Seder 152: Psalm 11---No Need to Flee

 Psalm 11 is sometimes pictured as a dialogue between David and his advisers.  In a crisis that he faces, David is advised to "flee like a bird to your mountain" (verse 1).  

Perhaps the exchange takes place during the period in which David is being pursued by Saul.  In 1 Sam 26:20, David says that Saul is "like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains."

David's dialogue partners point out the danger posed by the enemy, whose attacks are deadly but hard to detect and defend against (v 2).  The enemy has threatened the foundations of society and attacks the righteous (v 3).  

David counters that he doesn't have to be afraid.  God, the King of the Universe, is on his throne (v 4), from which vantage point he observes the deeds of men.  He tests the righteous to build their characters, and they ultimately will "see his face" (vv 5,7; Mt 5:8; 1 Jn 3:2; Rev 22:4); but the wicked, who will not respond to the challenge of being tested by God, ultimately will meet the fate of Sodom and Gomorrah (vv 4-6).    

The Bible sometimes uses the imagery of a cup containing either punishment or reward. Here we see that imagery in verse 6.  For the wicked, "fire and sulfur and a scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup."  A midrash on Psalm 11 says that God gives wicked nations four cups of punishment, based on Psalm 11:6; 75:8; Jer 25:15; 51:7.  On the other hand, God gives Israel four cups of deliverance, based on Psalm 16:5; 23:5; 116:13.  (Since "cup" is plural in 116:13, two cups are counted there.)

This imagery also appears in the New Testament, where Jesus accepts in our place the cup of punishment that we deserved (Luke 22:42). 

Seder 146: Psalm 109---Curses for a Cursing Curser

 Psalm 109 is an individual lament and an imprecatory psalm.  It begins and ends with praise to God and an expression of confidence in God (vv 1, 30-31).  

The psalmist is being troubled by enemies who, motivated by hatred, attack him with lying, deceitful words (vv 2-3).   Like Satan, they are accusers (v 4).  

One of these accusers, in partcular, "did not remember to show kindness, but pursued the poor and needy and the brokenhearted, to put them to death" (v 16).  He is someone who "loved to curse" (v 17).  

The psalmist prays that God will grant justice in measure-for-measure fashion, bringing an accuser against the accuser (v 6) and bringing curses against this man who loves to curse (v 17).  He levies a string of curses against the one who has been cursing him.  His prayer is a "thy kingdom come" kind of prayer, crying out for the time when there will be no more evil in the world.  

The accuser in this psalm has been associated with Judas.  Verse 8 is familiar:   "May his days be few, may another take his office!"  Peter quoted this verse in Acts 1:20 to argue that the 11 apostles should appoint a replacement for Judas.    

This is one of the hardest of the imprecatory psalms for us to read today.  The psalms show the honest feelings of those who prayed them; they are not necessarily illustrating how we are "supposed to feel."  In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on June 3, 2023, Kyle Kettering reminded us of the pinnacle of the teachings of Jesus, the directive to love our enemies (Mt 5:38-48; Luke 6:27-36).

Seder 107: Numbers 6:22-27 and Matthew 5---the Aaronic Blessing and the Beatitudes

 God is the source of all blessings (James 1:17).  In the Bible, human representatives of God like kings (2 Sam 6:18; 1 Kings 8:14,55)  and priests (Ps 118:26; Lev 9:22) often prayed for blessings for God's people.

It was a duty of Israelite priests, in fact, to pray for blessing, and God gave them the words for such a prayer (Num 6:24-26).  The words include:

• "The Lord bless you"---as in Lev 26:3-13; Dt 28:3-14, which picture wellbeing in all areas of life.
• "And keep you"---protect you from things that work against this blessing, against peace and prosperity.  Such protection is described, for example, in Psalm 121.
• "The Lord make his face to shine upon you".  This expression pictures a superior showing favor to a subject, as in Pro 16:15:  "In the light of a king's face there is life, and his favor is like the clouds that bring the spring rain."  See Ps 31:16 for another example of this expression. 
• "And be gracious to you"---a prayer for God's mercy.
• "The Lord lift up his countenance upon you"---the opposite of hiding one's face in anger and turning away, as in Gen 4:6.  Deut 28:50 refers to a nation sent to punish Israel as "hard-faced".
• "And give you peace"---"peace" is shalom, which connotes prosperity, health, and wholeness.

This blessing "placed God's name" upon the Israelites.  As bearers of God's name, they were charged with representing him before the nations, a responsibility they were to carry out faithfully, as emphasized in one of the Ten Commandments (Ex 20:7).

Moses embodied what it meant to receive this blessing.  When he communed with God on Mount Sinai, he experienced God's shining face.  His own face then shone, illustrating a close relationship with God (Ex 34:29-35).  Biblical theologian David H. Wenkel studies the Bible's "shining face" and "face-to-face" motifs in his book Shining Like the Sun:  A Biblical Theology of Meeting God Face to Face.  

Some of the oldest known copies of verses from the Bible are copies of the Aaronic blessing preserved on two tiny silver strips dating from around 600 BC.  These strips were found at Ketef Hinnom in 1979.

When we think about biblical blessings, we also think about the Beatitudes pronounced by Jesus in Matt 5:2-12.  The Beatitudes are not prayers like the Aaronic blessing.  Rather, they identify groups of people who have already received blessing, even if they might not seem in the world's eyes to be very fortunate.  In a sermon at Church of the Messiah on July 2, 2022, Kyle Kettering brought out the difference and expounded on the Beatitudes.

Seder 92: Lev 19---Characteristics of Holy Living

 Many commentators point to Lev 19:2 for the theme of the book of Leviticus:

"You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy."

Leviticus 19 gives instruction from God on how holiness looks in various areas of life.  It expands upon the Decalogue, with all ten commandments represented.  Proper worship of God is emphasized, as is compassion for the most vulnerable members of society.  

Verse 18 is probably the best known passage in this important chapter:  

"You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself:  I am the Lord."

This is one of the two "great commandments" emphasized by Jesus of Nazareth (Matt 22:34-40).  

Verse 17 has been the subject of much thought and reflection over the centuries:

"You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him."

One New Testament passage that deals with applications of this verse in Matt 18:15-17, 21-35.  

The book of James has much to say about applications of Lev 19:12-18.  

There is also evidence that the order in which topics are addressed in Matthew 5 follows the order in which the same topics are addressed in Lev 19.  Kyle Kettering pointed this out in a sermon at Church of the Messiah on February 19, 2022, drawing upon a book by Jan Willem Doeve, Jewish Hermeneutics in the Synoptic Gospels and Acts (1953).  

Seder 66: Exodus 27:20-21---Keep the Lamps Lit

 After giving descriptions of the bronze altar and the tabernacles courtyard, Exodus 27 concludes by specifying that the priests would use olive oil to keep the menorah lit every night (vv 20-21).  

On July 31, 2021, Kyle Kettering talked about the symbolic significance of a continually burning light in a sermon at Church of the Messiah.  

He noted that God began the creation week by proclaiming, "Let there be light" (Gen 1:3).  In Hebrew, this sentence is literally, "Be light!", which we can read as instruction for the humans he created in his image.   

Being light means doing good works, as guided by God's word (Matt 5:14-16).  God's word is itself described as a lamp that will guide our steps (Ps 119:105; Prov 6:23).  The Talmud (b Sotah 21a) says that each biblical commandment is a small lamp.

Keeping our lamps lit means following God each day, so that we will be ready when Jesus returns.  In one parable about this Jesus instructed, "Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning" (Luke 12:35-48).  

Seder 61: Exodus 22-23---Further Applications of the Decalogue

 The "covenant code" continues in Exodus 22-23, with more applications of the Decalogue.  Each one can serve as the basis for a thoughtful discussion.  I will highlight a few of them here.  

Exodus 22:25-27 forbids charging interest on a loan to a poor Israelite, or engaging in any other practice that would leave someone trapped in a cycle of indebtedness and thus enslaved.  Such behavior constitutes a kind of theft.  

Exodus 22:28 teaches respect for those who are in authority.  Paul quotes this provision in Acts 23:5 when he discovers that the man he has been publicly rebuking before the Sanhedrin is actually the high priest. (That awkward moment is soon forgotten, however, when Paul raises the subject of resurrection, starting an argument among council members.)

Exodus 23:4-5 gives the important "love your enemies" principle.  Jewish tradition teaches that this is a way to heal relationships and turn enemies into friends.  This is another case where God's character is a model for us (Matt 5:43-48).  

Exodus 23:1-3, 6-8 are related to the commandment against bearing false witness.  The commandments against being a malicious witness and taking bribes reminds us of the incident of Naboth's vineyard (1 Kings 21).  The teaching against "siding with the many, so as to pervert justice" reminds us of the wickedness that is carried out by mobs---in lynchings, for example.  

The second half of Exodus 23:19 has long been a puzzler:  "You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk." One possibility is that there was a pagan fertility practice of this type, in which such a ritual was supposed to make a flock more fertile.  (However, we as yet have no record of such a practice.)

It has also been proposed that the word for "milk" should instead be translated "fat", using different vowels.  In that case, this becomes a prohibition of sacrificing mother and baby animals at the same time.  

The covenant code is presented to the Israelites while they are at Mt Sinai, although many of the provisions apply to their future life in the Promised Land.  Why are these provisions presented so early?  

One answer is that it isn't necessarily all that early.  God could take the Israelites to the Promised Land within a month at any time that he wanted to do so.  

Another answer is that at any time, the provisions of the covenant code reveal principles that can be applied in any setting, whether or not the nation is in the Promised Land.  Rob Wilson proposed this second answer in a sermon at Church of the Messiah on June 26, 2021.

Seder 25: Psalm 37---Staying Faithful in Hard Times

 Psalm 37 is a wisdom psalm that urges followers of God not to worry when they are going through hard times and enemies of God seem to be flourishing.  

The psalm says that the wicked "will soon fade like the grass" (v 2).  In the spring the grass is green and lush, but it soon withers under the hot summer sun.  

Rabbinic midrash on this psalm identifies another image used in wisdom literature---that of a lamp.  Prov 24:19-20 says, "Do not fret because of evildoers.  Do not envy the wicked; for the evil have no future; the lamp of the wicked will go out."  On the other hand, Prov 6:23 states, "For the commandment is a lamp, and the teaching a light."  Putting these verses together, sages advised against envying the temporary lamp of the wicked.  Instead one should desire the lasting light of God's commandments.

Another rabbinic saying connected with Psalm 37 comes from Rabbi Eleazar:  "From the prosperity of the wicked in this world you can tell the reward of the righteous in the world to come  If so much for the wicked, how much more and more for the righteous."  

This saying reminds us of Jesus' teaching about how God takes care of both the righteous and the unrighteous (Matt 5:45).  Such an understanding of God's character lies behind Jesus' directive that we emulate God by loving our enemies (vv 43-48).  

Psalm 37 emphasizes that the reward of righteous Israelites will be long life for them and their descendants in the Promised Land.   By Jesus' time, understanding of the psalm had expanded to include a reward of eternal life for the righteous in the world to come, based on the reasoning that since the righteous are not always rewarded in this life, there must be a future life in which everything is made right.  

Such an understanding is reflected in Rabbi Eleazar's saying, and in Jesus' saying, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" (Matt 5:5).  This beatitude seems to be based on Psalm 37:11.  

Psalm 37 gives encouragement to persecuted followers of God.  Consider, for example, verses 32-33:  "The wicked watch for the righteous, and seek to kill them.  The Lord will not abandon them to their power, or let them be condemned when they are brought to trial."

These verses remind me of the plight of Pakistani Christians who are in constant danger of being arrested for supposedly blaspheming Mohammed or the Koran.  In one well-known case, Asia Bibi spent 8 years in prison but was finally being acquitted of a false blasphemy charge in 2018.

Seder 13 Sermon: The Great Reward

After Abram rescued Lot and other captives from an invading northeastern army, and after Abram affirmed his trust in God, God came to him in a vision, saying,

"Do not be afraid, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great" (Gen 15:1).

In a Seder 13 sermon, Kyle Kettering reflected on what Abram might have feared (besides the initial fright of receiving this vision).  His response in verses 2-3 suggests that he was anxious about the future---as we all tend to be.  We all experience fear, which can be a great motivator but also can be debilitating.  We need to bring our fears under control. 

In Psalm 27:1, David declared,

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

He came to this conclusion after fervent prayer about his fears (27:8-12).

God told Abram in the vision that he would receive a great reward (Hebrew sakar).  One part of that reward would be the many descendants he had been promised.  As it says in Ps 127:3, "Sons are indeed a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward."

Jesus taught, in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5) and the Sermon on the Plain (Luke 6), that there would be great reward in the world to come for those who followed him and lived selflessly.

Kyle explained that Gen 15:1 also can be rendered, "I am your shield, your very great reward."  In this rendering, walking with God is a great reward in itself.  He is the reward!

Seder 11: Gen 12-13--The Promise in Peril

At some point after Abram and Sarai arrived in the land of Canaan, they left during a time of severe famine and sought refuge in Egypt.  Fearing that the Pharaoh would have him killed in order to add Sarai to the royal harem, Abram pretended that Sarai was just his sister, not his wife.  Pharaoh then proceeded to add Sarai to his harem (Gen 12:10-16)

Abram's deception put his wife in great danger and jeopardized the future of his family.  But God intervened, striking Pharaoh with plagues because he had abducted Sarai.  Pharaoh then reprimanded Abram and threw them out of Egypt (vv 17-20).

In this episode we see an example of how God would deal with people according to their treatment of Abram's family.  Pharaoh threatened that family and suffered as a result.  We also see that God's promise to Abram depends upon his grace, not upon Abram's goodness.

This passage in Gen 12-13 also foreshadows the later Exodus.  Abram and Sarai travel to Egypt during a time of famine, as Jacob would later.  They are in danger there, as the Israelites would later be enslaved.  Pharaoh suffers plagues, as Egypt would later.  Abram and his family are thrown out of Egypt with great wealth (12:16; 13:2), as the Israelites would be later.  And Abram then journeys by stages (13:3), as the Israelites would on the Exodus (Num 33:1).  The repetition of exodus themes in the Bible sends the message that God is consistent.  As he has acted in the past, so he will act again in the future.

Back in the land of Canaan with increased wealth, Abram and Lot needed to spread out to provide more room for their flocks.  The strife among their herdsmen (13:7) foreshadowed later strife between Israelites and Moabites.  Lot chose to go east to a fertile area near Sodom and Gomorrah, a move that looked good at the time.  But as has been the case so far in the book of Genesis, people run into trouble when they head east in a direction away from the Promised Land. 

Here some have seen an analogy between Gen 13:10 and Gen 3:6.  In Genesis 3:6, Eve saw that the forbidden fruit looked good and gave it a try.  In Genesis 13:10, Lot saw that the Jordan Valley looked good and decided to go there.

Abram acts as peacemaker, reminding us of Matt 5:9.

After Abram and Lot parted ways, God reaffirmed the promise of the land (13:14-17).