Bible Tuesday for Sunday, November 15, 2015

Daniel 12:1-3

‘At that time Michael, the great prince, the protector of your people, shall arise. There shall be a time of anguish, such as has never occurred since nations first came into existence. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone who is found written in the book.2Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth* shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. 3Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky,* and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever.

The final chapters of the prophecy of Daniel describes the last vision Daniel receives. This vision summarizes dynastic rivalries between the Ptolemy and Seleucid empires and the ways in which Israel is caught up in them. It also describes heavenly battles between the angels of these empires, with Michael and Gabriel representing Israel. Most of the vision is hindsight, culminating in the above verses which begin the final chapter of the book of Daniel. It is from this passage that some Jews came to believe in the resurrection of the dead and some form of judgment in the final days of this earth. This is the only Hebrew scriptural passage that mentions resurrection, and resurrection for the purpose of being sorted into everlasting life or everlasting “contempt.”

The book referred to in verse 1 is the “book of Life”.

Psalm 16

A Miktam of David.
1 Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, ‘You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.’*

3 As for the holy ones in the land, they are the noble,
in whom is all my delight.

4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;*
their drink-offerings of blood I will not pour out
or take their names upon my lips.

5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
you hold my lot.
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
I have a goodly heritage.

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I keep the Lord always before me;
because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
my body also rests secure.
10 For you do not give me up to Sheol,
or let your faithful one see the Pit.

11 You show me the path of life.
In your presence there is fullness of joy;
in your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

“A Miktam of David”. “Miktam” is translated in the Septuagint as a monument or pillar inscription, perhaps indicating that this poem was carved in stone in some capacity and was then included in the book of Psalms.

Verses 3-4 in the Hebrew language are very obscure and translators are absolutely not sure how to translate them. While the above translation has verse three referring to godly people, the Jewish Study Bible translates it in the opposite tone, “As to the holy and mighty ones that are in the land, my whole desire concerning them is that those who espouse other [god] may have many sorrows!”

In the Hebrew culture, various body parts were thought to be the seat of various emotions or thought processes. For instance, anger came from the nose. Quite literally, what is translated as “God’s anger burned against…” in Hebrew is actually, “God’s nose burned against…” Reason was thought to come from the gut, emotion from the belly (as opposed to the heart), and in this case, conscience comes from the kidneys, but it is translated, “My heart gives me counsel” because in English, “My kidneys give me counsel” makes no sense.

Hebrews 10:11-25

11 And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12But when Christ* had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, ‘he sat down at the right hand of God’, 13and since then has been waiting ‘until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.’ 14For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. 15And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
16 ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds’,
17he also adds,
‘I will remember* their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’
18Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

19 Therefore, my friends,* since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through his flesh), 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold fast to the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who has promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds, 25not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

The sacrificial system set into law in the first five books of the Bible never did garner forgiveness from God but rather just evened the score. If you sin, you sacrifice this and this which pay the penalty for your sin. (There were sacrifices for gratitude and first fruits offerings as well, but the above Hebrews passage only deals with sin offerings/sacrifices.) There really wasn’t “forgiveness” as we know it until God made the new covenant in Jeremiah.

This passage of Hebrews is developing a theology for how it is that Jesus’ death does God’s will and benefits those who believe in Jesus. Even though in previous passages, the author of Hebrews describes Jesus as the ultimate high priest, now the author states that Jesus is an entirely different kind of priest! Regular high priests preside over the offerings of other people’s sacrifices day after day after day and those sacrifices don’t earn forgiveness. As I stated above, they only evened the score between humans and God. But Jesus’ sacrifice of himself blows up the whole scoreboard! Now there really is a whole different kind of relationship between God and humanity as attested by Jesus: “This blood is the new covenant for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.”

Mark 13:1-8

As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!’ 2Then Jesus asked him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.’

3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, 4‘Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?’ 5Then Jesus began to say to them, ‘Beware that no one leads you astray. 6Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!”* and they will lead many astray. 7When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. 8For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.

This is a very cryptic passage of Mark. There is debate over when the gospel of Mark was written and that timing influences how this passage is interpreted. If Mark was written in the 60’s AD, then this passage is at least in part prophesying the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. If the gospel of Mark was dated after 70AD, then this passage is describing what has already taken place, that is, the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple. Josephus, the Jewish historian, writes that when Jerusalem fell, over 3,000 Jews were crucified in one day. This is in addition to the rape and slaughter of women, children, the elderly, etc. When the carnage was over, truly, the only wall of the Temple left was what is now the Wailing Wall. Some city wall were left as well but the rest of the city was burned and/or pulled down.

This passage of Mark is the culminating summary and response of Jesus’ run-ins with the Scribes, Pharisees, a various other religious authorities in and around the Temple in the preceding two chapters. Jesus has been disrespected, toyed with, and plotted against by the Jewish leaders. The Temple is their seat of power. It is supposed to be the “stone and mortar” representation of God’s presences with God’s people, but it is severely corrupted. Jesus says as much with his scrutinizing the fig tree outside Jerusalem, looking for fruit, but there was none so he cursed it. Jesus then enters Jerusalem looking for fruit of the relationship with God that the religious authorities have, and also finds none. Jesus does not curse them and the Temple but he does tell what will happen to it.

The disciples and the Jews of Jesus’ day believe that if the Temple is destroyed, so will the Jewish religion also be destroyed. Jesus assures the disciples that, while terrible things will happen, they should not be alarmed. In the gospel of Mark, Jesus goes on to tell the disciples that what the Jewish authorities do to Jesus, they will also do to the disciples. But, the Holy Spirit will be with them and “they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great power and glory…”

This section of Mark is right before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion. It is very apocalyptic in tone and prophecy. We began the church year with these portions of Mark last Advent. Now we close out the year with them as we prepare to celebrate Christ the King Sunday next week and begin a new church year the last Sunday of November.