Bible Tuesday for Sunday, November 9, 2014

Amos 5:18-24

18 Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
19 as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.
20 Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?

21 I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
22 Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.
23 Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
24 But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.

In this prophecy of Amos, God commands that Amos proclaim God’s word using the form of a funeral lament. Previously in the book of Amos, God has proclaimed that Israel will receive judgment in the form of Assyria’s or Babylon’s attack and victory, but they ignored Amos and the other prophets proclaiming this word of the Lord. Here Amos laments Israel’s failure to heed and ultimate demise.

Day of the Lord: The Day of the Lord is a concept first presented here in scriptures but was an idea popular at least among the Israelites to which Amos prophesied. It was thought of as the day when God will judge the people and give the “righteous” Israelites their proper place of favor and luxury. The people to whom Amos peached wanted the Day of the Lord to come to which Amos replies, “Are you crazy!?”

The Israelites assumed they would find favor with God on the Day of the Lord, but Amos assures them they would not. In verses 21-24 God, God’s self, addresses the people, telling them that their cultic practices repelled him. However, their cultic practices are those very things required of them in the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. God does not reject the offerings and rituals themselves, but rather the complete disharmony between what is done in worship of God and what is done the whole rest of the week. How can the Israelites expect to benefit from God’s justice when they don’t practice justice with each other or the alien among them?

Psalm 70

Be pleased, O God, to deliver me.
O Lord, make haste to help me!
2 Let those be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life.
Let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who desire to hurt me.
3 Let those who say, “Aha, Aha!”
turn back because of their shame.

4 Let all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you.
Let those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
5 But I am poor and needy;
hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay!

In Israelite society, the poor have no protector, no family, government or social organization who will act on their behalf. (I wonder if the poor in the US prior to FDR’s administration would have thought they were in the same boat.) For this reason, God states many times in the Hebrew scriptures that God is the protector of the orphaned and the widowed and that God’s agent will “proclaim good news to the poor.”

The psalmist sees that the shame of those who “desire to hurt me” is proof that God is acting and is just.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters,[g] about those who have died,[h] so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died.[i] 15 For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died.[j] 16 For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever.18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Paul and many of the followers of Jesus alive in those first years after Jesus’ ascension believed that Jesus would return imminently. But, when those early believers succumbed to age and disease, there was real concern and confusion among the survivors. If we die before Jesus returns, what happens to us? Obviously this is not a question bothering us, but it was bothering the Thessalonians and others to whom Paul wrote.

Notice the doctrine and dogma Paul lays out for his audience. We believe in Jesus death and resurrection, and through those very acts God will resurrect us and draw us to Himself. (doctrine) Upon the coming of the Lord, those who are dead will be raised, then we who are still alive will all be united with them and we will be “caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.” (dogma)

Matthew 25:1-13

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like this. Ten bridesmaids[a] took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.[b] 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 When the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them; 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, all of them became drowsy and slept.6 But at midnight there was a shout, ‘Look! Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those bridesmaids[c] got up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise replied, ‘No! There will not be enough for you and for us; you had better go to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy it, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went with him into the wedding banquet; and the door was shut. 11 Later the other bridesmaids[d] came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I do not know you.’ 13 Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

This is the second of four parables that deal with “that day” when there is a sorting of faithful and unfaithful. “That Day” is Jesus’ version of The Day of the Lord.

First, a little work on the Greek. In English “wise” and “foolish” denote good and bad and are opposites but the Greek words used are more like “wise” and “unwise”. We may see children do unwise things and we would not label them “stupid” but rather unschooled or naive. So it is with these virgins or bridesmaids ( in this context, almost synonymous terms). The Greek word “lamp” shares it root with “shine” and “gives light”.

Knowing what the oil symbolizes is key to understanding and applying this parable. Some scholars think the oil represents good works. Luther wrote that the oil was symbolic of faith, but how can faith run short or be bought? Brian Stoffregen suggests that the oil represents relationship with God, faithfulness to God. One cannot share a relationship with one to another. But neither can one go buy more relationship with that one.

Interpretation of the parable is further complicated by the use of those things which are condemned elsewhere but not here. The virgin bridesmaids fall asleep but that is not a problem here, where it is in every other admonition of Jesus, especially in the Garden of Gethsemane. However, the point of this parable is to “be prepared” and even the prepared ones need to sleep!