INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

INTRODUCTION TO THE SCRIPTURE

Year A - PROPER 28

JUDGES 4:1-7. At first reading, the Book of Judges seems to cover the history of the settlement of Israel for about 400 years. In fact, it is a collection of stories about ancient tribal heroes. That there are twelve, equal to the number of Israel's tribes, suggests that there was an intentional editorial design behind the collection.

If there is any theme to the book, it is that Israel was faithful during Joshua's time; but apostasy soon followed, then military defeat, from which these hero-judges rescued the nation, but only for a time. This passage tells of the prophetess Deborah summoning a military leader, Barak, to lead yet another return to faithfulness.

PSALM 123. This is one of fifteen psalms (Pss.120-134) which may have been used by pilgrims on their approach to the temple for one of the great Jewish festivals. It is a humble lament by someone who had suffered distressing contempt by arrogant neighbors. It is also has a national connotation.

ZEPHENIAH 1:7, 12-18. (Alternate) Seeing the chaotic events of his time late in the 7^th century BC, this prophet uttered strong denunciations of the sins of his fellow Judeans. He saw the threatening power of the Babylonian empire as an imminent judgment of God which he called, “the Day of the Lord.” This passage declares how awful that day will be.

PSALM 90:1-8, (9-11), 12. (Alternate) This psalm is still used to celebrate the transitory nature of nature of human life and the eternal security we have in God. It may originally have existed in two different parts, verse 1-12 and 13-17.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:1-11. Paul states clearly how Christians are to conduct themselves while waiting patiently for Christ's return. For those who believe, this waiting is a most hopeful experience because Christ died for us.

MATTHEW 25:14-30. The parable of the talents also deals with Christ's expected return, but in a different way. He is to come not merely to establish the reign of God, but to judge those who have been faithful and those who have not.

While talents refers to a significant sum of money which the faithful servants invested, the meaning of the parable has nothing to do with money. The issue is faithfulness, not how one attends to investments. The rather sad end of the story is the clue, however harsh it may seem to us. The final judgement is a real and significant element of our Christian tradition.

A MORE COMPLETE ANALYSIS:

JUDGES 4:1-7. At first reading, the Book of Judges seems to cover the history of the settlement of Israel for about 400 years between the advance into Canaan via the Jordan crossing to the establishment of the monarchy under Saul. In contrast, critical study, comparative history and archeological research have led to the conclusion that the Exodus took place in the 13th century BCE and the reign of Saul began in the 11th century BCE. So the chronology of the Book of Judges is artificial. In fact, it is a collection of stories about ancient tribal heroes during the turbulent era when the Hebrews came into conflict with other Semitic tribes, chiefly the Canaanites, already living in the “the Promised Land.” That there are twelve, the same number as Israel's tribes, also suggests that an intentional editorial design lay behind the collection.

The theme of the book is that Israel was faithful during Joshua's time when the first settlement of Canaan was going on, but not yet complete (1:1-36); but apostasy soon followed (2:1-5). In contrast to the success and unity of Israel under Joshua, the disobedience of the people led to disunity, then to military defeat which interrupted the settlement (2:6-3:6). From this apostasy the hero-judges rescued the nation, but only for a time. The pattern was repeated twelve times over as apostasy was followed by divine punishment, a plea to Yahweh for help, the rise of a hero-savior-judge who defeated Israel's enemies, bringing about a period of peace and renewed obedience to Yahweh. This presents the typical Deuteronomic view of history of which the hero-judge stories are illustrative.

This short passage tells of the prophetess Deborah summoning a military leader, Barak, to lead yet another return to faithfulness. It is unusual in that the judge in this case was a woman, Deborah. The enemy was Sisera, ruler of the Canaanite city-state of Hazor, in the foothills of Mount Hermon about 10 miles north of the Sea of Galilee. Hazor lay on the Via Maris, the main trade route from Egypt to the north and east. It appeared in Egyptian texts as early as the 19th and 18th centuries BCE. Joshua sacked the city during the Israelite invasion in the 13^th century (Josh. 11:1-15; 12:19).

In the late 1950s archeologists verified that Hazor was the centre of a Canaanite confederacy (Josh. 11:1-3). Several years of digging uncovered fortifications and successive temples which may relate to the Israelite conquest. Evidence also revealed

several reconstructions until its final destruction by the Assyrians in 732 BCE. The story of Deborah and Barak probably occurred in the 12th century BCE.

It is likely that Deborah was a prophetess more like the later prophets Elijah and Samuel. She had special insight regarding the will of Yahweh (vss. 6-7), rather than military prowess like Gideon or Samson. As such she gave inspiration to Barak's guerilla army which swept down from Mount Tabor (vs. 4) against Sisera's horses and chariots on the plain below (vss. 14-16). Tabor is a peak rising several hundred feet out of the Plain of Jezreel like a huge dome of rock on a level field. It would have provided an exceptionally strategic location for Barak's guerillas to await the crucial moment to attack the slow moving forces of the Canaanites.

Undoubtedly we have before us in this narrative the written record of an embellished, but fairly reliable oral tradition centuries old when the Deuetronomic scribes put pen and ink to the scrolls of the Book of Judges.

This brief psalm exhibits a surprising gentleness of tone. One has to wonder if the poet was a woman. The metaphor of the faithful Israelite looking to Yahweh for mercy as a slave looks up to a kindly master and a handmaid looks to her mistress has a feminine touch to it. Further, would not the nature of the Israelite male have been to confront someone who had contempt for him rather than to appear to avoid it and plea for another to take up the plaintiff's cause?

It is also has a national connotation. Our Old and New Testaments give ample evidence of how vilified the Jews were throughout their history. The anti-Semitism still prevalent in many parts of the world did not have its roots in the Christian scriptures, but those texts did express sentiments which existed in the cultures out of which they rose and from which Christians were not immune. Apparently this psalm dates from a time when they were being treated contemptuously by some unknown foreign people who regarded themselves as superior. Such an environment foreshadows a very modern setting. It is likely, however, that the poem came from the Diaspora of the postexilic period when pilgrimages to Jerusalem provided great relief to beleaguered travelers. There pilgrims found solace in worshipping at the holy temple and living among welcoming friends and relatives.

ZEPHENIAH 1:7, 12-18. (Alternate) Ninth among those “Minor Prophets” of the Old Testament, Zepaniah was contemporary of Jeremiah during the late years of the 7^th century BCE. He supported Josiah’s religious reformation that sought to purify Jewish worship and morality and centralize it under the temple priesthood in Jerusalem. He also strenuously opposed idolatrous practices which had been rampant for several previous decades. During this same period Babylon had replaced the Assyrian empire as the dominant foreign power.

Seeing the chaotic events of his time late, this prophet uttered strong denunciations of the sins of his fellow Judeans. He saw the threatening power of the Babylonians as an imminent judgment of God which he called, “the Day of the Lord.” This excerpt is the part of a dramatic monologue in which Yahweh declares to the prophet the reasons for and the severity of divine judgment against Judah and Jerusalem.

PSALM 90:1-8, (9-11), 12. (Alternate) This psalm may originally have existed in two different parts, vss. 1-12 and 13-17, but scholars who adopt that view are not too sure just where to separate the two. The most natural break would seem to come at the end of vs. 12, thus making this reading an excerpt from both parts. Its title in the Hebrew scriptures, "A prayer of Moses, the man of God," gave it a supreme distinction rather than definitive authorship. Hence it was placed at the beginning of the fourth collection of the Psalter. Of all the psalms this one may have greater familiarity for most church people because of its frequent use in the service of Christian burial.

The theme of the poem is the eternity of God in contrast to the transitory nature of human life. This presentation of the theme appears "to skirt the very edge of pessimism, and might well lead the poet down into the abyss where men say, 'All is vanity'.... But the native Hebrew is saved from the final descent by a deep understanding and a fierce moral earnestness.... The Psalmist ... may have had his doubts at times, but in the light of his initial certainty, which he never lets go, all doubts are resolved. The Everlasting Nay is finally overcome by the Everlasting Yes." (John Paterson. *The Praises of Israel*. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1950. 126-7.)

One is reminded of similar beautiful passages of the unnamed prophet of the Babylonian exile (cf. Isa. 40; 55) which also expressed the same prophetic message. Can the similarity of Isa. 40:6-8 and Ps. 90:5-6 be accidental? Beginning with the affirmation of the permanence of God in vss. 1-2, the psalmist delved deeply into the fragile and ephemeral quality of human life. In vs. 12 he drew the natural conclusion that wisdom brings to every reflective person of faith. The shortness of life compels one to make wise use of our brief span of years. In the latter part of the poem, the psalmist returns to the original theme and acknowledges how dependent we are on the compassion and steadfast love of God (vss. 13-15).

Many senior women of The United Church of Canada may recall that the Women's Association used vss. 16-17 as their motto in the years prior to amalgamation with the Women's Missionary Society to form the United Church Women.

1 THESSALONIANS 5:1-11. Paul states clearly how Christians are to conduct themselves while waiting patiently for Christ's second coming. For those who believe, this waiting is a most hopeful experience because Christ died for us.

MATTHEW 25:14-30. The parable of the talents also deals with Christ's expected return, but in a different way. He is to come not merely to establish the reign of God, but to judge those who have been spiritually faithful and those who have not.

This is a story which, like so many of the parables, exaggerates a simple action to emphasize its meaning. Not only would the action of the master appear outrageous to those who heard the story, the amount of money involved was so great as to raise doubts about his sanity. In those days, a talent would have been equal to about fifteen years' wages for a laborer. Furthermore, would a wise master have entrusted so much wealth to slaves? While this was an exorbitant sum of money, the meaning of the parable has nothing to do with money. The issue is faithfulness, not how one attends to investments.

The reward given to the dutiful servants also causes one to wonder about the fairness of the story's outcome. The rather sad end of the story is the clue, however harsh and unjust it may seem to us. Again it must be seen as exaggeration for effect. Yet it disturbed ancient interpreters as much as is still disturbs modern minds. In the lost, non-canonical Gospel to the Hebrews, attributed by some to the Jewish Christians known as Ebionites, this parable is moralized to ease the severity of the final judgment. The first slave is said to have invested and made a profit with the money entrusted to him. The second hid his money; and the third wasted his like the prodigal son.

Nonetheless, severe as it appears to us, the parable drives home the point that God's final judgment is a real and significant element of our Christian tradition. God's grace is not to be wasted, but used as an opportunity to develop one's spiritual life. The issue is not so much that of missing an opportunity, but of losing it. Placed as it is in Matthew's Gospel just prior to the Passion story, this parable and the two which accompany it undergird the urgency of the matter. Spiritual life brings a responsibility of momentous import to each person.

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