Bible Tuesday for Sunday, August 23, 2015

Joshua 24:1-2, 14-18

Then Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and summoned the elders, the heads, the judges, and the officers of Israel; and they presented themselves before God. 2 And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Long ago your ancestors—Terah and his sons Abraham and Nahor—lived beyond the Euphrates and served other gods. “Now therefore revere the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness; put away the gods that your ancestors served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 Now if you are unwilling to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”16 Then the people answered, “Far be it from us that we should forsake the Lord to serve other gods; 17 for it is the Lord our God who brought us and our ancestors up from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, and who did those great signs in our sight. He protected us along all the way that we went, and among all the peoples through whom we passed; 18 and the Lord drove out before us all the peoples, the Amorites who lived in the land. Therefore we also will serve the Lord, for he is our God.”

Long before God gave Moses received the Law, summarized in the 10 Commandments, God gave covenants to the patriarchs. God appeared first to Abraham, then Isaac, then Jacob granting them a land of their own, descendants, and to be a blessing to all the peoples of the earth. Starting with Jacob, this was further delineated with the command, “Put away the foreign gods that are among you…” This command was given to Jacob near the oaks of Shechem, and it was under those oaks that Jacob’s wives and slaves put their household gods.

It was a severe famine in the land, and a conveniently placed family connection that drove Jacob and his whole household, minus a few who were already there, down to Egypt to settle in the land of Goshen where they eventually became enslaved and from where God eventually saved them. But when God led the Israelites out of Egypt, the Israelites brought everything they could carry with them, including household gods, whether Canaanite or Egyptian. And those Israelites clung to those as they crossed through the waters with Pharaoh’s chariots in hot pursuit. They had them at Mount Sinai/Mount Horeb when Moses brought the Law down from the mountain and those Israelites swore themselves in allegiance to God. The Israelites still had those household gods as the 40 years of wilderness wondering ended and Joshua led them across the Jordan River and into Canaan again. And now, in Joshua’s last speech, Joshua adjures them for the last time to choose once and for all, either serve God/Yahweh or those household gods. You can read in the above text what those Israelites promise, but…

Psalm 34:15-22

The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears,
and rescues them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the broken-hearted,
and saves the crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the Lord rescues them from them all.
20 He keeps all their bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil brings death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

Presented in this psalm is one take on how God interacts with humanity; God pays attention to the good (which = those which are in right relationship with God) and forsakes the bad/evil/unrighteous. But there are a few other takes on how God relates to humans.

“God sends rain to the righteous and the unrighteous.” “Let the weeds grow with the wheat until harvest when they will be separated, the wheat into the granary, the chaff into the fire.”

It is Jesus who makes humanity righteous, and humanity in turn need only believe and trust in Jesus’ righteousness.

Note that it is this psalm that is quoted in the gospels at the crucifixion, “Not one bone will be broken.”

Ephesians 6:10-20

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For our[a] struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. 15 As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. 16 With all of these,[b]take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel,[c] 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Here is Paul’s famous object lesson, The Armor of God! I have seen in Christian book stores, including the official bookstore of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, The Armor Of God children’s playset, complete with a blend of Roman and Crusader style sword, belt, shield, breastplate, grieves as opposed to foot ware, and helmet. Any child receiving such a set of armor and weaponry would immediately don it and then look for a foe to vanquish, usually a sibling, neighbor kid, or family pet. Watch out! Plastic or not, that sword hurts!

We tend to think of those wearing armor as soldiers ready for warfare, attacking the enemy and holding gained ground. But in this passage, Paul does not mention attack, only defense. The armor of God is: faith, salvation, the Holy Spirit/Word of God, truth, and the proclamation of peace. We wear these in humble service to Christ and love of neighbor.

John 6:56-69

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.57Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” 59He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

60When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” 61But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? 62Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64But among you there are some who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him.65And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father.” 66Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him. 67So Jesus asked the twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” 68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Earlier in the gospel of John, Jesus states, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” In John, Jesus teaches that abundant life is for right now, and continues into eternal life, not something for which one must wait until after death. John writes that Jesus teaches that this abundant, eternal life is for “all who believe into me.” John’s gospel goes to great lengths to show that Jesus comes not just for Jews/Israelites, but for everyone.

It is the very difficult and squeamish concept of eating and drinking Jesus, as well as the universal offering of God’s messiah to ALL people and not just Israelites, that offends many of the disciples. While in the other three gospels, being a disciple of Jesus, with the exception of Judas Iscariot, is synonymous with believing in Jesus. In John’s gospel a distinction is drawn between disciples and others who believe into Jesus and disciples and others who do not. In the Greek, disciple means student. Certainly you can be a student of someone and not buy into everything they teach. In the case of Jesus, though, being such a student of Jesus is treacherous. Either you see the signs and believe into Jesus, thus gaining abundant and eternal life, or you miss read the signs, even miss then all together, and turn away from Jesus.