Archive for » December, 2011 «

Leftovers

Saturday, December 31st, 2011 | Author:

“nothing is necessary except one thing, and Miryam has chosen the good portion that will not be taken from her.”  Luke 10:42  Delitzsch Hebrew Gospels

Except one thing – The last day of this solar year brings me to a page of notes, items that I wanted to write about but didn’t get to this time.  Let me share them with you.  Each one is worthy of the “one thing” Yeshua mentions.

“Self-renewal must be constant.  To repeat oneself is to commit forgery; one becomes mired in routine.  Therefore, avoid the trodden paths!  As least one day a week – on the Sabbath – keep away from sameness.” (Abraham Heschel, A Passion for the Truth, pp. 168-169.)

“You can be the best artist in the world, but if they ask you to reproduce the Mona Lisa with a paint roller, you’re gonna lose some nuance.”  (Ronald Thomas, in private communication).

In our Western paradigm, “function is a consequence of physical properties and natural laws.”  But in the biblical world of the ancient Near East, “function is a consequence of purpose.”  (John Walton, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament, p. 191.)  We should seriously consider what this means for the design of the ‘ezer kenegdo, the woman, the wife.  Unless we understand her purpose, we cannot understand a woman, any woman.

Paradigm shifts:

In the Greek paradigm, man is master of the world.  In the biblical paradigm, man is appointed priest in the world.

In the West, truth has an empirical basis (cause and effect + natural law).  In the ANE (Ancient Near East), truth is what the gods do.

In the West, history is dysteleological, i.e., it is going somewhere on the basis of cause and effect momentum.  Its trajectory is not random because it has causal links, but it is not planned because causality is simply mechanical.  In the Bible, history is teleological.  It is going somewhere because it is driven by divine purpose.  The Bible is “an interpretation of significant happenings” (Speiser), not just a record of events.  In the Bible, there is no secular history.  All history is the record of God’s purposes worked out in the lives of men. (cf. Walton, p. 226)

There are two cardinal rules of Hermeneutics:

1.  No interpretation can be sustained that contradicts the character of God

2.  No interpretation can be sustained that is inconsistent with the Word of God

Fitting these two together is our job, not His.

 

A prophet is a man or woman whom God trusts.

In the Genesis account, there is no first day.  First is a relative term requiring temporal order.  There is a second, third and fourth, etc. day.  But in Genesis there is only Day 1.  This is the beginning of the counting.  (cf. Gorelik)  What does this mean for our view of time?

In the Bible there are many patterns of doubles.  Moses comes twice, the second time in the form of Yeshua.  The Messiah comes twice.  There are two deaths (the final judgment is the second death).  There are two cities of Jerusalem.  Yeshua sends out His disciples in pairs.  The first relationship is incomplete in the singular.  It requires a pair which “shall become one flesh.”  The word for “heaven” is always plural.

Progressive revelation is like brick building – one course of bricks at a time.  The foundation must be firm and straight before it can support the next course of bricks.  Without the foundation of the Tanakh, the entire New Testament collapses.

Hebrew thought gives you pieces of the puzzles which you must use to put it together.  Greek thought describes the final picture but doesn’t give you the pieces to put together on your own.

 

“Sovereignty anticipates certainty in spite of temporary obstacles.”  Bob Gorelik

 

Paul says, “Take all thoughts captive.”  What does this mean?  Captive?  Why doesn’t he say, “Kill these thoughts”?  Why keep them alive but imprisoned?  What good comes from keeping them imprisoned rather than executed?  Are we taught about this – the power of knowing the yetzer ha’ra imprisoned?  (Do you think this is connected to Paul’s cry, “to know Him and the power of His resurrection”?)  Are we taught to restore desires to their godly purpose?  Or are we taught to attempt to slaughter them – to exterminate them?  What happens to the person who no longer acknowledges the presence of the yetzer ha’ra?  Is that person a robust human being in God’s image, or is that person the most vulnerable to egoism?

“I have always thought that one of the great things about being an adult and getting older is that I finally realized I have a license, and even a duty, to think for myself.  I also have the freedom to take all views into consideration without great fear or risk of ‘contaminating’ myself.  I have a number of friends –who I affectionately call ‘the Bible police’ who seem to be appalled by some of  the books I read, people I quote, and the movies I watch!”  (Ron Ferguson, in private communication)

 

May you have a blessed new solar year just as you have a blessed year on God’s calendar.

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Measure for Measure

Friday, December 30th, 2011 | Author:

“He who joyfully bears the chastisements that befall him brings salvation to the world”  Rabbi Joshua ben Levi,  Talmud, Tractate Ta’anith 8a

Middah k’neged middah – Soon the world of the solar calendar will prepare for reassessment of the past year and preparation for the next.  Rabbi Joshua b. Levi’s insight from the Talmud is a worthy guide to this process.  It implies that our actions are both revelations and concealments.  We see only the surface of the true principle of God’s creation.  Beneath the surface lies the cosmic fact of “measure for measure.”  It is on this basis that the Tanakh can declare that sin incorporates its own punishment.  No one “gets away with it.”  We might not see the consequence now, but as surely as there is a heaven, the consequence will emerge.  If I plant an acorn in the ground, I do not get an apple tree.  If I plant unrighteousness, I will not reap godly reward.  Paul merely reiterated what the Tanakh and the sages taught.  You reap what you sow – no matter how long it takes for the crop to mature.

What is of special interest today is the relationship of middah k’neged middah to Genesis 2.  Middah is the singular form of midot, which means “a characteristic or attribute; divine or human, or a measure.”  It is important to recognize that middah is both.  While we tend to think only of  physical measurements, middah includes those “hidden” character qualities that eventually show themselves in our actions.  More than the scales of justice are involved in this word.  Our lives are also representation of middah.  Thus the verse, “You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting” (Daniel 5:27).

K’neged is related to the God-given description of the woman, the ‘ezer kenegdo.  This particular combination of prepositions occurs nowhere else in Scripture.  The fact that it is central to the fundamental ethical principle of the cosmos is important.  The rabbis expound on the word in the phrase middah k’neged middah by connecting it with the study of Torah.  They state, “talmud Torah k’neged kulam” means: ‘the study of Torah is equal (k’neged) to all’ [the commandments].”  They conclude that k’neged is an equal and opposite “something” that balances the books. K’neged is a counterweight.  From this they conclude that the woman completes the man, balances him (Notice, please, that I did not say “improves him”).  She is what makes the scales of mankind even.  In the same way, middah k’neged middah, reward and punishment is the counterweight that balances the books of life (a bit more about this in the new year).

Perhaps you didn’t realize that there was a connection between “measure for measure” and ‘ezer kenegdo.  Perhaps you haven’t thought of the exhortation to mutual submission in terms of an essential balance.  Perhaps it hasn’t crossed your mind, husbands, that God put your wife in her role in order to act as your necessary counterweight.  Let me assure you that if you ignore her or discount her or inhibit her role in your life, you will be out of balance.  Your scales will tip in the direction of self-satisfaction and egoism.  You need her as much as night needs day.  She is your personal, present provision of “measure for measure.”

One role that the ‘ezer kenegdo plays in the life of the husband is chastisement.  Most men resist this or rebel against her God-given assignment.  Most men opt for male dominance.  And most men are miserable as a result.  Rabbi Joshua b. Levi said more than a mouthful when he suggested that joyfully accepting the chastisements of life brings salvation to the world.  That includes the chastisements of the ‘ezer kenegdo, those particularly personal rebukes that husbands find so difficult to joyfully embrace.  Without them, the balance is disrupted.  Without them, salvation does not come to the world.

Perhaps this is a good time to read once more 1 Peter 3:1-7 and James 1:2-4.  Perhaps as you (plural) consider the coming year, you (plural) will consider the roles assigned by the Creator in the sacrament of marriage.  Perhaps the voice of the one closest to you is speaking something God wants you to hear.  Why not let middah k’neged middah guide you to balance this time around?

Topical Index: Middah k’neged middah, measure for measure, Ta’anith 8a, Joshua b. Levi, Talmud, ‘ezer kenegdo

 

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Matthew, Session 95

Thursday, December 29th, 2011 | Author:

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Matthew, Session 94

Thursday, December 29th, 2011 | Author:

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New Testament Commentary

Thursday, December 29th, 2011 | Author:

“Which of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into the robbers’ hands?”  Luke 10:36  NASB

Proved to be – It’s a matter of DNA.  Spiritual DNA, in this case.  You would know that if you read the Greek text.  The choice for the verb here is ginomai, a verb we find in translation as “to be born,” “birth,” “kind (family),” and “fruit.”  The text is Greek but the idiom is Hebraic.  Yeshua says, “Which of these three became, showed himself to be, exhibited the fruit, the disposition, the qualities of being a neighbor?”  The legal expert answers correctly.  The one who demonstrated godly behavior toward the injured man.  We have all heard sermons based on this story exhorting us to act with compassion toward others, to take the risk of helping, to be good neighbors.  But what we might not have noticed is the commentary on the Tanakh resident in this story.

Hesed describes God’s character.  By now you must be familiar with its four elements:  reciprocity, transitivity, obligation and community.  But when Yeshua gave us this parable, He enlarged the meaning of this critical word.  The good Samaritan demonstrates more than compassion and mercy.  He demonstrates hesed – hesed to one who had NO prior relationship of community!  The injured man did nothing to deserve rescue.  The injured man provided no reason for these acts of kindness and compassion.  In fact, the injured man doesn’t even respond to the good will of the Samaritan.  But that doesn’t stop the Samaritan from acting as God would act.  The good Samaritan acts benevolently because he desires to do so.  He of all people is free to pass by.  He of all people has no obligation to this victim.  And yet he acts.  He acts because he identifies with the humanity of the victim.  He acts because his spiritual DNA has the hesed gene.  He acts because He must!

This parable is not simply about the need for compassion and good will.  It is a remarkable extension of the idea of hesed in the Tanakh.  Every Jew knew that YHWH obligated Himself to rescue and deliver those in covenant relationship, but no one could have imagined that God would help an outsider.  The parable turns this entire notion on its head.  It is the outsider who rescues.  It is the outsider who demonstrates hesed DNA, who shows himself to be a son of the Father.  In fact, God is the outsider.  His covenant with Israel is not based on Israel’s worthiness.  It is based entirely on God’s decision, just as the Samaritan’s mercy is based entirely on personal decision.  God shows mercy on those whom He chooses to show mercy, and in this parable, as represented by the Samaritan, God shows mercy on anyone He wishes to.  Even the covenant relationship does not prevent God from bursting the expected boundaries. It is His covenant, not ours.  We are merely the beneficiaries of His good will.

Perhaps we need to re-read the parable of the Good Samaritan.  Perhaps we need to reassess our exercise of compassion and mercy, our demonstration of hesed.  Far too often the Church is filled with those who qualify for phileo love – the love of like-minded, comfortable compatriots.  Hesed challenges us to break those artificial bonds.  What message of God’s grace do we send to a hurting world when we love those who love us?  Do we prove ourselves to be godly neighbors?  If hesed is the summary of God’s action toward His enemies, does it describe our actions too?

Topical Index:  hesed, ginomai, proved to be, compassion, mercy, Samaritan, Luke 10:36

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Why Does God Save?

Wednesday, December 28th, 2011 | Author:

Rise up, be our help, and redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.  Psalm 44:26  NASB

For the sake of – Let’s think about salvation.  Some Hebraic ideas help us clarify the notion that salvation is about forgiveness of sins and eternal life.  We should note that the Hebrew idea of salvation is associated with deliverance from present danger.  It is much more about our current reality than it is about our eventual destiny.  The doctrinal notion that we are saved in order to go to heaven receives virtually no emphasis in Scripture.  Our deliverance from danger is tied to a different idea.

In this verse, the Hebrew word translated “for the sake of” is lema‘an.  It is unusual.  Its root (‘ana) indicates a response, verbal or otherwise.  As a preposition, it is found in two other forms meaning “in order that” or “in view of.”  But here the meaning is probably closer to “as befits” rather than “for the sake of.”  Why is this important?  Because the psalmist appeals to hesed as the grounds for God’s help and redemption.  The psalmist suggests that God has established a relationship of responsibility, a covenant community, that involves rescue.  Hesed is the display of God’s willingness to act on behalf of His people.  It is not simply God’s ability to deliver; rather it is God’s desire to deliver.  Hesed is the answer to the question, “Why does God save?”

Christian theology often portrays God’s appetite to save as a result of His love for His creation.  We recall the frequent use of John 3:16 in this regard.  But careful examination of even this familiar passage reveals that love is the motive for giving the sacrifice, not the motive for the redeeming plan itself.  The Tanakh is clear.  Hesed is the single word that captures the foundational motivation for deliverance.  Because God loved, He gave His Son, but the sacrifice stood on the ground of covenant relationship.

“Redeem us as befits Your hesed” makes it clear that God is entirely willing to rescue, that He has the power to rescue and that He has obligated Himself to do so.  Redemption is the logical, moral and ethical consequence of hesed.  Forgiveness does not result from Yeshua’s death on the cross.  The death on the cross is a display of God’s willingness to deliver.  Forgiveness comes because God wills it in the form of this sacrifice.  God does not redeem in order to achieve hesed.  He does not help in the interest of hesed.  He does not forgive as an end done in itself.  God wills the covenant obligation and willingly accepts its implications.  God forgives because He desires to.

We often struggle with the thought that God is capable of forgiving us, but He might not actually want to forgive us.  We see our guilt magnified by our self-inspection and determine that we are truly unworthy.  We are hardly capable of forgiving ourselves.  How, then, can a holy God forgive and redeem us.  Hesed destroys this heresy.  God wills to redeem.  Everything about Him speaks of His desire to restore.  He runs to meet us on the returning road because His hesed overflows.  He is willing.  Are you?

Topical Index:  hesed, lema’an, for the sake of, as befits, forgiveness, Psalm 44:26

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Matthew, Session 93

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 | Author:

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UP go the Prices

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 | Author:

Well, it was inevitable.  We have held prices firm from the first book on the list, but as production and shipping costs have risen, now we are going to raise prices on all my books starting January.  The increase won’t be a lot, but if you want to get one of the books you don’t have at a lower cost, now is the time.

And, if you wanted to make an “end of the year” tax donation, now is certainly the time.

Go here to see all the available books.

Thank you, all of you who have ordered, donated and supported At God’s Table in so many ways.  New things are coming in 2012.

Shalom

Skip

 

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Beating a Dead Horse?

Tuesday, December 27th, 2011 | Author:

The LORD said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings.  So I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians,”  Exodus 3:7-8a  NASB

Deliver – Did God see you in Egypt?  Has He seen you afflicted by taskmasters?  The typology of bondage to sin is a powerful theme woven into the reality of an historical exodus.  The words chosen to express this event on both levels are important.  God has “surely seen.”  In Hebrew, He has raoh raeeti (seen seen).  He has looked twice and found misery and torment.  He is aware (yada’).  He knows their pain intimately.  He is not the transcendent overseer of a mechanical universe.  He is the God who suffers, who is heartbroken, who grieves with His people.  And so God chooses to act on their behalf.  “I have come down to deliver,” – ered lehatzilo – “to deliver him.”  Yes, it’s singular.  God comes to the aid of His people, His soon-to-be nation, as one all together.  The root is natsal.  This verb expresses the power of one entity to overcome another.  God enters into a cosmic war with the gods of the Egyptians and defeats every one of them (each of the plagues is about a battle with an Egyptian god, including Pharaoh).  That’s why God prevents the exodus on more than one occasion.  The full victory of every false deity must be completed before there is real redemption from bondage.  You and I can apply the same theme in our lives.  One small god in the back closet prevents true redemption.  They must all go.  They must all be crushed, all destroyed, all ground to powder and urinated on the ground.  Deliverance requires extermination.

We know the story.  At least we know the historical narrative, modified to conform to Hollywood sensibilities.  Now step back from this seminal event and recognize it for what it truly is – the greatest display of hesed in the Tanakh.  Why do I say that?  Because one of the essential elements of hesed is the fulfillment of a need of the recipient that he is unable to do for himself.  If there is any possibility that the beneficiary of the deed is capable of self-deliverance, hesed does not apply.  Hesed is freely given benevolence on behalf of the truly helpless.  Israel had no way out.  Moses, the next-in-line Pharaoh, failed in his human effort to deliver his people.  Only God could provide what Israel needed.  And when only God can provide, divine hesed comes into play.

Consider your noble intentions to show charity to another.  In order to act as God would act, you must do for another what he is incapable of doing for himself.  You must do this without any motivation of recompense, even the reward of being recognized as a charitable person.  You must act in a way that delivers another because of your obligation, not to the beneficiary but to God Himself.  You must be entirely free not to act, but to act anyway.  Then you will experience coming down to deliver.  Then you will know the heart, the broken heart, of God.

Topical Index:  hesed, natsal, deliver, Exodus 3:7-8

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Trees

Monday, December 26th, 2011 | Author:

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