The Unveiling Part II

The Greek title for Revelation is Apokalupsis, Apocalypse, which literally means "the unveiling." The idea being that the readers of Revelation would have the "veil" pulled off their eyes and be presented with the actual picture of reality.

The letter, with all of its amazing imagery, showed the reader that things were not as they seemed and although it may not look like it, God, not Caesar, was actually the one in control of history. That "Jesus Christ was the ruler of the kings of the earth" (Rev 1.5).

A Christian Dirce by Siemiradzki - a Christian woman martyred under Nero.

At the heart of Revelation is a message aimed at bolstering perseverance in the face of adversity and as I wrote yesterday, the original readers were experiencing adversity.

Here's how the text conveys that message:

Revelation 1.3 reads "Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and keep what is written in it; for the time is near."

When a letter reached a community in the ancient world, the community would gather and listen to the letter read out loud.

So it's Brando and he's not reading, but you get the idea!

This is how the letter of Revelation was received by its original communities - a fact that dramatically affects how the book is to be understood. The first readers, the majority of which were actually "hearers", wouldn't have had the opportunity to sit and investigate every line of the letter.

Instead, the hearer-reader would have listened to the letter from start to finish and allowed the vivid imagery to overwhelm him/her. In this way the hearer-reader could not help but be immersed in the powerful message that God was in control and would one day make all things right (Rev 21.3-5).

And although the images are quite unfamiliar to the modern reader, they weren't to the original audience. Of the 404 verses in the letter of Revelation, 278 of them contain either an allusion to or a quotation from the Hebrew Scriptures.

The original hearer-readers had no problem understanding the powerfully symbolic language, nor any problem knowing what to do with it.

In this way, Revelation functions much like the modern day movie trailer:

The trailer, through its powerful images, intense music, and emotional subject matter, serves only one purpose: to convince the audience to see the movie.

Revelation's powerful images, intense scenarios, and incredible picture of hope for those who trust God, serve only one purpose as well: to infuse life into the most desperate of circumstances.

Keep this in mind the next time you crack open the letter of Revelation. Read it letting the images overwhelm you and use its message of hope and its challenge to live as if God is really in control, to guide you through your life.

For an excellent resource for your journey through the letter, see Eugene Boring's commentary that is the farthest from his namesake.

The Unveiling Part I

The letter of Revelation, written during the reign of the brutal Roman emperor Domitian (ruled AD 81-96), addressed an audience who wondered if being a Christian was worth the cost. General resentment towards Christians had started about 30 years earlier when Nero blamed them for the Great Fire of Rome.

The Great Fire of Rome, AD 64

The Roman historian Tacitus (AD 56-117) tells us:

In accordance, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not as much of the crime of firing the city as of hatred against mankind. Mockery of every sort was added to their deaths. Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired. (Annals, 15.44)

The Torches of Nero by Siemiradski, 1876. Look closely as Christians are the torches.

It was unclear whether the Christians "pleaded guilty" to arson or simply to being Christian. None-the-less they were severely punished and as Tacitus notes, not so much for the crime, but for "hatred against mankind." Christians objected to many elements of Roman culture and this caused them to be viewed in this way. 

In AD 70 the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans. This was the second destruction of the Temple, the first being in 586 BC by the Babylonians. This event forever changed the face of Judaism and its relationship to the sacrificial system.

The Arch of Titus - carrying away the spoils from the Temple.

Then in AD 79 Mount Vesuvius erupted, blacking out the sky for hundreds of miles and burying Pompeii. 

Mt Vesuvius as seen from the ruins of Pompeii

Times were turbulent and to make matters worse, Domitian, who thought of himself as divine, began enforcing emperor worship. When he appeared in public he would urge the crowds to shout:

All hail to our Lord (kurios, which is the same word used for Jesus in the NT) and to his Lady!

Domitian

Domitian put police in place to enforce his veneration and those who did not comply were banished or even executed.

This is the context for Revelation. The recipients of the letter were feeling pressure to assimilate with the Roman culture, as being a Christian was beginning to cost them convenience, social status, and even their lives. 

They needed to hear that God was in control and proclaim that Kurios Christos, Christ is Lord, and not Kurios Kaisaros, Caesar is Lord, even in the face of death.

Revelation is one of the most misinterpreted texts in the Bible -  which is a shame because such interpretations miss out on how incredibly practical the letter is. 

Check back tomorrow for more on Revelation.

For The Masses

Johannes Gutenberg revolutionized the world by inventing the printing press in 1440 A.D.  Up until then, books were extremely expensive and were of limited availability, mainly only to the wealthy. 

Gutenberg Printing Press

The ability to inexpensively mass-produce information, ushered the western world from the pre-modern era to the modern era. This allowed the common people access to information once reserved only for the elite ruling class. Literacy rates dramatically increased.

Gutenberg's most famous work is his highly aesthetic printing of the Vulgate, Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible from 405 A.D.:

Gutenberg Bible

The problem with the Vulgate is that it was written in Latin, which limited its access mainly to the religious elite who could read it. But the masses desperately needed access to the Bible, as they were being forced by the church to do a number of things contrary to the spirit of the Bible. 

One such practice was the selling of indulgences, where people gave money to the church to gain forgiveness of sins. 

A priest selling indulgences to the townspeople.

This practice enraged a German monk named, Martin Luther, who in 1517, nailed his 95 Thesis, a list of complaints detailing such abuses, to the door of his local church.  These complaints, written in Latin, were quickly translated into German, mass printed, and spread throughout Germany and greater Europe.

Castle Church, Wittenberg, Germany, where Luther posted his 95 Thesis.

The message of liberation contained in the Thesis spread like wildfire and this event became the major catalyst for the Protestant Reformation, a movement dominated by the idea that a person has access to God without going through the institution of the church.

But the 95 Thesis wasn't enough for the people, they needed the Bible. There were versions of the Bible translated into German at this time, but it wasn't until Luther completed his version, in 1534, that the Bible became available to a widespread audience. Luther's Bible owed its popularity to both his celebrity status and the translation's excellent grasp of the common vernacular.

Die Bibel, Luther's German Translation of the Bible

The common person now had access to the Bible and was able to study on his/her own. The individual, apart from the religious institution, was now able to decide what he/she thought about matters of faith. 

There are incredible advantages to this, as the religious institutions no longer monopolized information and a whole new era of individual rights, education, and liberation was born.

But there are disadvantages as well. The Bible is an ancient document, written by people whose culture, language, and world view are very different from our own. It takes a collaboration of effort to be able to read the original text, written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, and even more to understand what it means.

We should be thankful that we have access to the Bible, a document like no other, that contains God's narrative for redeeming, renewing, and reclaiming all of creation. But we must understand that we stand on the shoulders of the people who provide us such access.

Hidden Treasures

It only takes a cursory glance at the New Testament (NT) to notice it is filled with Old Testament (Hebrew Scriptures) quotations. A very interesting study can be had by looking up the passages to which the NT refers. 

For example, Mark 1.2-3 reads:

As it is written in the prophet Isaiah,
                 
                        "See, I am sending my messenger ahead of, 
                               who will prepare your way; 
                             the voice of one crying out in the wilderness:
                          'Prepare the ways of the Lord,
                             make his paths straight.'"

When we scour the pages of Isaiah we realize that only half the quotation comes from that book. The text in bold comes from Malachi 3.1 (cf. Ex 23.20), while the bottom half is from Isaiah 40.3.

Mark was the first gospel written and was used extensively by Matthew and Luke as they compiled their versions of the Jesus event. In fact 97.2% of Mark is found in Matthew and 88.4% of Mark is found in Luke!

When Matthew and Luke are parallel to Mark they are shorter; it seems they have edited Mark. Take for example what happens when Matthew and Luke handle the passage from above; both of them remove the text from Malachi and present only the Isaiah quote:

Matthew 3.3:

This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said,

                            The voice of one crying out in
                               the wilderness:
                            'Prepare the way of the Lord,
                               make his paths straight.'

Luke 3.4:

As it is written in the book of the words of the prophet Isaiah,

                            The voice of one crying out in
                               the wilderness:
                            'Prepare the way of the Lord,
                               make his paths straight.'

  

This is just one of many examples that help us understand how the Bible was composed. Next time you are reading through the New Testament and come across a quote from the Hebrew Scriptures, look it up. You'll be amazed at what you find!           

We Can Work With That

Sometimes we bite off more than we can chew. Sometimes we promise more than we can deliver. Take this story about Jesus' follower Peter from the gospel of John. 

In John chapter 14, Jesus is in Jerusalem teaching his disciples about how they should carry on his work when he is gone.

Peter, often a spokesman for the disciples, asks, "Where are you going?" To which Jesus replies, "Where I am going, you cannot follow me now; but your time will come." 

Peter, connecting the dots on a number of similar statements Jesus had made, figured out Jesus was talking about his death. So he said, "I am with you all the way! Even if it costs me my life!" Jesus, crushing Peter's enthusiasm, says, "Will you really? I tell you straight, before this is over you will deny that you even know me; and not once, but three times!" 

Sure enough at Jesus' trial, Peter is asked by three separate people if he knows Jesus and all three times he denies it (Jn 18.17, 25-7). Peter realizes what he has done and runs out from the trial bitterly weeping - no doubt questioning if the last three years of his life spent with Jesus were a complete waste.

Jesus' trial doesn't go so well and he ends up being convicted of treason and is sentenced to death. He is crucified, buried and then three days later the craziest thing happens: he comes back to life. After appearing to a number of people he finds some time to connect with Peter (Jn 21.15ff).

Jesus asks him, "Peter do you love (Gk. agape) me?" John records Jesus using a very powerful word for love here: agape, which the early Christians thought of as the name for the highest and purest form of love.

Peter responds, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love (Gk. phileo) you." Peter uses a different word for love. Phileo love connoted friendship or brotherhood. 

Jesus asks him a second time, "Do you agape me?" Peter again states, "Yes, Lord; you know that I phileo you." 

Jesus asks Peter a third time, but this time it's different: "Peter, do you phileo me?" Peter is broken. He knows exactly why Jesus has asked him three times. He responds, "You know everything about me and so you know that I phileo you." 

Jesus met Peter right where he was. Jesus pushed him, asking him if he loved him on a level that was deeper than that of friends or brothers, and Peter wasn't ready. So he asks again, but Peter just wasn't there yet. 

John exposes something about Jesus here that is extremely profound: instead of saying to Peter, "Ok, well, I guess our relationship is over because you don't love me in the way I love you" Jesus changes his language and uses the same word Peter had been using. As if to say, "Alright Peter, that's ok, we can work with that."

I think when we over promise to God and don't deliver, our tendency is self doubt. We wonder if God could love us in our broken state. We wonder if we can still be used. This is exactly where God comes down, meets us face to face and says, "That's alright, we can work with that."

What Are You Drinking?

The authors of the Bible use poetry to communicate the most powerful of ideas. This is most likely why two-thirds of the Bible is poetry.

No other genre (style of writing) is as open to such a broad spectrum of interpretation and application. Poetry is a perfect medium for a message that has been passed on for thousands of years, to hundreds of cultures.

Furthermore, no other genre communicates as potently in as small a space. Take for example, this poem from the book of Jeremiah, that highlights the lament of a God who has been rejected by his people:

                                For my people have committed two evils; 

                                    they have forsaken me, 

                                the fountain of living water, 

                                    and dug out cisterns for themselves, 

                                  cracked cisterns 

                                    that can hold no water. 2.13

There were three water sources in the Ancient Near East at this time. In order of "freshness":

Natural Spring

Well

Cistern

Cisterns were the least desirable water source in the ancient world. The water was frequently contaminated with feces and/or dead animals and because of this, was a haven for disease.

It was bad enough that the people rejected Yahweh, the fountain of living water. But they didn't stop there, they went on to dig cisterns to hold their own water. The cisterns represent the idols the Israelites fashioned with their hands and looked to for life.

But this is not the complete image Jeremiah paints for us. The poem continues:

                                    and dug out cisterns for themselves,

                                      cracked cisterns 

                                        that can hold no water. 2.13

Note how each line builds on the other: "they dug cisterns, No! Not just cisterns, but cracked cisterns! Cisterns that don't hold water!"

Israel traded Yahweh, the source of life overflowing, for dank, broken cisterns, that did not even function!

The application for us is important. Where do we trade the substance of God for things we create and  attempt to control? Where are we not submitting to God and instead trying to store our own life source in ways that simply don't work?

In the end the question may be, "What are you drinking?"

Mighty Warrior...sort of

The book of Judges records the constant cycle of: Israel's rejection of Yahweh, their subsequent bondage to foreign powers, Yahweh's deliverance using a "Judge", a human he empowers, peace for a while, and then the whole cycle starts over again! 

Samson, a muscle-bound man, who desperately avoided hair cuts, was one such judge; as was Deborah, a prophetess with an aptitude for leadership. Her victory Song in Judges chapter 5, is thought to be the oldest part of the Bible because of its grammar and vocabulary.

Samson and Deborah epitomized the typical larger-than-life qualities of a judge. But there is another judge who is worthy of our attention, one that was the farthest thing from a Samson or a Deborah, and that was Gideon.

Gideon's story starts in Judges chapter 6, where the Israelites are back in trouble, this time with the Midianites and Amalekites, who are terrorizing them and eating all their food (6.3). The Israelites cry out to their god for help and Yahweh responds, telling them:

Look, I have rescued you from being enslaved to the most powerful nation in the known world, given you a place to call your own and all I have asked is that you pay attention to me and not the gods of the surrounding people! But you don't listen!

After this, Yahweh, like any good parent, begins to orchestrate deliverance. But he doesn't choose a guy with big muscles, or an amazing leader, he chooses our man Gideon, who happens to be threshing wheat in a wine press at the time God calls on him!

The irony here is simply brilliant: threshing wheat requires an open space, where the wheat would be thrown into the air and a light breeze would separate it from the chaff:

But Gideon, fearful that his enemies will come take his food, is attempting this process in a dug out wine press:

A wine press found in the Shephelah (lowlands) of western Israel.

This is the image we get when Yahweh comes to Gideon saying, "Yahweh is with you, mighty warrior" (6.12). I can just picture Gideon looking around, "Are you talking to me?" And not in the De Niro Taxi Driver inflection, but in the incredibly timid, "I think you have the wrong guy."

But Yahweh didn't have the wrong guy and although Gideon was quick to point out that his "family was the weakest in the entire area, and he the least in his family" (6.15), he would go on to  powerfully deliver God's people. 

The story of Gideon is a great example of God meeting us where we are - hiding knee deep  in our inadequacies, with all of our doubts, and using us to accomplish his ends all the same.

Go Mighty Warrior, Go!

A Thanksgiving Lament

Many of us will turn to the book of Psalms this Thanksgiving for reflections on the blessings we have experienced in the past year. After all, the Hebrew title for Psalms is tehillim, "praises".

The book of Psalms is actually five books:

Book I: Psalms 1-41
Book II: Psalms 42-72 
Book III: Psalms 73-89
Book IV: Psalms 90-106
Book V: Psalms 107-150

Note how the first five books of the Bible, the Torah, are God's instructions to his people for the journey of life; the Psalms, are his peoples' response - how they think the journey is going.

Ironically, two-thirds of the Psalms are laments! They are complaints asking God why the world is the way it is.

This should speak volumes to us regarding the nature of the human response to life. Life is hard and messy. Things do not always go according to plan. There is tremendous joy, but there is also tremendous pain. 

This Thanksgiving, we can embrace the corporate thanks of a Psalm like 136, where the leader of the people would shout:

                                Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good!

To which the people would give a resounding:

                                for his steadfast love endures forever.

A response that may flow even better in the original: ki le olam hasdon! Literally, "for his covenant love for us is unending!"

This being said, we should also make room for those whose only light at the end of the tunnel may be the...

for there is a reason that the Bible contains the painful words of a Psalm like Psalm 88:

                                   But I, Yahweh, cry out to you;
                                       in the morning my prayer comes
                                              before you.
                                    Yahweh, why do you cast me off?
                                        why do you hide your face from
                                              me?

Psalm 88 is unique in the entire Psalter (Gk. psalterion, after the psalms that were to be accompanied by a stringed instrument) as it ends without a reflection of hope or a thanks to God for deliverance.

Some may find it interesting that such a dismal lament made it into the canon, but this speaks poignantly about the God of scripture. There are others whose journey, although not identical, has been similar to your own, and God wants you to know that.

People experiencing the Psalm 88 reality may find solace, no matter how small, in simply voicing the words of the Psalm.

Those of us who walk alongside those experiencing such trials, should allow space. We should allow them honesty. They are walking the line between life and death, whether in mind or body and such space is sacred ground.

Embrace the tension and be there for them.

Refocused Revolution

Jesus' first interaction with the Gentiles (non-Jews) was a failure. He was walking in a town that was a part of the Roman Decapolis, a hot bed of Greek and Roman culture at the eastern edge of the empire, when he came upon some extremely troubled characters - two demoniacs. 

According to Matthew 8:28ff, these two men were raising so much cain that people couldn't even use the road that traveled through the area where they lived. So Jesus, rather ingeniously, but in the end insensitively, sends the demons into a herd of pigs who then proceed to stampede to their demise, down a mountain into the Sea of Galilee.

The citizens of the town, seeing the events and fearing the upcoming bacon inflation, are infuriated. The entire town rushes out to Jesus and begs him to leave. Jesus has robbed the people of their livelihood and this, coupled with their fear of the days strange events, leaves them wanting nothing to do with him.

After this not so pleasant interaction with Gentiles, Jesus, instructing his disciples on how to carryout their teaching and healing mission, tells them "not to go to the Gentiles...go rather to the lost in Israel" (Mt 10.5-6).

The difficulties for Jesus continue: his own family member and predecessor doubts him (11.3), he is distanced from his family (12.47ff), rejected in his hometown (13.54ff), finds out John the Baptist has been murdered (14.12) and is just stepping away to be by himself and process this tragic news, when 5,000 plus people show up calling on him for help (14.13ff).

A rough time to say the least! Jesus then decides to head back into Gentile territory, possibly hoping to escape from the masses for a while. No sooner does he enter the Gentile region that a woman comes asking him to heal her daughter (Mt 15.21ff).

Jesus, keeping with his recent stance on the Gentiles, rejects the woman's request, saying, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel." This woman, from a wealthy port city, was wealthy herself and had no doubt achieved or maintained her wealth by abusing the peasants of Jesus' hometown. He does not want to help her.

But she persists, as any good mother would, "Lord help me!" To which Jesus insultingly replies, "How can I toss the children's bread to the dogs? That's not right." The ministry of Jesus is bringing life to the most destitute people in the region - the peasant "children" of Israel - who are oppressed by the "dogs" like this woman. How could she even ask him for help?

Her reply at this point is incredible and culturally astounding, "Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table." That's all it takes. Jesus, astounded by her humility and faith, immediately heals her daughter from a distance. She shelved her wealth, entitled status, nationality, and even religion and Jesus honored her request.

Word must have spread, because immediately 4,000 Gentiles come to Jesus bringing him the "lame, maimed, blind, and mute" to be healed.  And when they grow hungry, he feeds all of them; the second feeding of the multitudes, mirroring the two feedings of the Israelites in the wilderness (Ex 16; Num 11).

Matthew tells us, they all "praised the God of Israel."

These are the events that transitioned a small Jewish-peasant uprising, into a revolution that would encompass the entire world.

Jesus Isn't Good?

The title of this post came straight from Jesus' mouth: "As he (Jesus) was setting out on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, "Good Teacher (Gk. didaskale agathe), what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone." Mark 10.17-18

To understand what Jesus was saying here we must dive into the world in which he lived: the First-Century Mediterranean world.

The First-Century Mediterranean world, and especially Palestine, where Jesus lived, was a limited-good society. This means that food, wealth, power, and even honor were limited. For a person to rise above his inherited status meant he would have been guilty of taking from others.

If one was rich it was assumed, and most often rightly so, that that person had stepped on other people to achieve such status. This is the basis for the critique from the Old Testament book of Amos, where the people have acquired both "winter and summer houses" (Amos 3.15). If a family had two homes another family was homeless.

The person asking Jesus this question was rich (see v. 22) and thus was guilty of either acquiring or maintaining his status, by marginalizing others. When he compliments Jesus, a cultural taboo that accused a person of gaining notoriety at the expense of others, he was looking for Jesus to accept the compliment and thus affirm his view of life.

Jesus diffuses the situation by rejecting the compliment and referring the matter to God, thereby denying that his notoriety has come from marginalizing others.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post that deals with the rest of the passage. A fascinating study can be had by noting which commandments Jesus did not mention in this passage (Mark 10.17-22), and how their absence relates to the insights given here. 

For more on the First-Century Mediterranean world see The New Testament World by Malina and or Social-Science Commentary on the Synoptic Gospels by Malina and Rohrbaugh.

Moving Mountains

Jesus answered them, "Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you." Mark 11.22ff

This passage is a prime example of how important an understanding of the cultural and geographical context is to our understanding of the text.

Jesus often used his surroundings to help illustrate his teaching points. In this passage, he was on the road from Bethany (southeast) to Jerusalem and off to his left, 7 miles south of Jerusalem, were two mountains, the larger of which was the Herodian:

The Herodion

The Herodion was a fortress built by King Herod (ruled 37-4 B.C.). Herod, an Idumean, whose family was forcibly converted to Judaism during the Hasmonean rule of his homeland, was appointed governor of Judea by Julius Caesar. He ruled with an iron fist, squelching all dissidents with brutal force, and was always fearful of attempts to usurp him.

Josephus, a Jewish historian, tells us:

This fortress, which is some sixty stadia distant from Jerusalem, is naturally strong and very suitable for such a structure, for reasonably nearby is a hill, raised to a (greater) height by the hand of man and rounded off in the shape of a breast. (War I, 31, 10; Antiquities XIV, 323-325)

The key detail in Josephus' account, is the fact that he used slave labor to increase the height of his fortress thus "moving a mountain" (Mt 17.20). In our passage, Jesus is saying not only will you be able to move a mountain, which had been done, but you will be able to "cast it" some 20 miles to the East into the Dead Sea. 

This statement is not only religious, but also extremely political. Jesus preached on the Kingdom of God more than any other subject and his central argument in all those passages, is that God reigns. God is ruler and not Herod and not Caesar. 

This message was not easy to believe because it did not look like God was in control. 

This makes Jesus' message even more powerful: if you believe, and affirm with your actions, that God is in control of the world and that you are to live by the standards of his kingdom, then you will see things come to pass that were once only figments of your imagination. 

As we process the powers that compete for our allegiance, the prayer of a father whose child is stricken with epilepsy becomes especially appropriate:

                                       
                                        "I believe; help my unbelief!"
                                                                
                                                           -Mark 11.24

Trouble

What do you do with a story from the Bible that troubles you? Take for example a story we find in 2 Samuel 24. The story begins:

"Again the anger of Yahweh was kindled against Israel, and he incited (Hb. suth: incite, allure, instigate) David against them, saying, "Go, count the people of Israel and Judah."

So David, the most famous of Israel's kings, convinces his general Joab to count the people. This process takes several months and when Joab finishes, he reports the total to David, who then becomes upset, confesses his sin to Yahweh, and begs for his "guilt to be removed." (v.10)

Yahweh, speaking through a prophet, gives David three options for his punishment - One: three years famine; Two: three months being pursued by his enemies; or Three: three days of disease throughout all Israel. His options could have been worse but not by much. (v.11ff)

David chooses the shortest of the three, hoping to appeal to God's mercy.  The disease spreads throughout the land and "seventy-thousand of the people died." (v.15)

At this point the reader may be somewhat confused: did the text really say that Yahweh caused David to carryout the census and then accept David's confession, but in the end kill 70,000 people? Yahweh was angry with Israel and although we are not privy to know the reason, his intentions to punish were clear from the start.

The book of Chronicles adds even more intrigue to the story. Chronicles, written after the fall of Jerusalem (to the Babylonians in 586 B.C.), is the rewriting of the books of Samuel and Kings. 1 Chronicles 21 contains the updated version of our story.

It begins a little differently: "Satan (Hb. a satan, an adversary or opponent; cf. 1 Sam 29.4 and 1 Kgs 5.4 where the word satan is used as a common noun. I would argue here it is to be taken as a proper noun) stood up against Israel, and incited (Hb. suth) David to count the people of Israel." The story, other than some minor details, is almost identical from this point on.

Now the reader may be even more confused: So this text is telling us that it was Satan who caused David to carryout the census? This appears to be the case. But why? Why change the passage?

We are wise to keep in mind that Chronicles was written just after the Israelites experienced the destruction of their homeland and were carried off some 700 miles in exile to Babylon. The last thing they need is a story that illustrates God punishing people for doing what he wanted them to do. One thought is that the writer of Chronicles found Yahweh's activity in the Samuel passage troubling and decided to credit Satan with the inciting of David.

This explanation fits one of the key motifs of Scripture: God meeting his people where they are. Sometimes we can handle the formula of a book like Proverbs or Deuteronomy: do what is right and good things will happen to you. Other times we need Job: you may do everything right and bad things will still happen to you.

The Samuel story meets people who are comfortable with tension - at the time of the writing of the Samuel 24 story, Israel was at the pinnacle of her affluence and power in the ancient world. We can handle tension when things are going well.

But things were not going well for the first readers of Chronicles and so this version is safer and more appropriate for individuals whose entire world has just collapsed.

So what do we do with a story from the Bible that troubles us? We embrace the tension. We recognize that life is messy and thankfully God has been getting messy with us from the beginning (see Gen 2.4ff) and could not have gotten any messier than he did when he got into that manger.

For a detailed scholarly discussion of these passages, see the Stokes, R. JBL 128, no 1 (2009): 91-106.

A Story

A man was walking one day when he came upon a vineyard. He enjoyed wine and so he stopped for a moment to appreciate the field.

What he saw surprised him: the field was overgrown, thorns and nettles covered the vines and the ground; even the stone wall that surrounded the property, had broken down. 

What had happened? He thought for awhile, considering what was before his eyes and then it came to him:

  
                           A little sleep, a little slumber,
                              a little folding of the hands to rest,
                           and poverty will come upon you like
                                  a robber,
                              and want, like an armed warrior.

This story comes from the ancient book of Proverbs 24.30-34. Proverbs is a collection of wisdom sayings and is no doubt the most interactive of all the books in the Bible. The structure of the book is quite simple: chapters 1-9 attempt to convince the reader to follow the advice of chapters 10-31. 

The reader is encouraged to gain hokma (wisdom, skill) in hopes that he or she will be successful at living - enjoying life to the fullest. Hokma is gained two ways: through observation and through experience. 

Proverbs knows somethings are better to be observed: like poverty (6.11); while others are best experienced: like properly raised children (29.17).

The interactiveness comes from the fact that Proverbs asks the reader whether or not its advice is worth following. Take for instance Proverbs 15.1 

                             A soft answer turns away wrath,
                             but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs asks the reader, "Isn't that right?" To which the reader is free to respond, either out of experience or observation, "Yes, that is right."

Proverbs even contradicts itself (26.4):

                            Do not answer fools according to their folly,
                               or you will be a fool yourself.
                                                                                                                                       
And then in the next verse (26.5):

                            Answer fools according to their folly,
                                or they will be wise in their own eyes.
                                                                    

What is going on here? Proverbs illustrates that wisdom is dynamic and must be appropriately applied. These are less timeless truths and more the collective wisdom of the community reflecting on what it looks like to be the people of God. 

Above all, Proverbs begs us to find hokma, personified as a woman at the end of chapter 8:

                            Whoever finds me finds life
                                and obtains favor from Yahweh;
                             but those that miss me injure themselves;
                                all who hate me love death.

As mentioned above, there are 31 chapters in Proverbs, perfect for a daily stroll for a month or so.

The NAME

Have you ever wondered why the Bible capitalizes all the letters in GOD or LORD? For instance, Psalm 29.1 "Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength."

The original Hebrew for the word here is not the actual word for Lord (adonai) or God (elohim) but rather the actual name of the Israelite God - Yahweh.

Some may be familiar with the traditional name "Jehovah" which is a combination of the consonants of YHWH and the vowels of adonai - thus Yahowah - the "J" and the "V" arose during the 1500s in a German translation of the Bible.

If the original Hebrew text includes God's actual name why do we not have it in our Bibles?

During the late part of the first millennia B.C. the Jews stopped using the actual name of God. They did this either out of a fear of taking "Yahweh's name in vain" - a rather typical human practice of allowing the pendulum to swing to extremes - or to highlight that Yahweh was not simply the local Jewish God but that he was the God of the entire world.

Respecting the Jewish perspective on this issue, translations of the Hebrew Bible substituted the LORD (adonai) for Yahweh and when the original text read "the Lord (adonai) Yahweh" they recorded it as "the Lord GOD."

I borrow from John Goldingay here, who notes that there are distinct disadvantages to the practice of avoiding the use of Yahweh.

First, there is tremendous power in a name; names open the door to relationship and names allow access. We are distanced from God in many ways by not using his name. Think of the amazing difference in level of connectedness you have with people whose names you know vs. those you do not.

Second, like the name Jesus (which means "savior"), the name Yahweh connotes immense power. It means I am who I am / I will be who I will be / I will be with you (Ex 3.14ff). There is incredible significance in connecting God's saving activity in the world with his name.

Back to Psalm 29 - this may have been originally a Canaanite hymn of praise to Ba'al, as we have a text that is almost verbatim to this, with Ba'al replaced for Yahweh. The potency of this passage is limited if we miss what Israel was doing in this hymn.

By replacing Ba'al with Yahweh, they were challenging the cultural presuppositions of the day - that Ba'al was the god in control of the rain that brought life to all people. They were saying, "Nice music, but you have the wrong words." It is our God, Yahweh, who is really in charge, who is really in control.

So what's in a name? A whole lot more than it may first appear.

Beginnings

Hokma: wisdom, shrewdness, skill. The ancient Hebrews esteemed this virtue much in the same way as the Greeks. Philosophy comes from the Greek words philo: love and sophia: wisdom - thus "lovers of wisdom."

The underlying assumption for both cultures is that the world is a fundamentally good place with a discoverable order. The task of human beings is to investigate this world, find the order and learn to live in harmony with it.

I share this same assumption. I believe God is good and has created a fundamentally good world and wants us to enjoy it. The process of living in harmony with God's creation allows us to be fully human - to experience the substance of God most potently.

Life is a skill and we are not born with this skill. It is through experience and observation that we gain this skill. Join me as I wander through this world and let us all get better at life together!