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.  

Deuteronomy 1-6

The introduction to Deuteronomy in my New American Bible (New Catholic Translation) explains that Deuteronomy is "a partial repetition, completion and explanation" of the law given by the Lord at Mt. Sinai. As I read the first six chapters, a number of the themes that permeated the first four books of the Pentateuch jump out.  

First, fruitfulness:

The Lord, our God, has so multiplied you that you are now as numerous as the stars in the sky. May the Lord, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times over, and bless you as He promised!

Second, trust in the Lord:

Do not fear or lose heart.

. . . and again

Fear [your enemies] not, for the Lord, your God, will fight for you.

Third, God's tender caring and the Israelites' lack of trust:

The Lord, your God, who goes before you, will himself fight for you, just as he took your part before your very eyes in Egypt, as well as in the desert, where you saw how the Lord, your God, carried you as a man carries his child, all along your journey until you arrived at this place. Despite this, you would not trust the Lord, your God.

Fourth, the Israelites are a special people, and a light to the nations:

Observe [the Lord's commands] carefully, for thus will you give evidence of your wisdom and intelligence for the nations, who will hear of all these statutes and say, "This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people."

Fifth, that there is only one god, the Lord our God, who is a jealous God:

For the Lord, your God, is a consuming fire, a jealous God . . . . This is why you must now know, and fix in your heart, that the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below, and that there is no other.

Having sounded these themes, Moses discusses again the Ten Commandments, and focuses especially on the greatest commandment:

The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore, you shall love the Lord, our God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

The Lord asks of me only that I believe this and embrace this; that I trust in Him; that I hear His commands and follow them; and that I not "put Him to the test."  Why is this so hard for me?

Leviticus 18:19-21:24 Part 2

I don't anticipate doing the "part 2" thing very often, but I passed over something very important in my previous post regarding this section of Leviticus, and I must go back to it. In this section, the Lord essentially re-explains the Ten Commandments to Moses, elaborating on them further and providing examples to facilitate a better understanding of what is meant by them. I am struck by this: Take no revenge and cherish no grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. This last sentence is, of course, cited by Jesus as the second greatest of the commandments in Matthew 22. In all my years of reading and hearing the story of Jesus' identifying the two greatest commandments, I had assumed that these were "new" and revolutionary. New or not, what a challenge it is! I am a grudge-holder, sadly, so this statement speaks to me directly and powerfully. I hold them against others and I hold them against myself. In fact, I am often much quicker to forgive others than myself. Yet both sides of the statement are equally important. It is not "You shall love your neighbor more than yourself," nor is it "You shall love your neighbor less than yourself." 

Leviticus 18:19-21:24

I was afraid that I would shortly run out of things to say about the litany of "do nots" in Leviticus. But I find this passage to be rich (although still plenty of "do nots"). I am struck by these words of the Lord to Moses: Speak to the whole Israelite community and tell them: Be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. And again a little while later: Sanctify yourselves, then, and be holy; for I, the Lord, your God, am holy. We are called to holiness. So many saints and Catholic writers have said the very same thing. I am currently reading Rediscover Catholicism by Matthew Kelly, and he makes this a central part of his message. It's a powerful idea, that God has created me and called me to be holy, as He is holy. St. Athanasius said that the Divine became man so that man could become divine. Doesn't that very powerfully convey the message of Christianity in as compact a way imaginable? The Lord goes on to expand on the Ten Commandments, providing some more insight and explanation. I was struck by this sentence: You shall not curse the deaf, or put a stumbling block in front of the blind, but you shall fear your God. One could obviously take this literally, because to do these things would be not only wrong, but cruel. But they spoke to me as a metaphor. Do I dismiss or condescend to those who don't believe what I believe? Who I perceive to be deaf to God's message? Do I judge them without knowing them as God does? Do I make it harder for those who seem blind to God and His message by failing to show them love, compassion or mercy? Unfortunately, yes. And in doing so, I fail to "fear" or respect (much less love and honor) God and His creation. Perhaps if I cleared the path for them a bit, rather than acting as a stumbling block, their blindness might be "cured"--or at least their vision, their view of God, might be improved. So, my call to personal holiness is not, strictly speaking, purely personal, but rather can and should impact my community as well. 

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. 

Exodus 25:10-27:21

God provides very precise instructions for how the Ten Commandments are to be kept, " a sanctuary for me, that I may dwell in their midst."  The ark, the table, the lamp stand, the tent cloth, etc., are to be constructed with much gold, silver, bronze, and fine linen, among other precious elements. I understand this as a metaphor for how we are to receive and incorporate God and His message in our lives. We are precious; we are God's own creation. His Word, His Commandments and Laws, should dwell in our hearts. I take the ark itself as the symbol of our hearts, with its four gold rings reminding me of the heart's four chambers. This is not to say that we should be focused solely on adorning ourselves, so that the message buried inside ourselves is forgotten or overlooked. But rather to me it is an issue of honoring ourselves as His creation, and always remembering we are a dwelling place for His Word and message. This means, of course, that so too is every other person, and that necessitates that we treat others with the same reverence and honor with which we are called to treat ourselves.

Exodus 21:22-25:9

God continues to provide Moses with instructions and commands for how the Israelites should live. Criminal law, tort law, property law, personal injury law, and rules of social behavior. We find here the "eye for eye, tooth for tooth" language that is ingrained in our cultural lexicon, in the context of the punishment for fighting with a pregnant woman and causing her to be injured and to miscarry. But if she miscarried and is not otherwise injured, the punishment is only a fine in an amount to be determined by the injured woman's husband. Curious. Also in this passage we find the special admonition to treat widows and orphans well--another reference that is or at least was commonplace in our Anglo-American culture at one point. The Lord tells the Israelites that he will surely hear the cry of the widows and orphans. Going on, He instructs them to "keep away from anything dishonest." Surely outstanding advice, and I know I try in my life to keep a distance from people I feel or fear are not honest. As the passage ends, the Lord has called Moses to ascend Mt. Sinai where He is to give him the tablets containing the Ten Commandments and to instruct him to build the Ark. More on that in the next passage. But just before that, the Lord describes the rewards to come for the Israelites if they are faithful to Him. He says, "I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared." These words call to my mind the words Jesus speaks just before his Ascension, as He explains to His disciples that he is going ahead of them to prepare room for them in His Father's house. It also reminds me of Jesus' words in promising to send the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, to help His disciples in the future.  

Exodus 18-21:21

The narrative tone shifts suddenly from "I, the Lord, am your healer" to "I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God." It feels very much like God the Parent laying down rules for His children. I recognize that the Ten Commandments have a depth and resonance that has made them timeless guides, so I am not trying to diminish them, but I guess it is more the tone of the whole passage. God lays down rules and establishes boundaries--literally in some respects when He lays out the point beyond which the Hebrews many not venture near Mt. Sinai. He is very prescriptive, setting out His expectations for the way the Israelites must live in their new land. It is both literal and metaphorical as He establishes a new people, a new nation, in a new land. His expectations deal less with how the Israelites are to deal with God, and more about they will live with and treat each other. Similarly, I live out my love for God, my devotion to Him or lack of it, primarily in the way I treat others and myself, the way I treat the least of my brothers as it were. 

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.