1 Maccabees 1-5

After the reign of Alexander, the lands he conquered were divided among his officers.  They and their offspring ruled the various lands. One of these leaders, Antiochus Epiphanes, becomes King of the Greeks and commences an era of aggressive attacks against the Jewish people across many cities. In some locations, the Jewish people respond meekly, unable or unwilling to fight back and in this way bringing shame upon the descendants of Jacob. The king goes so far as to forbid the practice of any religion other than that of the Gentiles. Again, some Jews acquiesce. But some, most prominently Mattathias and his five sons, openly challenge the edict and the prevailing political situation. They refuse to obey the edict; they refuse to run and hide, as some of the Jews did, but instead, they fight back bravely and successfully. 

As Mattathias is dying, he gathers his sons together and instructs them to "be zealous for the law and give your lives for the covenant of our fathers." He encourages them as follows:

Consider this from generation to generation, that none who hope in him shall fail in strength. Do not fear the words of a sinful man, for his glory ends in corruption and worms. Today he is exalted, and tomorrow he is not to be found, because he has returned to his dust, and his schemes have perished.  Children! be courageous and strong in keeping the law, for by it you shall be glorified.

What a wonderful and hopeful idea, that no one who hopes in God shall fail in strength.  The notion of being zealous for the law and strong in keeping the law takes me back again to the concept of faithfulness of heart. To reset, David is the paradigm of the Old Testament man who lives rightly--not because he was perfect, but because he was faithful of heart. He desired to do right, to honor God's commands, to do so lovingly and faithfully, and to hope and trust in God. It is just this sort of faithfulness of heart that Mattathias hopes to leave as his legacy in his sons.

What follows are many scenes (too many to describe) that essentially repeat the same chain of events: A Gentile leader persecutes Jews in the community or gathers an army to attack the Jews; the sons of Mattathias--the Maccabees--led by the warrior Judas, gather their own army and defeat the Gentiles, killing them and (often) plundering their belongings. At one point the victorious Jewish army recaptures Mount Zion and the desecrated temple. They rebuild, restore, and reconsecrate the temple and the altar, setting off eight days of celebration that are re-enacted today during the feast of Hannukah. 

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

It's that time again! During the week, I covered 1 Chronicles and about half of 2 Chronicles. These historical books retrace much of the ground covered in 1 & 2 Samuel and 1 & 2 Kings.   The life of Saul is briefly covered, followed by the reigns of David and Solomon. On reflection, David and Moses are clearly the central figures of the Old Testament to this point. Not that others were not great or important (Abraham, Isaac, Noah, Joseph, Jacob, and Solomon, to name just a few). But David and Moses are clearly the key figures: Moses, the recipient of the Law, the embodiment of obedience and trust in God, and David, the paragon not of perfection, but of faithfulness of heart. The importance of faithfulness of heart is a central theme in this week's readings.

So, here you go (in reverse chronological order this week):

• 2 Chronicles 7-16
• 2 Chronicles 1-6
• 1 Chronicles 22-29
• 1 Chronicles 15-21
• 1 Chronicles 11-14
• 1 Chronicles 1-10

And, of course, here is the link to this week's Catholic carnival:

Sunday Snippets--A Catholic Carnival

Enjoy and have a great week!

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. 

Numbers 21-25

The Lord continues to lead the Israelites in their journey in the desert. They defeat the Canaanites and the Amorites along the way. He continues to ensure they have water and food to survive. And despite all this, they periodically break out in grumbling and complaining. They turn to worshipping false gods and consorting with women of tribes they meet along the way. I find it difficult to read these passages, as I see myself in the Israelites.  How much does God give me in my life, and yet how often do I complain that it isn't enough, or that I want something different? I have a family that is so much more wonderful than I deserve, and yet I cannot control my temper or my moodiness when I am around them. My hope is that, as with the Israelites, God is merciful and forgives and keeps His promises, no matter how unworthy I am to receive them. 

This passage continues with the story of Balak, king of Moab, and his efforts to convince Balaam, king of the Amawites, to join him in battling the Israelites. But Balaam is a man of God, and he listens to the Lord. Although he travels to meet Balak, Balaam stays true to God's instruction that he (Balaam) say only what God directs him to say. Rather than curse the Israelites, Balaam blesses them:

How can I curse whom God has not cursed? How denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?

Four times Balaam acts as an oracle, identifying the Israelites as a special people, "a people that lives apart."  He predicts:

A star shall advance from Jacob, and a staff shall rise from Israel.

A star in the East? The staff of the Good Shepherd? Throughout the Old Testament I continue to see the promise of Christ.

Exodus 33-35:29

This is an incredibly rich section of Exodus.  The Lord promises that Moses and the people will be led to a "land of milk and honey" in fulfillment of the covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Yet God tells Moses that He Himself will not accompany them, because they are such a "stiff-necked people" He might otherwise "exterminate them" along the way. I find that profoundly frightening. Yet Moses prevails upon God, Who seems to change His mind and agrees to accompany them. God attributes His change of mind to the fact that "you [Moses] have found favor with me and you are my intimate friend." Wow--how amazing to have God call you His intimate friend. And yet aren't we all called to that? I think so. But how do we get there? How do we make that highly personal journey? How can we have such a relationship with a God Who goes on to say "no man sees me and still lives"? The God Who  fears that He may exterminate His own people soon after tells Moses: The Lord, the Lord, a merciful and gracious God, slow to anger and rich in kindness and fidelity, continuing his kindness for a thousand generations, and forgiving wickedness and crime and sin".  Incredibly beautiful and comforting words, words that soothe me in the night when I consider how short I have fallen of what He wants me to be and do. But God continues to Moses: yet not declaring the guilty guiltless, but punishing children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation for their fathers' wickedness. The first part of the quoted passage sounds like the crux of Christ's message, but I don't know what to make of the second. Is it an admonition that we are part of a community and have responsibilities to others--that our relationship with God cannot be purely "vertical"? Or are we meant to take it more literally? Is it a truth that only Christ's sacrifice can undo? 

Exodus 2:1-5:9

We turn now to the story of Charlton Heston Moses. It is difficult for me to read this story without picturing the movie version, The Ten Commandments, with Heston and Yul Brynner. I'll eventually figure out how to add photos to this blog, so I can include cool photos of people like Yul and Charlton hamming it up in their outsized roles--Moses and Pharaoh, respectively.  

Here (as in the movie, I guess), Moses strikes me as a real three dimensional man. He grows angry at injustice--indeed too angry for his own good--and kills a man, eventually requiring him to flee Egypt to Midian. He meets a girl, settles down, and tends the sheep of his father-in-law. But God has other sheep in mind for Moses. Like Jesus, Moses will become a shepherd of men and women. During his exile, the Israelites continue to suffer greatly in Egypt. "As their cry for release went up to God, He heard their groaning and was mindful of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob." The Lord God speaks to Moses and commissions him to return to Egypt to rescue His people. Moses has doubts, is afraid, and thinks he is not up to the task--a real man.  But he must trust God, Who tells him "I will be with you." God gives Himself a name for Moses: "I am Who am" or Yahweh. (I have to confess that I don't understand why the Catholic Church has decided that we will no longer use the word "Yahweh", but I digress.)  Moses returns to Egypt and the Israelites are moved and inspired by Moses' message.  Pharaoh, however, is not, and he refuses to free the Israelites. Moses is joined by his brother, Aaron, and together they try to convince Pharaoh on this point. But he is obdurate. Instead, Pharaoh imposes even harsher work conditions on the Israelites, increasing their suffering. 

            

Genesis 35-37:24

Jacob seeks to honor God by building an altar at Bethel, because He is "the God who answered me in my hour of distress, and who has been with me wherever I have gone." Trying to understand this Old Testament God has been very difficult for me at times, to this point. But this acknowledgement by Jacob is a very comforting concept for me.  God reiterates His promise of the covenant, this time to Jacon (now called Israel) that he will makes his descendants numerous, and God repeats his exhortation to "be fruitful and multiply." After Rachel dies, Israel retains home to his father, Isaac. Isaac, too, passes away at a very old age.  The focus of the story now shifts to Israel's favorite son, Joseph. What is it with these Old Testament parents and their habit of playing favorites.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I am a parent and this notion of having a favorite is completely foreign to me. Anyway, Joseph's older brothers grow to resent him--not surprisingly. They plot to kill Joseph, but one of his brothers, Reuben, intervenes and convinces them to, instead, throw Joseph down into a dry well.

Genesis 31:43-34:31

What a wonderful scene as Jacob and Esau meet and reconcile. Clearly, both men welcomed and were moved by the meeting and the opportunity to come together in love.  Esau is moved to tears, and Jacob says, "To come into your presence is for me like coming into the presence of God." Wow--powerful words. The notion that meeting, serving, praising, loving God, and being loved by and coming to know Him, comes through our encounters with other people, with His creation, is a new and powerful concept that threads its way all the way to and through the New Testament.  As a brother myself, I feel a strong loving attachment to my siblings.  This is a moving encounter for me to read about, and a welcome contrast from so much of the dysfunctional intrafamily dealings to this point.  

Genesis 30:1-31:42

I continue to struggle to understand the lessons meant to be imparted through dysfunctional family dynamics, multiple wives, impregnating maid servants, and deceiving/conniving in-laws.  But through it all, God is steadfast toward Jacob, the heir of the covenant.  He leads Jacob out of the land of his father-in-law and back to the land of his youth. Jacob acknowledges that "God saw my plight and the fruits of my toil, and last night he gave judgment." Jacob, though certainly flawed and far from perfect, nevertheless strove to act righteously, particularly towards his father-in-law, and in the end was rewarded by God for it. Without a doubt this is a comforting idea for someone like me who recognizes his own many and deep flaws, yet struggles to honor God and do the right thing each day.  

Genesis 27-29

The theme of family dysfunction continues as Jacob with the help of Rebekah outwits Esau and Isaac to secure Isaac's special blessing near the end of his life. Jacob's "deception"--his "ruse"--makes him heir to God's covenant.  Esau, for his part, will be forced "far from the fertile  earth" and will have to serve his brother.  On his way to find a wife, on Isaac's instructions, Jacob falls asleep and has the dream that provides the title for this blog. This stairway to heaven (no Led Zeppelin jokes, please) reminds me of something I read a long time ago in the writings of Teresa of Avila, and which I am sure to misquote to some degree here--but the gist was "every sin is but another step on the spiral staircase to God."  How comforting those words have been to me over the years. Here, God's messengers descend and ascend the staircase, which I take to mean they bring God's message to us (ultimately a message of salvation embodied in Christ) and then serve to guide us on the path back to Him. It is a path from this place, to which God banished Adam and Eve, up to heaven.  Jacob goes on to the dwelling of Laban, his mother's brother, where he is the victim of a deception himself.  He is tricked into marrying Laban's daughter, Leah, when it is her sister, Rachel whom he loves--loves so much that Jacob "burst into tears" the first time he kisses her. Laban's deception causes Jacob to have to stay an extra 7 years serving Laban. But as this section of the story ends, it is Leah who bears son after son in an effort to please Jacob and win his love, while Rachel remains barren.  

Genesis 24:28-26:35

The Lord God has a direct hand in ensuring that Isaac marries a woman who is very beautiful. A woman who, it seems, turns out to be perfect for him. Indeed, "in his love for her, Isaac found solace after the death of his mother, Sarah."  As a husband, I find it comforting to think that in this way God can work in our own lives, to help us find and choose a mate who can be a help and solace to us. In contrast, I am distressed by the reference, after the story of the birth of Esau and Jacob, to the fact that Isaac favored Esau and Rebekah favored Jacob. Really? As a father, it is incomprehensible to me to think that I would favor or love one of my children more than the other.  This does not resonate with me at all, and we can already feel the echoes of the Cain and Abel story. So far, Genesis is not filled with particularly good modeling for parents. Although Abraham has other children after Sarah dies, it is to Isaac that he leaves everything he owns. And God makes it clear that Isaac is the heir of the covenant God made with Abraham.  Finally, I find some comic relief in the story of Isaac and Rebekah visiting the king of the Philistines, Abimelech. This poor guy is again lied to, this time by Isaac, who tells him that Rebekah is actually Isaac's sister.  Just as Abraham had done years before.  And once again, Abimelech and his retinue nearly commit the grave sin of lying with a married man's wife.  Eventually, seeng how prosperous Isaac and his relatives have become, Abimilech sends him away.