Feast of Tabernacles 2025: Comparing 1 Cor 8-10 and Avodah Zarah

 At the Feast of Tabernacles, we look forward to the time when all nations worship the true God, as pictured in Zechariah 14.  

In the first century the Gospel began to be proclaimed to the nations, an effort that eventually will lead to the fulfillment of Zechariah 14.  Former pagans who joined the Christian movement faced some big challenges negotiating the polytheistic environment of the Greco-Roman world.  Here their Jewish brethren in the Diaspora could provide help based on generations of experience.  We see the apostle Paul providing this kind of help in his epistles---for example, in 1 Corinthians 8 and 10.  

In a lecture at Church of the Messiah on October 11, 2025, Kyle Kettering explained that the guidance Paul gave to his congregations has important parallels with the cases discussed in tractate Avodah Zarah ("works of idolaters") in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmuds.  This is not surprising, since Paul 

• was a Pharisee (not an "ex-Pharisee"), as we see in Acts 23:6;
• was a follower of the Torah, as in Acts 18:8; 21:21-24;
• was a teacher of Torah principles.

Both Paul and Avodah Zarah took into account three considerations in navigating the idol-saturated world of the Roman Empire:

1. How a particular thing appeared to others.
2. The significance given to the thing in its setting.
3. How a particular thing was being used.

In regard to appearances, one case discussed by the rabbis involves a coin that is lying on the ground in front of an idol shrine.  Is it OK to pick up the coin?  The sages say no in a situation where doing so would make it appear that one is worshiping the god of the shrine.  Similarly, Paul in 1 Corinthians 8 says that meat that has been offered to an idol should not be eaten if this action would do spiritual harm to a brother---e.g., a Gentile believer who is still struggling with whether to continue in pagan practices that previously were part of his life.  

1 Thessalonians 5:22 as it is translated in the KJV ("abstain from all appearance of evil") may be relevant here, although there is some question about the meaning of this verse.  For example, ESV has "abstain from every form of evil."   

Significance given to an object arose, for example, in the question of the possible use of stones that had been part of an image of a god.  Are these stones still being seen and treated as representing the god?   If so, they should not be reused.  If not, it is OK to recycle them for another purpose. 

The question about how a thing was being used arose, for example, in the question of whether one should go to a Roman bathhouse in which there were idolatrous images.  In one famous ruling, Rabban Gamaliel II said that it was not a problem to go to a bathhouse in which there was an image of Aphrodite.  Gamaliel reasoned that people went to a bathhouse to bathe, not to worship idols.   The idol at the bathhouse was just a decoration, not an object of worship. 

Kyle gave some current examples in which these principles can be applied.  For example, the image on a Starbucks cup is not a part of pagan worship, so there is no reason to abstain from Starbucks coffee.  Similarly, there is no reason to avoid the use of Christmas trees; the people who use them do not do so to follow a false god.  There is no reason to worry about the origins or past use of the "Star of David;" the current intended use of the star has nothing to do with paganism. 

Seder 139: Deuteronomy 6---the Shema

 In Deuteronomy Moses sometimes refers to the instruction he conveys to Israel as "the commandment" (6:1).  He communicates quite a number of precepts in Deuteronomy, but there is one that is most important:  exclusive loyalty to God.  If the Israelites would maintain that loyalty, they would prosper in the land. 

Deuteronomy 6:4 is Moses' famous declaration, "Hear, O Israel:  The Lord our God, the Lord is one" (ESV).  There are a number of variations in English translations of this verse.  Since the key issue is not how many God is, but who is the God of Israel, the translation "the Lord alone," as in the NRSV, is a good one.  Israel is to have no other gods alongside Yahweh.

Verse 5 expresses the Israelites' ideal relationship with God.  "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."  The Hebrew word for "heart", lev, refers to both emotions and thoughts---all of our inner being.  The word for soul, nephesh, refers to one's whole person.  The word for "might," meod, is an adverb meaning "very."  In other words, one should love God with all of one's resources and possessions.  

So Deuteronomy 6:5 describes a total commitment to God.  Paul's exhortation in Romans 12:1 to "present your bodies as a living sacrifice" expresses a similar idea.  

In verses 6-9, Moses goes on to say that commitment to God is personal (v. 6), a family matter (v 7), and a public matter (vv 8-9).  Commentator Daniel Block recalls that when he was studying in Germany, he often walked past a house with a message carved into its outer wall:  "An Gottes Segen ist alles gelegen" (everything depends on God's blessing).  This was sort of a German Protestant analogue of a mezuzah.  

In the remainder of chapters 6-8, Moses describes tests of commitment that Israel would face.  One major test would be internal:  When they enjoyed the blessings of the land, would they forget God? Another was external:  How would they deal with the Canaanites?

In verses 20-25 of chapter 6, Moses raises and answers a question:  What is the point of the things God is asking them to do?  In answering the question, he begins by recalling the fact that God had delivered them from Egypt and guided them to where they were.  As always, he puts the commandments of God in the context of the Gospel.  He then says that the Torah leads to the fear of God and is the key to life, well-being, and righteousness.  

The centrality of the Shema reverberates through the rest of Scripture.   Jesus cited it as one of the two great commandments---Mark 12:28-34.  Paul stressed that our commitment to God includes commitment to Jesus (1 Cor 8:6).  

There is also a prophetic dimension of the Shema.  It looks forward to the time when the whole world will follow the one true God (Zech 14:9).  

In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on March 18, 2023, Kyle Kettering discussed the meaning of the Shema, the traditions surrounding it, and its application in the lives of followers of God.