Blessings and Curses.

This week's blogging has been a bit of a challenge for me. I have looked at the assignment several times. I've told myself I can do it tomorrow. I stewed over how to get started. Now, it's time to just bite the bullet and get this done! I always find it interesting the patterns of repeated information that occur throughout the Bible.  For example, parts of Deuteronomy, Joshua, 1 Samuel, 2 Kings, and 2 Chronicles each describe the importance of obeying God. To take it even further, each of the above-mentioned books also talks about the blessings and curses that come forth from obeying and disobeying, respectively.

I'm a first born. I've always been a rule follower. This week, I read all about what it means to be a "Biblical Rule Follower" (BRF for short). We hear throughout these passages that when obeying God, blessings flow; when we disobey, curses flow.

Deuteronomy 28:1-68 --- In the first chunk of this Scripture passage (Deuteronomy 28:1-14), titled "Future Blessings," we are told that obeying God will benefit by being blessed. God shows mercy, and will defeat anyone who attacks us. We are to keep God with us at all times, and by doing so, we will be blessed beyond measure. The second portion, verses 15-68 called "Future Curses," we hear the opposite: if we do not follow God's commandments and continue to disobey, then we put ourselves under the curse -- a horrible, nasty curse.  As much happiness as can be found in obeying God? Flip the coin and that's how much unhappiness is found in disobeying!

Joshua 23:1-16 --- In this passage, which is the entire chapter, we read about Joshua (can I get a unison *DUH* for that last statement!?!). Joshua has grown old and is giving reminders about how faithful God has been in his lifetime. He urges us to remember to be faithful, as he has known God to always be faithful as well. Joshua 23:10 says "This is because the Lord your God fights for you, exactly as he promised you." In Joshua's eyes, we are to remember to be faithful, as turning from our faithfulness will bring the undesirable consequences we have been promised. He also warns about following false idols. If we trust in God's love, then we trust His faithfulness.

1 Samuel 12:1-25 --- This passage of 1 Samuel again urges the people to obey the Lord, but also includes that historically, when people have cried out to God for help, God has shown up. Because of this, Samuel says

So now, here is the king you chose, the one you asked for. Yes, the Lord has put a king over you! If you will fear the Lord, worship him, obey him, and not rebel against the Lord's command, and if both you and the king who rules over you follow the Lord your God -- all will be well. But if they don't obey the Lord and rebel against the Lord's command, then the Lord's power will go against you and your king to destroy you (1 Samuel 12:13-15 CEB).

Samuel's writing reminds us that while we have done evil things, we shouldn't turn our backs on God, but instead should fear and serve the Lord.

2 Kings 17:5-18 --- From the very beginning of this passage, things feel a little different than in the other passages. In it, we learn that this is written about the invasion of the Northern Kingdom by the Assyrians, leading to the fall of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. This passage feels like the "told you so" passage -- God told us the people to obey, they didn't, destruction ensues. End scene. "Disobeying God for Dummies" could be the book title of this situation. "But they wouldn't listen. They were stubborn like their ancestors who didn't trust the Lord their God" (2 Kings 17:14 CEB).

2 Chronicles 36:11-21 --- In the final chapter of the book of 2 Chronicles, we see the fall of Jerusalem. Under Zedekiah, the people, including the priests, became increasingly unfaithful to God. As a result, God sent the Babylonians over to play. "Red rover, red rover, send the Babylonians right over" - and that He did! Jerusalem and its temple were burned and destroyed... BUT as the last verse tells us -- the land finally enjoyed its Sabbath as a result.

The first three sets of passages (those from Deuteronomy, Joshua, and 1 Samuel) all seem a bit more personal, we might say. They seem to come from places of personal experience.  For example, in Joshua, he speaks from a perspective of the relationship between being faithful and God's blessings. He has witnessed and received first-hand the way this relationship works throughout his lifetime. While it may seem harsh to tell the Israelites that they should "obey or be doomed," I really did feel like the warnings/urgings by Deuteronomy, Joshua, and 1 Samuel were more relatable, or more personal perhaps.  On the other hand, in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles, we read this from the perspective of destruction of entire cities. These two books' descriptions of disobedience were much more harsh to me than the first three I mentioned. Why? Perhaps reading about the actual destruction that has come as a result of disobedience is more vivid than simple warnings of what may come.

How have you experienced God's blessings by being faithful?

T-OOTLE-oo!

Melissa

Nobody puts Israel in the corner.... well, except that one time.

Dear Curious One,

This week, I read about a cool new (to me!) topic, "Isaiah's Servant." This servant is also referred to as the "Suffering Servant" and "Servant of Yhwh." In Bandstra's chapter this week (Click to read), and in the OOTLE lectures (Responses to Exile Part A and Part B) this topic of "Suffering Servant" was explained well. Before I explain "Isaiah's Servant," I think you need a little background of another new-to-me topic from this week: Second Isaiah. Let me explain...

Before this assignment, I apparently was living under a rock hadn't read about this concept of Second Isaiah yet. Second Isaiah refers the chapters in the book of Isaiah (Chapters 40-55), which are written from the perspective of Babylonian exile. In these chapters, we read of strife caused by the exilic condition of those who were exiled to Babylon. The people there have already paid their debt, yet are continually being held in exile. The people - who came from Jerusalem - continue being held in Babylon, thus continuing to "overpay" on the debt owed. Second Isaiah's perspective claims that the people in exile at this time do not need repentance, forgiveness, or restoration (as they are being held for sins they are not guilty of), but rather are in need of vindication.

Enter: Isaiah's Servant. Bandstra highlights that Isaiah 52:13-52:12 is the last - and longest - of four "servant poems" in which we see "Yhwh's servant suffers for the people even though he did not deserve it" (Bandstra 340). The servant in these servant poems takes on the punishment for the sins of the group.

So who is this servant? According to the lecture (Part B) and to Bandstra's chapter, this servant is said to be representative of the people Israel, who are also sometimes called Jacob (remember Jacob was renamed "Israel" in Genesis when "God said to him, 'Your name is Jacob, but your name will be Jacob no longer. No, your name will be Israel.' And he named him Israel" (Genesis 35:10 CEB).) The servant,

Was this servant an actual, real-live person? While the servant is the most famous character in Second Isaiah, there is some disagreement about this question. While some feel that the servant is only representative of and a metaphor for the people Israel, there are some who argue that this servant was an actual person, perhaps Jeremiah (Bandstra 351).

So if the servant was a real person, what does that mean? Let's say the servant was Jeremiah. In what we read of Jeremiah in Kings and then again in the book of Jeremiah, we know that he was an outcast in society and was physically abused . If it's not Jeremiah, it could also be Jehoiachin (the king during the Babylonian exile), Zerubbabel (the first governor of Judea after the exile is done-zo), or perhaps even Second Isaiah himself (Bandstra 351).

Another interesting potential answer or possibility to this question is that the servant was Jesus. Before reading too deeply into who "Isaiah's Servant" was, I thought we'd be talking about Jesus (Hello, I know JC (as in the real-life man) was not in the Old Testament... I DO know that much), but I was thinking maybe it was a foreshadowing of Jesus' time to come. However, Christians have interpreted this fourth servant song with Jesus as the servant before as well. This is a theme that can be found in George Frideric Handel's Messiah. To me, without thinking about the fact that Isaiah is Old Testament and Jesus wasn't on the scene until the New Testament, it makes sense that the one who "received divine punishment" and "suffered for the people even thought he didn't deserve it" would be Jesus. It was my initial reaction, People. I mean tell me you don't have wrong initial reactions once in a while (ahem, fanny packs, anyone?!).

But what if the servant isn't an actual person, but is rather a metaphor for the people Israel? Then what happens? Well, if this is the case, we are reminded of the suffering and pain that those who were exiled endured. By their suffering and horrible treatment (I assume mani/pedi/spa days weren't offered to those in exile!) in Babylon, the nations and peoples around the people Israel were healed and taught about Yahweh's saving power.

So overall, "Isaiah's Servant" can be interpreted in a couple different ways. I think Bandstra's final thoughts on the topic make a lot of sense:

Perhaps the very indefiniteness of the allusion was Second Isaiah’s intention. He may have had somebody real in mind as a model; but he may have been suggesting, by keeping the identification vague, that the way of selflessness and suffering is the way salvation comes in God’s plan, not by military force. By keeping the figure indefinite, such a figure does not become merely an historical curiosity but a perpetual model for God’s chosen and redeemed people (Bandstra 351).

What a lovely thought -- perhaps Second Isaiah's intention was to give us some literary ambiguity! By leaving this identification up to the reader, we can't just turn "Isaiah's Servant" into an historical figure, but rather the "person" becomes a concept by which we live and love others. I think I like this idea best -- that we aren't meant to know exact meaning of this "person." By mystery of faith, we can relate it to different aspects and areas of our lives instead of being told "Read this, it means that."

What do you think of Second Isaiah and "Isaiah's Servant"?

With love and t-OOTLE-oos!

Melissa

P.S. -- Another author, Tovia Singer, wrote an article called "Who is God's Suffering Servant? The Rabbinic Interpretation of Isa 53" (Click to read). While the article was not necessarily my "cup of tea," there are some interesting points about how the "Suffering Servant" is identified and perceived.

"Hope and doom, hope and doom, Jeremiah's spouting hope and doom..."

Well, now that I have the tune of "Deep and Wide" in your head (you're welcome for that, by the way!), let's talk about the prophet formerly known as Jeremiah.

Within the book of Jeremiah, readers sense both hope and doom.  How can one writer, who wrote a book that spans about a fifty-year period (Bandstra 324) convey such elated feelings of hope next to such deep, dark feelings of doom? Jeremiah wrote during the reign of King Josiah of Judah (beginning in about 626 bce) and continues through the fall of Jerusalem (in 586 bce). The book of Jeremiah has probably undergone Deuteronomistic editing - which many other prophets' work also underwent - but this editing, paired with the time period in which Jeremiah prophesied leads to a canonized work that is fill with both optimism and pessimism. For more about the above information and more, listen to "Jerusalem and Jeremiah Part A and Part B" to get the low-down.

On a side note -- Jeremiah as a prophet is unique in that he often laid out his own personal feelings and spiritual life in his writings. Because of this, he is often called "the weeping prophet" (Bandstra 324).

While reading passages from Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:1-19; 2:1-13; 4:23-28; 5:1-5; 7:1-34, 8:18-9:3; 18:1-12; 20:7-13; 23:9-32; 31; 32:1-15 to be exact...you know, just a little light reading!), the feelings of both hope and doom are expressed almost instantly. Almost immediately, in Jeremiah 1:1-19, I had the feeling of a hopeful doom (oxymoron, anyone?).  Yep, I made that feeling up, but here's why: as I was reading, I read passages that said things like "Before I created you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I set you apart" (Jeremiah 1:5 CEB) and "Don't be afraid of them, because I'm with you to rescue you" (Jeremiah 1:6 CEB). I mean, who doesn't want to know that the Big Guy knew us intimately, even before Day 1? And really, knowing that God is there to rescue us from our fears? Awesome! Now, that all seems pretty hopeful so far, huh? But... then I read things like "Trouble will erupt from the north against the people of this land" (Jeremiah 1:14 CEB) and "That is why I will take you to court and charge even your descendants, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 2:9 CEB).

Okay, I know what you're thinking: "Hey, Crazy Lady Scholarly One! I thought you said it was hopeful doom... you even coined your own oxymoron for this and you haven't shown it yet!" What I'm getting at is that even when Jeremiah writes God saying, "Haven't you brought this on yourself by abandoning the Lord your God, who has directed your paths?" (Jeremiah 2:17 CEB), it still feels hopeful when He counters with something like "Yet it was I who planted you, a precious vine of fine quality; how could you turn into a wild vine and become good for nothing?" (Jeremiah 2:21 CEB). Even in the midst of our being the awfulness that we are, when we the abandon the One who created and loves us, God looks at us and cherishes the creation that we are. In Jeremiah especially, we are promised protection, rescue, and love, while yet being warned of destruction and doom to come. Even in the face of doom though, I still feel hopeful of the love God.

Jeremiah 18:1-12 (CEB) is a good example of God's love for us, which falls into the "hope" category. In this passage, God is compared to a potter and we are the clay. In it, God's words come to Jeremiah and he says "House of Israel, can't I deal with you like this potter, declares the Lord? Like clay in the potter's hand, so are you in mine, house of Israel! At any time I may announce that I will dig up, pull down, and destroy a nation or kingdom; but if that nation I warned turns from its evil, then I'll relent and not carry out the harm I intended for it. At the same time, I may announce that I will build and plant a nation or kingdom; but if that nation displeases and disobeys me, then I'll relent and not carry out the good I intended for it" (Jeremiah 18:6-10 CEB). God's love is what makes up people of hope, but it is also God's love and caring for us that should make us God-fearing people, those who are aware of the doom and devastation that God is capable of.

The final books and chapters of Jeremiah lead the reading down a further path of doom - one lined with despair and pain and ending with the fall of Jerusalem.

I find it completely legitimate that both hope and doom come from the same prophet. I believe that the life experiences, political situation, and current leadership of the time all encourage feelings of optimism and pessimism at different times. When preaching, I think it is important to cover hope (which is the easier of the two, of course!) as well as doom.  While doom is not the easiest or most fun topic (um...thus the name "doom"!), it is crucial to find a way and the time and place to share what the Bible says about doom.

Do you share messages of both hope and doom? How do you present each topic?

T-OOTLE-oo!

Melissa

Amos.

This week in OOTLE 15, we studied the latter prophets of the Bible, specifically Amos. Throughout selected passages (which I will discuss further on... keep reading!), Amos finds that the Israelite society has done things and behaved in ways that were not right and then proclaims what will happen to them if they don't change their ways.

Time Out: Before talking about that though, let's talk about Amos, the person (Note: this is not the cookie company's Famous Amos...sorry, Folks!). Amos was -- chronologically speaking -- the first of the prophets to have a book named after him (see Bandstra's Chapter 10 Page 288 to read more about this). In the introduction of the Book of Amos, readers learn a bit about Amos: he was a shepherd from Judea and he was called by God to be a prophet. Bandstra questions the authorship of the introduction, insinuating that the introduction may have been written by an editor (291).

Aside from his biographical information, the history from which the latter prophets associate is interesting as well (listen to Prophecy Part A and Prophecy Part B to get the 411 on that!). Amos comes to us from a period when, in his opinion,"Israel was just going through the motions of worshipping God and observing proper rituals, thinking that this was the sum total of their obligation to God" (Bandstra 291). The people were being chumps about their faithfulness to God. #yesisaidchumps 

Go with me for a moment: in my previous life (okay, okay... not life, but career) I was a high school English teacher for six years. In the time I spent student teaching and in my own classroom, I saw a handful of teachers who had "checked out." These were the folksies who had decided to hang up their rulers and chalk sticks (or gym shorts and tube socks for the PE variety) and call it a day. Now, don't get me wrong, most of the people I worked with who had reached the age of golden days retirement were sad to go, but recognized that they had worked long and hard and were ready for a little freedom. The few that I speak of though are those who put their retirement papers in the principal's box, skipped and cartwheeled back to their rooms, and then handed out worksheets and showed "educational" videos to their students for the rest of the school year. Because a contract had been signed, they showed up every day (for the most part... there do seem to be the people with 786.2 sick days banked up and are going to burn them!), but only fulfill the bare-minimum obligations they legally have to the school (thanks to those pesky contracts that cover an entire school year!). Long story short: They have a contract, but fulfill it half-heartedly. 

Enter: the Israelites of this time period. In Amos' opinion (and apparently in God's), the Israelite people are half-heartedly fulfilling their covenant with God. Not only are they half-hearted, Amos speaks for God with a laundry list of things the people are doing wrong, including selling the innocent for silver and those in need for a pair of sandals (Amos 2:6), crushing the heads of the poor and pushing the afflicted out of the way (Amos 2:7), and drinking wine that was purchased with gathered up fines (Amos 2:8), among other injustices. These are the people who "hate the one who judges at the city gate, and they reject the one who speaks the truth" (Amos 5:10). Overall, these people are greedy, act immorally, and corruption seems inevitable. 

So what now? What if the people of Israel don't change the way they are living? As seen throughout these passages of Amos, there are undesirable consequences coming to the people of Israel who have forgotten their loyalties and have become lax in their worship. The Lord say, "I know how many are your crimes, and how numerous are your sins -- afflicting the righteous, taking money on the side, turning away the poor who seek help. Therefore, the one who is wise will keep silent in that time; it is an evil time" (Amos 5:12-13). These people are not getting away with the way they've been living. God sees their greediness, their selfishness, and it will not go unpunished. Amos describes doom (to those who are living comfortably in their sins) that is certain (Amos 6:1-8) and days of hunger and thirst (Amos 8:11) and roaming aimlessly (Amos 8:12) that are set to come. No one can outrun or hide from this fate. 

Now we may wonder: is there anything the people can do to avoid this doomed fate? In reading Amos, the most clear answer I could find for this question was found in Amos 5:14-15 where it says "Seek good and not evil, that you may live; and so the Lord, the God of heavenly forces, will be with you just as you have said. Hate evil, love good, and establish justice at the center gate. Perhaps the Lord God of heavenly forces will be gracious to what is left of Joseph." Not only does Amos seek justice throughout his work, but encourages readers to seek to do do what is good and right. Evil has no place in our lives, for that is what brings the doom, greediness, selfishness, and a whole host of negative adjectives we probably don't want to be described with!

Overall, Amos is concerned with social justice -- that we take care of the poor, downtrodden, and everyone in between! How can you serve others with social justice in mind this week?

T-OOTLE-oo!

Melissa

P.S. -- I used the Common English Bible (CEB) for all scripture references.