2 Chronicles 17-28

The author of 1 & 2 Chronicles, known (not surprisingly, I suppose) as the Chronicler, covers much of the history already covered in prior books. I did a bit of research and learned that those earlier books are a primary (but not the exclusive) source for these later books. The Chronicler drew from other sources as well, but also seems to bring a different historical and political perspective. More importantly, to my mind, he also brings a more advanced sophisticated understanding of the relationship between God and man. 

In earlier books, the critical attribute of the man of God is obedience. Abraham is asked by God to sacrifice his son, Isaac, and he obeys--stopped at the last moment by an angel of God. Noah builds the ark and assembles the menagerie of animals as instructed. They did not question; they obeyed. 

The Chronicler shifts the emphasis to "faithfulness of heart". David is the paradigm of the man who is faithful of heart. Did he always obey the Lord's commands? No. But he oriented his life toward God, he begged for God's forgiveness, he sought God's help, and he trusted God's counsel. These last two are emphasized in this section of 2 Chronicles. The Lord expects--indeed, demands--that his faithful people seek His help. He is angered when they seek assistance elsewhere. God does not rest on what He has already done for His people, awaiting their gratitude, but instead insists that we ask for more. 

This section of 2 Chronicles is filled with leaders who did not seek the Lord in this way, leading to their failures and to the suffering of Israel and Judah as a result. Asa and Jehoshaphat are the best examples of faithfulness of heart in this section, although they too are flawed, but the other kings turn away from the Lord (and lead their people there, too), thus displeasing Him.

1 Chronicles 11-14

Upon Saul's death, the people of the tribes of Israel universally agree to anoint David the king. His bravery and greatness draw to him many thousands of warriors from all the tribes, including the so-called Chiefs--exceptionally great military commanders. David, in turn, makes a covenant with the people. The people recognize that the Lord is David's champion and they pledge their loyalty to him:

We are yours, O David, we are with you, O son of Jesse. Peace, peace o you, and peace to him who helps you; your God it is who helps you.

David transports the ark, and leads the Israelites in music and dancing as the ark is moved. Even this great warrior king is moved to sing and dance with joy and gratitude for God's gift of the law and His special love for Israel.

1 Chronicles 1-10

1 Chronicles begins with a long enumeration of the genealogy of David, firmly establishing him as the heir of God's covenant with Abraham. It is a long, and frankly tedious, slog through the roll call of each of the twelve tribes of Israel. But if you are going to read the Bible straight through, it comes with the territory I guess. It does serve to reiterate a key theme of what has gone before: God is faithful and He keeps His promises from generation to generation. When these chosen people put their trust in Him, God is with them and they find freedom and victory--they thrive. And when they do not...well, bad things happen. Saul finds this out for himself. He rebels against the Lord and engages in necromancy, and for that he suffers humiliating defeat and, after death, desecration. 

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

It's a great day to be alive! So said a speaker at a fundraising event yesterday for the Ace in the Hole Foundation. Established by my brother-in-law and one of his sons, Ace in the Hole is a fundraising organization that honors the memory of my nephew, 1st Lt. Michael LiCalzi of the United States Marine Corps, who was killed in Iraq seven years ago yesterday. The speaker is part of the Wounded Warrior Project, himself a former Marine who was seriously injured in Iraq. 

Yesterday was a sad, difficult day, but likewise a great day to be alive--to thank God for the many gifts and blessings. Including mothers--mine, of course, and for my wife, the (wonderful) mother of my children. I am very thankful for them today and every day. Happy Mother's Day to all!

As for the this week past, it was all about the kings in 2 Kings.  Some good and inspiring, like Josiah, but many more were men who misled their people and displeased the Lord. Ultimately, due to the inconstancy of the kings and the people of Israel and Judah, the kingdom and the temple of God are destroyed and the people exiled. All that, and a Quentin Tarantino cameo.

2 Kings 1-5

2 Kings 6-10
2 Kings 11-16

2 Kings 17-21

2 Kings 22-25

Here is the link to the Sunday Snippets for May 12.

Enjoy and have a great week!

John

2 Kings 17-21

With one notable exception, the next group of kings of both Israel and Judah displease the Lord greatly. In the case of the kings of Israel, so much so that the Lord permits the king of Assyria to capture Israel and carry its people off to a distant land. Only Hezekiah, a king of Judah, acts in a way pleasing to the Lord.

He put his trust in the Lord, the God of Israel, and neither before him nor after him was there anyone like him among all the kings of Judah. Loyal to the Lord, Hezekiah never turned away from him, but observed the commandments which the Lord had given Moses.

The Lord rewards Hezekiah with a long life. The Lord sends to him Isaiah, a prophet, to guide him. Isaiah advises Hezekiah when the king of Assyria tries to conquer Judah. Isaiah's counsel, and Hezekiah's heartfelt prayers to God, help turn back the Assyrians. But Isaiah also foretells the ruin of Judah--of its future conquest by Babylon. After Hezekiah's death, his son, Manasseh, succeeds him. Manasseh displeases the Lord greatly, pushing Him past the breaking point, and He speaks through the prophets, promising the destruction of both Jerusalem and Judah: "I will wipe Jerusalem clean as one wipes a dish, wiping it inside and out."

2 Kings 11-16

The focus shifts from prophets back to kings, as this section is a catalog of the reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah. For the most part, the kings of Israel displease the Lord, as they worship--and lead the Israelites in Samaria to worship--false gods. The kings of Judah are mostly pleasing to the Lord, although not as pleasing as the great King David, since they do not destroy the "high places" nor do they prevent the people from burning incense there. 

There are various battles between the kings of Israel and Judah. At times, they join forces to fight a common enemy; at other times they fight each other. There is a great deal of palace intrigue and even murder in the name of ambition. Seems ripe for a cable TV miniseries.

2 Kings 6-10

Today is something of a milestone (or a millstone, depending on your perspective). This is the 100th blog entry of On Jacob's Ladder!  And they said it wouldn't last!!

Elisha is the key figure in the victory over Ben-hadad and the Arameans. Samaria is attacked, but saved through Elisha's miracles. Elisha weeps for Israel as he foretells the death of Ben-hadad to the king's servant, Hazael, because he sees that Hazael will succeed  the current king and bring gray suffering upon the people of Israel. Jehoram and then his son, Ahaziah, become king of Judah in turn. They are evil and displease God, as Ahab had before them.

Elisha, at the Lord's instruction, anoints Jehu, son of Jehoshaphat, the king of Israel. Jehu leads men loyal to him to Jezreel, where both kings--of Judah and of Israel--are staying. He kills them both. He then sees to it that Jezebel is killed, and her body is left in the street to be torn apart and eaten by dogs.  As Elisha had foretold, Jehu has the entire line of Ahab's descendants killed. Indeed 70 of them are killed, their heads put in baskets, and the baskets sent to Jehu. Soon after, Jehu oversees the destruction of the Temple of Baal, and the slaughter of all the Baal worshipers within it. 

So very Quentin Tarantino!

1 Kings 15-19

After Solomon's death, God's people remain split into two kingdoms--Judah and Israel.  The kings that follow in those two kingdoms are, with one notable exception, men who continue to disobey and anger the Lord. Men who keep their people turned away from the true God. The exception is Asa, who reigns 41 years as the king of Judah and who pleases God just as his ancestor David had. "Asa's heart was entirely with the Lord as long as he lived." But even during Asa's reign, and after it, there is continuous warfare between Judah and Israel.

Ahab is one of the kings of Israel who displeases the Lord. He is married to Jezebel, who turns him away from God to the worship of Baal. She is responsible for the murder of many priests of the true God in her quest to keep the people (and her husband, the king) committed to Baal.

The Lord sends a prophet, Elijah, to rescue his people. Ahab and Jezebel seek to kill Elijah, but the Lord protects him.  Elijah trusts in the Lord and, does as He commands, finds a widow and her son with whom he lives for some years. His first words to her--Do not be afraid!--are words we later hear Jesus speak often in the New Testament. Words of greeting; words of comfort. The Lord sustains the three of them with water and food. When her son falls sick and stops breathing, Elijah takes the boy's body to the upper room of the house and prays to God to breathe life back into the boy. The Lord hears Elijah's prayer and the boy is restored. This story reminds me of other miracles Jesus performs, including perhaps most obviously the raising of Lazarus.

Elijah meets Obadiah, a servant of Ahab who nevertheless has remained true to God, and instructs him to announce Elijah's return. Although afraid, Obadiah does as Elijah asks him. When they meet, Elijah challenges Ahab and the prophets of Baal to a test to demonstrate whose god is the true God. The God of Elijah prevails, and Elijah has the people of Israel kill the prophets of Baal. There is a great moment describing their fruitless efforts being made by the prophets of Baal to summon their god to show his power: But there was not a sound; no one answered, and no one was listening.

When she learns of this, Jezebel sends a messenger to Elijah promising to kill him; Elijah flees. Elijah becomes discouraged and fearful and hides in a cave. But God comes to Elijah in his distress and calls him from the cave to witness God's power and presence:

A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord--but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake--but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire--but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak.

Elijah recognizes the Lord's voice in the soft whisper of the wind, and obeys the Lord's instructions. He takes the road to the desert near Damascus and meets Elisha, the prophet the Lord has selected to succeed Elijah. Upon meeting Elijah, Elisha leaves all that he has behind to follow Elijah.

So often, I wish the Lord would speak to me in a loud, strong, clear voice. I need to listen for Him in the whispers of life--to recognize His voice in the unexpected place, as Elijah did.

1 Kings 11-14

Unlike his father David, Solomon turns away from God and worships false gods. The narrative seems to place some of the blame for this on the many (as in hundreds) of foreign wives and concubines Solomon took in his lifetime.  Wow, when did he have time to rule?! Seriously, though, I am grappling with the difference between David and Solomon. David obviously and spectacularly violated God's commandments--recall, for example, the story of Uriah and Bathsheba, during which David trampled on a least three of the Ten Commandments. Yet even the Lord later identifies him as one who remained faithful, and David is contrasted favorably to Solomon in this regard. I suppose the difference is that David was always devoted to God, did not worship false gods, recognized and was sorry for his failings, sought forgiveness for them, and accepted God's punishment for them. Solomon was not faithful to God in that he worshipped false gods, and caused others to do so as well.

The result of Solomon's lack of faithfulness is rebellion within the kingdom of Israel and, ultimately, its dissolution upon his death. Rehoboam becomes king of the cities of Judah and settles in Jerusalem, while Jeroboam becomes king of ten other tribes of Israel. They remain at war with each other. Both rule badly, ignoring the Lord's commands and leading His people astray. They and the people of Israel are eventually punished.  

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

This week was spent making my way through 2Samuel--the story of David's eventful reign as King of Israel. David does great thing, loves much, forgives much, and strives to do right by the Lord God. He also sins much, strays much, and suffers much. In short, he is human. But on a grand scale. In some ways, we are all kings and queens in the eyes of the King of Kings. And we an see our triumphs, defeats, successes, and failings in David. Some memorable characters share the stage with David--Bathsheba, Absalom, Uriah, Nathan, Joab, and Abner. But it is David, of course, who is the central figure--teaching us much and giving us hope.

2 Samuel 1-4

2 Samuel 5-9

2 Samuel 10-14

2 Samuel 15-18

2 Samuel 19-24

Have a great week!!

John

2 Samuel 5-9

David's reign over all of Israel is confirmed, as all the tribes anoint him as their king. David is a good and godly ruler, who realizes

that the Lord had established him as king of Israel and exalted his rule for the sake of his people Israel.

God then enables David and the Israelites to defeat the Philistines, and David acknowledges:

The Lord has scattered my enemies before me like waters that have broken free.

In thanksgiving, David has the ark of the covenant brought to Jerusalem, and celebrates joyfully with his people. Prefiguring the coming of Jesus, the Lord then promises David:

I will give you rest from all your enemies. The Lord also reveals to you that he will establish a house for you. And when your time comes and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your heir after you, sprung from your loins, and I will make his kingdom firm. It is he who shall build a house for my name. And I will make his royal throne firm forever. I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to me.

David praises God for his blessings and for this special promise. Looking backward, in a sense, David also finds it in himself to honor Saul (and his beloved friend Jonathan) one more time, by gifting all the property that had formerly been Saul's to his surviving grandson (and Jonathan's son), Meribbaal. He further honors Meribbaal by insisting that Meribbaal be seated with him at the king's table for his meals. 

2 Samuel 1-4

David is filled with grief upon learning of the deaths of Saul and Jonathan. After all this time, David still loved Saul and respected him as the anointed king of Israel. Only after Saul's death is David anointed the new king by the men of Judah. A war between the house of Saul and that of David (essentially, David and the men of Judah) ensued. After some internal quarreling in the house of Saul, and some pitched battles, Abner (the leader of the house of Saul) and David were reconciled and made peace. But Joab, one of David's men, harbored a grudge against Abner for causing the death of one of Joab's brothers. Joab attempted to deceive David about Abner's intentions, pursued Abner, and then killed Abner after tricking him into letting down his guard. David grieved once again, saying "You must recognize that a great general has fallen today in Israel." Thereafter, thinking they were acting in a manner that would please David, two leaders in the army of the house of Saul murdered one of Saul's sons in his bed while he slept. When they brought his head to David, David was again troubled. He killed the men for having murdered an innocent man.

This is, to me, a confusing series of events. In 1Samuel, David showed mercy to Saul time and again. He always respected Saul and showed him honor and deference as the king of Israel--even when Saul sought David's death. David continued to show Saul honor and respect after his death, openly grieving and punishing those who brought about the death of Saul and his sons. There is something about David's love and faithfulness even in the face of Saul's open hostility and attempts at violence toward David that suggests the infinite love and mercy God has for us--for me.

1 Samuel 20-24

I guess this is the story of David, but I cannot help being drawn toward the underlying story of Saul. 

David is the war hero. The strong and brave soldier of Saul and of Israel. He leads Saul's army to many victories, vanquishing the foes of Israel. He engenders the admiration of the Israelites. He is a loyal "son" to Saul. A loyal friend and brother to Jonathan. Indeed, he and Jonathan are a wonderful contrast to the dysfunctional relationships of Cain and Abel, and of Jacob and Esau. No matter how vigorously and vindictively Saul pursues him, the bewildered David remains faithful. Even when he has the easy chance to kill Saul and end Saul's relentless persecution, David does not do so. Rather, he spares him, and professes his loyalty and love, prompting Saul's remorse.

But it is Saul who fascinates me. He is so human. He too is brave. A strong soldier who battes for Israel and the Lord. He tries to please Samuel and the Lord. But he errs time and again, even when his intentions are good. He sees the future, that David will eventually become the king of Israel. He grows insecure and jealous. So much so that he works hard to bring about the death of David, even though he clearly loves him. He loses himself. He has dozens of priest murdered. He fractures his relationship with his son, Jonathan. Yet at the moment when he realizes that David still loves him and has spared his life, Saul is remorseful. He becomes himself again in some way. He is transformed, if only for this moment, by the power of love and forgiveness. 

1 Samuel 16-19

Having rejected Saul as the king of Israel, the Lord sends Samuel to Bethlehem to find and anoint a new king. Directing Samuel to the house of Jacob, the Lord instructs Samuel to select one of Jacob's sons. In doing so, the Lord cautions Samuel:

Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart.

The Lord chooses David, the youngest of Jesse's sons, and Samuel anoints him. Soon after, because of is talents on the harp, David finds himself at Saul's side, playing soothing music to calm Saul when the evil spirit sent by the Lord is tormenting Saul. Saul becomes fond of David. When faced with a battle against the Philistines, Saul's army is terrified and their God insulted, by the giant, Goliath. Of all people, it is David who accepts the challenge to face Goliath one-on-one, saying:

I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel that you have insulted. Today, the Lord shall deliver you into my hand; I will strike you down and cut off your head.

And so he does. With his slingshot, he fells Goliath and cuts off his head--sending the Philistines fleeing in terror and securing victory for the Israelites. 

From this event, many consequences ensue. Saul's son, Jonathan, becomes a great friend and admirer of David's, as fond of him as if his life depended on him. The people of Israel see David as a hero and literally sing his praises. He becomes the head of Saul's army and leads them to many victories. But Saul becomes increasingly jealous over time, to the point that he schemes to bring about David's death. After marrying one of Saul's daughters, David is ultimately forced to flee his home to avoid death at Saul's hands. David finds refuge with Samuel to escape Saul's persecution. Saul finds him even there in that hiding place, but Saul himself is overcome with the prophetic spirit that had enraptured Samuel, David, and the others staying with them.

The Lord helps David, a handsome but otherwise ordinary seeming man, become a great hero, filling him with the spirit of the Lord. With that spirit, David--and all of us--can surely do great things. 

1 Samuel 13-15

Saul is basically a good man and a caring leader. He wants to follow God, he tries to do so diligently, he errs at times, and he is remorseful and seeks forgiveness when he falls short. Yet Samuel reproves him and he is punished--Samuel tells him "your kingdom shall not endure . . . because you broke the Lord's command." Saul can also be rash, and an oath he impulsively swears nearly results in the death of his own son, Jonathan. It is only because of the pleading of the very people saved by Jonathan's bravery in battle that he is spared from death. Saul led the Israelites to victory against many of the enemies surrounding Israel, and caused the Philistines to return to their own land. The Lord, through Samuel, then directed Saul to make war on Amalek, and to slaughter all of the people there and their animals. Saul waged the battle and claimed the victory, but he spared Agag, the king of Amalek, and the best of his animals, with the intention of sacrificing those animals to the Lord in thanksgiving for their victory. But again Samuel rebuked Saul for disobeying God's command and failing to fulfill the mission on which God sent him. He explained to Saul:

Obedience is better than sacrifice and submission [better than] the fat of rams. 

Samuel went on to tell Saul that the kingdom of Israel would be torn from Saul. Samuel returned with Saul that they might worship the Lord. Samuel then ordered that Agag be brought into his presence, and Samuel himself killed him. Samuel then departed from there, never to see Saul again. The section ends by noting that Samuel:

grieved over Saul, because the Lord regretted having made him king of Israel.

I must say I am baffled by this passage. The all-forgiving God who showed such patience and mercy for the Israelites for many, many years, under one judge after another, has little patience for Saul.

1 Samuel 8-12

In this section, the monarchy is established in Israel. Both God and Samuel are displeased and disapprove, but like parents of headstrong teenagers, they give their advice, express their disapproval, warn of the negative consequences to come, and let the insistent Israelites have their way. So it comes to pass that God leads Samuel to Saul. Or better, He leads Saul to Samuel. Samuel anoints Saul with oil and instructs him that his responsibility is to goverm Israel and protect the people "from the grasp of their enemies." Samuel also tells Saul that "the spirit of the Lord will rush upon you" and that Saul "will be changed into another man." Afterwards, we read, God gave Saul "another heart" and the signs Samuel had predicted for Saul came to pass.  Samuel called the people together that they might select a king by lot. At the end of that process, Saul, who stood "head and shoulders above all the crowd", was their king. 

The passage ends with Samuel recounting for the people all that God has done for them, from their rescue from slavery in Egypt onward, and issuing a reminder of God's displeasure with them for having insisted on an earthly king to govern them.

I am struck by how Saul's acceptance of the call to be king transformed him. God gave him a new heart, and the prophetic spirit filled him. God gave hm the strength and compassion and courage to embrace and fulfill the role to which he had been called. When I face a decision, do I have faith both that God will help me choose correctly and that He will help me face the challenges that come once I have made the choice?

1 Samuel 3-7

The story of Samuel being called by God gives me goosebumps. How many times in my own life have I heard God's call, sometimes even at night, alone, in the silence of my dark room, pulling at my heart? And yet how often have I resisted that call, or ignored it, or pretended i didn't hear it, or even promised myself that I would answer it only to forget my promise soon after? Too often to count. Yet God keeps calling to me. I am trying to do as Samuel did--to respond with "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening." But it is hard. I am happy and blessed and more or less comfortable where I am. Those are good things. Great things. Yet God may be calling me to something more or something different--something unknown. And unlike Samuel, I am afraid. 

The remainder of this passage tells of the Philistines capture of the Ark, the sufferings they undergo as a result, the return of the Ark to Israel, and the subsequent defeat of the Philistines. 

Comic moments (to me a least): the Philistines send back a guilt offering along with the Ark, in the form of golden hemorrhoids. Yup, golden hemorrhoids (according to my translation). Umm, ok. Also, two of the minor characters in this passage have names that we find, many centuries later, as prominent characters in classic works of literature: Ichabod (Crane) and Ebenezer (Scrooge). 

Judges 17-21

The final section of Judges covers several stories involving the tribes of Dan and Benjamin, during a time when, ironically, there was no leader of Israel--no "judge." I believe that the horrors these stories embody result directly from the fact that there was this absence.

First, a layman named Micah hired a Levite to be his household priest, to watch over his personal sanctuary and his household idols. A group of men from the tribe of Dan convince this unnamed Levite to desert Micah and join them as their priest. In doing so, he stole the household idols of Micah. Micah tried to follow with a band of men to recapture his priest and idols, but abandoned the quest when he realized he was outnumbered. Oddly, the story seems to just end there, with no negative consequence for either Micah (for worshipping an idol) or for the Levite for his disloyalty to Micah. 

The narrative switches to the story of another unnamed Levite from Ephraim, who had taken a concubine who was unfaithful to him and fled from him. The Levite followed her to her father's house to reclaim her, and on his return journey home with her he stayed the night with a resident of Gibeah,where the tribe of Benjamin live. But the corrupt men of that city stormed the old man's house in order to abuse the traveling couple. Incredibly (to me at least), the Levite forced his concubine out of the house for the men of Gibeah to ravish and abuse all night. In the morning, he collected her and continued the journey home. There, he killed his concubine and divided her body into twelve pieces that he scattered throughout Israel. Perhaps there is something about the social order that I am not understanding here, but the text refers to this Levite as the concubine's hisband. What husband (what human) abandons their wife to a mob without a fight to be raped and beaten?  Or kills her and carves up her corpse?

The spreading of her remains enflamed the other Israelites to assemble for revenge on Gibeah and the Benjaminites. After a few preliminary defeats, the Israelites prevailed--slaughtering all but 400 Benjaminite men who escaped their wrath. But the Israelites grieved for the near obliteration of one of the twelve tribes, so they slaughtered the inhabitants of a city whose inhabitants had refused to join their revenge mission on Gibeah, sparing only the virgin women of the city. Those virgin women were given to the Benjaminites who had escaped, so that they could begin to repopulate the tribe. Because the surviving Benjaminites outnumbered these captured virgins, the Benjaminites without wives were instructed to kidnap young women dancing in the vineyards at Shiloh as part of the yearly feast for the Lord, which they did. In this way the tribe of Benjamin was restored.

These stories come to us with nameless protagonists and little moral commentary. Perhaps there is a hint about this in the last line of the book:

In those days, there was no king in Israel; everyone did what he thought best.

To my mind "what they thought best" was, in these stories, horrifying and despicable. So, perhaps the lesson is that, left to our own sensibilities about "what is best", we are sure to stray from God's path--to idol worship, to violence, to mindless vengeance, to savagery, to fratricide. We need the Lord's guidance. We need a "judge" to show us the path. We need God's word to nourish and sustain us.

Judges 6-8

Having offended the Lord yet again, and been reduced to misery under the thumb of Midian, the Israelites once more call out to God to deliver them. First, He sends a prophet, unnamed, who points out to them their fault in worshipping a false god. He then sends an angel to Gideon, the "most insignificant" son from the poorest family in Manasseh, directing Gideon to "go with the strength you have and save Israel." Gideon questions the Lord, Who offers a sign to confirm His message. When Gideon realizes that it is truly God with Whom he is conversing, he is afraid. But the Lord comforts him:

Peace be to you! Do not fear! You shall not die!

These words find their echo repeatedly in the Gospels, as we shall see.  At God's direction, Gideon blows his horn, summoning soldiers to join the battle to rescue the Israelites. The Lord guides Gideon to choose only 300 men to take on the many thousands of the enemy. Gideon's horn signals the start of the chaos within the enemy's camp that leads to the Israelites' triumph. After their victory, the Israelites plead with Gideon that he and his descendants might rule over them. But Gideon demurs, telling them, "The Lord must rule over you." After Gideon dies, however, the Israelites "abandon themselves to the Baals."

How is it that God is so patient and merciful--to the Israelites and to me? How often, and how predictably, do I turn away from Him? And yet time and again He has pity on me and rescues me.

Exodus 30-32

Ok, perhaps my favorite all-time movie is Raiders of the Lost Ark. Goofy, I know.  But when I would come home from college, I would often take my younger brothers to the movies. We had no idea what this would be about the day we went, and it had a cool title. We were blown away, and saw it many times together. Relevance? When I try to draw a mental picture of the very vivid descriptions in this section of Exodus, all my mind's eye can see is the scene in Raiders where Indiana Jones finds the ark of the covenant and carries it out of the cave, only to be thwarted at the last moment by the bad guys.

In this section, God establishes the annual atonement rite, and lays out the rules for cleansing the priests must abide by before approaching the altar. In the New Testament, we read the Christ is the law or the new law. The Magi presented him with frankincense at the Nativity scene. Here, God instructs Moses that the priests are to use frankincense to honor and consecrate the sacred altar and the Commandments that He has given to Moses for the people. God lays down the law of the Sabbath, calling it "an everlasting token" between God and HIs people, and then gives Moses the stone tablets containing the commandments "inscribed by God's own finger." 

Meanwhile, in Moses' absence, God's people have strayed, prevailing on Aaron to create a golden calf for them to worship. Much revelry ensues. (I guess we see here why God chose Aaron only to be Moses' spokesman with Pharaoh, but not to also have the responsibilities he entrusted Moses with.)  How quickly the Israelites have forgotten all of the wonders God has done for them. (Sounds familiar: I forget all the time to my regret, so I am in no position to judge them harshly.) God's anger is enflamed, and He contemplates wiping them out entirely and starting over with a "new" people for Moses to lead. But Moses reminds the Lord of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and God relents (at least for now). Moses returns to the people, and challenges them to choose whether or not to side with the Lord, Who brought them out of Egypt. The Levites choose the Lord. Moses then instructs them to take up the sword and kill all of their kinsmen and neighbors who have not made that same choice. Three thousand are slaughtered that day. Wow. Afterwards, the Lord tells Moses to go forth and lead His people, but adds "when it is time for me to punish, I will punish them for their sin."  Ominous. The Old Testament God is frightening to me at times. He remembers His promises for generations, but also the peoples' sins. I hope and pray He chooses not to remember mine.