Seder 78: Leviticus 5-6 and Zechariah 5---Crime and Punishment in Ancient Israel

 When a crime was committed in ancient Israel---a theft, for example---there would be a public call for witnesses to come forward, with an oath calling upon God to deal appropriately with the perpetrator and anyone who knew what had happened but refused to testify.  

This kind of public call and oath is first mentioned in the Bible in Leviticus 5:1.  Another reference to it is in Proverbs 29:24:  "The partner of a thief hates his own life; he hears the curse, but discloses nothing."  

When there was a lack of evidence in a case, it might have ended up being resolved by an oath.  For example, Exodus 22:10-11 describes a case where one person leaves some possession with another person for safekeeping, and the possession is subsequently lost.  If there is no evidence of what happened and the person who was supposed to be guarding the possession swears that he doesn't know what happened, the owner has to accept his word.  

Underlying all of this is the conviction that God sees everything and is the ultimate Judge.  In some cases where a person failed to testify, his conscience would eventually move him to step forward belatedly, as in Leviticus 5:1.  Or if a person had defrauded another and initially lied about it, he might later confess the truth and make things right (Lv 6:1-7).  God might give such a person some incentive to do the right thing by allowing the person to suffer for his wrongdoing.  That's what Leviticus 5:1 means when it speaks of the reluctant witness "bearing his iniquity."  

One striking affirmation of God's justice appears in Zechariah's vision of a flying scroll.  (Remembering the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons, I am tempted to refer to the scroll in the vision as Rocket J. Scroll.)  This huge scroll measures about 30 feet by 15 feet.  It has writing on both sides, like the tablets of the Decalogue.  The commandment against stealing is on one side, and the commandment against bearing false witness is on the other.  The scroll seems to symbolize the whole Decalogue, or more broadly all of God's Word.  

Zechariah 5:3-4 pictures God sending out the scroll, as he sends out his Word in Psalm 147:15; and as in Isaiah 55:11, it accomplishes God's will, carrying out justice in the world.  The scroll makes good on the oath that goes out when witnesses are solicited---see verse 3.  

Although we are not often called upon to be witnesses in a court of law, we have all been witnesses of the goodness of God.  In a sermon on Leviticus 5:1 at Church of the Messiah on August 2, 2025, Kyle Kettering urged us not to be reluctant witnesses, and to speak up about what God has done for us. 

Seder 60: Psalm 147---Reasons for Praise

 Psalm 147 gives a fourfold call to praise God (vv 1, 7. 12. 20) and brings out several reasons for doing so. 

God is praised first for Israel's restoration after exile, including the return of people from exile and the rebuilding of Jerusalem (vv 2-3).  This example dates the psalm as postexilic.  (The LXX and Vulgate associate Psalms 146-147 with Haggai and Zechariah.)  

The rebuilding and dedication of Jerusalem's walls under Nehemiah are discussed in Neh 6:15-7:3; 12:27-43.  Prophecies of rebuilding, covering this restoration and restoration yet to come, are given in Jer 31:38-40; Isa 60:17-18; 61:4-6; Isa 65:18.  Some examples of prophecies on regathering of people from exile are Deut 30:1-4; Isa 11:12. 

The midrash on Psalm 147 speculates on the identity of the "outcasts of Israel" in verse 2.  Along with people returning from exile, there is speculation about the futures of Korah and Achan. 

Additional reasons for praise are God's detailed knowledge of, power over, and care for his creation (vv 4-6, 8-9). He especially cares for people who fear him and put their trust in him (vv 10-11).  

In the Septuagint this psalm is divided into two separate psalms, with verses 1-11 in one and verses 12-20 in the second.  In the MT the two parts of Psalm 147 fit together well.  Verses 13-14, like verses 2-3, praise God for his care for Jerusalem.  Verses 15-18, like verses 4-5, 8-9, picture God's power as Creator. 

Finally, God is praised in verses 19-20 for revealing precious instruction to Israel.  These verses remind Christians of Paul's words in Romans 3:1-2: 

"Then what advantage has the Jew?  Or what is the value of the circumcision?  Much in every way.  To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God."

Christians from all nations are thankful to Israel for preserving God's Word and passing it down to us.

Seder 13: Gen 15 and Ps 27---Waiting for God

Abram had traveled to the land of Canaan at God's direction, placing his life in the hands of the Creator of the Universe.  God had promised that Abram would be the father of a great nation, and Abram trusted in God's promise.  But he still had questions about how the promise would be carried out, especially because he and Sarai so far had been unable to have children.  In Gen 15:3, he pointed out,

"You have given me no offspring, and so a slave born in my house is to be my heir."

God responded in verse 5,

"Look toward heaven and count the stars, if you are able to count them.  So shall your descendants be."

However, God didn't give Abram a detailed outline and timetable on the fulfillment of the promise.  So Abram faced the challenge of waiting to see how and when it would be carried out.

David, in Psalm 27:14, encourages readers,

"Wait for the Lord; be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!"

In a short teaching at Church of the Messiah on June 13, 2020,   Jack Starcher noted that the word "wait" in Psalm 27:14 comes from a root meaning "to bind."  So another way to say "wait for the Lord" might be to say, "bind yourself to the Lord."  He reflected on what this kind of waiting might look like.  He said that it is not an entirely passive kind of waiting, but a faithful doing one's part while counting on God to see things through.

Hundreds of years later, Moses affirmed that the promise of Gen 15:5 indeed had been fulfilled:

"The Lord your God has multiplied you, so that today you are as numerous as the stars of heaven" (Deut 1:10).

Jack also traced the imagery of stars through the Bible.  In Psalm 147:4, we read, "He determines the number of the stars' he gives to all of them their names."  We can infer from this that God knew about each individual descendant of Abram, including the Messiah, who is called "the bright morning star" in Rev 22:16.