Bible Tuesdays for Lent IV, 2016

Joshua 5:9-12

9The Lord said to Joshua, “Today I have rolled away from you the disgrace of Egypt.” And so that place is called Gilgal to this day.

10While the Israelites were camped in Gilgal they kept the passover in the evening on the fourteenth day of the month in the plains of Jericho. 11On the day after the passover, on that very day, they ate the produce of the land, unleavened cakes and parched grain. 12The manna ceased on the day they ate the produce of the land, and the Israelites no longer had manna; they ate the crops of the land of Canaan that year.

The Israelites were led out of Egypt by Moses, but once it was time to enter Canaan (aka: the Promised Land, the land flowing with milk and honey, the land of the Hittites, Jebusites, Hivites, Amorites and Canaanites), then Joshua was in charge. First, God told Joshua and all Israel that they must expel all these other tribes from Canaan, and occupy the land they formerly held. Each of the twelve tribes of Israel were assigned certain sections of Canaan. When the people of one section were defeated, then the assigned Israelite tribe would occupy that land. The Israelites would start to farm their new home, planting crops.

Finally, when the whole of Canaan was defeated and the tribes were settled in their lands, then God said to Joshua, “All the men of Israel should be circumcised.” God first commanded circumcision as the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham when God made the covenant of land/offspring/blessing with him. Isaac, Esau and Jacob, and all of Jacob’s sons and their sons and their sons and so on were all circumcised until the Israelites became slaves of the Egyptians. Under Egypt, Jews were not allowed to worship Yahweh, and not allowed to perform any rituals in the name of Yahweh, including circumcision.

Why was circumcision such a big thing with the Israelites/Jews? In American culture, circumcision is common because it is seen as sanitary, but it is far less common in European society. Ancient Roman and Greek cultures carried on the even more ancient belief that if a man was completely undressed but uncircumcised, he was not naked. His intact foreskin provided modesty. The Israelites interpretation of God’s command of circumcision, then, is that by being circumcised, Israelites men are completely exposed to and dependent on God.

Why do I digress on circumcision? Because the above passage takes place when all of the Israelites have finally occupied Canaan, and are about the harvest their spring crops, which also means that they are about to celebrate Passover with the Seder meal. But none of the Israelite men are ready for this very high holy celebration because they were all born while the Israelites wandered the wilderness and were not circumcising their baby boys. (Israelites have never performed or sanctioned “female circumcision”.) In order to celebrate Passover, the Israelites have to be ritually clean and in compliance with the Law God gave Moses. So, Joshua declares seventeen days before the first Passover meal is to be eaten, that all the men should be circumcised. This time line gives the men three days to recover before they have to sort sheep to get the Passover lamb set apart. It give them recovery days before they had to get into the fields to harvest and thresh grain which the women will grind and make into matzah/unleavened bread to eat with their roasted lamb as their Passover meal.

The first verse of the above pericope states that God has removed from the Israelites their disgrace. This “disgrace” is the shameful act of being covered before God/Yahweh, and therefore untrusting of God and out of compliance with God’s law given to Moses. Since all the men are now circumcised, the disgrace is removed, and all can eat the Seder meal and celebrate the Passover, the mighty acts whereby God brought the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt.

Because the Israelites are now in the land God promised to them through Abraham, and have successfully brought in their first spring grain crop, they no longer need the manna and quail with which God fed them all those years wandering in the wilderness, so it stops. The Israelites must now rely on God’s gifts of rain, sun, good seeds, and good soil.

Psalm 32

1Happy are those whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.

2Happy are those to whom the Lord imputes no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.

3While I kept silence, my body wasted away through my groaning all day long.

4For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah

5Then I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not hide my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah

6Therefore let all who are faithful offer prayer to you; at a time of distress, the rush of mighty waters shall not reach them.

7You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with glad cries of deliverance. Selah

8I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you.

9Do not be like a horse or a mule, without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you.

10Many are the torments of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord.

11Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart.

The title of this psalm is “Of David. A Maskil”. In Hebrew, maskil appears to be a play on the word, askikha, which means “Let me enlighten you.”

The psalmist holds silence in that he/she is not confessing the sin to God. Fear, guilt, shame caused haunting anguish and dread. Finally confession is made and God’s forgiveness is found. Instead of drowning in punishment, God’s forgiveness is deliverance.

The term “without understanding, whose temper must be curbed with bit and bridle, else it will not stay near you” is not translatable. The Hebrew is strange and does not appear in any other ancient Hebrew writings for translation aid. The Jewish Study Bible translates it, “whose movement must be curbed by bit and bridle. Far be that from you!” Very different than the above New Revised Standard Version.

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

16From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. 17So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. 20So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

This text picks up an argument being made by St. Paul in its middle, as “From now on…” indicates. Previous to this text, Paul has been talking about the temporariness and imperfection of human life which is redeemed and made new in Christ. In the above passage, Paul urges the congregation in Corinth, and all who read this letter, including us, to a higher life. In this new life, we see each other as God sees us through Christ: new, clean, redeemed. Just as we are reconciled to God through Jesus, we must allow ourselves to be reconciled to each other through Jesus also.

Luke 15:1-3, 11-32

Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him. 2And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, “This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3So he told them this parable:

“There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.’ So he divided his property between them. 13A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands.”’ 20So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21Then the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly, bring out a robe—the best one—and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!’ And they began to celebrate.25“Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing. 26He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on. 27He replied, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.’ 28Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him. 29But he answered his father, ‘Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends. 30But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!’ 31Then the father said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 32But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.’”

This parable is the third of a set of three describing God’s diligent, unflagging, unfailing love for God’s children. The other two parables are saved for later in the church year but here we are with this one during Lent.

Mosaic Law as spelled out in Leviticus states that the oldest son inherits double what his younger brothers inherit. The oldest son is also responsible for the parents as they age. The concept of wills did exist at the time of Jesus, even in Israelite communities, but the teachings and tradition on a will put the inheritance into a trust of sorts. Neither the son nor the father could sell or otherwise dispose of the inheritance until the death of the father, when the inheritance became the son’s property.

For the younger son to ask for his father to divide the estate and give him his portion of the inheritance meant the same thing in that culture as in ours, “I don’t care if you need your land to support yourself, and your house to shelter you and Mom. It will be mine someday. That someday should be now. Hand it over, old man!” For the younger son to liquidate that inheritance was completely illegal as well as insulting beyond words. The younger son’s dissolute living is icing on the cake. The oldest son was expected to join forces with and support his father, which is not described in this parable.

Pigs are considered unclean animals for Jews because pigs are odd, and odd animals are almost always unclean. Pigs have cloven hooves but they do not ruminate (chew cud) as cattle and deer do. In addition, pigs are omnivores and eat carrion. Carrion eaters are unclean. For a Jew to work feeding pigs and desire to eat pig feed adds even more insult to injury in his family relations and indicates just how desperate this young man was.

The son comes to realize that Dad was a good boss, even treating the hired hands better than he was fairing. So, the son resolves to go home and confess to his father, hoping to get hired on there, and leave his pig days behind him. I have contemplated this confession both from an honest but flawed point of view, and from a manipulative point of view. In this story, no matter how the motivation or delivery of the son’s confession, the father’s reaction is the same. Rejoicing and celebration!

Now the oldest son has a serious concern. Does his ne’er-do-well brother’s return mean the estate will be split again? The father says no, “all that is mine is yours.” The older son’s inheritance is also in a trust in the older brother’s name, which remains in the father’s control until the father dies. But the older brother fears more than an inheritance split. He resents the fuss and celebration being made over an disgraceful ingrate.

So why didn’t the older son ever take a goat from the herd himself and have a meal with his friends? Why does the older brother feel so threatened by the returning younger brother? The father seems so magnanimous and loving to both sons, but neither one of them seems secure in their love and trust of their dad.