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2019, August 11 ~ Isaiah 1:1,10-20 and Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

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Isaiah 1:1,10-20

The Book of Isaiah is a composite of writings from three distinct periods in Ancient Israel’s history. The writings were compiled from about 700 BCE to about 300 BCE.

Chapters 1-39 are called “First Isaiah” and are the words of a prophet (one who speaks for YHWH – translated as “LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) who called for Jerusalem to repent in the 30 years before Jerusalem came under siege by the Assyrians in 701 BCE. “Second Isaiah” is Chapters 40 to 55. In these chapters, a prophet brought hope to the Judeans during the Exile in Babylon (587 to 539 BCE) by telling them they had suffered enough and would return to Jerusalem. “Third Isaiah” is Chapters 56 to 66 in which a prophet gave encouragement to Judeans who had returned to Jerusalem (which was largely destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BCE) after the Exile had ended.

Today’s reading is from First Isaiah and is an indictment of Israel (and particularly Judea) for religious infidelity. The first verse sets the time period as being from 735 BCE (the ending years of the reign of Uzziah – also known as Azariah) to the 14th year of the reign of Hezekiah (701 BCE – when the Assyrians besieged Jerusalem). This was a time of the ascendancy of the Assyrian Empire which conquered Northern Israel in 722 BCE and threatened Judea during all this time.

The balance of the reading is a strong prophetic statement condemning worship divorced from social justice (vv. 10-17), a theme also found in Amos, Micah and Jeremiah. Sodom and Gomorrah (v.10) were commonly used symbols for divine judgement on immorality. In Genesis, the evil done by those cities was not showing hospitality (a high value) by threatening to commit sexual violence upon visitors to Lot’s home (Gen.19:5).

The verses then shifted from condemnation to a legal argument (v.18) in which YHWH offered forgiveness if Judea repented, but said Judea would be “devoured by the sword” (v.20) if it did not repent. Except for a short period under King Josiah (640 to 609 BCE) Jerusalem did not repent, and it was conquered by the Babylonians – the successors to the Assyrians – in 597 BCE. The Exile began in 587 BCE.

Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

The Letter to the Hebrews was an anonymous sermon to both Jewish and Gentile Jesus Followers, urging them to maintain their Faith and Hope in the face of hardship. The letter developed a number of important images such as Jesus the Christ as the High Priest.

Today’s reading presented faith as insight into a sacred world of reality, and spoke of faith as a concrete reality by using words such as “assurance” and “conviction.” An example of faith was Abraham’s obedience to leave his homeland and travel to Canaan (Genesis 12). His faith was rewarded by his being the father of numerous descendants. In some manuscripts of Hebrews, Sarah’s faith is paralleled to Abraham’s and she is also presented as a heroic person of faith.

2019, August 4 ~ Hosea 11:1-11 and Colossians 3:1-11

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Hosea 11:1-11

After Solomon died in 928 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, the North (called Israel with 10 tribes) and the South (called Judea with two tribes). Each Kingdom had its own king.

The reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel (788-747 BCE) was very prosperous, but a time of great inequality between rich and poor in which large landowners gained control of the lands of small farmers and mistreated the poor.

Hosea is one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works are shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel). He was a contemporary of Amos. His prophesying (speaking for YHWH) began towards the end of the reign of King Jeroboam II and continued until Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BCE. He severely criticized the political, social and religious life in the Northern Kingdom. He was the first of the prophets whose speeches were collected and edited as literary documents.

In today’s reading, Hosea shifted his description of Israel from being an unfaithful wife to Israel as a special (but wayward) child of YHWH who rejected God’s call and made sacrifices to Baal (v.2). Also in today’s reading, a number of different names were used for Israel, particularly “Ephraim.” Ephraim (v.3) was one of Joseph’s sons, and was the name of the largest of the 10 tribes that comprised Northern Israel.

Hosea noted (perhaps as a later addition to the text) that Assyria would be the “king” of Northern Israel (v.5), an event that occurred in 722 BCE when Assyria conquered Israel.

In the last half of today’s reading, Hosea (still speaking for the LORD – all capital letters in the NRSV) said that YHWH’s compassion overcame divine anger. He said that YHWH would not treat Israel as Admah and Zeboiim (v.8) were treated. According to Deuteronomy 29:23, these two cities destroyed when Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed.

Colossians 3:1-11

Colossae was a town in what is now western Turkey. A Jesus Follower community was founded there by Paul’s associate, Epaphras (1:7). The letter is short (four chapters) and expressed concern about apocalyptic and mystical practices that were inconsistent with Paul’s disciples’ understanding of what it meant to be a Jesus Follower.

Scholars debate whether this letter was written by Paul or by his disciples in the decades after Paul’s death in 63 CE. It lacks many terms used in Paul’s authentic letters and its style is more liturgical than Paul’s other letters.

In today’s reading, the author gave a series of ethical exhortations to the Colossians, and then concluded with one of Paul’s most important theological insights – that the Christ (the Messiah) is the ultimate unifying principle and force for all reality. “The Christ is all and is in all” (v.11) so that there is no longer a dichotomy between the “sacred” and the “profane” just as there is no essential difference between a Gentile (a “Greek”) and Jew, slave and free and the like (v.11).

2019, July 28 ~Hosea 1:2-10 and Colossians 2:6-19

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Hosea 1:2-10

After Solomon died in 928 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, the North (called Israel with 10 tribes) and the South (called Judea with two tribes). Each Kingdom had its own king.

The reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel (788-747 BCE) was very prosperous, but a time of great inequality between rich and poor in which large landowners gained control of the lands of small farmers.

Hosea is one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works are shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel). He was a contemporary of Amos. His prophesying (speaking for YHWH) began towards the end of the reign of King Jeroboam II and continued until Israel was conquered by the Assyrians in 722 BCE. He severely criticized the political, social and religious life in the Northern Kingdom. He was the first of the prophets whose speeches were collected and edited as literary documents.

Hosea used powerful images of his own family to describe the covenant relationship between YHWH and Israel. He described Israel as an unfaithful wife (v.2) and his wife’s children were given symbolic names – “God sows” (v.4), “Not pitied” (v.6) and “Not my people” (v.9).

The name “Jezreel” (God sows) is the name of an actual place in Israel. The Jezreel Valley is one of the most fertile parts of Israel (even today). It was the place where Jeroboam’s predecessors (the House of Jehu) staged a bloody coup against Ahab in 842 BCE. (Ironically, according to 2 Kings 9-10, the coup by Jehu was directed by YHWH through the prophet Elisha.)

Hosea said that YHWH (“LORD” in all capital letters in the NRSV) had pity on Judea (v.7). This pity would not last, however, and Judea would be conquered by the Babylonians in 597 BCE.

Colossians 2:6-19

Colossae was a town in what is now western Turkey. A Jesus Follower community was founded there by Paul’s associate, Epaphras (1:7). The letter is short (three chapters) and expressed concern about apocalyptic and mystical practices that were inconsistent with Paul’s disciples’ understanding of what it meant to be a Jesus Follower.

Scholars debate whether this letter was written by Paul or by his disciples in the decade after Paul’s death in 63 CE. It lacks many terms used in Paul’s authentic letters and its style is more liturgical than Paul’s other letters.

Today’s reading is the core of the Letter to the Colossians – that Jesus the Christ was the living embodiment of God (v.9) and that the fullness of one’s humanity comes by “living one’s life in [Jesus the Christ]” (v.6).

The author warned against “philosophy” (v. 8) – which in the 1st Century meant secular ethics. He denied the importance of physical circumcision (which remained a point of controversy between Jewish Jesus Followers and Gentile Jesus Followers during much of the 1st Century). He spoke of Baptism as “spiritual circumcision” (v.11).

He also diminished the religious importance of “food and drink” (v.16) – a reference to the fact that Gentile Jesus Followers did not obey Kosher dietary laws – and “festivals, moons and sabbaths” (v.16), an admonition made necessary by the fact that many Jewish Festivals continued to be observed by Jesus Followers, at least until the Destruction of the Temple in 70 CE.

2019, July 21 ~ Amos 8:1-12 and Colossians 1:15-28

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Amos 8:1-12

After Solomon died in 930 BCE, the Kingdom of Israel split into two parts, the North (called Israel with 10 tribes) and the South (called Judea with two tribes). Each of the Kingdoms had its own king.

The reign of King Jeroboam II of Israel (788-747 BCE) was very prosperous, but a time of great inequality between rich and poor in which large landowners gained control of the lands of small farmers.

Amos was a cattle herder and cared for fig trees in Judea, but he was called by YHWH to go north to prophesy (speak for the LORD) against Israel from about 760 to 750 BCE. Amos is one of the 12 “minor” prophets whose works are shorter than the three “major” prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel). He was the first (chronologically) of the prophets whose words left an indelible stamp on later thought in Israel about God.

In today’s reading, Amos criticized the unfair and fraudulent business practices of the wealthy and their impatience for the Holy Days to pass (v.5) so they could resume bilking the poor, enslaving them (v.6) and taking their lands.

The reading has some clever aspects. In verse 2, the Hebrew words for “fruit” and for “end” sound alike, Amos sees “fruit” but YHWH sees the “end.”

The reading also describes the “Day of the Lord” – a time of terror and mourning and darkness at noon (v. 9), a motif picked up by the authors of the Gospels in describing the Crucifixion (see Mark 15:33).

Amos said that YHWH would remember these misdeeds and punish the evildoers. In 722 BCE, Assyria conquered Israel and scattered its wealthy class.

Colossians 1:15-28

Colossae was a town in what is now western Turkey. A Jesus Follower community was founded there by Paul’s associate, Epaphras (1:7). The letter is short (three chapters) and expressed concern about apocalyptic and mystical practices that were inconsistent with Paul’s understanding of being a Jesus Follower.

Scholars debate whether this letter was written by Paul or by his disciples in the decade after Paul’s death in 63 CE. It lacks many terms used in Paul’s authentic letters and its style is more liturgical than Paul’s other letters..

Today’s reading is highly theological and focuses on the Christ as the “image of God,” the “firstborn of all creation” (v.15), as existing before all things and that in which all things hold together (v.17).