a woman that meets Jesus at a well, that has had five husbands, and is currently engaged in a relationship with a man that was not her husband.  It is in a similar vein that one hears the next mention of wells here in Proverbs, as the proverbial author writes “Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes observe my ways; for a prostitute is like a deep pit; a harlot is like a narrow well” (23:26-27). 

In a use that does not seem to be entirely helpful to this project, though an effort could probably be made to shape and twist it to fit the particular needs of this study, the twenty-fifth chapter reads “Like a muddied spring and a polluted well, so is a righteous person who gives way before the wicked” (25:26).  The same could also be said (not entirely helpful, though one must be cognizant of the potential to shape the thoughts of Jesus and the Johannine author, so that it plays a role in their respective thinking) of what one stumbles upon in the book of Ecclesiastes, as before reading “Absolutely futile!... All things are futile!” (12:8), representing the “Teacher’s” summary of his search for the purpose of life, it is said that “before the silver cord is removed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is shattered by the well, or the water wheel is broken at the cistern---and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the life’s breath returns to God Who gave it” (12:6-7). 

Rounding out the poetic literature and turning to the Song of Solomon, the well is mentioned in connection with a love relationship.  The word “bride” is even mentioned, creating the connotation of marriage and placing this use of “well” at a distance that is much closer to the John four story than what has been seen in the previous two instances.  There Solomon (presumably) writes “You are a locked garden, my sister, my bride; you are an enclosed spring, a sealed-up fountain.  Your shoots are a royal garden full of pomegranates with choice fruits: henna with nard, nard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon with every kind of spice, myrrh and aloes with all the finest spices.  You are garden spring, a well of fresh water flowing down from Lebanon” (4:12-15). 

Musing upon the number of marriages within the historical presentation of Israel that came about in connection with wells, it makes a great deal of sense to hear this Hebrew poet talk of wells during the course of a love song directed to his sister, his bride.  Because the bringing forth of children, especially in Genesis, following the marriages that were associated with wells, was packaged together with the continuation and propagation of the Creator God’s covenants that began with Abraham, would this subtly call attention to the Creator God’s covenant faithfulness, thus casting this, in a way, as something of a love song between the Creator God and His special people Israel?  If one was inclined to stretch the analogy a bit more, one could look at Israel’s stop at the place of twelve wells as the place of their birth, just before their entering into their own covenant relationship (marriage) with the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob?      

Presentations Of Jesus (part 2 of 2)

Take, for instance, a story that makes its way into all four Gospel portraits of Jesus, which is the feeding of the five thousand.  All four of the Gospel accounts present the feeding in much the same form.  However, after the story of the feeding, Luke diverges completely from the story-line on offer in Matthew, Mark, and John.  John maintains the same story-line following the feeding, though it differs in a significant detail as it relates to the purposes of this study. 

In each case, it should be acknowledged that the author uses the story of the feeding, along with what follows, within the goals that they have set for the overall presentation of Jesus that they intend to set before the respective audiences for which they are composing their written account (which will be based on a hugely reliable oral tradition and likely other ironically and potentially less reliable written records---an oral tradition was subject to correction and maintenance by the community, whereas a written record could be used to propagate and disseminate information that stood outside of the oral tradition, with no means for immediate correction). 

As Mark’s narrative is generally considered to be the oldest, being foundational for both Matthew and Luke, it is worthwhile to take a look at what is to be found there.  Operating within a full realization that there is a purpose related to the structuring of the narrative, the sixth chapter of Mark records that Jesus feeds a multitude through the multiplication of bread and fish, doing so by the Sea of Galilee.  Then, drawing the feeding together with what comes after, and doing so for the purpose of the author’s narrative, Mark goes on to report that “Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He dispersed the crowd” (6:45). 

Having retired to the mountain to pray after sending off His disciples, it is said that from His vantage point Jesus could observe His disciples on the water.  “He saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them” (6:48a).  Mark then reports that Jesus came to His disciples, “walking on the sea” (6:48c), which caused great fear amongst those men.  Ultimately, “He went up with them into the boat, and the wind ceased” (6:51a).  Matthew reports nearly the same story, but adds Peter’s attempt to walk on the sea, which is not to be found in Mark.  That’s not to say that somehow one of the authors got it wrong, but that the authors had different purposes for their tellings of the Jesus story. 

Luke moves in a different direction, omitting the second part of the story that is found in the other Gospels, not because he did not believe it, but because it did not fit with his overall movement and aims.  John’s is fundamentally the same, reporting a rough sea and a strong wind (6:18), though there is no report of the ceasing of the wind once Jesus gets into the boat.  Instead, John reports that “immediately the boat came to the land where they had been heading” (6:21b).  Clearly however, John’s report, like that of Matthew and Mark, is meant to demonstrate the power of the Creator God at work in Jesus, which is to be expected if He is indeed the Messiah of Israel. 

So what’s the point?  It is at this point that one returns to the idea that the Scriptures were undoubtedly searched by both Jesus and those that would write the Gospel accounts, so as to make sense of the mission and of the reports of that mission.  Such thoughts, together with the stories of the feeding of the multitude, the walking on water, and the calming of the wind, lead to the Psalms.  In the seventy eighth Psalm, keeping in mind the purposely structured Gospel narrative of feeding and then the control of nature and the desire to show forth their understanding of Jesus as the manifestation of the Creator God in the flesh, while also acknowledging that this was a reflection on the exodus and wilderness experience of Israel, marked similarities with the Gospel accounts of these occurrences are to be found in the reading: “He rained down manna for them to eat; He gave them the grain of heaven.  Man ate the food of the mighty ones.  He sent them more than enough to eat.  He brought the east wind through the sky, and by His strength led forth the south wind” (78:24-26). 

Den Of Lions (part 11)

When all efforts at recourse had been attempted and spent, Darius was forced to relent.  “So the king gave the order, and Daniel was brought and thrown into a den of lions” (Daniel 6:16a).  Surely, this was going to be a horrible fate.  Though the Persians engaged in the practice of crucifixion, it was not of the type that was practiced by the Romans.  This manner of punishment could well be considered to be the crucifixion of the day.  It was certainly a dramatic method of shaming, as was crucifixion.   

Before being delivered over to what was understood to be his certain death, “The king consoled Daniel by saying, ‘Your God whom you continually serve will rescue you!’” (6:16b)  It is quite interesting that Darius, a Persian king, would say such a thing before throwing this Jewish prophet into a den of lions.  Why would he say this?  Was he familiar with the Psalms?  Had Daniel, before that point, made reference to the twenty-second Psalm?  If he had, and if this was part of the larger story of Daniel that was passed through the centuries and told even at Jesus’ day, then it makes for an even tighter analogy between Daniel and Jesus, as one considers the situation in which the one that is crying out to the Creator God finds himself. 

Naturally, when the Psalmist references “a roaring lion that rips its prey” (22:13a), pleads that his God will “Rescue me from the mouth of the lion” (22:21a), and speaks of “a gang of evil men” that “crowd around me,” and “like a lion they pin my hands and feet” (22:16b), the tighter connection goes beyond the simple reference to lions in this Psalm,  Though this is quite the shining example of a connection between the ordeals of Daniel and Jesus, that is not the limit of the link.  When Jesus cries out on the cross, “My God, my God, why have You abandoned Me?” (22:1a), He is not merely quoting a single verse, but rather, in the established rabbinic tradition, and in the tradition of the teachers of Israel, He is drawing attention and calling to mind an entire narrative.  Jesus, again in strong rabbinic tradition, together with the Gospel author, wants the entire Psalm, as well as any particular stories that are linked to that Psalm, told with reference to that Psalm and given context by that Psalm. 

The story of Daniel would be one of those stories that would likely have come to be inextricably linked with this Psalm.  So when the people, and especially the leaders of the people that bear the responsibility for His death, hear this cry from Jesus, they will recall the whole of the Psalm.  They will consider the Psalmist’s reference to lions, and the story of Daniel in the lion’s den (with Daniel so popular and well known in the day) will immediately come to mind.  Jesus would be here be linking His plight with that of Daniel, making His previous references to the seventh chapter of Daniel, and His reference to the Son of Man (and by extension the beast that is doing battle against the saints of the Most High, and the Ancient of Days, and the kingdom given to the Son of Man, and the four hundred ninety year period of Daniel’s prophecy) as He stood before the High Priest, even more telling. 

The words of this Psalm can easily be put into the mouths of both Daniel and Jesus.  Both groaned in prayer (22:1b), cried out to God (22:2a), relied upon the promises given to Israel and its ancestors, (22:4), trusted upon their God’s power to perform according to those promises (22:5), were insulted and despised by their adversaries (22:6), experienced taunting and mocking (22:7), given up to the salvation of their God as a test of His power and their truthfulness (22:8), hemmed in by the powerful (22:12), devoured with words (22:13a), set in the dust of death (22:15b), and experienced the gloating of their enemies (22:17b). 

Joseph's Release (part 2 of 2)

How would this particular experience of Joseph apply to an attempt to better understand the message of Jesus?  While the believers posits that Jesus is presently ruling as Lord of all things within the kingdom of heaven that commenced with His Resurrection and began to make its presence felt on earth through those that believe in Him and follow the serving and suffering example of Jesus, one should consider what is billed as the great dissertation on the Resurrection, as presented in the fifteenth chapter of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, that Jesus “must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet” (15:25), and that “The last enemy to be defeated is death” (15:26). 

Quoting from the eighth chapter of the Psalms, Paul adds to that, writing “For He has put everything in subjection under His feet” (15:27a), while also going on to point out that “when it says ‘everything’ has been put in subjection, it is clear that this does not include the One (Father) Who put everything in subjection to Him (Son)” (15:27b).  Closely echoing the story of Joseph’s imprisonment, release, and exaltation to the place of second-in-command, one can go on to read here in the Corinthian letter that “when all things are subjected to Him, the Son Himself will be subjected to the One Who subjected everything to Him, so that God may be all in all” (15:28). 

Reflecting back to Joseph then, having been given his charge and management responsibility, the Psalmist reminds the covenant people that Pharaoh also gave Joseph “authority to imprison his officials and to teach his advisers” (Psalm 105:22).  So too Jesus, having been freed from an imprisoning tomb of death, and having had a kingdom delivered over to Him, was also given authority that would be connected with teaching.  With this, one looks to the Gospel of Matthew, and latching on to the greater narrative structure that is to be found there, hears Jesus---before His death and Resurrection, but just before it is posited that “From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things… and on the third day be raised” (16:21), and so connecting His authority with His death and Resurrection---speaking to His disciples and saying, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven.  Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven” (16:19). 

Clearly, Matthew has the authority of the Christ (anointed one/Messiah/King of Israel) in mind as a key component of His presentation of Jesus, and this is made quite poignant in Matthew’s record of Jesus’ farewell address to His disciples.  In it, Jesus makes an allusion to the seventh chapter of Daniel, with its kingdom and authority for the Son of Man, and says “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (28:18b).  Together with the quote from the sixteenth chapter, this dovetails quite nicely with the authority that was said to have been delivered to Joseph.  Building on this, Jesus Himself would seem to be extending and solidifying the connection between Himself and Joseph, saying “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (28:19-20a).   

Justified By Faithfulness (part 6)

As the covenant people, responsible for bringing the blessings of the Creator God to bear in and for all of the creation, the Jews were not looking to escape from this earth so as to enjoy a blissful existence apart from the world.  As Greek thought, such desires were more at home in the realm and hopes of pagan religion.  Rather, they were looking for the establishment of the kingdom of heaven on earth (the overlap of their God’s realm of existence with the realm of existence created for divine image-bearers), when the Creator God would embody His messiah and bring about the vindication, salvation, and deliverance of His covenant people, doing this together with the restoration of all things and the physical resurrection of the righteous dead (those that died in a state of positive covenant standing). 

As popularly (though not exclusively) imagined, this would occur through the messiah’s setting up of His kingdom, as Israel’s King, Who would be the King of all the earth (the Creator God becoming King), with all peoples coming to bow before Him, as was pictured and to which seemed to be pointed throughout the Psalms and the writings of the Hebrew prophets. 

The establishment of this kingdom, as was held to by a large number of people in the time of Jesus and Paul, would involve the overthrow of the Romans (the perceived enemy of God’s people, though they really only stood for the greater enemy to which was pointed by popular apocalyptic literature---think Daniel and Revelation), and their being driven from the land.  In this, the promised land would be returned to the Creator God’s people, and those people would finally live free from any and all types of foreign dominion (be it world powers or that which animated them---evil and death). 

Among other things, this would signify the blessing of the covenant God finally returning to His people.  By the people’s estimation, with this widely held conception being reinforced by the leaders of the people, maintaining the covenant markers---according to was to be understood from Leviticus and Deuteronomy, coupled with an understanding of the history of their people when they rejected their God by rejecting His covenant markers and thus demonstrating a disbelieving faithlessness---is the thing that would secure their God’s blessing. 

Thus, with a steadfast adherence to these works of the law, the presume covenant people would maintain a positive covenant standing with their God.  Accordingly, they would be justified, and in a position to enjoy His covenant blessings of land and kingdom and prosperity, according to what He had promised to them.  So the works of the law and the keeping of the works of the law were, in fact, rooted in a profound belief in the righteousness (covenant faithfulness) and power of God.  Yes, faith stood behind adherence to the covenant markers.  This had always been the case.   

By and large, prior to his well-documented “conversion,” this had been the Apostle Paul’s position.  H had been a Pharisee of Pharisees, by his own testimony.  He had been zealous for the law.  He had been zealous for these works of the law---looking to them as that which signaled one’s justification before the Creator God (righteous standing/positive covenant status).  This was rooted in His belief in the faithfulness of his God.  He called himself a Hebrew of Hebrews.  He held vociferously to these covenant markers and persecuted, attempting to destroy and stamp out the movement that, beginning with Jesus, was actively encouraging the Creator God’s very own covenant people to set these markers aside. 

What Would God Have Me Do? (part 1 of 3)

God stands in the assembly of El; in the midst of the gods He renders judgment. – Psalms 82:1  (NET)

What is it that God would have me to do?  It is one of the most important questions that a believer can ask of himself.  So often, individuals speak of putting things in God’s hands, searching out the will of God for their lives, attempting to live within God’s plan for their lives, trusting in Divine providence, and so on.  Each person that considers himself or herself a member of the Creator God’s covenant family, through belief in Jesus as Lord, must wrestle with such things.  Too often, the response is to make a determination about things that they are going to do, or things that they are going to avoid, so that they can feel comfortable, in an inducement towards behaving in a certain way, that generally has far more to do with the perception of those around them than with an honest reflection on their God’s true plans and purposes and intentions for His redeemed people.

This Psalm presents some significant answers for the questions and concerns by which so many are dogged in their attempts to live a “Christian life.”  The Psalmist begins by writing that “God stands in the assembly of God.”  Here, “El” is the high god of the Canaanites.  Effectively, the Psalmist presents Israel’s God as supreme to all other supposed deities, and speaks of His power to enter into the assembly of the gods of other nations and render judgment.  So not only is this applicable to the Canaanites that surround Israel, but it can be applied to any and all nations that look to an assembly of gods, whether Egypt, Greece, Persia, or Rome. 

The Psalmist insists that Israel’s God is supreme, so whether He is rendering judgment on the gods of the Canaanites, or on those who look to their gods in order to justify their actions, judgment is justly rendered.  Of course, because there are actually no other true gods on which to pronounce judgment, and no other true gods which Israel’s Creator God can approach in order to prove His superiority, it can be known that the Creator God is speaking directly to the people who have created their gods in their own images (as opposed to the God that created man in/as His image). 

Therefore, here, when Israel’s God speaks, though He is said to be in the assembly of “El,” it can be confidently asserted that He is speaking to the men behind the idols and false gods.  The Creator God pronounces His judgment on all that men wrongly worship, whatever that may be.  Not only is He then speaking to the people that looked to these gods, but without a doubt, Israel’s God is pointedly speaking to His people as well. 

With these things said, it is then possible to return to the issue with which this study began, so as to determine what it is that the Creator God would have his covenant people do.  In answering that question, the covenant God starts with a question, presented in a negative manner.  He speaks and says, “How long will you make unjust legal decisions and show favoritism to the wicked?” (82:2)  Here, because the question is posed as to why favoritism is shown to the wicked, and because what is wicked can only be understood in juxtaposition to that which is not wicked, it can be asserted that the Creator God is speaking to the people to whom He has provided a revelation of Himself.  

Veil Of The Temple (part 4)

When Solomon constructs the first temple, not only are there images of cherubim included in the design of the separating curtain, but representations of cherubim are to be found throughout the temple.  “In the inner sanctuary he made two cherubs of olive wood; each stood fifteen feet high” (1 Kings 6:23).  Their wingspans were also said to be fifteen feet (6:24-25), so that their wings reached out to touch the walls (6:27).  These cherubim would have shined brilliantly, as they were overlaid with gold (6:28).  Though the temple did not have curtains all around it, as did the tabernacle, Solomon still made it a point to mimic the decorative cherubim of the tabernacle curtains, carving cherubim into the walls, into the doors, and into the stands for the large basin. 

When the temple was completed and the Ark was brought into the most holy place, it is pointed out that “The cherub’s wings extended over the place where the ark sat; the cherubs overshadowed the ark and its poles” (8:7).  Of course, the reader goes on to learn that Solomon did this because his father, David, “gave him the blueprint for the seat of the gold cherubim that spread their wings and provide shelter for the ark of the Lord’s covenant” (1 Chronicles 28:18b).  Naturally, in its recapitulation of a portion of Israel’s history, the second book of the Chronicles also details the construction of Solomon’s temple, with numerous references to the cherubim to be seen there.      

Many years later, when Hezekiah and the southern kingdom of Judah are threatened by the Assyrians, Hezekiah is said to have went to the temple and prayed to the “Lord God of Israel, Who is enthroned on the cherubs!” (2 King 19:15a)  The Psalms speak of cherubim (80:1,99:1).  Isaiah calls upon the “Lord Who commands armies, O God of Israel, Who is enthroned on the cherubim!” (37:16a).  Though in a different way, cherubim feature prominently in Ezekiel’s prophecy.  Though there is no veil with cherubim in the vision of Ezekiel’s temple, representations of cherubim are still to be found there.  Finally, cherubim make their way into the New Testament, being referenced in the letter to the Hebrews, where the author writes, taking in the full scope of cherubic presentations, of “the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat” (9:5). 

Why all this talk of cherubim?  Were these people just very fond of all things angelic, or are the people of the Creator God to be reminded of something quite specific each and every time they hear about and see these cherubim?  These are good and important questions.  With these numerous and regular presentations of cherubim, what was it that was being communicated to the covenant people?  When they would see the cherubim, what is it that would spring to mind?  These questions can likewise be posed for the veil.  As one considers the veil of the temple, along with the veil of the tabernacle, what was it that made the veil so important?  It would seem to be obvious that it was something that served to keep the Creator God’s people from the place where He was to be encountered.  It seems to have been designed to limit their fellowship with their God. 

One can know from the Scriptural narrative that a promise that had been made by the Creator God was the promise to meet with Moses, and the High Priest of His people, above the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, between what must be considered to be guardian cherubim.  This meeting between cherubim took place behind the veil that was adorned with guardian cherubim.  This forces an observer to reflect upon and consider where it is that cherubim are first introduced into the narrative.  Where does this take place?  To obtain that answer, it is necessary to look to the book of Genesis.  There, in the third chapter, it can be read that “When He drove the man out, He placed on the eastern side of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries who used the flame of a whirling sword to guard the way to the tree of life” (3:24).  Those angelic sentries, of course, were cherubim. 

Psalm Of The King (part 2)

It came to be understood that, in the Resurrection, the Creator God’s kingdom on earth was inaugurated.  Accordingly, as Jesus is said to have prayed, His will would begin to be done on earth as it is in heaven, specifically by and through those who would be equipped by their God for service to His glory.  Though all those so equipped would continue to meet with the corruption that comes with living in this world that still awaits the return of the Christ and the final consummation of the kingdom of heaven, and though they would still go to their deaths, they would be able to live that life while gripping on to the implied promise that just as Jesus was raised up from the grave with a new body and a new life here in the midst of the covenant God’s creation, having been raised with Resurrection power that serves to push back the forces of evil here in this world, so too would they, one day, be raised up from the grave, with a new body and a new life, here in the God of Israel’s fully restored and renewed creation.   

Jesus, above all things, is presented as one who sought to do the will of the Father as He understood it.  He sought to be the One through Whom the Creator God would fulfill the covenant with Abraham, and in so doing bless the world.  He is presented as one who sought to be the second Adam---to be the first truly human being, and therefore rightly bearing the image of His Creator---that would set all things right, regaining the dominion over the created order that had been given to Adam.  This would include reversing the curse, through His own faithfulness together with the faithfulness of the covenant God, that had been brought into creation by what was understood to be Adam’s faithlessness. 

He is presented as the who sought to be the light for the world that had been His God’s intention for His chosen people Israel, of which He was, of course, a part.  With such intentions, according to the way that He is said to have presented Himself to the world and the way that He is presented in the stories about Him, Jesus could certainly have been emboldened by the Psalmist’s declaration in regards to Israel’s king that “You grant him his heart’s desire; You do not refuse his request” (21:2).   

Continuing through these verses of the twenty-first Psalm, one finds the third verse saying: “For You bring him rich blessings; You place a golden crown on his head” (Psalm 21:3).  Whenever this mention of “blessings” is found, it is imperative to keep the word in a context that would have been comprehensible and applicable to those that would have been reading these writings, namely Israel in general and members of the covenant people more specifically.  Rather than just thinking of “blessings” in vague generalities of the Creator God’s goodness and generosity towards His people, one is obliged to more appropriately think of blessings in terms of the Abrahamic covenant, in which the covenant God promised to cause Abraham to exemplify divine blessing, to bless those who blessed Abraham, and to bless all the peoples of the world through Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:2-3). 

Now, because the use of “blessings” in the Abrahamic covenant could be considered to be vague, to find a more specific statement of the “blessings” of the Hebrew/Jewish mindset of the author of the Psalm, one would need to take into consideration the potential blessings of their God that are directed to Israel in the first fourteen verses of the twenty-eighth chapter of Deuteronomy (this passage expounds on what is found in Leviticus 26).  The blessings include Israel’s elevation above all the nations of the earth (28:1), their blessings in the city and the field (28:3), blessings for children (28:4), blessings on the produce of the soil, livestock, herds, and flocks (28:4), blessings on basket and mixing bowl (28:5), the blessing of enemies being struck down (28:7), blessings of the respect of the people of the earth (28:10), blessings of rain (28:12), and blessings of being able to lend to all while being free from debt (28:12). 

This consideration demands to be made, and readers must connect the use of “blessings” in the Psalms with the specific ideas that were held concerning the Creator God’s blessings, with this owing to what needs to be understood and always recognized as the continuous, narrative structure of the Scriptures.  Failing to do so reduces the ability to understand the message of what is taken to be God’s Word and the role of Jesus.  

My Enemies (part 6 of 6)

As a reward for their belief in Jesus as the Son of God and the world’s true King, Master, Savior, Leader, Ruler and more (as opposed to the Caesar, who was then afforded and honored with those titles by those that worshiped him), large numbers of people, because they were claiming allegiance to that different and greater king than Caesar, were put to death.  In spite of that, people continued to believe. 

Though such a situation is bewildering to contemplate, one should not find this to be all that surprising.  The Psalmist speaks to this, having already written, “When they hear of My exploits, they submit to Me.  Foreigners are powerless before Me; foreigners lose their courage; they shake with fear as they leave their strongholds” (18:44-45).  The world’s powers did not know what to do with the message of Jesus.  They dealt with the challenge in the only way they knew how, which was to meet it with the cowardice and ultimate powerlessness of the sword.  As Paul would write in Colossians, though they could certainly wield the sword, the power of their ancient stronghold had been shaken.  Those powers had been disarmed (2:15), and they had no true and lasting power against those who believed in this Man Who had been resurrected, or in the message of His name.

Looking to the Psalms for strength and guidance, and considering the mortal enemies against whom He was going to do battle, and trusting that His God was going to be completely faithful to see Him through, Jesus could take up the Psalmist’s words of praise, saying, “The Lord is alive!  My Protector is praiseworthy!” (18:46a)  Knowing that He would, even indeed He was correct in His estimations and successful in His mission, eventually hand all rule and all authority on earth back over to the Father, Jesus could say, “The God Who delivers Me is exalted as King!” (18:46b) 

Facing the knowledge of His eventual demise at the hands of Israel’s oppressors, but also the hopes of His subsequent and expected Resurrection (according to then-current Jewish expectation) Jesus would faithfully proclaim, “The one true God completely vindicates Me; He makes nations submit to Me” (18:47).  “Yes,” says Jesus, to the God of Israel, in regards to death at the hands of Rome and of mankind’s curse that began with Adam, “He delivers Me from My enemies; You snatch Me away from those who attack Me; You rescue Me from violent men” (18:48). 

Because of these things---because of the Gospel’s proclamation that Jesus is indeed King over all nations, because many have been and are made to believe this by the power of the Holy Spirit, and because the Creator God works through those that have cast their allegiance with Jesus as His instruments to establish His good in this world as they await the return of our Lord and the final consummation of that glorious kingdom of which they are a part at this very moment, that group of covenant loyalists join with Jesus and declare, “So I will give You thanks before the nations, O Lord!  I will sing praises to You!  He gives His chosen King magnificent victories; He is faithful to His chosen ruler, to David and His descendants forever” (18:49-50). 

Jesus is Lord because the Creator God is faithful.  Because Jesus is Lord, death has no power.  Because He rose, all of those that rise up with Him in order to bow down in humble service to the world, stand in defiance of death and dismiss the fear it brings, for it is a conquered enemy and a defeated foe. 

My Enemies (part 1)

I chase My enemies and catch them; I do not turn back until I wipe them out. – Psalm 18:37  (NET)

When a Jesus-believer finds him or herself venturing into the Psalms, such should be done with an ever-present reflection on the primary reason why one ever ventures into the Word of God---our resurrected Lord Jesus.  Upon arriving in the Psalms, and more specifically the eighteenth Psalm, and doing so mindful of the historical narrative of Israel and its covenant and associated promises, one is confronted with words and thoughts that could very well be ascribed to Jesus, and certainly reflected upon and embraced by Him, as He tread the earthly path of ministry that was going to take Him to His cross. 

In the midst of first century expectations concerning Israel’s messiah, and of the kingdom of God on earth that would be established by the messiah’s victory over the enemies of the God of Israel’s people, it is not difficult to imagine Jesus, as a would-be messiah attempting to work out the nature of His vocation, searching the Scriptures as He contemplated what He had come to believe was His role and His task and His method of ushering in that long-expected kingdom. 

Clearly, His searching and reflection would have Him going about that ushering in of the kingdom and all it would portend, in a way that stood contrary to what many of His fellow countrymen were imagining and in some cases pursuing.  The Jesus that is presented on the pages of the Gospels is a Jesus that obviously came to realize that the Creator God’s kingdom would not be established in the way that every other kingdom (including Israel’s kingdom) had been established in this world---that of the violence of sword and spear.  Such was the method of the old age, and Jesus indicates that such means had no place in the new age of Resurrection and new creation. 

At the same time, Jesus knew that there was going to be violence, but that the violence, if it was going to align with what He understood to be the purposes of the Creator God for renewal and restoration, would be that which He would suffer and endure at the hands of the Romans.  Yes, Jesus knew that there was going to be a massive conflict, and that there was an enemy to be defeated, but also realized that the enemy with which He was going to engage in battle, was far more ferocious and powerful than the ones that His countrymen sought to overthrow.  Earthly foes and oppressors such as Rome were merely a shadow---meager representatives and parodies of the true enemy of creation and the divine image-bearers 

Ultimately, Jesus would realize that He was going to do mortal battle with death---that enemy which ruled unchecked and with apparent absolute sovereignty through its power over all men and all things at all times and all places.  Jesus, relying on His understanding of Scripture and the faithfulness of the God of Israel, trusted that His God was going to empower and enable Him to emerge victorious over this enemy, through a Resurrection, thereby stripping death of its power.  In its place, the Creator God, through Jesus, would make an offer of life to all men and all things, in submission to His Messiah. 

It is with such things in mind that Jesus could certainly return, time and again, to this Psalm (as He hears it as an Israelite and therefore according to Israel’s defining narrative as the covenant people of the Creator God), inserting Himself with a growing and eventual full understanding of His vocation, reflecting on the Roman cross to which that vocation was surely leading Him, and read “I chase My enemies and catch them; I do not turn back until I wipe them out.”  To that could be added, “I beat them to death; they fall at My feet” (18:38).  Recognizing the source of such power, Jesus could read, “You give Me strength for battle; You make My foes kneel before Me” (18:39). 

In My Distress (part 2 of 2)

The Psalmist continues, writing “For I have lived temporarily in Meshech; I have resided among the tents of Kedar” (120:5b).  Not that we mix the Gospel stories and interpret one according to another (though John’s Gospel almost certainly comes well after Matthew’s Jesus narrative has been established and relatively fixed, and could thus be influenced by its telling), but recognizing that all of the Gospels would almost certainly have drawn from and been shaped by the traditions of the Psalms, in John’s Gospel it is written that “the Word became flesh and took up residence among us” (1:14a).  A literal translation could read that the Word, that being Jesus for the Johannine community of believers, “tabernacled among us.”  Thus, “temporarily” and “tents” takes on added significance.

The tabernacle, of course, was the temporary tent in which the God of Israel took up His residence among His people.  When that God took up temporary though necessary residence in a tent of flesh, “by looking like other men, and by sharing in human nature” (Philippians 2:7b – a pre-Gospel composition understanding of who Jesus was, that would have undoubtedly shaped the way that the Gospels would have been composed, preserved, and transmitted), He would become that which He had created in His own image.  So it became understood, quite early, that the God of Israel, the Creator God of the whole of the cosmos, temporarily took upon Himself the form of that which was precious in His sight.  This is reflected in the use of the Hebrew word “Meshech,” which has the meaning of “precious.”  He also took flesh upon Himself and “resided among the tents of Kedar.”  “Kedar” means “dark” or “darkness.” 

With all of this said, one can now look to this particular Psalm armed with an overt understanding that Jesus’ mindset, as a member of Israel, would have been at least partially shaped by the Psalm-ic tradition, and hear the Lord Jesus speaking directly as it is read, “For too long I have had to reside with those who hate peace” (120:6).  In considering this hatred of peace, one must contemplate the recent history of Israel in the time of Jesus.  That history, leading up to, during, and following the time of the presence of the Christ was littered with those that attempted to accomplish God’s will through force of arms.  A large part of that history shows that Israel did not want to love their enemies, pray for those who persecuted them, or go the second mile when the Roman soldier legally requisitioned them to carry his pack for one mile.  Peace, as Jesus saw it and pronounced it, would have been anathema to many that would hear His message and observe His acts.   

For too many of the people, Jesus represented little more than another chance at revolution and overthrow.  He was indeed that chance, but not in the way that so many of His fellow citizens desired.  He was there to overthrow death and to deliver God’s people from the exile of failing to bear Him image and to be lights for His glory, through the ushering in of the kingdom of heaven on earth.  The way that He intended to bring this about, which encompassed an act of self-sacrifice, was truly revolutionary. 

One can only imagine how many times the people, having heard the words and experienced the miracles of Jesus, attempted to make Him king by force.  To that, those that are committed to hearing and living the words of Jesus, can regretfully hear Him join with the Psalmist and say, with great frustration and wrenching of heart, “I am committed to peace, but when I speak, they want to make war” (120:7).     

Table Of The Justified (part 5 of 6)

Though it is always tempting to allow a stream of thought to reach its conclusion simply because we have reached the end of a chapter, we have to continue on in to chapter fifteen of Romans in order to hear Paul continuing to work out the implications of meal table practices that were quite vital to the communities of Jesus believers (as indicated by Acts 15, Galatians 2, 1 Corinthians 11, and Romans 14, to point to a few New Testament Scriptures).  We do so in full cognition of the fact that the meal table provided a working picture of the justified community, comprised of Jewish and Gentile believers in equal standing before God because of their faith in the Gospel. 

So after Paul insists that whatever is not performed in accordance with the faith (like that of Abraham) that shows itself forth in an unswerving loyalty to the way of being human that bears out the image of the God revealed by Jesus (in imitation of Jesus as He interacts with His world) is sin (failure to bear the divine image, or to fall short of the glory of God, as God’s intent for humanity/Abraham/Israel/Jesus/Church is to reflect His glory into the world), Paul writes “But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves” (15:1).  This is the epitome of self-sacrificial love.  Indeed, Paul’s call, in accordance with the Gospel is “Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up” (15:2), which, though it may not be intentional in the least (and thought it may stretch the boundaries of possibility and analogy) to be a faint echo of the Jesus tradition’s parable of the “good Samaritan,” in which the question posed by Jesus, at the conclusion of the story, which comes in answer to the “who is my neighbor” posed to Him prior to His telling of the story, was “who acted as a neighbor” to the one in need.  Indeed, we can line up the parable with this verse and ask: “Who did good?  Who built up his neighbor?” 

We do not want to get pulled too far aside into speculation about the possibilities of allusions to stories from what would have then been the oral Jesus tradition, but it is interesting that verse three has Paul making reference to Jesus as he writes “For even Christ did not please Himself, but just as it is written, ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.’” (15:3)  Clearly, there is something in his thoughts, as he writes what would come to be designated as verses one and two of chapter fifteen, that has put Paul in mind of Jesus, and talk of neighborliness seems as likely as anything else.  With this mention of Christ, Paul quotes from the sixty-ninth Psalm.  With this quotation, he makes Jesus, or more specifically, the Messiah, the referent of the Psalm, and he does so in the course of instructions concerning the way that those that believe in Jesus---those that are the Temple of God, the house of God, by the Holy Spirit---are to function, as neighbors. 

More directly, this quotation comes in the course of talk about food and table fellowship, which is of vital concern to Paul (remember, controversies concerning the dietary practice of Gentile believers prompted a determinative conference in Jerusalem).  This does not surprise us at all, as we consider the words of the Psalm in their context, with Romans fourteen and the first few verse of chapter fifteen firmly in  mind: “Let none who rely on You be disgraced because of me, O sovereign Lord and King!  Let none who seek You be ashamed because of me, O God of Israel!  For I suffer humiliation for your sake and am thoroughly disgraced.  My own brothers treat me like a stranger; they act as if I was a foreigner.  Certainly zeal for your house consumes me; I endure the insults of those who insult you.  I weep and refrain from eating food, which causes others to insult me” (Psalm 69:6-10a). 

Self abnegation, suffering for the sake of others, talk of brothers, foreigners, the house of God, and food causes this Psalm to fit nicely alongside this portion of Romans, well-informing the believing community as to what is expected of its members as they endeavor to take up the cross of Christ in and for the world.  Having quoted from the Psalms, Paul punctuates his quotation with “For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the Scriptures we may have hope” (15:4).  Clearly, Paul finds confirmation of his vision of the ideals of the kingdom of God painted on page after page of Scripture.

Jew, Gentile & Justification (part 1 of 3)

Therefore what advantage does the Jew have, or what is the value of circumcision? – Romans 3:1  (NET)

This questions flows from the presentation of the first two chapters of Romans (there wouldn’t be any chapter divisions in the letter).  Paul builds from his question of “what advantage does the Jew have…?” (3:1a), which leads to his declaration that “Jews and Greeks alike are all under sin” (3:9b).  With this, Paul accelerates the process, important to him, of leveling out all people before God, thus contributing to his efforts towards Gentile inclusion under the covenant through the declaration of faith in Jesus rather than the works of the law (current covenant markers), as he pieces together disparate statements from the Psalms and from Isaiah, writing “There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands, there is no one who seeks God” (3:10-11).  This would certainly be more than a bit deflationary to his Jewish listeners. 

He continues with “All have turned away,” as we note the importance of “all” to Paul both in Romans and in the remainder of the Pauline corpus (always remembering, in all that he writes, that he is the Apostle to the Gentiles), “together they have become worthless; there is no one who shows kindness, not even one” (3:12).  This is quite the accusation, and it probably deserves to be heard together with the ringing accusations of the first chapter, which can be applied to Jew and Gentile alike. 

Because these verses are prefaced by reference to “Jews and Greeks,” we also hear Paul co-opting words from the Psalms that were originally penned as polemics against the enemies of the king of Israel, so also enemies against Israel and Israel’s God, and re-deploying them as polemics against all peoples, both Jews and Greeks.  All are placed under God’s judgment.  Even in judgment, the equality of all peoples before God is paramount, regardless of the sources of equality.  So, regardless of what Israel may say or think about itself, Paul, by utilizing the language used by members of Israel and reserved for their enemies or the enemies of their covenant God, groups Jews and Greeks together and universally insists that “Their throats are open graves, they deceive with their tongues, the poison of asps is under their lips.  Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness” (3:13-14). 

Borrowing from Isaiah, and from words directed to an Israel that was failing to live up to its covenant responsibilities, Paul adds: “Their feet are swift to shed blood, ruin and misery are in their paths, and the way of peace they have not known” (3:16-17).  He rounds out his rhetorical flourish with a return to the Psalms and finishes with “There is no fear of God before they eyes” (3:18).  So yes, even though Israel has their covenant markers, and by those covenant markers can be identified as members of the covenant, they are not truly participating with God under that covenant and are therefore truly indistinguishable, in God’s eyes, from Gentiles that bear no covenant markers.  Consequently, a new covenant mark is needed and it is one that is going to apply to all people. 

Having said what he has said, and having utilized the words from the Psalms and from Isaiah, Paul wastes no words, continuing on to write “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world may be held accountable to God” (3:19).  Generally, our focus when we look upon that verse is the law and the silencing of mouths, with this presumably directed to those who, because of the source of their righteousness (the covenant markers that indicates their status as “justified”), believe themselves to have some type of claim on God that is owing to the “good works” by which they believe themselves to have attained unto righteousness.  Of course, we know that this idea of “good works” as a means to attain righteousness, set in juxtaposition to a position of “grace alone,” is a foreign concept that really has no place in consideration of the messages of Jesus and of Paul.