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July 30th, 2022

7/30/2022

Our ‘journey’ continues this Sunday with something that could be called a substantial turn when it comes to the Old Testament text. With the Gospel reading, we are, of course, still continuing through that central and significant portion of the Gospel according to Luke [12:13-21], but this time our look back into the Old Testament takes us into the book of Ecclesiastes [1:2, 12-14; 2:18-26]. The previous Sundays of the Old Testament text were a look into Genesis, and the Sunday which will follow after this Sunday will again look into Genesis, but for this Sunday, you might say that we are looking into the ‘genesis’ or the beginning of Ecclesiastes.

Beginnings are important, as is attested by the number of times we look at the book of Genesis. But the beginnings of the books of scripture are important as well since there was often a hint of what would be the more important messages of the work.

There are many things that could be said regarding the beginning of this book, but what follows is a somewhat-literal translation of the first verses of the text and a few verses around that text; and do not forget that this style of language is a bit more difficult than a simple history lesson of what happened [1-4, 9-13]:

Words of the Gatherer, son of David, king in Jerusalem:

“Breath of breaths,” he says, the Gatherer, “Breath of breaths, the whole breath. What gain to the man with all of his work which he works under the sun? A generation going and a generation coming, and the earth for the ages standing….”

“What that he was, he that he will be, and what that he has done, he that he will be done, and there is not any of a new one under the sun. Is there a thing which he says, ‘See, this is new’? It already has been to the ages, that was from before our faces. There is not a remembrance to the first ones and also to the later ones, who they shall be, not he will be to them a remembrance to them, with who they will be to the later.”

“I, the Gatherer, I have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. And I gave myself to seek and to search out by the wisdom on all that which he himself has done under the heavens, this one. Burden of bad God gave to sons of the man to be afflicted with him.”

The section which was left out simply has a few examples of how things in creation do not change. It may still be difficult to see the progression of the verses above.

But there is a significant difference between what is first mentioned, something happening ‘under the sun’, and what is happening ‘under the heavens’. In the last part of the quote above, there is the statement by the ‘Gatherer’ that he gave his ‘self’, and that could refer to his heart, mind or will—basically his inner self—to searching out the wisdom of God. This is something more important than having things that are ‘under the sun’.

There is a significant progression from being, at first, ‘under the sun’, and then being ‘under the heavens’. This second phrase is extremely rare within this book, while the former one is extremely common and appears approximately thirty times.

Very soon after that phrase ‘under the heavens’, there is the phrase, ‘burden of bad’. This is a reference to the work of the Law which the LORD uses to bring us to repentance. At the end of this book of Ecclesiastes, there is the command to ‘Fear God…(12:13).’ This is basically the very same emphasis at the very end of the book.

This is also not something new for those who are Lutherans and familiar with Martin Luther’s Small Catechism (see the meanings of the Ten Commandments). We are troubled because of our sin. We should fear God. But, as Martin Luther points out, we should also love him, and this is especially because of what he has done in Jesus Christ.

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July 23rd, 2022

7/23/2022

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Our ‘journey’ continues this Sunday through that central and significant portion of the Gospel according to Luke [11:1-13], this time with an emphasis on prayer, although the more general emphasis on words still continues. Last week Mary was sitting at Jesus’ feet and listening to his words, and this week the disciples want hear some words from Jesus about prayer. And he responds by putting some words into their mouths. Either way there is an emphasis on words.

This week in the Old Testament text, the words also continue, essentially from where we left off last week. The text is Genesis 18:20-33, with the optional addition of the verses 17 through 19 before the text, and this addition is just a little while after the optional ending for last Sunday. I hope it is obvious that Genesis is an important book with some important words.

Last week there was an emphasis on the words in Genesis which described the times that the LORD God would also appear basically as a man as well. They were, in a sense, somewhat confusing texts, and many people have written many things about them.

Last week there were summarized appearances from Genesis 16, 18-19, 24, and 32. And this might be a good place to point out that these significant appearances may have some significant connections to the four gospel accounts. We think of the four gospel accounts being connected to the four living creatures of the LORD’s throne in Ezekiel or in Revelation, but having them connected to his various actions in Genesis is a step in a slightly different but important direction. This emphasis may help us to understand that God’s gracious help is quite multi-faceted. The Bible is not necessarily a boring lesson in history but the wonderful story of salvation.

This occasion might be good for looking at the first appearance of those four, when the angel of the LORD comes to Hagar in Genesis 16, and we may see some connections to a gospel account, in this case, the Gospel according to Matthew. This text does not appear in any Old Testament text in any year of any series.

Here is the text as it appears in Genesis 16:7-13, and it is given in a somewhat-literal translation:

And he found her, angel of Yahweh, upon a spring of water, in the wilderness, upon the spring on the road of Shur. And he said, “Hagar, servant of Sarai, where from this you came? And where, now, you go?”

And she said, “From the face of Sarai, my mistress, I myself am running.”

And he said to her, angel of Yahweh, “Return to your mistress and submit yourself under her hands.” And he said to her, angel of Yahweh, “To increase, I will increase your seed, and not it will be counted from many.” And he said to her, angel of Yahweh, “See, you, with child, and you will beget a son, and you will call his name Ishmael, for he heard, Yahweh, to your affliction. And he himself will be a wild donkey of man, his hand against all, and hand of all against him, and against faces of all his brothers he will dwell.”

And she called, name of Yahweh, the One speaking to her, “You, God of sight.” For she said, “Now, here, I saw the back of the One seeing me.”

This is a lot of detail for someone who is not going to be mentioned a lot more times in the Bible. And this is probably why this text has not been designated for any Sunday in the church year.

The name Hagar happens to be mentioned in Galatians 4:24 & 25, when comparing Sarah and Hagar and the old and new covenants, and the name is also mentioned in a genealogy in Genesis 25:12, and the only other place is a time in Genesis 21, where this time Hagar and her son are SENT away (rather than her running away), and this time an angel of GOD calls from heaven—instead of just showing up. And this time it is said that God (and not the LORD) was with Ishmael.

It hopefully is obvious that the angel of Yahweh showing up to Hagar is an important thing. He did not have to do that. And obviously, since the angel is just doing some teaching, he did not need to show up or be seen. In the second account, when Hagar and her son were sent away, they needed some help, and the text says that God opened Hagar’s eyes (see 21:19). That seems to have been done by ‘long distance’.

The angel basically gives commands only at the beginning of his talk with Hagar. It is interesting that he starts the conversation with a couple of questions—although he probably already knew the answers. But the point was that this was going to be his focus. The angel, after giving the commands, gives a promise, that he would essentially GREATLY increase Hagar’s descendants. And he predicts several other things which only God would know.

The angel of the LORD seems to be a teacher in this appearance, and within the Gospel according to Matthew, Jesus also seems to be a teacher. As Hagar’s eyes were opened, so may our eyes be opened to the LORD’s teachings—but especially his promises.

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July 16th, 2022

7/16/2022

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Our ‘walk’ continues this Sunday through that central and significant portion of the Gospel according to Luke [10:38-42], and with the Old Testament text we arrive at what is often considered the most significant book of the Old Testament, the book of Genesis. (The text is Genesis 18:1-10a, with the optional addition of 10b-14.) And we will be staying in Genesis for a little while.

Last week’s writing made the point that the first words of Adam at Genesis 2:23 had the same beginning, middle, and end. And there is a somewhat-similar theme that shows up at the beginning, middle, and end of Genesis. At the Fall into sin, the serpent said to the woman that to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, she would become like God (3:5). And after the Fall into sin, both Adam and Eve, along with all their descendants, have had to deal with the problem of sin and trying to be like God.

As the nation of Israel slowly began to grow, Rachel, the wife of Jacob (Israel) who is without any children, strongly demands some children from her husband. And Jacob’s response was ‘Am I in the place of God (Genesis 30:1-2)?’ That very same response is said by Joseph very near the end of the book, when he ending up having a lot of power in Egypt, and his brothers—the mean brothers who were almost going to kill him years ago—fell down before him (a very significant position), and they basically said that they would agree to be his slaves. And Joseph said, ‘Do not be afraid; am I in the place of God (Genesis 50:18-19)?’

These three significant points help to keep one’s perspective on the situation that is being laid out in the text, especially since the original text did not have chapter or verse divisions. You might think of the entire book as basically one EXTREMELY long chapter.
Last week I also mentioned that things in the middle can easily be overlooked. And that happens especially when something is confusing. At the beginning of the account, at the creation of the universe, the One who is doing everything is obviously God. But things can get somewhat confusing soon afterwards.

This happens in the text when sometimes it seems like God, the LORD, is doing the action in some instances. And then it seems like, at other times, a person (or an angel, a messenger) is doing the action.

Below are four instances in Genesis where this happens [the texts are, for the most part, summaries; when there is a quotation, as it was above, the words will be a somewhat-literal translation of the original text]. The contrasts are given in the order in which the verses appear in the text. And an attempt was made to show the most significant contrasts between a ‘God emphasis’ and a ‘man emphasis’. This may help get you ready for the next week’s text—which is also from the rest of Genesis 18. And this may also get you ready for God to come down and also to be a true man in Jesus Christ. He is the descendent of Adam and Eve who dealt with that huge problem of sin and our wanting to be like God. And hopefully you have already heard about the ending of that situation.

Genesis 16:
The text says that the angel of the LORD finds Hagar, the Egyptian maidservant of Sarah/Sarai, the wife of Abraham/Abram). The angel tells her that he is going to greatly increase her descendants, and he also tells her what her son is going to do. Then the text says this: She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her. “You are the God who sees me. I saw the back of the One seeing me.”

Genesis 18-19
The chapter (and the reading for this Sunday) starts out by saying that the LORD appeared to Abraham. Then the text goes on to say that three men meet Abraham. Then, a little while later, the text says that the LORD spoke to Abraham. The LORD said that he knew that Sarah laughed. And the text says in 18:22 that Abraham remained standing before the face of the LORD. At 19:27 Abraham goes to the place where it says ‘he stood there, at the face of the LORD’.

Genesis 24
Abraham is, at this point, VERY old, and his son, Isaac, still does not have a wife. Abraham is convinced that, in a very similar way to the LORD bringing him to this Promised Land, the LORD would ‘send his angel before his [the servant’s] face and get a wife (v. 7)’ for his son. Later, the servant finds one and says that ‘the LORD has led me… (v. 27). When permission is given for Rebekah to be Isaac’s wife, the text says that the servant ‘bowed to the ground to the LORD (v. 52).’

Genesis 32
Jacob, Isaac’s younger son, was having issues with his older brother, Esau, and before he meets him again, with Isaac’s huge family, he wrestles with a strange man through the night. When that man saw that he was not going to overcome him, he touched the socket of his hip and wrenched it out. The ‘man’ gives a blessing to Jacob, and he renames him Israel, for ‘you struggled with God and with men, and you overcame (v. 29).’ Israel ends up naming that place Peniel, because, he said, ‘I saw God, face to face, and my life was spared (v. 31).’

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July 9th, 2022

7/9/2022

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Our ‘walk’ through a significant portion of the Gospel according to Luke [10:25-37] continues on this Sunday, and there is, once again, a significant jump in the Old Testament text for this Sunday. Two Sundays ago, the text was from 1 Kings. Last Sunday, the text was from Isaiah. And this Sunday (‘Proper 10’) the text is from Leviticus 19:9-18, and there is also the possible additional reading of Leviticus 18:1-5. That variety within the Old Testament texts attests to THE great uniting factor within the New Testament, Jesus Christ.

This Sunday is one of three times within the entire three-year series that the text is from the book of Leviticus. And with the additional reading, this is the closest text to the middle of the work.

The middle of a literary work is usually bypassed because it is in the middle. A lot of other things are going on. Why bother with something in the middle? And how often have you wanted to sneak a peek at what the ending is going to be? The middle certainly helps with the structure, and the structure often helps with the message.

One of the best and easiest examples to give is that of the first man and his statement about the first woman. In the following verse, he shows her importance and gives the reason for her name. In the Hebrew, the first word, the middle word, and the end word are essentially the same. And here is a somewhat-literal translation of the Genesis 2:23 [and the designations of chapter and verse certainly give a structure to the text, although that structure may sometimes be distracting from the message]:

This, the now, bone from my bones and flesh from my flesh; to this, she shall be called woman, for from man she was taken, this.

In the Lord’s Prayer, as it is given in Matthew 6[:9-13], there is a significance and a significant difference in those same three points. The first word is ‘Father’, a very comforting word. The last word is quite the opposite, ‘evil’. And the middle word is a word that we are not sure of its meaning. It is the word ‘daily’ in ‘daily bread’, but it may mean something like ‘supersubstantial’ (that word happens to be basically a Latin translation of the unknown Greek word). That word might be a helpful way to understand the great gifts our loving Father gives out in the face of so much evil in the world.

Middle things are important. The entire book of Leviticus is important because it is the middle book of the Pentateuch. And near the middle of that middle book is the important chapter on the Day of Atonement [16], one of the very few times in which someone entered into the Most Holy Place, the Holy of Holies. There are also the prohibitions in the following chapters that play an important role, especially for non-Jews, in Acts 15.

An important middle may not be the only important thing. An important middle may also divide the book into two parts, both of which may also have important middle points.

The way in which the book of Leviticus begins seems to point to the importance of the LORD speaking to Moses. So the first verse is given in a somewhat-literal translation below, and all the similar wording that occurs in the rest of the book will follow, again in somewhat-literal translations. What seems to make a difference in the progression is when a bad thing happens, and in this case, there are two of them. At the beginning of chapter 10, there is the death of Nadab and Abihu, and at the end of chapter 24, a blasphemer is stoned to death.

1:1       And he called to Moses and he spoke, the LORD, to him, from the tent of meeting, to say….

4:1       And he spoke, the LORD, to Moses, to say [also 5:14, 6:1, 6:8, 6:19, 6:24, 7:22, 7:28, & 8:1]….

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10:8     And he spoke, the LORD, to Aaron, to say….

11:1     And he spoke, the LORD, to Moses and to Aaron, to say….

12:1     And he spoke, the LORD, to Moses, to say….

13:1     And he spoke, the LORD, to Moses and to Aaron, to say….

14:1     And he spoke, the LORD, to Moses, to say….

14:33   And he spoke, the LORD, to Moses and to Aaron, to say [also 15:1]….

16:1     And he spoke, the LORD, to Moses, after to die, two of the sons of Aaron, when they approached the face of the LORD, and they died. And he said, the LORD, to Moses….

17:1     And he spoke, the LORD, to Moses, to say [also 18:1, 19:1, 20:1]….

21:1     And he said, the LORD, to Moses….

21:16   And he spoke, the LORD, to Moses, to say [also 22:1, 22:17, 22:26, 23:1, 23:9, 23:23, 23:26, 23:33, 24:1, 24:13]….

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25:1     And he spoke, the LORD, to Moses, on Mount Sinai, to say….

27:1     And he spoke, the LORD, to Moses, to say….

Why do the bad things mark the transition to get us along farther into the book and closer to the LORD, starting at the tent of meeting and then getting to where he is on Mount Sinai? That seems to be what Jesus’ death does for us, when he is on the cross. His sacrifice brings us face-to-face with God.

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July 2nd, 2022

7/2/2022

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This Sunday continues our ‘walk’ through a significant portion of the Gospel according to Luke [10:1-20], and this Sunday, once again, has an important Old Testament text that relates to a very important account, detailing the actions of the world’s Savior. And this Sunday is ‘Proper 9’ of the ‘C Series’.

This Sunday’s Old Testament text is from Isaiah 66:10-14, and although this is a significantly different book from last week’s text of 1 Kings 19, it continues with much the same theme. There is a place where one can meet with the LORD and receive the gifts he has to give. Elijah reached that place when he came to Horeb, the ‘mountain of God [1 Kings 19:8]’. This week in Isaiah, it happens in the special city of Jerusalem.

Ancient Jerusalem was not special because it was ancient or even because it was the place of kings. It was truly the place of the KING OF KINGS. When the temple was in Jerusalem, that made it a hugely significant place. That was the place where the God of the universe met with mankind.

Last week the point was brought up that within the Greek translation of the books of 1 Samuel through 2 Kings, there are two styles of translation, and a layout of the tabernacle or temple may be seen in the alternation between those two styles. The more Hebrew style of translation imitates the significant parts of the tabernacle and the other style contains the ramifications of that important object (and it also contains the historical presents of many verbs, and these special verbs point to the glory of the One behind it all). With the more Hebrew style, there were two places, a place of sacrifice and a place where one entered to be with the LORD, where the LORD was. That tabernacle or temple was an incredibly important thing, important enough to have it echo in various translation styles.

The Greek translation of Isaiah is important as well because of how incredibly close it is to the New Testament. It is almost as if Isaiah could see quite clearly the person of Jesus. An interesting facet of the New Testament connection that is found in Isaiah is its connection to the four gospel accounts. It is certainly a sign of notoriety that the name of this Old Testament prophet appears in ALL FOUR gospel accounts. (Matthew 3:3, 4:14, 8:17, 12:17, 13:14, 15:7; Mark 7:6; Luke 3:4, 4:17; John 1:23, 12:38, 12:39, 12:41). Very few Old Testament people are mentioned this often.

Although it would be helpful to look at all these connections to the four gospel accounts, I thought that the connection to the Gospel according to John was particularly interesting. Nowhere else are there three mentions of the name of Isaiah so close to one another.

Whatever literary structure is suggested for the Gospel according to John, a significant change happens in John 12. It would take too long to go over those significant changes. But significant differences are also present in the other gospel accounts as Jesus gets closer to Jerusalem.

Below is a somewhat-literal translation of the verses and the surrounding context of the three Isaiah mentions. The context is noteworthy. Usually, in the other gospel accounts, a voice is heard from heaven at Jesus’ baptism. Mention is not made of that in the Gospel according to John, but there is a voice from heaven near the middle of the account.

Now obviously this is a long text, and there are many important things happening in this chapter—Jesus’ famous entrance into Jerusalem, his declaration that ‘his hour has come’ (verse 23), and the fact of his being ‘lifted up’ (verses 32-33). But hopefully what follows are helpful words.

This is what is said after there is a voice from heaven, and people said that an angel had spoken to Jesus [12:30-43]:

Jesus answered and said, “Not because of me this voice has happened, but on the contrary, because of you. Now Judgment is of this world, now the ruler of this world shall be cast out, outside. And I, if I am lifted out of the earth, all I will draw to myself.” And this he said, signifying by what kind of death he was about to die.

Therefore the crowd answered him, “We ourselves heard out of the law that the Christ remains into the age, and how do you yourself say that it is necessary to be lifted up, the Son of Man? Who is this Son of Man?”

Therefore Jesus said to them, “Still a little time the light is in you. Walk as you have the light, in order that darkness not overtakes you, and the one walking in the darkness knows not where he is going. As you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light.”

These things Jesus spoke, and, going away, he was hidden from them. But while having done many signs before them, they did not believe in him, that the word of Isaiah, the prophet, might be fulfilled, which he said, “Lord, who believed the report of us? And the arm of the Lord to whom was it revealed?” Therefore, they were not able to believe, because again Isaiah said, “He has blinded their eyes and hardened their heart, that they might not see with the eyes and understand with the heart, and might turn, and I will cure them.” These things Isaiah said because he saw his glory, and he spoke about him. Nevertheless, however, even of the rulers, many believed in him, but on the contrary, because of the Pharisees, they did not confess, in order that not put out of the synagogue they should become; for they loved the glory of men rather than the glory of God.

The last paragraph is a long one, and it was brought together to help see the connection between the points made by Isaiah. And his name is in bold as well. What is also interesting about these occurrences is that, in the Greek text, they are each twenty-five words apart. Isaiah first appears, and then there are twenty-five words, then the next use of the word Isaiah, and then, after another twenty-five words, the last Isaiah. And the last occurrence of the name gives you an idea of how significant this prophet really is.

Like the structure of the Old Testament tabernacle or temple, the counting of words is a very Jewish thing. They had no extra set of numbers in contrast to letters. The writer gives the reader an extra bonus, something to consider, since this is such a significant event.

But sometimes things change very little. As the text ends, some did not believe. And that action certainly continues today. But people can change. One might consider that God changed when he became man and dwelt among us (John 1:14).

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