Bible Tuesday for Advent IV, 2016

Isaiah 7:10-16

10 Again the Lord spoke to Ahaz, saying, 11Ask a sign of the Lord your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven. 12But Ahaz said, I will not ask, and I will not put the Lord to the test. 13Then Isaiah* said: ‘Hear then, O house of David! Is it too little for you to weary mortals, that you weary my God also? 14Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman* is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.* 15He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted.

King Ahaz, one of the most wicked kings over either Israel. He thought so little of God that he allowed his non-Jewish wife, Jezebel, to erect an altar to her gods in the Temple in Jerusalem. King Ahaz was pressured by kings of neighboring enemies to ally with them against Assyria. However, Ahaz chose to fight the pressure rather than the foe and allied with Assyria against the neighbors. Assyria defeated all of them and took much of the land of Israel including Galilee, Naphtali, and Hazor. This passage of Isaiah is written about the time when Ahaz was considering these alliances. Ahaz truly did not believe in God and so the above passage, “Ask a sign of the Lord, your God” is an invitation for Ahaz to test the waters of relationship with God. Ahaz declines because he just plain doesn’t believe in God. In addition, Ahaz is relying on his alliances over God’s intervention on Israel’s behalf!

So, instead of a test, God, through the prophet Isaiah, gives Ahaz a sign. A young woman is pregnant. The prophet declares that the child will be a son and should be named Immanuel, meaning “God is with us”. It was traditional not to completely ween children until they were between three and four years of age. Round about age three, children started eating curds and honey in addition to mother’s milk. So, the sign God gives through Isaiah is that God is indeed with Israel and will clear out the warring neighbors from their lands (using Assyria as His tool to do so) by the time this pregnant woman’s children is 3 or 4 years old. That is what the passage meant at the time it was given to Ahaz.

This passage takes on different meaning in later years, as Jews watched for their messiah. The Hebrew word, “Young woman” took on new meaning in this messianic tradition. “Young woman” came to mean, “young maiden”, that is “young virgin”. It is to this passage, among others, that the gospel writers point when they identify Jesus as messiah.

Psalm 80 1-7, 17-19

To the leader: on Lilies, a Covenant. Of Asaph. A Psalm.
1 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
you who lead Joseph like a flock!
You who are enthroned upon the cherubim, shine forth
2 before Ephraim and Benjamin and Manasseh.
Stir up your might,
and come to save us!

3 Restore us, O God;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

4 O Lord God of hosts,
how long will you be angry with your people’s prayers?
5 You have fed them with the bread of tears,
and given them tears to drink in full measure.
6 You make us the scorn* of our neighbours;
our enemies laugh among themselves.

7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

8 You brought a vine out of Egypt;
you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it;
it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade,
the mighty cedars with its branches;
11 it sent out its branches to the sea,
and its shoots to the River.
12 Why then have you broken down its walls,
so that all who pass along the way pluck its fruit?
13 The boar from the forest ravages it,
and all that move in the field feed on it.

14 Turn again, O God of hosts;
look down from heaven, and see;
have regard for this vine,
15 the stock that your right hand planted.*
16 They have burned it with fire, they have cut it down;*
may they perish at the rebuke of your countenance.
17 But let your hand be upon the one at your right hand,
the one whom you made strong for yourself.
18 Then we will never turn back from you;
give us life, and we will call on your name.

19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
let your face shine, that we may be saved.

While the Revised Common Lectionary omits verses 8-16, I have included them to give context to the whole psalm. This is a psalm of lament from which the Advent phrase, “Stir up your power, O Lord, and come” is taken. This psalm is written of Israel when it was suffering at the hands of enemies, possibly even during various sieges laid against various cities of Israel and Judah over its history.

“You who are enthroned upon the Cherabim” refers to the Ark of the Covenant which had two cherubim on the top of it and was to serve as God’s footstool, a reminder of God’s constant presence with Israel.

“You make us the scorn of our neighbors” – in this lectionary selection, this phrase fits well with Ahaz’s enemies trying to force Israel into alliance against Assyria and then Assyria’s double cross.

Verses 8 – 16 utilize a common metaphor found in Hebrew scriptures: Israel is a vine which God planted and nurtures. It is on this metaphor that Jesus builds which he says, “I AM the vine, and you are the branches…”

Romans 1:1-7

Paul, a servant* of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy scriptures, 3the gospel concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4and was declared to be Son of God with power according to the spirit* of holiness by resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for the sake of his name, 6including yourselves who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints:

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Here, in the first verses of St. Paul’s theological treatise, is a complete explanation of the Trinity, Christianity, and the task of the baptized. Note that Paul’s theology as stated here (he seems to state other things in other places) is that Jesus is declared to be the Son of God, not born that way. This is in keeping with Mark’s gospel. Matthew, and Luke present the idea that Jesus was God’s son at conception, while the gospel of John states that Jesus is God, and then is born of a human and is fully human/fully God, and then returns to being fully God.

Matthew 1:18-25

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah* took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’22All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel’,
which means, ‘God is with us.’ 24When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son;* and he named him Jesus.

In older translations of this text, the word “engaged” was replaced with the word “betrothed”. I appreciate that difference. In Jesus day, betrothal is an agreement between bride and groom, bride’s family and groom’s family. The couple are not cohabitating yet, nor has the ceremony been presided over by a rabbi nor witnessed by family and friends, but the couple and their families are bonded together on the road to marriage. The bond is broken by a certificate of divorce. If the groom gets a certificate of divorce due to infidelity and there is proof (pregnant belly), the bride is to be stoned to death.

Note the usage of the Isaiah passage from above in this passage from Matthew. Here the term “young woman” means “young virgin maiden”.

Joseph has no marital relations with Mary until after Jesus is born. In Catholic and Orthodox tradition, Joseph and Mary never have marital relations. The gospels and Matthew and Luke specifically mention Jesus’ brothers and sisters, which Catholic and Orthodox traditions say can be translated as relatives, such as cousins.

The name “Jesus” is an anglicized version of the Hebrew “Ieshua” which means