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 39: Psalm 94---Counting on Divine Vindication

 Psalm 94 does not have a superscription in the Masoretic text.  In the Septuagint it is labeled a psalm of David for the fourth day of the week.  In the temple there was a psalm designated to be sung by the Levites for each day of the week, and Psalm 94 was the one for Wednesday.  This custom may have originated during the Babylonian exile.  In Babylon a different god was honored on each day of the week, and the Jews decided to honor the true God on every day of the week.  

The Talmud (b Rosh Hashanah 31a) notes that the fourth day of creation is associated with the sun and moon, and Levites sang Psalm 94 on the fourth day of the week to call for God's punishment of those who worshiped the sun and moon.  

Psalm 94 begins by referring to the God of Israel as the "God of vengeances."  The congregation prays that God would execute justice on the wicked who have been exploiting the defenseless and boasting about what they have done (vv 1-7).  The wicked are rebuked in vv 8-11 for imagining that God will not hold them accountable for their actions.

On the other hand, there are blessings for those who submit to God's authority and allow themselves to be corrected by God's word.  A midrash on Ps 94:12 lists 3 blessings that result from divine discipline:

• the Torah (Ps 94:12).
• the promised land (Deut 8:5-7).
• the world to come (Prov 6:23).

Verses 16-23 note the consolation that comes from trusting in God's vindication.  

Two verses in Psalm 94 are referenced in the New Testament.  Verse 14 declares, "For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage."  Paul repeats this affirmation in Rom 11:1-2.

Psalm 94:11 states that God "knows the thoughts of man, that they are but a breath."  Paul quotes this verse in 1 Cor 3:20 when he admonishes his readers not to trust too much in human wisdom. 

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.