Bible Tuesday for Pentecost 26, 2016

Malachi 4:1-2

See, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble; the day that comes shall burn them up, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. 2But for you who revere my name the sun of righteousness shall rise, with healing in its wings.

In these text notes I have written much about Israel’s defeat, occupation, and exile by Assyria and Babylonia. The above text is a prophecy written to Israel when the exile was over. Babylonia was defeated by Persia and King Xerxes allowed the Israelites to return to their own lands. Persia even funded the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem (called the Second Temple, and the time of the prophecy of Malachi, and the books of Ezra and Nehemiah is creatively called The Second Temple Period).

The language of the above text is hard to stomach. Would God really “burn up” the enemies of Israel? Are they not God’s children also? And, it is understandable that the prophet, Malachi, would write such harsh language about the enemies of Israel. The Israelites were finally released from 40+ years of captivity in Babylon, and returned to a ruined Jerusalem and fellow Jews who had been left behind to farm or ply their trade had now intermarried with non-Jews and practiced a bastardized Judaism with no Temple at which to sacrifice. Just as POW’s have cried out for vengeance over the centuries, so did Israel.

Psalm 98

O sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things.
His right hand and his holy arm
have gained him victory.
2 The Lord has made known his victory;
he has revealed his vindication in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the victory of our God.

4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
break forth into joyous song and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn
make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord.

7 Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
the world and those who live in it.
8 Let the floods clap their hands;
let the hills sing together for joy
9 at the presence of the Lord, for he is coming
to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness,
and the peoples with equity.

This is one of the Kingship psalms, that is, a psalm that is written to praise God as king of Israel.

“His right hand, his Holy arm” – This is written to conjure the image of God wielding a huge sword with his right hand and arm.

“Revealed His vindication in the sight of the nations” – Israel understands itself to be God’s chosen people through whom God will rescue and redeem the nations of the world. The psalmist sees Israel’s restoration after exile to be not only salvation for Israel, but also a message of invitation as well as defeat for the peoples of the world.

“mindful of His steadfast love and faithfulness” – As I have mentioned before, this is the English translation of Hebrew legal language in the covenant God made with Israel. God is ALWAYS faithful to this covenant.

All creation, whether peoples or nature, joins in praising God, the maker and savior of all.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-13

Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us. 7For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you,8and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labour we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you.9This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate. 10For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat. 11For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work. 12Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. 13Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

Paul is writing to the first Christians about 30 years after Jesus ascended back to heaven. There was a widely held belief, by even Paul himself, that Jesus would return to “judge the quick and the dead” any second now. In that belief, there were Christians who thought, “Why cook dinner, why clean the house, why go to work if Jesus is coming back and the world will end any second now?” So they didn’t. In the above passage, Paul scolded the heck out of them!

Paul and a partner (Paul had a few different partners throughout his ministry) traveled to Thessalonica and stayed for a while. Paul earned his living, while serving as evangelist to the city and house church, by making and repairing tents. In verse 9, Paul says that though he had a right to command wages from the congregation for the work he was doing for them, yet he did not “in order to give you an example to imitate.” Being a devoted follower of Jesus does NOT mean being a lazy bum who says “the Lord will provide” when supper should be on the table. Just as Jesus and his apostles worked, so should we.

Luke 21:5-19

When some were speaking about the temple, how it was adorned with beautiful stones and gifts dedicated to God, he said, 6‘As for these things that you see, the days will come when not one stone will be left upon another; all will be thrown down.’

7 They asked him, ‘Teacher, when will this be, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?’ 8And he said, ‘Beware that you are not led astray; for many will come in my name and say, “I am he!”and, “The time is near!” Do not go after them.

9 ‘When you hear of wars and insurrections, do not be terrified; for these things must take place first, but the end will not follow immediately.’10Then he said to them, ‘Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.

12 ‘But before all this occurs, they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 13This will give you an opportunity to testify. 14So make up your minds not to prepare your defense in advance; 15for I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By your endurance you will gain your souls.

This passage is introduced by the story of the Widow’s Mite, Jesus and his disciples are in the Temple where offerings are collected. Many people are giving great sums of money and fine gifts, but a poor widow puts in two copper coins. Jesus comments that, “She has put in everything that she had, all she had to live on.” One way to interpret this story is that Jesus sees all the opulence of the Temple funded by the offerings of the faithful, especially this poor woman, and was saddened. Why? Let’s look at the above passage.

As Jesus gathers disciples, he is mostly in small towns in Galilee. By their comments to Jesus, they have never been to Jerusalem before. The Second Temple was a sight to behold, and is thought to be one of the largest and most impressive structures in the Roman territories. Upon entering the Temple, the disciples voice their awe but Jesus uses this time to prophesy. Jesus says that while it is impressive, the Temple will all be knocked down and ruined. Indeed in 70AD the Romans did rape and pillage Jerusalem, and utterly destroyed the Second Temple. All that remains of that Temple is the Wailing Wall, which still stands in Jerusalem.

The disciples react to Jesus’ prophecy with understandable alarm and fear. To ease their fears of the unknown, Jesus proceeds to make a little known. “There will be false prophets all over the place who will claim, ‘Only I can save you.’ Ignore them. There will be wars between nations, earthquakes, famines, but before all this, you will be arrested, so don’t worry about the other stuff.”

“When all this occurs, don’t worry. I will be with you, giving you what you need to say. You may be tortured and killed, but that does not mean you cease to exist. No, not even one hair of your head will parish. By continuing to believe in me through all this, your whole self will be with me forever.”