Handsome Men (part 1)

There was a Benjaminite named Kish… He was a prominent person.  He had a son named Saul, a handsome young man. – 1 Samuel 9:1a,2a  (NET)

Israel is going to receive its first king.  The author reports that “the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do everything the people request of you.  For it is not you that they have rejected, but it is Me that they have rejected as their king.  Just as they have done from the day that I brought them up from Egypt until this very day, they have rejected Me and have served other gods” (8:7-8a).  One should here recognize the fact that the proximate cause of Israel’s request for a king stemmed from Samuel. 

You see, “In his old age Samuel appointed his sons as judges over Israel… But his sons did not follow his ways.  Instead, they made money dishonestly, accepted bribes, and perverted justice” (8:1,3).  It was for this reason that “all the elders of Israel gathered together and approached Samuel” and “said to him, ‘Look, you are old, and your sons don’t follow your ways.  So now appoint over us a king to lead us, just like all the other nations have” (8:4a,5). 

So some may point fingers of blame and rebellion at the people of Israel, and one can certainly understand the words on offer from the Lord to Samuel, comforting him by saying that it is the Lord of Israel that has been rejected and not him, but it must be borne in mind that it is Samuel’s sons that are the issue.  Had Samuel been a better father he might have prevented Israel from traveling the route of monarchy.  Without getting off track, this issue of being a poor father can serve to partially explain David’s affinity for Samuel.  At the same time, however, part of the covenant God’s words to Moses included an insistence that the people would indeed ask for a king, with the Creator God giving directions as to the proper response, so there was always an aura of inevitability about the whole thing.

Samuel then goes to seek out a king to set over the people of Israel.  Because the story introduces Saul immediately after “The Lord said to Samuel, ‘Do as they say and install a king over them’” (8:22a), the reader knows that, when hearing the description of Saul, that this is the one that the God of Israel has chosen to be anointed as king over His people.  It is said that Saul was “a handsome young man.  There was no one among the Israelites more handsome than he was; he stood head and shoulders above all the people” (9:2). 

Whether one realizes it or not, this is the beginning of a pattern as it relates to the monarchy.  Also, through a continued paying of careful attention, this talk of a man being handsome, when presented to a people that absolutely defines themselves by the story of exodus, with that story naturally including the story of Joseph (which explains how Israel came to be in Egypt in the first place so that there could be a resulting exodus), could very well remind the people of Joseph, who was described as being “well built and good-looking” (Genesis 39:6b). 

Ahab, Jezebel & A Vineyard (part 1)

In the twenty-first chapter of the first book of the Kings, the story of Ahab and Naboth is encountered.  A quick summary of the story has Ahab, the king of Israel, desirous of obtaining a vineyard that belongs to a man by the name of Naboth.  Ahab offers to purchase the vineyard or to trade a more valuable piece of land to Naboth in exchange for his vineyard that was said to adjoin the palace grounds.  This would appear to be an offer of a legitimate and appropriate transaction between two parties.

However, Naboth politely declines the offer, saying “The Lord forbid that I should sell you my ancestral inheritance” (1 Kings 21:3b).  As Ahab had his heart set on acquiring the vineyard, it is said that this rejection made him both “bitter and angry” (21:4).  It is at this point that Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, enters the story.  Jezebel noticed her husband’s downcast demeanor, and naturally inquired as to its source.  Ahab informed Jezebel about the situation with Naboth and his vineyard, with this apparently spurring Jezebel to take matters into her own hands to obtain the vineyard. 

It is reported that Jezebel “wrote out orders, signed Ahab’s name to them, and sealed them with his seal.  She then sent the orders to the leaders and to the nobles who lived in Naboth’s city.  This is what she wrote: ‘Observe a time of fasting and seat Naboth in front of the people.  Also seat two villains opposite him and have them testify, “You cursed God and the king.”  Then take him out and stone him to death.’” (21:8-10) 

It is not at all difficult to see what is at work here, what is left out, and what is implied.  This is a shrewd albeit vicious plan that has been hatched by Jezebel, and it is rooted in a knowledge of public sensibilities that would appear to be heavily dependent on ancient near eastern meal culture and its associated customs.  It begins with the declaration of a time of fasting, which is generally associated in Scripture with penitence on behalf of an individual or a people, though that is not the case here.  Consequently, Jezebel corrupts the practice.  Naturally, a time of fasting would be concluded by a time of feasting, and Jezebel (with it taken to be from Ahab’s hand) has given an order related to Naboth’s city. 

Though Naboth owns a vineyard adjacent to the king’s abode, this does not necessarily mean that he lived on this piece of land, but that he either worked the land himself or hired laborers to work it for him.  Owing to this, it can be presumed that Naboth is probably a relatively wealthy individual, who is likely to have possessed some measure of honor within the community that would operate on the basis of honor and shame. 

Accordingly, when considering the location of his vineyard (adjacent to the palace grounds), it would not come as a surprise to anyone in the community that Naboth is being chosen out for a special honor by the king, who is going to be hosting a community feast in honor of Naboth.  Consequently, it would be quite likely that, at this feast, Naboth would occupy the seat of honor (however that would have worked out in that time and place) at the feast that followed the fast. 

Together with this, there is also this mention of seating two “villains” opposite Naboth at this feast.  Naturally, these men will not be known to the community as villains, but rather, since this story is a decided polemic against Jezebel that seems to seek to at least partially exculpate Ahab from blame in this manner, the men are going to play the villain in the story, right along with Jezebel. 

Water Into Wine (part 8 of 8)

To assist in further explaining the head steward’s words and actions towards the bridegroom, one must bear in mind that as far as he is concerned, it is in fact the bridegroom that has provided this new wine.  This is truly the only reasonable assessment at hand.  If this is so, then for some reason the bridegroom has gone behind the back of the head steward and colluded against him in this area, in what could be easily understood to be an attempt to make him look bad before the community. 

Also, the head steward would be completely justified in thinking that, for some reason, the bridegroom was making an overt attempt to dishonor his honored guests by purposely not providing them with the best wine.  The head steward, apparently, is not only not willing to let this blame be put on him, thereby letting the scheming bridegroom off the hook, he is also not willing to go along with the dishonoring that he sees taking place. 

Finally, and though things should probably not be pushed too far in this area, it should be noted that the wine was produced in the “six stone water jars… for Jewish ceremonial washing” (John 2:6b).  For reasons of purity, ceremonial washing was of crucial importance.  These ceremonial washings may have been limited to the hands, but one can also bear in mind the incident recorded in the seventh chapter of Luke, in which Jesus, while a woman is washing His feet with her hair, mentions to Simon that He had not had his feet washed when He entered Simon’s house. 

So it is within the realm of possibility that these jars had been the jars employed in the washing of the guests hands and feet as they arrived for the wedding feast.  If this is so, then the servants of the house would have been employed in this process, as they assisted the attendees in the process of washing, and perhaps were even completely responsible for doing the washing of the feet themselves.  It is these servants then, who are part of the group of people will be drinking the best wine, which now flows from out of their jars of service. 

With this, those at the party and those learning about the party afterwards through either the social network or via the text, are able to witness the first becoming last (ironically because they refuse to drink the better wine being served at the end of the meal), while the last become first (as those who had been relegated, due to the prevailing social structure, to the end of the meal now drink the finest wine).  As this thought is entertained, it is quite useful to hear the author say “Jesus did this as the first of His miraculous signs” (2:11a), with the first becoming last and the last becoming first.  “In this way He revealed His glory” (2:11b) and the advent of the kingdom of the Creator God.