2018, August 12 ~ 1 Kings 19:4-8 and Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2

1 Kings 19:4-8

The authors of the Book of Kings were also the authors of the books of Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Samuel. These books were given their final form around 550 BCE – long after the events they described. The authors used the stories in these books to demonstrate that it was the failures of the Kings of Israel and the Kings of Judea to worship YHWH and obey God’s commands that led to the conquest of Northern Israel in 722 BCE by the Assyrians and the conquest of Judea by the Babylonians in 597 BCE. (The conquests were not seen as the result of the Assyrians’ and Babylonians’ greater wealth and more powerful armies.)

Elijah and his successor, Elisha, were two of the great prophets (speakers for YHWH) in Jewish History. They opposed the (mostly) Baal-worshiping kings in Northern Israel for 90 years (from approximately 873 to 784 BCE), and their stories comprise about 40% of the Book of Kings.

Just prior to today’s reading, Elijah invoked the power of YHWH to overcome the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel in the Northern part of Israel. He brought fire upon a huge sacrifice, rain to end a drought, and then killed all the prophets of Baal.

The evil King of Northern Israel at the time was Ahab (873-852) and his wife was the Baal-worshiping foreigner, Jezebel. After Elijah’s deeds, Jezebel swore to kill Elijah, so he ran away as far south in Israel as he could – first to Beer-sheba (about 100 miles) and then to the wilderness where he hoped to die. In today’s reading, YHWH’s angels provided food to Elijah so he had strength to journey to Horeb and continue his ministry.

For the Deuteronomists, the holy mountain is called “Horeb” rather than Sinai. “Sinai” is the name of the holy mountain used by the authors of Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers. The location of the holy mountain in the Sinai Peninsula has never been determined.

Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2

Ephesus was a large and prosperous city in what is now western Turkey. In the Acts of the Apostles and 1 Corinthians, Paul is said to have visited there. In Ephesus, there were Jesus Followers who were Jews and Jesus Followers who were Gentiles, and they didn’t always agree on what it meant to be a Jesus Follower.

Because the letter contains a number of terms not used in Paul’s other letters and gives new meanings to some of Paul’s characteristic terms, most scholars believe that this letter was written by one of Paul’s disciples late in the First Century. The letter was intended to unify the Jesus Follower community in Ephesus.

Because of the verses just before today’s reading, this passage appears mostly directed at the Gentile Jesus Followers. The author urged them to put away falsehood, not speak evil of others, and to put away bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling and slander (v.4:31). He urged them live in love as Christ loved us. Describing Christ as a “fragrant sacrifice” (v.5:2) is a reference by the author to burnt offerings in the Hebrew Scriptures which are described as giving off an odor that was pleasing to YHWH, for example, Noah’s sacrifice in Gen. 8:21.